Providence Rebellion

Providence Rebellion
Part of The Collapse of the United States
Date 10 March to 15 April 1980 Location Various New England Cities, mostly Providence Result Commonwealth Victory, Liberal Democracy Survives, Communist Party banned Territorial changes New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania join the Commonwealth
Belligerents
United Commonwealth (Hartford Convention)	Revolutionaries • Providence • Worcester	Eastern Emergency Government
Commanders and leaders
George Patton IV	Unknown	Various Local Officers
Strength
~10000	~5000	~2000
Casualties and losses
~200 killed ~315 wounded ~35 MIA	~350 killed ~300 wounded 1093 captured 10 executed ~97 MIA	~75 killed ~1500 captured

The Providence Rebellion was a military campaign and internal conflict in the early days of the Commonwealth. The fighting was a direct result of the New England States' secession from the United States. The fighting was waged mainly between Commonwealth and Far-Left forces, although Federal Loyalists were also involved.

Background

See Also: Collapse of the United States

In the year after the Three Mile Island meltdown, witnessing the evacuation to of the US government to the west and suspension of American democracy by a military committee, most states beyond the rockies began to rarely get any aid or support at all, with New England getting much of its aid from the United Kingdom and Canada. Politics in the region, like the rest of the country, became increasingly polarized. Loyalists, Independence groups, Socialists, Revolutionaries, Counter-revolutionaries both left and right, and others regularly fought each other in the streets, with Boston resident C. Clavin comparing it to "Berlin in 32". By March, with the one year anniversary of the meltdown approaching, the 6 New England states met in the Hartford Convention, proclaiming their unilateral secession. The secession had effectively lit the fuse for the coming events.

Rebellion

Provisional Government established

In the morning hours of March 9th, the Communist Party, which had grown to a staggering number of members in the past year, called for a general strike across the new nation. On the tenth, revolutionary militias launched an attack on Providence, storming the state government and attempting to force governor Joseph Garrahy to proclaim his loyalty to the revolution after learning of his intention to meet with the Soviet government on arms reduction before the secession. Outwardly refusing, Garrahy was taken hostage by the revolutionaries. On the 11th, Provisionals seized the WPRO radio station, and began broadcasting orders for a general rising. On the 12th, red militias overtook Worcester.

Worcester Commune

See Also: Battle of Fort Devens

Extremely ill-equipped and inexperienced yet filled with revolutionary fervor, the Worcester Provisional Government ordered a direct assault on Leominster, with revolutionary militias marching north and taking the city with little to no resistance. Having no contact with Providence, the WPG continued their march, seizing Fitchburg and Lunenburg by the 16th. The newly established New Englander government began scrambling for a response, and General George S. Patton IV offered his services to the Hartford Convention on the 17th, despite his intentions on retiring. As the WPG, now reformed into the Worcester County Provisional Government, or WCPG, was in desperate need of supplies and began preparing a raid on nearby Fort Devens. Knowing the fort was itself heavily undermanned after the local garrisons either defected, went AWOL, or were moved back west, and was essentially under the command of around 100 New Englanders, the WCPG decided an assault on the fort was practical. The fort, seeing the Red advance, knew full well they were the obvious next target. On the 20th of March, pacifist socialist David Elwell was sent to negotiate the peaceful surrender of the fort, which was flatly denied by the fort's commander, William McAuliffe, responding "I believe every man here would rather die than see this new union, or the old one, for that matter, ever be under the jackboot of the reds." Against overwhelming odds, the small garrison of Devens held out all of the 21st under constant fire, barricading themselves in the various buildings and swiftly constructed defenses. By the 22nd, the garrison fell back to the larger brick barracks as the revolutionaries seized the fort's supply depots. A second offer of surrender was given on the 23rd, to which now acting commander John Henderson responded by ushering the red dignitary into the next room and bashing him with his rifle. The Revolutionaries, now in possession of three artillery cannons from the fort, opened a close-range barrage on the barracks, blowing the building into rubble. Of the 100 or so men defending the fort, only 3 survived, one of which was executed by revolutionaries after the demolition. The battle became the deadliest single engagement of the uprising.

Loyalist Coup

As word of the failures in the west reached the Hartford convention, a garrison of the Massachusetts national guard at Otis Air Base in Cape Cod proclaimed a "Loyalist Government in the East", crossing the Cape Cod Canal and beginning a drive for Boston, hoping to oust the Hartford Convention. Driving further north, the Naval Air Station in Weymouth was overtaken by a second loyalist force, which linked up with the Otis force further north outside of Boston. As the two units moved further, now numbering nearly 2000 men strong, the defense of Boston was established primarily by militia units initially until national guard units loyal to the convention reinforced the defense. From the South, General Patton's rag-tag forces moved to cut off the main roadways, essentially trapping the loyalist forces in Quincy. Approximately 1500 men surrendered to Commonwealth forces, with some offering services against the communists and defecting. Around 50 men attempted to flee via the Fore river, which were blocked at the entrance and killed.

Drive Against Worcester and Last Stand

After the victory against the coup plotters and complete inaction from Providence, the army corps of General Patton prepared a counterattack west, forcing the retreat of revolutionary forces back to Worcester, who were further forced to go on the run to Providence. Much of the force was routed at the Battle of the Blackstone River, with only around 380 men retreating to Providence, where the city was further fortified as Patton's army approached. On the Morning of April 12th, fliers were dropped over the city, encouraging surrender. When no word came, the Commonwealth issued a message on all TV and Radio stations, calling for the city to "cast off the yoke of Tyranny', and that the "region that birthed the democratic revolution would not die to an undemocratic one." At 12:00 PM, the first artillery barrage began, and Commonwealth forces entered the city, clearing street by street in hand to hand urban combat, with the revolutionary forces fighting to the last. As the tide had turned, a detachment of Minutemen entered the cell where Governor Garrahy had been kept for the past month, took him out back and was reportedly prepared to execute the governor before a single minuteman took his rifle and blindly fired into his own squad, allowing the governor to flee to rapidly approaching commonwealth forces. In three days, the rebel force surrendered unconditionally to General Patton.

Aftermath

See Also: Formation of the United Commonwealth

After the restoration of order over Providence and Worcester, the Rhode Island state government was restored to its position. The leaders of the rebellion were tried, all lined up for treason. Six of the ten rebel leaders were executed, four were imprisoned, and the loyalist officers were mostly acquitted. Most general militia members were also acquitted, though barred from military service. The less radical socialist groups we allowed to conditionally enter the political scene of the new nation, though the Communist Party was banned outright. Providence, bearing the most destruction despite comparatively less combat to Worcester, became the namesake of the uprising and saw martial law temporarily imposed for six months after the rebellion.

Five days after the end of the uprising, on April 20th, the state governments of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania declared their unilateral secession from the United States and requested admission to the United Commonwealth in the Albany Declaration. After two weeks, the Hartford Convention ratified the official admission of the states and the proclamation of the United Commonwealth of America.