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Editor says, what if Royal Navy Admiral George Washington had lost the AmRev for Britain? This sequel was developed in collaboration by Ed, Scott Palter, Steve Fisher, Matt Dattillo and Chris Oakley. 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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This post is an article from the Midshipman George Washington thread.
Midshipman George Washington #2His appointment to Commander-in-Chief was rightly earned by the capture of Quebec even if the city was retaken by Burgoyne as soon as he headed south. As a result, that ambitious, conniving opportunist Horatio Gates was overlooked for the command of the patriot forces at the decisive Battle of Saratoga and soon afterwards killed in the pursuit after Camden.
Faced with the ever present threat of mutiny Arnold had repeatedly made firm assurances to the officer corps of the Continental Army that he knew would never be honoured by the politicians in Philadelphia. The time of reckoning arrived sooner than expected because in 1781 the tide of war turned decisively in favour of the Americans. Because loyalist Admiral George Washington was defeated at Chesapeake Bay and a catastrophic British surrender forced at Yorktown.
Unwilling to accept the raw severance deal when it was finally presented in Philadelphia, General Arnold turned his troops on the Congress and emulated Cromwell's control of the Long Parliament. The destruction of America's democratic institutions caused a series of events to play out with a grim inevitability. Within six months he had established full-blown military rule and was forced to put down scattered rebellions for the next twenty years.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Midshipman Washington Source: Wikipedia Labels: George Washington, Royal Navy, Benedict Arnold, America, Britain. Editor says, in authoring this article we would like to thank Scott Palter in particular for mapping out the alternative career of Benedict Arnold. Also we have repurposed content from Wikipedia.
~ I could definitely have seen this happening if Arnold became the overall Continental leader. It would have been similar to how it played out in Ireland, where they fought the Civil War right after they won the War for Independence. I don't know if Arnold would have lasted 20 years, however -- he would have faced MAJOR opposition to any dictatorial plans from the onset.
~ Very interesting. Arnold had the guns, so he won. Of course, any Americas post arnold is going to be very averse to a standing army. Which will be a pain in any War of 1812 scenario.
~ Somehow it doesn't surprise me Arnold would become a tyrant in this TL...
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~ Excellent. Could have happened that way...
~ Excellent! Well done!
~ Arnold was a military genius, and well deserved his position as commander-in-chief. Without him, the rebellion would have foundered and failed. All praise our glorious first leader!
~ Admira lWashington might have had a highly sucessful naval carreer in the intervening 20 years.
Will European history be different - if Arnold sets up a mitiary dictatorship in America there is no example of "liberty" for the French revolutionaries to follow.
Meanwhile it is revenge time. The War of 1812 is early and Admiral Wahington is about to lead the naval component of the British expedition to recapture Canada and deal with Arnold -thinking they will be welcomed.
~ 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?
~ As "loose" as America was, with a huge frontier to disappear into, Arnold couldn't control it too tightly, try though he might.
~ Awesome. It'd be interesting to see who of the next generation of patriots (Madison, Burr, Hamilton) team up with Arnold for power or resist.
~ I think Burr could have teamed up with Arnold; he was the prototypical American political hack. If Arnold successfully held on to power until his death, mightn't he be refered to as "the American Caesar" (Napoleon probably not coming to power in this TL)?
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
