The Protestant Duke Goes East

Hello all. Below his my first TL, which will center around James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, and the effect of a few different decisions on his part. Lacking in primary sources, I will rely upon Macualay's History of England, and another 19th century work called The Life of the Duke of Monmouth by George Roberts. I also have drawn inspiration from Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, which may become apparent in some of my characterizations.

Eventually I would like to move in the direction of mixing live action (Third person omniscient) narration with a few ATL 19th century sources, like some of the best TLs on the site I have read.

I welcome all comments, corrections, and constructive criticism.

Here it goes:
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February 21, 1685. The Hague, Republic of the United Netherlands


James Scott, Duke of Monmouth had recovered quickly from the news of his father’s death. He had learnt of the event the night before from the his cousin William III, Prince of Orange, and had been beset by grief. In an instant James had lost not only his father, but also all prospects of returning home to his property and titles. He had wept bitterly that night, lamenting fate and his unfortunate position. By the next morning however, when the Prince of Orange invited him to the Binnenhof [The Prince of Orange's palace], he was composed and ready to discuss business.

The Prince and the Duke exchanged pleasantries. The Prince was his usual stern self, and spoke without much change in his demeanor, indeed he scarcely showed any emotion at all during the best of times. Now, he was, if possible even more grave than usual when he spoke to James. With the death of Charles and the ascension of James II, Monmouth could no longer stay in The Hague. To allow him to do so would imperil the Dutch Reupublic’s relations with England, and that could not be allowed. With so many words James was banished from William sight, effective the next day.

With his return home barred at this time, William recommended that James look east for his fortune. Rather than hazard his life and fortune in an uncertain contest with his uncle that would shed only the blood of his countrymen, he should turn his sword east against the common foe of Christendom, the Ottoman Turks. Reeling from the defeat at the gates of Vienna, the Turks were battling the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor & Archduke of Austria Leopold in eastern Hungary and Serbia. The Emperor sought the services of all Christians, making no distinction between Protestant and Catholic in this war.

William outlined the glory that James could gain from such an enterprise, as well as the more material rewards. He suggested that, after covering himself in glory in the east he would be well positioned to seek in fortune in the Court of Vienna, and that when either his uncle’s heart softened, or when he inevitably died, Monmouth could return to England a hero like his great crusader ancestors Richard and Edward.

Monmouth listened to this advice attentively, though without any obvious enthusiasm. He respectfully promised to quit The Hague as soon as possible, and to weigh the Prince’s advice. He promised to make no move against James in England without consulting his dear cousin, and bade him farewell. The Prince of Orange responded by wishing him well, and promising to earnestly recommend him to the Emperor. He also promised the Duke a gift to defray his expenses when he departed The Hague.

After the Duke left William’s presence he soon returned to his quarters to contemplate his future. On the one hand he had to consider the daily entries of the English exiles, led by that conniving Scot Robert Ferguson, to join their cause and raise a rebellion against his Uncle. They had been pressing him to join them for months, but he had rebuffed them, confident that his father would eventually give in and grant him a full pardon. Now that Charles was dead, their counsel seemed more appealing. His other options were to go east to Vienna and enlist in the Emperor’s forces against the Turks. Alternatively, he could abandon his pursuit of fortune and glory and resign himself to a life of leisure by touring Europe with his beloved mistress Lady Wentworth, starting with a voyage to Stockholm.

As he weighed his options, the Lady Wentworth returned to their quarters. Henrietta Wentworth was his current mistress, the love of his life, and, in his eyes his lawful wife in the sight of God. The Lady had sacrificed a good marriage to abscond with the married Duke, and James had rewarded her with his complete affection, going so far as to almost completely disregard his own wife and their five children. Lady Wentworth had his entire heart, and as a result was a great influence on the mercurial Duke.

