Un Dios, Un Imperio, Un Rey | Alternate TL.

[Paladín Wulfen]

«La guerra es nuestra patria, nuestra armadura es nuestra casa.».
«War is our country, our armor is our house.».
— Common Spanish Warcry during the Thirty Years War​

The Spanish defeat in China was a severe blow to the Spanish pride that had been winning wars almost non-stop. It was one thing to lose a battle and another to lose the war. The so-called Philip II War was a conflict that would give the Dutch a certain mercantile advantage by using Formosa as a base of commercial operations with the nascent Qing dynasty. Felipe II would die from a fit of rage that would make him try to attack several of his advisers who would end up fleeing from him until they ended up tripping and breaking their necks when falling down some stairs. His death allowed the accession to the throne of his son: Philip III, aged 25 in 1630. The young emperor was passionate about the arts, especially painting and theater, intelligent, cultured and fond of hunting, bullfighting and the women. Felipe was not long in marrying Luisa Francisca de Guzmán in 1631, who descended from the kings of Portugal through the paternal and maternal lines. Her paternal grandmother was Ana de Silva y Mendoza, a descendant of Alfonso I of Portugal, and her maternal grandmother, Catalina de la Cerda, was the I Duke of Braganza, Alfonso. She was the great-granddaughter of Ana de Mendoza, princess of Éboli. She is a direct descendant, by mother, of San Francisco de Borja; and, consequently, a direct descendant of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borja or Borgia). Felipe III after his rise to the throne also chose Gaspar de Guzmán and Pimentel Ribera and Velasco de Tovar, known as the Count-Duke of Olivares as valid. The relationship between the Count-Duke and the Emperor Felipe, went back to when Gaspar de Guzmán obtained in 1615 that Francisco de Sandoval, Duke of Lerma, named him gentleman of the chamber of Prince Felipe, future Felipe III of Spain, with time, Olivares, an intelligent man of great influence, was able to win the favor of the future Philip IV of Spain, so that when he acceded to the throne in 1630, he named him favorite instead of the Duke of Uceda, with Olivares' faction triumphing: The Imperialists.

However, while the Count of Olivares begins a frantic political activity. I have initiated a broad program of internal reforms ranging from the social to the economic to the military. The military reforms of the Count of Olivares consisted of standardizing the military regulations, increasing the number of Tercios to a total of 100 Tercios (300,000) distributed throughout the Empire that went from America to Spain, passing through Italy and Africa. The Olivares Reforms reduced the number of pikemen and shortened the length of the pikes from 16 feet to 11 feet, lightening the armor and using it in combination with the musketeers, at the same time so that the cannons had mobility, they shortened them, lightened their chariots of weapons and reduced their calibers. I have adopted three types of artillery: siege (24-pounder), field (12-pounder), and regimental (4-pounder). However, these reforms saw how in 1640, the Uprising of Catalonia broke out, which would be called the Reapers' War (Guerra dels Segadors, in Catalan). This conflict, which began exactly on June 7, 1640, would be more motivated by the huge number of 25,000 soldiers that would have to be delivered to the Imperial Army. Even when the Count-Duke of Olivares proposed exchanging the soldiers for a "service" of 250,000 ducats a year for fifteen years, or for a single "service" of three million ducats, the General Council of the Principality of Catalonia (Generalitat in catalan) refused, emphasizing that their proposals for new "Constitutions" be approved and that the "greuges" ('complaints') against royal officials that had accumulated since the last Catalan courts were held in 1599. Misunderstanding between the Catalan elite and the king himself had also contributed to the death of a royal adviser of Catalan origin, the Marquis of Aytona, who did not arrive in Barcelona because he died in an accident.

The situation increased to such an extent that the viceroys who were in charge of the security of the roads and trade routes could barely contain the attacks of banditry at the service of clans or noble factions that controlled or stimulated the activity of rival gangs of criminals. (Mostly peasants and shepherds affected by the economic crisis in the area, such as Serrallonga). In addition to responding to a secular internal dynamic, they also did not miss the opportunity to intensify it to destabilize the system of government. During the mandate of the Duke of Lerma, public order in the Principality was in a very precarious situation. But the problem broke out during the Corpus de Sangre on June 7, 1640, a large group of reapers, with the connivance of a good part of the local population, would attack some Castilian soldiers who were resting in a tavern, the incident would end with several wounded reapers, three dead and the dead Castilian soldiers. The situation served as a fuse for a general uprising of the entire population of the Catalan counties against the mobilization and permanence in the region of the Tercios of the royal army to the point that the Presidios (fortresses built around the border) were isolated and under siege In the midst of this situation, the Molt Honorable Senyor Pau Claris, at the head of the Government of Catalonia, promoted the decision to place the Catalan territory under French protection and sovereignty by sending a courier ship to France to request military support. This would be used by King Louis XIII of France to invade the Spanish Roussillon and Northern Italy with the support of Savoy who was of pro-French thoughts. In October 1640 French ships began to use the Catalan ports while Catalonia began to pay for an initial French army of three thousand men that France would send to the county by ship.

On the other hand, Italy was invaded in November by an army of thirty-five thousand French soldiers led by the 18-year-old Duke of Enghien Louis II of Bourbon-Condé. The Duke of Enghien managed to get Savoy to lend five thousand Savoy soldiers trained according to the doctrine of Tercio. The Spanish forces stationed in the Capitania General de Milan had been involved in intermittent combat for years with Italian rebels, Protestants and French raiders. But the last few years and months had been a frenzy of army training and reform, so that the quality of command and control and the skill of the individual infantryman had greatly improved. To the extent that it could be said that if anyone was mentally prepared for war, the Milan Tercios were. Spain had been producing soldiers with excellent morale and discipline (chained by loyalty to king and religion) for decades, and a culture that prevalent martial skill and personal apotheosis made an individual Spanish soldier a terrifying opponent in close combat due to Spanish Fencing considered undefeated although it rivaled the Italian. Perhaps most importantly, the Spanish were not accustomed to below-company-level maneuvers and had severe difficulties coordinating small-scale operations except for the so-called Encamisadas: stealth-attack actions intended to sabotage or destroy enemy equipment or decapitate in command of the enemy before a battle. However, the Duke of Enghien brought enough artillery and a supply train to penetrate the line of fortified and well-garrisoned presidios that protected the borders. However, the first French attack on Italy came towards the base port of the fleet in charge of guarding the Italian coast: Genoa. Admiral Jean Armand de Maillé led a fleet of 75 ships to eliminate the fleet or neutralize the port city of Genova.

The attack saw Frances inflict significant damage on the Spanish fleet, most of it receiving only minor injuries from defending coastal batteries. As a general rule, Spanish ships were larger and more heavily armed than normal ships of their size. Their crews were very good, and the ships themselves were state-of-the-art. Surprise and organizational advantage allowed Frances at various points to attack softer elements of the Spanish fleet, before launching fourteen Fireships which ended up detonating and blockading the port. The Spanish fleet, although defeated, could not be said to have been disgraced either. He stood united against the attack, gave in to attacks too hard by enemy fire and ended up sinking most of the captains with their admirals. Other than that he only had limited knowledge of the enemy he was facing; given the circumstances, little more could have been expected. If the engagement had taken place on another day, the French fleet would have been hit much harder. A few days later, far from an easy victory over the Frog Eaters, the Spaniards found themselves in a bitter struggle against a deeply determined enemy. The result was nothing short of a bloodbath. Fighting between November 20 and December 1 resulted in little territorial gains for the French. For the most part, however, the lines remained impassive as casualties forced the Duke of Enghien to wait out the winter and upgrade his army. Enghien's strategy required infantry units to exploit gaps prepared by artillery attack, which required an effective system of communication between artillery batteries and infantry battalions, which simply did not exist. The non-commissioned officers who usually led raids had neither the equipment nor the authority to pass on intelligence and recommend courses of action to nobles who refused to follow orders from lower nobles.

The war soon degenerated into open warfare when a coalition of German Protestant states decided to attack Habsburg-Austrian possessions to prevent them from supporting their Spanish cousins. In response, the Catholic League: a coalition of German Catholic states that served as a counterweight to the so-called Protestant Union, began to move to confront the Protestants. The Protestants chose as their commander in chief Frederick V of the Palatinate who managed to ally himself with the French. Thanks to his alliance with the French, Frederick V managed to finance a powerful and large army made up of German, English, Nordic and even Danish mercenaries, but most of them were Protestant. This time would be marked for Germany as a period of epidemics, famines and looting brought by the armies of the conflict while the region's economy began to collapse as towns and cities were razed, looted or even saw their industry lack. of resources to prosper, while the war became even more horrendous. The war soon became a landscape of armies of war criminals laying waste to towns and cities while mobs of people burned everyone else. In the midst of this conflict I would highlight the Swiss War where Switzerland would end up becoming Protestant and opening a war front against Spain. However, the terror would occur when in 1650 he would enter the war: Sweden led by Gustav II Adolf of Sweden and his professional army that was comparable to the then undefeated Spanish Tercios. The addition of the so-called Swedish Vikings plunged Germany further into the torture, pain and horror of war. But during the war, events such as the battles or sieges of Kreuznach, Alsheim, Oppenheim, Bacharach, Mingolsheim, Wimpfen, Höchst, Frankenthal, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Fleurus, Stadtlohn, Dessau, Lutter, Stralsund, Wolgast, Frankfurt, Werben, 1st Breitenfeld, Rain, Fürth, Alte Veste, Lützen, 1st Rheinfelden, 1st Nördlingen, Willstätt along with dozens more.

The war would end in 1666 after twenty-two years of war with the Peace of Westphalia where the Holy Roman Empire was weakened by the primacy of the German states against external powers, such as the emperor or the pope, which would encourage greater autonomy of the German states. more than a hundred states that were within the Germanic Empire. The Swiss Confederation ended up becoming a Protestant country due to an internal war while Sweden achieved a hegemonic position in the Baltic Sea at the expense of Denmark, which after several lost battles, mainly against Sweden, was forced to sign peace with it in 1645. , where Denmark lost many of its possessions in the Baltic and Scandinavia. Spain on the other hand, would continue its period of decline in Europe where its Tercios would end up losing their supremacy in favor of the French troops that would show their superiority thanks to the uprising of Louis XIV of France that was instructed by the Cardinal-Duke of Richelieu, at the same time that Louis XIV would marry the daughter of the daughter of King Philip III of Spain: Maria Teresa of Austria to establish peace with Spain, although this would not prevent France from supporting the pirates (filibusters and buccaneers) from the Isla de la Tortuga (base French pirate, where they were supplied with gunpowder, ammunition, etc.), coming to attack the western part of Hispaniola from there.​

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

Okay. First of all, I would like to apologize for taking so long to upload the chapter. In my family we have had problems with COVID and well... Now i am fine.

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«Los Reyes no son Dioses todopoderoso. Su fuerza proviene de nosotros y sin nosotros son tan poderosos como el mas pobre de los mendigos».
«Kings are not almighty Gods. Their strength comes from us and without us they are as powerful as the poorest of beggars.».
— Oliver Cromwell.

​

After the fall of the Tudor dynasty and the establishment of the Stuart dynasty, England was plunged into an absolute monarchy of law. The English Parliament was just a temporary advisory committee convened and dissolved at the discretion of the monarch. Although James I of England and VI of Scotland was a defender of the divine right of kings, he sought to temper his absolutist ambitions in order to maintain good relations with his subjects and Parliament. However, these relations became cloudy with the succession to the throne of his son Charles I, whose absolutist thinking caused him to maintain very tense relations during his early reign with the English Parliament, which sought to control his arbitrary creation of taxes, including his religious policy. . This meant that from 1639, prompted by his own belief in his right to rule without restraint, he simply dissolved the English parliament in the face of its opposition to his rule. This brutally worsened relations at the time that new taxes arose, such as the tax on coastal cities to pay for the maintenance of the Royal Navy. Which to raise more money, Carlos then also extended the tax to the cities of the interior. The policies caused the Pirates' Revolt to break out in Cornwall, when the anger of the Presbyterians found common cause with the resentment of the nobility and bourgeoisie. War seemed to the king the only way to resolve the situation. Charles I's strategy was to advance with the royal army as a force from Wales towards an amphibious landing from the north. However, the Royalists were faced with the usual logistical problems: poorly trained and equipped men, transport problems, few secure bases and insufficient stores, and the absence of a detailed campaign plan. The rebels, although somewhat better prepared than the King, at least had the advantage of having the highest morale for defending a cause they believed to be just. The internal resistance was annihilated in June 1640.

The Prince Rupert's Royalist Cavalry charging against the Roundheads.​

The consequences of the rebellion made Parliament move to pass a Militia Ordinance in March 1642, which allowed Parliament to take control of the militia, practically the only professional armed body in the country. The idea of Parliament controlling the army was seen as treason by the King and he sent a company of cavalrymen to capture the members of the Commons in London. However, Parliament had been warned and the men fled even the London people themselves resisted attacking the cavalry soldiers with stones and rotten fruit making them flee. This movement of Carlos was extremely unpopular with the people and throughout the country people began to declare themselves for Parliament and against the Papacy causing a resurgence of Protestant Anglicism. Charles was forced to retire with his family from Whitehall to Hampton Court although soon after he sent his wife Henrietta Maria from Spain to the Continent to rally Catholic support for his cause against Parliament while the King specifically forbade enforcement of the Ordinance of Militia and thereafter began to gather the military personnel around him. The Militia Ordinance was put into effect in early June and the leading parliamentarians began to gather forces: Henry Gray, Earl of Stamford summoned local recruiters in Leicestershire, while Lord Willoughby did the same in Lincolnshire. In response, the King issued Commissions of Arrangements to the local gentry (including deposed Lord Lieutenants) authorizing them to summon the trained bands. Needless to say, the bands themselves reflected the general population with divided loyalties and so both sides began issuing commissions to raise volunteer regiments. On August 23, 1642, Charles officially raised his banner in Nottingham declaring war on Parliament.

The main reasons that prompted the war in favor of the King's side were:

• The deep loyalty towards the King after achieving the withdrawal of Spanish troops.
• The purity of the knightly spirit, which stood out in the courtly era of Carlos I, but which was still deeply nuanced with the old feudal indiscipline.
• The militarism of the nobility of an expert soldier.
• The general distrust towards extreme Puritanism, a sentiment that according to some statesmen was unreasonable and also intolerable for some realists.

The Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the Black Knight under Charles Orders.​

All these reasons motivated the infantry of the royal fleet to fight. According to the perception of the strong peasants who went to war following their landlords, the enemies were rebels and fanatics. For the cavalry, composed mostly of the noblest class, the rebels belonged to the bourgeoisie. While the mercenaries of German origin felt contempt for the citizen militias. The war divided families, while the lower strata reacted with apathy. Parliament had a long-term advantage in having the human and financial resources of London and the help of 20,000 Scottish Protestants. For this reason they tried to exhaust the royalists, whose main general was Prince Rupert, Carlos's nephew. Soon the term Cavalier was defined for the royalist supporters of King Charles I while the Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England. Each side stood out for having a geographical stronghold, in such a way that minority elements were silenced or fled. Royalist areas included the countryside, the shires, the cathedral city of Oxford, and the less economically developed areas of the north and west of England along with Wales. Parliament's fortresses encompassed the industrial centers, ports, and economically advanced regions of the south and east of England, including the remaining cathedral cities (except York, Chester, Worcester). At the start of the conflict, much of the country remained neutral, although the Royal Navy and most English towns favored Parliament, while the King found strong support in rural communities. The war spread rapidly and eventually involved all levels of society. Many zones tried to remain neutral. Some formed self-defense bands to protect their towns from the worst excesses of the armies of both sides, but most found it impossible to resist both King and Parliament.

Oliver Cromwell, the Father of the British Army.​

Amidst this climate would stand out a 42-year-old named Oliver Cromwell, a member of the Cambridgeshire landed gentry. Cromwell would stand out for blocking a valuable shipment of silver from the Cambridge universities that was destined for the king, which served him to finance his own unit to the point that what was a cavalry troop became a regiment that would be known as "Ironsides". ". These Ironsides would lay the foundation for what would become the New Model Army, a standing army formed in 1645 by Parliamentarians raised from veteran soldiers who already held deep-seated Puritan religious beliefs, and recruits who brought with them many common beliefs about religion or society. . The New Model Army served as an effective and professional fighting force that used Swedish and Spanish combat tactics that were being used in the conflict that had engulfed the continent, apart from the peculiar style and mystique with chaplains and religious commanders that made this Soon it was important to the point that by 1648 there were a total of twelve infantry regiments, one dragoon and eleven cavalry, apart from the red uniforms for the New Model Soldiers. Around 120,000 to 150,000 soldiers were deployed during the campaigns while the main battle tactic became known as pike and shot infantry. The two sides would line up facing each other, with musketeer infantry brigades in the center. These carried matchlock muskets, an imprecise weapon that could nevertheless be lethal at a range of up to 300 yards. The musketeers would assemble three ranks deep, the first kneeling, the second crouching, and the third standing. Troops were sometimes split into two groups, allowing one to reload while the other fired.

Among the musketeers were pikes, carrying pikes 12 feet (4 m) to 18 feet (5 m) long, whose main purpose was to protect the musketeers from cavalry charges. Positioned on either side of the infantry were the cavalry, with a right wing led by the lieutenant general and left by the commissar general. Their main objective was to defeat the opponents' cavalry, then turn around and overpower their infantry. The skill and speed on horseback of royalist knights led to many early victories. Prince Rupert, commander of the royalist cavalry nicknamed the "King's Black Knights", used a tactic learned while fighting in the Dutch army, where cavalry charged at full speed against the opponent's infantry, firing their pistols just before impact.

Sack of Liverpool.​

However, with the strategic genius of Oliver Cromwell and the introduction of the more disciplined New Model Army, a company of disciplined pikemen would hold their own, which could have a devastating effect. Old-fashioned royalist cavalry where the cavalry was powerful on its own, had a tendency to pursue individual targets after the initial charge, leaving their forces scattered and tired, while Cromwell's cavalry were slower but better disciplined. Trained to operate as a single unit, it won many decisive victories. In 1648, a period of stagnation was established where the Royalists came to control Wales, North West, West Midlands and South West while Parliament controlled South East, London, East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber and North East together with Scotland. However, the red-haired, Gaelic neighbor of Britannia did not sit still as England fell apart again. The Irish prepared an attack aimed at destroying the port of Liverpool, the attack began with naval artillery shelling the city and its coastal defenses followed by an equally strong marine attack. The population ran through rubble and ruined buildings towards Liverpool Castle while the Militia tried to resist the naval invader who they thought were Scots. The urban militia forces were conscripts still undergoing training, exhausted units withdrawn to rest and recuperate, and second-line garrison units who never expected such a ferocious attack to hold out for only six hours while preventing the attack. civilians suffered the ravages of falling into enemy hands. Despite the fact that the Irish commanders had orders to loot and not to entertain themselves with rapes and massacres, the Irish soon began to kill and rape when the locals hurled insults at them or resisted being robbed of their jewelry or clothing.

Still, the sack of Liverpool would be a success made by Scottish pirates until decades later an Irish sailor was recognized by a woman who raped and gave birth to her bastard daughter. The war saw a resurgence in 1649 when Oliver Cromwell commanding several regiments made up of well-disciplined, well-equipped and well-motivated veterans led an advance with the aim of taking the Cornish Peninsula. Cromwell's advance was made to the sound of the troops singing Cromwell, General of the Realm.

A cold winter's morn in 1642,
My lovely Ann was taken by Charles,
Taken and defiled at the point of Cavalier gun,
And drownèd in the murky waters of Cornualles.

Hundreds more were taken at this date,
Butchered and drowned, or buried in the sand,
Charles's false promises ensured the same fate,
I cursed his papist army to a man.

Then one day on th' horizon I did see,
A hundreds of our soldiers all coming to my land,
And off he stepped, General of the Realm,
And he smiled and placed a sword into my hand.

Off we marched to Plymouth, to Astley's guarded town,
Together we stormed it, with Cromwell at the helm,
He screamed, "You butchers! Remember Plymouth,
And Cromwell, General of the Realm!"

And now I go with flowers to see my lovely Ann,
I go and tell her that her death was not in vain,
I tell my children about the Lord General,
And how he saved our people from the same.​

Cromwell's offensive lasted a week, where Cromwell's trained and motivated troops of infantry, cavalry and artillery attacked with relative ease. By the time the Cavaliers managed to get up from the shock of the resumption of hostilities. A wave of brutal storms stopped the advance. The roundhead horsemen hunted every inch of the ground and executed the Cavalier soldiers almost without stopping. As the Cavaliers and Charles I realized the enormous problems they faced, chaos engulfed the court of Charles I. With the end of the storms came an offensive paved by the best-trained and best-armed soldiers within the New Model. Army, aside from the fact that the Cavalier supporters had been weakened when various Roundhead groups in the Cavalier lines waged a guerrilla war that inflicted a horrendous amount of loss in men and materiel: swords and pikes, armor, cannon, muskets and arquebuses along with Horses and livestock. Oliver Cromwell entered Plymouth having achieved a tactical and strategic victory for the English Parliament. "We can win this." Charles I told the Privy Council about him, though it was unclear who he was reassuring. "We have God Almighty and Catholic England behind us." That faith meant that when an envoy from the Kingdom of Ireland, Charles was forced to accept his help in the form of troops and supplies in exchange for trading rights in a dilapidated Liverpool and a near-besieged Bristol. Charles was unaware that it had been the Irish who had razed Liverpool long before. Irish aid made the Cavalier cause suffer heavily: First, the Irish intervention cost him legitimacy and popularity in the eyes of the English public. Second, when Irish troops began to deploy to the borders, the surviving residents of Liverpool eventually discovered that some soldiers had been in the Sack and began to spread rumors of a dirty Irish hoax.

The Irish arrival served to save the Cavaliers for during the rest of 1651-1653, the New Model Army would enjoy a series of victories against the Cavaliers, as Cromwell's soldiers and tactics proved their worth. The Roundhead Industry producing shipments and units of swords, muskets and cannons, the New Model Army was now a veteran fighting force with experienced commanders, and could now fight on several fronts. The climate of instability in the so-called No Man's Land: a strip of territory that was located between the Cavalier and Roundheads territories gave rise to gangs of around dozens of men, mostly refugees, bandits and deserters, who provided armed protection to the inhabitants of the region, for a price. The largest gang would have up to three thousand members and they applied a kind of harsh law and order that dated back to the days of Anarchy, criminals were hanged after brief trials and shootouts between the Cavalier and Roundhead forces or rival gangs they were a common occurrence. Both sides made some attempts to extend their legal control but were met with concerted guerrilla resistance by men who were familiar with the terrain and used their weapons very effectively. By January 1655, the Cavalier cause was running out of money to continue the war. The treasury was down to its last two hundred thousand pounds and there was nowhere they could borrow more. The French had no interest in giving a dime, the colonies were loyal to parliament, the Spanish were preoccupied with the Twenty-two Years' War, and loans from friendly neutrals like Russia and Norway were just a drop in the bucket, even Parliamentarians. They had revived the Sea Dogs that had sunk or captured dozens of Irish and Cavalier ships, putting a serious handicap to the war effort.

Cromwell Beach...​

By 1660, the situation was disastrous. Children who donated their lead toys to be turned into bullets were popular, as was the family who lost heat so more coal or wood could be put to military use. A propaganda play told the story of a group of workers at a cannon foundry who heroically pushed themselves to meet and exceed their production quotas, overcoming personal and emotional struggles along the way, including school children. they saw their academic studies reduced more and more to help with agricultural work and help meet food shortages, however, many were forced to work in squalid conditions without pay. Oliver Cromwell would end up leading an offensive towards Wales with the aim of eliminating the Cavaliers' strongholds. The Welsh offensive got Oliver Cromwell and his troops used to fighting in the Welsh mountains, where the Welsh-born archers were incredibly fierce and protective of their land. But even when these guerrillas succeeded in defending certain rural areas, the counter-offensive Cavaliers nonetheless proved ultimately futile in their efforts to Drive Out or even stop Cromwell. Cavalier officers acted without reckoning with the limitations of normal soldiers, deploying them in mountainous terrain to disastrous effect. Much of the veteran Cavalier forces were wiped out. Wales and the territories on the Isle of Great Britain held by the Cavaliers were essentially invaded and occupied. Charles I was forced to withdraw to the Isle of Mann with relatively few troops in 1662, until an invasion force assembled on 28 October 1664, consisting of the newly formed Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines . This force formed in the likeness of the Spanish's Marine Infantry, was led by Oliver Cromwell, who would invade the Isle of Mann.

Cromwell leading the charge.​

The Battle of Mann would be an example of a battle without mercy, compassion, or morality. The Cavaliers fought very well, but they were no match for better fed, equipped and prepared troops. Seventeen Roundhead officers were lost in the breach before the fighting spilled into the inner castle, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the King's nephew, leading a charge where they fired their pistols or muskets before letting loose and going with sword, ax or sword. saber. The Roundheads nearly lose and are driven from the castle, half the company slaughtered before Cromwell's arrival with his Ironsides bridges the gap. Wounded Rupert was forced to retreat to the keep. For hours the Royalists fired their guns and threw any kind of projectile weapon they even threw bottles of whiskey, gin or rum with burning rags until they ran out of ammunition, then three uninjured men charged again. Three men who were quickly cut down! Oliver Cromwell captured the King of England and then, in a move frowned upon by all, returned their swords and shot them, so that they could die armed and without incurring the sin of suicide. That was, the last gesture of mercy towards a defeated enemy. A mercy that came moments later with a lucky shot. The author of the shot was Rupert del Rin which with his cousin: Charles II of England who was now in exile in Ireland. The shot had a victim. Oliver Cromwell died on the Isle of Mann being remembered as a national hero who always defended the authority of Parliament and instigated the creation of an Army loyal to the People.

King of England, William III of Orange.​

With the exile of the House of Stuart from the throne of England, England lacked a traditional leadership, to find stability and avoid the outbreak of another civil war with many factions, it was decided that England be governed directly by Parliament in the form of a parliamentary Republic. . However, violence continued in Parliament as the New Model Army exerted some influence but was used as a deterrent to any royalist uprising. The rise of Protestantism instigated by veterans of the New Model Army who punished Catholicism, made a Royalist Highlander uprising necessitate the occupation of Scotland by an English military army led by George Monck. This would cause George Monck to be compared to King Edward I "Longshanks". However, the threat of an Irish invasion supported by a Spain out of the war caused in 1688 a group of notable English Protestants known as the "Seven Immortals" to send a formal invitation to William of Orange: Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht , Guelders and Overijssel. William would ascend to the throne in 1689 as William III of England beginning a reign where he encouraged the passage of the Tolerance Act of 1689, which guaranteed religious toleration to non-conformist Protestants. However, he did not extend tolerance as far as he wanted, even restricting the religious freedom of Roman Catholics, non-Trinitarians and those of non-Christian religions It established, among other things, that the Sovereign could not suspend the laws passed by Parliament , levying taxes without parliamentary consent, infringing the right of petition, raising a standing army in peacetime without parliamentary consent, denying Protestant subjects the right to bear arms, and various other laws concerning the English parliament. England had a new royal house of Protestant origin.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«El Estado soy yo»
«L'Etat, c'est moi»
— Louis XIV of France.

​

The diplomatic defeat of the Twenty-two Years War, although it did not affect the integrity of Spain and its viceregal dominions, would affect the Spanish and Holy Roman vision of a Christian universitas, since French ideas that exalted the reason of State triumphed. as a justification for international action. The State replaced other international or transnational institutions as the highest authority in international relations. In practice, this meant that the State was no longer subject to moral standards external to itself, such as religion. Each State had the right to those actions (political, social and economic) that ensured its aggrandizement. Consequences of the Peace of Westphalia were the acceptance of the principle of territorial sovereignty, the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and equal treatment between States regardless of their size or strength. In practice, things were somewhat different and the result very even for the different States. Some small states were absorbed by France, ended up losing their identity assimilated by the majority culture and were no longer part of it. On the other hand, the states that were part of the Holy Roman Empire were granted much greater autonomy than they already had. However, the greatest loser was the papacy, which definitively ceased to exercise significant temporary power in European politics. The Peace of Westphalia marked the end of the military conflicts that arose as a result of the Protestant Reformation and the Counter Reformation. Since the time of Martin Luther, European wars have been unleashed for both geopolitical and religious reasons. After the Peace of Westphalia, religion ceased to be brandished as a casus belli. In spite of the dispositions that tried a religious coexistence, the intransigence forced in practice to exile those who did not adopt the mentality of the ruler.
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Infanta of Spain: María Teresa de Austria of the House of Habsburg, daughter of King Philip III of Spain​

In the midst of such an event, Louis XIV of France ascended the throne, who ascended the throne with five years on May 14, 1643. In the midst of the period of conflicts and battles that consumed Germany, Italy and Catalonia, in the year 1648 began a French civil war known as the Fronde in reaction to the growing authority of the monarchy in France, which had increased in power under the reigns of Henry IV and Louis XIII (the latter with Cardinal Richelieu as Prime Minister). Nobles of all ranks, from princesses of royal blood and cousins of the king, such as Gastón de Orleans, his daughter, Ana María Luisa de Orleans, Luis II de Bourbon-Condé and Armando de Borbón-Conti, to noblemen of long lineage such as Francis VI , Duke of La Rochefoucauld, Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, his brother, Henri de la Tour de Auvergne-Bouillon, and Marie de Rohan-Montbazon, even nobles of legitimate royal descent such as Henry II of Orleans and Francis of Bourbon-Vendôme, participated in the rebellion against royal power. Even the clergy had representation in the rebellion in the person of Jean-François Paul de Gondi. As a result of these tumultuous days, in which the queen mother is said to have had to sell her jewelery to feed her children de ella, Louis XIV developed a great mistrust of the nobility. The peace treaty included the marriage with the Infanta of Spain María Teresa de Austria of the House of Habsburg, daughter of King Philip III of Spain. The marriage was celebrated on June 9, 1667 in the Church of San Juan Bautista in the town of San Juan de Luz. By the 1680s French power over Europe, under Louis XIV, had increased enormously. The financial management of one of Louis's most famous ministers, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who died in 1683, produced a great change in the royal treasury; the crown's income tripled under his supervision of him. European princes began to imitate the French model in all its aspects.
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French Virroyalty of New France in America.
The marked territory no means explicit settlements or french population.​

French colonies abroad multiplied, both in America and in Africa and Asia, beginning diplomatic relations with nations such as Siam and Persia. For example, the explorer René Robert Cavelier de La Salle claimed for France, in 1682, the basin of the Mississippi River, naming it La Louisiane in honor of Louis XIV. The territory covered a wide swath of expansive terrain that included most of the Mississippi River watershed and stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rockies. The Mississippi River was the main route of communications, this river was followed in importance by the Missouri (Missouri in French) and the Ohio; all the territory to the east of the Mississippi was covered with dense forests of deciduous and coniferous trees, to the west of the Mississippi the dense forest extended about 250 kilometers (area called Travesía de los Leños), then to the Rocky Mountains (in areas disputed with Spain) the extensive region of the prairies that was populated by herds of millions of bison. The very extensive territory of Louisiana was traditionally divided, almost in halves, into a southern sector or Lower Louisiana whose capital was New Orleans, and a northern sector or Upper Louisiana whose capital was Saint Louis, Missouri. Lower Louisiana, or Lower Louisiana (in French, Basse-Louisiane), consisted of land in the Mississippi River basin, with a temperate climate that is marked by hurricanes in the regions along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. , which generally occur between late summer and early fall. Winter frosts are rare in this region, allowing the cultivation of rice, tobacco, and indigo. The landscape of this area was characterized by its many swamps, with large swamps in the Mississippi River Delta and accompanying swamps, which began when streams and streams parted from the Mississippi to form long, slow-moving channels (bayous), forming a navigable network of thousands of kilometers of water.
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French Explorers who come before.​

As the French explored the lower region with settlers coming from all over the French colonial empire, with various waves coming from Canada, France and the French West Indies. However, Upper Louisiana (in French, Haute-Louisiane), was the French territory in the upper Mississippi River Valley, including settlements and fortifications settled primarily by settlers from French Canada. There were more marriages and substantial integrations with the local Ilinuese peoples, while the French settlers were attracted by the availability of arable land and also by the forests, abundant in animals suitable for hunting and trapping since large parts of the area were covered with forests, which were suitable for sheltering valuable animals for the fur trade, for unlike the south, the north consisted mostly of large, fertile plains. The climate is hot during the summer with frequent waterspouts, and very cold as it is under the influence of the polar air current in winter. On the other hand, the French colony within the viceroyalty of New France began to clash with the English colonies of New England: Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, New York and the recently created Pennsylvania, founded in 1681 as a colony owned by Quaker William Penn, notable for its Philadelphia-based Quaker population, a Scots-Irish population on the western frontier, and numerous German colonies in between. Philadelphia became the largest city in the colonies with its central location, excellent port, and population of about 30,000 but with a strong Protestant element that supported pirate activities that reignited an age of English piracy against the Spanish.
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The cultural capital of the France underAncient Regime: Versailles.
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Louis continued the work undertaken by Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin to diminish noble influence by placing commoners or at least members of the new aristocracy in important positions. This policy was based on the fact that Louis could reduce a commoner who had great influence by his position to nothing by simply firing him, which he could not do with the influence of a great nobleman. For this reason, Luis transformed all the great aristocracy to the position of courtiers, while appointing ministers to commoners and new aristocrats. As courtiers, the power of the nobility was greatly diminished. That lack of power was reflected in the absence of rebellions at the level of the Fronde. Louis XIV converted the Palace of Versailles, originally a hunting lodge built by his father, into a spectacular royal palace. On May 6, 1682, he officially moved there with his entire court. Versailles served as the dazzling and overwhelming site for affairs of state and to receive foreign leaders, where attention was not divided between the capital and the people, but fell entirely on the king. Court life was centered on greatness. The courtiers surrounded themselves with luxurious lives, dressed in great magnificence, always attending dinners, performances, celebrations, etc. In fact, many nobles were forced to give up all their influence or rely entirely on royal subsidies and grants in order to maintain the costly Versailles lifestyle. This situation made the nobles stop trying to regain power, which could result in potential problems for the crown, focusing, however, on competing to be invited to dine at the king's table or the privilege of being able to carry a candle when the king he retired to his rooms. This practice was inspired by the practice of the Spanish King Ferdinand I of Spain for the unification of the Spanish government and to eliminate Aragonese, Castilian and later Portuguese and Italian nationalist tensions.
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The Dragoons were brutal in some ways, killing womans after enjoy of her.​

Louis also instigated a campaign of religious unification beginning with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which provided some religious freedom for the Huguenots (members of the Protestant Reformed Church). Louis XIV himself believed that in order to maintain national unity he must first achieve religious unity: Catholic or Protestant; in his case, a unity under Catholicism. This idea was defined in the principle Cuius regio, eius religio, religious policy in force since its establishment in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. In fact, the process of religious unification included the expulsion of the Jews from the French colonies of America and Asia. even the practice of any religion except Catholicism was prohibited. In October 1685, Louis promulgated the Edict of Fontainebleau, which completely revoked the previous Edict of Nantes, under the pretext that the almost total extinction of Protestantism in France made an edict granting them privileges unnecessary. The new edict ordered that any Protestant clergyman who did not convert to Catholicism be banished; Protestant schools and institutions were banned; children of Protestant families had to be baptized by a Catholic priest; and Protestant places of worship were demolished. The edict ruled out the public exercise of religion, but not belief in it. All these measures were reinforced by the dragonnade method: a policy of repression and abuse against the population of Protestant religion. It consisted of forcing the inhabitants to house and feed companies of dragons in their house, which had carte blanche to harass and torture their hosts and loot their belongings if they did not renounce their religion and refuse to convert to Catholicism. In the year 1680, and in Upper Poitou alone, 30,000 conversions were recorded and Huguenots from the region emigrated en masse, particularly to England where the English parliament offered them protection.
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In the military field, Louis XIV stood out for the victorious French conquest of Senegal, French-Tripolitania War and the defeat in the French intervention in the Siamese revolution of 1688 along with others such as King William's War and Beaver Wars that took place in America. . The Conquest of Senegal was more of a colonial enterprise with paramilitary forces working towards the establishment of a trading post to be named Saint-Louis, after Louis IX, a canonized 13th century king of France. The strategic position of Saint Louis allowed it to control foreign trade along the Senegal River. From where slaves, hides, beeswax, ambergris and, later, gum arabic were exported. The French-Tripolitania War consisted of a campaign of punishment against the Barbary pirates, after the capture of several French ships off the coast of Provence where they took the French captains and crews as slaves. Louis XIV sent Admiral Abraham Duquesne, with nine ships under his command, to hunt down the pirates who were subjected to a campaign of punishment to the main coastal cities that were subjected to relentless bombardment until the French were recovered. captured at the battle of Tripoli. However, the French intervention in the Siamese revolution of 1688 was a perfect example of corporate conflict when religious and political tensions in Siam led to the overthrow of the pro-French Siamese king Narai by Phetracha, one of his trusted military advisers. which took advantage of the elder Narai's illness and killed Narai's Christian heir, along with several members of the court that included French Catholic missionaries. Phetracha, having secured his power base, ordered large-scale attacks against the two French fortresses in Siam, supported by the Dutch East India Company while the French received support from the French East India Company, but to no avail. for the Dutch secured their naval superiority. The French defeat in Siam was one of the most famous events at the turn of the century.
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Native americans during a Raid against the English.​

Meanwhile, the King William's War also known as the First Intercolonial War would be a conflict that would see the intense use of the Indian tribes as an auxiliary combat force, precisely this use of the indigenous would be the cause of a series of Indian massacres orchestrated by Jean -Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin and Father Louis-Pierre Thury in Dover, New Hampshire. The war saw the conquest of Port Royal, the capital of Acadia as well as heavy use of warriors from the Wabanaki Confederacy by the French and Haudenosaunee by the English. The conflict served as the backdrop for an ongoing economic war between French and English interests in North America, which instigated tensions between the two sides, with conflicts characterized by frequent raids on Massachusetts that included massacres of men and the kidnapping or enslavement of women and children for ransom or adoption by Mohawk and French, however the war saw the Iroquois Five Nations being hit harder than the English as the French and their Indian allies devastated Iroquois towns and destroyed crops, while settlers from New York remained passive even without offering support or even showing racism in the form of expulsion from towns. While the Iroquois served as an offensive force, the loss of the Iroquois cities caused the English colonists to engage primarily in defensive operations, skirmishes, and retaliatory raids.
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While King William's War was waged against the English. The French waged a war against the Iroquois, this conflict was officially called the French and Iroquois Wars (French: Guerres franco-iroquoises) but unofficially they were called the Beaver Wars. The conflict consisted of a series of intermittent conflicts along the St. Lawrence River valley and the lower Great Lakes region pitting the English-backed Iroquois against the Huron, northern Algonquians, and their French allies. The Mohawk-led Iroquois Confederacy sought to expand their territory and monopolize the fur trade along the shores of Lake Ontario east of Lake Champlain and Lake George on the Hudson River, and the lower St. Lawrence River estuary with the European markets. This trade allowed the Iroquois to be supplied with weapons by their Dutch and English trading partners. While the French forbade the firearms trade to their Indian allies: the Mohicans, Hurons (Wyandot), Neutrals, Erie, Susquehannock (Conestoga) and Northern Algonquians. By the 1630s, the Iroquois were fully armed themselves with European weaponry through their trade with the Dutch. This facilitated a decline in the region's beaver population, and the animal had largely disappeared from the Hudson Valley by 1640 due largely to the expansion of the fur trade with Europe that directly displaced cooler regions northward. southern Ontario, the center of the fur trade: The central area was controlled by neutral and Huron tribes who were close trading partners with the French, which quickly brought the Iroquois into direct conflict with them. While for the Europeans it was a war between Native Americans with economic benefits for the Europeans, for the Natives it was a conflict over hunting grounds with the extermination of tribes and confederacies as it would be in chronological order: Hurons, Neutrals, Erie and Susquehannocks.​

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

While France rose after having recovered from almost a hundred years of constant beatings. Spain suffered like a young man suffering from a flu that leaves him so weak that a simple breath of air would knock him down. Philip III of Spain died on September 17, 1665 of dysentery. Felipe III's successor would be Carlos I of Spain, a young man who grew up with the affection of his parents and developed a great affection for his friends and his parents, with whom he always found a consensus in future disagreements. In his youth he received religious and academic training from the Jesuits. It is said that Carlos spoke several languages: Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian and French, while receiving military training from the Frenchman, René III de Froulay, Count of Tessé. However, Felipe's death caused him to remain under the regency of Juan José de Austria, the bastard son of Felipe III and, therefore, Carlos's half-brother until he came of age in 1675. Carlos's childhood was happy until that at the age of 20, he suffered a hunting accident where he lost the ability to move his arms and legs. Such an accident caused Carlos to be considered a king who would die young, so those years were overshadowed by the political struggle against his opponents and the dramatic situation of the Hispanic monarchy, forced to cede Franche-Comté to France through the Peace of Nijmegen in 1679. In that same year, the 18-year-old King marries Maria Luisa de Orleans, niece of Louis XIV of France. Although she never became truly in love with her husband, over the years Maria Luisa came to feel genuine affection for him, largely due to her vulnerable situation. Carlos, for her part, tenderly loved his wife mostly for the fidelity and attention she gave him. In the absence of a successor to her, the queen, she came to make pilgrimages and venerate sacred relics. She finally died in 1689, leaving the king who would become depressed and gloomy being called Carlos I "El Triste" of Spain.
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King Carlos I, fully aware of his inability to assume the functions of government, had the good sense to put people better prepared than himself in charge of the most important positions. The first measures to reduce rampant inflation, avoid permanent deficits and fill the royal coffers were put into practice by Fernando de Valenzuela, but he was in charge of finances for a short time due to palace intrigues and his measures did not have time to fructify. The measures undertaken by Valenzuela were taken up by the following favorite Juan Francisco de la Cerda, Duke of Medinaceli (1680-1685). Despite the fact that his disputes with the Queen and other influential people were numerous, de la Cerda has the merit of achieving one of the greatest deflations in the history of Spain before resigning from his post, which was detrimental to the public coffers, but very beneficial for the King's subjects, the first step for an economic recovery. Despite the weakness of the Monarch, the reign of Carlos I in economic terms would be described as "a haven of peace", alleviating the pressure on his subjects, allowing a surplus and ending the successive bankruptcies incurred by his father, his grandfather and even his great-grandfather. In addition to making possible the arrival of funds that pleasantly surprised his successor years later. Although in the last years of his reign the king decided to rule personally, his manifest incapacity put the exercise of power in the hands of his second wife, Queen Mariana of Neoburg, advised by the Archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal Luis Fernandez Portocarrero. Her physical condition made all the royal activity that he had to carry out exhausting. Such a situation made that on November 1, 1700, at the age of 38, although he seemed older. Carlos I, last of the Spanish Habsburgs, died. Given the King's lack of direct posterity, King Charles I made a will on October 3, 1700 in favor of Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV of France and his sister, the Infanta Maria Teresa of Austria (1638–1683) , the eldest of the daughters of Felipe III.
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On November 6 the news of the death of King Charles II reached Versailles. On the 16th of the same month, Luis XIV announced that he accepted what was stipulated in the testament of the Spanish king. Felipe de Anjou entered Spain through Vera de Bidasoa (Navarra), arriving in Madrid on February 17, 1701. The people of Madrid, tired of the long and agonizing reign of Carlos I, received him with delirious joy and with hopes of renewal. However, the alliance between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of France led to the formation of an anti-Bourbon block with the aim of putting Archduke Carlos on the throne of Spain as Carlos II of Spain, the countries were made up of Austria, England, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Prussia, and most of the German states who declared war on Louis XIV and Philip IV in May 1702. The war began at first on the borders of France with the States of the Grand Alliance, and later in Spain itself, where it became a European war inside the country, leading to a real civil war, some have argued that this war took place between the different crowns that made up the Monarchy depending on which were more in tune with each other. the Habsburgs or the Bourbons.
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The War of the Spanish Succession in the Iberian Peninsula begins with the uprising in Valencia, when an Austracist uprising broke out in the city, expelling the French ships and the companies quartered in the same city together with the officials. The Valencia Uprising served as a trigger so that simultaneously, contingents of peasants and politicians with Austrian ideas took up arms and motivated their populations to do the same. The conflict began in July 1701, but at the beginning of August, the territories of the former Crown of Aragon (Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia) along with Northern Italy rebelled against King Felipe IV. This rebellion was made at the same time that an allied Anti-Borbonica Fleet with 14,000 men landed near Cadiz at a time when there were not many troops in that region. The allied troops dedicated themselves to looting and looting Puerto de Santa María and Rota, with such fury that the churches and sacred images did not avoid being looted. The looting of Cadiz and its surroundings made Andalucia go in favor of Felipe IV, something that the Castilian austracists had not planned but their lack of communication with the allied commanders such as Admiral Sir George Rooke, General Sir James Butler and Prince Jorge Luis de Hesse-Darmstadt, avoided Austrian support in Andalusia. However, the Carlist cause would gain fame in Portugal when in Santarém Carlos proclaimed his purpose of "liberating his beloved and faithful vassals from the slavery in which the tyrannical government of France has placed them" which aims to "reduce the dominions of Spain to French province comparable to New France. The Carlists would obtain an army of 20,000 Portuguese with which they would try to carry out an invasion attempt through the Tagus Valley, in Extremadura. However, on the outskirts of Ciudad Rodrigo, the Carlist army would face the already considerable royal army of 40,000 men, under the command of Felipe IV.
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In 1704, Philip IV sent the second Marquis of Villadarias, Francisco del Castillo Fajardo y Muñoz, to eliminate the Austracist foci in the former Crown of Aragon. In the midst of the naval operations, the battle of Valencia, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona would stand out, where Valencia was one of the largest naval confrontations of the war in which they fought for thirteen hours, eleven of which would be intense naval fire. Blas de Lezo Olavarrieta, who in the future would be, participated in this battle (and would lose a leg). Captain General of the Spanish Navy. The Bourbon victories meant the Bourbon rule in the Mediterranean coast of Spain, so it was easy that by the beginning of 1705, the Catalan countries ended up under the occupation of 50,000 soldiers. Barcelona, Valencia and Zaragoza were under military occupation. While the mountains were full of miquelet camps (members of the mercenary or volunteer militia from Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia) where many died of hunger or hunted. French and Spanish patrolled day and night, shooting at those who dared to break the rules. Although this situation may seem excessive, less than 50 years ago, Catalonia and part of Aragon had been occupied by France at the request of the Catalans themselves, the experiences of the differences in government between a Spanish Austria and a French Bourbon, were known to them. To combat the miquelet insurgency, King Felipe IV authorized by means of a Royal Order that "Escuadras de Paisanos Armados" be formed. The main functions consisted in containing possible enemy advances of the Spanish Crown and in ending the redoubts of migueletes in favor of Archduke Carlos. From their origins, they acted as a civil police force with characteristics of this type of institution: they stood out for being professionals, paid fairly by the government and the population itself, hierarchized in a similar way to an army, coordinated with barracks located in Comarcas and with legal police functions (dependent on the courts and the Royal Court).
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The Escuadras de Paisanos Armados that would later be called Mossos d'Esquadra or Mozos de Escuadra would stand out for their role in counterinsurgency. However, its jurisdiction would be only in the Old Crown of Aragon. The fighting would stand out in Portugal, however it would highlight a battle that would be key. Gibraltar. This square was especially important due to its strategic location in the Strait of Gibraltar and a communications hub between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and its own defensive characteristics. However, Gibraltar at this time had a population of around 5,000 inhabitants and a military endowment consisting of batteries and fortifications that were more than a century old, having been designed and built on the defenses of the medieval city, under the mandate of Fernando I of Spain, with the designs and direction of the engineer Calvi. However, when an Anglo-Dutch fleet of 61 warships, with a complement of 4,000 cannons, 9,000 infantrymen and 25,000 sailors arrived in the Bay of Algeciras. The alarm sounded and the Governor of the fortress of Santiago de Gibraltar: Diego Esteban Gómez de Salinas y Rodríguez de Villarroel, or simply Diego de Salinas, in command of a contingent of 250 soldiers, made a key decision: he ordered that quickly recruit the civilians of the city of Gibraltar, who were the wives, sons and daughters of the soldiers. In less than twelve hours, the fortress was ready to defend itself against the aggressor. After some naval artillery charges carried out with an intimidating objective, the first movements of the Anglo-Dutch army took place, consisting of the landing of between 3,000 and 4,000 infantrymen in the area known as Punta Mala, to establish their camp. In the following hours, after the establishment of the army on land, two letters were sent from the camp to the city; the first of them, dated in Lisbon on May 5 and signed by the Archduke of Austria, urged the rulers of Gibraltar to surrender and recognize the Archduke as the legitimate heir to the throne of Spain, appealing to the fidelity that the city had maintained to his relative, Carlos I. The properties and privileges of the Gibraltarians were guaranteed in the letter as they recognized their authority, while pointing out that the opposite case would be considered hostile and military actions would be undertaken against the city by the British allies and In the second letter, written in the same camp and therefore dated August 1, the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt himself expressed his desire that the city execute the will of the legitimate king of Spain, avoiding the siege and assault of Gibraltar.
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The entire municipal council, together with the Gibraltarian military commanders, responded that same day by delivering a letter to the camp, expressing their total recognition of Felipe IV as King of Spain and their willingness to sacrifice their lives in the defense of Gibraltar and their habitants. In the letter, Commander Diego de Salinas would reply:​

To: Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt and Admiral Don George Rooke.

