The Commonwealth of North America: The Tale of the Second American Revolution

Introduction
This timeline is a reworking of an earlier timeline Liberty or Tyranny. The idea behind that timeline was that the French don't get involved in the American Revolution. The Americans still win but it is much longer and much more costly victory. Before the war is over, Benedict Arnold would overthrow the continental congress and set up a military junta with him as the head. I couldn't get the timeline to move, so I junked it. Most of the first update for this timeline comes from my earlier attempt. Comments, questions, critiques, and suggestions are welcome and encouraged. I hope for this to be my most indepth timeline yet.​
 
The Commonwealth of
North America:
The Tale of the Second American Reolution

Chapter One: The First Revolution
Section One: The Turning Point
October, 1777. It has been over a year since the American colonies declared their independence, and over two years since Lexington and Concord. The Americans have suffered defeat after defeat, save the Battles of Trenton and Princeton in the winter of 76-77. Washington has lost New York, and the British occupy Philadelphia. They seek out allies across Europe, but to no avail. There seems to be little hope for the Americans, and it’s only getting bleaker.

In Spring of 1777, the British began a new campaign in the north, designed and led by General John Burgoyne. He marches south from Quebec with an army of 8000 men, while a diversionary campaign is being led through the Mohawk River Valley by Colonel Barry St. Leger, and Iroquois leader Joseph Brant. The goal of this campaign was to capture Albany and take control of the Hudson river, cutting New England off from the rest of the colonies.

The American camp was becoming uneasy after Arnold’s return from Fort Stanwix. It was not so evident yet, but tension between Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates would eventually boil over, causing disaster off and on the battlefield.

On September 18, Burgoyne’s vanguard was just north of Saratoga, and about 4 miles away from the American lines. Skirmishes occurred between the British vanguard and the American scouting parties.

On the 19th, Arnold begs Gates for the chance to attack the British, and after enough pestering, Gates allows him to take the left wing and nothing else. Arnold takes his troops and goes to where the skirmishes are occurring. As the battle continues, Arnold detects a gap in the British line and orders several charges in order to break through. According to one officer Arnold seems to have been “inspired by the furry of a demon”.

At a critical moment, Arnold believes he can take the field and defeat the red coats if he only had more troops. He rides back to camp and implores gates for reinforcements. Gates gives in and allows him to take 1 regiment. As Arnold heads back toward the battlefield, Gates orders him back and strips him of field command and ordered him to stay at camp.

The Troops marching out under Gates are not inspired and do not want to follow him. The Americans loose momentum, and the fighting ends.
The British eventually take the field when they send as many of their reserves as they can afford to send to attack the Right Wing of the army. The Americans retreated, giving the British a Technical victory. Burgoyne had 600 men killed or wounded, and the Americans had only 300 killed or wounded.

The tensions that had been boiling between Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold finally spill over after the battle. Gates refuses to acknowledge Arnolds contributions in the battle, and Arnold confronts him about it. After a strong shouting match and a threat by Gates to have Arnold removed and replaced, Arnold requests a pass to go join Washington’s army in Pennsylvania. Gates is only too willing to get rid of him.

After the battle, Burgoyne pushes his men forward closer to the American lines in order to consolidate their position. He receives a message Henry Clinton dated September 12th, saying that he was taking a fort just south of West Point, and would be there in 10 days. This meant that Clinton would not be close enough to Saratoga by the end of September in order to assist. With their supplies running low, Burgoyne decided to hold on and not push forward.

Word spreads among the troops of Arnold’s departure. The officers sign a petition to get Arnold to stay. Despite this effort, Arnold does not accept, saying that he will never get the respect or credit he deserves serving under Gates.* He gathers his belongings and heads south to join Washington.

With their supplies dwindling, and Burgoyne refusing to consider retreat, on October 4th, they agreed to launch an attack on the American Left Wing on the 7th. They engaged the Americans once again outside of Saratoga, this time at a place known as Bemis Heights.

