Cover art by Alex Ross
During a “Minds of Tomorrow Summit” in Amsterdam – which failed to invite Doctor Victor von Doom as one of it attendees – Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four reveals his latest project. Too many people have lost their lives in meaningless war, he explains, so he plans on perfecting a new form of time travel in which he can permanently undo mistakes of the past and bring about a better world.
The idea appeals to Doctor Doom, but for him a better world is one in which his home country of Latveria stands supreme. He thus builds his own Doom Engine to rewrite history. His efforts, however, are quickly uncovered by not only the Fantastic Four but the Avengers and X-Men as well. During the subsequent battle, Reed Richards tinkers with the machine, sending Doom’s mind first into a lowly passenger on the ill-fated Titanic and then – in Doomquest #3 – into General George Washington during the Siege of Boston in July 1775.
After the events in Lexington and Concord that ignited the American Revolution, the Second Continental Congress unanimously selected George Washington in June 1775 as commander-in-chief of the newly created Continental Army. Seventeen days later, he arrived on the outskirts of Boston, which had been occupied by British forces under the command of General Thomas Gage since April.
Instead of the twenty-five thousand troops that he had expected, General Washington was greeted by less than fourteen thousand considered fit for duty. The officers serving beneath him, meanwhile, were inexperienced, and even Washington had to admit that he had little knowledge when it came to tactical warfare and the large-scale movements of troops. Rather than immediately engaging the British and freeing Boston, Washington thus decided to bide his time and use it to establish discipline amongst his troops, get a layout of the land, and build a rapport with his officers, enlisted men, and volunteers.
According to Rick Atkinson in his 2019 book The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, one of those volunteers was a young Henry Knox. During the early morning hours of May 10, 1775, a group of New Englanders who called themselves the Green Mountain Boys attacked the British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York and easily overpowered the sleeping redcoats. Knox convinced General Washington to send him to Ticonderoga in mid-November, arriving on December 5. He then secured sixty tons of artillery, attached the weapons to forty-two sleds, survived a blizzard near Albany, and finally ended his seven-hundred-mile journey to Framingham, Massachusetts, in January 1776.
Since Victor von Doom is a student of history as well as science and sorcery, he is aware of how events played out during the original Siege of Boston. Keeping the basics intact, he expands upon the factual history in order bring about a different outcome. Instead of Henry Knox volunteering to travel to Fort Ticonderoga to acquire heavy artillery, for instance, it is Doom as General Washington who makes the suggestion. He then adds a caveat to his orders – Knox is to likewise find the necessary supplies to build a forge, lab, and even larger arsenal.
Once Knox returns from New York, Doctor Doom begins crafting “a weapon more accurate, and more devastating, than anything else on the planet” – a rotary cannon with ample ammunition. He also builds a suit of armor similar to what he wore in his present, albeit heavier and lacking the ability to fly. As General Washington, he then leads his men into battle.
The real George Washington had longed to lead his own men against the British, but with less troops than he had hoped and equipped only with small arms and limited gunpowder, he could only continue to wait. The windfall that Henry Knox brought back from Fort Ticonderoga now provided an opportunity. After his war council unanimously advised against crossing the frozen Charles River to engage the British as he originally proposed, Washington gave the order to clandestinely move the artillery secured by Knox from Farmington to Roxbury and use it against the British.
The first barrage began at 11 p.m. on March 2, 1776, then continued again the next night and the next. That third attack was meant as a distraction so that colonial troops could seize nearby Dorchester and construct a series of fortifications under darkness. When British General William Howe – who replaced Thomas Gage as commander-in-chief in September – discovered what had happened overnight, he immediately began bombing Dorchester. The British guns, however, were too far away to be effective. Combat troops were needed instead, which was exactly what Washington had hoped for – once Howe sent his men to Dorchester, Washington planned on dispatching four thousand of his troops to retake Boston.
Heavy wind, rain, and hail hit Boston that evening and continued through the following morning, delaying any sort of invasion by either side. By the time the storm ended, Howe had realized the folly of the situation and decided to abandon Boston on his own accord. Although the first round of the American Revolution was a conclusive victory for the colonists, Howe and the British would regain the momentum five months later when Washington was forced to retreat from New York City.
Doctor Victor von Doom never had to face General William Howe in New York. The rotary cannon constructed from the artillery seized at Fort Ticonderoga proved too much for the British in Boston to handle, resulting in an American “victory in its purest form – complete, unequivocal, and glorious.” As his men celebrate in a tavern that night, they chant for General Washington to speak. Doom complies, although his words are not what they expected.
“‘The British Empire,’” he begins. “‘The United Colonies.’ They are all the same. You are all the same. You think yourselves exceptional by dint of assuming an identity so new it is still being manufactured. You fool no one. You bicker about taxation, but both your nations pursue the same lies, worship the same gods, commit the same acts of hate over and over again. Or have you stopped kidnapping the men, women, and children from distant shores to force them into labor? My revolution has only just begun. Drink well, for I will bring this revolution to the Empire! Know this – tomorrow, we sail for England. Tomorrow, we sail for Buckingham Palace. Tomorrow, we sail for total victory!”
Flying under a false British flag, Doom and his men do indeed set sail for England, which is ultimately no match for the advanced weapons wielded by the armor-plated General Washington. Holding the crown of King George III in his hands, he announces that the British Empire is now under the control of Greater Latveria. With one final “Long Live Latveria,” the mind of Doctor Doom is then transported to a different time and place as he continues to rewrite history for his better.
Anthony Letizia