WI The French Gave Up Their Caribbean Territories

Okay guys, I have another WI

What if the french canons for the Battle if the Plains of Abraham were facing the other way?

Would that prolong the war enough on that side of the Atlantic?

What PODs/butterflies could make the "seven year war (should really change that) inconclusive?
 
The Plains

First Light, Sept 13 1759

As he feared, Montcalm awoke to a sea of redcoats to his west, ready and in battle lines. However, his troops too stood ready on the battlefield.

The general knew he was outnumbered two-to-one, and with the motherland months away by boat, there were no reinforcements.

To his north, stood Dumas and his small band of militia, Levis and his cavalry stood at the other flank. Canons blared as each shot kicked dirt up.

The french canons called back, the impact threw some British regulars ten feet in the air.

William Howe's Calvary maneuvered to the other side of the battlefield and quickly engulfed Dumas' men. The attack was ferocious, that the squares could hardly hold them back.

The large mob of redcoats began to advance.

"Fire by file" General Wolfe cried out. Subordinate officers raced at the command.

Muskets blared and a wall of Frenchmen fell.

To Montcalm's surpise even more British guns were unlimbering. The only advantage, that Montcalm could think that he had was that he was at the short end of the trapezoid. Could he use it as it was used in earlier battles such as Agencourt? But still, the plains were slanted against him.

Mid morning

A perfectly placed shot took out one of the British canons. At this point in the day, the British line began to arc. Wolfe was at the center of it, directly commanding the 28th. He watched as his Fraiser highlanders were torn up by muskets. However, he could see that the french were hurting.

Townshed was somewhere in the south, Howe in command of the north.

With the northern extreme of his line weakening, De Vergor was sent in to support Dumas. Many french laid dying on the field as the muskets and the cavalry were too much for the militia to handle.

Yet, the two militias combined were enough for the pressure to be relieved.

With the moment of reprieve, horse stakes were set up. Hopefully, future fighting would be less intense.
 
Thats harsh, John Law was just one of a long line of money men in France that lost the Crown money hand over fist.

I think the French Revolution would have gone ahead more or less at the time it did even without the ARW, because France was bust after paying for and loosing too many wars over the last 50 years, plus the bad harvests, plus the lack of representation for the middle classes etc.

I think it would have been less bloody and perhaps even remaining a monarcy, although constitutional rather than absolute. I think the inspiration would come from the UK rather than America.

"More or less" could mean a decade or two either way. That will make a huge difference to the outcomes of it. It seems particularly unlikely Napoleon would come to be Emperor had things happened even slightly differently.
 
"More or less" could mean a decade or two either way. That will make a huge difference to the outcomes of it. It seems particularly unlikely Napoleon would come to be Emperor had things happened even slightly differently.

Especially since Napolean was on an island that was not even controlled by the french the year before, and the french gave it up shortly after his birth.
 
A couple of thoughts: weren't the New Englanders a little annoyed at having to give back Louisbourg after the War of the Austrian Succession? If the French retain Canada, you might see some of the same discontent throughout the 13 colonies. Probably not enough to lead to an alt-AWI on its own, but it might contribute.

On the other end of things, is there any way the French ancien regime could use this to forestall the French Revolution? Although shipping dissatisfied peasants to Quebec could lead to its own problems in the long run...
 
A couple of thoughts: weren't the New Englanders a little annoyed at having to give back Louisbourg after the War of the Austrian Succession? If the French retain Canada, you might see some of the same discontent throughout the 13 colonies. Probably not enough to lead to an alt-AWI on its own, but it might contribute.

On the other end of things, is there any way the French ancien regime could use this to forestall the French Revolution? Although shipping dissatisfied peasants to Quebec could lead to its own problems in the long run...


Losing the islands will lead to an impoverished France, there will most likely be an uprising, but I am butterflying away the sale of the island Napolean was born on, making him an Italian citizen.

I am pretty sure that France would at worst be a constitutional monarchy.
 
Noon

The sun was high, the heat from the barrels were compounding of the sweltering heat of this September day. But who could complain, at least it was not that damned cold weather that New France was notorious for.

