Where Kings and Empires Reign! A Reboot TL

herricks

So Damned Close

22 April 1746

We were so damn close! Thought Prince William. The Jacobite's, had swarmed across the Scottish-English border in November of 1745 moving rapidly south before the stunned British had time to efficiently react. In a shocking turn of events the Young Pretender’s Jacobite army had not only defeated the army of Field Marshall George Wade, but also had succeeded in encircling and capturing over a third of his army at Newcastle. That stunning victory had not only knocked out the main British force between the Jacobite’s and London but also finally gave them the support they had hoped for from the English Jacobite’s that, for the most part, had been on the fence since the beginning of the Rising.

That was six months ago. Now instead of fighting in Scotland and northern England here he was, north of the city of Birmingham, heading west with what remained of his army protecting him and his family. The Prince of Wales and his family had arrived a month ago after 14,000 French forces had landed in Brighton on March 24,1746 after the stunning and surprising victory by the French Navy over the Royal Navy in the Battle of Cotentin giving France temporary control over the English Channel.


Damn the French! Despite the setbacks, Prince William had stopped the Jacobite Army’s offensive at Nottingham in late February. With France landing on the southern coast however, there was not enough soldiers on the Isles to put up significant enough resistance against two invading armies. That was the nail in the coffin that was Great Britain.

As the Prince was lost in thought his elder brother and heir Prince Frederick came running shouting, “It’s Fallen! It’s fallen! Windsor Castle has fallen! Our father the King has surrendered!” It was now that the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cumberland knew that Britain was lost. If there was any chance of saving what remained of Royal Family from capture or worse and eventually liberate Britain for the House of Hanover they knew that they had to flee and regroup.

But where? The obvious was to Hanover itself. However, with the channel currently in French hands and Prussia threatening to invade the Electorate that left but one place still in British hands. “Colonel Talbutt!” the Prince of Wales called. “Let us move to Liverpool at once. Send word to any vessels still loyal to us to bring transport. We are to go to America!”

When London finally fell on April 27 Prince Charles Stuart knew the war was won and his father, the rightful king, James Stuart would have his country back and the House of Hanover was no more. Within days though the Charles and the Jacobite's learned of Prince of Wales and Duke of Cumberland’s escape and their flight to the Americas. Though French warships, and now most British warships, having pledged loyalty to the Stuart’s after the fall of England, pursued the fleet carrying the Royals, they were unable to capture them and on June 10 the HMS Lion entered Boston harbor with the king.

In the coming months, the British Isles would begin the process of reverting back to its Stuart laws and ways. The Acts of Union were dissolved, and the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland were reborn, under the same monarch of course. Charles’ father would return to London in July 1746 and be crowned King James III of England and Ireland and King James VIII of Scotland. Upon ascending the throne James called for an official end to the war between England and France and their allies. Soon after an official treaty of peace was signed James III and France’s King Louis XV signed the Treaty of Hastings placing an alliance between the two nations with the goal of defeating the last Hanover stronghold in the Thirteen Colonies. The two new allies soon began preparing their armies to sail to the Americas and put a final end to the Rising.
 

AlltheTropesMan

A full Jacobite timeline? I want to see more, especially if you plan on going into how Parliament and the Protestant colonies adjust to the more European ruling style of the restored Stuarts.
 

herricks

The Rising Crosses the Pond



When the Prince of Wales, now acting as regent, and the Duke of Cumberland arrived in Boston the atmosphere was uneasy as the colonies were about evenly split between those loyal to the House of Hanover, those loyal to the House of Stuart, and those didn’t care either way. Knowing that the Jacobites and most likely French too would soon attempt to take control of the American colonies the two brothers moved quick to try and secure their hold on as much of the colonies as they could before major fighting would start. A call for the reaffirmation of loyalty was sent to the governors as well as all to arms to defend against and defeat the Jacobite forces and their allies.



