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Editor says, what if Britain won the Battle of Bunker Hill? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1776, the Battle of Breed's Hill, also called the Battle of Bunker Hill, took place, pitting American colonial rebels against British troops commanded by Sir William Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne.
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Battle of Bunker Hill by Eric LippsIt is a disaster for the colonials, who had failed to learn until too late of the British plan to occupy the Dorchester and Charlestown heights. Colonial militia forces under the command of William Prescott were dispatched to attempt to occupy Bunker Hill outside Charlestown, but, finding it already in British hands, Prescott chose to attempt a stand at Breed's Hill - only to find that it, too, had been occupied by the British before he could reach it. Prescott was forced to wage a slaughterhouse of a battle simply to escape. The British victory played a key role in the breaking of the siege of Charlestown, which dealt a hard blow to the rebels' morale. That blow would be followed by others, leading at last to the surrender of the final holdouts under General George Washington outside the sacked and burning city of Philadelphia on July 4.
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Eric Lipps
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~ This would have put a spike into things, but I do think that the Revolution was inevitable in the long run. That said, without it going the way it did, I think we'd probably have a deal more-or-less like what Australia, NZ or Canada got.
~ You may be right--but the specific conflict that we know from "real" history might have ended in defeat, leaving a remnant of fugitive revolutionaries to dream of trying again--perhaps in 1812, when England had its hands full in Europe with Napoleon.
~ I too think the American Revolution, without significant political reforms on behalf of the British, was probably inevitable. But you don't want to go the way of Australia. We still live under the thumb of the English!
~ General Howl had several chances to whip out the rebels after Bunker hill but he didn't. Some say he was trying to be merciful because he expected the rebels to sue for peace others say he was used to fighting European style warfare and was expecting a counter-attack.
I think he was being careful because he nearly got his head handed to him at Bunker Hill. He lost more men then he wanted to and was afraid that he might walk into a trap and loose even more. If he had annihilated them at Bunker Hill he may not show restraint and whip out the rebel army. With Washington's Army gone i think congress would have capitulated and the whole revolution would be lost.
~ With the defeat of the revolution in the east, the natural path that Washington and his band of rebels to take is westward - to build their America out of the wilderness in the center of the continent, far away from British control...
~ Timing is crucial. America was exceptionally lucky in its revolutionary leadership. Had a successful revolution only occurred later, it might have goneas the French Revolution did, or in some other unappealing direction--perhaps toward the establishment of an American monarchy, for instance, or toward the establishment of not one but several nations.
~ At the risk of sounding stupid, what does Bunker Hill have to do with the Attila the Hun ATL mentioned at the top of this page?
~ I second Chris Oakley's motion. I find that confusing as well.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