When the attack is launched, the American left wing is under command of Benjamin Lincoln. Though a good general, he lacks the charisma to inspire the men as Arnold did. Many of the men were refusing to go out to battle. Some went but refused to push forward, and some even deserted. This lack morale amongst the soldiers caused the left wing to collapse, and the right wing was soon surrounded. Very few are able to escape the British encircling, this being Daniel Morgan and his riflemen.

On October 7th, 1777, General Horatio Gates surrenders to General John Burgoyne. News of this reaches the Continental Congress and Washington by October 20th. George Washington is distraught as almost the entire northern army has been captured. Arnold was full of mixed feelings. He felt that this was a tragedy for America, but he felt it a fitting end to Granny Gates.

By November, John Burgoyne’s army reaches Albany, New York. Though there are forts along the Hudson river that are still under American holding, both ends of the river are under British control. It would only be a matter of time before the rest of the forts along the river fall and New England would be completely cut off from the rest of the colonies. When news of the defeat and capture of the American Northern Army reached France, Benjamin Franklin had difficulty in spinning this into a positive for the Americans like he had with the capture of Philadelphia. When the news of the capture of Albany reached Paris, the French Foreign Minister Charles Gravier refused to speak with the American masquerading as a diplomat.
……..
*: This is the PoD. In our timeline this petition was sufficient to convince Benedict Arnold to stay with the northern army.
 
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Would this butterfly Arnold's treason?

Most likely, but an American loss at Saratoga will still result in New England being cut off from the lower colonies, thereby cutting the head off the snake. Basically Arnold will probably be viewed in the future as a martyr or freedom fighter.
 
Chapter One: The First Revolution
Section Two: Winter of Discontent
By December, all the forts along the Hudson river have been captured by the British Northern Forces under the command of John Burgoyne. His campaign to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies was a technical victory. This would not be the end of the war in New England. There were still rebel troops in the northern colonies along with die hard militia, not to mention the Green Mountain Boys up in the New Hampshire Grants.

Burgoyne adjusted the strategy in the North, turning it into a siege of the entire region. Nothing would go into New England, and nothing would come out. He called for a blockade of the coast by as many ships as necessary. The Hudson river would also serve as a blockade line. He also called for troops to patrol the borders of New England to make sure no men or supplies could be moved. He didn’t want to bother with forcibly subjugating the Yanks in the north. Their livelihood was heavily based on shipping. With a blockade by sea and land the New England economy would suffer, leading to the death of this rebellion. And when New England folds the rest will die. Cut the head off a snake and bury separate from the body.

The British won several more victories before they would retire to winter quarters. Fort Mercer along the Delaware River was captured by 1200 Hessians led by Colonel Karl von Donop. The fort was renamed Fort Donop by the Hessian troops who captured it in honor of what Donop had said before the battle "Either the fort will be called Fort Donop, or I shall have fallen." Along with the capture and renaming of Fort Mercer, the British also captured fort Mifflin, which opened up supply lines. They won one final victory against the Americans on December 4th, in what became known as the Battle of White Marsh, forced Washington to retreat further away from Philadelphia.

When winter came George Washington and his army made camp at Valley Forge. While here he would rest and train his army for the next year, that is, if he even had an army next year. The rebel troops were tired, ill-equipped, and hungry. They were short on everything an army needed; food, equipment, shelter, and professionalism. The camp was a mess. Units were not camped together. The officers had no written records of who was in their regiment. Kitchens and latrines were set up next to each other without care. Animal carcasses littered the camp. Their cabins were small and had little ventilation short of leaving the door open. The continental army was in need of discipline.

To remedy this situation they brought in Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a Prussian drill master. He first set out to fix the camp. He ordered that the camp be completely remade, much to the begrudging of the soldiers. The kitchens were moved up hill on one side of the camp, and latrines were dug on the opposite side of the camp down hill. No one was to ever defecate in the river in order to prevent the spreading of disease. The soldiers were ordered to keep them selves in professional order. Bathing became was ordered to be done on a regular basis. A commission of soldiers was put together to get rid of any animal carcasses that may litter the camp. They would be taken outside the camp and burned to prevent the spread of disease. The men in the camp were also relocated according to company and regiment.