Initially the Regent had hoped that most of the British forces in North America would side with him and his house. However, by September only about 1200 regular troops had opted to join while the rest about evenly split between forming up Stuartist units and just going home. Aside from them though, roughly 8000 volunteers had come forth with many more militia units appearing throughout the Thirteen Colonies. As for the colonial governors Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Georgia declared support for the House of Hanover. For the 5 colonies the declared to support the new government in London Rhode Island and Delaware swiftly changed sides when militia units from Connecticut and Maryland swiftly captured the governors and new friendly governments were emplaced. New Hampshire, North Carolina, and South Carolina however opted to fight though in varying degrees of intensity.



On October 17 the Duke of Cumberland moved into New Hampshire with 3200 soldiers to swiftly bring that colony into the fold and give some of his green troops some experience in the field. The New Hampshire Campaign lasted only two weeks before the governor surrendered following his militia forces disastrous defeat at the Battle of Exeter on November 2. With the northern half of the country in control three quarters of the forces here began preparing for a Stuartist &/or French invasion while the remainder headed south to assist in the retaking of the Carolinas.



The Carolina Campaigns were a different animal for the Hanoverian forces. In North Carolina over a dozen engagements occurred in less than two months before Governor Gabriel Johnston finally surrendered after being surrounded at Brunswick Town. General James Oglethorpe had intended a lightning campaign to capture Charles Town and secure South Carolina. With 1400 men gathered in Savannah Oglethorpe had been ready to move when Spanish forces launched a second invasion of Georgia in support of the Stuartist faction. Though the Georgians would defeat the Spanish on October 27 at King George Fort the delay in taking Charles Town was too long. As of November 5 when they arrived, Charles Town and the surrounding areas were now occupied by 5000 Stuartist and 1000 French troops fresh from Europe.
 

herricks

War to Secure a Continent



France’s General Louis Du Pont Duchambon had been given charge of the Franco-Stuart forces in Charles Town with the task of gathering support from and securing the southern colonies from Hanoverian forces for the House of Stuart. While Duchambon did this a second force of 17,000 Stuartist and 5000 French troops under Lord George Murray had the task of not only securing the northern colonies but also capturing the renegade Hanoverian brothers and ending their claim to the English throne for good.



Not wanting to let the Hanoverians have the winter to grow in strength Murray would move out to expand his hold and challenge the enemy. Moving quickly into Connecticut pushing towards Boston. The Duke of Cumberland wanted to wait until Murray got close and with his supply lines stretched and his position weaker. His brother however would have none of it and acting as Regent, Frederick ordered an immediate assault. Reluctantly Prince William set out with his 12,000 troops to try and stop the advance and on December 12 the two met near Hartford.



Though the two sides were roughly similar in strength, nearly ¾’s of the Duke’s army was fresh recruits with little in the way of training. This would prove disastrous for the Hanoverian’s and after only 5 hours the Battle of Hartford ended with over 1/3 of the Hanoverian troops either dead, wounded, or captured and the rest withdrawing back to Boston. Cumberland’s engagement did have some successes however as it forced Murray to not continue his offensive and wait the remainder of the winter. Destroying the House of Hanover would have to wait until 1747.



The Franco-Stuartist campaign in the south began in early December when General Duchambon moved out of Charles Town to first secure Georgia, and then the entire south. Hanoverian General Oglethorpe knew not to challenge Duchambon in a head-to-head battle right with an army 3 times the size of his. Instead, Oglethorpe had dozens of small units spread out across the countryside to conduct hit and run raids against patrols and supply lines to whittle down the Franco-Stuartist strength and morale. This severely slowed Duchambon’s advance. So much so that it was a new year before he finally began nearing Savannah and with a substantially smaller force with having many lost from the attrition raids and patrolling to try and keep his supply lines somewhat free. Now Oglethorpe believed that he had an opportunity to take on Duchambon.



On January 7, 1747 the Battle of the Okatee began as General Oglethorpe finally met Duchambon in open battle for the first time. The engagement would last 4 hours before Oglethorpe finally withdrew his forces. While technically a defeat the Hanoverians had inflicted nearly 4 times the number of casualties on Duchambons army. Instead of withdrawing back to Savannah Oglethorpe simply moved a few miles east before moving to attack again instigating the Battle of Bluffton just two days later. Again, they were defeated and in doing so again inflicted severe casualties on Duchambon. Moving around Oglethorpe attacked a third time on January 15 at the Battle of May River. This time however the two sides were nearly evenly matched with Oglethorpe commanding 2400, with 800 men from North Carolina arriving the day before, to Duchambon’s 2750. For 9 hours the two sides clashed multiple times before Duchambon was finally forced to retreat back towards Charles Town. They however wouldn’t make it. Ten days after May River Duchambon’s retreat was blocked at Yemasee. After three days of unsuccessful attempts to break through Duchambon had had enough and on January 29, 1747 all Franco-Stuart forces in the Southern Theater were surrendered.



