Triumph and Tragedy: an Ahistorical TL.

Alright. Firstly i was inspired to write an American TL, mostly by reading such fantastic timelines such as Dominion of Southern America and also Union and Liberty. This is officially my first TL. I had attempted a previous one, but that fell apart after one post, and because I didn't plan it properly. And having watched what many people have done in previous TL's I think I can mange this one now. Hopefully.
Now I am using this as a writing experience for myself, so it will be terribly rough, and not as detailed as many TL's here, but I can only do what I can do.
Thanks for reading and enjoy.




TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY

AN AHISTORICAL TL


PART 1



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- On November 13, 1775, the death of Guy Carleton during the Battle of Montreal would sound the death knell of British control for the northern most reaches of the British Empire in North America. It would be an unfortunate circumstance that Carleton would be shot trying to escape the siege with a portion of his troops after he rejected a parley with the Americans under a false flag of truce. Such an act was seen as a "cheap and dirty trick by backwards colonials"[1]. Although a partial number of British and Quebecois troops would escape from the siege of Montreal, the surrender of the British fleet protecting the city would ensure that a significant number of troops would be captured by the colonial General Richard Montgomery. Montgomery would then proceed to fortify the city with the remaining soldiers at his disposal whilst also seeking to come to terms with the American sympathizers in Quebec.


- General Benedict Arnold, with the support of George Washington, began an invasion of Quebec with the aim of capturing Quebec city. Leading 1100 men northward through the Kennebec River, he would reach the city gates of Quebec City. Lacking cannon, and with a slightly reduced force, Arnold decided it would not be wise to take Quebec and would send word to Montgomery who would march northward to support Arnold in taking the city.


- On the night of December 31, 1775, using a snowstorm as cover, the combined Colonial army under Montgomery and Arnold, along with Daniel Morgan, would assault Quebec City. The Quebec defenders, even though they courageously defended the city, and outnumbering the American forces taking part in the battle with 600 more troops it wasn’t enough to overcome the bold leadership of Montgomery and Arnold. Between their two wings they were able to force the surrender of the city and they were able to capture some few hundred men and swaths of cannon and ammunition.


- Although it would be some months before news arrived, the loss of Quebec would be a nasty shock to the British Empire. Questions were raised in Parliament how Quebec could so have easily fallen to a bunch of "backwater colonials". The Whigs and Tories alike would eventually find fault with Guy Carleton, who was easy to defame as the man lay dead upon the field of battle. Nonetheless they would agree on sending more British soldiers to the American colonies to bring an end to the rebellion.



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[1] This is often the opinion of British Historians and revisionists when writing about their failure during the American Revolutionary war.
 
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Arnold strikes again

Following the capture of Quebec, Montgomery would be named as military governor of the region. He would continue to issue propaganda to incite the local population to rise up against the British. Only some few would join up and aid the Americans in their cause, which led to the creation of various Canadian regiments who would serve with distinction throughout the north. Yet Quebec would send a delegation to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

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Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan would be sent to pacify Nova Scotia and to inspire rebellion in the region. There would be a small American population within Nova Scotia would rise up to fight against the British Governor, Frances Legge. Lord George Germain, would later state that Legge would forever be regarded as the man who "successfully alienated the people of Nova Scotia to aid the Americans in their rebellion." The province of Nova Scotia would eventually be lost and like their brethren in Quebec, they too would send a delegation to the Continental Congress.
 
This doesn't bode well for Britain. A victory at Boston and their army there might have to go to the Caribbean.

This could bring France and Spain into the war much earlier.
 
British blunders

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With the successful capture of New York City, General Howe would divide his forces amongst his subordinate generals. General Clinton was sent to capture New Jersey, Charles Cornwallis was sent south to ensure control of the southern colonies and General Burgoyne would be sent north to recapture Quebec.

Unlike his compatriots, Burgoyne would have the least favourable task. Upon reaching Quebec city he would find it heavily fortified by the American rebels. Deciding not to attack the city he instead returned south, invading the New England colonies. Having sent word to Howe of his plan to surround the New England states, his request for reinforcements would be agreed to, if Howe had not decided at that time to launch his own attack upon the Colonial capital of Philadelphia. The Colonial capital would be captured successfully, but this left the northern army under Burgoyne extremely vulnerable to continuous colonial attacks.


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John Burgoyne


Burgoyne, undaunted by not receiving the desired reinforcements continued his campaign. After capturing Fort Ticonderoga Burgoyne would foolishly divide his army into two pincers, hoping to catch the Americans off guard. He would lead 8,000 men himself towards the New York capital of Albany whilst his subordinate, Barry St Leger would lead roughly 2,000 men down the Mohawk river and would afterwards unite his forces with Burgoyne after the capture of Albany. Unfortunately for St Leger, his forces would be decimated by continuous colonial militia and partisan attacks, and eventually his army would be brought to battle by Benedict Arnold who had just returned from his successful capture of Nova Scotia.