When the conversation turned to the Duke’s next course of action, Henrietta at first demurred. But a chance run-in with the Austrian Legate to Holland earlier that day had planted an image in her mind of the sophistication and wealth of the Austrian Hapsburgs. The Freiherr, with his twirling mustachios and jeweled small sword had cut a very fine figure. He had regaled the ladies of the court (in perfect French) with tales of opulent castles and the fine operas that could be enjoyed in and around Vienna. The urbane, witty Austrian stood in sharp contrast to the nearby group of English exiles, poorly dressed, conversing furtively of lost homes and estates. And that just described the exiled men of quality. Far more disturbing were the Republicans in their midst, a collection of Protestant fanatics and former Cromwellian soldiers like the one eyed Richard "Hannibal" Rumbold who prowled around with the restless energy of caged beasts. If Vienna was well represented by the Freiherr, then perhaps Austria was not the war-torn backwater she had always imagined it to be.

Therefore, when the Duke continued question her about her advice for him, she answered that she supposed that the Prince of Orange was correct: Austria, not England was the best course for them at this time.* James Scott was rather surprised at her response. He has always imagined that nothing would please his love more than the prospect of the crown of England.

The Lady’s doubt about the wisdom of returning to England caused the Duke to go over in his mind the advice of his fellow exiles in the Netherlands. The lofty rhetoric of that fiery Scot Ferguson, the optimistic predictions of Lord Grey and the stern confidence of Hannibal Rumbold all counseled him land in England as soon as possible, and to march on London to depose the new Popish King. Both the Lords of the Land and the common man were opposed to the new Catholic monarch, surely they would flock to the banner of the late King’s most prominent son. There was of course the issue of his birth, but the Duke had always believed that his mother, Lucy Walter had entered into a lawful marriage with the King by the time of his birth. His confederates were not too disposed to doubt him. Base rumors about his legitimacy would of course end the moment he set foot in St. Paul’s Cathedral to be crowned the rightful King.

But between the Duke and the crown were formidable political and military obstacles that were quite apparent to James. Monmouth had personally commanded professional English soldiers against foes foreign and domestic. He had held a command at the siege of Maastricht and fought against the French at the battle of great battle of St. Denis. He had a keen understanding of how battles were fought and wars were won on the Continent. But it was his most recent command that was the most pertinent in his mind at this critical juncture: the Battle of Bothswell Bridge in Scotland. Heavily outnumbered, and facing an enthusiastic foe of Scottish Coventers revolting against the Episcopal policies of his father, Monmouth had been able to easily put the rebels to flight and crush their nascent rebellion against King Charles’ rule in Scotland. James had no wish to be on the wrong side in a contest between the rabble and the professional line infantry fielded by the crown.

And the project suggested to him by his fellow Anglo-Scottish exiles left him in great danger of doing just that. Letters were all they could show him as proof of his popular support in England, and how the people despised James II. Gold, arms and men were sorely lacking. A critical eye would see only a few dozen English and Scottish malcontents armed with nothing more formidable than a few thousand pounds sterling and their quill pens. It was true that among these few dozen men were some renowned Cromwellian soldiers, successful generals and Lords temporal from both England and Scotland. But James II, sitting at the Court of St. James could call upon the strength of three kingdoms to aid him, possibly even the support of the great Sun King, Louis XIV, if rumors were to be believed. Thousands of line infantry, hundreds of cannon, and a formidable fleet all answered to James II. Against these forces, James Scott could rely only upon vague, often contradictory popular ideas opposing a Catholic King, the possibility of Absolute Monarchy, as well as the opposition of Nonconformists to the established church which was supported by the monarchy. Radical Protestantism, and crypto-republicanism were other animating forces behind James Scott’s most fervent supporters.Whether James Scott was capable of rallying such diverse dissenters to his side was very much open to question, and his life would very much ride on the answer to that question once he landed in England.

His life would depend on that question because there was simply no possibility that a sufficient force could be raised in the Netherlands to wage war in England. They lacked men, the muskets to arm them with, the ships to transport them in and the money to pay for them all. James Scott and the exiles would land with no more than a few cannons and horses, along with whatever supply of muskets and gunpowder they could scrape together. Their success would be totally dependent upon both a mass popular rising and the defection of at least some of the King's regiments. The later was absolutely critical in Monmouth's mind, since he doubted a thousand English peasants could stand before one hundred line infantry if they had to face more than a single volley.