Ataque o vayase al carajo.

(Attack or go to hell.)

From: Battle Sergeant General and Governor of Santiago de Gibraltar: Diego Esteban Gómez de Salinas and Rodríguez de Villarroel.​

The response of the defenders was so surprising that the Allied response from the ground would arrive on Friday, August 2, when a second letter from the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt arrived in the city asking for the immediate surrender of the square within half an hour, after the which would start the bombing. The surrender did not take place and, seeing Admiral Rooke that defenses were beginning to be prepared in the city, he ordered Vice Admirals Byng and Vander Dussen to place their ships in a line in front of the city with the aim of hindering the defense works. The wind however was too strong and the training cannot take place. The assault was momentarily postponed, except for a small skirmish carried out during the night, in which several gunboats under the command of Captain Whitaker sank a French privateer located there, with the aim of supplying the defenders. One day a letter had left the city addressed to the Marquis of Villadarias, Captain General of Andalusia, reporting the situation of the city, the magnitude of the besieging army, the Gibraltar garrison and requesting military aid given the impossibility of defending the square. On the afternoon of August 2, the Prince of Hesse-Darstadt, in command of two thousand foot soldiers, stood on the isthmus in front of the walls of Gibraltar while the fleet under the command of George Rooke formed a line in front of the city. At 5 a.m. on August 3, ships and gunboats opened fire on the Gibraltarian defenses. However, these responded to the surprise of the allies, for five hours the damage to the front of the fortress was numerous but it was not possible to breach the walls and the different batteries were still operational. At the same time, the concentration of defense troops in front of the bay left the eastern coast unguarded and from boats some 400 men from the Catalan battalions in favor of the Austrian candidate took advantage of storming the walls.
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The sight of women and children manning the batteries together with the soldiers who were fighting directly caused the Carlists to feel repulsed, seeing themselves mainly against the ferocity of the women who had suffered the attack of the same invading troops who had committed all kinds of crimes. of excesses against the civilian population in the Bay of Cadiz, two years ago (1702). For five days the Gibraltarians defended the fortress until a Spanish Bourbon flotilla arrived from Cartagena to lift the siege. Thanks to a young Basque, crippled in one leg, Admiral Rooke was surprised when they created a dense cloud of smoke using wet straw that was thrown into the sea as the straw burned. The Fog allowed the Spanish fleet to camouflage until it was a short distance from the English and the combat began by firing the capital cannons with incendiary material that managed to set the British ships on fire. In the middle of the battle, a splinter would reach the left eye, destroying the eye of the young Blas de Lezo. The Allied defeat at Gibraltar allowed to maintain the western entrance to the Mediterranean, which had been in Spanish hands for almost two hundred years. This would be key for the operations in the Peninsula to end around 1710, with the escape of Archduke Carlos from Lisbon who fled to the Netherlands and from there to Austria by land. Spain suffered a lot from the war but with the end of hostilities it allowed King Louis XIV to withdraw French troops from the Iberian Peninsula to concentrate on defending the borders of his kingdom threatened from the north due to the advance of the allies in the Netherlands and for this he put all his trust in Marshal Villars who faced on September 11, 1710 the allied troops under the command of the Duke of Marlborough in the battle of Malplaquet. Although the allies prevailed, they had many more casualties than the French, so they considered it a "glorious defeat", which allowed them to resist the allied advance.
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However, they were unable to prevent Marlborough from taking Mons on October 23 and gaining complete control of the Netherlands. But on April 17, 1711 Emperor Joseph I of Habsburg died, his successor being his brother Archduke Charles. Three days earlier, Louis of France, nicknamed the "Grand Dauphin" and father of Philip IV, had died, which placed him in a position even closer to the succession of Louis XIV, still having his older brother, the Duke, ahead of him. of Burgundy and his son, a weak child whom everyone predicted an early death, called Luis, at this time Duke of Anjou, when Philip left the dukedom vacant, and who would finally be the one who would reign as Louis XV. This made the French, Spanish, English and other monarchies negotiate for a possible peace as soon as possible, now that the situation was convenient for them, and they began to see the advantages of recognizing Felipe IV as Spanish king. Fortunately, France was exhausted, which made it more prone to negotiations. Formal talks were opened in Utrecht in January 1712, but the following month the Duke of Burgundy died, leaving only Louis, whom everyone considered incompetent. Louis XIV wanted to appoint his grandson Philip regent, but the English made it an indispensable condition for peace that the crowns of Spain and France would be separated. Whoever occupied one of the kingdoms was forced to renounce the other. In Italy there were minor skirmishes in those days, although Milan's support for Isabel Cristina, the wife of Archduke Carlos, then already Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, was reaffirmed. However, on the European stage, Prince Eugene of Savoy was defeated on July 24 at the Battle of Denain, which allowed the French to recover several places. Finally Philip IV made his decision public. On November 9, 1712, his renunciation of his rights to the French throne was pronounced before the Cortes, while the other French princes did the same with respect to the Spanish before the Parliament of Paris, which eliminated the last point that hindered the peace.
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On April 11, 1713, the first Treaty of Utrecht was signed between the Monarchy of Great Britain and other allied states and the Monarchy of France, which resulted in the partition of the states of the Hispanic Monarchy that Carlos I and his advisers had both wanted to avoid. The Northern territories of the Viceroyalty of Italy corresponding to the Duchy of Milan where intense fighting took place and the Austrians had a majority remained in the hands of the now emperor Charles VI of the Holy Roman Empire, while France obtained Corsica and Sardinia but the Azores islands passed to the British Crown —the Monarchy of France had already ceded the island of Newfoundland, Acadia, the island of San Cristóbal, in the Antilles, and the territories of Hudson Bay—in America. To this must be added the commercial privileges that Great Britain obtained in the Spanish Indies. When trying to make a balance of winners and losers at the time of the Treaty of Utrecht it is a bit difficult to speak in absolute terms. Great Britain can be considered the winner, since it took control of strategic colonial possessions and key seaports for the economy of the British Empire. The Electorate of Brandenburg would expand into the Kingdom of Prussia. The north-Italian portion of the Spanish Empire passed into the hands of the Austrian Emperor Charles VI, although Spain would retain the Viceroyalty of Naples with the Presidios of Tuscany. Felipe IV would apply a set of repressive measures against the Austrians who had supported Archduke Carlos and that affected Spain but more to the Ancient Crown of Aragon. One of the main forms that the repression took was the confiscation of their goods and properties. According to the records after the War of Succession, the value of the haciendas confiscated from the Austracists was as follows: in Castile, 2,860,950 reales de vellón; in Catalonia, 1,202,249; in Aragon, 415,687; in Valencia, 207,690. If it is taken into account that the number of people affected was much higher in the three states of the Crown of Aragon than in Castile, it is confirmed that in the latter those who supported the archduke were fundamentally nobles, while in the Crown of Aragon the support it was much broader and socially diverse.
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In America, the counterpart to the war of Spanish succession that took place in Europe would receive the name of Queen Anne's War. The conflict began with the Burning of St. Augustine, Florida where the population of the city was almost annihilated but They saved by taking refuge in the castle. American military technology was not then as advanced as European. When the war broke out there were only a few places that had stone fortifications, such as Saint Augustine, Boston, Quebec and Saint John of Newfoundland; those in Port Royal were completed at the beginning of the conflict. Some other towns had palisades, but many others only had wooden houses reinforced with embrasures for firearms and a slightly projecting floor to be able to shoot from it at those who approached. to the building. The usual weapons were smooth-bore and had a maximum range of about a hundred meters, although at fifty they were inaccurate. Some also carried pikes; the Indians, for their part, carried weapons that the settlers sold them or their own primitive weapons, such as the tomahawk or the bow. Some colonists knew how to use artillery, but it was only effective when attacking stone or wooden defenses. British colonists used to form militia companies; the colonies had no permanent regular troops except those stationed in some towns in Newfoundland. The French also had their own colonial militias, but they did have regular troops, marines called troupes de la marine. These had some veteran officers and were made up of between five hundred and twelve hundred recruits from the metropolis. They were quartered throughout New France, although the main nuclei were in the most relevant towns. Spanish Florida had several hundred regular troops along with militias.

Throughout the war, the British fought against the Spanish and their allies; the campaigns were normally carried out by Indian contingents, sometimes joined by some British. Chief among these raids were the one against Pensacola in 1707 and the attack on Mobile in 1709. To this end, the Creek, Yamasee, and Chickasaw were armed by the British, who led them in their attacks against the Spanish at the time that incited the Choctaw, Timucua, and Appalachian to rebel against the Spanish who held them in a servile class. The Spanish territories in Mexico and the Caribbean were barely touched due mainly to the defenses and the quality of the ships and crews who were a nightmare against the British privateers. In North America, between the French and English territories, the Frenchified natives carried out great killings of settlers and capturing others. More than a hundred captives were taken north on a long journey of hundreds of miles to the Caughnawaga mission near Montreal, where the Mohawks adopted most of the children who survived the march. Some of the adults were released for ransom and others were exchanged for prisoners held by the British, including a priest who unsuccessfully tried to rescue his daughter. The priest would end up dead while his daughter was forced to marry the murderer of her father. During those years there was an intense trade of captive settlers and their towns often raised money to free them by paying ransom. The British settlers in New England could not prevent the raids of the enemy, but they undertook their own punitive expedition against Acadia, commanded by Benjamin Church, famous for his fight against the Indians. In October 1710, 3,600 British under Francis Nicholson finally seized Port Royal after a week of besieging the place. This event put an end to French rule in the peninsular area of Acadia.​

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«La ultima vez que vi a mi abuelo, me dijo... Sed Español. Ese es vuestro unico y principal deber.».
«The last time I saw my grandfather, he told me... Be Spanish. That is your only and main duty.».
— Attributed to Philip IV Of Spain.

​

The new Emperor of Spain: Felipe IV de Borbon, began his reign in a turbulent way. After the War of Succession, he saw how Northern Italy was stolen from his dominions, however he kept a large part of his Colonial Empire in America. However, he saw the need to reform some Spanish institutions that had lagged behind, compared to France, for example. One of the simplest solutions and even well seen by some parts of the nobility was the Law of Fundamental Succession, in which women could only inherit the throne if there were no male heirs in the main line (children) or lateral (brothers and sisters). nephews), which was intended to block the access of foreign dynasties to the Spanish throne, a solution to the Salic Law. Felipe IV also carried out a complete modernization of administrative techniques. This would be possible thanks to the professionalism of the civil servants brought from France and the elaboration of laws and clear indications. The rendering of accounts to the pertinent authorities became regular and periodic, and the supervision was carried out permanently, being able to replace the official who did not fulfill his functions, reaching the point of imposing a prison sentence in case of being too negligent or corrupt. This at the same time strengthened and regulated economic activities. Improving the tax system that increased taxes and created new customs, in charge of collecting taxes on domestic and foreign trade while mercantilist measures were ratified, such as the prohibition of importing textile manufactures or the export of grain; and attempts were made to revive colonial trade through the creation of privileged trading companies (in the style of the Netherlands or the Kingdom of Great Britain). The largest and most prominent of these privileged trading companies would be the Compañía Gaditana de Negros, dedicated to the slave trade between Africa and Spanish America.

Others would be the Real Compañia de la Havana (Cuban sugar monopoly), Real Compañia de las Filipinas (monopoly of direct trade between the Philippines and the metropolis together with the use of armed ships called Coast Guards, used to prevent trade with any other unauthorized ship or individual by the company) and finally the Real Compañia Minera Asturiana del Peru (Monopoly of the extraction and transformation of the mines of the Viceroyalty of Peru). However, there were other companies for colonization purposes that will be discussed later. Emperor Felipe IV would stand out when together with French military advisors, he would carry out a profound modernization of the army with fundamental aspects: the king would be in charge of supervising and directing the actions of the army, it would be under the direction of a corporately organized noble officers and all military life would be meticulously regulated while the massive incorporation of the nobility to which officer jobs had been reserved, established a harsh disciplinary framework in relations between officers and subordinates, and the consideration of military life as a permanent and not temporary profession, something that had been gradually abandoned throughout the 16th century. With these reforms initiated during the War, an organic transformation of the army began, although inevitably many of the old customs of the Habsburg army would continue to exist, which would continue until well into the century. XIX, such as the custom of the General to grant his own name to the regiment under his command, as could be the case of the Marquis of San Blas. During the reforms, the nomenclature and the system of organizing the army were adopted according to the French model. At the same time, the old Austrian Guards were replaced by 3 companies of Guardias de Corps (Spanish, Italian and Portuguese), 2 regiments of Infantry Guards (Spanish and Portuguese), and a company of Halberdiers.

Among the Privileged companies that were created, I would highlight the Royal Company of the Californias. The Royal Company of the Californias was founded by Basque merchants who obtained permission to mine in the Californias region and to expand the Spanish dominions there. The company obtained the monopoly to manage the trade of the Mines that were found or built in the Californias. In exchange, the Company agreed to install, at its expense, a minimum of 25,000 settlers and their families, to administer the colony, to defend the territory, and equally to devote itself to dealing with the local Indians, either through their enslavement or their extermination. The one hundred shareholders each had to advance a capital of 3,000 reais, which was an initial capital abundant enough for the purpose of the Company. At that time, the Company managed to obtain the help of the leather dragons: a body of defensive troops created for the defense of the presidios of New Spain. The leather dragons differed from the regular Spanish army by their hiring and equipment. Most were born in America, usually Creoles or mestizos. They were, of course, on horseback and carried more powerful weapons. While a regular Spanish soldier had a rifle or pike and a sword; leather dragons were equipped with a spear and shield. Besides, they had the support of the Jesuit Missions who served to build some 21 outposts or religious missions that were connected by a land route that would later be known as the Camino Real that went from San Diego de Alcala to San Francisco Solano near San Francisco de Asis, San Rafael Archangel and San Jose.

Common Religious Mission in California.​

However, the rise of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain came at the dawn of the Golden Age of Piracy when Anglo-American sailors and corsairs unemployed after the War of the Spanish Succession turned to piracy en masse. With the end of this conflict thousands of sailors, including corsairs, were removed from their military duties. The result was a large number of unemployed sailors trained in naval warfare at a time when trade across the Atlantic was beginning to flourish. In addition to this, many Europeans who had been spurred by unemployment to participate in the slave trade sometimes alternated slavery with piracy. As part of an agreement after the War of the Spanish Succession, England was granted the "Asiento de Negros" by the Spanish government to provide slaves to the Spanish colonies in the new world, opening the doors to traffickers and merchants. British to the traditionally closed Spanish markets in America. This arrangement also contributed heavily to the spread of piracy in the western Atlantic. Trade in the colonies exploded at the same time as there was an abundance of experienced seamen after the war. The merchants used this surplus supply of sailors to lower wages and thus maximize their profits, creating precarious conditions inside their ships. Merchant ship sailors suffered from low morale. Living conditions were so poor that many sailors preferred a free existence as pirates. This caused a large number of bandits to stalk them. This at the same time gave rise to the Pirate Republics as the most important of them: Nassau (New Providence Island in the Bahamas). This Republic from the outside was in chaos but inside it was governed by the self-proclaimed pirate code where pirates governed their ships democratically, sharing the loot and selecting and deposing their captains by popular vote. Some of the pirates were also Jacobins, who had turned to piracy for their support of the deposed Stuart dynasty.

In the middle of the reign of Philip IV, the Great Northern War would end. A conflict that took place almost at the same time as the War of the Spanish Succession and took place throughout the territories of Eastern and Northern Europe where he faced the Swedish Empire of Charles XII against the Russia of Peter I with some nations supporting one or the other. The origin of the war was the clash of territorial interests between Sweden and her neighbors Denmark-Norway, Russia and Poland, which triggered an alliance between these three States against the Swedish power. Sweden, between 1560 and 1658, had forged an empire in the Baltic through conquests of territories from neighboring countries and had become a world power with predominance in Northern Europe. This made her old enemies wait for the right moment to recover the lost territories and expand her regional influence. When Carlos XII ascended after the death of his father, he inherited a strengthened country, with an army that, although relatively small compared to the English or even French, was one of the best trained and prepared in Europe. While the Russian Tsardom was a poor country with visible signs of backwardness. The government of Pedro I from 1696 (on the throne from 1682) meant great changes for the country. The tsar introduced a series of reforms in the most diverse fields: culture, politics, society, economy and army, which were aimed at modernizing the country following the patterns of Western Europe. To promote trade with the West and create a powerful naval force, Peter faced rivalry from the Ottoman Empire, then a regional power that dominated the Black Sea. He attempted to forge an alliance with European powers to combat the Turks, but lack of success made him turn to the Baltic and accept Danish offers of an alliance against Sweden.

The fighting period was divided between Scandinavia, the Baltic, Poland and Russia.

In February 1700, the Saxon army invades Swedish Livonia; in March, it is the Danes who gain access to Gottorp and besiege Tønning. Charles XII decides to take care of Denmark first since he has just signed the Treaty of The Hague with England and Holland, the main maritime powers. Thanks to this agreement, in June of that same year, an Anglo-Dutch fleet with the help of the Swedish one surpasses the Danish navy, which takes refuge in Copenhagen. Simultaneously, the Swedish-German army advances towards Holstein. Charles XII invades the island of Zealand, so Frederick of Denmark signs the Peace of Tarvendal in August. After the campaigns of the previous months, Sweden manages to get Norway and Denmark out of the war. Months later, in October, Carlos decides to take charge of Livonia, and lands his army in Pernau. Likewise, he deals with the Russians, who were besieging Narva, and liberates the city in the homonymous battle, despite the enormous Russian superiority. Despite the victories, Charles XII refuses to make peace with Augustus II of Poland, since he thinks that this would keep the peace but only for a short time, so he continues with the war. In the year 1700 a civil war takes place in Poland, in which the Sapieha family, contrary to Augusto, is defeated, so Carlos wants what remains of this family to help him in the conflict. In January 1702, Charles XII of Sweden invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and won in Kliszow, getting Stanislaus Leszczynski to be proclaimed king in 1705. In the same year, 1702, Peter I of Russia took Nöteborg. Meanwhile, Carlos is dedicated to expelling Russians from Poland-Lithuania. Five years later, after a series of battles and events with the Swedish army, Russia offers peace to Sweden. Carlos tries to invade Russia, but is forced to move to the south of the Ukraine. At this stage of the war the Battle of Poltava takes place, decisive for the future of the Baltic and St. Petersburg. In this confrontation, who is defeated is the Swedish army, which surrenders in Perevdochna.

After numerous battles and altercations, Carlos is trapped in Turkey by a plague from 1709 to 1714, an event that Frederick of Denmark and Augustus of Poland take advantage of to resume their posts in the war. Denmark declares war in October 1709. Meanwhile, the maritime powers on the Swedish side are busy with the War of the Spanish Succession, so the Danish army lands unopposed in Scania. At the Battle of Helsinborg in March 1710, Sweden defeated the Danes. At the beginning of that same year, Augusto returns to Warsaw. Unfortunately for Sweden, Riga, Pernau and Reval fall into Russian hands. In September 1713, they also seize Stettin, which the Russians use to tempt Prussia into entering the war on the Allied side. Between the years 1712 and 1714, Peter of Russia had taken over Finland. Carlos knew that he could not obtain a total victory, but the concessions that he proposes to his enemies are not enough for them. Sweden launches a diplomatic offensive in order to divide the enemies. In 1715, Prussia and Hannover join the conflict, something that influences the failed invasion of Norway by the Swedes in the following year. On December 11, 1718, Charles XII of Sweden was shot dead in front of the Swedish vanguard in the advance towards Oslo, leaving the throne empty and without an heir, which would be occupied in 1720 by Frederick of Hesse. In 1719, peace is signed with Hannover and Prussia; and, the following year, with Denmark, although forced by Great Britain. After the naval battle of Grengam, the Russian attacks on the Swedish coast ceased, but in 1721 they resumed, causing the surrender of Sweden. The Treaty of Nystadt is signed in September 1721 and, through it, Sweden recovers Finland, renounces Ingria, Estonia and Swedish Livonia, and loses the Karelian Isthmus to the Russians. The war with Poland continued until the renewal of the Treaty of Oliva ten years later, in 1731. The Treaty of Nystadt made Russia the substitute for Sweden, becoming the hegemonic power in the Baltic.

The conflict had lasted for almost twenty years and had brought the contenders to total exhaustion, but it was not until the death of the Swedish monarch that peace negotiations began, which lasted until 1721, the year of the official end of the war. . Subsequently, and as a reaction to the military undertakings of Charles XII, a new constitution, in practice republican, would be implanted in the country with the aim of limiting royal power while ending Sweden's hegemony in the Baltic. Henceforth, she would be forced to become one more pawn in the game of alliances that the great powers disputed on the European chessboard, among which Russia would be counted. After (and during) the war there was a major demographic crisis, not so much because of the deaths caused by the war but because of the spread of infections, the seizure and destruction of crops or the suspension of economic activity in rural areas, as a result of the flight of labor and the requisition of draft animals and crop seeds. In Poland the social situation returned to what it was before the war, if not even more extreme. A society weakened by disease and war, with conflicts on the borders with Ukraine, whose peasants (both Poles and Ukrainians) would take the opportunity to riot and rise up violently, fueled by the crisis in the political and judicial order. For their part, the United Provinces had ceased to be a great power. The failure of the British anti-Russian project was both a cause and a consequence of the success achieved by Pedro I. By the middle of the 18th century, Russian hegemony was already established, on the other hand due to marriage alliances with the Germans. Pedro I planned to modernize Russia and be a greater power, especially in the western terrain, but it would not be until the time of Catherine the Great when her southern projects would materialize.

The Russian victory, which upset the political stability of Eastern Europe, changed the entire system of international relations on the continent. The Nystad Treaty clearly signaled Russia's entry among the great European powers and the removal of Swedish and Polish rivals as a serious threat. Peter himself abandoned the old name "Muscovy" and adopted instead the grander title of "Russian Empire", and his senate proclaimed that Russia had joined the community of political nations.

While these events were occurring, England was expanding its interests in America and Asia through the use of the English East India Company ("the Company") which was founded in 1600, as the London Company of Merchants trading in the East Indies. It gained a foothold in India with the establishment of a factory in Masulipatnam on the eastern coast of India. Later its facilities would expand to Sura (1612), Madras (1640), Bombay (1668) Calcutta (1688) fighting the other companies of Spanish, Dutch, French and Danish origin that were expanding in a similar way in the region. The Company would stand out for obtaining such power that it would not take long to build a small army to protect commerce. The force was christened the Honorable East India Company's Marine and would soon be noted for mapping the coasts of India, Persia and Arabia and even recruited many Indian loscars: Asian militiamen or sailors who reached the point that the number of Indian sailors employed on ships The United Kingdom became so large that the British tried to restrict this through the Shipping Acts that came into force in 1660, which required that 75 percent of the crew of a British-registered ship importing goods from Asia had to be English. Initially, the need arose because of the high rates of illness and mortality of European sailors on ships bound for India (a tropical climate and nowhere near that of England), and their frequent defections from India, leaving the bareboats for the return trip. Another reason was wars where the Royal Navy's recruitment of British sailors overtook the Company's priority.

A key date for the reign of Felipe IV would be in 1724 when he decided to abdicate in favor of his son Luis. The reasons for this official abdication was because of the strong depression that he suffered from adolescence. His wife Isabel Farnesio, whom he had married in 1714, tried to cure the king's melancholy with the song of the castrato Farinelli, but logically that did not work and sometimes it was common to see the Imperial Monarch walking naked through the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. His unofficial abdication was understood as the action of an insanely ill man who is aware that he is not fit to govern and chooses to withdraw from the responsibilities of government. However, the queen herself was always perfectly informed of what was happening at the court of Toledo. Tragically, Luis I of Spain called by the people as "the Well Beloved" or "the Liberal" after six months of government, fell ill with smallpox in August of that same year. Luis I hardly had time to father children because he married the French princess Luisa Isabel de Orleáns, daughter of Felipe II of Orleáns. When they married, he was fifteen and she was twelve. Luisa Isabel, as queen, made necessary a strong censorship for her extravagant behavior due to the emotional instability that she suffered from her. Luisa Isabel came to appear before the entire court dirty and smelly, she refused to wear underwear and tried to provoke the staff by exposing her private parts in a provocative way. She is also said to have refused to touch the food on the table, but then she would hide and compulsively gobble up whatever came to hand, whether it was edible or not. Her behavior could worsen over time, since overnight she was seen cleaning objects of all kinds in the palace. The subjects watched in astonishment as the sovereign came to undress, grab her dress and strive to clean the windows of the room with it. Even his husband was horrified by the situation.

However, Luisa Isabel diligently cared for her husband, exposing herself to contagion, as happened, although with a different outcome from her husband's. Seven months after ascending the throne, the monarch died of smallpox in Madrid on August 31, 1724, having just turned seventeen. While Luisa Isabel returned to France at the will of Queen Isabel Farnese.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

While Felipe IV ascended again to the throne. He came up with ideas suggested by scholars and retired French officials from expanding the Census. His goal was for the Census to provide a list of every person living within the empire that associated wealth-relevant factors with each of those people, whether they were a native of Spain or a native of the Viceroyalties. Among these factors were name, direct and indirect monetary income, financial savings, home, social order, family ties (not only of men but also of single women, even marking maiden names), profession and property value. In order to collect such information, Philip hired hundreds of census takers and established numerous census offices in cities throughout the Spanish Empire. An enormous amount of paper and ink would become basic purchases to record all the information collected by the censors. Based on these data, he classified people into income brackets, grouping them according to their ability to pay taxes. Of course, since most people did not have a monetary salary, the Census was designed to account for alternative means of payment. For example, when surveying a farm, a census taker would ask how much land its tenants planned to devote to growing certain crops. The amount of each would be recorded, which would allow an estimate of their harvests for the following years. A tax collector would have to have a number of accountants assigned to him to perform most of the calculations necessary to implement such a system. Financial analysis using Census data was modern and employed quantitative statistical reasoning, but it did the job well enough to avoid dramatic inefficiencies or blatant injustices; in short, a drastic improvement over previous procedures. In hindsight, this allowed for more efficient administration, law enforcement, and taxation while turning absolute gold dust for historians who could then trace lineages and demographic changes with surprising ease.

Thanks to this, it was possible to know with registered and confirmed sources that the largest European cities of the Empire in 1730 were Naples, Toledo, Lisbon, Barcelona and Rome. Male literacy, recorded at 61.3% in 1730, was surprisingly high for the time. A certain popularity of Castilian names was also discovered in the territories of the Ancient Crown of Castile, New Spain, Peru and Rio de la Plata, Catalans in the territories of the Crown of Aragon together with Italy and Portuguese in Brazil, Africa and Asia. Trade routes were traced and wealth could be seen moving throughout the country. It was also discovered that in domains such as Chiles or the North of New Spain, including the Philippines and Australia, Polygamy was practiced. This is mainly due to the significant shortage of men of reproductive age. Therefore, the local government, to favor the increase of the population of the territory, decided to adopt a policy known as Concubinage. That is, polygamy was favored, on the basis that, in some cases in rural areas, the proportion of the population of men in relation to women could reach approximately one in fifty. These policies also favored the creation of caste systems. A system that classified people by race or ethnic mix that ended up organizing a stratified social system. This system ended up being generally organized from greater to lesser importance, however this system was not applied in the Viceroyalty of Japan:

1. Peninsular: Born in Europe.

2. Criollo: Born in America of Peninsular Parents​

2. Castizo: From Peninsular with mestiza​

3. Mestizo: Spanish Man + Indigenous Woman.​

3. Mulatto/Mulata: Spanish Man + Black Woman​

3. Harnizo: Mestizo Man + Mestizo Woman​

4. Indian/Native: Indigenous​

4. African: Black​

While efforts were also directed at gradually rebuilding areas negatively affected by the Succession War, rebuilding and repopulating abandoned villages, restoring shattered or decaying roads, and generally breathing life into war-torn lands. Many smaller towns and cities saw their churches, town halls, taverns and workshops burned or looted, now often restored or torn down and rebuilt again. Frustrated that his area of support was so relatively limited to the wealthy Spanish Levant, Philip did something no king in centuries had done: he turned his attention to the Catalan Countries. Barcelona was often larger than Toledo, apart from being an important center of trade and early industry, of culture and population, and a melting pot of peoples and ideas. However, it was often neglected: its architecture was rather bland and neglected, its people poorer than those of Toledo, Zaragoza, Seville, Granada, even Naples or Rome. The War of Succession left the city in ruins and even now, decades later, the scars were still visible. Felipe set aside tens of thousands of Reales and dedicated himself to rebuilding the city. A big competition was held for architects to launch new ideas to beautify the city. The winner was the Catalan architect and civil engineer José Anselmo Cerda, who would direct the urban reform of Barcelona in the 18th century through the Cerdá Plan. The city had to demolish entire neighborhoods to have a sufficiently optimal scheme to begin its reconstruction with an open and egalitarian grid structure inspired by the ancient Roman Civis (Cities). The medieval wall that had allowed the city to resist seven sieges between 1641 and 1714 represented a brake on urban expansion, so it was soon demolished to make way for an urban expansion that would build wonders such as the Ciudadela park (in Catalan Parc de la Ciutadella) which for many years would be the only public park in Barcelona.

Ejercito Español de Ultramar​

Even more difficult was reforming the armed forces. Although Felipe had a lot of respect among the majority of the population, the military had not noticed. Philip presented herself to the Empire, demanding with great enthusiasm the creation of a Ejercito Español de Ultramar: The new army was a great force; it had up to 250,000 troops and would be well supplied by the Reales Fabricas de Armas y Municiones, and Fabricas de Artilleria , which produced many thousands of muskets and cannon for the new force. However, the new army was intended to serve as a security force in the Ultramar regions. The Ejercito Español de Ultramar stood out for being divided into operational formations of the maximum size of Regiments in each Viceroyalty that would identify them, for example: Infantry Regiment of Peru No. 17 or Dragoon Regiment No. 5 of New Spain. By 1730, the Empire had the following number of forces distributed by Viceroyalty.

• Viceroyalty of Morocco
  • - 10 Infantry Regiments
  • - 5 Cavalry Regiments
• Viceroyalty of Naples
  • - 20 Infantry Regiments
  • - 5 Cavalry Regiments
• Viceroyalty of Tunisia
  • - 20 Infantry Regiments
  • - 10 Cavalry Regiments
• Viceroyalty of New Spain
  • - 30 Infantry Regiments
  • - 10 Cavalry Regiments
• Viceroyalty of Peru
  • - 20 Infantry Regiments
  • - 5 Cavalry Regiments
• Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata
  • - 10 Infantry Regiments
  • - 5 Cavalry Regiments
• Viceroyalty of Brazil
  • - 30 Infantry Regiments
  • - 10 Cavalry Regiments
• Viceroyalty of Japan
  • - 40 Infantry Regiments
  • - 20 Cavalry Regiments

However, the European influence in America gave rise to the so-called "Horse Lords" of America. After large groups of horses escaped and roamed the plains west of Mississippi. These great plains comparable to the Mongolian or Ukrainian steppes were well suited to the horse and rider, who were suddenly able to command the plains at a speed that none of their ancestors had ever achieved. The first tribe to take advantage of this were the Pueblos. A tribe that lived in the northern reaches of New Spain, initially captured their horses from Spanish explorers but due to their lack of knowledge of use, they decided to buy them directly from the Spanish at a high price in furs, food, even slaves and, once Realizing its potential, they began in 1690 an impressive policy for the Spanish mind of breeding, buying and domesticating, so that by 1720 the Pueblo nation is estimated to have had some 25,000 horses, something particularly impressive given that there were only about 50,000 Puebloans. Later they independently developed a unique form of archery on horseback and, using this talent, faced enemy tribes such as the Apache, Ute or Navajo. However, from the North they came conquering the various nomadic tribes and scattered a tribe known as the Comanche. The Pueblo Kingdom, as the Europeans nicknamed them, were unable to meet the Comanche in direct fight, but their horses and great knowledge of the terrain gave them intense speed, hunting, and military prowess. However, the Comanche soon had a quick adoption of musketry, which they used to dominate the Puebloans: Unlike the Puebloans, the Comanches were formidable opponents who adapted to developing strategies for fighting on horseback. War was an important part of Comanche life and that ferocity soon led them to occupy the territories of the Capitania General de Tejas.

The arrival of the Comanches soon led to the emergence of a slave trade that would be based in Tejas. The main place of the Texas slave trade was the Spanish city of San Antonio, which had artillery and a strong garrison of the Dragoons of Cuera. Tribal slave traders engaged in the slave trade there: Ute, Navajo, Apache, Pueblo, Comanche, and others, who by right to trade, kept the peace and shed no blood within four days' horseback from the city. In San Antonio, sometimes as many as 50,000 slaves, mostly natives, were located simultaneously. For the Europeans, the territory north of New Spain was a wild and dangerous field, which served as a forbidden zone except for the Dragons of Cuera. The Comanches soon proved to be skilled riders, with each rider usually leading two more free horses. Both large and small groups raided in summer. Winter raids were rare, but always involved large numbers of warriors, perhaps due to necessity. As they reached a populated area, parties of several hundred broke off from the main body. These spread through the countryside and surrounding towns. So that no one escaped at night they lit big fires. Then they robbed, burned and killed and took not only men, women and children, but also horses, bulls, cows, goats and sheep, even dogs and cats.

​

The condition of the captives when they were taken to San Antonio was very difficult. Held in bondage, divided into small groups, hands tied behind their backs with rawhide straps, tied to green wooden poles with ropes around their necks. Held at the end of a rope, surrounded by and tied to the horsemen, they were driven by whips across the fields without stopping. The weak and the sick often cut their throats so that they would not delay the march. They often ate the meat of dead horses. Arriving in the outskirts of Texas, where they were relatively safe from attacks by other tribes, the Comanche let their horses roam freely as they set about dividing up the captives, each of whom was branded with a knife. Having received his slaves as inalienable property, each Comanche could do with them as he pleased. According to a Jesuit missionary who tried to convert them to Christianity, "the old and sick, who were not worth much money, were given to the young, like rabbits, to hunting dogs for their first military practice and were stoned to death, or thrown to the nearest river or dead in any other way«. A rider from the Dragones de Cuera who accompanied a contingent said: "The Indians cut the throats of all the men over 60 who were thought to be unable to work, the 40-year-olds were kept to work hard, the boys alike." , and girls and women received kind treatment to be sold later, probably as bed slaves. The prisoners were divided equally and batches were distributed according to age so that no one could complain that more old than young had been delivered. To their credit, I must say that they were not stingy with their loot and it was offered with extreme courtesy, to everyone who came their way including me.«.

In San Antonio they were taken to the Bazaar (word taken from the Arabic) or slave market and placed in a single row, joined by the neck. The buyers carefully inspected the male or female slaves, beginning with their outward appearance and ending with the intimate parts of their bodies, to ensure that there were no missing teeth, blackened teeth, warts, bumps, or other blemishes. Beautiful girls were especially valued. An English Quaker described San Antonio as "an insatiable and lawless abyss, drinking our blood." In addition to the poor food, water, clothing and shelter provided, they were subjected to backbreaking and abusive work. According to the same English «the strongest slaves were castrated, others had their noses and ears cut off and had the mark on their foreheads or cheeks. During the day they were tormented with forced labor and at night they were kept in dungeons populated with rats and cockroaches." Once sold, they were transported to distant territories or provinces: Cuba, Florida and Yucatan among them. On the way they had to endure torment: often a ship was sometimes so full that they could not move and were forced to lie stretched out on the deck to facilitate the passage of the whites. They ate and slept stretched out. In such conditions, a large number sickened and died, the last being thrown into the sea. Men were often sent to the mines, where they were worked to exhaustion. Captive women were sent to wealthy homes for carnal pleasure and educating adolescent children (who followed the lewd behavior of their elders), while the less beautiful were assigned domestic work and were subjected to physical abuse such as beatings, torture. in the form of games and in some cases practices with animals penalized by the same Inquisition, although the Spaniards did it for fun in the face of the suffering of the victim.

Cristiano Arasaka​

The Bourbon reform in the Viceroyalty of Japan, often ignored by Europe, enjoyed a golden age of great cultural and economic flourishing. Where they began to export Japanese merchandise and fashions, especially attracting European merchants from France, who settled in various ports in southern Japan. The arrival of the French was tolerated by the Austria-Yamato hereditary Viceroys, much to the outrage of the conservative Kazoku (privileged nobility), although they were seen as a means to acquire European money, knowledge and goods. He even built his own merchant fleet to ship goods abroad, taking an active role in peaceful trade. This would be carried out by what would be known as Zaibatsu, a Japanese equivalent of Privileged Company. The most important and first of these would be the Imperial Japanese Trading Company (Spanish: Compañia de Comercio Imperial Japonesa) nicknamed Arasaka: a name that meant "derefined/unfinished hill" (Ara means derefined/unfinished, Saka means Hill). This Zaibatsu would be founded by the Cristiano Arasaka, a Shizaku (nobility without title) who would invest in the business of transporting goods and later commercial escort. Precisely, the Arasaka Fleet consisted mostly of former Viceroyalty of Japan Coastal Navy ships from the Succession War era, and recruited several hundred marine veterans to become Marines aboard said ships. This was at a time when Asian pirates were constantly hampering and sinking Spanish merchants traversing the seas beyond Asia and the Spanish dominions. On their own initiative, a force of Arasaka Merchant Marine ships set sail to take the fight to the pirates. The first battle on the high seas between the pirates and the Spanish-Japanese occurred in Cagayan, and an incredible 2,000 pirates were captured and taken to Japan in chains.