With the loss of St Leger's flanking army Burgoyne would be unable to continue his advance towards Albany. Encamped at the village of Saratoga, Burgoyne realized he was surrounded by two Colonial armies; in the north Benedict Arnold and in the South, Horatio Gates. Burgoyne's situation had become desperate as both colonial armies continued to receive reinforcements and practically outnumbered his own army. Yet he was resolved to bring them to battle, relying on the superiority of his own trained men who had been reduced by nearly half.

Burgoyne's army would attack Gates's southern colonial army first. Surprising the colonial army he would gain a quick victory over them, forcing Gates to flee the field of battle. Yet it was the surprising arrival of Arnold who, through a forced march, attacked the rear of Burgoyne's army, and rallied the flailing elements of Gates' army. This battle bought an end to British operations in the north and proved a tipping point for the Revolution as France would enter the war, declaring for the revolution.


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The British Surrender at Saratoga
 
Minor historical point - Kingston, not Albany, was the capitol of New York during the war :)
Really? huh!

Well, does not change the fact that Burgoyne's objective was still Albany in an attempt to divide the northern and southern colonies. Just need to slightly tweak it i guess.
 
Really? huh!

Well, does not change the fact that Burgoyne's objective was still Albany in an attempt to divide the northern and southern colonies. Just need to slightly tweak it i guess.

For sure - it's a crucial part of the Hudson, and was an important war aim for the British
 
Although providence would favour the rebels in the north, in the south the British would successfully dominate the colonies.

Z
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Patrick Henry

The first British success would be the capture and execution of Patrick Henry who was one of the leaders of the rebellion in the south, and pivotal to the rebellions attempts to unite against the British. Unfortunately, even with Henry's death, the British were never able to make a foothold in Virginia.

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Henry's Execution

The colony of South Carolina was evenly divided between sympathies for the Crown and the Colonial cause. The burgesses of Charleston were dominated by those loyal to the patriots, whilst the inner reaches of the territory were full of loyalist sympathizers. Although both Loyalists and Patriots were raising militia, it would be the arrival of a British fleet off Charleston harbour, and the capture of Charleston itself which would shift opinion in favour of the Loyalists and Crown. Colonial General Charles Lee would attempt lead a relief force to the colony but he would end up soundly defeated, forcing the remaining Patriots to flee into the hinterland of the colony. Lee's failure would also ensure that Florida and Georgia would fall to British control and his eventual removal from command of the Southern Department.

General Nathanael Greene replaced the disgraced Charles Lee as commander of the Southern Department. Unfortunately for Greene the forces available to him were scarce in number, and when the British armies began their march north towards North Carolina and Virginia, Greene struggles to stem the tide of British sympathy. North Carolina would eventually fall to a combined army and naval campaign commanded by George Cornwallis. The colony of Virginia though would elude to their attempts at invasion and control as resistance was stiffer, and was also supplemented by the few thousand civilian families and soldiers who were fleeing northward from the British.
 
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The year 1777 would change the entirety of the war.

Although France had declared war on the British, they were slow to commit any forces to aid the Colonials. Nonetheless the colonials were undaunted in their pursuit for independence.

The capitulation of Burgoyne's army forced the British to realize how desperate their situation was in the North. Only Rhode Island and New York remained completely under British control, with some minor British holdouts did remaining in the countryside. Howe, who had been driven back from Philadelphia would be replaced by Sir Henry Clinton who would order the immediate evacuation of New York and Rhode Island and the relocation of all British elements to the southern colonies. Effectively, Clinton was seceding control of the Northern colonies to Colonial control.

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Henry Clinton
 
Not long after the capitulation of British control in the north, Spain would declare war. But unfortunately for them they were unprepared for the British response. The tightening of British control of the south would favour ill towards the Spanish colonies of West Florida and Cuba, as well as several of the Caribbean islands. Although the British would fail to capture Cuba at this time, they did add another colony to their southern dominion. By the year's end, West Florida had been added to British control.

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The Floridas.

The British would follow this success up by deploy numerous forces to the Caribbean. Whilst the British navy would keep the French Navy at bay, the British army and marines would 'Island Hop' across the French and Spanish island colonies throughout the Caribbean. The Battle of Martinique would be the most powerful naval battle in the region in which French control of the Island fell under British dominance.

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The Battle of Martinique
 
Interesting. Not to try and rip through the TL, but are you going for a slave-free US (or in otherwords, the north and Canada) with the south under British control?
 
This sounds very familiar. Like, the TL British Dominion of Southern America (I think I got the title right but I doubt it). Guy Carleton is the governor of North Carolina instead of Quebec. Meaning that the United States is any North American land north of the North Carolina border. I haven't really read the TL that much.
 
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This sounds very familiar. Like, the TL British Dominion of Southern America (I think I got the title right but I doubt it). Guy Carleton is the governor of North Carolina instead of Quebec. Meaning that the United States is any North American land north of the North Carolina border. I haven't really read the TL that much.
The idea is similar to Glen's DSA, (and i have already talked to him about having a similar looking North America and need to borrow a part of his work - mostly the treaty of Paris - but i plan on having things like an Independent California and other changes besides. )
 
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