James Scott had never committed to the cause of the exiles. They refused to acknowledge his unambiguous right to the throne, and they seemed to want him more as a figurehead than a leader in their ill-considered scheme. The added weight of his mistress’s counsel tipped the nearly balanced scales against them in Monmouth's mind. Any course of action was better than throwing his life away as a rebel. He would not go to England. But he would not go touring about Europe either. He would win glory and victory, but in the east...for now.

February 22, 1685. The Hague, Republic of the United Netherlands


The next morning the Duke met with Prince William III for one last time before leaving The Hague. He earnestly informed his cousin that he accepted his advice, and that he wished to make for Vienna with all possible haste. Prince William III had expected such a response from the Duke, even if the Duke did not mean a word of it. He was surprised, however by the Duke’s seeming enthusiasm for the the enterprise, and wished him well. When the Duke left his presence he was handed a fat purse of a thousand guilders to speed him on his way. He met briefly with his cousin Mary on the way out, she seemed rather upset by his decision, and tears sprinkled down her cheeks as he exited the palace.

___

The Prince of Orange smiled as the Duke exited his chambers. If Monmouth was true to his word, then the Prince had disposed of a potential rival quite cheaply. William had little interest in Monmouth rebelling against his uncle. Certainly the prospect of a Protestant England allied with the Netherlands would be quite welcome, but the risk of backing Monmouth was simply too great. His archenemy Louis could intervene to to support his English ally by going to war with the Netherlands, or even intervening directly in England. It was simply too likely that James II could very well triumph over Monmouth, and become the bitter enemy of the Dutch. He had a fair idea of what the English exiles believed would happened in the event of a rebellion, but William’s own military advisers were not optimistic, and his political advisers assured him that all but the most radical Englishmen were at best apathetic to the ascension of James II. Attempting to overthrow his father-in-law at this moment was a fool's errand.

With luck, William thought, he could pry James out of Louis XIV’s orbit and into the emerging alliance against French expansionism. After all, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor were opposed to the Sun King and allies of William. The new King’s Catholicism did preclude an alliance with the Protestant Netherlands. Besides, in addition to good foreign policy, an alliance against France would be popular with the English people, and if the new King had an ounce of sense he would go to great lengths to dispel his subject’s belief that he was an agent of France and Popery.

And if James II did not do exactly that, William would take his throne. He was third in line of succession in his own right, but would de facto inherit it when the King died, as his wife Mary was the next in line to the throne. In addition to the prerequisite legitimate blood, he also had at his disposal a well trained army and probably the most powerful navy on earth. He had cultivated relationships with some of the most prominent personages in England, and was known throughout the land as a champion of Protestantism. If James II stood in the way of his destiny of defeating Louis XIV, he would take his kingdom, and if necessary his life.

With that thought, William called for his trusty page Arnold van Keppel.

“Arnold dear boy, inform my royal father-in-law of Monmouth’s departure from The Hague. Assure him that his nephew will depart my country to the court of Emperor Leopold. Remind him that his English and Scottish regiments will always be at his service in the event of any problems, foreign or domestic. And do not forget to congratulate him on his upcoming coronation.”

As he watched his handsome page take down notes to compose a letter from his Prince, William smiled. Not at the sight of his servant’s natural beauty, but rather at how utterly predictable were the members of the House of Stuart, and how easily he would get them to dance to his tune, or knock them off the stage. The choice was theirs, but the outcome would be exactly as he wanted.

______

James Scott smiled as he departed the Binnenhof. The purse he indiscreetly carried with him would ensure a comfortable journey east for him and his entourage. He would fight Turks in the east and earn himself a reputation of a crusader. But the war would not last forever, and he fully intended his journey east to only to defer his eventual return home. In the meantime James II was was welcome to contend with the exiles and unrest in the three kingdoms. The last English Catholic monarch had been Mary I over a century ago. Everyone still remembered how well her reign had been. Eventually he would alienate the wrong men, and face a full blown rebellion like his father before him. The Prince of Orange doubtless believed that the Kingdom would then just fall to him like an overripe fruit.


