American Revolutionary War (1770 RP)

The American Revolutionary War was a conflict between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the recently formed Continental Congress.

Battle for Québec
In order to win revolution, the Continental Congress deemed it necessary to exploit the fact that there were few British troops already on the continent and evict them from any existing bases they still retained in North America. Québec, with a well-known direct land route into the rebel-held territory, had to be eliminated, and eliminated quickly. Therefore, the Continental Congress sent 4,000 soldiers to lay siege to Québec City, at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence.

Instead of taking the usual route up Lake Champlain and through Montréal, the Americans went through a route that is still secret to this day. Nevertheless, they landed somewhere between Montréal and Québec, proceeding to march downstream where covert supplies from neutral France would be sent. Loyalists in Canada, having not detected the arrival of the enemy force before it crossed the border, tried to mobilize 3,000. The Americans arrived in the Saint Lawrence valley in January 1774 under presumably harsh conditions.

However, instead of settling in for a siege, the Canadians opted for battle. Unprepared, they did not believe they could delay the Americans for long, and therefore they needed their supplies, men, and communications with the rest of Canada. Up on the high cliffs, the Canadians stopped multiple American attempts at crossing, but these were mere foils for the actual crossing, which would happen during a foggy new moon. With an established bridgehead, the American army started crossing in force, and soon they overwhelmed and bloodied the Canadians, who, with more supplies, settled for a siege. However, they would not last for long, and when the Canadian commander discovered American plans for a storming he quickly surrendered. The city fell after around two weeks of resistance.

However, in the meanwhile, the Canadians had formed another army, this time around 4,000 strong. With American attrition and battle losses, this force outnumbered the Americans, who were deprived of reinforcements as the Continental Congress focused on defending the American Seaboard. Thus, when the Americans marched out of Québec to conquer the rest of Canada, they were met with fierce resistance, meeting in open fields near Julien by February.

The American commander later stated that he intended to form a crescent formation, but these orders were mismanaged and turned into two lines. The Canadians opted to do the same, putting their cavalry on the rear flanks while their infantry, obscuring the cavalry, formed in two lines. The Canadians, seeing the possibility of a flanking maneuver, attacked on both flanks, locking the American flanks with shock while the center remained confused from the order. They were soon followed by the infantry, who slammed into the center, completely tearing apart the American formation. The Americans broke into a rout back to Québec City, and while the Americans successfully defended the city for the duration of the war they made no further expeditions into Canada.

The Bourbons Enter
Thinking that, with the support of France and the Americans in any potential conflict with the United Kingdom, the Spanish sent an expedition to Florida to reclaim the lost territory, as well as British-held islands in the Caribbean. It consisted of three third-rates, two fifth-rates, a sixth-rate, and four 16-gun gunboats, sailing from Havana in April 1774. The British did not respond, not considering them much of a threat and blockading the United States, but nevertheless the Spanish made no further moves, not capturing any of the British forts in the region. With this surprise, however, the Spanish took some of the Bahamas.

Having declared war, Spain attempted to drag France into the war, hoping to bring her massive military potential into the war. However, the French rejected such overtures, considering the war a folly until they received news of American victory in Québec. Even then, the French called for peace, as they believed that they needed another state to join the war. However, the roleplay managers had restricted their side to France and Spain, reinforcing the belief that the war would be unwinnable. Either way, French intervention did nothing, as the British government considered Spanish involvement too minor to consider.

The Kingdom of Sicily also seeked to join, but was rebuffed by France.

Stalemate and Peace
After these campaigns, the war came to a stalemate. Neither side could push each other out of Québec, and although the Americans marched west of the Appalachians along the Ohio river neither side had the will to push further. The Americans considered the continent safe, as they believed the closest British base for a blockade would be Guyana, replacing Bermuda after it fell to revolution. In order to pressure the blockade, the Americans hired a pirate captain named Tedwitty, who sailed the seven seas looking for holes and plunder in both British and Spanish defenses. Nevertheless the blockade raged on, and both sides were ready to negotiate by January 1775.

There were soon three conflicting maps, one by the Americans, one by the British, and one by the French. The Americans set their western border to the Mississippi, the British the Continental Divide, and the French the Tennessee, Little Tennessee, and Chattahoochee rivers. For the most part, these sides generally ignored each other, placing maps without any pushback from the other side. The border between the Bourbons, the Americans, and the British would remain unresolved when they agreed to certain provisions in July 1775, months after the war actually ended.

Additional border proposals were tabled by the British, who thought of adding Florida to the United States, and France, who further defined the American western border to either the Wabash-Maumee line or the Illinois river. Nevertheless, they all agreed to releasing all POWs, the demilitarization of Florida, and non-aggression.