Beads of sweat were visible on all of the combatants' faces. it burned their eyes, just as much as the hatred for the enemy burned in them.

The French up until this point had stalled the British advance, but they had still made it half way down the field. But Montcalm knew as long as they were in the narrow part of the plains, they would have at least a hope of surviving.

White smoke filled the air, so thick that one could not see his enemy. All one could hear was the crackling of gunshots in the background. Yet, many of the soldiers have grown deaf to the fire, but for one officer that may prove fatal.

Early Afternoon

The white cloud of smoke continued to lay low over the battlefield, the still wind was not whisking off to the side, a combination of the smoke and sweat blinded the soldiers. General Wolfe was barking out orders in front of his line:

"Front rank... ready..." "FIRE" "Advance..."

but suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, he grasped at it. He looked down to see blood pooling into his palms. He's been hit. Blood continued to leak out, like a culvert in a dammed wall. It nicked his artery. As there was no medical facility he knew his impending doom. This was it... he would bleed out or become infected, but he knew that there was no way to survive this wound.

His life began to drain away and his world began to turn to black. With his last few words, he looked up at his courier and said:

"Tell Townshed, he is in charge now... for good."
 
Early Evening

Wolfe awoke briefly with Townshed staring over his makeshift bed, he could still feel the pain in his shoulder. Dirty bandages were wrapped around his chest.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Townshed questioned, the dying general nodded.

"You... You treat my army good now..." Wolfes head went limp once again.

A long, tense silence filled the air. The wounded general lifted his chin once more. "The french... they... they should be weakened by now." each word was labored. "It should be time for a charge..."

"I will take that under advisement sir, but we both believe that you are in no position to be in command right now. We shall charge at the opportune moment."

Before Wolfe could protest, everything fell into blackness again.

Nightfall

Darkness came without any substantial moves, only the two combatants firing off volleys to each other. Eventually it got so that it was too dark to even see one's hand. Montcalm retreated to his tent where his other unit commanders were waiting.

The news was grim. Less than 50% effectives remains, and god knows how many British were still on the battlefield. One small victory on the day was the maiming of their general and all the confusion that it caused.

It was apparent that they had a dilemma on their hands. Either their lines would now be too thin, or they will be flanked on both sides as they could not cover the entire field.

Ammo was low, even with the looting of the dead and dying, and with the endless siege on the city, food was even lower.

"Nous ne pouvons pas protoger les champs plus" (We can not hold the plains anymore) one of the officers said.

That much was apparent, the situation was only more dire from the reinforcements on route from Upper Canada.

It was apparent that something drastic had to happen, something that no sane general would do...
 
Midnight

The redcoats are fast asleep in their camps, the few remaining generals discuss strategy over a fire.

However, things were not as calm in the french camp, Montcalm was bus maneuvering his forces into position even though he could not see anything in this bleak darkness. One thing he knew was that his two militias have routed.

During the small hours, some fusiliers arrived at the base of the city. They were far from where the general would want any unit stationed, but he was not even aware of their presence. They would either be inconsequential or vital, but there was no in between.

Dawn

A crack of sunlight peeked over the horizon, the morning was still young, it was before the dew laid on the ground, or the cockerels greeted the day. The fire in Townshed's camp long since dulled. With Howe at the right they surveyed the field, only to see the city barely defended.

"awe, the Frenchmen aren't putting up a fight today?" asked the arrogant cavalryman.

But then they lifted their heads to the hills, standing there was Montcalm, as a statue, and behind him were several other stone like figures, ready to greet them with a hammer and anvil should they approach the city.

With the gesture of a hand the British guns boar to face their displace opponents.

To come -- The Battle of the River St. Charles
 
I must say... I always appreciated New-Francewanks (not Quebec-Independence-From-Canada wanks, however). So are you setting up using your first and/or second WI? Et j'adore l'utilisation de la langue francais pour les conversations!
 
I must say... I always appreciated New-Francewanks (not Quebec-Independence-From-Canada wanks, however). So are you setting up using your first and/or second WI? Et j'adore l'utilisation de la langue francais pour les conversations!

merci, je devais les plus aide que je peut pender (I would like all the help I could get)
 
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