The loss of the Southern Theater was a blow to Franco-Stuart plans in the Northern Theater. General Murray knew that it was only a matter of time before forces loyal to the House of Hanover gathered from across the colonies and they were overwhelmed. This forced Murray to launched his campaign earlier than planned. On March 1 Murray’s spring offensive began as he led 13,000 troops east from Hartford planning to attack Boston from the south. Regent Frederick learned the hard way that you can’t rush untrained men into battle after the disaster that was Hartford last year and this time allowed his brother full control of the war effort. Seeing the success General Oglethorpe had had in the south with this tactic Prince William had small units begin raiding almost immediately all across Connecticut. While this had some successes in slowing Murray here however it wasn’t as successful as supply ships crossed Long Island Sound regularly making completely cutting them off impossible.



The Duke of Cumberland had used the two months without fighting to vigorously train and grow his force and by the start of the new offensive they were an entirely new army. Believing they were as ready as they could be William finally set off with 10,000 men to confront Murray and put his men’s months of training to the test. That test came on March 17 near the tiny Rhode Island town of Warwick. The Battle of Warwick would be fought intensely for nearly two days as the opposing forces attempted to crush the other. In the end though both sides were exhausted and the engagement ended in a draw with both sides withdrawing.



Now though instead of waiting until his men fully recuperated the Duke risked leaving Boston temporarily unguarded bringing the 5000 troops left to guard it forward and quickly moving into Connecticut. This forced Murray to attempt and move quickly with his exhausted and bloodied army to keep from getting cut off and surrounded. Though he wouldn’t get cut off he would suffer a humiliating defeat for the first time on March 30 at the Battle of Norwich which also put the Duke of Cumberland in between Murray and possible evacuation by sea forcing him to march by land back towards New York. For the next two weeks Murray’s army was harassed as it moved west. Prince William knew that if the General were to successfully get his army back into New York, then they could hold off indefinitely and knew that he had to do something.



Fortunately, that something occurred as General Sir William Pepperrell had finally agreed to a side and moved his 2000 troops through Massachusetts and into southeastern New York. He was in a position to cut off General Murray and on April 13 Pepperrell and the Duke managed to encircle Murray at Danbury besieging it. The Siege of Danbury would last only eight days before Murray would surrender his forces effectively ending major combat operations in North America.



When word arrived of both his armies defeat King James was furious. He immediately called for a new larger force to be called up and sent to pacify the Americas. The rest of the world however had other plans. Though it had grew greatly the Jacobite Rising was but a small part of the much larger War of the Austrian Succession. Seven years of constant warfare had exhausted the nations of Europe especially France. King Louis XV informed King James that orders had been sent to remove all French land and naval forces from North America and that any future actions taken by him would be taken alone. On May 8 James and ordered his forces to return home as well. By mid-May a ceasefire had been agreed on and talks to officially end the War of the Austrian succession.
 

jkarr

Why would the stuarts disband the act of union? James the I was a big proponent of it as were his true succesors, unlike the bastard king here.
 

herricks

Peace or a Short Pause?



The War of the Austrian Succession came to an end on September 21,1747 with the signing of the Treaty of Cologne ending seven years of horrendous warfare. The terms of the treaty were,



All signatories accept the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713;

Austria recognizes the Prussian acquisition of Silesia

Austria cedes the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla to Philip of Spain, eldest son of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese;

Austria cedes minor territories in Italy to Sardinia, including Vigevano;

Austria withdraws from the Duchy of Modena and Republic of Genoa, which regain their independence;

France withdraws from the Austrian Netherlands except for Mons,Charleroi, and Luxembourg and returns the Dutch Barrier Forts, Maastricht and Bergen op Zoom;

Stuartist Britain cedes Newfoundland to France and British Honduras to Spain;

Spain renews the Asiento de Negros (a monopoly contract to supply slaves to Spanish America) which was granted to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; Britain subsequently renounced this under the 1750 Treaty of Madrid, in return for £100,000;

France and Spain form an alliance with Stuartist Britain.