There they would be mentally broken, before being sold in the Philippines, Hawaii and Australia. What some would call the "Arasaka War against Piracy", also known as the "Pirate War" and the "Arasaka-Pirate War", could just as easily be honestly labeled the "Great Asian Pirate Slavery", only arrested by order of the Viceroy of Japan: Ferdinand of Austria-Yamato. But until then, and for almost an entire year, the Arasaka ships sailed around Asia, calling at friendly cities for supplies and selling cargo and slaves taken from pirate ships. Arasaka's ships were not invincible and several were lost, but many pirate ships were sunk in return. This resulted in a great diplomatic gift and announcement of reliability for the Arasaka ships that were called the Secret Fleet of Japan, but it would be in 1739 when Arasaka would arrive in Europe and America as a result of the Jenkins War where he would carry out a daring attack on the Bengal Presidency under the government of Thomas Broddyll. Where they bombed a dozen BEIC facilities, killing hundreds of civilian and military workers. The Arasaka Fleet would be cursed by the BEIC while being seen as the BEIC's main enemy in Asia.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Cartagena esta delante y el enemigo español pronto morira. ».
«Cartagena is ahead and the Spanish enemy will soon die.».
— Admiral Edward Vernon before the battle of Cartagena de Indias.

When the War of the Spanish Succession ended in 1714 with the Treaty of Utrecht, the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain sought to dismember the heritage of the Hispanic monarchy. However, they were only able to prevent the creation of a hegemonic power on the European continent (the combination of the Bourbon monarchies of France and Spain, together with the possessions of the latter on the continent). Apart from that, they had only obtained some commercial concessions in the Spanish Empire in America, such as the so-called "Asiento de Negros" (license to sell black slaves in Latin America) for thirty years and the concession of the "permission ship" (which allowed trade direct from Great Britain to Spanish America for the volume of merchandise that could be transported by a ship with a capacity of five hundred tons, an amount expanded to a thousand tons in 1716). However, direct trade between Great Britain and Spanish America would be a constant source of friction between the two monarchies, such as the border problems in North America between Florida (Spanish) and Georgia (British), Spanish complaints about the illegal establishment of dyewood on the shores of the Yucatan Peninsula around the Belize River. This situation was aggravated by the increase in English smuggling to Spanish territory in America, due to which the British and Spanish authorized, in order to verify compliance with the treaty, that Spanish ships intercept British ships in Spanish waters to check their cargo. , which became known as «right of visit». According to the «right of visit», Spanish ships could intercept any British ship and confiscate its merchandise, since, with the exception of the «ship of permission», all merchandise destined for Spanish America was, by definition, contraband. In this way, not only royal ships, but other Spanish ships in private hands, with a concession from the Crown and known as coastguards, could board British ships and confiscate their merchandise. This would be seen as piracy for English society.
​

Aside from smuggling, there were still British ships engaged in piracy. Much of the ongoing harassment of the Fleet of the Indies fell on the traditional action of English corsairs in the Caribbean Sea, dating back to the times of John Hawkins and Francis Drake before the Spanish invasion of England. The numbers of ships captured by both sides differ enormously and are therefore very difficult to determine: until September 1741 the English speak of 231 Spanish ships lost compared to 331 British ships boarded and captured by the Spanish. In any case, it is noteworthy that by then successful Spanish boardings were still more frequent than British ones. In the midst of this climate of political tension, the Jenkins Ear Incident would occur in April 1731. Robert Jenkins was a British smuggler of Welsh origin who while returning home from a trading trip in the West Indies commanding the smuggling brig " Rebecca" was approached on suspicion of smuggling by the Spanish coastguard (privateer) La Isabela led by the Havana-based sea captain: Juan León Fandiño. Captain Fandiño after discovering the merchandise of the Rebecca, classified them as contraband and therefore Robert Jenkins as a smuggler, as punishment for the crime of smuggling, Fandiño had Jenkins tied to one of the masts, to cut off his left ear with his sword while threatening to do the same to King George II if he was caught smuggling into the Spanish dominions. Robert Jenkins addressed his complaint to King George II and gave a statement which was transmitted to Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle in his capacity as Secretary of State for the Southern Department (responsible for the American colonies). Although, Spain refused to give monetary reparations to Jenkins or to the insult to the name of George II. Jenkins wouldn't sit still.
​

Common newspaper talking about the Spanish Coastguard (look right side) and how Jenkins ask for help.​

He would motivate various newspapers in Britain and its colonies to give the issue intense press coverage, employing tactics that would later be labeled "yellow journalism". Devoting a daily average of ten pages of news, editorials and drawings with dramatic details representative of the event. At one point, he would tell his story before a House of Commons committee, showing off his severed ear (pickled in a jar). In the summer of 1739, having exhausted all diplomatic efforts, King George II agreed, ordering the Board of Admiralty to initiate maritime reprisals against Spain. The Royal Navy while they saw the situation as a matter of national honour. On July 11, the British ambassador to Spain requested the annulment of the "right of visit." Far from bowing to the British threat, Felipe IV abolished the "seating right" and the "permit ship", and requisitioned all British ships that were in Spanish ports, both in the metropolis and in the American colonies. Given these facts, the British Government formally declared war on Spain. The commander-in-chief of all British naval forces in the West Indies was Edward Vernon, nicknamed Old Grog because of his grogram jacket (made of silk mixed with wool and rubber), who arrived in Antigua, which was considered Britain's "Gateway to the Caribbean". before ordering that several ships were dedicated to intercepting the Spanish merchant ships that made the route between La Guaira and Portobelo. This strategy ended up causing Captain Thomas Waterhouse to end up attacking La Guaira committing perfidy by lowering the British flag from his ships and hoisting the Spanish flag, to quietly enter the port and once there take the ships and assault the fort. However, the governor of the province of Venezuela, Brigadier Gabriel José de Zuloaga, did not fall for the deception and when the time came they simultaneously opened fire on the British. After three hours of intense cannonade, the English flotilla ended up sunk off the coast of La Guaira while the sailors were hanged on charges of piracy for using pirate tactics such as flag deception.
​

Waterhouse avoided the fate of being treated as a pirate when his ship was destroyed by an explosion in the powder keg, however news of the defeat reached Vernon who was in Jamaica serving as an important English naval base taken in 1670 during the period of English Republicanism between the expulsion of the Stuarts and the accession to the throne of William III. Due to the defeat, Vernon assembled a large fleet with which to attack the Spanish Caribbean possessions. The main objectives were the three main ports of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, from where the Fleet of the Indies departed loaded with the riches of Peru bound for Spain: La Guaira (Province of Venezuela), Cartagena de Indias (Province of Colombia) and Portobelo ( Panama). With this, the English planned to capture the shipments of precious metals about to embark for Europe, destroy the Spanish fleet in the Caribbean and, once they had gained control of the area, attack and conquer Cuba, the pearl of the Antilles. Vernon decided to attack Portobelo leading a fleet of six ships in a larger operation. Portobelo was a small town, barely defended by three forts: the Todofierro, located next to the port, the Gloria and the San Jerónimo in the interior, whose garrisons barely added a total of 1000 men, without combat experience for years. To make things even easier for the invaders, Governor Francisco Javier de la Vega Retez had negligently not bothered in the least to reinforce the city's defenses, as other strongholds had done. The positions were practically abandoned, some cannons were not even placed and the coordination between the different units was practically nil. To top it off, the naval force in charge of defending the port was reduced to a couple of coastal defense vessels commanded by Francisco de Abarca that could not against Vernon's warships.
​

The Portobelo fight lasted barely two hours. The British ships entered the port after eliminating the coast guard ships, from where they shelled the Todofierro Fort, but due to the lack of wind they did not get close enough to attack the inland forts, which paradoxically made it even easier for them to things, for they kept out of range of their cannons all the time. After neutralizing the Todofierro without any problem, the British landed an expeditionary force that captured the fortress. De la Vega died at the hands of Vernon, trying to offer some resistance from inside the town. Vernon was elated by the easy victory, and perhaps determined to shake off La Guaira's bitterness and anger that he found no trace of the gold that should have been kept there, having been sent back to Peru in anticipation of a British attack. Vernon then ordered the systematic destruction of the city, a task that went on with impunity for months while the city's population was forced to participate as slave labor where hundreds of people died for the conditions or died in executions carried out for fun. hands of British officers. The castles were demolished to the ground, the cannons disassembled and thrown into the sea with prestigious prisoners tied to them, while most of the remaining population of the city was expelled or killed. After this, the English ships weighed anchor and returned to Jamaica with a few thousand pesos that were intended to pay the Spanish garrison and the capture of a couple of smaller vessels that would be sold in Jamaica. In London, however, news of the victory was greatly exaggerated by the English press, and celebrations went on for months. Vernon himself would be received as a hero by King George II and during a dinner in his honor a new anthem created to commemorate the victory, "Rule, Britannia!"
​

Paradoxically, the easy victory at Portobelo would harm England much more than Spain, since the English took the poor defense of Portobelo as a foretaste of what would be the rest of the military actions against the Spanish squads. This circumstance caused a dangerous excess of optimism in the English commanders, which would lead them to commit very serious tactical errors that would condemn the actions of the British Royal Navy. The war in 1740 would be around the possessions of Spanish Florida and the recently created English Colony of Georgia famous for its prohibition of slavery, ordered by James Edward Oglethorpe. Although England practiced slavery, its level of slavery was not as atrocious and brutal as the Spanish, causing hundreds of African slaves to flee from the neighboring Spanish colony of Florida to Georgia through pants and Indian territories, in the midst of these escapes, the so-called Black Seminoles emerged: A racial and cultural mixture between the native Seminoles and the fleeing Africans. Georgia grew thanks to the fact that Oglethorpe in England suggested that debtors recently released from prison be sent as settlers to Georgia, where they would be given land with which to build a future, this would motivate an increase in the population qualified mainly by English merchants and artisans ruined by high competition in the metropolis and refugees fleeing Europe for religious reasons. The presence of former slaves caused the colony's economy, based on cotton farming as in neighboring Carolina, to prosper to the point that when the Jenkins War, as it would be called in Georgia, began, Oglethorpe raised a militia to his position and, after allying himself with chief Ahaya of the Seminoles, launched a series of incursions into Spanish territory. Regular troops from South Carolina and Georgia, militia volunteers, some 600 Creek and Uchise Indian allies, and some 800 Black Freedmen as auxiliaries made up the expedition led by Oglethorpe, which was supported from the sea by seven Royal Navy ships.
​

The expedition scored its first victory by storming Fort Santa Teresa de Mosé two miles north of St. Augustine in the far north of Florida when the British quickly managed to occupy the fort, which occupied a strategic position on a vital coastal route. However, Captain Antonio Salgado, knowing of the strategic importance of the fort, decided to recover it at the head of regular Spanish troops. The assault began but quickly degenerated into close combat with swords and muskets where the Spanish were eventually forced to retreat, when English cannon fire began killing and wounding over 100 men. Among the Spaniards who fell in the Mosé was Captain Antonio Salgado, which represented a serious blow to the morale of the Spaniards. With Fort Santa Teresa de Mosé taken, Oglethorpe was able to gain the support of several powerful Seminole Indian chiefs who gave up to 2,000 warriors on the condition that San Agustin be allowed to capture people and loot. In the end, a force of nearly 5,000 British and Indians including 2,500 Seminole Warriors, 1,000 Georgian and South Carolinian militiamen, 500 British regulars along with approximately 600 Royal Navy sailors. The battle of San Agustin would be known as El Sangriento Agustin, or the Bloody Agustin in his time. While British and allied troops attacked San Agustin, their rearguard was harassed by contingents of Spanish settlers. While the Spanish soldiers were easily held in the Castillo, the surrounding plantations and towns formed a surprisingly disciplined force of irregular fighters (partisans), armed with muskets and, in some cases, crossbows reminiscent of those used in the 1500s. While useless against forces deployed in direct and open combat, the so-called Hombres de Florida (Florida men) proved entirely effective against separate gangs amid Florida's vast swamps and rain forests. The partisans struck hard and melted away just as quickly, routing more than one group of soldiers or Georgian and Carolinian settlers.
​

The Battle of San Agustin finally came to an end when the Spanish Armada made a simultaneous naval attack with an amphibious landing, liberating the besieged town, forcing Oglethorpe to retreat but leaving his Indian allies behind as bait to gain distance from the Spanish troops while he was hunted by the Spanish irregulars. Oglethorpe would return to Georgia sick and wounded, but he would survive and set about building defensive forts around the south, to prevent a possible Spanish retaliation from wiping out his prized creation. While the extreme ease with which the British destroyed Portobelo prompted Vernon to change his plans: Instead of concentrating his next attack on Havana with the intention of conquering Cuba, as had been planned, Vernon would set out again for New Granada to attack Cartagena de Indias, main port of the Viceroyalty and main point of departure for the Fleet of the Indies towards the Iberian Peninsula. The British then assembled in Jamaica the largest fleet ever seen, made up of 186 ships (60 more than the famous Great Armada of Felipe II) on board of which were 2,620 pieces of artillery and more than 27,000 men, including They included 10,000 British soldiers charged with initiating the assault, 12,600 sailors, 1,000 slave macheteros from Jamaica, and 4,000 volunteer recruits from Virginia led by Lawrence Washington. While in Cartagena de Indias, there was the veteran sailor Blas de Lezo, seasoned in numerous naval battles of the War of Spanish Succession in Europe and several clashes with pirates in the Caribbean Sea and Algeria, called "Mediohombre" since he was 25 year old. He barely had the help of Melchor de Navarrete and Carlos Desnaux, a flotilla of six ships (the captain ship Galicia plus the ships San Felipe, San Carlos, Africa, Dragon and Conqueror) and a force of three thousand men between soldiers and urban militia. which was joined by six hundred soldiers from Brazil.​

The great British fleet composed of 186 ships was sighted upon arrival on March 13, 1741, which put the city on edge. Before disembarking, the English neutralized the network of fortresses that defended the city, the last to fall was San Luis de Bocachica, after thousands of naval cannonades and mortar shots. At that moment, Admiral Vernon, was already sure of savoring his victory, ordered his King George II to be informed, and to mint commemorative coins of the victory, which would torture Vernon until his last days. But the Spanish defenders were not ready to surrender yet. Vernon, before the last remaining fortress: San Felipe de Barajas, which was shelled night and day while the 600 Spaniards locked up there resisted. Vernon while he ordered the troops to disembark to surround the fortress through the jungle and prevent them from receiving reinforcements. The troops on land then had to face the jungle and malaria, which caused hundreds of casualties among the English while they had to go through traps and ambushes made by the expert Brazilian Lusitanian combatants, under the command of Blas de Lezo, they slowed down the English march and they prevented the cannons from getting too close. He also sent a group of Spaniards, supposedly to surrender, to lead the English into a big trap. Finally the British forces managed to reach the gate of the fortress, where they found some 300 armed men defending it. The entrance was a narrow slope and in the assault the attackers lost 2,000 men without getting past its walls. Between April 19 and 20, the English prepared a great offensive at night with stopovers, which would serve to enter the city and finish off the Spanish soldiers, but Blas de Lezo, aware of this, ordered a moat to be dug around the wall to prevent the ladders from reaching the top.
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Blas de Lezo after the battle.​

In this way, with too short stops and not knowing what to do, the English were massacred from the top of the wall. The next morning Blas de Lezo ordered a sortie and charging the enemies with the bayonet forced them to flee towards the sea, abandoning all the impedimenta. Thus ended the battle, leaving behind thousands of English corpses as a result of ingenious Spanish strategies and tropical diseases to which the Spanish were more accustomed. Although the ships continued to bombard the city for another 30 days, Vernon was forced to withdraw. On May 20 he abandoned the last group of English ships in Cartagena de Indias leaving behind 5 ships in flames due to lack of crew, 1,500 cannons and mortars, between 8,000 and 10,000 dead and 7,500 wounded. British power in the Caribbean suffered greatly, this defeat was a serious setback for the British war fleet in the Caribbean, which was practically dismantled. When King George II received news of the disaster he forbade his historians to write about such an embarrassing defeat. The already minted commemorative coins would instead circulate as a mockery of Rule Britannia. Thanks to the result of this battle, Spain strengthened the control of her Empire in America. Motivating Blas de Lezo to have authorization to lead an expedition with the aim of expelling the English from Jamaica, after having lost it almost a century ago, at the hands of Admiral William Penn. The Colony of Jamaica, as it was known to the English and later to the international scene, began as a colony with a strong pirate economy where merchants and corsairs worked together: The merchants would sponsor commercial activities with the Spanish while they sponsored the corsairs to attack the Spanish ships and pillage the Spanish coastal cities.
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Parliamentary anti-piracy politicians would say that the pirate trade has become almost a way of life in Jamaica to the point that in one way or another, almost everyone in Jamaica seems to have an interest in privateering, yet the The Dutch brought sugar cane to the British West Indies, causing sugar to replace piracy as Jamaica's main source of income, while also becoming the largest exporter of sugar in the British Empire. The sugar industry was labor intensive, and so the English government brought hundreds of thousands of African slaves to Jamaica. In 1673, there were only 57 sugar estates in Jamaica, but by 1739, the number of sugar plantations increased to 430. On the other hand, the barely existing slave rebellions meant that Jamaican militia men were poorly trained, equipped, and even motivated to fight more focused on economic benefits than on defending the territory, an occupation that they believed was the responsibility of the Royal Navy forces based in Jamaica whose main objectives in the early years were to defend Jamaica and harass Spanish ports and shipping companies.
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However, the arrival of Vernon with the defeated fleet and carrying malaria and various diseases made Jamaica weak when on October 12, the Spanish forces landed in Port Royale after an intense bombardment that included the use of several fire ships loaded with gunpowder. who destroyed the English privateer ships in the port of Port Royale. Admiral Vernon and his staff escaped with a small force by sea. A small Spanish fleet pursued them as they cruised the Cuban shores, forcing Vernon to flee to Georgia. While in Jamaica, the noisy Jamaican militiamen and the few remaining royal English soldiers felt forgotten and simply refused to fight any more. Blas de Lezo would end up occupying Port Royale, renaming it Puerto Real de Santiago de Jamaica. Months later, it would lead to the appointment of Blas de Lezo as 1st Duke of Jamaica, putting him as lord of the Island. Jamaica would essentially become the real estate property of the Blas de Lezo family, with sugar plantations handed over to the De Lezo family who would govern. the island, owning thousands of slaves while inhabitants of Vizcaya and the Basque countries would begin to populate the Island while they ethnically cleansed the English population either by expelling them through high taxes and discrimination or directly aggressive attacks in the middle of the night where they break into their plantations , they kill the slaves and then brutalize the English before hiding the corpses of the slaves as if it had been an uprising put down by the brave and always ready Basque neighbors.​

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Todos los hombres con honor son reyes. Pero no todos los reyes tienen honor.».
«All men with honor are kings. But not all kings have honor..».
— Attributed to Prince Charles Edwards Stuart 'the Young Chevalier'.

The Young Pretender
​

The 1740s were marked by conflicts such as the War of the Austrian Succession, King George's War in North America, the War of Jenkins' Ear, the First Carnatic War, and the First and Second Silesian Wars. However, in 1745, the Jacobite Invasion of 1745 would occur: an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, taking advantage of the fact that the bulk of the British army was fighting in continental Europe. The rebellion was supported by Spain and France along with Ireland who supplied muskets, gunpowder, even clothing and volunteers to the Jacobite Army in exile: the army formed by those loyal to the Stuart dynasty. The Army was a mix of men from England and Scotland, most of whom were Catholic, many of whom had previously served in the Royal Irish armies. The Jacobite Army in exile had combat experience serving with the Spanish field armies of Africa against the intermittent conflicts against the Ottoman Empire. This made him known as "the Young Pretender" and "the Young Gentleman" someone with military experience as well as a strong Catholic religion due to his upbringing in Rome. Carlos Eduardo Estuardo and his family lived with a sense of pride and firmly believed in the divine right of kings while he knew how to speak English, French, Italian along with Spanish. The fact that most European courts only greeted him as the "Duke of Albany" (a historical title adopted by Scottish royalty in the 14th century), due to the desire to avoid antagonizing Britain by many European states, made that a feeling of resentment and displeasure arose and he ended up being known also as "Prince Two-Face" due to his public face as a legitimate, cheerful and friendly crown prince while those closest to him knew that he harbored anger and resentment.

The Prince with his troops.​

Charles Edward would stand out for using the influence of his family to obtain financing, either by asking for loans from banks in Paris, Madrid, Naples, even borrowing 180,000 pounds from the Parisian bankers John Waters and George Waters. Charles used a document known as "The Signature of the Jacobites" which bound many Highland clans, both Catholic and Protestant, to the Jacobite cause even if they gave false allegiances to the Stuarts. That document would later condemn dozens of clans that adopted a stance of neutrality. The Jacobite Invasion would begin on July 23, 1745 when Charles and his army landed from him at Lochgilphead, in Argyll and Bute. The Rising would begin with the rising of the Royal Standard at Glenfinnan, witnessed by a force of O'Sullivan Highlanders estimated at around 1,000 who would begin a march joined by sympathizers and conscripts towards Edinburgh, along the way would be included. Lord George Murray who would assume command of the Highlander troops due to his better understanding of Highland military customs, Lord Murray would spend the first few weeks reorganizing his forces to make it a fighting force capable of facing the British even though The Highlanders served as a light infantry force unlike the Redcoats who in battle were powerful while in small units they lacked capabilities. Due to the absence of regular forces, the Jacobites would have no difficulty taking Edinburgh, Glasgow and even taking certain coastal towns that would allow the Jacobites, thanks to shell companies of Spanish or French origin, to obtain help to help fight against the British in form of muskets, cannons, cannonballs, gunpowder, bombs, mortars, tents and warm clothing for Scotland's harsh climates.

Battle of Prestopans.​

On September 21, 1745, near Prestonpans in East Lothian, the first significant clash was when Charles was confronted by Sir John Cope, commander of the government in Scotland who came out of Stirling to block Charles' advance using a network of roads. military built in the Scottish Highlands during the mid-18th century as part of an attempt by the British government to suppress and exert control over the local population of a part of the country that had been noted for a Jacobite insurgency. Sir John Cope, was a competent soldier with between 3,000 and 4,000 available soldiers, but many were inexperienced recruits, ignoring the words of the Marquess of Tweeddale, the Secretary of State for Scotland, who constantly underestimated the seriousness of the revolt, John decided to march to intercept the enemy force, they would finally meet in the town of Prestonpans. The differences between armies such as the British and the Jacobite were notable: Although Cope chose a good terrain and that the disposition of his troops was appropriate. That was undermined by several factors, such as the poor morale of the dragoons who fled in panic from a small group of Highlanders and the fact that much of Cope's infantry was inexperienced. Until May, the troops had been employed in the construction of a military road near Loch Lomond. Finally, his gunners were so poorly trained that it was necessary to send a messenger for replacements, which never reached him. Meanwhile, the Jacobite forces surpassed the troops in weapons, artillery and morale, although they did not yet have sufficient training to act as line infantry, being more optimal as light infantry. Precisely because the swampy terrain prevented any kind of effective advance, it was decided to make a flanking attack using the Highlanders' abilities to make a surprise attack at night.

The Butcher Cumberland​

The surprise attack would prove to be disastrous for the British, reaching the point where many soldiers panicked and ended up retreating from the area even without weapons or proper uniform. Colonel James Gardiner of the Dragoons would end up being knocked off his horse before being decapitated and his head exposed on a pike before being desecrated by Highlanders quite enthusiastic about the all-out fight, before his remains were rescued by a servant of his family. and returned to Bankton House. The fast-moving Jacobite army surprised the British in London and they would come to call it that they were possessed by the spirit of William Wallace who led a large-scale raid into the north of England, through Northumberland and Cumberland to burn York. . This motivated the English Parliament and high command to send Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Cumberland was a veteran of the War of the Austrian Succession and his arrival came with a morale boost for the demoralized soldiers who claimed that the Stuarts would restore an Inquisition that would hunt down the Protestants, Cumberland would be a thoughtful commander as he would make sure to spend some time training. to well-equipped forces. On April 16, the decisive Battle of Culloden would be fought, in which the Stuart forces were completely destroyed when Cumberland ordered his troops to show no quarter to the enemy, seeing his troops traverse the battlefield in line and stabbing any body of enemy soldiers whether dead or alive. After Culloden, Cumberland would be sarcastically nicknamed "Sweet William" by his Whig supporters and "The Butcher" by his conservative opponents who used him for political ends in England. The British Army then embarked on the so-called "pacification" of the Jacobite areas of the Highlands.

The Highlands Clans in danger​

All troop members believed to be "rebels" were killed, as they were non-combatants; "Rebel" settlements were burned and livestock confiscated on a large scale. Cumberland's own brother, the Prince of Wales (who had been denied permission to take on a military role on his father's behalf of him and would envy Cumberland), would encourage virulent attacks on the Duke. Although Cumberland would maintain the strictest discipline in the camp, he avoided the presence of civilians and women, being hated by the recruits. He was uncompromising in the execution of what he considered his duty, favoring no man. Cumberland would become famous when he captured Prince Charles Edward in the Highlands about to board a clipper ship. Charles Edward would be brought to London dressed as a woman as found, she being then known as Charlotte Stuart. He would be tried for crimes against English citizens before cross-dressing before being executed. Such an event would be compared to the execution of Mary Stuart at the hands of Elizabeth I. The death of Charles Edward would be a strong element of support for the eventual Highland Clearances policy, a policy camouflaged as agricultural improvement but in reality it consisted of the expulsion of almost entire clans from their lands by raising taxes or rents. They would end up selling their lands to oligarchs and wealthy English families or in the worst case, abandoning them because no one paid what was necessary for their trip. Between 1747 and 1770, a migratory movement would be seen in such a way that in many cases they were motivated by savage punitive expeditions against clans that had supported the Jacobites, and legislative attempts to demolish the culture of the Highlander clan. In the midst of these events would occur the Rape of the McGregors, a tragic event where the aristocratic officer of Scottish origin but anglicized Archibald Cunningham leading a unit of the Duke of Cumberland's Regiment of Light Dragoons and supported by troops from Independent Highland Companies surrounded and occupied a town uninhabited by relatives of the Clan MacGregor who fought in the Battle of Culloden which saw the defeat of the Jacobites.

Commander Cunningham proceeded to punish the MacGregors by executing the men including children and babies while the MacGregor women would be dragged by the hair into barns where they would be gang raped. The women would end up marked with cuts on their faces that included mutilations of the eyes or ears and in some cases the newly created Glasgow smile, a wound caused by cutting from the corners of a victim's mouth to the ears, causing a scar with the form of a smile. The incident would culminate in the town being burned by throwing bottles of distilled Scotch whiskey and grenades as some women fled, chased by dogs from the Independent Highland Companies. Such events were seen as common in Scotland but news censorship meant that it was not frowned upon due to the classic image of the Scotsman as a redheaded brute who had barely any education and only knew how to drink and fight in taverns. This mentality contributed to greater discrimination that would cause the exodus to the Americas, in colonies such as South Carolina, Georgia, even clans that fought for the Jacobites would end up settling in Spanish territories such as the Caribbean, Florida, including the territories known as the Commandancy and General Captaincy of the Internal Provinces located in Northern Mexico to California. While others ended up going to Ireland where they ended up adapting more easily than other places because the Irish and Scottish share Celtic roots.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Escuché balas silbar entre los árboles mientras los hombres gritaban, créeme hermano cuando te digo que hay algo encantador en el sonido de la guerra.».
«I heard bullets whistle through the trees while men shout, believe me brother when I say there is something enchanting in the sound of war.».
— Attributed to George Washington.

The Ohio Territory.​

After the end of the War of the Austrian Succession. The results of the war made it clear to Britain that Austria was no longer powerful enough to control the French balance of power in Europe, but instead needed to support smaller states like Prussia. However, the colonial rivalry between France and Great Britain in North America for control of territories, whether for fur, mines or fishing, caused France to order a stop to British expansion by building a chain of forts between its Canadian territories and La Nouvelle-Orléans. . A key territory in the British and French aspirations would be the Ohio Territory or Ohio Valley, located west of the Appalachians in the region of the upper reaches of the Ohio River, south of Lake Erie. In December 1753, Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie decided to send Virginia Militia Adjutant General George Washington to deliver a British ultimatum to the French Canadians holed up at Fort Le Boeuf, Ohio Territory. While delivering the message, Washington assessed French military strength, which would be helpful since the French refused to withdraw. Months later, Dinwiddie would make Washington a lieutenant colonel and order him to make an expedition to Fort Duquesne to expel the French Canadians. Commanding a force supported by American Indian allies led by Tanacharison, Washington and his troops ambushed a French-Canadian expeditionary group of about 30 men, led by Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, in what became known as the Jumonville Skirmish. Glen. At dawn on May 28, Washington's party met with the 12 Tanacharison Indian warriors. A council was held where Washington and the Tancharisones agreed to attack the French camp while two mingo warriors led the way.
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The tracks of the two French scouts seen the day before met again, and, marching single file, the party passed through the woods towards the rocky hollow where the French were supposed to be hiding. As dawn broke, the French were waking up with only one sentinel on duty. They had no other security at all, which would have been strange for a raid or reconnaissance patrol. Around 0700 hours someone fired a shot and the fight started. No one knows who fired first. The French found themselves taking fire from rocks and heights on two sides. The dead end that had given them shelter from the storm turned into a killing zone. Some fled downhill along a narrow path, where they encountered the axes of the Tanacharison Indians. 10 French soldiers were killed immediately, 21 were captured, some wounded including Coulon de Jumonville, the ensign in command. Only one Canadian who had fled at the beginning of the fray was saved. When Washington was meeting with de Villiers, Tanacharison split his head open with a tomahawk, killing him. As is known, Tanacharison accused the French of having cooked and eaten his father before he was taken captive and later adopted by the Seneca Indians. Be that as it may, this strange skirmish started the war that set the rest of the world on fire. Washington returned to camp at Great Meadows and, expecting to be attacked soon, sent reinforcements to Colonel Fry, who was ill at Wills Creek. He then put his men to work in an entrenchment, which he called Fort Necessity. On June 3, the entrenchments at Fort Necessity were completed. It consisted of a circular stockade made of 2.1m vertical logs covered with bark and skins built around a small hut containing ammunition and provisions. The Tanacharisons then joined Washington, along with a woman known as Queen Alequippa, and some 30 Indian families.
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Washington's combat experience would eventually develop a taste for combat that would be demonstrated in a letter to his younger brother, Charles Washington: "I heard bullets whistle through the trees while men shout, believe me brother when I say there is something enchanting in the sound of war."

The presence of the Independent South Carolina company at Great Meadows was a dubious advantage. Captain James Mackay, their commander, with a commission from the King, considered himself above any officer commissioned by the Governor. There was great courtesy between him and Washington; but Mackay would receive no orders, or even approval, from the colonel of volunteers. Nor would his men work, except for an extra shilling a day. Conceding that was impossible, both for lack of money and for the discontent it would generate in the Virginians, who worked for their daily pay of 8 pence. On June 16, Washington, learning that there were only 500 under-supplied French troops at Fort Duquesne, decided to move the 300 Virginians out of Fort Necessity, leaving Mackay behind, to widen the path for those who would follow to an advanced position. at Redstone Creek. On June 18, Washington met with the Tancharisons, who told him that they had not been able to convince the other chiefs to help Washington and that he would not be able to help the Virginians either. Although he had lost Indian support, making his troops more vulnerable to attack, Washington continued to widen the road to Red Stone Creek. When the regiment reached Gist's settlement on Red Stone Creek, they decided to camp and dig trenches. French deserters had brought news that heavy reinforcements were expected at Fort Duquesne, and friendly Indians repeatedly warned Washington that overwhelming numbers would soon attack them. Washington sent for Mackay and his men. On June 26 at 0800 hours, Louis Coulon de Villiers arrived at Fort Duquesne with his followers. There he discovered that 500 Frenchmen and some Ohio Indians were about to march against the British, under the command of the Sir Le Mercier; but in view of his seniority and his connection with Jumonville, command had been transferred to Villiers.

The march was then postponed; the newly arrived warriors were summoned to council, and Contrecoeur harangued them thus:

“The English have murdered my children, my heart is sick; tomorrow I will send my French soldiers to take revenge. And now, the men of Saint Louis, men of the Lake of the Two Mountains, Hurons, Abenakis, Iroquois of La Présentation, Nipissings, Algonquians and Ottawas, I invite you all by this wampum belt to join your French father and help him crush the killers. Take this axe, and with it two barrels of wine for a feast."

Both the ax and the wine were gladly accepted. Then Contrecoeur turned to the Delawares, who were also present, and said: "By these four cords of wampum I invite you, if you are true sons of Onontio, to follow the example of your brothers," and with some hesitation they also took the axe.

On June 27, the Indians and the French prepared for an expedition on a larger scale than had originally been anticipated. Contrecoeur, Villiers, Le Mercier, and Longueuil, after deliberating together, drew up a document which said that "it was proper to march against the English with the greatest possible number of Frenchmen and savages, to avenge ourselves and punish them for having violated the most sacred laws of the civilized nations. Although the conduct of the British troops justified the French in ignoring the existing peace treaty, nevertheless, after thoroughly punishing them and forcing them to withdraw from the King's domain, they should be told that, in compliance with their royal orders, the French looked upon them. as friends. But it was further agreed that if the British were to withdraw to their side of the mountains before the French found them, "they should be followed to their settlements to destroy them and treat them as enemies, until that nation gives ample satisfaction by completely changing its conduct".

On June 28, Mackay arrived with the independent company from South Carolina. A council of war was held at Gist's house, and as the camp was overpowered by the neighboring heights, he resolved to fall back. Horses were so few that the Virginians had to carry much of the baggage on their backs up the steep, rocky trail. The regulars, although many had been recruited from the provinces, refused to render the slightest help. On the same day, the French party (600 French and 100 Indians) set out from Fort Duquesne, paddling their canoes down the Monongahela River. To stay ahead of the French force, the Virginians had to abandon most of their supplies at one point. On June 30, Coulon de Villiers arrived at the Ohio Company's deserted warehouse at the mouth of Red Stone Creek. It was a well-guarded solid log building for musketry. To please the Indians by asking their advice, Villiers called all the chiefs to the council, which, concluding to his satisfaction, left a sergeant on duty at the store to watch the canoes, and began his march through the woods. The road was so rough that, at the first stop, the chaplain declared that he could go no farther and turned back toward the store, though not until he cleared the whole company. Thus relieved of their sins, they went on their way, constantly sending scouts ahead. On July 1, Washington's force reached Fort Necessity. The position, though perhaps the best in the area, was very unfavourable, and Washington would have retreated further, had it not been for the physical condition of his men, exhausted by fatigue, and left with no choice but to stay and fight. . On July 2, Coulon de Villiers's force approached Fort Necessity along the road the Virginians had built. They reached the abandoned camp in the Gist settlement and made camp, getting drenched by the rain that lasted all night.

At dawn on July 3, the French and Indians again marched through the Laurel Hill Gorge. It rained non-stop; but Villiers made his way through the dripping woods to see the spot, a mile from the road, where his brother had been killed, and where several bodies still lay unburied. The position of the British had been learned from a deserter, and Villiers filled the forest with a swarm of Indian scouts. He formed his men into a column, and ordered the officers to take his place. Washington's men had had a full day at Fort Necessity, but they spent it more resting from their fatigue than strengthening the palisade with logs. The fort was a simple square enclosure, with a trench that only reached the beginning of the knees. In the south, and partly in the west, there was an outer embankment, which was made, like a gun pit, with the ditch inside. The Virginians had little ammunition, and no bread, living mainly on fresh meat. They knew that the French were approaching, who were reported to Washington as 900 soldiers, in addition to the Indians. Around 11:00 a.m., a wounded sentinel arrived with the news that they were close; and they appeared at the edge of the forest, shouting and firing from such a distance that their shot fell harmlessly. Villiers had the plan for him. "We approached the English as closely as possible, without uselessly exposing the lives of the King's subjects." The French made their way through the forest until they reached the fort, where they parked on two thickly wooded hills, separated by a small stream. One of the hills was about 100 paces from the British, the other about 60. Their position was such that the French and Indians, well protected by trees and bushes, and with the advantage of higher ground, could cross their fire on the fort and line up a part of it.
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Washington knew he had to dislodge the Canadians and Indians from that position, so he ordered a full-force assault across the open field. He deployed his men in the meadow in front of the fort. Seeing the assault coming, de Villiers ordered his soldiers, led by Indians, to charge directly into Washington's line. Washington ordered the men to stand their ground and make a volley. Mackay's regulars obeyed Washington's order and, supported by two cannons, inflicted heavy casualties on the approaching Indians. The Virginians, however, fled back to the fort, leaving Washington and the outnumbered British regulars. Washington ordered a withdrawal back to the fort. Coulon de Villiers reformed his troops in the forest. The Canadians spread out across the clearing and kept fire on Fort Necessity. Washington ordered his troops to return fire, but they aimed too high, causing few casualties. The rain fell throughout the day. The raw earth of the embankment turned to soft mud making it difficult to walk on the low slip and fall hazard, and the men in the outer field ditch stood knee-deep in water causing difficulty. The guns were brought into camp and mounted on the palisade of Gist's farm, but the gunners were so poorly protected that the pieces were almost silenced by French musketry with better precision. The fight lasted nine hours. Sometimes the fire on both sides was almost silenced by the rain, and the drenched combatants could do little more than stare at each other through the mist and rain. However, towards evening the musket fire revived and became again intense until nightfall. At 8:00 p.m., the French proposed capitulation. After a long wait, he returned with the articles of capitulation offered by Villiers.
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As the officers gathered around him in the rain, he read and interpreted the document by the light of a candle that was barely lit. An objection was made to some of the terms, and they were changed. The articles were signed around midnight. They provided that the British could march with drums and the honors of war, taking with them one of their guns and all their property, and should be protected against insults from the French or the Indians; the prisoners taken in the Jumonville engagement should be released, and that two officers should be held hostage for their safe return to Fort Duquesne. The chosen hostages were the Dutch Van Braam and a brave but eccentric Scotsman named Robert Stobo. Early on July 4, Fort Necessity was abandoned and Washington's withdrawal began. The Indians had killed all the horses and cattle, and Washington's men were so overwhelmed with the sick and wounded, whom they were forced to carry on their backs, that most of the baggage was left behind. Even then they could march a few miles a day, and then they camped to wait for the wagons. The Indians added to the confusion by looting and threatening attack. They knowingly destroyed medical equipment, causing great anguish to the wounded, two of whom were killed and scalped under the rabid gaze of their comrades who were restrained as it happened. For a time there was danger of panic; but order was restored and the march began along the logging road that led over the Alleghenies, 53 miles to the station at Wills Creek. The defeat at the Battle of Fort Necessity was doubly disastrous for the British, since it was a long and new step towards the ruin of their interests with the Indians; and when, in the following year, war broke out, nearly all the western tribes allied themselves with France. Villiers returned to Fort Duquesne in exultation, burning down the buildings of Gist's settlement and the warehouse on Redstone Creek on his way. Not a British flag then flew beyond the Alleghenies. On July 17, Washington delivered his report of the standoff to Governor Dinwiddie, expecting a reprimand, but Washington received a vote of thanks from the House of Burgesses, and Dinwiddie blamed the defeat not on Washington but on lack of supply and refusal. of the help of the other colonies. However, Washington could not read French, and, without realizing what he was acknowledging, signed his name to the terms of the surrender, a statement in which Washington acknowledged and assumed guilt for having assassinated Jumonville. Something that would cause important consequences in the world.
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Following George Washington's defeat in the Ohio Valley, the Albany Plan began to be seen as a possible solution to the military dependency of the thirteen colonies on Great Britain. The Albany Plan was an initiative to develop a defense plan related to short-term threats from France. The main proponents of the plan were New England and the northern colonies, which had long been subject to raids from Canada in times of conflict. The Albany Plan was the first proposal to unify the colonies for defensive purposes. The plan called for a general government to be administered by a president general, who was appointed and supported by the crown in a similar way to a viceroy, and a grand council made up of delegates appointed by the lower houses of the colonial assemblies. Proposed powers for the delegates included making treaties and increasing military and naval forces; and, what is more important, included the right to pay taxes. After the largest group of delegates discussed their issues and objections, they resolved most of them and adopted the Plan. They sent copies of letters to each of the Colonial Assemblies and to the British Board of Trade in London, which Congress had originally suggested. News of the defeat and the Plan was received by King George II and his Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne, commonly known as the Duke of Newcastle, which helped influence his decision to take carry out the plan. On November 20 it was decided to create the Commonwealth of America, being the first president general the Duke of Cumberland who arrived in America together with General Edward Braddock in command of two battalions of regular Scottish troops. Cumberland would end up settling in New York as his headquarters as the number of American provincial forces was massively recruited.
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Cumberland decided to plan several expeditions to gain the British advantage in North America, including a plan for New England troops to defeat Fort Beauséjour and Fort Louisbourg in Acadia, and others to move against Fort Niagara and Fort Saint-Frédéric from Albany, New England. York. The largest operation was a plan for Braddock to dislodge the French from the Ohio Country. Braddock would lead a force of more than two thousand soldiers, Braddock had great difficulty assembling the transport. The quartermaster general assured that he could depend on 2,500 horses and 200 wagons from Virginia and Maryland. However, Braddock received only 20 wagons and 200 horses from them. He eventually obtained the rest of the Pennsylvania horses and carriages. The fact that Braddock held the colonial militia in contempt as a handful of militiamen of little use in battle contributed to the lack of support. Braddock decided to camp at the newly erected Fort Cumberland, at the junction of the Wills Creek River with the Potomac. The small wooden fort was armed with 10 small cannons. On May 10, the expeditionary force reached the fort. Braddock commanded the force seconded by Captain Robert Orme and two aides-de-camp: Captain Roger Morris and Colonel George Washington. On June 10, Braddock's force left Fort Cumberland and began their long march (about 100 miles) through the woods to Fort Duquesne. Leaving a garrison at Fort Cumberland, he joined 50 regular men under Colonel Innes. A path 3.5 meters wide was cleared by 300 men with axes in front of the column. Chariots, packhorses, and artillery moved up the road as troops marched into the forest on either side. The scouting parties reconnoitred the terrain ahead and the flanking protected the columns against surprise attacks. The column advanced at a very slow pace that they could do between 2 to 7 km per day. On July 7, Braddock's column reached the mouth of Turtle Creek, a stream that empties into Monongahela about eight miles from Fort Duquesne, at the junction with the Allegheny. However, the direct path led through difficult terrain and a dangerous gorge. Braddock decided to ford the Monongahela twice instead of taking the direct route.

