Table Of ContentRedcoats’ Revenge
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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