“William, dear cousin, you are deceived if you think you have rid yourself of me for all times with this purse,” thought Monmouth to himself. “I may fall in battle against the infidel, but as long as I survive I will never forget my birthright. And you will not take it from me.”

______

April 2, 1685. Amsterdam, Republic of the United Netherlands.


James Scott gazed at the busy harbor of Amsterdam from the quarterdeck of the brig he had embarked upon. Dozens of square masted Fluyts and East Indiamen crossed the harbor, waiting to sail for the east, or to return home after long voyages to the East Indies. By his side was his lady Henrietta, who looked back at the city distractedly, doubtless wondering when she might return.

James and about a dozen of his followers were sailing for Cuxhaven. They would disembark at that city briefly before boarding another ship that would taken them down the Elbe to Dresden. From Dresden they would ride to Pressburg [Bratislava, Slovakia] where they would join the Imperial Army under the Duke of Lorraine. Henrietta would remain at Court, while James would take a command benefiting a Oberstleutnant.

Robert Ferguson and the other English exiles had called him a coward and worse when he had announced his resolution. He had not born their insults idly. He had countered that the time was not yet right for him to claim his birthright, but that he would never renounce that which was his.

The Scottish exiles had been the worst. The Earl of Argyll swore that he would never recognize him as King, and that he would only deal with a government more suited to Scotland’s interests. James had tried to reason with him, but the Earl told him that he only cared for action, and that if James wished to assist the real men in deposing his uncle when he sailed for Scotland in June he was welcome to. As stableman shoveling his horse's shit. James would have drawn steel had not one of the more level-headed Scots, Fletcher of Saltoun, restrained him at that instant. James had stormed out of that meeting, and swore that would kill Argyll if he ever laid eyes on him again. That was the last he had seen of any of the Scottish exiles.

The English exiles remained in Amsterdam, making preparations for a landing in in the South of England. Or the West, or the East, or New Jersey for all James cared. It was unlikely their enterprise would amount to much, as they lacked seasoned officers, and adhered to a very vague political program mostly centered around opposition to the twin evils of Tyranny and Popery. It did not appear that their expedition would amount to much more than a diversion to the Scottish expedition which Argyll intended to lead himself without their counsel.

The Scots (with the exception of Ferguson, who was firmly attached to the English exiles) were much more advanced in their preparations. The Earl had already purchased a frigate, and James had heard rumors that he was buying up muskets and gunpowder from anyone who would sell to him. True to his word, the Earl appeared set on landing in Scotland with this followers, and opposing his enemy James II.

To hell with the fools, thought James. There would still be exiles in the Netherlands when he returned, and he would deal with them on his own turns. That arrogant Scot Archibald would meet his maker at the Scottish Maiden in Edinburgh, or in some ambuscade in the highlands. He fancied himself a great general and politician like his illustrious father, but James thought the only thing the two shared in common other than a name would be their place of execution. The power of the clans was in the past, in the modern world power lay in holding cities and trade routes not septs!

The three kingdoms would be his. They would not long remain under the rule of his Papist uncle. Neither his two daughters, nor their Dutch and Danish husbands would have them either. If he returned to his homeland, it would be at the head of a devoted band of followers, well armed and well supplied, not a quarrelsome rabble that would not even acknowledge him as the rightful king!

“To Hell with them all,” said James to no one in particular. “After I have sent enough Turks to hell they will come crawling back to me. The three kingdoms will welcome me with open arms when they have had enough of my uncle’s misrule. And none of his foreign son in laws will stop me.”

To be continued.

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*This is the POD. IOTL the Duke was extremely hesitant to join the exiles in rebelling against James II. Macaulay records that she told Monmouth that she wanted nothing more than to see him King. ITTL a chance run in has caused her to reconsider this advice.
 
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An interesting beginning; Monmouth is an idiot, but if he survives with a pile of money and a reputation as a great general, he can certainly make a mess later. Looking forward to more.
 