An attack on Steuben was conspired by angry and disgruntled soldiers within the army. On March 12th, 1778, Steuben was by himself a short distance from camp making personal notes on the local geography. Four men came up behind him and began to attack him. The struggle lasted for several minutes. He tried to get away from the men and run back to camp but he was overpowered and his skull was bashed in with a stone. They buried his body in the snow outside camp, hoping he wouldn’t be discovered until spring. The men returned to camp, keeping quiet about their deed.

Washington became extremely worried when he hadn’t seen Steuben for several days. He sent out small scouting parties to go search for him. One party of 3 men found the body buried in the snow and brought it back to camp. They saw the hole in his skull and knew that this was a murder. Washington flew into a rage when he saw the body. He became extremely dictatorial around camp and began interrogations of every single soldiers in order to find out who was responsible. When asked if this could have been done by the British, it was rebuked by Washington because he knew that the British wouldn’t have wasted time burying the body, nor could they have gotten close enough to camp without being spotted. He knew it was someone in camp who did it.

After several days of interrogating Washington got enough information to compile a list of suspicious subjects. A list of 12 men came was drawn up. He had these 12 men brought in front of the camp with everyone at attention to watch. Washington gave a long tirade about how that among these twelve men were the murderers of Baron von Steuben. He told the crowd that unless he got the exact names of the ones who killed Steuben, all 12 would be killed. Of the 4 men that participated in Steuben’s murder, 3 of them were on the list of 12. Washington gave the men of his army 1 hour to give him the names. After the hour had passed no one came forward. Washington ordered his firing squad to kill all 12 of the men. The shot fired and the 12 men fell to the ground, dead. Several days later the 4th murderer who had escaped punishment hanged himself on a tree outside of camp.

The mood around camp became a lot bleaker. The very purpose for von Steuben’s presence was to train Washington’s army. Now he did not have enough men who were skilled and disciplined enough to train the rebel army. Washington’s orders became much stricter, and punishments for even the smallest offensives became much more brutal. He was not going to have this kind of event happen again. These problems were only multiplied by the lack of supplies. The soldiers were angry with Washington, angry with Congress, and overall angry at the revolution. Talk of deserting became more frequent, even talk of joining the British army became commonly whispered around the camp fires. When Spring finally came Washington’s army was ill prepared, bitter, and near non-existence.
 
Great start. Judging by your title, do you plan on having Benedict Arnold attempt to set himself up as some kind of "Lord Protector" of the thirteen colonies?

I think your idea of a longer revolutionary war leading to a more radical government is quite compelling. Though for a military dictatorship to form, the Continental Army is going to have to become professionalized, somehow. No would-be dictator can rely upon part time soldiers to back up his rule.

I think the best analogy here is the English Civil War, during which the professional (and politically radical) army eventually grew tired of the dictates of the Long Parliament, which they had become out of touch with, and simply no longer respected. In that kind of a situation, the role of a Junta leader could very well be thrust upon Arnold, not that I see him as much of a Cincinnatus type to begin with!
 
Great start. Judging by your title, do you plan on having Benedict Arnold attempt to set himself up as some kind of "Lord Protector" of the thirteen colonies?

I think your idea of a longer revolutionary war leading to a more radical government is quite compelling. Though for a military dictatorship to form, the Continental Army is going to have to become professionalized, somehow. No would-be dictator can rely upon part time soldiers to back up his rule.

I think the best analogy here is the English Civil War, during which the professional (and politically radical) army eventually grew tired of the dictates of the Long Parliament, which they had become out of touch with, and simply no longer respected. In that kind of a situation, the role of a Junta leader could very well be thrust upon Arnold, not that I see him as much of a Cincinnatus type to begin with!

Actually, ITTL the revolution fails. In the original incarnation of this timeline I was planning on a coup lead by Benedict Arnold, but this time it is an American Revolution fails, but a second American Revolution succeeds timeline. Similar to General Finley's Federal Republic Timeline except I plan for different events.
 