Early on July 8, 1755, Mr. Contrecoeur detached Captain Beaujeu with 104 troops from the French naval companies, 140 Canadians, and 650 Indians to ambush Braddock's column then crossing the Monongahela for the first time. Around noon on July 9, Braddock forded the Monongahela a second time. He himself expected to be attacked at that point and had sent a strong advance party under Tcol Gage to clear the opposite bank. However, no enemy was found. Indeed, Beaujeu, the French commander, spent half the day marching seven miles, and was more than a mile from the ford when the British reached the other bank. A delay, for whatever reason, had cost him the opportunity to lay an ambush at the ford or in the ravines that channeled the forest through which Braddock was now about to march. With a clear sky, the main body of the British crossed the river with perfect regularity and order. After the crossing, the British column paused briefly to rest, then resumed its march along a narrow path parallel to the river and at the base of a hill of steep, heavily wooded hills. To avoid any surprises, Braddock had sent several guides, with 6 experienced light horsemen from Virginia, to lead the way. Behind them marched an advanced group of Gage's vanguard (300 men) followed by the vanguard itself with 3 howitzers, 2×12 and 2×6 guns. Then followed a succession of ax men to clear the way, 2×6 guns with their ammunition carts, and a rear guard. Then, without any interval, the convoy marched, led by a few light horsemen, a task force and 4 guns. The chariots continued down the road with troops making their way through the forest and flanking parties on either side. A short distance from the ford, the track passed through a wide, bushy ravine.
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After 1:00 p.m., Gage crossed the ravine with his lead point, and the main body was descending into it when Gage's guides and horsemen suddenly fell, and a man dressed as an Indian, but with the officer's ruff running down the road. In fact, it was Beaujeu who at the sight of the British turned suddenly and waved his hat. The signal was followed by a savage war cry from his Indians and heavy fire on the advancing British from the trees in front of him. Gage's column deployed the grenadiers who quickly formed up, the front ranks kneeling and the rear ones standing and opened fire, holding their fire for several minutes and suffering some ten or twelve casualties. They couldn't see any enemy, so they fired randomly where they saw smoke, but the mere sound of musketry was enough to scare Beaujeu's Canadian militia, most of whom fled in shame to Fort Duquesne and took no part in the engagement. later. The third volley killed Beaujeu while Gage's two field pieces rapidly coming into action drove the Indians away from the British front. Meanwhile, the redcoats advanced steadily under fire from muskets and Indian arrows, the men shouting "God save the King." Captain Jean-Daniel Dumas, who had succeeded Beaujeu in command of the French, nearly resigned the day as lost. However, the regular troops and a handful of Canadian militiamen held their ground, opening fire by platoons that checked the warlike ardor of Gage's men. The Indians moved away through the woods to fall on both flanks of the British and opened a deadly fire on the unfortunate redcoats. The cries of the British were silenced, as the men began to fall rapidly. For a while they held their ranks and heedlessly swept through the forest with volley after volley, hitting no enemy because they could not see them, while bullets continuously and mercilessly rained down on them from the front, flanks, and rear. They finally abandoned their two guns, broke their ranks and fled in disorder.
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Just at this moment Braddock was coming forward for a status report. Hearing the fire, he had left 400 men under Colonel Peter Halket, to guard the baggage, and moved forward with the rest to help Gage. As the new troops emerged, Gage's defeated infantry crashed into them, fleeing into the confusion as well. The men of the two RIs mingled and before long the entire Braddock force, except for the Virginians and Halket's baggage guards, splintered into a succession of agitated groups, without order and cohesion. They could not load or return fire properly. Only the Virginians, who were used to such hard work, kept a cool head, and took cover behind the trees and began to return fire from the Indians. A party of Virginians under Captain Waggoner ran to a fallen tree in the woods, and crouched down opened fire on the Indians; but the regulars, seeing the smoke in the bushes, mistook them for the enemy, and shot at them from behind, killing many and driving the rest back. Some British made an effort to imitate the Virginians, but Braddock led British and Virginians alike towards his companions with his sword. Noting that the fire was heaviest from a hill on the right flank of his advance, Braddock ordered Lt. Col. Burton to attack with his troops. Only 100 men followed Burton after much persuasion. However, Burton was wounded early in his attack and his detachment was defeated. The gunners stood on their cannons for a moment, firing round after round uselessly into the forest. Meanwhile, the infantry stood huddled together, firing aimlessly or fighting furiously with the officers who struggled to herd and line them up. Braddock, seconded by Lt. Col. George Washington, was trying in vain to rally his small army. Braddock was shot by four horses under him and was hit by a shot that hit his arm and penetrated his chest, fatally wounding him.
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Noting that the fire was heaviest from a hill on the right flank of his advance, Braddock ordered Lt. Col. Burton to engage him with his troops . Only 100 men followed Burton after much persuasion. However, Burton was wounded early in his attack and his detachment was defeated. The gunners stood on their cannons for a moment, firing round after round uselessly into the forest. Meanwhile, the infantry stood huddled together, firing aimlessly or fighting furiously with the officers who struggled to herd and line them up. Braddock, seconded by Lt. Col. George Washington, was trying in vain to rally his small army. Braddock was shot by four horses under him and was hit by a shot that hit his arm and penetrated his chest, fatally wounding him. The British had already lost 60 of their 86 officers by then. Colonel Peter Halket, had been shot dead and shortly after his son had also died while trying to lift the body of his father before being tragically shaken by dozens of shots and arrows. Young Shirley, Braddock's secretary, was hit in the head, the bullet passing through his brain. Orme and Morris, his aides-de-camp, Sinclair, the Quartermaster General, Gates and Gage were all wounded and crying for help. While Washington unsuccessfully tried to reunite them at the ford. About 50 Indians followed them to the river's edge, while Dumas and Ligneris, now having only about 20 Frenchmen with them, made no attempt to pursue them and returned to Fort Duquesne. Gage managed to muster about 80 men at the second ford. Shortly thereafter, a dying Braddock sent Washington to Dunbar for supplies and transportation. The British general spent the night among the handful of men Gage had gathered.
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Maps of the Campaign.​

Several British soldiers and women would be captured in the battle. Some of the soldiers were spared, as were most of the women, but about a dozen soldiers were tortured and burned to death by the Indians that night, witnessed by British prisoners. Out of a total force of 1,373 men, only 459 men returned to Fort Cumberland unharmed. The wounded left in the field were tortured and killed by the Indians. Of the 86 officers, 26 were killed and 37 wounded. Of the approximately 50 women who accompanied the British column as servants and cooks, only 4 returned with the British; approximately half were taken as captives by the Indians while others ended up dying because they could not bear the march to Quebec. The French lost only 3 officers, 9 soldiers and an unknown number of Indians. On August 2, Dunbar left Fort Cumberland and began his march on Philadelphia with 1,600 men, 4×6 guns and 4 Cohorns howitzers. The fort was left garrisoned by invalids and the Virginia companies, about 400 men in all. Thanks to the victory in the Battle of Monongahela, the French secured temporary control of the Ohio territory and maintained control of the conflict for a couple more years. The natives who had resolved to remain neutral in the conflict were forced to join the French side since, if they did not have the backing of an army, they were in danger of being attacked. The war tactics of the natives were much more useful than the European ones, which was decisive in the first moments of the war.​

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Si mis soldados se pusieran a pensar, no quedaría ninguno en las filas.».
«If my soldiers began to think, not one would remain in the ranks..».
— Attributed to Frederick II der Große of Prussia.​

The increase in Anglo-French hostilities in America served as an elevator for the tensions that existed since the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) that put an end to the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Frederick "The Great" Prussia was satisfied and wished for peace, declaring "from now on I will not attack a cat, except to defend myself". Although Prussia was satisfied with the Treaty (it had increased her domains by a million new subjects and 24,000 square kilometers), Austria resented it, enacting sweeping reforms and changing its traditional diplomatic policy to prepare for a renewed war with Prussia. Although France and Great Britain recognized Prussian sovereignty in Silesia under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Austria ultimately refused to ratify the agreement. Maria Theresa, and her husband the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, through State Chancellor Prince von Kaunitz, began talks with her former enemy France; with a view to obtaining aid in the reconquest of Silesia, in exchange for which, she would be offered the Austrian Netherlands. In 1746, Maria Theresa formed a defensive agreement with Elizabeth known as the Treaty of the Two Empresses, which aligned Austria and Russia against Prussia. A secret clause guaranteed Russian support for Austrian claims in Silesia. In 1750 Great Britain joined the anti-Prussian pact; in return, the British expected Austrian and Russian defense in the event of a Prussian attack on the Electorate of Hanover, which King George also ruled in personal union. At the same time, however, Maria Theresa, who had been disappointed with Britain's performance as her ally in the War of the Austrian Succession; he followed the controversial advice of her chancellor Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz that he pursued warmer relations with Austria's old rival, the kingdom of France.

Britain raised tensions in 1755 by offering to finance Russian military deployments in exchange for a Russian army ready to attack Prussia's eastern frontier. Alarmed by this encirclement, Frederick began to work to separate Britain from the Austrian coalition by alleviating King George's concern for Hanover. On January 16, 1756, Prussia and Great Britain agreed to the Westminster Convention, between Frederick the Great of Prussia and King George II of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover. British fears of a French attack on Hanover were responsible for the development of the treaty. Under the terms of the agreement, both Prussia and Great Britain would try to prevent the forces of any other foreign power from passing through the Holy Roman Empire; under which Prussia agreed to guarantee Hanover against French attack, in return for Britain's withdrawal of its offer of military subsidies to Russia. This move created a new Anglo-Prussian alliance and outraged the French court. Austria then sought warmer relations with France to ensure that the French did not take the Prussian side in a future conflict over Silesia. King Louis XV responded to Prussia's realignment with Britain by accepting Maria Theresa's invitation to a new Franco-Austrian alliance. Madame de Pampadour, who at that time exercised royal diplomacy in the French court, and whom Frederick of Prussia had offended by calling her "Madamoiselle Poisson", because apparently her mother had been a fishmonger, immediately agreed, formalizing the First Treaty of Versailles in May 1756. It was apparently defensive, but British agents suspected that there were secret clauses that were broader than the document actually published. This series of political maneuvers became known as the Diplomatic Revolution. Russia, equally upset by Britain's withdrawal of promised subsidies, reached out to Austria and France, agreeing to a more openly offensive anti-Prussian coalition in April 1756. When France turned against Prussia and Russia broke away from Britain, Kaunitz's plan evolved into a grand anti-Prussian alliance between Austria, Russia, various minor German powers, and France. It was a coalition of 70 million inhabitants against the 4.5 million of Prussia.

In the summer of 1756, Europe was divided into two sides:

• Austria, the Russian Empire, France, Spain, Saxony, Sweden, and several other small German states.
• Prussia, the United Kingdom, Hannover and other German states.

As Austria and Russia prepared for renewed war, King Frederick became convinced that Prussia would be attacked early in 1757. His spies had reported the preparations in Austria and Russia, and he realized that waiting until they were ready would be fatal. for Prussia. Frederick decided to act preemptively, beginning with an attack on the neighboring Electorate of Saxony, which he correctly believed to be a secret supporter of the coalition against him. Frederick said "after all, it is of little importance whether my enemies call me an aggressor or not, since all of Europe is in league against me." Although Prussia's geographical position allowed Frederick to operate on interior lines, which, considering the circumstances, was an enormous advantage; the country had no defensive frontiers, and in the event of having to face the alliance, its army would be outnumbered 3 to 1. In the south, where the Austrians had joined the Saxons, they were 80 km from Berlin; in the north the Swedes, once concentrated in Stralsund, would be 200 km away; in the east, when the Russians had crossed the Oder River, it would be 75 km; in the west, the French, having entered Prussian territory near Halle, would find themselves 150 km from Berlin. However, there was one favorable factor, and that was that all the armies were in various states of readiness; the Austrian had not met the Saxon; the Russian had to cross the trackless plains of Poland; the Swedes had to cross the Baltic Sea, and the French had to cross the Rhine River.

In July, Frederick demanded a guarantee from Vienna that Austrian troop concentrations in Bohemia would not go against Prussia, but received an ambiguous response. Without waiting any longer, Frederick divided the Prussian army into three parts. He put a force of 20,000 under Field Marshal Hans von Lehwaldt in East Prussia to guard against any Russian invasion from the east, with a reserve of 8,000 stationed in Far Pomerania; Russia should have been able to exert irresistible force against East Prussia, but the King relied on the slowness and disorganization of the Russian army to defend his northeastern flank. He also stationed Field Marshal Count Kurt von Schwerin in Silesia with 25,000 men to deter raids from Moravia and Hungary. Ultimately, he personally led the 58,000-strong main Prussian army into Saxony. Prussian troops crossed the Saxon border on August 29, 1756, starting the Third Silesian War. The war would lead to a series of sub-wars, which could be said to be a world war:

• Franco-Indian War, between the French and English colonies with the participation of Indian tribes.
• Third Silesian War, between Prussia and Austria for control of Silesia.
• The Irish War, between England and Ireland.
• Third Carnatic War, between the English and French colonies in India.
• Anglo-Spanish War, between Spain and England, in the Caribbean, the Philippines and South America.

As Austria and Russia prepared for renewed war, King Frederick became convinced that Prussia would be attacked early in 1757. His spies had reported the preparations in Austria and Russia, and he realized that waiting until they were ready would be fatal. for Prussia. Frederick decided to act preemptively, beginning with an attack on the neighboring Electorate of Saxony, which he correctly believed to be a secret supporter of the coalition against him. Frederick said "after all, it is of little importance whether my enemies call me an aggressor or not, since all of Europe is in league against me." Although Prussia's geographical position allowed Frederick to operate on interior lines, which, considering the circumstances, was an enormous advantage; the country had no defensive frontiers, and in the event of having to face the alliance, its army would be outnumbered 3 to 1. In the south, where the Austrians had joined the Saxons, they were 80 km from Berlin; in the north the Swedes, once concentrated in Stralsund, would be 200 km away; in the east, when the Russians had crossed the Oder River, it would be 75 km; in the west, the French, having entered Prussian territory near Halle, would find themselves 150 km from Berlin. However, there was one favorable factor, and that was that all the armies were in various states of readiness; the Austrian had not met the Saxon; the Russian had to cross the trackless plains of Poland; the Swedes had to cross the Baltic Sea, and the French had to cross the Rhine River. Frederick's broad strategy had three phases.

First, he intended to occupy Saxony, gaining strategic depth and using the Saxon army and money to bolster the Prussian war effort.

Second, he would advance from Saxony into Bohemia, where he could establish winter quarters at Austrian expense.

Third, he would invade Moravia from Silesia, taking the fortress at Olmütz, and advance on Vienna to force an end to the war.

Map of the Offensive​

He hoped to receive financial support from the British, who had also promised to send a naval squadron to the Baltic Sea to deter invasion of the Prussian coast, if necessary. In July, Frederick demanded a guarantee from Vienna that Austrian troop concentrations in Bohemia would not go against Prussia, but he received an ambiguous reply. Without waiting any longer, Frederick divided the Prussian army into three parts. He put a force of 20,000 under Field Marshal Hans von Lehwaldt in East Prussia to guard against any Russian invasion from the east, with a reserve of 8,000 stationed in Far Pomerania; Russia should have been able to exert irresistible force against East Prussia, but the King relied on the slowness and disorganization of the Russian army to defend his northeastern flank. He also stationed Field Marshal Count Kurt von Schwerin in Silesia with 25,000 men to deter raids from Moravia and Hungary. Ultimately, he personally led the 62,000-strong main Prussian army into Saxony. In mid-August 1756, Prussian units totaling 62,000 men were moving to assembly points along the Saxon border. These meeting points were:

Halle and Aschersleben for the right column with about 15,000 men, under the command of Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, on the way to Leipzig.
Near Magdeburg and south of Potsdam in Beelitz, Saarmund, Zoffen and Königs-Wusterhausen for the central column withunder King Frederick II on the way to Wittenberg and Torgau .
Cöpenick, Müllrose and Bunzlau for the left column under the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern on the way to Bautzen in Lusatia.

Frederick conferred the main command in Prussia on Field Marshal Lehwaldt and that of Silesia on Field Marshal Schwerin before the start of the campaign. Prussian troops crossed the Saxon border on August 29, 1756, starting the Third Silesian War. The Prussians advanced unopposed until at Wilsdruff, Frederick learned of the Saxon army's retreat towards Pirna, a very strong natural fortress. There the Saxon army (14,599 infantry and 3,665 cavalry) had completed its retreat, carrying provisions (flour and fodder) for 20 days. Frederick of Prussia informed Frederick Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony, that he only intended to march through his country to Bohemia. However, his behavior was more in keeping with an invader. On September 10, much of the Prussian army marched in order to the Saxon camp at Pirna and headquarters were located at Gross-Sedlitz. Meanwhile, Duke Ferdinand's column camped at Cotta; Bevern camped on the heights of Doberzeit. In addition, a cuirassier regiment and three dragoons marched through Dresden to Wilsdruff's camp, where a corps of 16,000 men still remained. On the same day, the Saxon generals, entrenched at Pirna, held a council of war where they considered whether they should hold their ground at Pirna or enter into negotiations with Frederick in order to be considered neutral in this conflict. However, Brühl received a letter from Austrian Field Marshal Browne informing him that Wied was advancing on Aussig and that he would send 800 grenadiers and 20 cavalry to Peterswalde to keep the line of communication open with the Saxon army. The Saxon army had enough provisions to hold until September 26, or until September 30 if provisions were rationed. Taking into account local resources, it was estimated that the army could be supplied until October 12.

Arriving at Gross-Sedlitz, Frederick reconnoitered the area. The Saxons had a first line of defense along the rushing Gottleuba Creek. A second line of defense ran along a stream from Langenhennersdorf to Königstein, apart from which numerous defenses including several infantry battalions along the palisades defended all the passes. Frederick considered the positions too strong to be assaulted and decided to blockade the Saxon army, hoping to starve the defenders out. He deployed his own division from his headquarters at Gross-Sedlitz to Zehista, his second division from Zehista to Cotta and onwards to Hellendorf on the way to Prague. He also established batteries and detachments north of the Elbe, and a pontoon bridge at Schandau. A very strong Prussian Infantry Battalion blocked the bridge from Pirna to stop any possible retreat from this point. The blockade required about 30,000 men. At the time, the Saxon prime minister, Heinrich Count Brühl, and the court still rejected any open cooperation with Browne's Austrian army. They did not want to provoke Federico and followed a policy of appeasement. While the Saxon army remained in the Pirna camp. At dawn on September 13, Duke Ferdinand, accompanying Keith, left his camp with Keith's body and headed for Bohemia to cover the Pirna blockade. In mid-September the Elector of Saxony's headquarters was at Struppen, in the center of the Saxon lines. His army had been on short rations since September 3. In fact, with the Prussians blocking the Elbe River and all the roads, no supplies could reach his camp or either of his two fortresses. The Elector repeatedly asked Austria and France for help. Field Marshal Maximilian Ulysses Browne was hastily preparing his Austrian army at Kolin. Empress Maria Theresa personally contributed some of her own horses to Browne's artillery, which already numbered some 60,000 men.

Battle of Lobositz​

On September 14, Browne marched from Kolin with his infantry towards Budin. On the same day, 180 ships carrying provisions for the Prussian army arrived from Torgau to Dresden, escorted by grenadiers. Ferdinand meanwhile remained in his camp at Peterswalde where he received some pontoons sent by Frederick II. On September 15, after some skirmishes with the Austrians, Ferdinand moved to Nollendorf where he camped. Meanwhile, Field Marshal Count Gessler left Dresden with 41 Prussian cavalry units and camped between Zuschendorf and Krebs. On the same day, Peroni's Austrian detachment withdrew to Aussig to join Wied's corps, which had been reinforced by cavalry led by Major General Prince von Löwenstein. Browne at Budin finished receiving reinforcements, and set off on September 30 in the direction of Lobositz. Frederick II then received news that there were imperial troops near Lobositz, but his full strength was unknown. Federico fearlessly put his troops on the march. The Imperial forces consisted of 26,500 infantry, 7,500 cavalry and 94 guns (70×3, 12×6 pounder and 6×12 guns and 6 howitzers). Frederick II, for his part, had 18,250 infantry, 10,500 cavalry and 98 guns (52 × 3 pounder, 28 × 12 and 8 × 24 guns, and 10 × 10 howitzers). Frederick II remained unaware of his enemy's strength and disposition. The landscape was enveloped in a dense fog. Frederick II ascended the Homolka, but could only see that Lobositz was occupied by infantry and cavalry. Federico II ordered to bombard the positions occupied by the Austrian cavalry, which did not charge, but changed position several times, suffering heavy casualties. Federico II orders his troops to advance but the fog makes the advance difficult because it hides the defensive positions and the Austrian batteries decimate the Prussian troops.

Frederick then decides to attack the cavalry troops that were visible and that, after having suffered many casualties from the artillery, are overwhelmed by the Prussian cavalry. Meanwhile, the Prussian infantry failed, time and again, in their advance. Frederick II mocked Gesler, who had led the assault, and he angrily put his sword in its sheath and, armed only with the whip, led a new attack. Two musket balls ended his life. About 10,000 Prussian infantrymen now advanced against the Austrians. Meanwhile on the left wing the Prussians had been imposing themselves. At that moment the fog lifted and Frederick II could finally see the entire battlefield and Frederick ordered an attack on Lobositz. The Prussians were still in the same positions both on the right wing and in the center. For his part, Browne had suffered significant losses, his cavalry had suffered greatly while the infantry was sheltered behind their defensive positions without ever taking the offensive. However, he could win if he took the Prussian left wing. Browne ordered the attack, engaging 4,200 men in combat, forcing the Prussian troops to retreat. But the situation soon changed and the entire left wing, once regrouped, attacked, sinking part of the imperial infantry in the Elbe. Prussian cannons set fire to several houses in Lobositz as Prussian troops attacked the town. Finally the city was in the hands of Prussia. By 3:00 p.m., the shooting had stopped almost everywhere. Lobositz was occupied by BIs from Alt-Anhalt and Zastrow. At 5:00 p.m., Browne gave the signal to withdraw and Budin was withdrawn. The battle had lasted 7 hours, the last 4 very intense. Frederick had lost 3,308 killed and wounded. Prussian Major-General Baron von Quadt and Lieutenant-General Franz Ulrich von Kleist subsequently died of their wounds. For his part, Browne lost 2,863 killed and wounded, 418 men taken prisoner, 3 × 3 guns, and two standards. This was far from a decisive victory for Frederick.

To avoid being cut off from his supplies, Browne marched back to Budin at night. The Prussians remained in the Lobositz area for a couple of weeks, awaiting Browne's reaction. The Prussian force blockading Pirna loudly celebrated the victory at Lobositz while the blockaded Saxon army felt despair at this news. Despite this defeat, Maria Theresa did not doubt her initial resolve and ordered Field Marshal Browne to relieve the Saxon army at all costs. Browne managed to get through to the Elector of Saxony, asking him to wait until October 11. He was asking a lot of the Saxon troops, as they were down to half rations and had seen an increase in sickness due to bad weather. The message was received in the Saxon camp on Thursday, October 7. On October 5, the Saxon garrison at Pirna moved to Königstein, leaving only 116 men from the Wittenberg garrison. Despite the poor conditions, desertion remained remarkably low in the Saxon army. On October 6 near Pirna, the Prussians erected a redoubt at Copitz and garrisoned it with 200 men and 4 artillery pieces. On October 7, Browne left his Budin camp at the head of a selected force of 8,000. Browne marched to Raudnitz where he crossed the Elbe and then proceeded over bad mountain roads to Gastorf and Bleiswedel. He intended to make a sweeping sweep east through the foothills of Lusatia. To conceal his departure, he had set up a chain of outposts along the Elbe between Leitmeritz and Schreckenstein. On Friday, October 8, Field Marshal Rutowski, General-in-Chief of the Saxon Army, had a squad of boatmen, helmsmen, and peasants ready to tow boats towards Königstein to build a bridge. They were escorted by a few battalions with field pieces to protect them from the Prussian battalions on the opposite north bank.

During the night of October 8-9, the flotilla of small towed boats was launched. Around 1 a.m., she was seen from the Prussian redoubt at Pötzscha who opened fire. The Saxon field pieces were no match for the Prussian ones. The towing party soon left. The escort soldiers had to replace them, but to no avail. The operation had to be interrupted. The Prussians captured 7 ships and sank a few others. Meanwhile, the Prussian Lieutenant-General von Lestwitz had rushed from Mockethal to the heights of Wehlen at the head of BI Schwerin. On October 9, Lestwitz built entrenchments on the heights of Wehlen and fired on the Saxon pontoons on the opposite bank of the Elbe. During the night of 9/10 October, another vain attempt was made to bring ships to Königstein. On Sunday October 10, considering it impossible to get boats to Königstein, Rutowski changed his plan and ordered the pontoons to be transported from Pirna to Thürmsdorf about 1.6 km from Königstein. The Saxons were supposed to cross the Elbe at Thürmsdorf under cover of cannons at Königstein. The plan called for the Austrians to take up position at Lichtenhayn while the Saxons would concentrate at Ebenheit overnight. Then the next day the Saxons would fire two cannon shots from Königstein as a signal to begin simultaneous attacks on the Prussian posts. However, on the Saxon side of the river the pontoons had not yet been assembled into a bridge. Rutowski attributed this to the small number of pontoon boats available. The Prussian General Leschwitz was sent between Schandau and Wendischefere with 11 battalions and 15 squadrons, blocking the way to Field Marshal Browne who was camped opposite this Prussian corps between Mittelndorf and Altendorf. The small plain where the Saxons intended to land was dominated by the Lilienstein Mountain. Both sides of this mountain were guarded by 5 Bns of dug-in Prussian grenadiers. Two Prussian Battalions of Jagers were deployed 500 paces back in the Burgersdorf Gorge, supported by 5 Echelons of Dragoons (ED).

On the night of October 11/12, the Prussian Major-General von Manteuffel at the head of the RI Schwerin left his camp at Mockethal. From his camp at Pirna, the Saxons could see Browne's campfires. On Tuesday, October 12, the expected signal from the Saxon army did not come. His pontooners with some officers and soldiers were still actively working on the construction of the pontoon bridge. Meanwhile, the Prussian commander was reinforcing his posts in the Lilienstein and Lichtenhayn area. From 9:00 p.m., during the night of 12/13 October, the Saxon army (18,558 men) moved in heavy rain from their positions stretching from Pirna to Hennersdorf to reach the crossing place at Thürmsdorf. Due to very narrow paths, he could only advance in a single column. The army had to abandon most of its guns on the sodden roads. At 11:30 p.m., the crossing began on the pontoon bridge, the movement was still underway when dawn broke. By this time only the converging 7 Guard Battalion (GB) had completed the crossing with their 2 battalion guns. The fog prevented the Saxon artillery from the fortresses of Sonnenstein and Königstein from covering the movement of the army. Meanwhile, the Elector of Saxony and his court had taken refuge in the fortress of Königstein. The situation worsened to the point that Browne was forced to retreat towards Hinter-Hermsdorf. On Friday morning, October 15, the Prussians occupied the Sonnenstein fortress. Meanwhile, Rutowski had returned to Struppen. Without the Elector's authorization, he opened negotiations with Winterfeldt and Frederick II. Rutowsky then informed the Elector that he had finally authorized him to negotiate a capitulation.

The Elector's main concerns were: to obtain free passage to Warsaw for himself and his court; prevent the forced integration of his army into the Prussian army; keep Königstein fortress neutral during the war, and prevent the imprisonment of his guards and cadets. However, Frederick II rejected most of these conditions. He insisted that the Elector Frederick Augustus II should simply hand over his troops. No exception was made for guards and cadets. However, Saxon officers would not be forced to serve in the Prussian army if they promised not to fight the Prussians anymore. The final terms granted to the Saxon army were difficult. On Saturday, October 16, Browne arrived at Böhmisch-Kamnitz with his main body. He was informed that the Prussians were working on a bridge at Tetschen, thus threatening his line of retreat. Browne detached Kamnitz's Tcol Loudon with 500 infantry and Tcol MacElliot with 60 hussars to attack Tetschen. Browne's son, Lt. Col. von Browne, Colonel von Kheil, Colonel von Mitrowski, and several other volunteers, also accompanied Loudon. On the evening of the same day, the capitulation of the Saxon army was signed and bread was sent to its soldiers. Frederick II then dispatched Major-General von Ingersleben with orders that all Saxon soldiers swear allegiance to him. Field Marshal Rutowski sent General von Arnim to Frederick II to protest against this move, but to no avail. On Sunday, October 17, Browne arrived at Politz. On the same day, Frederick II crossed to Niederrathen, where the rebuilt pontoon bridge was thrown over the Elbe. He then went to Waltersdorf to review the captured Saxon army. The Saxon officers were separated from their regiments and sent home (out of a total of some 600 officers, only 37 agreed to enter the Prussian service). The Saxon soldiers meanwhile passed between 2 Prussian Guards BIs and were met by the 2 Prince of Prussian Infantry Battalions. Then they put down their weapons. The Saxon regiments were forced to swear allegiance to Field Marshal Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau, who had been appointed commander of the 'new' regiments. Only a few soldiers swore allegiance, although the Prussians began to beat them. The grenadiers of the Corps Guard, the Corps Guard, the GB of Kurprinzessin and the Königin infantry refused to swear allegiance.

The loyalty ceremony lasted until October 19. The regiments secured Prussian officers and then marched to a camp between Struppen and Pirna, guarded by Prussian soldiers. Frederick tried to convince the Saxon Bodyguards to join his own Bodyguards, but they initially refused. They had to give up their sabers and Frederick threatened to distribute them among his cavalry regiments. Finally, wishing to stay with his old comrades, he accepted Federico's offer. All other captured Saxon CRs disbanded and their troops distributed among various Prussian RCs. 10 of the 13 captured Saxon IRs remained intact, dressed in Prussian uniforms and supervised by Prussian officers. The remaining 3 IRs disbanded and their soldiers distributed among the other ten. The Saxon officers were allowed to depart on parole. Later, as soon as they had the chance, the Saxon foot soldiers deserted entire companies. By the end of 1757, most of the Saxon regiments had been disbanded, and those soldiers who had not deserted were distributed among various Prussian regiments. At the end of October the Prussians withdrew to their winter quarters in southern Saxony, and the Austrians. The invasion of Saxony by Frederick's troops unleashed a wave of indignation, the effects of which reached the Imperial Diet, to the point that, believing the Prussian defeat certain, it was decreed outlawed, and the coalition determined to put 500,000 soldiers to crush the attacker. France, Austria, and Russia were willing to contribute forces to participate in the almost certain Allied victory and participate in the distribution. To defend Prussia and Pomerania from attack, Frederick II left troops to General Manteuffel and the rest of the army distributed as follows:

In Silesia and the county of Glatz he had 33,000 men commanded by Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin.
In upper Lusatia 22,000 men were quartered under the command of the Duke of Bevern.
Near Dresden 30,000 soldiers under his command.
In lower Saxony Prince Maurice of Auhalt-Dessau with 18,000 men.
At the end of March, the Imperials had 5 ACs (Army Corps) on the border:

AC-I 20,000 under the command of the Duke of Ahremberg on the banks of the Eger river.
AC-II 40,000 under Browne (who was in the last stages of tuberculosis) by the Budin River.
AC-III with 20,000 soldiers deployed in Reichenberg under Königseck.
AC-IV 27,000 under the command of Serbelloni.
AC-V in Moravia 36,000 men under Marshal Leopold Joseph von Daun. AC-V another 15,000 under Nodosky in Moravia.

María Teresa I of Austria appointed her brother-in-law Carlos Alejandro de Lorraine as general in chief, more out of affection than for his military skills. While the much more skilled General Browne was to serve under him. This had advised that Saxony and Silesia be attacked to divert the war from the Austrian possessions, but Charles of Lorraine preferred to remain on the defensive and gather numerous forces around him. Federico waited until the steps were clear of snow. For the invasion he had 85,600 infantry in 108 Battalions, 27,900 cavalry in 163 Echelons and 2,000 artillerymen, which he framed in 4 ACs: Prince Moritz advanced from Saxony with 19,300 troops. Frederick marched south up the Elbe Valley with 39,600 troops. August Wilhelm von Brunswick-Bevern, Duke of Bevern advanced on Jung-Bunzlau with 20,300 troops, while Field Marshal Schwerin moved south from Silesia and turned west to join Bevern with 34,000 troops. The 4 Prussian ACs penetrated between April 18 and 21 through different points of Bohemia with the aim of enveloping the scattered troops and leading the imperial armies towards Prague. Prussian forces entered Bohemia through Aussig, while Prince Maurice entered directly from the Eger River. The Duke of Bevern's column joined Schwerin's at Turnau and attacked Königseck's forces, achieving a small victory at the Battle of Reichenberg on 21 April, in which 13,200 Austrian infantry and 3,500 cavalry clashed. against 11,450 Prussian infantry and 3,100 cavalry. The imperial general had to fall back on Prague, while the Prussians seized large quantities of Austrian supplies. Meanwhile, Frederick II was advancing on Prague to attack Browne before he could join forces with the Duke of Ahremberg. Browne retreated to Prague closely followed by Frederick II, joining Charles Alexander of Lorraine on April 30 near Prague.

On May 1, the imperial army withdrew to Prague, the left wing, led by Lorraine, camped on the right bank of the Vltava River, and the right wing, led by Browne, took up positions at Malleschitz. On May 5, Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, leading 61,000 troops, took up a strong position and resolved to remain on the defensive until reinforcements arrived from Daun, rushing in from Moravia. The left wing was covered by the Ziskaberg, a steep hill overlooking the Vltava River. Along its front ran a deep ravine with steep sides, and to its right was a swamp with hedgerows, drains, and dikes, stretching up to a hill near Sterboholy. Their position was strengthened by the works and they were covered by a large artillery. On the same day Frederick crossed the Vltava River at Seltz, about 7 km downstream from Prague, and joined Schwerin. Field Marshal Keith had been left on the left bank of the Vltava with 32,000 troops. Frederick with the combined army on the right bank had 65,000 troops. As soon as the joining of his army was effected, Frederick II rode in company with Schwerin, Wintefeldt, and some aides to a ridge east of Prosek from where he could see all the Austrian positions. While his columns rested, Frederick spent some time surveying these positions with his spyglass and finally decided to engage in battle the same day, considering that any delay would allow the Lorraine army to be reinforced. Early on the morning of May 6, the entirety of the Prussian units formed up and prepared to lead the Austrians into a decisive battle. According to Frederick II's plans, Prince Maurice was to build a bridge of ships across the Vltava above Prague, cross the river with the entire right wing of Keith's corps, and charge into the enemy's rear while the King attacked front and side.

Schwerin and the other generals wanted to dissuade him from this plan, which they believed was too audacious. These generals objected that the troops had come a long way and were weary, that the ground on which the battle would be fought seemed uncertain and had not been sufficiently examined. Frederick, however, silenced all scruples by remarking that it was necessary, saying "the freshest eggs are the best." But Schwerin, who was seventy-three years of age, with that youthful vivacity for which he was remarkable, lowering his hat to his forehead, he replied. "If it is necessary to be defeated, today I will go to look for the enemy wherever I see him." General Winterfeld, who was the one who had perfunctorily surveyed the battlefield, did not notice the ground behind which the right wing was positioned. Near the village of Sterboholy ran a small stream, in which ponds are formed by means of dams. These ponds had been drying up and the ground was sown with oats. The oats gave the appearance of a solid base to points that later ended up being small swamps of mud and mud. At eleven o'clock, the attack of the Prussians' left wing began. The Prussian cavalry had numerical superiority (17,000 Prussians against 13,000 Imperials) and therefore it was they who initiated the attack. The imperial cavalry began the battle with impetus and was able to repulse the Prussians twice. On the third attack, however, they were forced back. The Prussian infantry marched forward, attacking to the left, through the village of Potscherwitz, but their advance was greatly slowed when what appeared to be meadows were actually dry ponds planted with oats, forcing them forward. sinking knee-deep in mud and swamp or marching over dikes and narrow paths barely a meter wide.

Prince Charles Alexander was forced, by Marshal Schwerin's move, to change his position by drawing back his right wing, and ordered his second line to advance to protect that flank. Consequently, as soon as the Prussians were able to form up, they were met by a well-formed line assisted by a battery of 12 guns. Two entire Prussian regiments gave way, and the King, approaching, rebuked them for their cowardly behaviour. Schwerin was in the gorge when he saw his regiment waver in front of the battery. Stung by the king's reproaches, he tore a flag from the hands of an ensign and, placing himself at the head of his regiment, shouted: "A coward who dares not follow me." The old marshal did not take more than five steps, when he was hit by five bullets, falling dead under the flag that he carried in his hands. General Manteufel immediately took his place, but shortly afterwards he also fell dead from the impact of a cannonball. It was now close to one o'clock and the Prussians had advanced to within sixty paces of the enemy, but were forced back again by the Imperial right wing which, under Marshal Browne's orders, rushed forward unaware that their Their advance separated them from the rest of the army, which would be decisive for the course of the battle. This attack was commanded by Browne himself, when a cannonball shattered his right leg. He fell from his horse and was carried unconscious from the battlefield. At about the same time Charles Alexander of Lorraine, seeing his troops retreating, succumbed to a fit of cramps that rendered him unconscious and had to be evacuated from the battlefield. Thus, the Austrian army found itself for most of the battle without any commander-in-chief, so each of the divisional generals acted independently of the rest. The center of the Prussian army had advanced unmolested and threatened the left flank of the imperial right wing.

The impetuosity of the Prussian attack was irresistible and forced the Imperials back. The Duke of Bevern's troops had meanwhile passed the Hostawitz Gorge and, after very fierce fighting, advanced towards Malleschitz and seized a battery which lay beyond that village. However, they were forced to abandon it in the face of a counterattack by Königseck's troops. Prince Henry marched against three Imperial divisions, which had the advantage of terrain and were backed by far superior artillery. These Austrian troops tried to hold their position. The Prussian forces climbed the hill dislodging the Imperials from their positions. Seven redoubts were stormed, after fierce fighting, and when they found their way cut by a wide moat which made the soldiers hesitate, Prince Henry was the first to jump into the ditch causing the soldiers to advance behind him towards a great redoubt that was also finally conquered. The artillery that was positioned in this redoubt turned on the Austrians dislodging them from that position, so that Bevern was able to retake the redoubt near Malleschitz, and the retreating Austrians' resistance became weaker. Four times Königseck strove to form a new line of battle, but the Prussians constantly followed him, so that his only chance of protection lay in Prague. Although the Prussian attack was successful in the center, the Austrian right flank pushed the Prussians back, so the battle was still indecisive. These troops advanced with great impetus, separating themselves from the rest of the army. This fact was observed by Federico II, who sent some battalions to occupy the space left vacant by the imperial column, separating the central body from the enemy. This move threw the Imperials into disarray and recharged the retreating Prussians, putting the Imperials in the crossfire.

These imperial troops, finding it impossible to rejoin the rest of the army, retreated towards Benesov in the hope of being able to join Daun's troops. The Austrian left wing was still in its original position on the Ziskaberg, without having fired a shot. The Prussian right wing, under Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, had passed the ravine and climbed up the steep sides of the Ziskaberg hill. The Prussian army had broken through the Austrian line and rushed at the imperial army from all sides. The redoubts, however, still intact and defended by some of Austria's elite Grenadier troops, held out for a considerable period of time, but in the end the Grenadiers had to give in to the Prussians' impetus. Around three in the afternoon, the fight was over. After the victory of their comrades on the right bank of the Vltava, the corps of 30,000 Prussians, who had remained on the left bank to cover the initial contact between the army and the route from which communication reached it under the command of Marshal Keith , prevented the defeated imperial army from withdrawing to the left bank of the Vltava, forcing him to seek refuge in Prague. Prussian casualties were 13,301 men killed, wounded, and missing, of whom 401 were officers, including Field Marshal Count Schwerin and Major General von Amstell killed; and Lieutenant-General Fouqué, Lieutenant-General von Hautcharmoy, Lieutenant-General Winterfeldt, General-Major von Schöning, General-General von Plettenberg, General-Major von Blanckensee and General-General von Kurssell wounded. The Prussians captured 33 guns, a large number of colors, 11 standards and 40 pontoons. The Austrians 13,324 men, of whom 401 were officers, were taken prisoner including 40 officers and 4,235 soldiers.

Field Marshal Browne had been mortally wounded, the Marquis de Clerici seriously wounded, and Major-General Count Peroni dead. The Austrians captured 4 battalion guns, 3 colors and 1 standard. Although the Prussians still owned the battlefield, they had failed to annihilate the Austrian army that had been allowed to take refuge in Prague. Frederick had no choice but to besiege Prague, hoping to capture it before Daun's arrival with his aid army. After the Battle of Prague, Frederick abandoned his practice of requiring the Prussian infantry to advance without firing. The battle taught him the importance of infantry firepower. Frederick with his severely reduced force was not strong enough to storm Prague. However, he decided to besiege the city in hopes of forcing it to surrender due to lack of supplies. An Austrian force of 40,000 soldiers was trapped in the city, although they were not strong enough to consider breaking the siege. Frederick tried to get information inside Prague for which he sent Christian Andreas Käsebier several times to the besieged city.

Although the war started well for the Prussians, it soon went downhill when in 1759, when a 48,000-man Prussian army commanded by Frederick II would face a combined 80,000-man army of Russian-Imperial forces commanded by Pyotr Saltykov near Kunersdorf. The battle of Kunersdorf would mean the loss of 20,000 men among deserters, wounded and dead, about half of the Prussian forces. Berlin would soon be occupied by Russian forces who would end up raping, robbing and murdering the citizens of the German city. The fate of Prussia was saved when in January 1762, at the age of 52, the death of Empress Elizabeth of Russia occurred, an event that could be explained by the long illness and age of the sovereign. In a moment of divine luck, Frederick would discover that the new Tsar Peter III of Russia was a great admirer of Frederick the Great as well as of the Prussian army's discipline and efficient administration; days after assuming the throne, and taking advantage of the suspension of war activities for the winter, Peter III of Russia ordered his troops to cease fighting against Prussia immediately and return to Frederick the Great all the occupied Prussian territory, without demanding any advantages or benefits in return. compensation. In a matter of days, Austria would remain the only great enemy of the Kingdom of Prussia, but without the decisive support of several thousand Russian soldiers, soon the court of Vienna also had to agree to peace with Frederick the Great. The unexpected peace with Russia, and the fact that Tsar Peter III did not put conditions on it, strengthened the Prussian kingdom and allowed it to ultimately survive, forcing first Austria and then France to sign a final peace with the Prussians.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Escuchas eso ? Son las Banshee gritando por Irlanda».
«You hear that ? Its the Banshee screaming for Irelandy.».
— Attributed to Spanish Volunteer during the Flight of the Wild Geese.
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Since Ireland expelled the English, Ireland developed a military culture where the Royal Irish Army became a central institution in Irish society. Most Irish people serve in the military, and most men continue to serve well into middle age. As well as defending the country against protracted hostility and violence, the army has come to carry out important social and economic functions, and serves as a symbol of Irish strength, efficiency and effectiveness. Transforming the emerald isle into a militarized society due to the central role of the army. Many of the Irish industries indirectly favored the army: textiles made uniforms, metallurgy made weapons, shipping favored logistics that reached military grades. This meant that when the war broke out in Europe, the British Government began to requisition Irish ships and sailors to make them serve as transport or war ships while the crew members were distributed among other ships. It was illegal under British law to impress foreign sailors; But in practice at the time it was accepted that nations would retrieve sailors of their own nationality from foreign navies in times of war and Britain still regarded Ireland as its own even though it would be closer to a rebellious province. However, before war was officially declared between Ireland and Great Britain, some five thousand Irish were impressed in the British navy where they would end up suffering discrimination, abuse and in some moments they would end up being killed by their comrades. But perhaps the most controversial point would be the Woman Factor. Since Grace O'Malley also known as Gráinne O'Malley, laid the foundations of the Irish Navy, many women ended up enlisting to the point that the first female Admiral would be Anne Bonny, daughter of servant woman Mary Brennan and Brennan's employer, lawyer William Cormac.

The war began when Ireland demanded the return of its ships and crew along with a payment in reparations, but the King and the English Parliament refused to the point that they insulted the Irish diplomat who had to flee London in the face of the danger that the British mobs they lynched him The worst was when an Irish ship, the Royal Irish Ship "Gráinne", would end up being intercepted by the HMS "Cromwell", the Cromwell was returning from South America after serving in transport and light attack tasks against the Spanish possessions in Brazil and Rio de la Plata. While the Gráinne was a ship where the majority of her crew were women who served as smugglers although officially they sailed on an Ireland-Holland route, although in reality they traveled from Denmark to the Strait of Gibraltar. The Cromwell was a warship that relied more on its greater firepower and the experience of her crew while the Gráinne was a fast ship but her crew were not trained for conventional naval fighting. In a matter of two hours of pursuit, the Gráinne lost one of her masts allowing the Cromwell to board her. The Cromwell's commanding officer was Matthew Barton who served under Vernon in Cartagena de Indias and had a hatred of the Papists and Jacobites. Barton ordered the ship seized as if it were a military equal and after three musket volleys, the fight turned into a bloody hand-to-hand combat that would end with dozens of women subdued while the dead were thrown into the sea. Barton then realized that although his men fought with fervor and ferocity, they did not do so out of religious hatred. They hadn't docked in port in weeks and wanted some way to relax, a shot from behind a short distance from Barton's head and aimed at his, broke any kind of discipline. When the Gráinne was located by an Irish coastguard patrol days later, they would see that the bodies hardly seemed human, what were brave women defying the dogmas of the time, they died being beaten to death in constant physical and sexual abuse.

