Hello! I was reading the book For Want of a Nail by Robert Sobel. The book is the history of North America from the 1760's to the 1970's in a world in which Burgoyne won at Saratoga. In the book they refer to Washington as a bad commander, chosen by the Continental Congress in a political move. The author says that if the Americans had appointed Charles Lee as their commander "the Rebellion might have succeeded in stalemating the British armies; under Washington, it was doomed to failure." This led me to come up with the idea to write a timeline about what if Charles Lee was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army instead of Washington from the perspective of someone in the For Want of a Nail timeline. This world will be vastly different from our own and certain elements will have some similarities to aspects in the For Want of a Nail universe, such as famous Jeffersonians and North Americans becoming active in the politics of this world even if it goes against my strong belief in the butterfly effect. I suggest you get around to reading For Want of a Nail if you haven't already but you do not need to to understand this timeline.
 
The Continental Army
After John Adams proposed the creation of the Continental Army on June 10th 1775 debate riddled the Continental Congress. Every army needs a leader and if the Americans were to have an official army they needed to find a capable leader. The choices quickly were reduced to two, George Washington, a Southern Plantation Owner and former leader in the Seven Years War, or Charles Lee, a British born man who was an estate owner in Virginia and was considered the most militarily adept commander willing to serve the Continental Congress. John Adams personally supported Washington, wanting a Virginian to lead an army of New Englanders to show unity between the colonies instead of having a British commander lead the troops. The supporters of Lee supported him due to his military record being much greater than Washington's. Eventually on June 20th just after hearing of the defeat at the Battle of Bunker Hill the Continental Congress decided that Charles Lee would be Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. Artemas Ward, Israel Putnam, Philip Schuyler, and, at the insistence of Adams and his supporters, George Washington were also appointed command positions beneath Lee. Lee quickly accepted the position and took control of the American force sieging Boston.

AN: Sorry for the short chapter because I'm writing this late at night where I am. The list of subordinate commanders I took from the book except for the Lee-Washington switch because I'm trying to link this closely to the book.
 
Top