Actually, ITTL the revolution fails. In the original incarnation of this timeline I was planning on a coup lead by Benedict Arnold, but this time it is an American Revolution fails, but a second American Revolution succeeds timeline. Similar to General Finley's Federal Republic Timeline except I plan for different events.

I see. I thought that the "Second Revolution" you were alluding to in the title was some kind of coup d'etat, rather than a separate uprising. Nonetheless, interesting idea for a TL, I will be sure to follow.

I've been reading up for a TL on Civil War era England, which probably makes parallels jump out at me whether or not they exist!
 
Poor von Steuben. I am interested in seeing your Second Revolution... but first I want to see how the Patriots win the first one with so much going wrong for them!
 
Poor von Steuben. I am interested in seeing your Second Revolution... but first I want to see how the Patriots win the first one with so much going wrong for them!
They don't win the first revolution. They fail and then have to fight a second revolution against the British a couple decades later.
 
ask and ye shall receive

Chapter One: The First Revolution

Section Three: The War Move South
The Revolution was looking bleak. Desertions became more and more common. Low on supplies and morale, it looked as though the Americans were finished. New England was cut off from the rest of the colonies and General John Burgoyne was laying siege to the entire region. The New England economy was suffering. Heavily dependent on trade, the blockade was doing its job. The colonists in other states were beginning to turn against the rebel cause. More and more of them were referring to themselves as either neutrals or loyalists. Despite all of this, the colonies had not yet fallen.

The center of the revolution had shifted from the northern colonies to the middle colonies. The Commander in Chief of North America William Howe knew that if they shifted their focus to the middle colonies the rebels would move south. Instead of chasing the rebel government from colony to colony, Howe decided to change the strategy and attack the south. British forces would invade the southern colonies where there was an already strong loyalist stronghold. By going to the south, the British would prevent the rebels from fleeing there. They would be forced into the middle colonies, where they would be crushed between the northern forces, and southern forces, thereby crushing the rebellion.

William Howe would put General Charles Cornwallis in charge of the Southern Department. Cornwallis did not get along well with Howe, so a chance to get out of Philadelphia and away from him was heart lifting. In May of 1778 Cornwallis returned from Great Britain with 10,000 troops. In June of 1778 Cornwallis would capture the port of Savannah which he would use as a foot hold in the south. Troops and supplies would poor into the port. Loyalists in Georgia cheered as British troops marched through the country side.

Violence had occurred in the backcountry during the revolution since the beginning. Loyalist militias clashed with rebel militia over land. One such loyalist was Thomas Brown. After being chased from his home north of Augusta, he fled to the west and lived with the Creeks. While there he built up relations with the Indians and gained their confidence. Along with his Indian allies he also went to East Florida and set up his own militia which eventually grew in size and professionalism. They eventually styled themselves and the King’s Rangers. He was waiting in East Florida for a chance to attack Augusta, and when Charles Cornwallis captured Savannah, he knew that this was his opportunity. He and his King’s Rangers, along with a number of Creek warriors moved on Augusta from the backcountry in August of 1778. They captured the city and would hold it until Cornwallis could arrive. Cornwallis would arrive in late August to inspect the city. He would grant Thomas Brown the rank of provincial Lieutenant Colonel.

Cornwallis’ campaign in the south would focus on taking control of port cities, utilizing the Indian tribes along the frontier, and using the loyalist militias in the back country. When he felt that Georgia was secure, he would leave control of the colony to Brigadier General Augustine Prevost and move north into South Carolina in October. The situation in South Carolina was similar to the situation in Georgia. Up until Cornwallis’ campaign in the south, most of the fighting was between royalist and rebel militia. Royalist exiles in London tried to make the fighting between the loyalists and rebels in the south look like a fight between loyal subjects against traitors. In reality however it was fueled more by family rivalries and land disputes.