The Irish population, upon learning the news, soon demanded revenge, even regiments raised by volunteers were formed. However, due to the response and the treatment received by the diplomat sent to London, the Irish Parliament decided to declare war by ordering any English ship near the Irish coast to be attacked. The Irish, adopting a radical form of folklore adapted to Irish history, believed that they were the defenders of an "organic" Gaelic nation that had been enslaved for centuries. The war began in truth with the landing of 14,000 British soldiers (10,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry) and a formidable artillery train with a fleet of 40 ships in Belfast who managed to take the city, although its cost was manifested in the loss of a thousand men. and two transports loaded with food, weapons and other supplies. The British Army quickly made Belfast their main base of operations from which to receive supplies and reinforcements. However, the Belfast-Liverpool route was harassed by the Irish Hounds, a series of Irish ships refitted for war and dedicated to harassing and sinking transport convoies even without boarding them. The Irish naval harassment turned out to have almost no response as the British sent two-thirds of their fleet between South America and the North Sea, trusting that the Irish would withdraw at the first sign of strength and not pose a danger to the naval hegemony of Great Britain. More than seventeen British ships sank in the narrow sea between Ireland and Britain and twice as many would end up being taken over by Irish Privateers. The British invasion force instead suffered heavy casualties as they took town after town, with local militias providing brutal street fighting and ambushes along the partisan roads. A militia called the Cuchulain held out in the town of Dundalk for over three weeks, inflicting over 4,000 British casualties before being annihilated: the town itself burned to the ground.

The British soldiers would keep the word "Ríastrad" as a synonym for battles of Victory or Death at the same time that the so-called Banshee Battalions began to form, made up of female soldiers who were rigorously trained and given uniforms. It is estimated that between 1,000 and 6,000 women fought in Banshee Battalions, which served mainly as light infantry units that wreaked havoc, the British mentality where most officers were noblemen who had bought their rank or connections to rise quickly, believed that The Irish Army was little more than an armed mob of peasants, led by priests and nobles who liked to feast and get drunk, a disparagement that would take its toll on them when General James Kirkland "The Giant" employed a variety of modern tactics including guerrilla warfare. , forcing his enemies through grueling raids before they met the brunt of his power. The Battle of Dublin proved that the Irish would not go down without a fight. In Dublin, the Redcoats would end up losing five men for every Irishman, dead and wounded. Although Dublin was lost, Kirkland managed to withdraw with all his banners and after having endured four days of fighting and naval bombardment. Due to his number of casualties, he ended up replacing the English commander and bringing in a new one who issued a proclamation announcing that military discipline would be imposed in the camps; while combatants hostile to King George's forces would be hanged as Traitor rebels. The fighting in Ireland drew the attention of Spain and the King of Spain would authorize the dispatch of the Legion Española de Voluntarios, a force consisting of Spanish and Spanish-Irish volunteers who trained as Cazadores (elite light infantry).

The arrival of the Spanish in Ireland was received with pomp and festivities by the Irish population who saw the Spanish as warm blooded, ready to fight and honorable but it soon showed the Irish how the Spanish had changed, the century and a half What happened since they helped their independence. The Spanish mentality had an emphasis on family, a love of machismo and "strong man" leaders, as well as a very passionate and expressive way of communicating. This has resulted in a culture that worships strength and tradition in equal measure. The Volunteer Legionnaires soon showed the Redcoats that they still retained that great mystique built up over the last few centuries. His forces of Conquistador volunteers had crushed tribal opponents from "California to the Strait of Magellan", conquering huge tracts of land across an entire continent, the Spanish still had in their memory the Tercios who impaled heavy cavalry with their pikes French and conquered Northwest Africa from the infidel Mohammedan and without forgetting as small contingents less than a Regiment or a Brigade, they defeated Empires rich in gold, silver and slaves even if they were from warrior cultures. The aura given off by a "Spanish Soldier" was that they were the product of a society that exemplified manhood and strength, that each man was a warrior trained from childhood to march and fight, and raised in a culture comparable to the ancient Spartans. . However, this hid the fact that the Spanish people fought eight hundred years to expel their closest and most brutal enemy. In their first fights, the British accustomed to fighting head-on, listening to a concert of bagpipes announcing the arrival of the Irish Regiments, were startled by the sight of their officers being mowed down by waves of fire coming from the woods, dry beds, ditches and whatever. covered place.

The worst were the Encamisadas, acts of sabotage and assassination where a small group of soldiers infiltrated the enemy camp and wreaked havoc. Dozens of British fortified camps would end up being discovered in the morning with most of their members dead with their throats slashed and their ammunition stolen, destroyed or in some moments scattered in the camp in such a way that it ended up igniting like a booby trap. This would cause aggressive changes to be made in the British Army in Ireland. Corporal punishment was outlawed (although the number of crimes carrying the death penalty was expanded) and enormous efforts were made to improve the quality of life for recruits; Better food, better uniforms, better training, and better freedoms when it comes to R&R. He was also shown to be ruthless in weeding out incompetents, deserters, and was even shown to be completely willing to relieve ineffective officers, regardless of his lineage. By 1760, the Royal Navy decided to impose the so-called Wyvern Plan, a military project consisting of establishing a naval blockade of Ireland - whose objective was to suppress the export of wool and coal, and the import of weapons - involved a constant surveillance of 7,527 kilometers of Irish coastline, a task considered impossible due to the overextension of the task. However, it was put into practice using to its demoralizing effect the fact that Royal Navy ships were given complete freedom to deal with captured Irish ships, many ending up being launched as fireships against Irish ports before being attacked and looted by the Irish. infamous British Marines who would eventually become a common element in the war to the point where they gained an Irish reputation for brutality becoming notorious for retaliatory attacks on civilians and civilian property, including executions of innocents, arson and looting.

Although the British advance was hampered by guerrilla warfare, it did not stop. The British regiments who were popularly known as the Redcoats would end up pitting themselves against their Irish equivalents called the Greencoats in battles where Anglo-Saxon brutality was pitted against Vengeful Gaelic-Celts who would rather die than be captured for brutal interrogation. The ancient codes of chivalry that served as a regulator of conduct for combatants, were broken and pulverized to the point that a young Redcoat captain, Thomas Tarleton, younger brother of a prominent Liverpool merchant, led a group of his soldiers in the murder of prisoners of war and wounded soldiers and the burning of a church full of townspeople. Although he would end up being captured by Irish troops under the command of General Kirkland, Tarleton and his troops along with their crimes against surrendered military personnel, would also include atrocities against the population from looting, mass executions and rape along with desecration of bodies which included decapitating heads and hang them on the chest collar as if they were Germanic barbarians. This served as a negative effect for the Irish who could end up developing cases of shell shock where the soldier could perform poorly and demoralize to being aggressive and prone to anger and it was common for them to shoot any Briton they encountered. Although it may seem that the British army acted in a wild and undisciplined way, everything was following the Scorched Earth doctrine, an early example of total war where British troops entered unknown terrain, without supply lines, and with the order to subsist on the basis of the crops and livestock that they could steal or plunder from the estates and farms that they found in their path, destroying the surplus livestock and crops, while destroying or burning mills, canals, warehouses, haciendas, workshops, and practically every element that served to sustain the Irish economy.

This strategy, together with the Wyvern Plan, made the Irish civilian population end up watching the war with horror, managing to decisively break the Irish economic, strategic and psychological potential through an effective and very violent tactic. By 1762, Ireland was under British occupation and the Spanish Legion that began with ten thousand Volunteers only had 500 who fought with the Irish in Galway where the Flight of the Wild Geese took place, an evacuation process where a Franco- Spanish along with the remains of the Irish army would end up making an exodus to the territories of France or Spain. It is estimated that one and a half million Irish fled from the start of the war in 1756 to 1762. Although the Irish already had a certain acceptance in France including a royal guard made up of Irish who decided to emigrate to other countries to obtain their fortune, Spain was the surprise. Spain had a population problem. When King Ferdinand II "The Just" learned of the plight of the Irish, he felt empathy and opportunity. He really didn't like the fact that a Catholic people was being oppressed and endangered by English Protestant heretics. At the same time, he saw in the Irish Refugees a golden opportunity. Ship after ship of Irish began to gradually arrive at Spanish ports in Galicia throughout 1757, '58, '59 and '60 increasing between 61' and finally 62', where they were greeted with hugs, clothing, hot or cold food depending of the weather, tens of thousands of Irish newcomers from a broken and bloody emerald isle would end up receiving a hug before being ushered into an office where a government official would register them for the census before giving them a choice of a region of Spain to choose. to go live, many would agree to stay in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Aragon while others would end up going to Spanish Italy or the Americas.

The newly arrived Irish would take over abandoned farms, mining facilities and logging camps. Others would revive towns that were inhabited only by less than fifty people, focusing the economy of the towns on the production of Iberian ham and Whiskey on an industrial scale. The Spanish had not only legitimately saved hundreds of thousands of people from oppression and possible genocide, but they were helping to maintain Irish culture, berets and bagpipes being popular in towns in the aforementioned regions while in other cases it was a high number of people with red hair or green eyes. Irish folk songs were played singing in Irish before the crowds who applauded without knowing what they were talking about but the rhythm made the evening happy. Spain, a nation that was seen as a monster comparable to the Titan Cronus devouring weak and poor nations in the art of weapons and technology, decided to abandon its aggressiveness and reach out to a people in their darkest hour. Britain would eventually conquer Ireland but the new province would be subject to settlement where the Irish were relegated to second class while they practiced Catholicism or spoke Irish in secret or as a family. Many would flee to the Commonwealth of America preferring to try their luck in the New World by supporting colonies such as Carolina, Virginia or Georgia.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«¿Has olvidado los deberes impuestos por el honor militar? ¿Vas a permitir que el enemigo robe esta tierra, que es la salvaguardia de la Provincia de la Banda Oriental y de sus habitantes?.».
«Have you forgotten the duties imposed by military honor? Are you going to allow the enemy to steal this land, which is the safeguard of the Banda Oriental Province and its inhabitants?».
— Attributed to Rafaela Herrera Torreynosa.​

When war was declared between France and Great Britain in 1756, Spain remained neutral. The prime minister of King Ferdinand II of Spain, Ricardo Wall, opposed the war. Britain tried to persuade Spain to join the war as her ally by offering the Azores in exchange for Spanish aid, but Toledo refused. Everything changed when Fernando II died in 1759 and his brother Carlos II succeeded him. One of the main objectives of Carlos's policy was the maintenance of Spain as a superpower as it had been for two centuries. Fearing that a British victory over France in the Seven Years' War might upset the colonial balance of power, he signed the third Family Pact with France in August 1761. This provoked war with Britain in January 1762. The British East Indies Company, which had an interest in the Spanish colonial territory, especially Rio de la Plata and Brazil, would come into conflict. Commanding the operations on the British side would be General John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, while the Spanish would have a difference in command between the Spanish Imperial Army and the Spanish Overseas Army. General Campbell had the plan to land at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to conquer Buenos Aires and Montevideo and then from there try to occupy the Captaincy General of Montevideo, once the territory on the Uruguay River was occupied, advance towards Chile through the Andes while BEIC troops would make a landing in Chile where they would try to instigate a Mapuche uprising against the Spanish, following the same tactics as in India. However, these tactics were quite optimistic and would have disadvantages such as the fact that Montevideo is home to the Real Apostadero de Marina, the main Spanish naval base in the South Atlantic, its area of operations and authority being the South Atlantic or rather, everything to the south from 8th parallel north.

The British invasion force was small compared to other forces, with twenty ships of the line and their corresponding transport ships carrying 12,000 foot soldiers along with artillery. Even so, the fleet did not go unnoticed by the Spanish intelligence services who could rely on a relatively good and willing network of informants within the territories of Germany, France, even Scotland along with America, who reported on the English movements, which allowed them to correctly guess the route by which the British would arrive. An important base would be the Azores who would serve as a refueling station for the British fleets that went to the South Atlantic. The Spanish naval high command decided to allow the fleet to pass through the Azores even though they had planned to conquer the Azores Islands. In May 1762, Campbell's fleet would reach the Rio de Plata facing well-coordinated but futile resistance from half a dozen vastly outnumbered Spanish frigates. The Spanish sailors sold their lives dearly, sinking five ships of the line and three supply transports carrying ammunition, medicine and food, before they were blown to pieces by the combined firepower of the ships of the line that Britain brought to the island. table. After the small flotilla was dealt with, the fleet sailed for Maldonado to occupy it and serve as a landing base. What General Campbell, who was in command of the operation, least expected was pinpoint artillery fire from the fortifications guarding the minor fortified population. Well timing their cannon reload cycle from him, the Spanish defenders hidden behind thick stone walls extracted a high price from Campbell.

Losses before any of the British soldiers set foot in South America range from 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers and twice as many in sailors, mostly on troop transports caught in the brutal artillery fire the Spanish unleashed. Casualties suffered by the defenders ranged from dozens to probably as many as a hundred, mostly from artillery fire covering the air. But most devastating was another surprise the Spanish had in store for unwelcome guests. Maldonado was destroyed through the use of a large amount of gunpowder which caused several giant explosions. Enlightened by the aftermath of the battle, the British proceeded to occupy and build a camp a short distance from the ruined city. Due to the casualties suffered, General Campbell made use of what few horsemen and light infantry he could muster to attack the nearby ranches and farms, the arrival of the British was initially greeted with Spanish Creoles defending their homes like any man of his home and patriots against the invaders. In most cases, the defenders were broken. While the Spanish men were killed, the women were beaten and raped first by the British soldiers who had gone weeks without contact from a woman and then later by the black and Indian slaves who unloaded unknown time of abuse and mistreatment in the same way as the British over the spanish but in most larger crueler and quantities. A horrible story from a horrible time. The Slaves would end up forming Companies of Black Pioneer or Companies of Black Militiamen, this would make the British forces raise their troops to 25,000 soldiers made up of 10,000 British soldiers and 15,000 blacks and Indians. That those considered inferior slaves were trained to bear arms and kill was a revolutionary idea at the time, especially since they were with one of the best armies in the world.

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Color troops were a symbol of hope for slaves who discovered that General Campbell received authorization to give freedom to all slaves who were willing to join him under arms against the Spaniards, this did the following weeks, the volunteers believed that They were fighting. Not only for their own individual freedom, but for the freedom of enslaved beings in the thirteen colonies. Something that was a lie, because the British exported dozens of thousands of slaves to North America. After a month of training and climate acclimatization, Campbell began the advance towards Montevideo. In the period of time, Montevideo had prepared with its civilian population that arrived to evacuate Buenos Aires in barges and long ship columns tied to barges driven by oars. While Montevideo was only the volunteer population mostly between young people from 15 years old to the elderly of 50 together a few fought in the War of Succession and paraded even carrying the Burgundy cross. Montevideo had been devoid of his best ships to offer refugees protection, so they were coastal defense vessels that barely resisted the British ships. Subsequently, the same bombardeaaria the city walls for a day and make enough gaps to enter the redcoats but in front of them the black volunteers who with vengeful frenzy did not show fear even when they received a mouth, guns firing shrapnel that destroyed their Bodies In some cases, groups would end decimated in such a way that only two would be standing but with only one arm attached to the body by a thin strip of skin. The Redcoats still advanced and learned that the defenders of Montevideo including the Batallones de Infanteria de Marina detachment were not mere colonial irregular. Hundreds of British soldiers were cut into pieces in the streets of Montevideo.

The Spanish defenders made use of all the rubble they could find to fortify their positions. As a result, what the fight still happened was a bloody job. The houses that were still intact, had to be cleaned in brutal melee combat. A British officer wrote in his diary: "We entered through the kitchen, but the Spaniards unfortunately threw us out of the room. My unit while recharging in the hall." The city church changed hands five times, before both parties were too exhausted to claim the ruins. While snipers on the roofs ruined the day for dozens of men who appeared their heads. However, after two weeks of intense fighting that degenerated machetes and bayonets due to the lack of ammunition by the Spaniards, which ended when a "human wave" of slaves attacked from the gap and massacro to the defending forces. Montevideo was looted from what was left but the most valuable prize for liberated slaves was to obtain regimental uniforms with girdles registered with the words "Freedom for slaves" or "Rule Britannia Forever". With the victory of Montevideo, thousands of slaves would end up rebelling from their farms, ranches and haciendas causing even greater discomfort to be favored by the British by damaging even more the economy of the territory while they octuated up to 30,000 new volunteers which increased what increased the forces at 50,000 soldiers composed of 8,000 British and 42,000 slaves released. But unofficially they reached 55,000 when, together with the supplies, adventurers arrived who were actually ancient criminals and bandits who with surprising efficiency managed to gather supplies due to their effectiveness as a mounted infantry. In the winter of 62-63, the British troops little accustomed to the time difference ended up ceasing hostilities until snow melted.

What Campbell did not know is that the beic army sent to invade Chile, faced the Spanish Pacific fleet while crossing the Philippines. The resulting battle saw a dozen English ships sunk and doubly captured. Campbell also did not know that the Spanish regiments of the Spanish overseas army stationed in the Viceroyalty of Peru were crossing the Andes. The Battle of Colonia del Sacramento saw 55,000 British soldiers face off against 75,000 Spanish soldiers including several regiments recently arrived from Peru along with the Dragoons from Chile. Among the Dragons of Chile would be a young man named Rafael Herrera Torreynosa, 19 years old, who made a solemn oath to the Spanish flag that he would defend the Empire at the cost of his life if necessary, but that young man was actually a woman. . When the British army reached the outskirts of Colonia Del Sacramento they would face the 75,000 soldiers with the cavalry on the flanks. While the British troops positioned themselves, the British commander sent an emissary to the Spanish with a white flag to demand the unconditional surrender of the city of Colonia Del Sacramento in exchange for avoiding further hostilities, at the same time threats were made about the planned arrival of British reinforcements and the naval blockade of the Rio de la Plata trade. The sight of slaves wielding stolen British weapons together wearing greenish British uniforms. The Spanish troops had heard the stories brought by survivors of the slave revolts, so when they saw in the British lines, groups of slaves as equals, they were enraged to the point that agreeing to surrender the Colonia Del Sacramento threatened to provoke a mutiny among the slaves. soldiers. The Spanish General would end up rejecting the British demands allowing the messenger to return to his lines, in the following minutes each of the fifty Spanish cannons would fire ten times causing a certain disorder among the slaves as it was the first time they faced an open field battle.

Dragones de Chile charging against British Artillery​

The Spanish proceeded to advance while the British troops were still reforming their lines, the British line troops maintained the center by enduring countless volleys of muskets and artillery while the Spanish Dragoon cavalry would end up breaking the flanks guarded by slave troops, that despite the fact that they resisted and fought bravely, the dead and wounded were withdrawing until they finished fleeing in hasty flight, abandoning the British. The Dragoons then divided, one contingent would pursue the escapees while another would attack the British artillery who would end up being massacred before the dragoons led by Raphael fired the same artillery against the British troops holding the line. General Campbell would end up discovering that up to 5,000 British soldiers and 20,000 slaves died in combat while 10,000 slaves ended up deserting but their fate would be to be hunted by the Dragons. 13,000 British survivors would eventually retreat to Maldonado, camping one night in the ruins of Montevideo. But when they arrived in Maldonado they would discover that the British fleet that had to support them had been brutally and mercilessly destroyed by a Leviathan born from the Cuban Shipyards: the Royal Spanish Navy ship of the line Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad abbreviated as Santísima Trinity. A monster that was built with precious woods, such as mahogany, júcaro and caguairán and that had 120 cannons spread over four decks, thus becoming the largest and most artillery ship of its time. The English saw how that ship, accompanied by two frigates, had finished off the British fleet, but the worst thing was discovering that the Guardian of Cartagena de Indias, the Lord Conqueror of Jamaica, the Middle Man, El Pata- Palo, The Old Admiral: Blas de Lezo in person.

Three ships destroyed the British fleet that was preparing to pick up the survivors. The burning remains along with the corpses would end up filling the beaches and coasts of Maldonado as a harbinger of what would happen if someone invaded the Spanish domains. The British army under Campbell was soon thrown into chaos as prejudice among white British slaves burned to the point of exploding when it was discovered that four British men had abused the daughters of one of the slave sergeants. . The resulting fighting saw Campbell and the men closest to him take refuge in the centuries-old Catholic Church of Our Lady of Candelaria as the dilapidated city was the site of fierce fighting. But the surprise was when a company of Dragoons together with five hundred colonial irregulars arrived in the surroundings and in a movement worthy of a hunt, they began to advance, cleaning every street, shooting without quarter or asking every man who did not wear a Spanish identifier or was armed. With a knife at least. General Campbell would end up captured by an already discovered Rafaela Herrera who was called La Dragona due to her character. Rafaela would end up hanging General Campbell.

Rafaela Herrera "La Dragona de Chile" in a portrait commissioned in 1780 at the age of 37.​

The Defeat of Campbell and the lack of supplies came mainly from the Conquest of the Azores Islands, which had been under the domination of the Union Jack for fifty years, justified by the Treaty of Utrecht. But its geostrategic position on intercontinental Europe-America-Africa shipping routes made it home to British privateers, manned with outlaws from all nations. Who had the authorization of the governor, Lieutenant General William Home, 8th Earl of Home, who used them to capture ships that could be doing business with the enemies of Great Britain, strangling trade in the Atlantic, obtaining considerable profit. On June 25, 1762, a Spanish invasion fleet set sail from Lisbon, consisting of 51 troop transports, 18 supply ships, 3 hospital ships, 3 food ships, and 16 armed escorts. Initially he headed west to make it appear that his destination was America, but when night came he turned around and headed for the Azores. The plan suffered from a basic flaw: the assumption that the British would believe that a large convoy approaching the Azores had peaceful intentions. On the other hand, the Azores Islands had been under English control for approximately fifty years and there were only two generations of English settlers who were strongly outnumbered by the native Portuguese population that despite remembering the Spanish conquest, the religious union together a couple of centuries as a point key to trade between America and Europe made them prefer the Spanish over the British who repressed Catholic priests even harassed the owners of the best farmland or grazing land to deliver it to notable British. But when word leaked out of the sighting of an approaching Spanish fleet, it incited Azoreans who had been amassing tens of thousands of small arms and a few dozen cannon for years to revolt against the British.

In the few weeks between the start of the firefight and the arrival of the Spanish fleet, the British were forced to begin fortifying their holdings as fortified communities. while the forests and mountains became the scene of battles that ended with bitter results for both sides. When the Spanish ships arrived at the port of Ponta Delgada, they would be received by the commanders of the São Miguel Militia Regiment who would give a situation report to the Spanish military superiors. The Spanish were genuinely received as liberators, and shared with the Azoreans provisions, weapons and other supplies that the rebellious Azoreans desperately needed because the pace of the fighting was more intense than they expected, especially because of the corsair contingents that remained and he fled when the rebellion began. The Spanish battalions soon began to move into the wooded mountains to engage the British remnants who were tired, battered, without ammunition, food and medicine. The Spaniards, however, were more numerous, better armed, and much, much more fresh-paced than prepared. Finally, the British chose to surrender, Lieutenant General William Home signed the surrender while he was sick with dysentery. The surviving corsairs would end up being hunted down and hanged for crimes of piracy, banditry and other fabricated crimes, some of them while the regular British troops were allowed to withdraw with Lord Home but he would end up dying on the way back to London while the Azores would have the pleasure of waving the Spanish flag again. The Azores Islands would keep the improvements built by England by benefiting the islands. They went from monoculture of wheat to a diversified agriculture, with the cultivation of vegetables, legumes and vines and the production of wine, which for the most part had been consumed by the 5,000 soldiers of the British garrison.

In terms of livestock, the number of cows doubled, the number of pigs multiplied by ten, and wool exports went from 487 quintals to 1,600. However, with the return of the Spanish Catholic authority, came the expulsion of Greek minorities — Orthodox- and Jewish established during the years of British rule, but perhaps what would mark the most would be the architecture of the Georgian style of the English eighteenth century. You can also find the British imprint in customs and gastronomy. The joke day is not December 28 as in the rest of Spain but April 1, as in England. The consumption of gin is very widespread —especially in Terceira—, there is a local gin, which on many occasions is drunk mixed with lemonade, while Bishop Francisco, who arrived on the island in 1765 with the mission of re-Christianizing the Azoreans who would be allegedly "contaminated" by contact with the English "heretics".

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

After Braddock's defeat at Monongahela, opinion among the English colonists was rather poor. Cumberland arrived in the United States with the idea that it would be fought like European wars where tactical principles were conceived as if it were a ballroom dance where the deployment and movement of troops required precise and systematized military training, and, consequently, extreme discipline. The soldier was like an automaton, only aware of the voices and touches of command. Battle tactics called for long, well-spaced lines of infantry, and presupposed immediate compliance with orders that had a baroque regularity and symmetry. Fighting in the open field required a long preparation. Arriving at the place where the battle was to be fought, the army formed, with the infantry occupying the center and the cavalry on the flanks, the artillery being placed in front or in the rear. Efforts were made to present a front as wide as possible to try to envelop the enemy, but at the same time ensuring that the distance between the units was not so wide that they could be isolated and left at the mercy of the enemy. The infantry formed in several lines or parallel rows, separated from each other by a few steps to be able to support each other, and at the same time reduce the risk of enemy artillery fire. Normally there were three successive and a fourth reserve to cover casualties that occurred in the previous ones. The officers took their places, the main one being on the right flank of the first line. In this situation, and after an artillery duel on both sides, the soldiers began to advance with a slow and deliberate walk with a beating drum, the sound of which indicated the progressive speed of the attack; thus up to about 100 meters from the first enemy line, a distance from which the range of their weapons could already be effective. Only then was fire opened by the infantry, something that required iron discipline.

​

The normal thing was that the soldier would get to shoot a maximum of eight times in the entire battle, so the instruction was aimed at his rate of fire reaching at least three per minute. Given the poor accuracy of their smoothbore rifles, more attention was paid to rate of fire than accuracy. To maintain rate of fire, the French and Spanish armies fired by ranks, the soldiers in front kneeling to allow the rear ranks to fire. The English and Dutch, for their part, divided the battalion into four groups that alternated firing at all their ranks at once. Both armies had to be careful not to get involved. When one of them showed hesitation in breaking the perfect formation, the other began the bayonet charge, trying to drive the enemy off the field. If he succeeded, it could be considered that the battle had come to an end, since the pursuit did not enter into the uses of the art of war. In short, the tactic was summed up "in maintaining the order of the units on the battlefield, in the correct use of fire, and in trying to find the decision in a successful cavalry charge". Something that was far from the irregular warfare that existed in North America where the tactics of small units triumphed by causing more damage than those of large regiments. In the words of an Iroquois chieftain: "War in this land is based on a thousand knife cuts while across the sea it is ten ax strokes." Cumberland had to learn this the hard way because after the Battle of Monongahela, the French had firmly seized the Ohio Country along with documents revealing the overall British offensive plans, allowing Indian allies with the French to wage a devastating war against the settlements along the Appalachian frontier from Pennsylvania to Virginia.

For the next three years, the British struggled to regain their footing in the Ohio Country. Promoted to colonel in a regiment of native Virginia soldiers, Washington worked feverishly to build fortifications and restore security along the border. Like many other colonial Americans, he disliked the British policy that gave English-born British Army officers superiority to American-born officers, regardless of their respective ranks. In 1758, he worked closely with British General John Forbes when Forbes planned a new expedition to the Ohio Country. Washington wanted Forbes to follow Braddock's route west, but Forbes decided to open a new highway west from the Susquehanna River. This route furthered Pennsylvania's claim to the Ohio Country, and Washington resented Forbes for it. In November 1758, Forbes's army forced the French out of Fort Duquesne, but Washington was not too pleased with the victory and soon returned to his home at Mount Vernon to resume his civilian life. Over the course of five years, he had learned much about military leadership and border warfare, but his British superiors had more often than not thwarted his ambitions to become a commissioned officer in the British regular army. He, too, had lost several battles in the early part of the war, but nonetheless emerged as a war hero with a growing continental reputation. Shortly after Forbes' victory, the British built Fort Pitt on the ruins of Fort Duquesne. This act, along with the British occupation of other French outposts in the Great Lakes region, angered the Ohio Indians because they had been promised in 1758 that the British would evacuate their homelands after winning the war. The Indians were now entirely dependent on the British for their trade goods, and the roads built by Braddock and Forbes became routes for settlers to move into the region.

By the fifth year since the start of the so-called French and Indian War, the tables had turned in Britain's favour. As the largest conflict, the Seven Years' War, raged across the globe, in North America, the British were one quick hit away from conquering the continent. The French in the Ohio River Valley, the Great Lakes region, and upstate New York had been thrown back and sent racing north into Canada, leaving the way open for a British push against Montreal and Quebec. By the summer of 1759, this last city, the capital of New France, would be targeted by an army commanded by Major General James Wolfe. If Quebec, situated along Canada's most important waterway, the St. Lawrence River, were to fall, the French in North America would be squeezed into the region around Montreal. Pending any catastrophic failure of the army and navy of Great Britain and her allies in other parts of the world, it would be only a matter of time before New France was conquered. Thirty-two-year-old James Wolfe had served in the British Army for nearly eighteen years when he was given command of the roughly 9,000-man force tasked with defeating the French in and around Quebec City in 1759. He was a tough commander and did not always get along with his subordinate generals, Robert Monckton, George Townshend, and James Murray. The previous year he had been a brigadier general under Jeffrey Amherst during the successful siege and capture of the fortress city of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, and then led a campaign of destruction against the fishing villages of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He then returned to England and secured an important generalship and command of the Quebec expedition. He arrived in Halifax in April 1759 and began to train his force and prepare plans for his campaign.

Wolfe's army was predominantly made up of professional British soldiers. Several hundred Colonial rangers led by Robert Rogers also praised his strength, which he described as: "...the worst soldiers in the Empire." Wolfe did not have much respect for the Colonial troops, seeing them as undisciplined, lacking in motivation and even courage except as cannon fodder troops. On June 26, Wolfe's men began landing on the Ile d'Orleans in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, just east of Quebec City. Across the river, the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm, prepared to oppose them. Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, had been in command of France's regular troops in North America since 1756. During that time he had amassed an impressive series of victories at places like Fort Oswego, Fort William Henry, and Fort Carillon. As the attack on Quebec loomed, he was given command of all military forces on the continent, including the Canadian Militia and the Marines. The previous harvest had not been good in Canada, and his army and the city's civilians had short rations, but relief came during the spring of 1759 when ships arrived with food and supplies. With this, Montcalm was determined to hold on to the city at all costs. He dug trenches outside the city and along the north shore of the St. Lawrence that stretched for almost ten miles, welcoming a frontal assault by Wolfe. His army, consisting of more than 3,500 regular French troops, included thousands of allied Native Americans and Canadian militiamen who were not used to fighting in open fields against professional enemy soldiers. This significant handicap would play a major role in Montcalm's final defeat. When General Wolfe's army began landing at Ile d'Orleans and later at Point Levis (directly across the river from the city) in eastern Quebec, he had initially hoped to force a landing on the north shore a few miles downriver. in Beauport.

However, he quickly discovered that Montcalm had heavily fortified the landing site, throwing a wrench into his plans. However, this did not deter Wolfe, and by July 12, he had placed ten mortars and cannons at Point Levis and began to bombard the city. More guns were raised, and the bombardment continued for weeks in an effort to demoralize those inside Quebec City. The best chance of defeating Montcalm was to force him out of his defenses and into an open field battle. Wolfe understood that his superior, vigorously trained and disciplined regular troops would have the advantage against the smaller number of French regulars and his militia. His first attempt to accomplish this occurred on July 31, when he landed a force of grenadiers, light infantry, and rangers near Montmorency Falls downriver from Beauport in the hope of fording the Montmorency River and gaining a position in the rear of the French lines. . He failed miserably. Montcalm correctly guessed that an attack was coming from that direction and hurried the men there to meet the enemy. The river tide prevented Wolfe from getting all of his troops into position in time, and frontal assaults launched from the beach were repulsed with heavy losses. The British withdrew, leaving behind 443 men dead and wounded. The first attempt to force a landing on the Quebec side of the river had failed, but it would not be the last. Wolfe directed his attention upriver, where he hoped his prospects for victory would be more fruitful. As the weeks after the debacle at Montmorency passed, the British probed the north coast west of Quebec in search of a safe landing place. During this time, Wolfe fell ill with a severe fever and kidney stones and believed his days were numbered.

However, he recovered enough to begin moving his army up the river about eight miles from the city, not far from Cap Rouge. It was decided that the landing would be made at Anse au Foulon, where a narrow gap and path led to the top of the cliffs just two miles west of the town. At four o'clock in the morning on September 13, Lieutenant Colonel William Howe (who would serve as commander of the British Army in America during the Revolutionary War) came ashore with the light infantry and surprised and overwhelmed the enemy outpost on the landing place. The conditions for rowing the army into position this morning had been perfect for Wolfe. Montcalm was taken by surprise. After securing the landing zone, Wolfe began moving his strike force of about 4,400 regulars to the Plains of Abraham, an open field about a mile wide and a half-mile long in front of the city's western defenses. Responding to the threat as quickly as he could, Montcalm rushed some 1,900 French regulars and 1,500 militiamen and Native Americans to meet the British line. This was the outfield fight Wolfe had been craving since he started the campaign. As the French commander formed his men into a battle line, the British waited patiently across the field to receive his attack. Montcalm ordered his troops to advance, and almost immediately his militiamen's lack of experience and training in open combat became apparent as his formations faltered and some did not advance close enough to the enemy line to fire with their weapons. effectiveness. A British participant described what happened next:

"The French Line began ... advancing briskly and for some time in good order, [but] a part of their Line began to fire too soon, which immediately caught the whole assembly, then they began to falter but kept advancing with a Fire dispersed.—When they came within a hundred yards of us our Line moved regularly with a constant Fire, and when less than twenty or thirty yards from the close it gave a general [fire]; upon which a total defeat of the enemy."

The battle was over in just fifteen minutes as the British advanced, reclaiming the camp and capturing hundreds of prisoners. Both sides each lost more than 600 men killed and wounded, including the two respective commanders. Wolfe was mortally wounded and died a hero on the field. Montcalm, too, was hit in the abdomen by hot grapes and died the next morning. Five days later, Quebec surrendered. The French withdrew downriver to Montreal, attacked and failed to retake Quebec the following spring, and surrendered entirely on September 8, 1760, effectively ending all major military operations in North America during the French and Indian War. The battle for the continent between Britain and France was over. However, the war would not end because the Indians now without the help of the French and much less without the Spanish would end up waging the so-called Pontiac War, in which Robert Rogers would emerge as the most famous ranger of all. The Rangers were irregular light infantry troops who, after being drafted by the colonies for periods of service longer than temporary militia levies, worked with allied Native Americans to learn skills employed by their enemies. Despite their growing proficiency in irregular warfare, Euro-American Rangers were never able to fully compete on the level of Native American forces. To conclusively end a campaign, the Euro-Americans often resorted to the cruel destruction of native communities, killing the population and burning villages and crops, something that the natives did not usually put into practice as the Rangers being called would do so much. by Native Americans: Wendigos, a wendigo was a monstrous and malevolent spirit, comparable as a demon that can possess humans. According to the Natives a Wendigo invokes acts of murder, insatiable greed, cannibalism, the destruction of the environment and insatiable greed, in the long run hearing the word Wendigo would have an evil mysticism.

Various ranger companies were authorized by colonial governments, giving them long-term military forces to deal with threats, particularly from Native Americans whose land-hungry settlers were encroaching. In some ways, these rangers were the Anglo-American equivalent of European irregular forces such as the Hungarian Hussars, Croatian Pandours, Prussian Jaegers, and Highland Watches that existed as paramilitary or border forces in peacetime and were employed as troops. light during periods of war. The absence of troops to defend the British settlers led to the popularization of the Rangers. Rogers' "created Indians" were intended to meet the native warriors on their own terms and act as the eyes and ears of the British Army. They provided vital intelligence to British officers on the number, location and condition of French and native forces and harassed them as necessary. In battle, they acted as light infantry, either covering the landing of amphibious forces or protecting the movements of British regulars and provincials, as they did during the unsuccessful attack on French positions on the Heights of Carillon on July 8, 1758. Rogers also trained British and provincial officers in his unique tactics and prepared a set of 28 rules, or "discipline plan," which for the first time codified in writing many of the principles of Native American warfare that Rogers had witnessed. and practiced. The best-known Ranger operations were a series of long-distance raids against enemy positions, particularly the French at Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga). In the winter of 1757 and 1758, Rogers' Rangers twice engaged in fierce firefights with French and native forces outside the French fort, gathering intelligence and testing French defenses.

The First and Second Snowshoe Battles, as these engagements are known, reveal the Rangers' ability to operate deep behind enemy lines, but not without significant danger. Rogers himself barely escaped the 1758 battle, losing many of his men in the process. These engagements also reveal the intense conditions faced by Rogers' Rangers that left the regular forces immobile in the depths of winter. Using sleds, snowshoes, whalers, and even ice skates, they traversed the inhospitable, forested landscape of northern lakes, rivers, and mountains. Perhaps his most famous feat also emphasizes the violence and ambiguity of colonial warfare. Europeans, threatened and viewing Native American ways of warfare as uncivilized, resorted to the same "savage" behavior they denounced in their enemies. In 1759, Rogers was ordered to make a daring long-distance raid against the Abenaki village of Odanak, which tested the endurance of his troops. Striking far north through woods and swamps and evading French naval forces and enemy patrols while cut off from his line of approach, Rogers executed the daring mission. However, when the Rangers set the trap on the sleeping village, they found few warriors. Like other Europeans unable to find their enemy, they set fire to a substantially built native city, leaving behind the dead, mostly women and children. The ranks of Rogers' ranger unit would be surprisingly diverse. Recruited from the thirteen colonies, colonial Americans were joined by Europeans from the British Isles as well as continental Europe. In addition, a number of men of African descent were found in their ranks, and the Rangers operated alongside a large contingent of Mohicans from Stockbridge.

The trust gained through outreach certainly had an impact on many former members fifteen years later. For the Commonwealth of America, the Rangers would be considered an elite unit while Robert Rogers would be their commander-in-chief second only to the President of the Commonwealth. The peace that came with the Treaty of Paris only motivated Parliament and King George to take advantage of the thirteen expanded colonies now with Canada that was conquered at the time that Hudson Bay became the quasi-personal fiefdom of the Hudson's Bay Company, which would control the business of bear, deer and beaver skins. While royal governor James Murray was benign, with French Canadians guaranteeing their traditional rights and customs, coming to support the Catholic Ursuline Sisters, who arrived in Quebec City in 1639, and in Montreal in 1641. The sisters would earn the respect of British commanders during the Quebec Campaign when Augustinian nun Marie-Joseph Legardeur de Repentigny, Sœur de la Visitation, managed the Hôpital Général in Quebec City and oversaw the care of hundreds of wounded French and British forces . Which caused the British officers to go to the hospital to ensure their protection and at the same time make them responsible for their sick and wounded. The cleanliness and high quality of care provided surprised the British who eventually tolerated the Catholic Church and protected Catholic religious institutions along with the traditional social and economic structure of Quebec. People responded with one of the highest birth rates ever recorded, 65 births per thousand per year. Cumberland's goal was to satisfy Francophile settlers even as this angered British merchants, who hoped to make a profit.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

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How much larger is it than otl?
Which viceroyalty are Angola and Mozambique under?

Marruecos is basically Marroco and Argel.
New Spain like OTL but Alta California more populate.
Angola and Mozambique for moment don't are under a virroyalty, they are more Captain generals
I am thinking ask if someone can do a good see map.

---

«A cuenta de los gitanos, roban muchos castellanos.».
«On account of the gypsies, they steal many Castilians.».
— Attributed to Popular Saying.

​

Following the last battle in the French and Indian War in North America, the Battle of Signal Hill in September 1762, which confirmed British control of Canada. King Louis XV of France proposed to King Charles II of Spain that France should give Spain "the country known as Louisiana, as well as New Orleans and the island on which the city is located." Because Spain acted slowly, it allowed cities like San Luis to be founded but in April 1764, the news came from the mouth of Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie, the 1st Spanish governor of Louisiana of French origin. The reactions of the elite of New Orleans together with colonists of French origin were hostile to the point that Governor d'Abbadie was assassinated by five musket shots less than twenty meters away and a rudimentary grenade that exploded just five meters away. In response to the attack, the main French officials would end up declaring the Creole Republic of Louisiana. Logically, the Spanish response only took six months to arrive, six months which was the time to choose a commander, number of troops, supplies and personnel along with allocating transport and escort ships. The person in charge of leading the response to such an attack against a Spanish official was the Spanish general of Irish origin Alexander (Alejandro) O'Reilly, who fought for the Catholic armies of France and Spain against the armies of European Protestants, who went to New Orleans with 23 ships, loaded with 46 field guns, 150,000 pesos and almost 3,000 soldiers. O'Reilly decided to meet with a representative to reach a diplomatic solution. The representative was the Attorney General Nicolás Chauvin de La Frénière who came riding on a white horse. The meeting could be described as short: The Criollos sought to return to being a colony of the King of France even when he refused to do so, even urging them to accept Spanish control, more protective and close.

Faced with refusals, Le Frénière returned to New Orleans promising an Alesian resistance. It would only take O'Reilly ten hours to take New Orleans, eight of which was a foot march and 45 minutes of gunfights and fights and the rest was the three thousand soldiers breaking into houses and buildings to get people out and round them up. in the square. In an agony of sick fear, O'Reilly, in the absence of an official executioner, would end up sentenced to be shot for a hundred convicted of rebellion and murder. A volley of muskets exploded in the still air, prompting wails and curses from the French before Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Giralt, the second Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrived several days later. Faced with the scarcity of population in Louisiana, Zenón de Somodevilla y Bengoechea, I Marquis of Ensenada, a prominent Spanish statesman and enlightened politician who then held the position of Secretary of War, Navy and Indies, suggested the idea of getting rid of the entire gypsy population. from Spain while populating Louisiana. The gypsies were absolutely despised by the Spanish nobility seeing them as people who refractory to all religious ideas and practices, as public thieves and highway robbers; their women entered the towns, some under the pretext of begging, others under the guise of looking at the scratches on their hands and saying good fortune, to swindle and steal; their sexual morality was null: the old women dedicated themselves to prostitution and tricked the maidens out of their parents' houses, taking them in gangs, where many adapted to their licentious life. They only entered the temples to desecrate them and take refuge in the insurance of their enclosure in order to enjoy the product of their larceny, while the men lived by looting and robbery in the rural regions or wandering around, being considered "lazy", violators of the Christian precepts when marrying between congeners, to which must be added the accusations of sorcery, cannibalism and kidnapping of children.

​

Ensenada's plan consisted of the mass arrest of the gypsies to "take them out of Spain and send them divided in small numbers to the province of Louisiana, where they would be given the opportunity to contribute to the Empire." It was not difficult to obtain the approval of the King in such a task, so Ensenada launched a great operation carefully prepared as evidenced by a document that the Marquis delivered to the King. To achieve the objective of achieving the “extinction of the gypsies”, it was said in the paper, “it is necessary to know the towns in which they are and in what number. Prison must be on the same day and at the same time. Before, the retreat points must be recognized in order to place troops on them. The officers who command the parties must be chosen for trust and secrecy, in which the achievement consists and the fact that the gypsies do not take revenge on the poor countrymen, in case they manage to escape». The organization was carried out in secret, within the scope of the War Office. This institution of the absolutist State prepared very detailed instructions for each city, which had to be delivered to the corregidor by an army officer sent for that purpose. The order was to open these instructions on a certain day, with the corregidor and the officer present, in order to achieve simultaneity in the operation. Specific instructions were also prepared for each officer, who would be in charge of the troops that were to carry out the arrest. Neither the officer nor the troops knew until the last moment the objective of their mission. Both orders were placed in an envelope, to which was added a copy of the nuncio's decree and instructions for the bishops of each diocese. These envelopes were sent to the captains general, previously informed, who chose the troops based on the city to which they had to go. The instructions stipulated that, after opening the envelopes, a brief coordination meeting of the army and local law enforcement would be held.

