| August 26 |  |
Editor says, what if Royal Naval Officer George Washington had sailed on the first voyage of Captain Cook? 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 1768, on this day Sally Fairfax and prominent members of the Loyalist Community bade farewall to George Washington as he boarded the HMS Endeavour and set sail for the south Pacific Ocean under the command of Captain James Cook (pictured).
This post is an article from the Midshipman George Washington thread.
Midshipman George Washington #5As the Second in Command of the combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition, Washington had been briefed that the mission objective was to sail to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun. This was to occur on 3-4 June 1769; however Cook had also been provided with secret instructions that he was to open after the solar event.
But when Cook died on Tahiti, the instructions were passed to Washington who was ordered to seek evidence of the "unknown southern land" postulated Terra Australis Incognita. Not only did he discover the Gold Coast, but he also claimed the vast continent in the name of King George III.
As a result of this stunning achievement, he was quickly promoted in the Royal Navy becoming an exception to the normal limitations imposed upon colonial advancement. A decade later, he faced the altogether more difficult task of retaining a continent for the monarch. But instead his defeat at Chesakpeake Bay would lead directly to the surrender at Yorktown which effectively ended the American War of Independence. If there was a positive in this outcome then it was that he now had a great deal of time on his hands to live happily ever after with the widow Sally Fairfax.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Midshipman Washington Source: Wikipedia Labels: George Washington, Captain Cook, Royal Navy, Australia, Britain. Editor says, in this article of our continuing thread we explore some exciting new ideas from John Braungart ("Washington was a surveyor before he joined the militia. Is there any chance that he replaces/augments Captain James Cook in his voyages of exploration?") and Jackie Rose.
~ Wow, this version of Washington spends more time at sea than Popeye. :D
~ Sailors in those days did just that. Star Trek's "five year mission" would have been almost right compared to Cook's voyages. You put this one together nicely. One nitpick, a "widower" is the husband of the deceased, not the wife. So George and Sally's husband, eeuwww.... Fixed - thanks. Ed
~ Poor Cook. Wonder if anyone took up his later voyages toward a Northwest Passage, or if Hawaii had some time bought before the plagues came.
~ Maybe George did it.....
~ The Gold Coast? Do you mean Australia? The "Gold Coast" in OTL was in Africa!
~ On reflection Tory is the wrong term for 1760's. Loyalist would probably be better. Fixed - thanks. Ed IMO. Also who is Sally the widow of? George William Fairfax
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© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
