I saw part of this story archived on a Tavington fanfiction site. I couldn't find the rest of it over there so I came over here and fortunately it's still here.

I'm a fan of alt history myself so I was intrigued from the beginning. I think this should actually be called alt-alt-history since the movie was alt history anyway.

I like how the Martin family was torn between two loyalties. Just because one joined the rebels doesn't mean the other had to. Too bad this wasn't done in the film.

I really like that Tavington befriends the Martins, is promoted to general, is knighted, and has a family.

I also really liked that Lord Cornwallis gets to live out the rest of days as a colonial governor in America with his family.

It made sense how you divided the colonies. I'd like to have seen the Galloway Plan used, but there was no way that would've worked this late in the game.

The inclusion of Wellington and Daniel Boone was a nice touch.

So slavery is abolished sooner, Indians are treated better, no War of 1812 in America, no War Between the States.

Another intriguing story! Thanks again for writing and posting!

I liked your approach on an AU very much – taking the movie seriously in having Ben Martin win the American Revolutionary War more or less on his own with the consequence of the Americans losing it, because Martin never got a reason to join in the war is an interesting idea. I wonder how the world would look like today, if things had turned out like this, apart from the obvious consequence that the U.S. would not have participated in the World Wars or at least (whatever they would have been called) would not have played a major role in them. On the other hand, if the European situation had been different during the upcoming 19th century, there might have been no World Wars at all. I read your Epilogue, but still the Napoleonic Wars could have developed differently and been shorter with a weaker France and a stronger England, I think, so maybe the Holy Roman Empire might have been able to drag itself along a bit longer and who knows what would have happened – or not happened – after that.

As for the story itself, it was nice to see some of the characters of In Arcadia Ego again. Pity that Bordon had to die, though. On the other hand someone has to die in a story about a war. The story of the Featherstone sisters is even more touching here, as it is more detailed and both of them live.

Thomas looking up to Tavington and Tavington himself thinking of the “stupid boy” as a good officer is of course very ironic as well as the scene when Thomas felt guilty because of Bordon’s death and thought everything would have been well, if Gabriel would have been captured by the British right from the beginning. If only he knew!

Then I liked that you again did not write Tavington to become a slave-holder. The fact that the people who founded the U.S. probably meant everything they said and wrote about tyranny and liberty is hard to understand when many of them saw absolutely no problem in keeping other people as property. European societies were – in this point – somewhat less hypocritical, I think. Oppression did exist, but at least in most countries it was there for the majority of people and also no one would have pretended there was political freedom in any way (don’t know whether it makes any sense what I’m saying).

Just one more thing, somewhere in the story you quote the late king of Prussia addressing his soldiers during the battle of Kolin – I don’t want to appear know-it-ally, but in 1781 Frederick the Great was still alive.

Anyway, I greatly enjoyed this story, thanks for sharing!

p.s.: if I may say so, a new Patriot-story with Tavington as the leading character would be wonderful, but I understand that you have moved to different fandoms.

Tracy recommended this story to me, and I must say, this was a great opening chapter, I am hooked already.

I love this plot line that you are taking, "What If." I recently just read a book on historical "what if's," so I am intrigued to see where you will take this.

Really enjoyed your characterisation of Thomas...I felt that I could relate to him; the younger brother stuck in his elder brother's shadow...and Gabriel living out Thomas' dream.

Looking forward to reading more.

I read both this story, and "Et In Arcadia Ego" on the original Tavington Fic site (which seem to have disappeared) a few years back and thought both stories were brilliant AUs. Your writing is superb and your knowledge of the period seems to be infinite. A reader can get lost in your works, visualize everything in their mind and feel like they're right there. It's a skill few authors possess. You're truly gifted.

Thank you for what must have been an extraordinary effort that you put into this...

Ok, I'm sorry, but I've been skimming (I read the bulk of it on the other site and have been skimming this), and I have a problem: you seem to think Benjamin Martin only goes for blondes. The fact is that Ben fell in love with a woman and raised a family with her. She died, and a few years later he realizes he loves her sister, who is probably like her in many respects. It's not uncommon; siblings share many traits, and Charlotte most likely reminded him of Elizabeth. There were very few women in the movie, so you really have nothing to base this accusation off of. You are a wonderful writer, but I've learned the hard way that even the most menial comments can cause a HUGE flame-up from the reviewing community. I haven't read all your reviews (I have way too many fics to occupy me), so I don't know if anyone has commented on this as well, but generalizations like that can come across as seriously offensive to some people. Maybe I'm just being influenced by the LOTR people; they're quite vicious, actually. I don't want to come across as snotty and a know-it-all, even though I admit to having some extreme Hermione-tendencies, but please consider what you're doing before you make generalizations that offend a great many people.

This is a nice finish! The characters all turned out to have very interesting lives. Thomas is an interesting character in this story. It was fun to see his transformation from boy to man! I will confess the fact that Elizabeth dies again is sad. I am a bit surprised that Tavington does not remarry. However, this time he is busy in the service again which seems fitting. I am glad he did not just seclude himself at home as he did in the previous story.

If you must take a break from the Patriot world I hope you return before too long. You do have some good ideas for future stories!

Darn, it is the end! Very well done, and I can't wait to read more of your work!

Well, well. A War of '93, instead of 1812. A Battle of New Orleans without Andrew Jackson. The young Duke of Wellington in Louisiana. Tavington at Waterloo. You have a great imagination. Never seen the Seven Samurai, but I will. I hope you will continue to write, even if you take a break from Patriot fics. You are too good to stop! Will email soon.

Quite a clever twist on history. Having Julia marry the future Duke of Wellington was v v imaginative. I've enjoyed this story very much. Thank you!