Antipater

Interesting idea. As Shawn says Monmouth wasn't the brightest but the idea might be practical. A lot would depend on him surviving and succeeding in the east but in a few years time, if William doesn't get in 1st he might be in with a decent chance of success.

Working on the basis that there will still be attempts by the other exiles, which will fail and result in bloody suppression as OTL. That and the possible appearance of an apparent Catholic heir are likely to prompt great unrest as OTL, especially if James II is still tied to Louis XIV. The only problem here might be with William and Monmouth opposing each other as the chief rebel.

Steve
 
April 9, 1685. London, Kingdom of England


James, Duke of York sat in his chambers in the Palace of Whitehall digesting the latest intelligence from his agents in Holland. Though not yet formally crowned, James had begun to exercise his authority as king since the moment that his brother had passed on February 6th. The first order of business after arranging his departed brother’s funeral had been to secure his new throne against all opponents of his reign. Being a Catholic in an overwhelmingly Protestant kingdom meant that there were many such opponents. Conveniently for James they were a rather diverse crowd, and could be divided into several classes and dealt with separately.

The first class of opponents to be dealt with were those closest in geographical proximity. Those would be the men of the “Country Party” (sometimes referred to as Whigs) who had opposed his right to the English Throne. Those arrogant successors of the Round-heads believed that the Parliament, a mere earthly assembly of men could deny his divine right of succession! In an unusual display of political fortitude his brother had largely thwarted their legal efforts to exclude him from the throne.

After the final defeat of the Exclusion Bill, many of the remaining Whigs had become quite tractable. One former Whig, Robert Spence, Earl of Sunderland was serving as Secretary of State for the Southern Department,* and James planned on retaining him when he formed a new Cabinet.

James intended on the whole to exclude as many Whigs as possible from political power when he summoned a new Parliament this May. However did not expect those Whigs who remained in London to anything more dangerous than pen libelous pamphlets anonymously while lously proclaiming their newfound loyalty in public. For now he could live with that.

More worrying were reports of those Whigs who dwelt away from London. Deprived of any legal solution to what they regarded as a grave their to their liberty and religion, many of James’ most ardent Whig opponents decided to show their true colors by resorting to conspiracy. They had colluded with his nephew, James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth, and some former Cromwellian soldiers to assassinate him and his brother and install his bastard nephew on the throne in some sort of Parlementarian restoration! Their conspiracy had been detected, trials and executions had followed. Not all had been brought to justice. Some of most prominent men, such as the Earl of Shaftesbury had elected to flee to Holland, where they lived in comfortable exile under the very nose of his “faithful” son-in-law William III, Prince of Orange.

The third class of the King’s opponents were driven mostly by opposition to his religious policy. Presbyterians and Puritans, they opposed the Established Church of England and Scotland, and abhorred the King’s own religion. They had been triumphant during the interregunum, but had been hounded and prosecuted since the Restoration. In England they suffered this persecution relatively meekly (or fled to the colonies), but in Scotland they were more inclined to resist. The Scottish Covenanters were his most intractable opponents, having rebelled against his father and brother. In spite of being crushed by both Cromwell and the House of Stuart, they were still a latent force of opposition. The Earl of Argyll fancied himself their leader in exile. This was in spite of the fact that he had led his own clansmen against the Covenanters in 1678. The Earl had had a change of heart since James had accused him of treason and forced him to flee Scotland for his life. Now he proclaimed himself the leader of the Covenanters like his father before him, ready to lead a rebellion against the heathen high-church oppressors!

James’ spies had informed him that the exiles had been attempting to unite their disparate forces under the leadership of Argyll and his bastard nephew Monmouth. This prospect had worried him, but that threat seemed to have largely disappeared. The French ambassador to England,Paul Barillon d'Amoncourt had just reported to him that his nephew had boarded a ship in Amsterdam bound for Cuxhaven. His son-in-law William had repeatedly assured him that Monmouth intended to enter the Imperial service against the Turks, but James had been quite skeptical under this news was confirmed. Perhaps he could trust his son-in-law's word.

