No edit summary |
Francesco75 (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 77: | Line 77: | ||
'''Allies:''' |
'''Allies:''' |
||
| + | *[[Adéwalé]] {{C|[[Caribbean Assassins]]}} |
||
*[[Kaniehtí:io]] |
*[[Kaniehtí:io]] |
||
*[[Samuel Adams]] |
*[[Samuel Adams]] |
||
Revision as of 16:20, 17 October 2014
The Colonial Assassins were the Brotherhood of Assassins located in the British colonies of North America, which later became the United States. They were based at the Davenport Homestead in Massachusetts.
During the American Revolutionary War, the Assassins largely supported the colonies' bid for independence and helped them win many battles, though they were not beholden to them, assassinating Templars in the Continental Army or preventing casualties in the British Army.
History
Early history
Not much is known about how or when the Brotherhood was formed. Sometime between 1501 and 1503, the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze sent a group of Assassins to find a map to the New World, and they decided that it would be best to go to the colonies before the Templars overtook them.[1] The British American Brotherhood was subsequently founded by John de la Tour after his arrival to the colonies.[2]
After having been recruited in the 1730s, Achilles Davenport became the Mentor of the Colonial Assassins in 1746. Blessed with a talent for recruitment and organization, Achilles also strengthened the Brotherhood's ties with the Iroquois, and the Kanien'kehá:ka in particular. Around this time period, the Assassins created a Navy to attack Templar ships and ports: their flagship, the Aquila was launched from France in 1749.[2]
Decline
In 1754, the Assassins hired a group of mercenaries to steal a chest owned by the Templar William Johnson, containing his research on the First Civilization sites in the region. A group of Templars led by the newly arrived Haytham Kenway attacked the fort where the research was being held and recovered it. Before departing, Haytham warned a surviving mercenary to inform his masters their time was over. The following year, Achilles lost his wife Abigail and son Connor to typhoid fever, weakening his resolve.[3]
In 1763, the Templars launched an attack on the Assassins in the colonies and the Brotherhood was all but destroyed. All members of the chapter were hunted down and killed, except for Achilles, who was captured and tried by the Templars. However, confident that they had broken his spirit, the Templars set Achilles free on the condition that he abandon the Assassins' cause and live quietly in his manor.[3] Five years later, the Templars destroyed the Aquila, and first mate Robert Faulkner had the ship towed into the Homestead's bay.[2]
Revival
In 1769, the Kanien'kehá:ka boy Ratonhnhaké:ton was directed by Juno to join the Assassins. He convinced Achilles to begin training him after preventing mercenaries from seizing the Davenport Manor, and after a year of training – including how to captain the Aquila with Faulkner as his first mate – Ratonhnhaké:ton joined the Brotherhood. He also invited civilians like Godfrey, Terry and Lance O'Donnell to live and work on the Homestead, providing materials and crafting equipment he would need.[2]
By 1773, Ratonhnhaké:ton – newly dubbed Connor – began to recruit locals and immigrants into the Order, starting with Stephane Chapheau – a chef from Boston during the time that William Johnson had his men exorbitantly tax the people of the city. Both Chapheau and Connor participated in the Boston Tea Party, where they deprived the Colonial Templars of certain funding.[2]
He also recruited Duncan Little and Clipper Wilkinson, after helping them respectively stop a gang terrorizing North Boston and forceful military drafters.[2] Following this, Connor sent his men to stir up rebellion in other colonies, staging tea parties in New Jersey and Maryland.[4]
American Revolution
In 1775, with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the Assassins primarily sided with the Patriots. Initially, they aided in the capture of Fort St-Jean, but soon recognized the people of Quebec did not want independence and worked to prevent the misguided generals Richard Montgomery and William Thompson from conquering Canada. The Assassins also worked to relieve Boston during the city's siege, providing food and protection for civilians while helping Henry Knox transport artillery to Dorchester Heights, ending the British occupation of the city.[4]
The Assassins also came to New York City when Connor was being executed on false charges for a plot to kill George Washington. One of the Assassins fired an arrow, helping to sever the noose, which later allowed Connor to escape and assassinate Thomas Hickey. Afterwards, the city fell to the British despite the Assassins' help in winning the Battle of Harlem Heights.
Around this time, Connor visited and aided Jacob Zenger in ending martial law, and stopped a conspiracy to spread smallpox in the area damaged by the Great Fire with Jamie Colley, further assisting Deborah Carter in ridding the countryside of a Templar merchant hoarding food supplies to later sell them at inflated prices; as a result, the Brotherhood was strengthened greatly by these three recruits.[2]
In 1778, Connor broke ties with Washington after learning that he ordered an attack on Connor's village, and a few days later, the Assassins killed George Dorrance after learning he was responsible for displacing several Iroquois villages. Regardless, the Assassins continued to aid the Patriots as the war shifted to southern colonies like North Carolina and Georgia. They became particularly wary of a dangerous cavalry officer named Banastre Tarleton, and did everything they could to protect American officers who risked engaging him in battle.[4]
The Assassins also remained active up north. Connor aided the French Navy in the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781, allowing him to enlist their help in the attack on Fort George in New York: Stephane, Deborah, Duncan and Jacob came to aid the Marquis de Lafayette in clearing the tunnels to the fort where Charles Lee was hiding. They were also sent to Yorktown, Virginia, where they infiltrated and sabotaged British fortifications to ensure a relatively quick surrender with limited casualties.[2]
The following year, Connor assassinated Charles Lee, who had been attempting to build his own army to surprise the Founding Fathers in the wake of the armistice.[2]
Post-American Revolution
After the resolution of the American Revolutionary War, Connor shifted his efforts towards strengthing the Colonial Brotherhood, in order to bolster the Assassins' presence of the newly liberated colonies.[5]
With this in mind, Connor attempted to recruit Patience Gibbs into the Assassin Order, a marooned slave leader who escaped from her former master, the Templar doctor Edmund Judge. However, Patience's stubborn attitude proved too difficult for Connor to handle, to which he later asked his fellow Brother Aveline de Grandpré from New Orleans to assist, due to her familiarity with and reputation for liberating slaves.[5]
While an arduous process in of itself, Aveline succeeded in this affair, leading to the assassination of Judge and Patience's agreement to join the Assassin Brotherhood, following which the pair traveled to Connor's manor on the Davenport Homestead.[5]
Members
Allies:
- Adéwalé (Caribbean Assassins)
- Kaniehtí:io
- Samuel Adams
- Benjamin Tallmadge, Jr.
- Marquis de Lafayette
- Otho Williams
- Duncan McGill
- Emily Burke
- Fillan McCarthy
- Alsoomse
- Atasá:ta
- John O'Brien
- William de Saint-Prix (French Assassins)
- Aveline de Grandpré (Louisiana Guild)
- Gérald Blanc (Louisiana Guild)