The Treaty of Cologne left lots of issues unresolved issues most notably the occupation of the Thirteen Colonies by the House of Hanover which was now not recognized as the legitimate government of any place except for the Electorate of Hanover. With everyone exhausted from war however, nobody had the appetite to make another attempt to drive the Hanoverians from the colonies. George II had been released from detainment in July 1747 and returned to rule Hanover. The King however was an empty shell of the man that he had been before the Rising. On December 29,1747 he would suffer a stroke and would die 5 days later on January 5,1748.



When word arrived in Boston of the death of King George II the now King Frederick was struck with the dilemma of whether or not he and the Royal Family should return to Hanover or rule from here. Finally, it was decided that temporarily at least the king and his family would remain in the Americas and rebuild their military force to protect against attacks from France, Spain, or Stuartist Britain and hopefully soon, to retake the British Isles. From the new temporary capital Philadelphia King Frederick ordered the creation of a military strong enough to hopefully retake England for the Hanoverians.
 

herricks

world post War of the Austrian Succession


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herricks

Building back up



As the Duke of Cumberland set about creating a new stronger army the King and the Royal Family settled into Philadelphia. While a palace was issued to be constructed for now, they would reside in the governor’s residence. For the first year after the end of the fighting life went along somewhat like it had been before the war. There was still immigration coming in albeit at a much slower pace than before the war. Miraculously three British warships would defect in the summer of 1748 and would become part of the new fleet being constructed. Though this was still but a drop in the bucket to what the Stuartist Fleet consisted of, it was a start in the right direction and showed that not everyone in England was happy with the new leadership.



With a population difference of nearly 10-1 the Hanoverian faction couldn’t hope to overwhelm the Stuarts so they would just have to outfight them. In the colonies a force of 60,000 was called to be raised and trained to protect them from attack from France, Spain, or Stuartist Britain and protect and secure the frontier from hostile Indian tribes. Across the Atlantic in Hanover a similar sized force was created to defend the Electorate which would surely come under attack in the event of a new conflict.



As the 1740’s gave way to 1750 the Thirteen Colonies were steadily changing from a far-flung colony to a nation in its own right. While there was trade with the European powers and their colonies it was nothing with what it had been before the war with their government now mostly not being recognized as anything more than a rebellious territory. That would soon change however. In the spring of 1752, the Treaty of Paris was signed between the nations of France, Spain, Stuartist Britain, and Austria forming the Quadruple Alliance promising to come to the others aid in the event of a war. This new powerful alliance struck fear in many in Europe and in August 1752 an envoy from the Dutch Republic entered Philadelphia. Soon after recognized the House of Hanover as the legitimate ruler of the British Empire and formed an alliance between the Thirteen Colonies, Hanover, and the Dutch Republic promising to come to one another’s aid and the Dutch agreed to assist in the Hanoverians financial issues in exchange for the British colonies in Indonesia once London was back in Fredericks hands.



The Dutch were the first however they wouldn’t be the last and in October 1752 a former enemy would turn friend when Prussia entered the alliance. In January 1753 the Republic of Venice entered an alliance with Prussia in exchange for Austrian territory in northern Europe. A month later Bavaria also aligned with Prussia in exchange for territorial gains. the Hanoverian side wasn’t the only ones acquiring new allies. As the Prussia-Hanoverian Alliance grew the Quadruple Alliance looked to bring more into the fold. In June 1753 Spain secured an alliance with Naples and a month later France did as well with Sardinia. In 1754 Saxony aligned itself with Austria to stem the growing Prussian power.



