My Steampunk Confederate Victory TL

Here's a timeline I wrote for a world where the Confederacy successfully won the Civil War and steampunk stuff like air pirates became (somewhat) plausible.

Credit belongs to Snake Featherston for the idea of "Super-Perryville" and Abdul Hadi Pasha for pointing out how the Confederacy lacked the tax revenue to fund a really modern battle-fleet.

Here's Snake's Turtledove’s TL-191, where "Super-Perryville" takes place: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=5284211#post5284211

POD: Bragg replaces Johnston in Department of Appalachia (1862)-Bragg is more aggressive against the Union Army of Ohio despite its superior paper strength.

Union Forces Routed at Cumberland Gap (1862)-After this, Morgan’s raiding forces enter Ohio and menace Cincinnati.

Battle of Richmond (1862)-Bragg’s vanguard takes Buell’s army by surprise and routs it. The rout doesn’t stop until the soldiers reach Cincinnati. Major Confederate army enters Kentucky.

Battle of Chaplin Hills (1862)-Incomplete Confederate victory. McCook hit on the flanks and the entire corps flees. George H. Thomas takes command of the remaining 2 corps and holds the line. Buell almost decides to pull back to Cincinnati, but decides not to. The Confederate advance into Kentucky is checked, but this is a massive and humiliating bloody nose for the Union armies.

(Another Confederate victory, this one in the East) (1862)-

France Recognizes the Confederacy (1862)-The French recognize the Confederacy because they view it is the best chance of insuring their puppet dynasty in Mexico survives. The British, feeling the beginning of the cotton famine, follow France’s lead. They demand the end of the blockade and to begin mediation. Between the Confederate victories, Lincoln is forced to concede on the blockade.

(Another battle or two)-

Treaty of Washington (1863)-The U.S. recognizes Confederate independence. West Virginia is detached from Virginia and Kentucky stays with the Union. The Union evacuates New Orleans and other occupied Gulf territory, but retains Miami, whose population is slow and which is close to the pro-Union Florida Keys.

This is the background for a planned novel series, so critique is appreciated.

"The Union evacuates New Orleans and other occupied Gulf territory, but retains Miami, whose population is slow and which is close to the pro-Union Florida Keys."

I didn't think there were that many retirees living in Miami at the time.

David S Poepoe said:

"The Union evacuates New Orleans and other occupied Gulf territory, but retains Miami, whose population is slow and which is close to the pro-Union Florida Keys."

I didn't think there were that many retirees living in Miami at the time.

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Oops. That should be "low."

Good catch.

David S Poepoe said:

"The Union evacuates New Orleans and other occupied Gulf territory, but retains Miami, whose population is slow and which is close to the pro-Union Florida Keys."

I didn't think there were that many retirees living in Miami at the time.

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There was no Miami, and with a POD coming in the 1860's, there may never be a Miami. Just rename it something else.

Enigmajones said:

There was no Miami, and with a POD coming in the 1860's, there may never be a Miami. Just rename it something else.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Miami

Good point. Maybe it'll just be called "Fort Dallas" in TTL.

France Evacuates Mexico (1871)-With the war against Prussia breaking out in Europe and Mexico turning into a running sore, the French evacuate their armies.

Confederacy Offers to Buy Territory from Mexico (1872)-Recovered from the war and seeking to expand their slave empire in Latin America, the Confederacy offers to buy northern Mexican territory from the Hapsburg Emperor. They point out how he doesn’t even control them. Mexico refuses on the grounds that the Confederates will expand slavery into those territories and they’re rightfully HIS anyway. The Mexican Emperor is open to the possibility of selling the territory if slavery is banned there, but the Confederate leadership states that this is illegal under the Confederate Constitution.

Juarista Offensive Begins (1873)-The Juaristas, taking advantage of the French evacuation, begin their victorious march.

Battle of (Where?) (1873)-The Juaristas defeat the Imperial forces (where?).