Cornwallis’ first battle in South Carolina was fought near Purrysburg, where the defenders of Savannah had fled after Cornwallis took the port in June. Cornwallis would face down Major General Benjamin Lincoln, who had been traded for in a prisoner exchange after the northern army was captured in New York. Lincoln had Continental Soldiers and militia forces under his command numbering approximately 4000 against Cornwallis’ 6000 regulars. After two hours Lincoln retreated, having only taken 300 casualties to Cornwallis’ 600. Cornwallis would then move north along the coast until he reached Charleston, which had held out against the British for some time. Cornwallis’ army would set up siege works around the city by land and await a British fleet to blockade by sea. A small fleet would make its way to Charleston in late October. The city of Charleston had approximately 1000 defenders, mostly rebel militia. Shortly after the ships arrived the city surrendered rather then be bombed.

While Cornwallis is moving up the coast capturing port cities, in the back country the rebels were still putting up a fight against the loyalists and the Indians. In Georgia a sizeable number of loyalists were defeated by a smaller number of rebels lead by Andrew Pickens at Kettle Creek 50 miles outside of Augusta. This revealed the British Army’s inability to protect loyalists in the back country. The Americans were losing battle after battle on the coasts, but in the back country and on the frontier they were winning technical victories against the loyalist militias. The British Generals were not as inclined to go into the back country, not as long as there were loyalist militias to do the fighting for them. That’s how most British generals were, but not Cornwallis.

After the capture of Charleston, General Cornwallis received word of loyalist militias in the back country of South Carolina that were outnumbered by rebels. Cornwallis headed out west and met up with loyalist militia. The battles in the back country were fast and ruthless. Neither side had the number of men where they could sacrifice a large number of them in a stand up fight. Cornwallis would lead a short campaign in the Blue Ridge mountains of South Carolina. His main opponent in this campaign would be Thomas Sumter, a guerilla fighter. He engaged his men several times. He was never able to capture Sumter, but each battle chipped away at his forces, and with the ports under British control, supplies were limited. In early December Cornwallis returned to Charleston for the winter. The “civilized” portion of South Carolina was declared to be pacified, with only the backcountry and frontier region yet to be tamed.

In the spring of 1779 Cornwallis would start a new campaign in North Carolina. His first engagement would be against Nathaniel Greene at Kings Mountain. Cornwallis would defeat the outnumbered Americans, but as many of Cornwallis’ battles, it was a Pyrrhic victory. Ultimately Cornwallis couldn’t catch Greene. However he would successfully drive Greene and many other American generals west into the frontier region. Some viewed this as a negative thing. It looked as though Cornwallis had merely driven the rebel leaders into a place where they would be harder to get. Cornwallis however was able to spin this to his advantage. He said that the British power was so vast that the rebels couldn’t fight face to face. So the reason they fled was because the couldn’t win. He said that all they had to do was keep them in the frontier region and then let the Indians take care of them.

In April of 1779 Cornwallis captured New Bern, the colonial capital. From here Cornwallis would put more effort into taming the back country of North Carolina. He learned from prior experience that it was not best to engage the back country directly, so instead he focused on supplying the Loyalists who knew the back country to fight the rebel militias. This would turn out to be one of Cornwallis’ best decisions in the campaign. He was able to focus on taking control of all the ports, preventing arms from coming in from the coast. This forced any kind of reinforcements and supplies to come over land, and with the British controlling the settled regions, it forced the rebels to journey over treacherous frontier territory, which had a habit of taking the lives of those who journey their. By the end of the summer the settled and back country areas of North Carolina were under British control.

The deep south was for the large part pacified. Cornwallis looked north toward Virginia. He desired to take Virginia. It may not have been the heart of the rebel cause, but its greatest generals and leaders all came from their. He imagined marching through Williamsburg, conquering Mt Vernon and Monticello. However by conquering North Carolina he reached the end point of his orders given to him in the spring of 1778. He was now to make sure the entire south was pacified. He would send arms to the loyalists in the back countries of South Carolina and Georgia in order to put down the rebels their as well. He waited until July when he received word from Howe to move on Virginia. He would get his chance after all.
 
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