Slowly new battle lines were being drawn across the globe as these new alliances grew. However, there was one behemoth of a nation that hadn’t chosen a side yet, the mighty Russian bear. Both sides had been courting Saint Petersburg for some time trying to get the Empress to choose their faction. In the end though one side prevailed when it agreed to let Russia annex a large chunk of eastern Poland and, in the event of Sweden siding with the enemy, a free hand in Finland the Russian Empire would officially join the Prussia-Hanoverian Alliance on July 8,1755 forming the Grand Alliance.
 

herricks

Shots Fired



War clouds were beginning to form on the horizon once more as opposing alliances were born. Out of their ports in America the Hanoverian faction had been rapidly building a new navy to compete with the Stuartist fleet. Roughly a third of these new warships along with the factions’ most experienced crews were stationed out of Hanover to protect the electorate and threaten England. Large armies were being raised in both areas and in America they were already being deployed.



Even before the War of the Austrian Succession a trickle of settlers had slowly been moving into the untamed frontier between the Thirteen Colonies and the Mississippi River. Since the end of the war however that trickle had became a steady stream. The Hanoverians weren’t the only ones either. Though not in as great a numbers France and Spain had been moving into the territory as well albeit in a smaller capacity. An area that was becoming a particular issue was the Ohio country as it was claimed by both Hanoverian Britain and France, and neither were keen on sharing. Already some hostilities had occurred between the opposing nations fur traders and settlers and in 1755 both nations began constructing fortifications in the contested area.



As tensions began heating up more in the Americas the rest of the world continued. In December 1755 a marriage was announced between King Frederick of Hanoverian Britain’s heir George and King Frederick II of Prussia’s niece Princess Sophie Caroline. For the marriage George travelled to Europe in the spring of 1756 with his uncle the Duke of Cumberland in tow. The marriage would occur on April 4,1756 in the city of Hanover further strengthening the alliance between Hanoverian Britain and Prussia as well as gaining a new ally in Brunswick. While there was joy over the new marriage the looming war was still on everyone’s mind especially when news of France securing an alliance with Sweden came out less than 2 months later.



For nearly two years French and Hanoverian forces were in a tense standoff in the Ohio Country. That would change however on May 7, 1757 when, under orders from Virginia’s governor John Campbell, Lieutenant Colonel George Washington had moved to force a French army unit encamped near British settlements. France’s commander however refused, and the standoff quickly became an engagement. The Battle of Pickawillany was the first engagement in a new colonial war in the Americas. Outnumbering the French 3-1 Colonel Washington won the battle capturing the French.



Following the battle, Washington pulled back several miles and established Fort Necessity, which the French attacked at the Battle of Fort Necessity on July 3. Washington surrendered and negotiated a withdrawal under arms. One of his men reported that the French force was accompanied by Shawnee, Delaware, and Mingo warriors.



News of the two battles quickly reached Philadelphia and Paris by August. At behest of King Frederick Hanoverian Britain would attempt to open negotiations with Paris however, this had given the French the casus belli to finally eliminate the potential Hanoverian threat and gain hegemony over northern North America. With France’s unwillingness to negotiate and knowing French troops would most likely soon be sent to the Americas the Philadelphia government dispatched an expedition to dislodge the French. To lead the expedition, they chose Major General Edward Braddock, who had remained loyal after the Rising.



Braddock led about 1,500 army troops and provincial militia on the Braddock expedition in September 1757 to take the Ohio Country, with George Washington as one of his aides. The expedition was a disaster. It was attacked by French regulars, Canadian Militiamen, and Indian warriors ambushing them from hiding places up in trees and behind logs, and Braddock called for a retreat. He was killed and approximately 1,000 British soldiers were killed or injured. The remaining 500 troops retreated to Virginia, led by Washington.



Though both sides were intertwined in a string of alliances, the outbreak of war in the Americas didn’t automatically mean war breaking out in Europe though most knew it was imminent. As Austria and France made open preparations for renewed war, Frederick became convinced that Prussia would be attacked in 1758. Rather than wait for his enemies to move at a time of their choosing, he resolved instead to act preemptively, beginning with an attack against the neighboring Electorate of Saxony, which he correctly believed was a secret party to the coalition against him. Frederick's broad strategy had three parts. First, he meant to occupy Saxony, gaining strategic depth and using the Saxon army and treasury to bolster the Prussian war effort. Second, he would advance from Saxony into Bohemia, where he might set up winter quarters and supply his army at Austria's expense. Third, he would invade Moravia from Silesia, seize the fortress at Olmütz, and advance on Vienna to force an end to the war.