Battle of (Where?) (1873)-The Juaristas win another battle.

Maximillian Makes a Deal (Date, 1873)-Maximillian agrees to cede several underpopulated northern Mexican states, on the grounds Mexicans are made legal citizens of the Confederacy and not treated as peons or slaves. The Confederates agree.

Confederacy Invades Mexico (Date, 1873)-The Confederacy attacks the Juaristas who they claim are stirring up trouble and accepting slave runaways.

(Events of the war)

End of the Second Mexican War (Date, 1874)-The Confederates stop their advance, having taken most Juarista territory and broken the Juarista army. Maximillian is a liberal at heart and doesn’t want to see Mexico’s people abused by the invading gringos, so he only agrees to cede some of the least-populated states, “selling” this to the Confederacy on the grounds that it will be easier for them to control.

U.S. Purchases Baja California (1875)-Although the U.S. regularly denounces Maximillian as a foreign imposition and a violation of the Monroe Doctrine, that doesn’t stop the United States from buying Baja California. The goal is to have the ability to better interfere in Mexico—use the territory as a base to aid the bloodied but still active Juarista movement—and contain any further Confederate expansionism.

(more content)

Death of Maximillian (1878)-

(more)

Confederate Aid to Spain Begins (1880)-Seeking to help another slave society out, the Confederates begin providing arms and other assistance to the Spanish fighting the Cuban rebels. Confederate soldiers fighting for Spain are rewarded with lands, bringing Confederate-style slavery to the island.

Spain Abolishes Slavery (1895)-

(Location) Massacre (1897)-A bunch of Confederates who have received plantations in Cuba for services rendered during the war attempt to impose too much on their now-free employees. There’s an insurrection and all of the Confederates in the area get massacred. This outrages public opinion in the Confederacy.

Confederacy Attacks Cuba (1897)-Citing how the Spanish have not been able to protect Confederate settlers in Cuba despite the services the Confederates have provided, the Confederate government decides to take of this themselves. They time the declaration of war so it arrives in Spain and Cuba mere minutes before the Confederate fleet arrives. Confederate soldiers land at (location) and (location).

Battle of (Location) (1897)-Although the Confederates were able to advance a substantial distance due to the shock of their arrival and their aggression, here is where the Spanish stop them due to a combination of strong defenses, disease, and Confederate overconfidence.

Battle of (Location) (1897)-The Spanish and Confederate fleets do battle here. The Confederate fleet is outdated and the Spanish fleet, though it’s close, destroys them. Confederate overconfidence doesn’t help here. The Confederate army in Cuba is cut off.

Treaty of (Location) (1898)-With their fleet destroyed, several of their ports either bombarded or blockaded, and their trapped army in Cuba in danger of total collapse, Richmond sues for peace. The Confederacy has to pay massive indemnities to Spain and Spanish citizens and demilitarize Mobile through eastern Florida for 10 years. The Confederate army is evacuated from Cuba and to make the point, the Spanish escort the evacuation fleet very heavily with their own warships.

President (Name) Impeached (1898)-The Confederate Congress impeaches president (name) in an attempt to save themselves from widespread public outrage at what happened. He is quickly convicted and removed from office.

Whigs Sweep Confederate Elections (1899)-Despite the sacrifice of the Confederate president and lots of voter fraud and shenanigans, the Whig Party defeats the Democrats and takes the presidency and Congress. They seek to modernize the Confederacy within constitutional bounds. However, the possibility of slave revolts adds an urgency that further undermines the rule of law.

Confederate Congress Passes (Act?) (19??)-The purpose of this act is to get hold of Texas’s oil in order to spend the $$ on other projects.

Confederate Supreme Court Hears (Act?) (19??)-

Confederate Supreme Court Dissolved (19??)-Fearing the Confederate Supreme Court will rule against (Act?), Confederate President (Name?) dissolves the Supreme Court.