Without a figurehead to lead them, the prospect of a rebellion or invasion troubled James a great deal less than it had just days earlier. This allowed James to ponder his next great challenge: finances. Unlike most crowned head, the English Monarch could not levy taxes on his own, he required to permission of the Parliament. Getting money from Parliament was often more difficult that squeezing money from a stone, since they always insisted on imposing conditions to their revenues, which often included intolerable restrictions on the royal perogative. The only way to avoid Parliament’s odious dictates was to minimize his need for funds. Which was why, at this moment, James was meeting with the ambassador of King Louis XIV of France to the Court of St. James.

“Please convey to your royal master,” said James, “my gratitude and attachment. I know that without his protection I can do nothing. I know what troubles my brother brought on himself by not adhering steadily to France. Rest assured that I will not make such a mistake in my reign. For I fully understand that the interests of your master and my own are the same. Assure his most generous gift could not have been better disposed of. Let him know also that We no longer consider our obligations to Spain to defend the Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle [1668] to be binding. If your master wishes to relieve his idiot brother-in-law [Charles II of Spain] of some of his possessions he will not be opposed by us.”

“I will convey that message to my King, your grace,” answered Paul Barillon d’Amoncourt graciously. “My King greatly sympathizes with your political system, and will always stand ready to assist his friend. Especially in regards to your traitorous subjects in the Seven Provinces. My colleague in the Seven Provinces reports that, though they attempt to conceal it, they are purchasing arms and in anticipation of some mischief.”

“We await the traitors next move with keen anticipation,” replied James. “We have taken adequate measures against any possible rebellion. We have dispatched the Marquess of Athol [leader of Clan Murray] and his men to chastise Argyll and the whole lot of those damned Campbells. Closer to home We have the Earl of Feversham, cousin of the great Turenne marshaling my regiments of Dragoons and Foot. Kindly inform my royal cousin that We are quite secure against all domestic opposition.”

____

As the Ambassador departed, James privately seethed. He felt like a whore, abasing himself before the French, but he needed the million livres [about £75,000] that the ambassador had brought as a “gift” from his master. Without French subsidies he would be entirely at the mercy of Parliament to pay his troops, and, more importantly his fleet. But, though he would accept Louis’ gold, he would never suffer foreign troops in his country. James was confident that his lieutenants could deal with any unrest in England or Scotland.

In Scotland he was confident that the the Marquess of Athol and his highlanders of Clan Murray would harry the Campbell septs enough to ensure that the men would not dare take up arms against their lawful king should their chief return. If the Marquess and Clan Murray did not prove up to task of keeping down Clan Campbell, Clan Campbell had plenty of other Highland rivals he could rely upon. Clans McDonald, MacGregor and MacDougall would leap at the opportunity to spill the blood of their longtime enemies.

Needing a diversion from this business of state James decided to pay a visit to his mistress, Catherine Sedley. Catherine had never been considered beutiful, but she was getting on in years, and James had begun to eye other women around the Court to take her place. However had had always been attracted to her for her wit and candor, her stubborn Protestantism excepted. She had also recently born him a son, whom he had christened James Darnley. Sadly the boy was not legitimate, but he would take an interest in his upbringing nonetheless. James FitzJames, his son by Arabella Churchill, there was a lad! Only 15 years old, and holding a command under the Duke of Lorraine. When had read his son’s last letter, in which he had described a successful skirmish against a band ofSipahis near a castle in Hungary his heart had warmed with pride.

“If only Mary could give me a son that would survive for more than a few years,” James said to himself quietly as he walked down the halls, attended only by his footmen. “God knows that I am capable of fathering healthy sons and daughters. Is He punishing me for my sins?”

So thought James, Duke of York, soon to crowned King of England, as he prepared to commit another act of adultery.

____
*At this time the position of Secretary of State was divided between North and South. North dealt with the mostly Protestant nations of Northern Europe as well as Northern England and Scotland. South dealt with Southern England Wales, Ireland, the Colonies, and relations with the Roman Catholic and Muslim states of Europe.


To be continued.

Any comments are welcome.
 