To begin, Frederick divided Prussia's armies in three. He placed a force of 20,000 under Field Marshal Hans von Lehwaldt in Brandenburg to guard against any French or Swedish invasion from the north or west, with a reserve of 8,000 standing in Pomerania. He also stationed Field Marshal Count Kurt von Schwerin in Silesia with 25,000 men to deter incursions from Moravia and Hungary. Finally, on March 1,1758 he personally led the main Prussian army of around 60,000 into Saxony, beginning the Third Silesian War.
 

herricks

European Theaters



Prussian troops crossed the Saxon frontier on March 21,1758. The Prussian army marched in three columns: on the right were about 15,000 men under the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick; on the left were 18,000 men under the command of the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern; in the center was Frederick himself, with Field Marshal James Keith commanding a corps of 30,000 troops. Prince Ferdinand was to advance on the town of Chemnitz and proceed to Leipzig, while Bevern was to traverse Lusatia to seize Bautzen. Meanwhile, Frederick and Keith would advance through Torgau to attack the Saxon capital at Dresden. Saxony and Austria were unprepared for Frederick's preemptive strike, and their forces were scattered; as Prussians streamed into the Electorate, the main Saxon army fortified itself at Pirna, and the Prussians occupied Dresden on April 7 against little resistance.



Frederick and the main Prussian army pressed on into northern Bohemia, looking to engage the Austrians under General Maximilian Ulysses Browne before they could join forces with the Saxons. Browne took up a defensible position by the village of Žatec, where the two forces fought the Battle of Žatec on June 3. The engagement ended inconclusively, with the Austrians inflicting significant losses on the Prussians and then retreating in good order; Frederick thus prevented Browne from reinforcing the isolated Saxons, but Browne stopped Frederick's advance into Bohemia. Turning back to the north, the Prussians fully occupied Saxony, even taking Prince-Elector Frederick Augustus II of Saxony prisoner, although he was allowed to withdraw to his other realms on June 18. The Saxon army was briefly besieged at Pirna and surrendered on June 14, after which its men were forcibly incorporated into the Prussian army under Prussian officers. Saxony's treasury was emptied, and its currency debased to help fund the Prussian war effort.



Prussia’s sudden invasion of Saxony and Bohemia came as a surprise for not only the Quadruple Alliance but also the members of Prussia’s Grand Alliance. Despite the surprise however within a week the rest of the Quadruple Alliance and their other allies declared war on Prussia which in turn had the Grand Alliance and its members other allies declare war in return.



Looking to knock the Dutch out of the war quickly a Franco-Hapsburg army of 60,000 under command of French Field Marshall Louis Charles César Le Tellier moved to invade the Dutch Republic quickly and knock them out of the war. On April 10 Tellier crossed into the Netherlands moving towards the Hague. Commander of the Dutch forces Field Marshall Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg with 30,000 Dutch and recently arrived 12,000 Hanoverian forces moved to halt the invading forces meeting and engaging them near Gorkum on April 20. Using the Waal River as a barrier Marshall Ernest and his army battled Tellier for two days before finally having to withdraw north. Though victorious the Battle of Gorkum caused the French and Hapsburgs 17,000 casualties and would delay their advance for nearly a month.



By the time Tellier was ready to move again Ernest not only fortified the route to the Hague but now had 25,000 reinforcements with the arrival of the Duke of Cumberland from Hanover. Now they were ready to try and force the enemy from the Netherlands and take the war to them. The chance to try and defeat Tellier would come on May 11 when Cumberland and Ernest attacked near the town of Lexmond. The Battle of Lexmond involved over 120,000 troops from four nations. For fourteen hours the battle raged before Cumberland’s force managed to break through the eastern flank sweeping up over 10,000 prisoners and breaking the enemy line. This spelled the end for Tellier’s offensive into the Netherlands and over the next two weeks he withdrew out of the Dutch Republic and back to Brussels.



