On the 26th of January 1808, the NSW Corps, led by Lieutenant George Johnston, and the colony’s most influential colonists (known as the Exclusives), led by John Macarthur, marched to Government House and ‘deposed’ Governor William Bligh for a variety of reasons. This coup, precipitated by months of interpersonal conflict between Bligh and Macarthur, and fears regarding property rights, remains Australia’s only recorded military coup, and the government which Johnston and Macarthur led for 6 months after it remains, in essence, Australia’s only recorded military ‘junta’.
However, history did not have to go this way. An infamous moment during the coup, claimed by Bligh’s many enemies, was that he was found under his bed when the Corps and Exclusives arrived. Bligh states that wherever he was hiding, he was only doing so because he wished to make it to the Hawkesbury region of the colony, where he believed that he could rally hundreds of small-scare colonial farmers to reject the Corps coup.
What if, instead of Bligh being found, he managed to escape those who wished to overthrow him? What if his actions and words instead led to Australia’s first, and only, civil war?
A) Bligh, on horseback, manages to completely slip the grasp of those seeking to overthrow him. By himself, he makes it to the Hawkesbury region, and quickly manages to convince around 800 colonists (who had previously signed a petition thanking him for his service) to rally around him. Bligh’s militia, which he now calls the only true British army on the continent, begins marching towards Sydney.
OR
B) Despite escaping his home, Bligh only manages to make it part of the way to the Hawkesbury before being captured by NSW Corps’ men. However, before being captured, he gets word to loyal colonists of what is happening in Sydney, and they manage to get back to the Hawkesbury with the news. The Corps, alerted to Bligh’s plan, begin marching towards the region on the morning of the 27th, prepared to suppress any potential disobedience against their coup.
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I always felt kind of bad for William Bligh. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he comes off as a jerk, but still, being set adrift in a dinghy kinda sucks. And then getting deposed in the rebellion seems practically like it happening twice! So let’s give him a fighting chance. My vote would be for A.