Britannic America

Prelude to War
In 1770, the British began to go to Boston. Due to the recent outburst of patriot support, the British sent 1,000 troops to Boston. On March 5th, 1770, local patriots began to heckle a British soldier at the custom house. The more patriots that joined, the more soldiers that arrived. Eventually, the patriots began to throw snowballs and rocks at the British soldiers. One thing lead to another, and the British opened fire. 5 people were killed in the Boston Massacre. This caused a fiery disturbance in the colonies. 3 years later, there were more British troops, more control on the colonies. So, a group of patriots called the sons of liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, dumped 10,000 pounds of tea into the Boston harbor. The sons of liberty, however, were caught and tried. They were sent to a prison in the New York frontier. A man by the name of Thomas Paine saw what had happened to these men, who were only fighting for a just cause. Thomas Paine released his famed common sense in the January of 1774. The book sold like wildfire, and it really got the patriots riled up. On February 19th, 1774, a group of patriot militia men were being rounded up by the British, being claimed as traitors. Bostonian bystanders began to heckle the British, and it looked to be a second Boston massacre. But, the people fight back. Before the British soldiers, who number 5, lifted their rifles, the crowd unleashed their fury upon the soldiers. Killing one, and injuring 2 others. The bystanders seized the soldiers weapons and began to riot. What started as a riot, began to form into a full on revolt.

The Boston Revolt of 1774: February 19th, 1774, to February 23rd, 1774
Boston was on fire, and the people of Boston began to push the British out of the city. Men and women began to raid weapon stores, and blockade Boston. General Thomas Gage told his men to flee the city. Over 2,500 British soldiers fled the city, and began a siege. Sailors of the Royal Navy helped blockade the harbor. The Bostonian forces measured about 5,000 men strong. General Gage asked for other British troops stationed in nearby forts or towns to aid the men. While no one on land could aid them, General Gage was about to receive 2,000 fresh men by sea. On February 20th, 1774, General William Howe was sent to harbor 2,000 more troops in the harbor. The few Royal Navy vessels he linked up with, explained about the revolt. General Howe asked a messenger to get to General Gage on land. The messenger was sent with a plan to shell Boston harbor. General Gage gave the go ahead. And within hours, Boston harbor was destroyed. By the morning of February 21st, the British have stormed Boston from 2 fronts. The battle of the bottle neck was fought on the west side of Boston, where General Gage ordered his men to push the Bostonian militias were highly unorganized, and were pushed back. The harbor was captured by Howe, and Howe began to press against the Bostonians. Street fighting occurred, but it was mostly a British victory. By the 22nd, Gage broke the horribly made line of Bostonian militiamen. Howe had broken the whole line protecting the east. The rebels officially surrendered on February 23rd, 1774.

The First Continental Congress
By March of 1774, the colonies realize that, they are in for a heap of trouble with the British. So, the Continental Congress was called on March 7th, 1774. The main issue wasn't resolve with the British, it was how to fight the British. The Congress began to stagnate. A week into the Congress, they delegates establish the Liberty Note. It was a letter to be sent to British forces in Boston, as an ultimatum. While the Congress wrote this letter, the Congress formed the Patriot army. Armed militias were conscripted and lead by George Washington as commander and chief. When the letter is sent, the British consider it an insult, and the Royal Governor declared a state of martial law. Fed up, the Congress gave the go ahead for the rising: The beginning of the First Patriot War.

The First Patriot War: March 20th, 1774 to May 17th, 1777
The first actual battles of the war didn't start until March 20th, since the letter needed to get from Philadelphia to Boston. So, when this was declared, the Patriot forces rose up. This was a huge war spanning multiple fronts.

The Massachusetts Front:
The war in Massachusetts was a tricky war to fight. The British had a plan of expansion, taking more and more land when they attack perimeters, like a map game. The British left on March 25th, 1774. The first Battle of the war was fought on March 30th, 1774. British troops under Howe encountered a Militia lead by a man named Samuel Yuling. Yuling had taken cover on a hill with his 500 men, and began to volley fire upon the British. Howe lead 400 men up the hill, while a flank of 200 men moved behind the patriots. The flank was cut off by a reserve of 25 men, left behind to help support with ammunition. Howe's first attempt to charge the hill failed. Howe took refuge in the woods away from Yuling. Howe had lost 100 men on that charge alone, and the flank attempt was destroyed. Howe needed a new approach. So, he came up with an idea. There was a small creek, the walls were cut out, making it a natural trench. The leaves of the tree caused a visibility problem. So, Howe put his best marksmen on the job. On the morning of March 31st, Howe had the sharpshooters harass the patriots with rifle fire, while Howe moved around the left flank with 50 men, with 200 ready for a charge. The trick worked, however, and Howe got the jump on Yuling's forces. It was close quarters combat, and had blood shed like no one had ever seen. Luckily, the patriots held out, though their ranks were thinned by half, leaving Yuling with about 250 troops. On April 1st, 1774, Yuling and his men charged the British camp. And being so early in the morning, it was a complete surprise. Yuling allowed for a victory in this battle by having the British retreat, or so they thought. Later that night, Howe struck back with 450 men. The battle at night was fierce, but was only held, with the bodies that tripped the British. In the end, Yuling had to retreat with only 20 men left. The Battle of Yuling Hill, as it became known, was a massacre and showed patriot incompetence. Howe pushed west more and more into Massachusetts, skirmishes whittled his men down. He eventually constructed a fort called Fort Birch. Howe would command his armies from this stronghold for the rest of the campaign. Meanwhile the construction of Fort Birch was going on, General Henry Clinton had arrived. Clinton had brought with him 5,000 more soldiers to fight in Massachusetts. Clinton's job was to help suppress the risings of colonial militia. On April 3rd, he released the Clinton Decree, a law in which stating that '''"The armies of the British empire are here enacting the will of the king, only asking for peace in times of war." '''No one bought it, and Clinton encountered the second battle of the Massachusetts campaign, the Battle of Weldman's Home. The battle received it's name from the popular tavern in the town. On April 10th, 1774, Clinton came across a nameless town. He asked the townsfolk for access to it, they said no. So Clinton tried to take it by force, but the militias stopped him. Clinton pushed the line, but was repelled. The patriots sent a force to attack their right flank, and they were able to push the British back. Clinton brought in some artillery and the town was devastated. The patriots fought back, using the artillery craters as protection. By the end of the night, the patriots hadn't given up. Clinton set up camp in the fields outside the town, and planned a new way to steal the town back from the patriots. Clinton, on April 11th, ordered a surrender, or another volley. No response. Clinton took 100 men with him to investigate the town. All of a sudden, windows and doors fly open, as a huge volley of bullets erupt from the houses, Clinton is OK, but lost about 25 men in that one raid. Clinton, upset, asked fro the town to be burned. But, when the British got close, the militias pushed them back. On April 12th and 13th, no ground was made, still just a stalemate. On the 14th, Clinton just threw everything he had at the town, and actually took it. Weldman's Home was a battle of... comedy to say the least.