Texas Declares Independence (19??)Texas declares independence from the Confederacy and is immediately recognized by the United States on the condition the new state abolish slavery. Caught by surprise, the Confederate forces in the state are immediately interned.

Mexico Attacks (States?) (19??)-Intending to take revenge at last and reclaim its lost territories, Mexico invades the ex-Mexican Confederate states cut off from the Confederacy proper by the rebellious regime in Texas. The new Mexican Emperor Maximillian II (grandson of Iturbide) hopes a short, victorious war that involves reclaiming Mexican territory will help cement his fragile rule.

Tennessee Counter-Secedes to the Union (19??)-With the Confederacy beginning to break up, the long-suppressed East Tennessee Unionists make their move. They call for a vote to decide to return to the Union and they do. The Confederate government is too weakened to do anything about it, at present.

Virginia Attempts Counter-Secession, Crushed (19??)-Virginia attempts to do the same thing, but the Confederates, seizing on the presence of the national capital there, manage to suppress it by force.

Tex-Mex Treaty (19??)-The Texans cut a deal with the Mexicans. The Mexicans will take back (state) and (state), but the Texans will retain (other states). The remaining ex-Mexican areas will have equality of persons and representation with the other Texan states. The Mexicans, who are beginning to run out of steam, agree.

Confederate “Year of Crisis” Over (19??)-Tennessee, Texas, and ex-Mexico are lost, but Virginia has been prevented from leaving. The slave revolts have been crushed.

Here's the last chunk.

Formation of Confederate Revolutionary Socialist Party (19??)-This is a more classical-leftist party and is explicitly anti-racist. It’s disdained by all but the very poorest white people but does appeal to blacks and the small Hispanic minority.

Formation of Confederate National Socialist Party (19??)-This party appeals to poor whites, especially military veterans. The main thrust of their ideology is to depose the planters and industrialists who dominate the Confederacy and nationalize all slaves, whose labor will be used to provide socialism for white people.

(more content)

Operation (Name) Begins (192?)-In reprisal for air piracy, Union soldiers invade Arkansas. The goal is to annex the entire state and put an end to its use as a raiding base.

The Reannexation War Begins (192?)-The Confederates send troops to defend Arkansas and things quickly spiral out of control. Union soldiers invade Virginia from Maryland and Delaware and Mississippi and Alabama from Tennessee. U.S. President (Name) says the war is going to end with the destruction of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery.

Interesting! This's the first place I've seen the Confederates try to conquer Cuba but lose!

You might want to look up the OTL history of the Confederate Supreme Court. It never actually met - of course, that was during the war, but the attitudes that led to that would give it a very rocky course. Your president's dissolving it is totally plausible.

Evan said:

You might want to look up the OTL history of the Confederate Supreme Court. It never actually met - of course, that was during the war, but the attitudes that led to that would give it a very rocky course. Your president's dissolving it is totally plausible.

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To be fair, I copied that one from TL-191. IIRC Jake Featherston justifies that using a provision from the Confederate Constitution, but I can't remember which one.

Evan said:

Interesting! This's the first place I've seen the Confederates try to conquer Cuba but lose!

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I had it in my Confederate Wank. Also had the Spanish in WW1 and occupying West Florida.

About the novels, this whole thing started from some game I was playing with some friends at DragonCon, the big SF/F/H convention held in Atlanta every year. I'm not going to go into much detail, but it involved steampunk air pirates.

So, how does one get steampunk air pirates? Piracy requires state weakness, but air pirates requires a certain degree of industrialization. However, industrialization isn't going to happen (or at least won't happen much) if there isn't security of property from violence. Faeelin has made the case that the Industrial Revolution would be retarded if the Scots were in the habit of raiding the Midlands.

I was thinking a Confederacy in decline might be one of the few places where air piracy might actually *work.* The Confederacy is more rural, so there are lots of places to hide, there are industrial/proto-industrial centers like Birmingham (Harper's Ferry is lost in TTL) to supply equipment, and the overall "rougher" culture might glorify such things, especially if it's directed at "damn Yankees."