In large cities, the operation was studied at the city level, blocking the streets to prevent a possible escape. After the arrests, the data of the detainees was crossed with that of the city census and the detainees were questioned about the whereabouts of the absentees, who were arrested by search a few days later. After the arrest, according to the plan, the gypsies would be interned in concentration centers set up to house them. The most famous would be the General Camp of Santiago de Gibraltar that came to house up to 45,000 gypsies from all over southern Spain. The military commanders, the corregidores and the local justices opened the sheets containing the instructions on July 30, 1749, following the orders received to do so "not before, nor after". Once the parties were formed with the instructions and the lists of the people on whom action was to be taken, the operation began at twelve o'clock at night on July 30, 1766, at which time all the gypsies and gypsies to lead them until further notice, to the planned places of confinement. It was the beginning of what would be known as the "Great Gypsy Migration" in the days after thousands of gypsies of all ages were taken from their homes or their settlements. In general, they only offered resistance when the families met with hostility the intrusion of the soldiers. The most serious incidents occurred in the churches when the gypsies tried to take refuge in asylum as they had done on other occasions, unaware that the Pope had annulled that right. On occasions the authorities had difficulties in determining whether this or that person was a “gypsy”, committing arbitrariness such as considering “gypsies” those who work in the trades of blacksmithing and locksmithing. The meticulous organization of the arrests allowed thousands of people to end up being transported to America in the space of three months.

The arrival in New Orleans of ships loaded with gypsies caused conflicts to break out soon, but the Spanish authorities welcomed them. The clash between an aggressive expulsion and a warm and friendly welcome left the gypsies baffled. New Orleans would eventually become home to hundreds of Gypsies while thousands more were granted land grants in the Louisiana Territories. New Orleans grew from a sleepy major city primarily as an administrative center, its original Francophile inhabitants quickly outnumbered by the influx of new immigrants from the mainland. However, although many of the families were eager and willing to go and settle in their new lands, like the many Scottish and English immigrants arriving from England, they faced great obstacles. Although the French had owned much of the land, what they didn't tell the Spanish when they handed over this land was that much of it was very untamed, and in many places, control was entirely theoretical. French ministers were willing to swallow their pride and offer these lands to their Spanish cousins if they could avoid further British control in North America, but they were more than willing to omit these details, and many gypsy families received an unpleasant shock when the unexpected native resistance revealed itself. They had assumed that they had been granted land under the impression that they were already under control, but in reality they would end up finding untamed terrain and an angry local population that had long ago learned to hate and fear the White Man. Far from being the virgin and untamed paradise only waiting to be cultivated by European settlers, as Spanish officials in New Orleans had said. The settlers discovered that their new home was filled with extreme tropical or desert environments and disease.

Even the toughest of the Last Conquerors: Spanish settlers, could not hope to go out alone to the frontier and survive, so for the first few years it seemed that privileged companies, rather than free settlers, would dominate Spanish Louisiana. But if there are two traits that Gypsies and Spaniards share, it is their immense stubbornness and their ability to improvise in difficult situations. For the gypsies, there was nothing to return home to, nor any ability to do so. Either they would conquer this new land, or they would die, there was nothing in between. Soon caravans of ox-drawn wagons began pouring out of New Orleans ready to tame the frontier with their bare hands and build something for themselves. Unlike other countries and cultures, the Roma valued a strong sense of community and hospitality towards each other, one that can often turn into xenophobia but is based on strong ties with their family and locality. Now stranded in a strange land, many found that the best way to survive was to strengthen these bonds and stick together, parting as groups. Although many new groups (usually consisting of several young families) formed and founded successful settlements, often citizens of a city or town on the mainland who had largely been deported to the colonies would find and build on their pre-existing community, selling your scattered lands to buy more land around an area. and traveling together armed to the teeth to build a new version of their old community. Traveling primarily by ox-drawn carts and mounted horsemen at first and later with military surplus cannon, who could house their families and supplies as they travelled, these groups often resembled an armed military column rather than a random group of colonists.

A Señor de las Praderas with his loyal friend... The Chucho.​

Upon reaching the land they had purchased, they quickly assembled their transports and used them as temporary homes and squared off the wagons while the gaps were covered with wooden palisades to protect against the hostile elements, using them as the core of their new settlements. before dismantling them or putting them into service in the local militias of the city once they had time to build more suitable houses and accommodations. From there, they would use their new city as a base of operations from which to subjugate the local native population with their superior firepower, using their ability to retreat behind their fortifications and call in support from other communities and the newly arrived Dragones de Cuera whenever they faced overwhelming resistance to avoid loss and secure their control. This strategy would be extremely successful and largely responsible for much of the rapid expansion and settlement of Louisiana. The situation meant that traits of gypsy culture were soon adopted, such as friendship with other communities, the siege mentality always ready to defend itself, even a culture of marriages between families. Slowly, indirectly, a series of underground kingdoms would end up being formed where powerful gypsy families ended up controlling the gypsy communities of their region. The most important men were an idolized figure in gypsy myth, a born horseman, cattle/slave driver and warrior who rose from poverty to become a "Señor de las praderas". He owns perhaps a ranch or farm, and leads the community due to his natural leadership, fighting when necessary against the Indians, in exchange for sharing the spoils with his subordinates and treating them with respect. The Gypsies see these figures as natural leaders. Well, many families proudly consider themselves gypsies, while adopting many of the trappings of the upper class at home, and respect authority immensely even while maintaining a strong independent spirit.

It is common for weddings to last up to an average of a week and to be more of a family reunion of hundreds that usually takes a whole town to make room, but it contributes to the economy, formalization of deals, even settling grudges such as duels with knives or manhood competitions. The warrior mentality touches all aspects of their society and defending the family is mandatory, and despite traditional gender roles, even women are expected to know how to shoot and ride, and serve in the fight, something that has led to relatively greater egalitarianism between the genders within Louisiana, although it is still very traditional in this regard overall, just less so than on the mainland. It is a people of contradictions, at once proudly lower class and aristocratic, fiercely independent and strongly respectful of authority, egalitarian and diverse among whites, and fiercely racist and oppressive towards indigenous people and Africans. It would be unthinkable to leave a gypsy experiencing difficult times on the streets when the community could help him, but it would be equally unthinkable to extend any kind of rights to the indigenous or slave population, the subjugation and protection on which these communities were built in the first place. place. Many of the recreational activities are based on gypsy culture, such as palm reading, flamenco dancing with singing, and even cajoling women.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Como los gobiernos de Nueva Inglaterra están en estado de rebelión, solo la lucha permitirá decidir si han de permanecer sujetos al país o hacerse independientes».
«As the governments of New England are in a state of rebellion , only the struggle will allow them to decide if they have to remain subject to the country or become independent».
— Attributed to Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford.

​

The end of the French-Indian War (1754-63), included in the Seven Years' War (1756-63), which ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1763, had the consequences of the end of the French threat to the colonies British. Colonial assemblies whose members were elected by ballot hoped that London would withdraw the important military presence that filled the colonies thanks to the performance of the provincial regiments and the unified rangers under the command of the Commonwealth of America. However, although the war in America was victorious, for the English it was disastrous. Public debt threatened to bankrupt public finances. London and Paris reacted by raising taxes enormously. The difference was that Great Britain applied them to the North American colonists and France, having lost its colonies, had to tax the lives of its citizens. The dissatisfaction with the rise in taxes grew in the settlers in an important way. In February 1763, as the war drew to a close, UK Prime Minister John Stuart, Earl of Bute decided to keep an army of 10,000 British regulars standing in the colonies. Shortly thereafter, George Grenville succeeded Stuart and supported his predecessor's policy, even more so after the outbreak of Pontiac's Rebellion in May 1763. Greenville faced the problem not only of paying the troops, but of paying the public debt. The debt increased from £75,000,000 before the war to £122,600,000 in January 1763, and to over £800,000,000 by early 1764. English taxpayers paid 25 shillings (£0.75) at 6 pence (£0.06) from an American, the king's prime minister, Grenville, felt it was time to share the tax burden more evenly. Grenville did not expect the colonies to contribute to the payment of the debt, but he did expect that a part of the defense expenses would be paid by the Americans.

The Right Hon. George Grenville​

Estimating the expenses of maintaining an army in the mainland colonies and the West Indies to be approximately £200,000 per year, the Greenville levy program scheduled an estimated income of £78,000 per year. The Sugar Act was passed by Parliament on April 5, 1764, and reached the colonies at a time of economic depression. It was an indirect tax, although the colonists were well informed of its existence. In large part, this was because a significant portion of the colonial economy during the Seven Years' War was involved in providing food and other supplies to the British Army; however, settlers, especially those directly affected as merchants and shippers, assumed that the new tax program was the main culprit. Protests against the Sugar Act began and it was clear that the main focus of Americans' attention was the economic impact of the measure, rather than the constitutional issue of paying taxes without political representation. The protests against the Sugar Law were actually directed against administrative provisions intended to control evasion. The act was a typical tough collection measure that treated every merchant as a liar. A multitude of regulations affected all importers, even small coastal vessels, and any breach warranted seizure of the vessel, as well as all cargo. Even the personal luggage of sailors was confiscated if the contents were not included in customs declarations. The Sugar Law caught more innocents than guilty. The revenues from the Sugar Act did not bring much relief to British taxpayers in the metropolis. In 1765 there were serious riots in Great Britain. After harassing excise collectors, cider taxes were abolished. Seeking new revenue, the wealthy and lightly taxed colonies attracted the attention of the British government.

The prime minister asked Parliament if any member questioned the crown's right to tax colonists. There were no dissidents. He then asked if the colonies would refuse to "contribute in one trifle to relieve us of the heavy burdens under which we find ourselves." A year later, new laws emerged: the Stamp Act of 1765, which was a direct and specific tax for the Thirteen Colonies of British America that required that most of the materials printed in the colonies be published on paper stamped and produced in London , stamped with an embossed tax stamp. These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the stamp duty had to be paid in valid British currency, not colonial paper money. The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War and to control the growing freedom of the press in the colonies. The Stamp Act was abolished and there was rejoicing in the colonies. British merchants in England opposed the Stamp Act as much as the colonists. Abolition was a victory for all except the treasury and the cabinet. At the same time, the Quartering Act of 1765, which was a tax in disguise, was tolerated, except in New York, which had the largest number of British soldiers. The law was decidedly unfair and placed an undue burden on New Yorkers, who refused to provide all the necessities for the troops. The order was to house them first in barracks and public houses and then directly in homes. It was the duty of the local legislatures to finance the expenses. Most colonial legislatures agreed to the new law, although spending to finance the troops was seen as a tax. In January 1766 the New York Assembly refused to collect the money.

New York was the main port of arrival and departure for the soldiers and the burden to finance housing was heavier for them than for any other Assembly. An enraged Parliament suspended the New York legislature and nullified its future laws. A tough mood was created. Dr. Samuel Johnson, a leading intellectual, said: "They are a race of convicts and they should be thankful for anything we allow them to do other than hang them." But in 1667, the Townshend Laws came into being: a series of laws establishing new import duties on British goods including paint, paper, lead, glass, and tea. They use the proceeds to maintain British troops in America and to pay the salaries of some royal officials such as royal judges who were appointed to work in the American colonies, at the same time a decrease in the strength of the colony was proposed. In order to achieve this, the customs service was strengthened, establishing a commissioners' office in Boston. The reaction was so violent in Boston that in July 1768, the customs commissioners asked General Gage to send troops to help the officials in carrying out their mission. The rebellion against this law came from colonial merchants, who boycotted British goods. In Britain many businesses went bankrupt, many shipping companies went bankrupt and there was unemployment. England's response was to increase the presence of British troops in the Thirteen Colonies. The colonists rebuked the English troops, giving rise to the event known as the "Boston Massacre". This episode ended with the death of 50 American protesters. As a result of the tension produced between colonists and metropolis, London had no alternative but to abolish the taxes, except for a small tax on tea, reduced from 12 pence to 3 pence per pound of tea.

Tensions rose in Boston in the early 1770s. More than 2,000 British soldiers were stationed in the city of 16,000 settlers and attempted to enforce Britain's tax laws such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. American settlers rebelled against taxes they found repressive and rallied around the cry: “no taxes without representation”. Skirmishes between settlers and soldiers, and between patriotic settlers and settlers loyal to Britain, were becoming more common. To protest taxes, patriots often vandalized shops selling British goods and intimidated shopkeepers and their customers. On February 22, a mob of patriots attacked a store owned by a known loyalist. Customs officer Ebenezer Richardson lived near the store and tried to divide the crowd by throwing stones through the window of his house. One of the stones struck and killed an 11-year-old boy named Christopher Seider and further infuriated the patriots. Several days later, a fight broke out between local workers and British soldiers. It ended without bloodshed, but it helped set the stage for the bloody incident that was yet to come. On the cold, snowy afternoon of March 5, 1770, Private Hugh White was the only soldier guarding the Royal Custom House on King Street. A young apprentice to a wig maker named Edward Garrick, approached a Customs House officer requesting a payment from his master. When the apprentice, being ignored, became noisy in demanding him, the British soldier pulled the young man out of the building and struck him with the wooden butt of his musket. Garrick, furious, returned with a group of angry colonists and pelted White with snowballs, ice, and garbage, while hurling insults at him.

The uproar brought out the watch officer, Captain Thomas Preston, who came to White's aid with a corporal and a group of 8 soldiers from the 29th. The crowd grew in size and continued to pelt the British soldiers with stones, wood and ice. Amid the confusion, Captain Preston's "do not fire" order was heard. One of the servicemen, PFC Hugh Montgomery, fell to the ground from a blow, causing him to “accidentally” fire his musket into the air. The other soldiers panicked and opened fire on the crowd. Among those there were soldiers from the provincial regiments attached to the Commonwealth of America, who tried to make peace by separating the protesters and the regulars using their own sticks or muskets. Logically, lacking uniforms or identification, the regulars confused the Provincial Regimental Soldiers with civilian citizens. Fifty people died, the three settlers Samuel Gray, James Caldwell and the mulatto Crispus Attucks, would die instantly and two others, Samuel Maverick the next day from his wounds and Patrick Carr a week later. Provincial soldiers of the 1st Massachusetts Regiment would end up attacking the 29th's barracks in what became known as the Boston Riots. As a result, Parliament would order the dissolution of the Commonwealth of America and the disarmament of the militias, this would only further alienate the settlers from London. This would be further provoked on July 9, 1772 when Lieutenant William Dudingston commanding the schooner Gaspee in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay to force customs service and mandatory cargo inspection, became more aggressive in his searches, shipments and seizures, even arresting merchants on the coast and forcing searches for their merchandise. On June 9, the Gaspee pursued the packet ship Hannah, but the Gaspee ran aground in shallow water on the northwest side of the bay and the crew were unable to free her, and Dudingston decided to wait for high tide, which would possibly float the ship.

However, before that could happen, a gang of Providence men led by John Brown decided to act on the "provided opportunity to put an end to the trouble and irritation she caused daily". They rowed to the ship and boarded her at dawn on June 10. The crew put up a weak resistance in which Lieutenant Dudingston was shot and wounded several times, and Providence's men burned the ship to the waterline. Joseph Bucklin was the man who shot Lieutenant Dudingston; other men who participated included Brown's brother, Joseph of Providence, Simeon Potter of Bristol, and Robert Wickes of Warwick. Most of the men involved were also members of the Sons of Liberty: a loosely organized, underground political organization whose aim was to promote colonist rights and fight taxation from the British government. The audacity of this attack was all the more remarkable as none of the attackers made any effort to conceal their identities. Duddington and his team were able to easily point out most of the participants. However, this did them little good because the local courts were also antagonistic towards the Royal Navy. Rather than attempt to prosecute the attackers, charges were brought against Lieutenant Duddington for the illegal seizure of property. When this news reached the British Parliament, there was outrage. A special commission, under the authority of the Vice-Admiral's Courts, was sent to arrest the perpetrators of the Gaspee case and bring them back to England for trial. Although the identities of the perpetrators were widely known, the investigation was unsuccessful. No arrests were made as all of the defendants presented false renowned witnesses that they were elsewhere at the time of the events. However, the most outstanding event of this stage would be the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773.

The Duke of Grafton resigned in January, being replaced by Lord North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, who initiated a conciliatory policy. The annulment of all import taxes except tea. The British government passed the Tea Act, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea to the colonies directly, without paying any customs duties or taxes in Britain, in exchange for paying the colonial duty, which was much smaller. This suspension of taxes allowed the Company to sell at prices lower than those offered by merchant settlers and smugglers. The settlers, especially the wealthy smugglers, resented the favored treatment of a large company that had acted as a lobby (pressure group) and exerted great influence in Parliament. As a result, there were protests in Philadelphia and New York, but it was the demonstrations that took place in Boston that would leave their mark on history. Bostonians suspected that the new tea tax was simply another attempt by the British parliament to overwhelm colonial autonomy. Samuel Adams, a prosperous smuggler, and others who had profited from the tea smuggling, demanded that the representatives and consignees of the British East India Company leave their posts. Doubting consignees were terrorized with attacks on their warehouses and even their homes. The first of many tea-laden ships of the British East India Company was the Dartmouth, arriving in late November 1773. On December 16, 1773, the Dartmouth had been joined by her sister ships, the Beaver and the Eleanor, the three ships loaded with tea from China (Ironically, the ships were built in America and owned by Americans).

That morning, as thousands of settlers gathered on the wharf and its surrounding streets, assemblies were held where they voted to refuse to pay taxes on the tea or allow the tea to be unloaded, stored, sold or used. Governor Thomas Hutchison refused to allow the ships to return to Britain, ordering the tea fee to be paid and the tea unloaded. The colonists refused, and Hutchison stood by him. At that point, they found themselves in an impasse between the port authorities and the Sons of Liberty. Samuel Adams stirred up the growing crowd in a series of protest assemblies. Thousands attended these assemblies from across the city and outlying areas, each gathering larger than the last. The crowds called for contempt not only of the British Parliament, the East India Company, but also of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, who was fighting for the tea to be landed. On the night of December 16, the protest assembly met at the Old South Meeting House. The night of the same day, the movement was launched. Before the tea was due to be unloaded, the Sons of Liberty between 60 and 150 people dressed up as Mohawk Indians, left the large protest assembly and made their way to Griffin Pier, where the Dartmouth and the newly arrived Beaver and Eleanour were. Quickly and efficiently, armed with axes and knives, they harassed the sailors and carried crates of tea from the hold to the deck, proving that some of the “Indians” were indeed Boston longshoremen. They opened the boxes and threw the tea overboard. In the work that lasted until late at night, less than three hours were used, the assailants acting quickly and efficiently. By dawn, 342 crates containing 45 tons of tea worth an estimated £10,000 had been dumped into the waters of Boston Harbor. Nothing else was damaged or stolen, except for the accidental breakage of a padlock that was replaced anonymously soon after.

​

The tea floated on the banks around Boston for weeks. Thanks to his Native American disguises, only one of the Tea Party culprits, Francis Akeley, was arrested and jailed. This act drew criticism from both colonial and British officials. For example, Benjamin Franklin stated that the cost of the tea should be reimbursed and he offered to pay it with his own money. From the metropolis, repressive measures were carried out against the colonies: The English government closed the port of Boston in 1774 in retaliation and declared a state of emergency, establishing other laws known as Intolerable Acts, also called Coercive Acts or Punitive Acts. (Punitive Laws). However, they also inspired other similar acts that were carried out later, such as the burning of the Peggy Stewart boat. The Boston Tea Party, in time, proved to be one of several causes that led to the American Revolutionary War. At the very least, this mutiny and the reaction that followed served to consolidate support for the revolutionaries in the Thirteen Colonies. As for the consumption of tea, many colonists, in Boston and other parts of the country, swore not to drink this drink as a sign of protest, preferring other herbal infusions and coffee (which would benefit Spain when North American merchants travel to buy coffee in Cuba). ). However, this social movement of protest against the consumption of tea was not lasting. A second Boston Tea Party took place in March 1774, when around 60 Bostonians boarded the ship Fortune and dumped nearly 30 chests of tea into the harbor. The event did not gain as much notoriety as the first tea party, but it encouraged other tea abandonment demonstrations in Maryland, New York, and South Carolina.

Many colonists felt that Britain's coercive acts went too far. On September 5, 1774, elected delegates from all Thirteen American Colonies, except Georgia, met in Philadelphia's Carpenter Hall for the First Continental Congress to figure out how to resist British oppression. Delegates were divided on how to move forward, but the Boston Tea Party had united them in their fervor for independence. When they were suspended in October 1774, they had written the Declaration and Resolutions in which:

• He censured Britain for passing the Coercive Acts and called for their repeal,
• It established a boycott of British goods,
• It declared that the colonies had the right to be governed independently,
• He was to rally the settlers to form and train a colonial militia.

This should have been a warning to the British Parliament that the rebellion was not a local affair, but Lord North misunderstood it, and on November 8 reported to the King: "As the governments of New England are in a state of rebellion , only the struggle will allow them to decide if they have to remain subject to the country or become independent”. MG (major-general) Thomas Gage, royal governor, boasted that he could subdue Boston with 4 Regiments, in August 1774 Gage had double that number, plus artillery. The townspeople, when not attacking officers and men (especially after Gage forbade them to use swords), encouraged them to desert, steal their weapons, or sell them (often bad) drinks. Magistrates fined soldiers disproportionately for trivial offences, while denying them justice against civilians unless they had civilian witnesses. The closure of the port caused thousands of people to be made redundant, but they refused to work for Gage or the Royal Navy, preferring to watch the troops and report their movements, making secrecy impossible for the British.

But Gage also had his spies (including Dr. Benjamin Church, a trusted member of the Provincial Congress, and MG William Brattle of the Massachusetts militia) and was aware of the plans of the Provincial Congress. On September 1, he sent 260 men to seize the King's powder at the Charlestown powder house and two brass cannons at Cambridge, completely surprising the militia. Angered by stories of atrocities (which were completely false), more than 4,000 militia gathered in Cambridge the next day, and forced the two justices to resign; two days later, 6,000 militiamen in Worcester halted the court session. Gage took the advice of the local Tories (patriots) and did not send troops to oppose them, but he reinforced the fortifications throughout the Boston Isthmus. Shocked by Gage's capture of the cannons and gunpowder, the Provincial Congress created a system of "alarm horsemen" to alert the camp whenever the regulars left Boston, and reorganized the militia. Units of "minute men" were created, ready to march at a moment's notice to oppose the British regulars, and security and supply committees were created, with the authority to mobilize militia and confiscate shops. On September 8, another force sent to retrieve the cannons from the harbor fortifications at Charlestown discovered that the guns were missing. All over Massachusetts, and even in Boston, guns, stores, and ammunition began to disappear from public armories. During the month of October, Gage received reinforcements from New York, Halifax, and Quebec, bringing his strength to about 3,000. Other colonies did the same: 400 of the New Hampshire militia under Paul Revere took Fort William and Fort Mary in Portsmouth on December 14, 1774, it was defended by 6 British, there were no deaths and after a brief fight they reduced them, removing 16 guns and ammunition, the British were later released. While the Rhode Island militia stole 44 cannons from Fort George in Newport.

Meanwhile, the routine of garrison life—desertion, drunkenness, and street fights—continued through the winter of 1774. Both the contaminated water supply (caused by the unusually mild winter weather), and the unsanitary barracks; contributed to a death toll of over 100 among the garrison and their dependents, Gage's continued attempts to placate the townspeople further alienated the troops from him and encouraged insulting editorials in Whig newspapers. He tried to keep the troops out of trouble by sending them on marches into the countryside, but while alarming the populace, he also gave the militia a chance to hone their "early warning" system. Within hours of an alarm, up to 12,000 irregulars could be mobilized and marched to intercept the regulars. On February 26, 1774, Lt. Col. Alexander Leslie took the 64th Regiment from Fort Williams to seize cannon being stored near Salem, Essex County. However, he was met by Colonel Thomas Pickering and his Essex militia, and although sources on each side differ, the result was that the guns moved away and Leslie was forced to return empty-handed. Until then, marches had involved individual regiments, but on March 30, Lord Percy led his entire brigade, more than 1,200 men, to Jamaica Plain, 5 miles south of Boston. He was met with the usual hostility from the townspeople, but also discovered that the militia had dismantled the only bridge to Cambridge over the Charles River, and had installed two cannons to protect the bridge at Watertown. On each occasion he would turn away, an act the militia saw as a sign that any determined support would force the British regulars to withdraw. Despite strict orders from both sides not to fire unless fire was taken, it was only a matter of time before such clashes led to bloodshed.

In April, Gage received a message from Lord Dartmouth, secretary of state for the American colonies, authorizing stronger action: if war was inevitable, it had better start before the Americans were ready. That January, Gage had called in officers to survey and map the field. Captain Brown of the 52nd Regiment and Ensign de Berniere of the 10th Regiment had responded and scouted Worcester and Suffolk counties, avoiding capture through sheer good fortune (and a snowstorm). They reported that the field favored the Americans and that any expedition could only end in disaster. On March 20, Gage ordered them to reconnoiter the roads in Middlesex County, where they duly discovered the military warehouses in Concord in the course of their mission. Informed by Dr. Church that the provincial conference would soon be adjourned, with the delegates scattering across Massachusetts, Gage decided to act. On Saturday, April 15, he ordered the flank companies to be withdrawn from their normal duties and asked the commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Samuel Graves, to prepare his ships' boats. Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith, reported these activities to Dr. Joseph Warren of the safety committee, who arranged for the removal of 4×6 guns from Concord. Revere then rode to Lexington to inform Hancock and Adams that they might also be the British target. On April 18, Paul Revere began the "midnight drive" to Concord to warn the townspeople that the British seemed to be planning an expedition. The trip was finalized by Samuel Prescott. Hearing the news from Prescott, the townspeople decided to remove the stores and distribute them among other nearby towns. The colonists also knew that April 19 would be the date of the expedition, despite Gage's efforts to keep the details secret, even the forces and officers who would go on the mission were not informed. Between 9 and 10 p.m. on April 18, 1775, Revere and William Dawes were told by Joseph Warren that British troops were about to embark on boats from Boston bound for Cambridge and on the way to Lexington and Concord. Warren's intelligence suggested that the most likely targets of the regulars' movements that night would be the capture of Adams and Hancock. He was not concerned about the regulars marching on Concord, since the supplies in Concord were safe, but they thought their leaders in Lexington were unaware of the potential danger that night. Revere and Dawes were sent to warn them and alert the recent formed militia in nearby towns.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«The British are coming.».
— Attributed to Paul Revere.​

Dawes covered the southern land route on horseback through Boston Neck and over the Great Bridge to Lexington. Paul Revere first gave instructions to send a signal to Charlestown using lanterns hung from the steeple of Boston's Old North Church. He then traveled the Northern Water Route, crossed the mouth of the Charles River in a rowboat and passed the anchor of the British warship Somerset. Crossings were prohibited at that hour, but Revere landed safely at Charlestown and rode west to Lexington, warning almost every house along the route. Additional horsemen were sent north from Charlestown. After arriving in Lexington, Revere, Dawes, Hancock, and Adams discussed the situation with the militia gathered there. They believed that the forces pouring out of Boston were too large for the sole task of arresting two men, and that Concord was the primary target. Lexington's men sent horsemen to surrounding towns, and Revere and Dawes continued up the road to Concord accompanied by Samuel Prescott. At Lincoln, they encountered the British patrol led by Major Mitchell. Revere was captured, Dawes fell from his horse, and only Prescott escaped to reach Concord. Additional horsemen were dispatched from Concord. The voyage of Revere, Dawes, and Prescott triggered a loose system of 'alarms and muster' that had been carefully developed months before, in reaction to the colonists' impotent response to the arrival of the British. This system was an improved version of an old notification network for use in times of emergency. Colonists had used it periodically during the early years of the Indian Wars in the colony, before it fell out of use in the French and Indian War. As well as other express riders delivering messages; bells, drums, cannons, bonfires, and trumpets were used as means of alarm for rapid communication from town to town, notifying rebels in dozens of eastern Massachusetts villages that they should rally their militia because more than 500 regulars were out leaving Boston.

This system was so effective that people in towns 25 miles from Boston were aware of the British Army's movements while they were still disembarking from boats at Cambridge. These early warnings played a crucial role in mustering a sufficient number of colonial militiamen to inflict heavy damage on British regulars later in the day. Adams and Hancock were eventually moved to safety, first to what is now Burlington and then to Billerica. At nightfall, General Gage called a meeting of his superior officers at Province House. He informed them that Lord Dartmouth's instructions had arrived, ordering him to take action against the Colonials. He also told them that Lieutenant Colonel Smith would command the expedition, with Major John Pitcairn as his executive officer. The meeting concluded around 8:30 p.m., after which the Earl of Percy mingled with the common townspeople in Boston. According to one account, the discussion among the people there centered on the unusual movement of British soldiers in the city. When Percy questioned one more man, the man replied, "Well, the regulars will miss their target." What target? Percy asked. "Why, the canyon in Concord" was the reply. Hearing this, Percy quickly returned to the Province House and relayed this information to General Gage. Stunned, Gage issued orders to prevent the messengers from leaving Boston, but they were too late to prevent Dawes and Revere from leaving. British regulars, about 700 infantry, had been drawn from 11 of Gage's 13 occupying regiments. Major Pitcairn commanded 10 elite light infantry companies, and Lt. Col. Benjamin Bernard commanded 11 grenadier companies, under the command of Lt. Col. Smith.

Each company had its own lieutenant, but most of the captains who commanded them were volunteers attached to them at the last minute; from all the Regiments stationed in Boston. This lack of familiarity between the commander and the companies would cause problems during the battle and especially considering the travel conditions for when they landed near Phipps's farm in Cambridge, it was waist-deep in water at midnight. After a long pause to unload their equipment, the regulars began their 17-mile march to Concord at about 02:00. During the wait they were provided with extra ammunition, cold salt pork, and hard crackers. They did not carry backpacks, since they would not be camping. They carried their rucksacks (bags of food), canteens, muskets, and accessories, and marched with wet, muddy shoes and soaked uniforms. As they marched through Menotomy, the sounds of colonial alarms throughout the field caused the few officers aware of their mission to realize that they had lost the element of surprise. Although the confrontation is often referred to as a battle, the confrontation at Lexington was actually a skirmish, but it achieved notoriety for being the first confrontation. The combat saw the Militia of Captain John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian War, suffering from tuberculosis and sometimes hard of hearing engage the Regulars under the command of Lt. Col. Smith. It is unknown who fired first but after that there were several intermittent shots fired from both sides before lines of regulars began to discharge without receiving orders to do so. Some of the militiamen believed at first that the regulars were only firing blanks with no bullets, but when they realized the truth, few if any of the militiamen managed to return fire before the regulars then charged with bayonets while the militiamen ran. to save their lives while a dozen were wounded or killed.

Following the Lexington skirmish, the Concord and Lincoln militia prepared for the arrival of regular troops who quickly took over the town while the militia waited at North Bridge. The confrontation saw the Regulars and the so-called Minutemen engage in a fifty meter gap, the Regulars finding themselves caught in a situation where they were outnumbered. Lacking effective leadership and terrified of the enemy's superior numbers, broken in spirit and probably never having experienced combat before; they abandoned their wounded and fled to safety from the grenadier companies approaching from the center of town, leaving Captain Parsons and the companies stranded to search for weapons at Barrett's farm, where guns were hidden that were no longer there. The Redcoats would end up being driven out of Concord and harassed by militias from Concord to Cambridge, catching the British in crossfire. In the midst of this situation, General Gage would send the Earl of Percy in command of a thousand men to rescue Smith and his men. Along the way, the story goes, they marched to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" to taunt the locals, unaware that the song would become a patriotic propaganda song. By the end of the fighting, Boston was surrounded by a massive militia army, numbering more than 15,000 strong, who had marched in from all over New England. Unlike the gunpowder alarm, the rumors of spilled blood were true, and the war had begun. So under the leadership of General Artemas Ward, who arrived on April 20 and replaced Brigadier General William Heath, they formed a siege line stretching from Chelsea, around the Boston and Charlestown peninsulas, to Roxbury, effectively encircling to Boston on three sides. In the days immediately following, the size of the colonial forces grew, as militias from New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut arrived on the scene. The Second Continental Congress adopted these men at the beginning of the Continental Army. Even now, after open war had begun, Gage still refused to impose martial law on Boston. He persuaded the elite of the town to surrender all private weapons in exchange for promising that any inhabitant could leave the town.

The battle was followed by a war for British political opinion. Within four days of the battle, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress had collected dozens of sworn testimonies from British militiamen and prisoners. When word spread a week after the battle that Gage was sending his official description of the events to London, the provincial congress sent a package of these detailed statements, signed by more than 100 participants in the events, on another ship. Quick. The documents were presented to a sympathetic official and printed by London newspapers two weeks before Gage's report arrived. Gage's official report was too vague on details to sway anyone's opinion. George Germain, no friend of the colonists, wrote, "Bostonians have the right to make the King's troops the aggressors and claim a victory." Politicians in London tended to blame Gage for the conflict rather than his own policies and instructions. British troops in Boston blamed General Gage and Colonel Smith for the failures at Lexington and Concord.

The Rubicon had been crossed and the war had begun.

The Siege of Boston would be a special circumstance because the besieged and the besiegers reached an informal agreement that allowed traffic through the Boston Isthmus, provided that there were no weapons in this trade. The patriots who lived in Boston left the city, and the loyalists (settlers who were supporters of Great Britain) who lived in the surrounding area moved to the city. As the siege did not block the sea, the city remained open to the Royal Navy, under the command of Samuel Graves, who brought supplies from Nova Scotia and elsewhere. The colonials were unable to prevent these shipments, due to the supremacy of the British navy. What the rebels did do was make it difficult for these ships to travel, so the prices of supplies rose rapidly. Soon, the British forces found themselves short of food. And many of Boston's civilians, fed up with shortages, decided to run away and join the Patriots. In the month of May 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. Recognizing the need for a united military, they named George Washington commander-in-chief of the US armed forces. But they knew that the colonies were by no means ready for all-out war, so they decided to try a peaceful settlement with Britain. They prepared a message for King George, known as the Olive Branch Petition, explaining that although the colonies remained loyal, they had many grievances against Parliament. They begged the King to cease military action so that both sides would have time to negotiate a peaceful settlement. The English parliament took the request as a sign of weakness and decided to give the rebels a lesson, sending reinforcements to Cage, some 2,000 troops and a trio of generals who would play a vital role in the war: William Howe, John Burgoyne and Henry Clinton. . As the two armies fought each other, the regulars grew increasingly frustrated and the rebels more confident, but that changed at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

On the night of June 16, rebel Colonel William Prescott led some 1,200 men to the peninsula to establish positions from which artillery fire could be directed at Boston. At first, some work was done on Bunker Hill, but Breed Hill was closer to Boston and considered more defensible. Possibly against orders, they decided to build the main redoubt there. Prescott and his men, using Gridley's outline, began to dig out a square fortification, with a wooden platform inside where the men could stand and shoot from the walls. The works at Breed Hill did not go unnoticed by the British. When the British generals met to discuss their options, General Clinton, who had urged an attack as soon as possible, preferred an attack starting from the neck of Charlestown that would cut off the colonists' retreat. However, he was voted out by the other three generals. Howe, who was the most senior officer present and would lead the assault, opined that the hill was "open and easy to climb and, in short, easy to transport." General Burgoyne agreed, arguing that the "untrained rabble" would be no match for his "trained troops". Orders were then issued to prepare the expedition. It took the British 6 hours to organize an infantry force and muster and inspect the men on parade. General Howe was to lead the main assault, drive around the rebel left flank and take them from the rear. Brigadier General Robert Pigot on the British left flank would lead the direct assault on the redoubt, with Major John Pitcairn leading the flank or reserve force. He made several trips by launch to transport Howe's initial forces (numbering about 1,500 men) to the eastern corner of the peninsula, known as Moulton Point.

By 2:00 p.m., the first wave had landed. However, as he crossed the river, Howe noted the large number of colonial troops atop Bunker Hill. Believing it to be reinforcements, he immediately sent a message to Gage, requesting additional troops. He then ordered some of the light infantry to take up a forward position along the eastern side of the peninsula, alerting the rebels to their intended line of action. The troops decided to advance rather than wait for reinforcements. Although Prescott, he saw the British preparations and called for reinforcements. These once deployed did not have time to prepare defenses in conditions, having a wall of rough earth as protection. The colonial reinforcements arrived shortly after the British reinforcements disembarked and they jumped up and ran at a brisk pace to support their comrades. Chaos at the Colonials increased when Admiral Samuel Graves ordered a bombardment of the Colonial positions by keeping a steady fire which caused confusion so severe that while General Putnam was on the scene attempting to direct matters, unit commanders often misunderstood or They disobeyed orders. At one point, HMS Glasgow managed to reach inside the Breed Hills fortification causing the powder stockpile to explode killing and wounding dozens. Colonial lines fell into disarray. The wounded soldiers who could move retreated to the Bunker Hills, and the wounded lying on the battlefield were the source of groans and cries of pain. The British soldiers advanced and following orders from their officers ended up finishing off the colonial wounded with their bayonets. By the time the Grenadiers reached Bunker Hill, the defenders were low on rounds and were rummaging through the pockets and cartridge boxes of the dead. At Cambridge, Ward was desperately trying to get supplies, but could find no one willing to take the wagons across the isthmus, much less to Bunker Hill, the supplies that did make it forward were consumed by naval artillery bombardment.

As the Royal Marines and Grenadiers stormed Bunker Hill, Prescott's men held fire until the regulars were 20 yards away, then unleashed a devastating volley. But the regulars broke into the ditches sweeping the defensive positions, the defenders fled or retreated to the redoubt. The same thing happened in the angled defences, and many rebel officers were cut down trying to inspire their men. At the fence, Stark knew that he had to cover Prescott's retreat, but also that he could be easily cut down. He considered a counterattack against the weakened light companies, but he would have to cross the same open ground and his men were no match for the regulars in open field maneuvers. Finally, the 47th Regiment assaulted the redoubt, being the first troops to enter, charging the defenders with bayonets. Prescott ordered his men to retreat through the gorge at the rear, as the regulars overwhelmed them and hurled volleys at their backs, killing Dr. Joseph Warren. In the midst of the fleeing masses, there were small groups heroically trying to cover the retreat. One such group consisted of the Gardner and Little Regiments, with 3 Connecticut Companies; that they formed up behind a low stone wall and exchanged volleys for several minutes with Pigott's 3 Light Companies, before withdrawing, close at hand, toward the isthmus; causing heavy losses to the regulars. Putnam finally accepted defeat and walked away, carrying the valuable entrenching tools. As news of the battle spread through the colonies, it was reported as a colonial loss, as the ground had been taken by the enemy, and significant casualties were incurred. George Washington, then en route to Boston as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, received news of the battle while he was in New York City.

The report, which included casualty figures that were somewhat inaccurate, gave Washington hope that his army might prevail in the conflict. The Massachusetts committee of safety, seeking to repeat the kind of propaganda victory he won after the battles at Lexington and Concord, commissioned a report of the battle to send to England. However, his report did not reach England before Gage's official report arrived on July 20. The report of him unsurprisingly caused friction and argument between Tories and Whigs, but the casualty counts alarmed the military establishment and forced many to rethink their views of the colony's military capabilities. King George's attitude toward the colonies hardened, and the news may have contributed to his rejection of the Continental Congress's Olive Branch Petition, the last substantive political attempt at reconciliation. Gage's report had a more direct effect on his own career. His dismissal was decided only three days after his report was received, although General Howe did not replace him until October 1775. Gage wrote another report to the British cabinet, repeating earlier warnings that "a great army must at last be employed to reduce those people“, that would require the hiring of foreign troops. General George Washington arrived in Cambridge on July 3. He established his headquarters at Harvard Institute and took command of the newly formed Continental Army the next day. At this time, reinforcements and weapons were arriving from as far away as Maryland and Virginia. Washington began training the militias into a more professional army. Washington also ordered that the defenses be upgraded. In early September, Washington began planning two new moves: first, to send 1,000 men to invade Quebec, and second, to launch an attack on Boston.

Washington thought it was time to send men to Quebec, because according to reports from his spies in Boston, the British were not going to attack until they received reinforcements. On September 11, 1,100 men under Benedict Arnold left for Quebec. Also in September, Washington authorized the seizure of local fishing vessels, to prevent the British from receiving supplies. This activity was a precursor to the creation of a Continental Army, which was established in the current city of Portland (Maine). Winter was approaching. Both sides had problems: the rebels were short of gunpowder, so much so that in some attacks they had to fight with spears, and also of money to pay the soldiers. The British under Howe, who had succeeded Gage in October, were short of wood, and provisioning the town was becoming increasingly difficult due to winter storms and troublesome American boats. To make matters worse, epidemics of scurvy and smallpox were breaking out in the city. Among the rebels, there were also smallpox patients who were taken to hospitals. In February, when the water in the harbor was freezing, Washington thought that, due to his shortage of gunpowder, they could make a direct attack by advancing on the ice; but his officials did not allow it. So the new plan was to fortify Dorchester Heights using the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga, which had been brought up in the dead of winter by Colonel Henry Knox and a team of engineers who used sledges to transport 60 tons of heavy artillery, using the frozen Hudson River, and the rivers of Connecticut, in a very complex operation, arriving in Cambridge on January 24. On March 5, Washington moved the guns to Dorchester Heights, from where they could fire on Boston. Since it was winter, the ground was frozen, making trenches impassable, so Washington's men used logs, branches, and whatever was available to entrench themselves.

General Howe is reported to have exclaimed, "My God, these boys have worked more in one night than my men could accomplish in three months." The British fleet had no line of sight to attack the rebels on Dorchester Heights, putting Boston in grave danger. On March 8, some prominent Bostonians sent a letter to Washington, stating that the British would not destroy the city if they were allowed to evacuate unmolested. The letter worked: when the evacuation began, there was no rebel fire to hinder it. On March 10, General Howe issued an order forcing Bostonians to give up all white and wool clothing that could be used by the colonials to continue the war. The loyalist Crean Brush was authorized to receive these goods, in exchange for receiving certificates that they were indeed worthless. For the next week, the British fleet was moored in the harbor waiting for favorable winds, and when these conditions arose, on March 17, loyalists and British soldiers boarded the ships that left the port at 9 o'clock in the morning. This fleet consisted of 120 ships carrying more than 11,000 people. Once the British fleet had left, the Americans went to recapture Boston and Charlestown. At first they thought the British were still on Bunker Hill, but it turned out that what they found were mannequins. Due to the risk of smallpox, initially only a few men led by Artemas Ward entered the city, and around March 20, when the risk of contagion was lower, the rest entered. The departure of the British fleet was the largest military activity in the New England colonies. Washington, fearing that the British were going to attack New York City, set out on April 4 with his army for Manhattan, beginning the New York and New Jersey campaign.

After the siege, Boston ceased to be a military objective, but remained an important point for revolutionary activities, especially its valuable port. Bostonian leaders played an important role in the development of the United States. Boston and surrounding communities would celebrate March 17 as "evacuation day."