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NOTE: All dates given are in the Old Style (O.S.), the Julian Calendar unless otherwise specified. At this time all Catholic ruled countries had adopted the Gregorian Calendar, while most Protestant nations outside of the Holy Roman Empire had not.

April 16, 1685. Amsterdam, Republic of the United Netherlands

Archibald Campbell, ninth Earl of Argyll and chief of Clan Campbell stood at the head of a table in a private room rented out from in alehouse. Seated around him were a collection of English and Scottish exiles that retained their nerve after the flight of the coward James Scott. Campbell had nothing but contempt for the cowardly Duke of Monmouth. He should never have expected anything better from a Stuart. The whole family was nothing but a bunch of jumped-up, frenchified lowlanders, the lot of them. Good riddance to Monmouth. Without him and his pretensions he could ensure that England was ruled by more godly and honorable men, men who would not treat Scotland and its religion as mere trifles.

Though Campbell damned Monmouth in public, he was beginning to understand why he had been unwilling to throw in his lot with the English exiles. They were a pretentious bunch of conniving conspirators, with hardly any military experience between them. Pamphleteers and soft, foppish gentlemen who probably couldn’t even lift a proper claymore made up the majority. The only real men amongst them that Campbell felt comfortable dealing with were the former Cromwellian soldiers, which was quite ironic since had fought against a good number of them during the civil war. They at least had the sense to not attempt to dictate military strategy to their leader!

The Scots exiles were almost as bad. Patrick Hume and John Cochrane were the worst sort of lowland noblemen. They believed that because they had studied natural philosophy and the law they were suited to make political and military decisions. When challenged they were quick to point out that their ancestors had led armies, as if that suited them to do so themselves! They presumed to dictate military strategy to their leader. Their arrogance shocked him; they thought to tell Earl of Argyll where he ought to wage war, and how he ought to command the men of his Clan, his brothers by blood!

The meeting opened with a speech by his obnoxious countryman Ferguson. For an allegedly Scottish clergyman, he spent far too much time in alehouses plotting with unscrupulous Englishmen to claim any sort of priestly character. Yet he was quick to call down the might of the Almighty, mixing blasphemy with references to the Old Testament in his speech.

“James at this moment sits on his throne in London. Over Scotland rules an acolyte of the Whore of Babylon. Do not suppose for a moment that the prelacy that he imposes over the god-fearing is anything less than Popery in sheep’s clothes. We must hasten to pull him down from his throne like we did his ungodly father. May the dogs lap up his blood like they did the unrighteous Ahab!” Ferguson paused to take a breathe. “And every moment we spend in the Netherlands is a moment wasted. The people groan under tyranny of popery, prelacy and tyranny. They will flock to the banner of the righteous when we land. Like the walls of Jericho the entire edifice of royal misgovernment will come tumbling down when we sound the righteous trumpet of rebellion!”

“Ferguson speaks the truth,” said Hume, more calmly. “The people have been oppressed long enough by the unchristian institution of monarchy. They will welcome a new government made of the better sort of men, the aristos who Aristotle described as the ideal rulers. That is why when we land in Scotland, the Earl here must gather his hosts quickly, and we must march south with all haste. Scotland is ripe for rebellion, and England will follow soon after. Haste is imperative.”

“This is a campaign we are talking about here,” bellowed Hannibal Rumbold, his one eye seemingly barely contained in its socket. “We are not talking about a pilgrimage here; we are plotting a rebellion. We need to gather as many men to our banners as possible, and train them, while employing hit and run tactics in the meantime. We need to accumulate gunpowder, and cannon, but most of all we need disciplined men. Without training a hundred untrained youths could not stand up to five of the King’s beefeaters, let alone the Coldstream Guard!”

“But you miss the point Richard,” chimed William Ayeloffe, a lawyer by trade. “Our enterprise is a political, not just a military movement. We have to keep idea at the forefront in our minds. Otherwise we are just setting the stage for another type of despotism like the Protectorate. When military decisions are not carefully reviewed by civilian oversight...”

