Redcoats' Revenge: An Alternate History of the War of 1812 PDF
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Redcoats’ Revenge RELATED TITLES Britannia’s Fist: From Civil War to World War—An Alternate History by Peter G. Tsouras Napoleon’s Troublesome Americans: Franco-American Relations, 1804– 1815 by Peter P. Hill Redcoats’ Revenge An Alternate History of the War of 1812 COL. DAVID FITZ-ENZ, U.S. ARMY (RET.) Copyright © 2008 by Potomac Books, Inc. Published in the United States by Potomac Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fitz-Enz, David G., 1940– Redcoats’ revenge : an alternate history of the War of 1812 / David Fitz-Enz. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-57488-987-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. United States—History—War of 1812. 2. United States—History—War of 1812— Campaigns. 3. United States—History—War of 1812—Naval operations. 4. Imaginary histories. I. Title. E354.F57 2008 973.5’2—dc22 2008028755 Maps by Jay Karamales, after Lewis G. DeRussy. Originals by Andrew J. Brozyna. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39-48 Standard. Potomac Books, Inc. 22841 Quicksilver Drive Dulles, Virginia 20166 First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 CONTENTS Acknowledgments Author’s Note 1 An Eventful, Fateful Year 2 The Early Lives of Future Adversaries 3 The War Intensifies, the Stakes Rise 4 The British Are Coming!—Again 5 Both Sides Prepare to Escalate the War 6 Bureaucracy and the British War Machine 7 Diversions and Death 8 Invasion! 9 Wellington Plunges South 10 The Blaze in the Barn 11 The Battle of Saratoga, Day Two 12 “This Isn’t War” Appendix 1: British Army at the Battle of Saratoga, 1815 Appendix 2: U.S. Army at the Battle of Saratoga, 1815 Author’s End Note Bibliography About the Author ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Canadian Chris Evans, a former Random House editor now with Stackpole Books, read The Final Invasion and asked, “What if the British had won the battle at Plattsburgh?” That did it; he was one of dozens of readers who had asked the question, and I could see that I was obliged to answer them. In London, I asked the “what if” question to a mutual friend, Lionel Leventhal, publisher of Greenhill Books. He reminded me, “The invasion of the United States by the British on September 11, 1814, was a horrific event but is lost these 187 years. In its time, however, the undertaking on the part of Great Britain was significant and is still shrouded in mystery. The Plattsburgh battle is sandwiched between two great events—the abdication of Napoleon ending the long war and the battle of Waterloo. You must awaken readers of history with a striking tale.” The largest challenge in writing this alternative history was transporting the British army to North America. I was surprised to find that the transportation of men, guns, cannons, ammunition, and provisions paled in significance to the movement of horses by ship across the Atlantic. In England, I combed through the archives of the college of Veterinary Medicine at Greenwich, the old Admiralty library collection at Whitehall, and the stacks at Chatham Royal Dockyard. I found a great number of gruesome stories and a rare drawing of a horse transporter. Veterinarian John Cogar of Lake Placid, New York, sent me to Cornell research librarian Susanne Whitaker of the Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library. Within the month I received a ream of photocopied excerpts that filled in the gaps as to the care of the animals’ conditions at sea. Veterinarian Darcy Wiltse, an expert in the treatment of horses, told me about her personal experiences that mirrored material dating from the eighteenth century. I bounced the evolving plot off Steve Saffel of Random House, who gave me great encouragement. He cautioned, “Keep up the action,” and sent me copies of Harry Turtledove’s great series. “Read and learn,” Steve advised. Commander Liam Murphy, USNR, an Irish scholar, sent me the writings of Derek Warfield, acquainting me with the gravity of the struggle in Ireland and the men, seething with revenge and hatred for all things British, who were exiled to America. Mr. Celedonia “Cal” Jones of the Bureau of Manhattan History went to great lengths to answer my questions, narrowing down the exact location of something that may or may not have happened. A friend and colleague, Colonel James Macdonough, furnished the saga of my main character, the Duke of Wellington, by sharing his fascinating research on the life of Sir William Delancey. Macdonough’s novel, Limits of Glory, was an inspiration. Andy Broznya, who illustrated Old Ironsides for me, provided my narrative with excellent maps, which proved to be a most vital contribution. I can’t conclude this recognition until I thank professional librarian Betsey Whitefield of the Saranac Lake Free Library and her interlibrary lending program, which located for me the most obscure titles, time and again. Carol, my wife and researcher, read every word of the book out loud, which puts her among the angels. Other noted historians contributed ideas but declined to be identified for fear of going over to the dark side of alternative history. To quote only one, “Just don’t mention my name.” One who will share the blame is my editor, Michael Dorr, who prodded with a sharp stick to make it all come together. He alone would see it through to the end. Research, even in a novel, is key. This work opened up innumerable possibilities. AUTHOR’S NOTE History is a powerful influence that entertains while providing a never-ending source of argument. As a nonfiction author, I was too steeped in realism to become involved with fantasy. In the later part of the 1990s, I researched at great length and then wrote the saga of the battle of Plattsburgh/Lake Champlain, which occurred on September 11, 1814. My book, The Final Invasion: Plattsburgh, the War of 1812’s Most Decisive Battle, highlighted a long- forgotten but most important engagement of the War of 1812. The book won the Distinguished Writing Prize from the Army Historical Foundation and the Military Order of Saint Louis from the Knights Templar for contributions to military literature. The day of the book launch, the 187th anniversary of the battle, terrorists attacked New York City’s World Trade Center—ten blocks from my publisher. The subsequent notoriety of the date propelled book sales and led to television appearances on C-Span Book TV and FOX News Network. At Chicago Public Radio, I was asked, “If this or that changed, would the Christmas treaty talks at Ghent in 1814 possibly have reached a different solution?” Alternative history is an intriguing possibility, I thought. My editor at Random House asked for a plausible story line that was believable yet altered. He referred me to one of his writers famous for the genre. The formula seemed complicated and fraught with pitfalls. I had to, on the one hand, keep history somewhat intact, yet on the other hand, find a natural break with history without an outcome that bordered on the ridiculous. While in England on a research trip for my book Old Ironsides: Eagle of the Sea, I was sent by Lionel Leventhal, publisher of Greenhill Books (distinguished for its alternative histories), to renowned author Dr. Paddy Griffin, a highly successful writer and scholar. In England, Canada, and the United States research turned the key. Griffin, formerly with the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, told me, “Writing alternative history is dangerous, as your imagination whirls off, you could lose the thread along with the reader.” Paddy provided the solution to the puzzle. He advised that an altered history is most difficult to concoct because it is both fiction and nonfiction within the same cover. “Alternative history is like a railroad track. While one rail remains true to historic facts, the parallel rail waits patiently for an opportunity to break free of
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