And so now we must bid Tavington and his friends "Hail and Farewell!" for a second time! It's with great sadness that I do so, since on the whole, I prefer this AU timeline to our own. You've made a pretty convincing case for even a stalemate being a more preferable outcome to the Revolution than a clear-cut Rebel victory; so much suffering and upheaval has been avoided this way.

While I was saddened to hear that Polly and Sally never saw each other again and that Pattie didn't live to a ripe old age, this is, of course, nowhere near as tragic as what befell them in our timeline. Indeed, with the horror and tragedy that was King's Mountain in our universe (and the semi-fictionalized universe of "Arcadia") averted, I think that almost all of your surviving characters-and I'm delighted that a lot more of them *did* survive the war-have had happier, more stable lives.

For me, one of the most poignant moments in "Et in Arcadia Ego" was when Kezia related how she and her mother had escaped their Rebel captors and returned to Arcadia, only to find the house dark and empty: this perfectly encapsulated all the losses and displacement suffered by the Loyalists. Thus, it was intensely satisfying to read of the Wilde sisters winning back their family home from the Rebels who'd seized it, and being spared the ordeal of separation and exile.

And how much better for Charlotte Montgomery and her children to find a home with the Tavingtons, allowing Charlotte the luxury to decide for herself whether or not she wanted to remarry, while her children didn't have to endure a permanent separation from their cousins or grow up being taught by tyrannical Rebel relatives that said cousins-and their own father-were traitors (I'm assuming that in this universe, the odious Ogles simply bit their tongues and suffered in silence when South Carolina remained under British "tyranny"?). Miss Everleigh's slaves were also left in a pretty unenviable situation last time-but surely it's a safe assumption that here, William prevailed on Charlotte to free them?

Wilkins' fate was certainly an unhappy one, but at least this time he enjoyed a brief period of felicity beforehand and died leaving a descendant and an intact property for her to inherit.

One of the most distressing aspects of "Arcadia" IMO was the anguish caused to Elizabeth and Julia by Amelia's desertion with David McKay. So instead of David and Amelia fleeing to Kentucky as embittered fugitives, their journey complicated by lawless backwoodsmen with designs on Amelia, what a joy it was to see a large Loyalist settlement expedition (including an *un*disillusioned David) bringing law and order to the frontier. I really am glad that Amelia and David didn't get together this time, btw, even with David remaining Loyal-despite clearly retaining a measure of her romantic sensibilities (those names she inflicted on her daughters!), Amelia was still much too good for him; though less bold than David, DeLancey really seems to have had a greater appreciation for her potential, and brought out the best in her rather than fostering her less desirable traits the way David did.

However, it upset me that Julia was once again fated to marry a British officer and leave North America-particularly since Wellington has never been a favourite of *mine* (now if she could have met the young Isaac Brock-who was in fact the exact same age as Wellington-that would have been an entirely different matter!).

But overall, I was much more satisfied with the way things turned out this time. Even the "War of '93" sounds like it was less destructive than the renewed outbreak of hostilities between Britain and the former colonists in 1812 in our universe.

And it all stems from your decision to scrap that utterly gratuitous business of Tavington shooting Thomas. Leaving aside the whole issue of alternate history, the movie would still have been much better if Thomas, instead of existing as a mere plot device, really *had* become a Loyalist and survived to develop into a three-dimensional character as you've rendered him. The theme of a family with divided allegiances is really far more compelling than Ben's melodramatic quest for revenge-including the oh-so-tasteful scene where he involves his two very young sons in slaughtering the Redcoats (I must say, it was so much more palatable to see Nathan and Samuel *pretending* to slaughter *toy* soldiers. And even when you *did* show boys going to war-ie. young Mr. Midshipman Fairfax-you avoided sensationalism and placed it in the context of the times).

It was also a lot more interesting-in fact, this came as a refreshing change-to see a strong emphasis on the many actual *similarities* between Martin and Tavington. That Ben not only managed to maintain his neutrality a lot longer, but ultimately wound up in the British camp, was a deliciously subversive stroke. You even succeeded in making Gabriel more tolerable. Not Anne, though-but then, that would require a miracle of serious proportions. ;-)

All in all, I'm very sorry to see this fic end (but at the same time, I can't help but appreciate that you care enough about structure not to drag the story out indefinitely in a self-indulgent manner). And I'm extremely disappointed to hear that you plan to take a break from writing about Tavington; you render him so vividly. It's such a novelty to read about a Tavington who is neither a decorative accessory or an equally decorative but evil nemesis for some narcissistic young author's self-insertion heroine. Writing of your calibre is pretty uncommon in fanfic and almost unheard of this fandom (to name just one thing, you actually *know* about the time and places you're writing about). Please do reconsider your decision-I would love to read your projected "Patriot" time travel fic!

Super chapter! Hope you write the epilog cuz I can't get enough of your characters!

A very enjoyable story! I liked the alternate universe of the British winning the war. It opens a variety of other possibilities for the colonies.

The character situations were very entertaining and well thought out as usual. I hope you continue with the Tavington stories. You seem to have a talent for giving him the edge he needs without making his character unbelievable, evil, or too soft. I like the mix of impatience, temper, boldness, stubborness, and bravery with the more humane side of his personality. I like seeing him as a father as well. I can imagine that he would be strict and demanding, but not unreasonable - after he had a bit of an education with child rearing :) He was firm with Julia in his letter about her schooling.

More stories during the war would be welcome also. You do an excellent job with battle scenes.

You mentioned an epilgue to the this story - that would be a nice finishing touch!

not bad,i have to go on what is the opverall message of it, do i have ot go on, decribe it better!

I'm really enjoying the way things are going in this, and it will be a said day to see it end, which I hope, it doesn't any time soon!