“Enough!” Roared Archibald Campbell, interrupting Ayeloffe from his discourse. “We are here to plan an armed rebellion against James II of England and VII of Scotland. We are going to do so by freeing Scotland, and then England from his rule. To do that I first need to liberate my kinsmen from his oppression, and use their arms to extend our rule across the Highlands. I will build my strength there, and only then venture from my clan’s mountain fastnesses into the lowlands when I am confident we are ready. I will kill every man who James sends to confront me, until I draw my last breathe, or until your English countrymen decide they would rather depose their king than die in Scotland, or pay for others to do so in their stead.
Anyone who wishes to help me do that, come with me now. The rest of you can aid me in that enterprise however you choose, but you can do so without coming near me, or setting foot in my domains. I will sail for Scotland with whatever faithful men who choose to accompany me, and with whatever arms I can find. The rest of you are free to oppose James in whatever way you can, or may the devil take you!”

With that Campbell walked out of the room, not taking so much as a glance backward. Most of the men he left behind were speechless, a few were angry. After a pause Hannibal Rumbold jogged after Campbell. A longer pause followed, and then Andrew Fletcher got up and calmly strode to the door. The rest of the exiles remained at the table.

May 2, 1685. Off of Texel, Republic of the United Netherlands

Archibald Campbell stood on the deck of the flagship of his little flotilla watching the Netherlands get smaller. He was relieved to be done with Amsterdam, and not just because of the indignant letters he had received from the rest of the exiles. For the last three days he had been forced to wait for favorable winds to depart, all the while starring at a pair of Dutch ships-of-the-line that could have sent him and his ships to the bottom of the harbor with a single broadside. He knew that James, through his ambassador to the Netherlands had furiously attempted to have the Dutch impound his fleet and arrest him.

James’ servant failed him, and Campbell had been allowed to depart unmolested. Whether this was because William of Orange secretly favored the rebel cause, or because James’ ambassadors had failed to secure the correct writ from the correct department of the admiralty or provincial assembly, he did not know. Campbell did not expect to receive much in the way of supplies or reinforcements from the Netherlands, and any large scale attempt to do so would likely fall victim to James’ fleet. He was done with the Netherlands, and there was nothing that William could do to stop him now if he wanted to.

But Campbell was confident with the forces he had at hand, and his plan for them. He knew every inlet in Argyleshire, and would sail his ships into one of them by night. He would storm Inveraray Castle in a night attack before his enemy even knew that he had landed. With his family seat secure, and with supplies and faithful men at hand, he would proceed to kill every Murray, MacGregor and MacDonald who had dared to despoil his land in his absence. With their homes and families secure, thousands of his loyal clansmen would take up arms for their chief.

If the other exiles kept their word, they would spread unrest both in England and in the lowlands. Those who opposed James would either flock to the Campbell banner, or inspire mutiny and sedition at home. The King of England was not the King of France, who could call a million men to arms. James had only a few regiments of foot along with some dragoons. Then there was the militia, and after that James would have to march out with his beefeaters!

An English regiment could stand against his men on a field of battle, and mow them down with musket fire. But Campbell did not plan on giving them the chance to do that. He was hunt them down in ambuscades and night attacks, whittling down their numbers till they retreated or routed.

“As the sun sets in the West James,” said Campbell as he watched the last rays of the sun break the horizon, “I will make you regret the day your family had my father executed on the Maiden. For every day that I lived slavishly under the family who murdered my father I will kill ten of your followers, until the men of England overthrow you, or you have none left to rule over but widows!”
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All Comments are welcome and appreciated!
 
After reading over my work, I have decided that it requires major revisions beyond the scope of what "editing" my original posts should reasonably entail. Please move the thread to the writer's forum, if that is possible.

In the meantime, stay tuned for for version 2.0. I have lots of pre-writing in addition to these drafts, and am eager to put them all together to make an interesting, but most of all readable TL. I've got an idea and a outline sketched out, but fleshing it out in a logical and coherent manner has proven more difficult than I expected.

When I post another version, it will be up to the standard of something I would write for one of my professors. Until that time feel free to leave input and suggestions on any topic related to the history and characterizations I have here.

Thank you all for your patience!
 
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