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Quebec es Nuestro».
«Quebec is ours.».
— Attributed to Morgan's men during Battle of Quebec.​

With the capture of Fort Ticonderoga at the hands of Benedict Arnold and Colonel Ethan Allen in command of the Green Mountain Boys: an organized militia and armed military force and a de facto government comprised of settlers and land speculators who held title to land between the river Connecticut and Lake Champlain, an area then known as the New Hampshire Grants. Arnold and Allen realized that it was necessary to hold Ticonderoga as a defense against attempts by the British Army to divide the colonies, as well as that Quebec was poorly defended. They separately proposed expeditions against Quebec, suggesting that a small force of between 1,200 and 1,500 men would be enough to drive the British army out of the province. Congress first ordered that the forts be abandoned, urging New York and Connecticut to provide troops and materiel for purposes of a purely defensive nature. Public calls around New England and New York threatened Congress to change its position. When it became clear that Guy Carleton, the governor of Quebec, was fortifying Fort Saint-John and attempting to engage the Iroquois in attacking New York, Congress decided that a more active position was necessary. On June 27, 1775, Congress authorized General Philip Schuyler to investigate and, if appropriate, begin the invasion. Benedict Arnold, brushing aside his boss, headed for Boston and convinced General George Washington to send a force to Quebec City under his command. The British, after the assault on Fort Saint-John, General Carleton was aware of the danger of invasion from the south, so he asked for reinforcements from General Thomas Gage in Boston. Meanwhile he raised local militias to assist in the defense of Montreal and Quebec City, which met with limited success.

In response to the capture of Ticonderoga and the assault on Fort Saint-John, he sent 700 troops to hold the fort on the Richelieu River, south of Montreal; he ordered the construction of ships for use on Lake Champlain, and recruited nearly 100 Mohawks to help defend it. He himself oversaw the defense of Montreal, leading only 150 regulars, since he entrusted Fort Saint-John with the main defense. The defense of Quebec City was left in the hands of Governor Hector Theophilus de Cramahé. Guy Johnson, a British Indian conservative and agent who lived in the Mohawk Valley in New York; he was on good terms with the Iroquois in New York, and was concerned for his and his family's safety, after it became clear that patriotic sentiment had taken hold in New York. Apparently convinced that he could no longer safely conduct Crown business, he left his estate in New York with about 200 Conservative and Mohawk sympathizers. Guy went first to Fort Ontario, where, on June 17; he extracted from Indian tribal leaders promises to collaborate in keeping supplies and lines of communication open in the area, as well as support for the British in the event of "enemy aggression." From there, he went to Montreal, where, in a meeting with General Carleton and more than 1,500 Indians, he negotiated similar deals, advising them to "be prepared for service." However, the majority of those involved in these agreements were the Mohawks; the other tribes in the Iroquois Confederacy avoided those conferences, seeking to remain neutral. Many of the Mohawks remained in the Montreal area after the conference; however, when it seemed uncertain whether the Americans would launch an invasion in 1775, most of them returned home by mid-August.

The Continental Congress sought to keep the Six Nations out of the war. In July 1775, Samuel Kirkland, an influential missionary to the Oneidas, brought them a statement from Congress: "We wish you to remain in your homes, and join neither side, but keep your axes well buried." While the Oneidas and Turcarora remained formally neutral, many Oneidas declared their sympathy with the rebels. News of Johnson's meeting in Montreal caused General Schuyler, who also had influence among the Oneidas, to call a conference in Albany for mid-August. Attended by about 400 Indians (mainly Oneidas and Tuscaroras, and some Mohawks), Schuyler and other Indian commissioners explained the problems that divided the colonies from Great Britain, emphasizing that the colonies were at war to preserve their rights, and that they did not seek conquest. The chiefs agreed to remain neutral, with one of the Mohawk leaders saying, "it's a family matter" and that they "would stand by and watch them fight... from the outside." However, they did manage to extract concessions from the Americans, including promises to solve problems such as the establishment of settlers on their land.

The main invasion effort was led by General Schuyler, moving up Lake Champlain to storm Montreal and later Quebec City. The expedition was made up of forces from New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, as well as men from the Green Mountains, under the leadership of Seth Warner, with provisions supplied from New York. However, Schuyler was extremely cautious, and by mid-August the colonists received reports that General Carleton was fortifying defensive positions outside Montreal, and that some native tribes had joined the British. On August 25, while Schuyler was at the Indian conference, Richard Montgomery received information that the ships being built at Fort Saint-John were nearing completion. Montgomery, taking advantage of Schuyler's absence (and in the absence of orders authorizing the move), led 1,200 troops, massed at Ticonderoga, to a position on the Île-aux-Noix on the Richelieu River, arriving on 2 September. . Two days later Schuyler joined him. Despite his failing health, Schuyler was determined to take his men to Canada, and on September 5 he set out for Fort Saint-John. Following the first engagement, General Schuyler was too ill to continue, so he gave command to Montgomery. Schuyler left Fort Ticonderoga several days later. After another false start and the arrival of another 900 men from Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York, as well as men from the Green Mountain, Montgomery finally proceeded to besiege Fort Saint-John. He sent a letter to James Livingston, a Canadian to prepare to raise local military forces in support of the American effort, to act in the area south of Montreal.

Anticipating a possible American incursion, Canadian Governor Guy Carleton had commissioned Major Charles Preston of RI-26 to build fortifications at Fort Saint-John. Preston, knowing it had to be done quickly, decided to erect two strong redoubts connected by a "communication trench" some 210 meters long. These works were built by 300 men from July to September and armed with 30 artillery pieces, including 2×8 howitzers, 8 Coehorn mortars, 2×24 and 6×9 cannons, others of smaller caliber. It had a garrison of 567 mostly from the 7th and 26th Regiments with some Canadian militiamen, - there were also about 700 women and children who had sought refuge, so about 1,300 people were sheltering in those two little redoubts. On 5 September Schuyler, who was ill, set out with the boats up the Richilieu River, as they approached the fort the British opened cannon fire which did little damage, and the rebel troops landed in a swamp some 1.5 km away. of the fort to recognize. As they advanced they were ambushed by 100 Indians under Lorimier, the encounter in the closed forest led to the two groups shooting at each other. Outmatched in initial engagement, Schuyler's men fought back, with Lorimier losing 4 killed and 5 wounded. Disgusted by the lack of support from the fort's garrison, the Indians withdrew. By nightfall the Americans had built a defensive work alongside the river, but then had to withdraw from île-aux-Noix when the British gunners found the right angle of fire. The situation was a tug-of-war with Montgomery and Schuyler's troops fighting in the process that saw the Royal Savage and other ships sink due to red-hot gunfire. While Colonel Ethan Allen with about 200 troops, received as a mission to occupy the shore of the Saint Lawrence River to prevent the arrival of supplies and reinforcements from Montreal.

Acting unintelligently, he decided to attack Montreal. On September 24, during the night, Allen with 110 men crossed the Saint Lawrence River, north of the city, but he had to fend for himself, since Major Brown did not find him. Carleton, the British commander, marched against him with a force of about 35 regulars, 200 volunteers, and a few Indians. Allen was repulsed, unable to cross the river, he took up a defensive position at Longue-Pointe a few miles from town. Most of the Canadian recruits fled when the first shots rang out, but Allen, constantly outflanked by Indians, led his dwindling army into a fighting retreat for more than a mile. Finally reduced to 31 troops and with the British officer "pressing boldly in the rear", Allen surrendered. The British captured Ethan Allen, 17 other Americans, and 16 Canadians. 10 of the prisoners were wounded (2 fatally, 8 slightly). Allen also lost 5 men dead. The rest escaped. On the British side, 3 were mortally wounded. This abortive attack on Montreal led to the full mobilization of the local militia, which soon numbered 2,000 men. But Carleton still refused to organize the relief of Fort Saint-John. Montgomery sent 300 men and two gunboats to reinforce Brown, who was blockading Fort Chambly, and on October 18 he took the fort which was defended by some 400 troops, half of them Canadian militiamen. There they found ample stores of ammunition and supplies. The captured artillery and supplies allowed Montgomery to intensify the bombardment, and a third battery was started to the northwest. Major Preston heard rumors that Carleton's relief column had been pushed back to Longueuil. On November 2, believing that relief might yet come, Major Preston called an eight-day truce, after which he would surrender if he was not relieved. With the arrival of winter, Montgomery rejected his proposal. Realizing the hopelessness of his situation, Preston surrendered and his men marched out with the honors of war, having delayed the enemy's advance on Montreal for almost two months.

Carleton learned of Saint-John's fall on November 4, by which time he also knew that more rebels were approaching Quebec through Maine. He also would not receive the 2 IRs ordered from Boston in the summer. The head of the North American fleet, Vice Admiral Samuel Graves, had refused to sail north so late in the year, even though the ships docked safely in Quebec as late as November. With Montgomery undoubtedly closing in, Carleton put what garrison and stores he could salvage aboard a small flotilla, but, possibly out of a sense of honor, he did not sail for Quebec until the rebel army had crossed the river. On November 8, Montgomery led his troops north and occupied Saint-Paul Island in the St. Lawrence River, crossing to Pointe-Saint-Charles the next day, where he was greeted as a liberator. Montreal fell without any significant fighting on November 13. As the British flotilla approached Sorel on November 12, one ship ran aground. By the time she sailed again, the wind had dropped and the ships had to anchor for three days. On November 15, a rebel boat carrying a flag of truce approached. The ship carried a demand for surrender, claiming that gun batteries downriver would destroy the convoy. To convince them, Brown rowed the ships and offered to show them a 32-lb battery. An officer was sent ashore to confirm this, but either evaded his work or was misled by Brown (who had hardly any guns). Carleton's flotilla numbered 30 pieces, but again the threat of loss of life made him hesitate. He called a council of war: one captain offered to attack the batteries while the rest went to Quebec; another, a noted pilot familiar with the dangerous waters around Sorel, offered to row him downriver. Carleton accepted the latter proposal.

Carleton dressed as a civilian, left the ship and headed away trying to pass through the enemy positions to reach Quebec. Leaving Prescott with instructions to jettison tents and cannons into the river in case he had to surrender. Prescott attempted to negotiate with Easton, but Easton convinced him that his position was hopeless, and on November 19, the day Carleton arrived in Quebec, he surrendered along with 120 soldiers and almost 200 sailors. Aboard the captured fleet, Easton found the cannons that Prescott had been unable to jettison, as well as 200 pairs of shoes. The captured ships carried prisoners that the British had taken. Among them was Moses Hazen, an expatriate from Massachusetts with estates near Fort Saint-John, whose mistreatment by the British turned him against them. Hazen, who had gained combat experience in the French and Indian War, joined Montgomery's army. Before leaving Montreal for Quebec City, Montgomery posted messages to residents that Congress wanted Quebec to join them, and engaged in discussions with supporters with the goal of holding a provincial convention to elect delegates to Congress. . He also wrote to Schuyler, requesting that a congressional delegation be sent for diplomatic activities. Much of Montgomery's army departed due to the enlistments of the vanquished after the fall of Montreal. He then used some of the captured ships to move toward Quebec City with about 300 soldiers on November 28, leaving about 200 in Montreal under Brigadier General David Wooster. Along the way, he picked up James Livingston's newly created 1st Canadian Regiment of about 200 men. Montgomery is headed to Quebec through Trois Rivieres. Unfortunately, the men whose enlistment was due on December 10 returned home.

With only 800 men, Montgomery wondered if he had the quantity and quality of troops to hold Montreal and take Quebec. Nearly 200 miles away, Carleton had the same concerns about holding Quebec or retaking Montreal. While this was going on, Benedict Arnold, who had been turned down for leadership of the Champlain Valley Expedition, returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts, approaching George Washington with the idea of supporting the invasion force from the east, headed for Quebec City. Washington approved of the idea, giving Arnold 1,100 men, including Daniel Morgan's riflemen for the effort. Arnold's force set out from Newburyport toward the mouth of the Kennebec River and then upriver toward Fort West. Arnold had estimated the distance to Quebec to be 290 km, when it was actually 480 km. Arnold's expedition was a success because he was able to lead a body of troops to the gates of Quebec City. However, the expedition ran into trouble as soon as it left the most significant traces of civilization in present-day Maine. There were many difficulties as the troops moved up the Kennebec River, and the boats they used frequently leaked, spoiling their powder and supplies. The altitude of the land between Kennebec and the Chaudière River was a network of lakes and streams, where the passage was difficult due to bad weather, causing the return of a quarter of the troops. The descent down the Chaudière resulted in the destruction of more boats and supplies, while the inexperienced troops found themselves unable to control the boats in the swift water. By the time Arnold reached the outskirts of civilization across the St. Lawrence River in November, his force had been reduced to 600 starving men. These had traveled almost 600 km through the wild nature. When Arnold and his troops finally reached the Plains of Abraham on November 14, Arnold sent a white-flag negotiator to demand his surrender, but to no avail.

The Americans, without cannons and in poor conditions for action, found themselves before a fortified city. Arnold, after hearing about a possible departure from the city, decided, on November 9, to withdraw towards Pointe-auz-Trembles to await Montgomery, who had recently captured Montreal. On December 2, Montgomery finally arrived from Montreal with 500 troops, taking with him the captured British supplies and winter clothing. The two forces joined forces, and plans were made for an attack on the city. Three days later, the combined army camped on the Plains of Abraham, beginning a siege of Quebec City. While planning the attack on the city, Montgomery was met by Christophe Pélissier, a Frenchman living near Trois-Rivières. Pélissier, who was politically supportive of the rebel cause, operated a hardware store in Saint-Maurice. Montgomery discussed the idea of holding the provincial convention with him. Pélissier recommended not holding a convention until after Quebec City had been taken, as the inhabitants would not feel free to act in such a manner until their safety was better assured. The two arranged for Pélissier's ironworks to provide ammunition for the siege, which it did until the rebels withdrew in May 1776. On December 30, Montgomery joined Arnold and James Livingston in an assault on Quebec City during a snowstorm. His movements went unnoticed by the British until a deserter went to Quebec and alerted Carleton to the attack. On the afternoon of December 30, another storm broke out. By nightfall it had become the heavy "northeast" that Montgomery desired and around 4 am he ordered the troops to form up. He would lead 300 New Yorkers past Cape Diamond and into Down Town from the south. Arnold, with 600 men, including 50 artillerymen, would leave Saint-Roche and attack from the north through Sault au Matelot.

At the same time, Livingston would feign an attack on the Saint-Jean gate with his Canadians, and Brown would attack the Cape Diamond stronghold with 100 men. Montgomery and Arnold would join forces and head to the Upper Town, hoping that the merchants would panic and force Carleton to surrender. In fact, Carleton had issued orders to burn the docks and warehouses in such an event. As Brown launched the signal rockets to begin the operation, Montgomery led his column toward Wolfe Cove, where they headed east, avoiding large ice packs and climbing the rocky precipice on the landward side where the river bank was. blocked up. As they approached Prés de Ville they heard the bell of Notre Dame des Victoires alarming the town. The sentinels had seen lanterns in the snow and the citizens were arming themselves. Below the tip of Cape Diamond, the column was stopped by a line of posts that stretched from the riverbank to the bluff. Four posts were cut into the side of the cliff (to avoid enemy lines of fire) and he slid down, accompanied by a dozen officers and men. After a brief conference with his aides, Montgomery drew his sword, held it aloft, and led the advance through the open space between the barricade and a two-story blockhouse. The building housed four small cannons manned by 9 sailors and about 30 French and 9 British militiamen. When the advancing rebels were about 50 meters away, they opened fire. Montgomery was hit in the head and killed instantly. Also his aides, Captains Jacob Cheesemen and John Macpherson, a sergeant, and most of the men with him. Montgomery's deputy undersecretary, Colonel Donald Campbell, was now the senior officer. Advancing he found some 50 men at the second barricade, their muskets useless in the snowstorm. The surviving officers recommended a retreat and Campbell agreed, taking command of the rear as the column fell back along the riverbank.

Inside the blockhouse, the occupants apparently panicked, having no idea what was happening outside. Later, when news of Arnold's attack arrived, a Boston loyalist, John Coffin, used Arnold's bayonet to prevent the men from leaving the post. Across town, Arnold's column was led by 30 Lamb riflemen and gunners with a 6-pound brass cannon on a sled. Behind them were the remaining Riflemen, under the command of Morgan, Steele, and Hendricks. Behind marched the contingents of Greene and Meigs, and finally the Indians and Canadians. A message had been sent to Dearborn on the north bank of the Saint-Charles, but he hadn't shown up. Arnold could only hope that he joined her on the way. When the rockets were fired, they went through Saint-Roche. Facing the Porte Palais, the main body was spotted by sentinels and the entire column was hit by musketry and grenades from the ramparts. As the column passed through the docks they were hit by the first barrier through Sault au Matelot, defended by 30 militiamen and 3 guns. Arnold used Lamb's cannon to weaken the Canadian positions before ordering a charge where he prevailed. As the column advanced, Arnold was hit in the left ankle by a ricocheting bullet. A rifleman and Chaplain Spring took him back to Dr. Senter. Almost instinctively, the men turned to Morgan, who responded by leading them forward and climbing a ladder first. Musket fire seared his face and knocked him off the ladder, but he climbed back up with two riflemen, jumped to the gun platform and rolled under one of the cannons to avoid the defenders' bayonets. His men followed the ladder and in a matter of minutes captured the 30 defenders for the loss of one killed and six wounded.

Morgan then ran towards Sault au Matelot to the next roadblock. Finding the door open and unguarded, he examined the work and returned. However, his officers refused to press on until the main body arrived, fearing that their growing load of prisoners (three times their strength) would overwhelm any guards. It was another 30 minutes before the main body caught up with them and delay would prove fatal. Still farther back, Dearborn's company, delayed by a high tide, and were entering Saint-Roche. Meanwhile, Caldwell, with a British militia detachment, was investigating the activity at Cape Diamond. Discovering that Brown's action was a feint, he informed Carleton when he had just learned of Arnold's attack on Sault au Matelot. Picking up 30 royal highland emigrants under Captain John Nairne of the MacLean Regiment and 50 sailors led by an ex-naval officer named Anderson, he headed for the second roadblock. There he found 200 French militia under the command of Voyer and Captain Alexandre Dumas, and a Company of the 7th, all in a state of confusion not knowing how to defend the barricade. Scattering the militia and émigrés into the surrounding houses, he formed the regulars into a double line behind the 12-foot-high barricade, with a platform-mounted cannon immediately behind them aimed at Sault au Matelot. Reinforced by the Pennsylvania Riflemen and Greene's and Meigs's detachments, Morgan led his men toward the second barricade. Some sailors, led by Anderson, came out the door and blocked their path. Anderson asked Morgan to surrender, and Morgan shot him dead, and the sailors retreated through the gate. Screaming "Quebec is ours!" Morgan's men moved forward but were caught in a hail of musketry from the upper windows of the houses.

The rebels then decided to enter the buildings clearing them of their defenders, degenerating into brutal melees. In the middle of it, Steele, Topham, Hendrick and Lamb fell wounded. After holding out until 10 a.m., group after group surrendered because they ran out of ammunition. Finally, only Morgan was left. Who would end up being burned alive inside his shelter. Arnold would discover that he lacked men to maintain the assault and would try to impose a somewhat ineffective siege on the city, until March 1776, when he was ordered to Montreal and replaced by Wooster. During those months, the besieging army suffered from difficult winter conditions, and smallpox began to spread significantly in the camp. These losses were offset by the arrival each month of small groups of reinforcements. By the end of March, the besieging army had grown to almost 3,000, although almost a quarter of these were unfit for service, mainly due to smallpox. Furthermore, Livingston and Moses Hazen, commanding the 500 Canadians in the army, were pessimistic about the loyalty of their men and the cooperation of the population due to persistent loyalist propaganda. Congress was conflicted over requests Arnold made for a more experienced general officer to lead the siege effort. They first chose Major-General Charles Lee, a general with experience in the British Army, to lead the troops in Quebec in January. On May 6, a small squadron of British ships under Captain Charles Douglas had arrived to relieve Quebec with supplies and 3,000 troops, precipitating the rebels' retreat to Sorel. The following months would see the rebels gradually retreat until they were finally driven out after the Battle of Valcour Island where they fought mostly with gunboats.

On November 2, Fraser's troops returned to Canada, and ten days later the entire army went into winter quarters, much to the annoyance of some officers, including Phillips and Fraser. On December 31, Bishop Briand celebrated a mass in Quebec in which many of those who had collaborated with the invaders were forced to do public penance, including serving in the army. Afterwards, Carleton hosted a lavish dinner for 60 guests and a public dance to commemorate the first anniversary of Montgomery's rejection of the attack.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«estas Colonias Unidas son, y por derecho deben ser, estados libres y soberanos».
«these United Colonies are, and by right must be, free and sovereign states».
— Attributed to Continental Congress on July 2, 1776.

On July 2, 1776, Congress finally resolved that "these United Colonies are, and by right ought to be, free and sovereign states." On July 4, 1776, 56 American congressmen met to approve the Declaration of Independence of the United States, which Thomas Jefferson wrote with the help of other citizens of Virginia. Paper money was printed and diplomatic relations with foreign powers began. In Congress were four of the main figures of independence: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. Of the 56 congressmen, 14 would die during the war. Benjamin Franklin became the first ambassador and head of the secret services. The unit then spread out across the Thirteen Colonies to fight the British. The statement presented a public defense of the War of Independence, including a long list of complaints against the English sovereign George III. But above all, he explained the philosophy that supported independence, proclaiming that all men are born equal and have certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that governments can govern only with the consent of the governed; that any government can be dissolved when it fails to protect the rights of the people. This political theory originated with the English philosopher John Locke, and occupies a prominent place in the Anglo-Saxon political tradition. These events convinced the British government that it was not simply dealing with a local New England revolt. It was soon assumed that the United Kingdom was involved in a war, and not in a simple rebellion, so conventional eighteenth-century military policy decisions were made, consisting of maneuvers and battles between organized armies. The theater of war was a long coastal strip stretching more than 2,000 km between the St. Lawrence River and Florida, with an average width of 235 km. The country was roadless and largely uncivilized, strategically favored defensive, and difficult to subdue.

It was divided into three sectors:​

• Northern sector that included New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.
• Central sector with New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rode Island, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
• South sector the two Carolinas and Georgia.

Simultaneously reducing all three sectors was impossible for Great Britain, and therefore required defeating them one by one separately. As the northern sector was the easiest to invade because Canada could be used as a base of operations, if the rebellion was crushed in New England and New York, and the English army was provided with sufficient forces, the chances of ending the conflict were high. although the central and southern sectors continued to resist, which could be gradually subdued later.

After defeating the British at the Siege of Boston on March 17, 1776, Commander-in-Chief George Washington redeployed the Continental Army to defend the port city of New York, located on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Washington understood that the city's harbor would provide an excellent base for the Royal Navy, so he set up defenses there and waited for the British to attack. Washington left Boston on April 4, arrived in New York on April 13, and made his headquarters at Archibald Kennedy's former home on Broadway across from Bowling Green. Washington had sent his second-in-command, Charles Lee, to New York in February to set up the city's defenses. Lee remained in New York City until March, when the Continental Congress sent him to South Carolina. The construction of the city's defenses was left to General William Alexander. The troops were in limited supply, so Washington found the defenses incomplete, but Lee had concluded that in any case it would be impossible to hold the city with the British commanding the sea. He reasoned that defenses should be placed with the ability to inflict heavy casualties on the British if they made any move to take and hold ground. Barricades and redoubts were established in and around the city, and the bastion of Fort Stirling was built across the East River on Brooklyn Heights, facing the city. He subsequently built two more forts Defiance and Cobble Hill to complete Brooklyn's defenses. Lee also made sure that the immediate area was free of loyalists.

A series of rises on Long Island, the Gowanus Heights, was later adopted as a forward defensive line. Initially just an additional zone of resistance, but Washington came to see that as the best chance of stopping the British. The slope was gentle on the defending side, and steep and heavily wooded on the other side, with walkable areas in only a small number of places. Troops were posted at every pass behind felled trees and it was hoped that the British would go no further. Washington based his strategy on the hope that the British would be unimaginative in assaulting him. Under the leadership of Israel Putnam, the Americans also seized and fortified Governor's Island and sank ships between it and the battery at the tip of Manhattan to prevent the passage of British ships. They did not do any further defensive work to protect the strait between the islands of Staten Island and Long Island, but they seemed to have limited resources and manpower. They had done what they could, but Washington rightly had a feeling. “We are expecting a very bloody summer…” he wrote to his brother on May 31, “and I am sorry to say that we are not prepared, neither in men nor in arms.” In July, the British, under the command of General William Howe, landed a few miles across the harbor on the sparsely populated Staten Island, where they were reinforced by a fleet of ships in New York Bay for the next month and medium, bringing its total strength to 32,000 soldiers. Washington knew the difficulty of holding the city with the British fleet in control of the harbor entrance at the Narrows, and accordingly moved most of his forces to Manhattan, believing that it would be the first target. The American army had about 28,500 men gathered around New York to oppose the British.

Indignity gripped the men as the disease swept through New York and more than a quarter of Washington's army was disabled, giving him just under 20,000 men fit for service. Less than half of this force were from the Continental Army, with the rest being state troops or militia. Washington was also almost totally devoid of cavalry; in fact, he had turned down Connecticut's offer of 3 RCs in June, numbering about 400, they could have done very valuable work patrolling the outlying American defenses, but Washington believed that the difficulty in feeding the horses would outweigh their usefulness ( a curious belief given the time of year and the abundance of suitable forage on Long Island). He asked the men to serve as foot soldiers, with their horses sent to Westchester to serve as roustabouts for officers or as work animals. The Connecticut Riders rejected that offer. The development of operations on Long Island would show the lack, as the only body of mounted troops was the Long Island Militia, under Nathaniel Woodhull, and they were employed exclusively to round up and herd cattle to prevent them from falling into British hands. Washington was not sure where the British would attack. Both Greene and Reed thought the British would attack Long Island, but Washington thought a British attack on Long Island might be a diversion for the main attack on Manhattan. He divided his army into two parts, half stationed in Manhattan and the other half on Long Island. Greene would command the army on Long Island. On August 20, Greene fell ill and was forced to move to a house in Manhattan where he rested to recover. John Sullivan took over command until Greene recovered. General Howe had sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, arriving at Sandy Hook on June 9, 25 arriving in New York Harbor with 9,000 troops in 45 ships. On June 29, a fleet of 130 ships and more than 9,000 soldiers arrived from England under the command of Admiral Richard Howe, the general's brother.

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The combined fleet anchored off Staten Island, whose inhabitants were known to be loyalists. The garrison and New Yorkers crowded onto the docks to watch the spectacle. Howe sent several officers to invite Washington to parley, but he refused, as they did not recognize his title as General of the Congressional Army. On July 2, British troops began landing on Staten Island. Continental soldiers on the island shot at them before fleeing, and the militia went over to the British side. On July 6, news reached New York that Congress had voted for independence four days earlier. On Tuesday, July 9, at 6:00 p.m., Washington had several Brigades march to the city commons to hear the Declaration of Independence read. After the reading, a crowd ran to Bowling Green with ropes and bars, where they toppled the gilt-bronze equestrian statue of George III of Great Britain. In their fury, the mob lopped off the statue's head, cut off its nose, and mounted what was left of the head on a spike outside a tavern, with the rest of the statue being dragged to Connecticut and melted down into 47,000 musket balls. . On July 12, the British ships Phoenix and Rose sailed through the harbor toward the mouth of the Hudson. American batteries opened fire from Fort George, Red Hook, and Governors Island, and the British returned fire on the town. The ships sailed along the New Jersey shoreline and continued up the Hudson River, past Fort Washington and arriving in the evening at Tarrytown on the widest part of the Hudson. The objectives of the British ships were to cut off American supplies with New England and the North, and to encourage loyalist support. The only casualties of the day were six Americans who were killed when their own cannon exploded. The next day, July 13, Howe attempted to open negotiations with the Americans.

He sent a letter to Washington delivered by Lieutenant Philip Brown, who arrived under a flag of truce. The letter was addressed "George Washington, Esq." Brown was met by Joseph Reed, who had rushed to shore on Washington's orders, accompanied by Henry Knox and Samuel Webb. Washington asked his officers whether he should receive him or not, since he did not recognize his rank as a general, and they unanimously said no. Reed told Brown that there was no one in the military with that address. On July 16, Howe tried again, this time with the address "George Washington, Esq., Etc., etc.", but was again rejected. The next day, Howe dispatched Captain Nisbet Balfour to ask if Washington would meet General Howe's aide face-to-face, and a meeting was scheduled for July 20. Howe's aide was Colonel James Patterson. Patterson told Washington that Howe had come with clemency powers, but Washington said, "Those who have done no wrong don't want pardon." Patterson departed soon after. Meanwhile, on August 1, Peter Parker's fleet of 30 ships, with Generals Clinton and Cornwallis, returned from the abortive assault on Charleston, with another 3,000 troops. As news of the expedition's defeat spread, it seemed to cheer the New York garrison, but Washington called this development alarming. Later, on 12 August, 8,000 Hesse-Kassel mercenaries arrived from Portsmouth, bringing Howe's force to 32,000 soldiers, 10,000 sailors, and 2,000 marines. At this point the British fleet numbered over 400 ships, of which 73 were warships, the largest expedition of its kind ever mounted by Britain and certainly the largest fleet ever seen in America. Howe's options for the full command assault on the narrow waters were several.

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At 0510 hours on August 22, a vanguard of 4,000 British troops left Staten Island under the command of Clinton and Cornwallis to land on Long Island. At 08:00, the 4,000 landed unopposed on the shore of Gravesend Bay. Colonel Edward Hand's Pennsylvania Riflemen had been stationed on the shore, but they did not oppose the landings and fell back, killing cattle and burning farms along the way. By noon, 15,000 troops had landed on the shore along with 40 artillery pieces, when hundreds of loyalists arrived to greet the British troops. Cornwallis advanced with the vanguard, advancing 10 km to the island and setting up camp at the town of Flatbush. He was given orders not to advance any further. Washington received word of the landings the same day, but was told the number was about 9,000. This convinced him that it was the feint he had envisioned, and therefore he alone sent 1,500 more troops into Brooklyn, bringing the total number of troops on Long Island to 6,000. On August 24, Washington replaced Sullivan with Israel Putnam, who commanded troops on Long Island. Putnam arrived on Long Island the following day along with 6 BIs. Also on that day, British troops on Long Island received 5,000 Hessian reinforcements, bringing the total to 20,000. There was little fighting in the days immediately following the landing, although some minor skirmishes did take place with rifle-armed American sharpshooters driving out the British troops from time to time. The American plan was for Putnam to lead the defenses from Brooklyn Heights, while Sullivan and Stirling and their troops would be stationed on Guan Heights. Washington believed that by stationing men on the heights, heavy casualties could be inflicted on the British before the troops returned to the main defenses on Brooklyn Heights.

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At 9:00 p.m. on August 26, the British began the movement. Nobody, except the commanders, knew of the plan. Clinton led the division of him. The column consisted of 10,000 men stretching over 3 km. Three loyal farmers led the column towards the Jamaica Pass. The British had left their fires burning to fool the Americans into believing that nothing had changed. The column headed northeast until it reached what later became the town of New Lots, when it headed directly north toward the heights. The column had not yet encountered any American troops when they reached Howard's Tavern, only a few hundred yards from Jamaica Pass. Saloonkeeper William Howard and his son William Jr. were forced to act as guides to show the British the way to the Rockaway, an old Indian trail that skirted the Jamaica Pass to the west. Five minutes after leaving the tavern, the five mounted militia officers stationed in the pass were captured without firing, as they thought the British were Americans. Clinton questioned the men and was told that they were the only troops guarding the pass. At dawn, the British crossed the pass and stopped so the troops could rest. At 09:00 a.m., two cannons were fired to signal the Hessian troops to begin their frontal assault on Sullivan's men deployed on the two hills flanking the pass, while Clinton's troops simultaneously outflanked the American positions. from the east. At approximately 11:00 p.m. on August 26, the first shots were fired at the Battle of Long Island near the Red Lion Tavern. American pickets from Pennsylvania's Samuel John Atlee Regiment fired on two British soldiers who were in a watermelon orchard near the tavern.

The fight for Guan Heights continues throughout the morning. British troops filter through Jamaica Pass and through several other American positions, eventually gaining control of the ridge. The bloodiest fights of the battle occur near Battle Pass, where Hessian mercenaries go toe-to-toe with the patriots. As the Americans fall back towards Brooklyn Heights, one contingent is nearly surrounded by the advancing British. About 400 Maryland soldiers, known as the "400 Marylanders", fight back to buy time for their comrades to escape. More than 250 Marylanders are killed while desperately fighting the British regiments, but the rest of the army manages to retreat safely. As night falls, Americans are huddled in Brooklyn Heights with the East River behind them. General Howe overrules subordinates who advocate a renewed assault, instead digging in and preparing to besiege Washington's army. Washington, however, does not consent to a siege and eventual surrender. In the dead of night, he coordinates a retreat across the river without losing a single life. When the British investigate the American lines, they find them empty. At the time, it was by far the largest battle ever fought in North America. If the Royal Navy is included, more than 40,000 men participated in the battle. Howe reported his losses of 59 killed, 268 wounded, and 31 missing. Hessian casualties were 5 killed and 26 wounded. The Americans suffered much greater losses. About 300 were killed and more than 1,000 captured. Only half of the prisoners survived. Kept on prison ships, then transferred to places like the Dutch Church in Media, they suffered from starvation and were denied medical care. In their weakened condition, many succumbed to smallpox. The British were stunned to discover that Washington and the army had escaped.

Later in the day, August 30, British troops occupied the American fortifications. When news of the battle reached London, it caused much festivities. Bells were rung throughout the city, candles were lit in windows, and King George III gave Howe the Order of the Bath. Washington's defeat revealed his shortcomings as a strategist who divided his forces, his inexperienced generals who misunderstood the situation, and his troops who fled in disorder at the first shots. However, his daring night retreat would be seen as one of his greatest military exploits. On September 10, British troops moved from Long Island to occupy Montresor Island, a small island at the mouth of the Harlem River. On September 11, the Congressional delegation arrived on Staten Island and met with Admiral Lord Howe for several hours. The meeting came to nothing, as Howe was not authorized to agree to terms insisted on by the congressional delegation. However, he postponed the impending British attack, allowing Washington more time to decide whether and where to engage the British force. On September 12, at a court martial, Washington and his generals made the decision to leave New York City. 4,000 Continentals under Israel Putnam remained to defend the city and lower Manhattan, while the main army moved north toward Harlem and King's Bridge. On September 13, the main British movement began when the ships of the line Roebuck and Phoenix, along with the frigates Orpheus and Carysfort, advanced up the East River and anchored in Bushwick Creek, carrying 148 guns in all and accompanied by 6 transport ships. of troops. By September 14, the Americans were rushing stores of ammunition and other materials, along with sick Americans, to Orangetown, New York.

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Every available horse and cart was used in what Joseph Reed described as a "great military effort." Scouts reported movement in British Army camps, but Washington was still unsure where the British would attack from. By late afternoon, the bulk of the US Army had moved north towards King's Bridge and Harlem Heights, and Washington followed that night. Howe had originally planned a landing for September 13. He and General Henry Clinton disagreed on the point of attack, with Clinton arguing that a landing at the King's Bridge would cut off Washington once and for all. Howe originally wanted to make two landings, one at Kip Bay and one at Horn Hook, further north on the eastern seaboard. He took the latter option when the ship's pilots warned of the dangerous waters of Hell's Gate, where the Harlem River and the waters of Long Island Sound meet the East River. After delays due to unfavorable winds, the landing, directed to Kip's Bay, began on the morning of September 15, 1776. During the Battle of Kip's Bay, heavy advancing fire from British ships on the East River caused the flight of the inexperienced US militia guarding the landing zone. This made it possible for the British to land their troops unopposed. Skirmishes after the landings resulted in the British capture of some of those militia. The British maneuvers that followed the landing almost cut off the escape route of some Continental Army forces stationed further to the southeast of the island. The flight of the American troops was so rapid that General George Washington, who was attempting to rally them, was dangerously exposed near the British lines. The operation was a British victory and resulted in the withdrawal of the Continental Army to Harlem Heights, giving the British control of New York City in the lower half of the island.

However, Washington established strong positions on Harlem Heights which he proved determined to defend in a fierce skirmish between the two armies the next day. General William Howe, unwilling to risk a costly frontal attack, did not attempt to advance further into the island for another two months. Washington was extremely angry with his troops' conduct, calling his actions "disgraceful" and "outrageous." The Connecticut militia was labeled cowardly and blamed for the defeat. Others, however, were more cautious, thinking that if the Connecticut militia had stayed behind to defend York Island under British gun fire and, in the face of overwhelming force, they would have been annihilated. On September 16, Washington was greatly concerned about the inability of his troops to deal with the British and Hessians in Howe's army. Step by step, the Americans were expelled from New York Island. Washington had only the northern plateau of the island, around the fortification of Fort Washington on the shore of the Hudson River. Washington dispatched a group of New England Rangers, under the command of Captain Thomas Knowlton, to monitor British movements south of his position. He descended from the northern plateau to a lowland area known as the Hollow Road and then to the next plateau. There his group of around 120 men met pickets of British light infantry and fire was exchanged. More British troops from the 42nd Highlander Black Watch or Black Watch Regiment emerged and the small group of Rangers were forced to withdraw in some haste, pursued by the British who blew fox horns as they pursued them.

Americans on the northern plateau are said to have been particularly incensed upon hearing the British use derisive fox-hunting calls. Washington ordered an advance force to draw the group of British further towards the plateau, while a second force moved around the British right flank and cut them off from the southern plateau and further reinforcements. The British took the bait and advanced towards the northern plateau while the Americans fell back before them. As they advanced south, the American flanking group encountered some British troops and gunfire broke out, warning the light infantry that they were in a dangerous position. The fighting spread north before Washington decided to send troops forward in two flanking maneuvers, one under Major Andrew Leitch and the other under Knowlton. A third force of Americans feinted to attack the British on their front. One of Howe's subordinates made a critical mistake during the fight. A fox horn was sounded before the fight ended. Fox hunters used a "Fox Horn" to signal to other hunters that the fox had given up and was ready to be killed. The American force heard the horn and all it did was motivate the men to fight even harder. Although the Americans attacked before the British were surrounded and Leitch and Knowlton were mortally wounded, the British found themselves attacked from three sides and began their retreat. Under persistent attack, the British withdrew to a field at Hollow Way. Fighting continued for an hour until the imminent arrival of more British forces. This caused Washington to call his troops back. The number of troops increased to nearly 5,000 on each side as the British were forced back.



Washington called off the attack after 6 hours because the Americans were not ready for a general confrontation with the entire British army. The significance of this action to the Americans was that it was the Virginia militia, who had fled the day before, fighting steadily and effectively alongside the Northern rangers that went a long way toward restoring confidence in the American military. During the British advance on New York Island, one of Knowlton's American officers, Captain Nathan Hale of Coventry, Connecticut, was caught by the British in civilian clothes acting as a spy. Hale was hanged and said in his last words «I only regret, that I only have one life to lose for my country«. After the Battle of Long Island, the British Army forced the Americans off Manhattan Island. Howe chased Washington slowly out of New York City and into the countryside. Howe extended his own command in a line from New Rochelle in the south to the town of Scarsdale in the north. Howe and his conservative supporters had a stronghold in New York City. After Washington abandoned Manhattan Island, he deployed his force in a long defensive line in Westchester County, with the northern part in White Plains. White Plains was located 20 miles northeast of New York City. It was a rural and sparsely populated farming community. The terrain consisted of gently rolling hills through which the Bronx River valley ran. His goal was to escape the clutches of the British while evacuating tons of supplies before they could be captured by the superior British force. At the behest of the Continental Congress, Washington had to leave some 2,800 troops, commanded by Colonel Robert Magaw, to occupy Fort Washington and another 3,500 troops under Major General Nathanael Greene to defend the opposite shore at Fort Lee. Their mission was to disrupt and prevent the British fleet from moving upriver above the forts and into the Hudson River Valley.

On October 22, Washington and his army arrive in White Plains. They joined his advance unit, which had started arriving the day before, and began fortifying the three surrounding hills. At White Plains, Washington spread out his army 3 miles wide, including the pass through the city. The right flank was commanded by Brigadier General William Heath, the center was commanded by Washington, and the right flank was commanded by Major General Israel Putnam. Howe was in New Rochelle, where he was in no hurry to move against Washington. This gave the Americans time to reach his new position safely. On October 23, some 8,000 Heissens, commanded by Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen, arrived in New Rochelle and reinforced Howe's army. Howe decided to leave some 4,000 Hessians to garrison New Rochelle. On October 27, the British vanguard arrives at White Plains. Chatterson's Hill rose 180 feet above the plain and the top was gently rounded with steep, wooded slopes. The top of the hill was divided into cultivated fields by stone walls. It was located to the right of the American line, across the Bronx River. At the time, Washington had not strengthened this position. The double line front of the Washington conclave covered the city of White Plains. Looking south, the American line was anchored on the right (west) flank at Purdy Hill along the Bronx River and on the left beyond the city at Hatfield Hill near a large pond. The center was directly in front of the city. Beyond Washington's right, about half a mile across the river, was Chatterson's Hill. Initially, Washington did not perceive the hill as important enough to occupy. On the morning of October 28, the British entered Scarsdale and advanced on White Plains.

Howe received information that Washington had massed his army and deployed it in a large shallow crescent below the town, with the narrow Bronx River swollen protecting the American right flank. Howe's advance was formed into two columns, one British and one Hessian. Lieutenant General Henry Clinton commanded the British column and Major General Wilhelm von Heister commanded the Hessians. Washington ordered Brigadier General Joseph Spencer to take a detachment of 1,500 men and two guns to block the British on the plains between Chatterson's Hill and Scarsdale. Spencer had the first line manned by the Massachusetts militia and the second line was manned by the Delaware Continentals. At 9:30 a.m., once the delay force had made contact with the British, they returned and reported to Washington that the British were approaching in two columns along the East Chester Road. Once in White Plains, Howe spread out his army in an open area about a mile in front of the American line. Howe saw Chatterson's Hill and recognized that it was critical terrain. He planned the main attack on Chatterson's Hill while the rest of his army kept the rest of the American line busy. As Howe and his command consulted, the Hessian artillery on the left opened fire on the hilltop position on Chatterson's Hill, where they managed to drive the militia into a panicked retreat. The arrival of McDougall and his brigade helped to rally them and a defensive line was established, with the militia on the right and the Continentals arrayed along the brow of the hill. After the artillery bombardment, a detachment of 4,000 men was sent to attack the American position. First, Howe sent 3 Hessian regiments, commanded by Colonel Johann Rall, across the river, where they took up positions on some ridges about 1/2 mile from Chatterson's Hill. The rest of the attacking force then crossed a ford downriver and climbed the hill. Finally, the 17th Dragoons were sent out on a cavalry charge, the first cavalry charge of the war.

Rall threatened Spencer's left flank. The militia panicked and were soon routed, but the mainlanders put up a stiff resistance before being forced to make an orderly retreat. The Americans were forced across the river to Chatterson's Hill. With the British now close behind, Washington suddenly realized the critical nature of Chatterson's Hill and decided to strengthen it. He ordered around 1,600 troops, made up of Delaware Continentals and Maryland militia to help occupy the hill. This brought the total defensive force on the hill to around 2,500 soldiers. Major General Alexander McDougall assumed command of the hill force. After Spencer's detachment was driven off, Howe moved his army to the flat land below the high ground and facing the city within sight of Washington. Howe then divided his command and sent 8 regiments to attack the high ground of Chatterson's Hill. He also placed 20 guns under Chatterson's Hill and opened fire on the American positions. McDougall was only able to fire a couple of shots before being forced to abandon his guns. As the British artillery bombardment continued, British and Hessian troops fought their way under fire towards the Bronx River. They then crossed the river and fanned out to attack the hill. The British regiments attacked directly against the American positions while the Hessians attempted a flanking maneuver against the American right flank. The British were forced back with heavy casualties, but the Hessians took up a position beyond the American left flank, which was held by inexperienced militiamen from New York and Massachusetts. The fight lasted only a few minutes before the militia fled. The fleeing militia exposed the flank of the Delaware troops.

