[kronckew]

it was the french king that helped american revolutionaries, nappy came well after the brits lost america. by the time of the war of 1812, they'd pretty much accepted our independence, tho they still, as the greatest sea power, ran roughshod over us just like they did to most other nations and would, amongst other provocations, 'impress' seamen from american ships if they appeared to have british accents. the french king essentially bankrupted his country to strengthen his fleet to thumb his nose at the english by helping the revolution and diverting resources that the brits could have used in the americas. it did not turn out well for the french king, leading up to their own far more bloody revolution and eventually nappy one thru three.

the revolution in america hung on a knife edge the whole time up to yorktown, the arrival of a french fleet that the english had no hope of matching while maintaining the continental french blockade. many times, a single bullet or lack thereof was the difference between ultimate strategic victory for the brits. fate can be very fickle.

maj. ferguson, the british sniper/rifleman had washington in his sights once, but refused to shoot an officer in the back. if he'd shot, the war would have petered out and america would have been reclaimed. most americans were loyalist or neutral at the time of course.

an american rifleman killed the commanding general at saratoga with a shot taken at about 300 yds. he did not shoot him in the back tho. the brits 'knew' no one could hit them at that range. if they had not lost at saratoga, the french would not have decided to help the revolution.

a bit like a famous american general john sedgwick in the american war between the states 50 yrs. later who stood up while visiting his front line, and when warned, said "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." and dropped dead from a head shot.

...and the american navy, while small, beat the british essentially every time they fought their frigate duels at sea, leading the brits to order their frigate captains to never engage the US frigates, who kept mostly near home. even the time two british frigates met a lone american one, they lost both. John Paul Jones' raids on england with his obsolete wreck of a hulk the 'bonhomme richard' (a french hand-me-down) so outraged parliament they sent their best to find and teach the colonial a lesson. they lost that one too off the coast of france. JPJ was a jacobite scot who had a bit of a grudge against the brits and their german king.

we actually lost the war of 1812 on points and signed a treaty with the UK at the end of 1814 where we backed down on everything we'd had as goals during the initiation of it. they'd looted and burnt washington DC to the ground after all. the messages of the signing didn't arrive in the states until just after the new orleans debacle, which thereafter gave the british a more healthy respect for the american armed forces. the overwhelming force they sent to capture new orleans and the louisiana territory would have ended the 'colonies' expansion to the west as they would have ruled from mexico to canada.

the UK's regiments that fought at chalmette were the troops that had defeated napoleon at waterloo a bit earlier. they almost won there too. they came at the american lines in the same old continental fashion that had overwhelmed nappy, and the americans whupped them in their same old way of shooting the officers first. paying inordinate attention to shooting the officers as not cricket of course. one scots company is famous for their 'bravery' in that when they attacked the main american line, their officer was shot, and, having no orders they just stopped and stood there getting massacred, until a passing officer told them to get the heck outta there. that officer continued his advance but when they reached the ditch in front of the american line discovered the officer who'd been ordered to bring the ladders needed to cross had forgotten them. another point that could have changed things.

brit flank attacks almost turned the tide as the drove back the americans on the west bank and were about to turn their own cannons on the amercan main line's flank when they got the word packenham and all the other generals and most of the colonels were dead. they essentially stopped fighting and didn't run away like the popular americn song about the battle. after processing their dead and wounded they retreated in order to the british fleet and went home. what was left of them. gen. packenham in a barrel of brandy. the brits gave up trying after that. the americans gave up trying to add canada to their expansion too, as their expenditions there did not turn out well. they were actually a disaster. thus y'all up there are still in the commonwealth, except maybe the froggy ones.

most disasters in war and history hinge on a knife edged of a chain of small coincidences, which if one had been different, would have changed history. it's called the butterfly effect.