The Electorate of Bavaria would attempt to take advantage of the fighting in Saxony and Bohemia and on May 21 invaded Austria with 18,000 men led by Elector Maximilian III Joseph. For the first week of the offensive the Bavarians met little to no resistance. That changed however on May 30 when Austrian General Franz Moritz von Lacy and 20,000 soldiers engaged Maximilian in the Battle of Linz defeating him and forcing the Elector to withdraw back into Bavaria.



While most troops were heading to Brandenburg to bolster the Prussian forces Russia also looked to invade Sweden. On April 29 30,000 Russian troops under General Vasily Lopukhin invaded Finland and began marching on Helsinki. Sweden had only 17,000 troops commanded by General Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten in all of Finland thus allowing Russia to easily defeat him in the Battle of Hamina on May 10 and the Swedes retreating to Helsinki. Lopukhin moved rapidly in pursuit looking to end the war rapidly in southern Finland then move to knock out Sweden entirely. As he moved on Helsinki however the Swedish Navy scored a surprising and stunning victory over their Russian counterparts on May 18 at the Battle of Porkkalanniemi giving the Swedes temporary control over the Gulf of Finland and allowing them to offload reinforcements and keep Helsinki under the protection of their naval guns. This turn of event caused Lopukhin to halt his offensive and by the end of May he was back in southeastern Finland building up fortifications.



Finland wasn’t Sweden’s only front it was fighting on. In Pomerania 25,000 Swedish troops looked to march on Berlin however the quick defeats of Austria and Saxony caused Marshall Mattias Alexander von Ungern-Sternberg to remain on the defensive. Though outnumbered, General Carl Heinrich von Wedel decided to attack the Swedes and on April 26 attacked with 15,000 men at the Battle of Tornow defeating the surprised Swedes and moving on Stralsund. Two weeks later he was defeated however at the Battle of Demmin and withdrew back into Prussian territory.



In northern Italy 20,000 Venetian troops invaded Austrian Milan on April 9 taking the city of Milan after a brief fight a week later. Victory was short lived, however barely two weeks after seizing Milan a Sardinian Army defeated the Venetians at the Battle of Novarra driving them back into their own territory.
 

herricks

Colonial Theaters



Following the death of Braddock command of British forces in North America was given to John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, another Loyalist who had managed to escape to the Americas in 1754. Lord Loudoun didn’t have the same campaign experience as the trio of officers whom France sent to North America. French regular army reinforcements arrived in New France in May 1756, led by Major General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and seconded by the Chevalier de Lévis and Colonel François-Charles de Bourlamaque, all experienced veterans from the War of the Austrian Succession.



French scouts had had reported the weakness of the British supply chain, so New France’s governor ordered an attack against the forts which Shirley had erected at the Oneida Carry. In the Battle of Fort Bull on March 28, 1758, French forces destroyed the fort and large quantities of supplies, including 45,000 pounds of gunpowder. They set back any British hopes for campaigns on Lake Ontario and endangered the Oswego garrison, already short on supplies. French forces in the Ohio valley also continued to intrigue with Indians throughout the area, encouraging them to raid frontier settlements. This led to ongoing alarms along the western frontiers, with streams of refugees returning east to get away from the action.



With the new British command still trying to get on their feet Montcalm took action and built on Vaudreuil's work harassing the Oswego garrison and executed a strategic feint by moving his headquarters to Ticonderoga, as if to presage another attack along Lake George. With Loudoun pinned down at Albany, Montcalm slipped away and led the successful attack on Oswego in June. In the aftermath, Montcalm and the Indians under his command disagreed about the disposition of prisoners' personal effects. The Europeans did not consider them prizes and prevented the Indians from stripping the prisoners of their valuables, which angered the Indians.



Loudoun was a capable administrator but a cautious field commander, and he planned one major operation for 1758 an attack on New France's capital of Quebec. He left a sizable force at Fort William Henry to distract Montcalm and began organizing for the expedition to Quebec. He was then ordered however to attack Louisbourg first by the king. The expedition was beset by delays of all kinds but was finally ready to sail from Boston, in early September. In the meantime, a French fleet had sailed from France and awaited Loudoun at Louisbourg which outnumbered the British fleet. Faced with this strength, Loudoun returned to Boston where he heard the shocking news that a massacre had occurred at Fort William Henry following the garrisons surrender.