The appearance of the advancing Hessians confused the Delaware troops. Although many companies formed up and repulsed several Hessian attacks, the pressure against their front continued and supporting troops moved to the rear. Unable to maintain a defense, the rest of the Delaware troops were forced into an orderly retreat from the field. After the loss of Chatterson's Hill, Washington had no choice but to withdraw further north, beyond the Croton River, to Castle Hill. At 5:00 PM, the battle ended. Howe was content to hold on to Chatterson's Hill. The two armies remained where they were for two days, while Howe reinforced the position on Chatterton Hill and Washington organized his army to withdraw to the hills north of White Plains. With the arrival of additional Hessian and Waldeck troops under Lord Percy on October 30, Howe planned to move against the Americans the following day. However, heavy rain fell throughout the next day, and when Howe was finally ready to act, he awoke to find that Washington had eluded him again. On October 31, Washington withdrew his army into the northern foothills overnight, setting up camp near North Castle. Howe decided not to follow, instead trying unsuccessfully to draw Washington out. On November 1, the British advanced but found that Washington and his army were gone, having retreated to the hills north of White Plains. Howe decided not to follow the Americans and allowed them to withdraw safely to New Jersey. During the fighting in and around Manhattan, the US Army commanded by General George Washington, for whom the fort was named, was forced to withdraw north, leaving Forts Washington and Fort Lee isolated. After defeating the Continental Army at the Battle of White Plains, British Army forces, commanded by Lieutenant General William Howe, planned to capture Fort Washington, the last American stronghold in Manhattan.

Washington had considered abandoning Fort Washington, but was convinced by Greene, who believed that the fort could be held and that it was vital to do so. Greene argued that keeping the fort would keep communications across the river open and might deter the British from attacking New Jersey. Magaw and Putnam agreed with Greene. Washington gave in to Greene and did not leave the fort. On November 4, Howe ordered his army south toward Dobbs Ferry. Rather than pursue US forces in the highlands, and possibly motivated by intelligence gained from Demont's defection, Howe had decided to attack Fort Washington. Washington responded by dividing his army. Seven thousand soldiers were to remain east of the Hudson River under Major General Charles Lee to prevent a British invasion of New England; General William Heath, with 3,000 men, was to protect the Hudson Highlands to prevent any British advance north; and Washington, with 2,000 men, would go to Fort Lee. On November 13, Washington and his army arrived at Fort Lee. Howe's plan of attack was to assault the fort from three directions while a fourth force feigned; by then it had received reinforcements and was garrisoned by 3,000 men. Hessian troops under Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen would attack the fort from the north, Percy would lead a brigade of Hessians and several British battalions from the south, and General Charles Cornwallis with the 33rd Regiment of Foot and General Brigadier Edward Mathew. with light infantry they were to attack from the east. The feint was to be from the 42nd Highlanders, landing on the east side of Manhattan, south of the fort. On November 15, before attacking the fort, Howe sent Lieutenant Colonel James Patterson under a flag of truce to deliver a message that if the fort did not surrender, the entire garrison would be killed. Magaw said the Patriots would defend the fort to the "last end".

On November 16, before dawn, the British and Hessian troops withdrew. General Knyphausen and his troops crossed the Harlem River in flatboats and landed in Manhattan. The boatmen then turned downriver to ferry Mateo's troops across the river. However, due to the tide, they were unable to get close enough to shore to cross the British troops. Therefore, Knyphausen's troops were forced to stop their advance and wait until Mathew could cross. Around 7:00 a.m. At 15:00 am, the Hessian guns opened fire on the American battery on Laurel Hill and the British frigate HMS Pearl began firing on the American entrenchments. Also, south of the fort, Percy had his artillery open fire on the fort. Percy's artillery took aim at Magaw's guns. At noon, Knyphausen and his Hessians restarted their advance. As soon as the tide was high enough, Mathew and his troops, accompanied by Howe, crossed the Harlem River. They landed under heavy fire from American artillery on the Manhattan shoreline. British troops charged up the hillside and dispersed the Americans until they reached a redoubt held by some companies of Pennsylvania volunteers. After a short fight, the Americans turned and ran toward the fort. North of the fort, the Hessian right, commanded by Colonel Johann Rall, moved up the steep slope south of Spuyten Duyvil Creek with almost no American resistance. The Hessians began to bring up their artillery. At this point the main body of Hessians began to advance up the Post Road, which ran between Laurel Hill and the hill Rall was on. The Hessians crossed swampy land and as they approached the wooded hillside near the fort, they were fired upon by 250 riflemen from the Maryland and Virginia Regiment of Rifles, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Moses Rawlings.

Rawlings's men hid behind rocks and trees and ran from place to place to shoot at the Hessians as they tried to advance through the fallen trees and rocks. The Hessians' first and second charges were repulsed by Rawlings's riflemen. John Corbin was in charge of firing a small cannon on top of a hill. During an assault by the Hessians, Corbin was killed, leaving his cannon without a crew. Margaret Corbin had been with her husband on the battlefield the entire time and, after witnessing his death, she immediately took her place in the cannon and continued firing until her arm, chest and jaw were hit by enemy fire, thus becoming the first known female combatant in the American Revolution. At about the same time, to the south, Percy advanced with about 3,000 men. Percy advanced in two columns with his brigade of Hessians on the left and Percy himself on the right. Some 200 yards from the American lines, Percy halted the advance, waiting for Stirling's feint to come through. Facing Percy was Alexander Graydon and his company. Graydon's superior was Lambert Cadwalader, Magaw's second-in-command, who was in charge of holding the three defensive lines south of Fort Washington. After hearing that there was a shore landing to his rear, Cadwalader sent 50 men to oppose it. The 50 men ran into the feint of the 700-man Colonel Stirling's 42nd Foot. Where Stirling landed turned out to be the least defended area of the American defenses, and when Cadwalader heard how many men were there, he sent another 100 men to reinforce the 50 he had sent earlier. The British landing parties spread out, finding a way through the rough terrain to the landing site. The Americans took up a position on top of a hill and began firing on the British troops still crossing the river, killing or wounding 80 men.

British troops charged the American position, scattering them. Hearing the gunshots, Percy ordered his troops to continue their advance. British artillery fire forced Graydon in the first defensive line back to the second line, where Washington, Greene, Putnam and Hugh Mercer stood. The four were encouraged to leave Manhattan, which they did immediately, sailing across the river to Fort Lee. Magaw realized that Cadwalader was in danger of being surrounded and sent orders for him to withdraw towards the fort. Cadwalader's force was pursued by Percy's troops at the same time that the troops opposing Stirling's landing were also pursued towards the fort. Stirling's troops, landed in Cadwalader's rear, halted, believing there were troops in the entrenchments. Some of the retreating Americans engaged Stirling, giving most of the rest of the American troops ample time to escape. With the collapse of Magaw's outer lines to the south and east of the fort, the general retreat to the perceived safety of the fort took place. To the south, the third defensive line had never been completed, so Cadwalader had nowhere left to retreat to except the fort. To the north, the Riflemen under Rawlings were still holding out, but just barely, since there were fewer Riflemen than before and since the increased firing had jammed some of the men's weapons, some of the men were forced to leave. push rocks down the hill in the attacking Hessians. The American battery at Fort Washington was silenced by the Pearl. By this time the rifle fire had almost ceased and the Hessians advanced slowly up the hill and engaged the Americans in hand-to-hand fighting. Overpowering the Americans, the Hessians reached the top of the hill and rushed the redoubt with a bayonet charge, quickly capturing it.

Washington, watching the battle from across the river, sent a note to Magaw asking him to hold out until nightfall, thinking the troops might be evacuated during the night. By this time, the Hessians had taken the ground between the fort and the Hudson River. Rall had the honor of requesting the American surrender by Knyphausen. Rall sent Captain Hohenstein, who spoke English and French, under a flag of truce to call for the fort's surrender. Hohenstein met with Cadwalader, and Cadwalader requested that Magaw have four hours to consult with his officers. Hohenstein denied the request and gave the Americans half an hour to decide. While Magaw was consulting with his officers, Washington's messenger, Captain John Gooch, arrived just before the fort was completely surrounded, with Washington's request to hold out until nightfall. Magaw attempted to obtain more favorable terms for his men, who would only be allowed to keep his belongings, but failed. at 3:00 p.m. m., the Germans had reached Fort Washington from the north and the British were in sight to the east and south. Realizing that standing up now would create a bloodbath within the crowded fort, Magaw announced his decision to capitulate the fort. at 4:00 p.m. m., the American flag was lowered at the fort, replaced by the British flag. The loss of all their weapons and equipment was especially damaging. Fort Lee was now untenable, and Washington began hauling the ammunition out of the fort. After the Hessians entered the fort, American officers attempted to placate the Hessian commander, Captain von Malmburg, who was in charge of the surrender. As they emerged from the fort, the Hessians stripped the American troops of their baggage and went so far as to murder some of them. His officers intervened to prevent further injury or death.

The British captured 34 guns, two howitzers, along with many tents, blankets, tools, and lots of ammunition. Under the usual treatment of prisoners of war during the Revolutionary War, only 800 survived their captivity to be released 18 months later in a prisoner exchange; nearly three-quarters of the prisoners died. Three days after the fall of Fort Washington, the Patriots abandoned Fort Lee. Washington and the army withdrew through New Jersey and crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania northwest of Trenton, pursued to New Brunswick, New Jersey by British forces.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Extincion antes que Tirania».
«Extinction before Tyranny».
— Attributed to George Washington on December 26, 1776.

With the capture of Fort Lee, Howe sent Cornwallis additional troops consisting of elements of the 16th Regiment of Light Dragoons and the 71st Regiment of Foot. With these reinforcements, Cornwallis increased his force to over 10,000 men. Washington's 4,000 men found what shelter they could from the rain in houses and barns behind the Hackensack River. The British camped on the opposite side of the Hackensak River, he could see the fires a hundred yards away, glowing brightly in the gloom of night, spreading some distance from the town of New Bridge. Washington briefly considered making a stop along the Hackensack River, but the river was only 100–100 feet (30–30 m) wide and fordable in many places. On the morning of November 22, Washington left a rear guard to delay the British at New Bridge and ordered a further withdrawal to the relative safety of the Passaic River. Cornwallis sent a sizeable force, supported by a Hessian Jäger Company under Major General John Vaughn, to force a passage across the Hackensack River at New Bridge. The Americans occupied the Hoogland Tavern, and while the British light infantry and Jägers engaged in a short but bitter fight at New Bridge, the bulk of the American army marched towards Acquackanonk and crossed the Passaic River on a dilapidated wooden bridge. The Americans destroyed the bridge while the 16th's dragoons cautiously followed. Washington's men suffered another night in the cold rain. Washington usually rode at the back of the struggling column, encouraging his men to keep up their spirits. Lieutenant James Monroe would recount: "I saw him... at the head of a small band, or rather in the rear, because he was always close to the enemy and his countenance and attitude left an impression on me that I can never erase." Cornwallis remained in Hackensack with the main army for two days.

British feeding parties fanned out to gather supplies from the surrounding countryside, marveling at the abundance. Despite strict orders against looting, the British and Hessian troops were incriminated in their rough treatment of civilians. The abuses against rebels and loyalists did nothing to attract New Jersey citizens to the British cause. British scouts reported that large amounts of abandoned equipment littered the retreat route. Before leaving Acquackanonk Landing, Washington wrote to New Jersey Governor William Livingston, once again requesting the muster of the New Jersey militia to resist the British invasion. Withdrawing from Acquackanonk Landing, the US Army reached Newark on November 23. Major General Sterling, with his brigade consisting of Delaware Regiment 1, Virginia Regiment 3, and Regiment 1, advanced to Elizabethtown from New Brunswick to support Washington's main force. The Continental Congress, informed of the loss of Fort Lee on November 22, formed a committee that met with Washington in New Jersey, where Congress President John Hancock, who authorized Washington to withdraw troops from the Northern Department on November 24. In turn, Washington sent Brigadier General Thomas Mifflin to Philadelphia to report to Congress on the condition of the army and sent Joseph Reed to Governor Livingston and the New Jersey legislature to renew his request for reinforcements. Mifflin's report from Philadelphia was not encouraging, describing Pennsylvanians as "divided and lethargic." Washington did not hear from Reed. On November 26, Washington requested that General Phillip Schuyler send reinforcements from his Northern department to join the main army in New Jersey. A total of approximately 1,200 men were sent south on December 2.

In Newark, an agricultural center of about 140 homes and 3,000 people on the west bank of the Passaic River, Washington was faced with a choice. He could follow the road northwest to Morristown and protect the army from further attack, but he would expose most of New Jersey to British occupation. In all likelihood, this would cause Philadelphia to be lost. Washington held a court martial to review his options and spoke with officers individually about the state of the army. After the setbacks of the late summer and fall, Washington was not surprised to find pessimism and despair, but he too found sources of optimism. Although Washington's army was depleted, many without clothing, weapons, or equipment had grown to nearly 5,400 by the time the isolated detachments were assembled. As his scouts watched the British in Hackensack, Washington hoped that his time in Newark would allow more militiamen from New Jersey to come to his aid. But he must have been bitterly disappointed. More irritating than the militia's failure, however, was Lee's continued reluctance to join Washington. Lee had already taken steps to try to create two independent armies. He maintained that if his force remained east of the Hudson River, he would provide security for New England. At the same time Lee proposed to William Heath to join him with 2,000 jerseys. Heath immediately rejected it. Lee finally agreed to cross the Hudson River on December 2. While this drama was unfolding, the British and Hessians reorganized at Hackensack and General Howe met with Cornwallis to discuss next moves. Howe's original intention was to stop at Hackensack, but the apparent disintegration of Washington's army, coupled with the largesse of the New Jersey countryside, suggested that further advances might be useful.

On November 28, after spending five days resting in Newark, Washington ordered the sick and wounded transferred to Morristown, and the main army was ordered to march some 25 miles to New Brunswick, reaching the village at noon on November 29. november. In addition to the news that Cornwallis was on the move, Washington had begun to receive worrying information that the British were collecting boxcars on Staten Island to move to Perth Amboy, New Jersey. This was the move Washington feared, which would expose his army to grave danger. The British advanced against New Brunswick in two columns. Colonel von Donop commanded the right column, made up of Hessian grenadiers and jägers, British infantry. Cornwallis led the left column, made up of British units and baggage. The British vanguard entered Newark as the American rear guard was withdrawing from the city. The Americans withdrew from Newark in two columns. One retreated through Elizabethtown and Woodbridge while the other marched through Springfield and Quibbletown. Cornwallis pressed Washington's forces relentlessly. Washington's rearguard prevented the British from advancing too quickly, felling trees and engaging in brief ambushes on their pursuers. The Americans were experienced in simulating defending a given position, causing the British to call off their advance and deploy their forces, including artillery. Having bought valuable time, the Americans disappeared, withdrawing to another defensive position and repeating the strategy. New Brunswick was strategically situated along the best highway between Philadelphia and New York and included a supply depot where Washington expected the New Jersey militia to assemble. American forces arrived in New Brunswick at noon on November 29.

When he arrived in New Brunswick, Washington was still desperate for the whereabouts of Lee's Brigade. Lee sent a letter with the reasons why he couldn't go to his aid. When he arrived in New Brunswick, Washington was still desperate for the whereabouts of Lee's Brigade. Lee sent a letter with the reasons why he couldn't go to his aid. Later in the day, he sent a Battalion commanded by Major Maitland to join them at the Connecticut farms and together they reconnoitred the right flank of Cornwallis's column. Finding no sign of Lee's troops, Maitland rejoined the main force as it approached New Brunswick on December 1. While in New Brunswick, the US Army dwindled, as enlistment for some units ended on December 1. 2,000 men were free to leave that day and another 1,000 were expected to leave the army on December 31. Washington was unable to convince these officers to stay. British patrols heading north to Howells Ferri, just 6 km away, were regularly attacked by local militia gangs. While the militia attacks produced benefits to the American cause by disrupting enemy communications and gaining useful intelligence, their random nature resulted in an extremely fluid situation that hampered Washington's attempts to confirm the exact location of enemy units in a timely manner. Given moment. In early December, the Continental Army crossed the Delaware River and destroyed or captured all shipping along a 75-mile stretch of the river to prevent the British from crossing. British leaders evidently thought the Continental Army was not a threat, and General Howe decided to move his men to winter quarters in Trenton, Pennington, and Bordentown, New Jersey, with a base of operations in Brunswick.

On December 14, the Hessians arrived in Trenton to establish their winter quarters. Colonel Carl von Donop, who despised Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall, was reluctant to hand over command of Trenton to him. Rall was known to be loud and did not know the English language, but he was also a 36-year-old soldier with a wealth of battle experience. His request for reinforcements had been refused by General James Grant, who disdained the Americans and considered them poor soldiers. Trenton lacked walls or fortifications, which was typical of American settlements. Some Hessian officers advised Rall to fortify the city, and two of his engineers advised that a redoubt be built at the upper end of the city, and that fortifications be built along the river. The engineers came up with plans, but Rall did not agree with them. When he was again urged to fortify the city, he replied: "Let them come... we will attack them with bayonets." Loyalists arrived in Trenton to report that the Americans were planning actions. American deserters told the Hessians that rations were being prepared to advance up the river. Rall publicly dismissed such talk as nonsense, but privately in letters to his superiors, he said that he was worried about an impending attack. He wrote to Donop that he was "liable to attack at any time." Rall said that Trenton was indefensible and called for British troops to garrison Maidenhead. Near Trenton, that would help defend the roads from the Americans. His request was denied. When the Americans disrupted the Hessian supply lines, the officers began to share Rall's fears. South of Trenton, James Ewing, with 600 militia, launched a series of hit-and-run attacks across the river on December 17 and 18, leaving Rail and the Hessians stunned.

On the night of December 21, Ewing's men crossed the Delaware and burned several houses on the dock and disappeared. Although the losses of men were light, these raids began to play on the nerves and confidence of the Hessians. Rumors of an impending American raid in force prompted Rall to organize an unsuccessful march along the Delaware to search for the raiders. Rail deployed his cannon in the center of the city, not knowing which direction an attack might come from, and required his men to sleep in their clothes so he could respond at any moment. Rall began sending increasingly desperate pleas for help to his superiors. Brigadier General Leslie at Princeton was sympathetic and responded on December 18 by sending a force of light infantry to Trenton. On December 22, Washington called a council of war at Sterling's headquarters to consider an attack on the enemy, before the next batch of enlistments expired on December 31. The day before, Washington agents had intercepted a letter from a Philadelphia merchant suggesting that the British were only waiting for the Delaware River to freeze over before marching on Philadelphia. Washington reconvened a smaller group and sure enough they worked out a plan to attack Trenton on December 26. That same day, a spy informed Grant that Washington had called a council of war, Grant told Rall to be on his guard. The force at Trenton was 1,356 of Rall's Brigade with the Knyphausen (429), Lossberg (345) and Rall (512) Regiments with a Jäger Company (50) and 1 Light Dragoon Company (20) of the 16th. Rall took all precautions you can. He established six outposts, on Maidenhead, Pennington and River roads, along the road to the Trenton Ferry, on the Assunpink Creek Bridge and on the Crosswicks Creek Drawbridge. The Crosswicks Creek detachment, located 6.5 km south of Trenton, made up of more than 100 men.

In case of attack, he was instructed to withdraw 3 km to Bordentown. Inside Trenton, the main picket of 73 men was stationed at the Fox Chase public house on the Maidenhead Road. Every night an entire Regiment was ordered to remain under arms and all outposts garrisoned. While plans were being formed for the attack on Trenton, Washington led an attack on the enemy around Mount Holly on December 23. By mid-December, Colonel Samuel Griffin had assembled a force of approximately 500 militia. On December 14, Griffin's men advanced from Haddonfield towards Mount Holly. The plan called for Colonel Cadwalader with 700 men to cross the Delaware from Bristol to Burlington early on December 23 to reinforce Griffin. Colonel Joseph Reed was coordinating the movements of the militia units and joined Griffin only to find him ill. Reed returned to Bristol and provided Washington with a summary of what he had seen. On Christmas Eve a patrol of over 100 men was sent up the Delaware River to Pennington and on Christmas Day the outposts were fortified. Two hours before dawn, a reinforced patrol with two guns was sent to the river. The attacks carried out by the militia resulted in the alarm of the entire garrison on December 22, 23 and 25. Despite the increased activity of the Americans, Rall again rejected Donop's advice to build redoubts on the high ground at the head of King and Queen Streets and at the Trenton Ferry. Frustrated, Major von Dechow and Lt. Col. Scheffer sent a joint letter to General Heister in New York, complaining of Rall's ineptitude. On Christmas Eve, Washington called another court-martial at Greene's headquarters at Merrick House in Buckingham to reveal the details of the attack, crossing the Delaware River at three points:

• 1,500 militia, under John Cadwalader and Colonel Joseph Reed, were ordered to cross the Delaware River at Bristol, 12 miles south of Trenton, and advance toward Burlington. Cadawalader was to be joined by Hitchcock's Brigade, made up of some 900 men in 2 Massachusetts Regiments and 2 Rhode Island Regiments, supported by a Rhode Island militia unit. Israel Putnam was also expected to show up with the militia units he had been organizing in Philadelphia to cross the river and act as a reserve.
• 600 Pennsylvania militiamen, under the James Ewing, were to cross the river at Trenton to secure the bridge over Assunpink Creek and prevent a possible Hessian retreat.
• The main force of about 5,000 troops, under Washington, would cross the Delaware River on the McKonkey ferry, about 15 km upriver. Once across, the force would split into two columns. A column, led by the John Sullivan, would take the river road to Trenton. The other column, under the Nathaliel Greene, would advance inland along the Pennington Road towards Trenton. Each column carried 9 cannons.

Before Washington and his troops left, Benjamin Rush came to cheer him on. While he was there, he saw a note that Washington had written that said, "Victory or death." Those words were the password for the surprise attack. Each soldier would carry 60 cartridges and three days of rations. The men from Washington would cross the river in a combination of the ferry and craft boats and the ships from Durham. Originally designed by Robert Durham around 1750, these ships were used to transport iron ore from Durham to the furnaces at Riegelsville in Philadelphia. Later they were used to carry other cargo and could accommodate 15-20 tons per boat. They measured up to 30 m long. They had a crew of 5, two on the sides and a helmsman in the rear. Each boat carried between 50 and 60 men. By the time the army reached the banks of the Delaware River, they were already behind schedule and it began to rain. As the temperature dropped, the rain changed to sleet and then to snow. The Americans began to cross the river with the soldiers crossing in boats from Durham, while the horses and artillery crossed by ferry. Adam Stephen's Brigade (549) with the 4th (229th), 5th (129th), and 6th (191st) Continental Regiments from Virginia, were the first to land and set up a landing head to ensure the landing of the following. Two small infantry detachments of about 40 men each were sent in front of the main columns. One of the groups was sent north to Trenton, and the other was sent to block the river highway, which ran along the Delaware River to Trenton. On December 26, terrible weather conditions delayed the landings until 3 a.m., the original plan was that they should have been completed by 12 p.m. Washington realized that it would be impossible to launch an attack before dawn.

Another setback occurred for the Americans, as Brigadier Generals Cadwalader and Ewing were unable to join the attack due to weather conditions. At 04:00 hours, the soldiers began to march towards Trenton. Along the way, several civilians joined as volunteers and led as guides due to their knowledge of the terrain. After marching 1.5 miles on winding roads, they reached the Bear Tavern, crossed Jacobs Creek, and stayed together until they reached Birmingham, where the columns parted at about 0630 hours. Close coordination of the attacks by the two columns was critical, and when notified that the men's flint and ammunition were wet and unusable, Washington replied simply, "go ahead and charge." Having a longer march, Greene's column was the first to leave, it had 2,690 troops and was led by Stephen's Brigade (549), followed by Mercer's Brigade (838), Fermoy's Brigade (628) and the Brigade from Sterling (673). Sullivan's column, 2,200 strong, was given a short break and then advanced led by Glober's Brigade (857), followed by Saint Clair's Brigade (505) and Sargent's Brigade. Soon after, they arrived at Benjamin Moore's home, where the family offered Washington food and drink. At this point, the first signs of daylight began to appear. Many of the troops did not have boots, so they were forced to wear rags around their feet. Some of the men's feet bled, leaving a dark red trail in the snow, clouding morale. As they marched, Washington moved up and down the line, encouraging the men to continue. Sullivan sent a courier to tell Washington that time had wet the powder on his men. Washington responded: “Tell General Sullivan to use the bayonet. I am determined to take Trenton.”

At approximately 0730 hours, as they approached Trenton, Greene's men were surprised by a force of approximately 40 American militia, led by Adam Stephen, unaware of the plan to attack Trenton, and had attacked a Hessian outpost. . Washington feared that the Hessians had been put on their guard and shouted to Stephen: “Sir! You, sir, may have ruined all my plans by putting them on their guard." At 08:00 hours, the advance party asked a man chopping wood where the Hessian sentries were, outside Trenton. He pointed to a nearby house. A 50-man outpost of Lieutenant Andreas Wiederhold saw the Americans emerge from the woods approximately half a mile from the north end of Trenton, on Pennington Road. The outpost waited until the Americans were within range, then made an ineffective barrage. The Americans fired three volleys and the Hessians returned one. Washington ordered Edward Hand's 1st Pennsylvania Continental Regiment and a German-speaking Brigade to block the road leading to Princeton. Wiederholdt soon realized that this was no simple raid. On the high ground at the north end of Trenton, they were joined by a company of the Hessian Regiment from Lossberg who faced the Americans, slowly falling back, keeping a steady fire, and using the houses for cover. Once in Trenton, they gained covering fire from other Hessian companies posted on the outskirts of the city. Another guard company near the Delaware River rushed east to their aid, leaving the river trail open at Trenton. Washington ordered the escape route to Princeton cut off, dispatching infantry in an orderly manner from the battle to block it, while artillery was stationed at King and Queen streets.

With the sound of the alarm, the 3 Regiments of the Hessians began to prepare for battle. The Rall Regiment (512) formed at the bottom of King Street along with the Lossberg Regiment (345), while the Knyphausen Regiment (429) formed at the lower end of Queen Street. Lieutenant Piel, a Rall aide, woke up his commander, who found that the rebels had taken the V-corner of the city's two main streets. That was the place where the engineers had recommended the construction of a redoubt. Rall ordered his Regiment to dig in at the lower end of King Street, the Lossberg Regiment to prepare for a drive up Queen Street and the Knyphausen Regiment to stand ready as a reserve to support the Rall Regiment on King Street. The Hessians were completely surprised and unprepared. They broke out quickly and formed up, but their attempts to attack north were hampered by fire flanking the column and artillery from western Washington. The Americans had stationed two cannons on a rise that protected the two main streets outside the city. The Hessians attempted to put 4 guns into action, but American fire kept them silent. Leading the southern column, General Sullivan entered Trenton via the abandoned river road and blocked the only crossing over Assunpink Creek to cut off the Hessians' escape. Sullivan briefly halted his advance to ensure that Greene's DI had time to press the Hessians to their northern outposts. Shortly after, they continued their advance, attacking the Hermitage, which was Philemon Dickinson's home, where 50 jägers were located under Lieutenant von Grothausen. Lieutenant von Grothausen called 12 of his jägers into combat against the vanguard, but they had only advanced a hundred meters when he saw a column of the Americans advancing on the Hermitage, trying to reach the Hessian barracks, joined by the rest. of the jägers.

After the exchange of fire, they turned and ran, some trying to swim across the creek, while others escaped along the bridge route, which had not yet been cut off. The 20 British light dragoons also fled. As Greene's and Sullivan's columns entered the city, Washington moved to high ground north of King and Queen streets to watch the battle and lead his troops. At this moment, American artillery positioned across the Delaware River came into action, devastating the Hessian positions. Knyphausen's Hessian Regiment (429) which was cut off from the other two regiments and driven back through the southern end of Trenton by Sullivan's Column. Many of the Hessians were able to escape south across Assumpink Creek, where Ewing's troops were supposed to be located. Rall's Hessian Regiment (512) and Lossberg Regiment (345) were expelled from the city and formed up in an apple orchard in the southeast corner of the city. Rall ordered a counterattack back into the city, trying to force a gap in the road to Princeton. A few seconds later, Rall was hit and mortally wounded while riding his horse and fell. The Hessians' guns had also gotten wet during the storm, and they had difficulty firing. As the Hessians returned to the streets of Trenton, American troops, joined by some civilians from the city, fired at them from buildings and from behind trees and fences, causing confusion. At the same time, the American guns broke any formation and the Hessian resistance faltered. They retreated back to the apple orchard and tried to escape across Assumpink Creek.

There, they found the bridge blocked and the fords upriver covered by the Americans. They were soon surrounded by the fast-moving Americans and left with no choice but to surrender. The remnants of the Knyphausen Regiment were heading for Bordentown, but slowed down as they tried to drag their cannon through the marshy ground. They soon found themselves surrounded by Sullivan's men and were also forced to surrender, numbering about 200. At 0930 hours the fighting finally stopped. The battle had been an overwhelming victory for Washington, lasting only 90 minutes. The Americans captured 1,000 muskets, several cannons and ammunition, and some much-needed supplies. Some 600 Hessians, most of whom had been stationed on the south side of the creek, managed to escape. But many were captured. This made Washington's plan to continue on to Princeton and Brunswick out of the question. With a large body of prisoners to evacuate, and British reinforcements near him, his own troops depleted, and no adequate supply from across the river, Washington had no choice but to withdraw. By noon, Washington's force had moved to recross the Delaware River back into Pennsylvania, taking their prisoners and captured supplies with them. This battle gave the Continental Congress new confidence because it showed that the American forces could defeat the regulars. He also increased re-enlistments in the Continental Army forces. The Americans had shown that they could stand up to a disciplined European army, and the fear that the Hessians had inspired earlier that year in New York was over. As Captain Johann Ewald of the Jägers, who was with von Donop on Mount Holly at the time of the attack, said of the Americans later: "Now we must give them the honor of fortifications." The Hessians had 22 killed, 83 seriously wounded and 896 captured including wounded, the Americans had 2 killed and 5 wounded.

The captured Hessians were sent to Philadelphia and later Lancaster. In 1777 they were moved to Virginia. Colonel Rall mortally wounded and died later that day at his headquarters. All four colonels of the Hessians in Trenton were killed in the battle. The Lossberg Regiment was effectively withdrawn from the British forces. Washington had changed course, pursuing British forces from the Delaware River and putting them on the defensive, if only for a few days. When the Continental Congress learned of Washington's victory at Trenton, they had renewed confidence in him and he tightened the enlistments and reenlistments for 1777. After the Hessians surrendered, Washington is reported to have shaken the hand of a young officer and said : "This is a glorious day for our country." On December 28, Washington interviewed Lieutenant Andreas Wiederhold, who detailed the failures of Rall's preparation. However, Washington soon learned that Cadwalader and Ewing had been unable to complete their crossing, leaving his 2,400 men isolated. Without his additional 2,600 men, Washington realized that he did not have the forces to attack Princeton and New Brunswick. This small but decisive battle had an effect out of proportion to its size. The patriot effort was galvanized, and the Americans reversed the psychological dominance achieved by British troops in the previous months. Howe was surprised that the Americans so easily surprised and overwhelmed the Hessian garrison.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

«Mis valientes, habéis hecho todo lo que os pedí que hicierais, y más de lo que razonablemente se podía esperar; pero vuestro país está en juego, vuestras esposas, vuestras casas y todo lo que apreciáis. Os habéis agotado con fatigas y dificultades, pero no sabemos cómo perdonarme. Si consentís en quedaros solo un mes más, prestaréis ese servicio a la causa de la libertad y a vuestro país que probablemente nunca podréis hacer bajo ninguna otra circunstancia».

«My brave ones, you have done everything I asked you to do, and more than could reasonably be expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and everything you hold dear. You have exhausted yourselves with fatigue and difficulties, but we do not know how to forgive me. If you consent to stay but one more month, you will render that service to the cause of liberty and to your country which you probably could never render under any other circumstances.».
— Attributed to George Washington on December 26, 1776.

​

Seeking to capitalize on his success at the First Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, George Washington planned to move his army to New Jersey, hoping to encourage militia recruitment and provide opportunities to harass overextended British supply lines. On December 30, Continental Army forces crossed the Delaware River again and assembled at Trenton. Washington appealed to the men who finished their contract on December 31, to stay another month for a $10 reward. He asked any man who wanted to volunteer to maintain his fires, but no one stepped forward. Washington then turned his horse around and rode in front of the troops, saying: “My brave men, you have done all that I asked you to do, and more than could reasonably be expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and everything you hold dear. You have exhausted yourselves with fatigue and difficulties, but we do not know how to forgive me. If you consent to stay but one more month, you will render that service to the cause of liberty and to your country which you probably can never do under any other circumstances." At first no one stepped forward, but then one soldier stepped forward, and was followed by most of the others, leaving only a few left in the original line. On January 1, 1777, money from the Continental Congress arrived in Trenton and the men were paid. Washington also received a series of congressional resolutions, including one that gave Washington powers similar to those of a military dictator. Washington decided that he would stand and fight at Trenton and ordered General John Cadwalader, who was at Crosswicks with 1,800 militiamen, to join him at Trenton. At the same time, the British commander of the American forces, William Howe, sent Cornwallis, who was about to return to Britain, canceled his leave, to New Jersey to stabilize the situation there after the earlier American incursion into Trenton.

By December 31, Cornwallis had 9,500 troops assembled at Princeton with 60 dragoons and 28 artillery pieces, he was about 11 miles (18 km) from Washington's position at Trenton. On 2 January, Cornwallis left the 4th Brigade along with 2 guns and light dragoons of the 16th under Lt. Col. Charles Mawhood, to remain in Princeton as a rear guard with the baggage train and march to Trenton the following day. Cornwallis's army set out for Trenton with 8,000 troops in 4 columns. When Cornwallis reached Maidenhead he left Colonel Alexander Leslie with the 2nd Brigade, some 1,500 men, and ordered them to stay until morning. Cornwallis continued the march in 3 columns. Realizing that the road to northern New Jersey was no longer open without a fight, Washington ordered a defensive line to be built along Assunpink Creek south of Trenton. Two days earlier he had sent a covering force of some 1,000 troops under the command of Matthias Alexis Roche de Fermoy to occupy a defensive line midway between Trenton and Princeton at Five Mile Creek, with the aim of warning and delaying the advance. British. When Cornwallis resumed his march from Maidenhead, he encountered the covering troops of the Continental Army almost immediately at around 10:00 AM. As the British closed in, Fermoy returned to Trenton drunk, and Colonel Edward Hand assumed command from him. When the British came within effective range, the American riflemen opened fire, forcing the entire vanguard to deploy. After Hand was forced to abandon position along Five Mile Creek, US troops took a delaying action taking advantage of curves, woods and any obstacles, forcing Donop's vanguard to deploy their forces again and again losing time.
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Hand again defended the line formed by the Shabakunk creek, behind which was a forest in whose trees sheltered from the view that the British, when crossing the bridge over the creek, were shot at point-blank range by the Americans. The intense fire confused the British who thought it was the main American army, they mounted an attack in force setting up the artillery and when they crossed the stream and reached the forest, Hand had already withdrawn to a new position, carrying out delaying actions between the positions. By 3:00 p.m., the British had reached a ravine known as Stockton Hollow, 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from Trenton, where Hand formed another line of defence. Washington wanted to hold off the British until nightfall, when darkness would prevent the British from attacking his defenses on the south side of Assunpink Creek. The British deployed and with artillery in position, attacked Hand's new line, which gave way, slowly falling back to Trenton. In the city, Hand had his troops shoot from behind houses. Washington ordered Hitchcock's Brigade to cover the withdrawal of Hand's men who were exhausted after a day of fighting. Hitchcock's Brigade advanced down Queen Street to Fourth Street, where Hand's men passed and retreated to the bridge. Seeing Hand's Brigade retreat towards the bridge, the British tried to cut off Hitchcock's retreat by sending the Hessian Linsingen and Block Regiments towards the bridge, while the Jägers pinned them head-on and the Light Brigade attacked them head-on. flank. The Americans withdrew in good order, but a bottleneck developed on the bridge. The Hessians taking advantage of the huddle, attacked with the fixed bayonet, causing chaos among the Americans. Washington, seeing the chaos, rode through the crowd of men crossing the bridge and shouted to Hitchcock's rear guard to fall back and regroup under the protection of the American artillery.

Hand's action had given Washington's troops along Assunpink Creek more time to improve their defensive works, especially their artillery positions. Washington's troops along the creek were defending all 4 possible crossing points. The main one was directly across from the city of Trenton at the bridge on Assunpink Creek. There Washington stationed most of his artillery. The largest concentration of infantry forces defended Philip's Mill Ford upstream of the bridge. The water here flowed quickly, but the ford was passable. Washington assigned most of his infantry to the defense of Mill Ford. A second ford, higher up, was closer to the British attackers, but the speed of the water flowing down the creek made it almost impassable, and Washington assigned only a token force to defend it. The last crossing point, downstream from the bridge, was easily fordable, but further away from British attack. By 5:00 p.m., the Hessian Grenadiers had reached the narrow stone bridge over Assunpink Creek and attempted to cross it. The bridge was defended by elements of the Continental Army's Virginia BRI, who had orders to target their opponents' legs, forcing the Hessians to help evacuate their wounded comrades or leave them for dead. As casualties mounted, the Hessians broke off their attack and British soldiers took their place. The British attacked across the bridge three times, each time met with withering fire from Virginians and canister fire from Continental Army artillery. One soldier said: "The bridge looked red as blood, with its dead and wounded in their red coats."
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With total darkness, both sides debated what to do the next day. Cornwallis held a council of war to determine if he should continue to attack. Quartermaster General William Erskine urged Cornwallis to attack immediately, saying: "If Washington is the general, as I suppose he is, his army will not be found there in the morning." But James Grant disagreed, arguing that there was no way for the Americans to withdraw, and that the British troops were exhausted, and that it would be better for them to attack in the morning after they had rested. Cornwallis did not want to wait until morning, but decided it would be better to send his troops to attack in the dark. Cornwallis said: "We've got the old fox safe for now, tomorrow we're going to go hunt him." Cornwallis then moved his army to a hill north of Trenton for the night. On their march to the bridge, the British had seen the fords over Assunpink Creek. Cornwallis decided to attack the fords on the first pass, driving Washington's army back on himself and pushing it into the Delaware River on Washington's left. During the night, the American artillery, under the command of Henry Knox, occasionally fired shells at Trenton to keep the British on edge. Like Cornwallis, Washington also called a court martial. He would take the road that led to Princeton, and his court-martial agreed to make an attempt on the British garrison there. At 2 a.m. on January 3, the army was on its way to Princeton. Washington had left behind 500 men and 2 cannons to keep the fire going and make noise with picks and shovels so the British would think they were digging. In the morning, those men also left, and when the British attacked in the morning of the next day, all the American troops had left.
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When Cornwallis's scouts crossed the fords the next morning, they found only deserted camps. Shortly after, Cornwallis heard cannon fire in the distance behind him and to the left of him. The Battle of Princeton had begun, and Cornwallis was 11 miles from where he should be. Casualty estimates differ widely. Howard Peckham records the January 2 bouts as two separate matches, which he classifies as "skirmishes." In the first, on the Five Mile creek, it does not give American losses. In the second, in Stockton Hollow, he gives 6 dead, 10 wounded, and 1 missing. William S. Stryker, on the other hand, gives the entire American losses on January 2 as 1 killed and 6 wounded, while David Hackett Fischer says they had 100 killed and wounded. Peckham gives the British losses at Five Mile Creek as 1 Hessian killed and those at Stockton Hollow as at least 10 killed, 20 wounded and 25 captured. Edward J. Lowell gives the Hessian losses on January 2 as 4 killed and 11 wounded. David Hackett Fischer gives the British casualties as 365 killed, wounded, or captured. At 02:00 on January 3, the entire army was on the move roughly along the Quaker Bridge road. The men were ordered to march in absolute silence. Along the way, word spread that they were surrounded, and some frightened militiamen fled to Philadelphia. The going was difficult, as part of the route was through thick woods and was icy, causing horses to slip and men to break ice on ponds. At dawn the army approached a stream called Stony. The path the army took followed Stony Creek for a further 1 mile until it crossed the Post Road from Trenton to Princeton. To the right of the road, however, was an unused path that crossed Thomas Clark's farmland. The path was not visible from the road, and led through the cleared land to a stretch from which the town could be entered at any point because the British had left it defenseless.
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Shortly before 0800 hours, Washington turned the rest of the army to the right down the unused road. Cornwallis had sent orders to Mawhood for the 17th and 55th Regiments to join his army in the morning. Mawhood had moved from Princeton to carry out these orders when his troops climbed the hill south of Stony Creek and sighted the main American army. Unable to determine the size of the US Army due to the wooded hills, he sent a horseman to warn the 40th that he had left Princeton, then turned the 17th and 55th and returned to Princeton. That day, Mawhood had suspended the patrol that was to reconnoiter the area from which Washington was approaching. Mercer received word that Mawhood was leading his troops back across the bridge and back to Princeton. Mercer, on Washington's orders, moved his column to the right to hit the British before they could engage Washington's main army. Mercer moved towards Mawhood's rear, but when he realized that he wouldn't be able to cut him down in time, he decided to join Sullivan. When Mawhood learned that Mercer was bringing up the rear of him and moving to join Sullivan; Mawhood detached part of the 55th to join the 40th in the city and then moved the rest of the 17th, 50th and 55th, the light dragoons and two artillery pieces to attack Mercer with about 1,200 troops. Seeing the independence forces, Mawhood formed his men across the edge of an orchard through which Mercer's troops were passing. A violent firefight ensued, and Mawhood launched an assault that largely cleared the orchard of Mercer's troops, who began to withdraw in the confusion. General Mercer was wounded but refused to surrender. When he tried to attack the enemy with his sword, he was bayoneted until he was presumed dead; he died nine days later.
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Colonel John Haslet of Delaware replaced General Mercer and was killed by a shot to the head. During this confusion, General George Washington rode until he met up with Mercer's men, while a brigade of 2,100 troops under General John Cadwalader arrived with a battery of artillery. Washington then rode straight into British fire, personally leading the attack. As Washington mounted a charge toward the British lines, he was heard shouting: "Parade with me my brave fellows, we will have them soon!" Thanks to these reinforcements, and Washington's successful meeting with Mercer's men, the larger American force was able, by sheer pressure of numbers, to retake most of the orchard, until Mawhood's gunfire stopped. the American advance. A second British assault cleared the orchard, and it looked like the day would be won until Sullivan led another 1,300 troops. Now outnumbered, nearly 6 to 1, Mawhood led a final charge to break through the American lines. A number of British soldiers broke through the Americans in a desperate bayonet charge, continuing south of the road to Trenton. Washington led some of his force in pursuit of Mawhood, but they abandoned this and turned back when some of Leslie's troops came into view. The rest of the British fell back into Princeton, who, along with the men there, held their own against Sullivan's forces for some time, before withdrawing to New Brunswick. They left a number of troops behind at Princeton. Facing overwhelming numbers and artillery fire, they surrendered. The British death list stated that there were 86 killed and wounded and 200 captured. The Americans suffered around 40 killed and wounded. In Trenton, Cornwallis and his men were awakened by the sounds of cannon fire coming from behind his position.
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Cornwallis and his army began traveling to Princeton. However, Washington's later guard had destroyed the bridge over the Stony Brook, and the American Rangers further delayed Cornwallis's Army. The exhausted US Army drifted away, marching to the Somerset County Courthouse, where they spent the night. When the main British force finally reached Princeton late in the day, they did not remain there but continued rapidly toward New Brunswick, New Jersey. After that, Washington marched to Pluckemin on January 5 and arrived at Morristown at sunset the next day for winter encampment. After the battle, Cornwallis abandoned many of his posts in New Jersey and ordered his army to withdraw to New Brunswick.
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