Any thoughts on this rationale?

Two questions. Why does Texas Secede? I'm all for an independent Texas but there wasn't even the slightest explanation why.

Tennessee. It's been at least 40 years of Confederate rule, and you're telling me that pro-Union sentiment is so strong at this point that the state would want to go back to the Union? I would figure after the Confederacy won their independence any hugely pro-Union person would just leave for the Union. And those that stayed by now are old, and presumably outnumbered by their children and grandchildren who have no firsthand knowledge of a Union Tennessee, and growing up in the Confederacy, probably don't care about rejoining the Union.

Actually, the explanation is there--the Confederate government was illegally trying to steal oil money for internal improvements elsewhere in the Confederacy.

(The Confederate Constitution specifically forbade that.)

About East Tennessee, that's the tricky part. As you said, East Tennessee Unionists would flee after the war.

However, the song "Marching Through Georgia" makes references to "Union men" weeping upon seeing the Stars and Stripes for the first time in years and (I'm told) during the dying days of the Soviet Union, there were people who flew the 1917 Russian Republic flag.

Furthermore, if the Confederate government is particularly dysfunctional, the children and grandchildren who don't remember the Union might think it's still a better idea than a sclerotic Confederacy that's starting to break down.

MerryPrankster said:

Actually, the explanation is there--the Confederate government was illegally trying to steal oil money for internal improvements elsewhere in the Confederacy.

(The Confederate Constitution specifically forbade that.)

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Ah yes, while that is a good reason it wasn't mentioned in the line about Texas Seceding, so I didn't connect that to being the reason.

However, the song "Marching Through Georgia" makes references to "Union men" weeping upon seeing the Stars and Stripes for the first time in years and (I'm told) during the dying days of the Soviet Union, there were people who flew the 1917 Russian Republic flag.

Furthermore, if the Confederate government is particularly dysfunctional, the children and grandchildren who don't remember the Union might think it's still a better idea than a sclerotic Confederacy that's starting to break down.

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If this is all, any other state is just as likely to secede. That is, probably not very likely. And those people who waved the 1917 Russian Republic Flag were not being absorbed by another country, but were merely changing government types.

AtriumCarceris said:

If this is all, any other state is just as likely to secede. That is, probably not very likely. And those people who waved the 1917 Russian Republic Flag were not being absorbed by another country, but were merely changing government types.

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The "northern tier" states were the ones that joined after Fort Sumter, so there was probably less enthusiasm there than in the Deep South. I don't recall Unionist insurgencies in, say, Alabama.

Although the Confederacy's failings will in TTL make the public more receptive to reannexation, there's still been 70-odd years of separate development and that'll lead to Confederate nationalism at least in some quarters.

MerryPrankster said:

The "northern tier" states were the ones that joined after Fort Sumter, so there was probably less enthusiasm there than in the Deep South. I don't recall Unionist insurgencies in, say, Alabama.

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Unionists came from all over, even Alabama.

MerryPrankster said:

Actually, the explanation is there--the Confederate government was illegally trying to steal oil money for internal improvements elsewhere in the Confederacy.

(The Confederate Constitution specifically forbade that.)

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Really?! The Confederate Government is going to 'nationalize' in a sense Texas oil money? That sort of act wouldn't even seen light of day outside of a congressional subcommittee since it would violate states' rights - not just of one but potentially others.

Why wouldn't the Whigs simply introduce and try to pass an amendment?

David S Poepoe said:

Really?! The Confederate Government is going to 'nationalize' in a sense Texas oil money? That sort of act wouldn't even seen light of day outside of a congressional subcommittee since it would violate states' rights - not just of one but potentially others.

Why wouldn't the Whigs simply introduce and try to pass an amendment?

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Rule of law isn't a CSA strength.