French irregular forces, Canadian scouts and Indians, harassed Fort William Henry throughout the first half of 1758. In January, they ambushed British rangers near Ticonderoga. In February, they launched a raid against the position across the frozen Lake George, destroying storehouses and buildings outside the main fortification. In early September, Montcalm and 7,000 troops besieged the fort, which capitulated with an agreement to withdraw under parole. When the withdrawal began, some of Montcalm's Indian allies attacked the British column because they were angry about the lost opportunity for loot, killing and capturing several hundred men, women, children, and slaves. News of the massacre spread throughout the Thirteen Colonies seeding anger towards French and Indians alike.



Though much quieter the southern front against Spain wasn’t an entirely frozen conflict. In April 1758 a Spanish forces attacked an Anglo settlement along the Alapaha River killing or capturing 45. This caused the Hanoverians to at least pay some attention to the southern theater and sent Colonel Joseph Goreham and 500 regulars to Georgia to shore up defenses. Upon arriving however Colonel Goreham wanted to secure Georgia by invading Spanish Florida and in August Goreham and his regulars along with 750 volunteers from Georgia and South Carolina invaded Florida. A week after starting his campaign Goreham’s army met its first resistance at the Battle of St. Mary’s. Despite being outnumbered, the colonials fought hard and in just two hours had seized the day and withdrew.



Now they set their sights on St. Augustine the Spanish colonial capital in Florida and in September the Hanoverians were on the move again. Upon arriving at the town however they realized most of the soldiers and citizens had fled into the formidable fort. On September 29 the Siege of Castillo de San Marcos began.
 
Archduke

Archduke

herricks said:
How am I doing so far
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I intend to read your TL more fully later this week and so far have only read the first post, but it definitely looks interesting. I would have never thought to do a TL with a delayed French intervention. Typically, I would have expected to see the OTL 1744 French invasion going right. However, I guess that getting that invasion to go right in spite of the weather issues would be difficult. To instead have France promise to send an invasion later and get the Jacobites to wait a bit before revolting is definitely interesting.
 

herricks

Archduke said:
I intend to read your TL more fully later this week and so far have only read the first post, but it definitely looks interesting. I would have never thought to do a TL with a delayed French intervention. Typically, I would have expected to see the OTL 1744 French invasion going right. However, I guess that getting that invasion to go right in spite of the weather issues would be difficult. To instead have France promise to send an invasion later and get the Jacobites to wait a bit before revolting is definitely interesting.
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yeah thats why i did a later one. couldn't figure out how to magically make them fare better in the storm. at least enough to matter
 

herricks

haven't forgotten the TL. been working away from home and busy. should have one up next week but if I'm not too exhausted after work might try and do one before
 
9 Fanged Hummingbird

9 Fanged Hummingbird

I just read the first few posts and I gotta ask, where are all these pro-Stuart Americans coming from? The Stuarts were generally seen as pro-Catholic and pro-France, two things that made them extremely unpopular to English-Americans who rallied around the Hanoverian cause. I don't see any New England colony in particular fighting Hanoverian soldiers on behalf of a monarch they see as possibly ceding their claimed land to the French and are associated with Catholicism. Your assignment of Jacobite-aligned colonies and forces seems rather arbitrary and random to be honest.
 

herricks

9 Fanged Hummingbird said:
I just read the first few posts and I gotta ask, where are all these pro-Stuart Americans coming from? The Stuarts were generally seen as pro-Catholic and pro-France, two things that made them extremely unpopular to English-Americans who rallied around the Hanoverian cause. I don't see any New England colony in particular fighting Hanoverian soldiers on behalf of a monarch they see as possibly ceding their claimed land to the French and are associated with Catholicism. Your assignment of Jacobite-aligned colonies and forces seems rather arbitrary and random to be honest.
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the Hanoverians are the ones that fled to America and who rule in America right now. not the Stuarts. the Stuarts had very little support in America
 
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