| April 12 |  |
Editor says, what if George Washington had enrolled in the Royal Navy? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the June 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1743, on this day on Ferry Farm, King George County, Virginia, Augustine Washington died age forty-nine. His son George inherited the former Strother property and its slaves, but instead of joining the landed gentry and becoming a planter and slaveholder, he accepted Admiral Vernon's invitation to enroll in the Royal Navy.
This post is an article from the Midshipman George Washington thread.
Midshipman George Washington #1His Uncle Joseph Ball strongly disapproved of his nephew's career choice in a letter to his sister Mary dated 19th May 1747 he wrote ~
"I understand that you are advised and have some thoughts of putting your son George to sea. I think he had better be put apprentice to a tinker, for a common sailor before the mast has by no means the common liberty of the subject; for they will press him from a ship where he has fifty shillings a month and make him take twenty-three, and cut and slash and use him like a negro, or rather like a dog. And, as to any considerable preferment in the navy, it is not to be expected, as there are always so many gaping for it here who have interest, and he has none. And if he should get to be master of a Virginia ship, (which it is very difficult to do,) a planter that has three or four hundred acres of land and three or four slaves, if he be industrious, may live more comfortably, and leave his family in better bread, than such a master of a ship can .. He must not be too hasty to be rich, but go on gently and with patience, as things will naturally go. This method, without aiming at being a fine gentleman before his time, will carry a man more comfortably and surely through the world than going to sea, unless it be a great chance indeed. I pray God keep you and yours".
~ Your loving brother, Joseph Ball.
The rank of midshipman was procured for him on board a British ship of war, and his trunk and clothes were sent on board. But when he came to take leave of his mother, she wept bitterly, and told him she felt her heart would break if he left her (pictured). Mounting his horse, George rode to the ship intending to take his trunk ashore. But destiny intervened and instead he heard the "call of his sea", stepped on board to begin a glorious career in the Royal Navy.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Midshipman Washington Source: Wikipedia Labels: George Washington, Royal Navy, Admiral Vernon, America, Britain. Editor says, in authoring this article prompted by Jared Myers note about Mothers Day we refer to the book "George Washington--the Man Behind the Myths" by William Meade Stith Rasmussen et al, American Presidents and Helium. Also we have repurposed content from Wikipedia.
~ Hmmmm...
~ Washington definitely had patience, and knew when to fight and when to seek another opportunity (at risk of small defeat). Still, he could count himself a Virginian and want to lead an American navy. Maybe America would become a maritime nation rather than the land-dwellers we were for so long.
~ I agree with Jackie Rose, Benedict Arnold was the only other general I could see leading the Americans to victory. Guys like Greene and Knox would have (and did) put up a heck-of-a fight, but I can't see them winning in the end by themselves. An American Revolution with George Washington on the other side is definitely something that I'm glad didn't happen in the real world.
~ I had this idea a while back actually, just never got around to writing it. Washington teams up with JPJ to take out the Brits, while Benedict Arnold leads us to victory on land.
~ The colonies could have won their independence without Washington, but would any leader of the Continental Army have given up power as readily as Washington did? I have to wonder.
~ Washington would NOT have been called a traitor, merely another Tory, fighting for the crown. And in this TL, I can see George Washington, appalled at the harsh treatment of the common ratings and lower-ranked officers becoming, through his efforts at reformation, the "Father of the Modern Royal Navy".
~ If Washington had fought for England, Benedict Arnold might still have been disloyal to the Revolution. He had a Tory wife and nursed grievances aboout being, as he saw it, unjustly denied recognition and advancement.
Even assuming another general could have commanded the Revolutionary Army as well as he did, I wonder ifany other would have had the charisma to thwart the 1782 Newburgh conspiracy, when American troops, long unpaid, were on the verge of marching on Philadelphia. Ifg that had happened, defeat might have been snatched from the jaws of victory--or even if the Revolution succeeded, America might have started off under a military junta (or "junto," as it would have been said back then).
~ Washington's uncle was right about how they treated common sailors, but a midshipman was not a common sailor; they were "young gentlemen" and would not be treated as badly as ordinary sailors would be. However, life in the RN in the days of Wooden Ships and Iron Men was no piece of cake even for admirals. Washington's family wealth and connections would grease his way to some extent, but he'd still have to show he had 'what it takes' to get promoted---the RN, unlike the Army, frowned heavily on incompetent noble officers.
~ For Arnold to advance he needed two things: 1. the attack on Quebec succeeds and
2. he is sole victory at Saratoga
This would get him equality with Gates and then Camden does the rest.
~ Actually Arnold WAS pretty much the victor at Saratoga. But while he was laid up with his leg wound, Gates, through his political cronies, claimed the victory was his. Added to that, the attack on Quebec couldn't have succeeded because Arnold was undersupplied and really didn't have the manpower he needed to pull that campaign off properly.
~ @John - And yet the Quebec attack almost worked. Had Arnold been able to organize a second assault it almost assuredly would have.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
