1 - Part 1
Hello people! I've been a fan of AH.com for a while now, and I felt I should contribute with some ideas of my own. I am a junior in high school about to go into AP testing while simultaneously working towards Eagle in Boy Scouts. I am interested in history, so alternate history seems like a fun challenge. Hopefully, this timeline can go to the present day. I guess I've rambled on too much, so here it goes.
The Pig War
1- Of a Pig and Potatoes
The Pig War was one of the strangest wars ever fought. It began over the disagreement between the United States and the British Empire over their border in the Northwest, specifically the San Juan Islands near Vancouver Island. Both nations claimed the islands, and each sent settlers to the islands to stake their claim. Both nations, however, did not wish to fight a third war in less than a hundred years, so they tried to make Boundary Committees to settle the disagreement. And yet, tensions reached a boiling point, all over a pig. An American farmer, Lyman Cutlar, shot and killed a pig that he found in his yard eating his potatoes. It turned out that the pig was owned by an Irishman, Charles Griffin, with whom Cutlar had lived peacefully with up to that point. While Cutlar offered $10 for compensation, Griffin wanted $100. Cutlar didn’t want to pay that much, as the pig had been transgressing on his land. However, Griffin claimed that it was Cutlar’s duty to keep his potatoes out of the pig. The situation escalated when British officers threatened Cutlar with arrest, after which Cutlar called for American military protection.
The commander of the Department of Oregon sent a force of American troops under Captain George Pickett to the islands. When the British reacted by sending a force of warships to the islands, Pickett said he’d turn the islands into another Bunker Hill. More American and British forces were sent to the island, but no shots were fired, as each force had been given orders to not fire the first shot. The British admiral in the area refused to attack the Americans, not wanting to start a war over a silly issue like a pig (1). However, a group of American settlers took matters into their own hands, and killed a British soldier they claimed had been trying to appropriate supplies from them. Recently, the validity of that story has been put into question, with several other potential causes to the conflict put forward. No matter the cause, by the time American General Winfield Scott arrived to defuse the situation, the San Juan Islands were a warzone. In the face of superior naval forces, the American troops were driven from the islands, losing most of their troops, including George Pickett, to naval gunfire.
The incident was soon resolved in the Vancouver Accords, in which the islands of San Juan and Orcas (and the surrounding isles of Shaw and Blakely) were awarded to the British, while Lopez Island (and the surrounding isles of Decatur and Cypress) were given to the Americans. This was only after a joint Anglo-American surveying team mapped out the islands, though the exact location of the border was still unknown until satellite imaging solved the issue permanently. The incident, while damaging to both nations prestige, showed clearly the resolve the two nations had to prevent another war between them. It also showed to Britain a potential worrying flaw. Britain relied primarily on imports to feed their country, and a major exporter of food was the United States, mainly in grain. In the event of war between the two nations, Britain could be faced with major starvation. France, using the somewhat friendly relations resulting from the Crimean War, offered to replace the United States in imports, even though France was in no way capable of supplying Britain entirely. This was one of the several attempts Napoleon III made to Britain, trying to form a strong alliance to offset the rising power of Prussia. This new alliance would be formalized in the Entente Cordiale in 1874.
One of the other ways Napoleon III cemented his alliance with Britain was in his interventions in Syria and China. Both times, Anglo-French troops fought side by side, furthering the comradeship between the two nations. Napoleon III maintained a very pro-British stance throughout his time as Emperor of the French, refusing to intervene in the American Civil War without British assistance, and constantly seeking British aid for their endeavors across the globe.
(1)- Up to this point, it actually happened.
The Pig War
1- Of a Pig and Potatoes
The Pig War was one of the strangest wars ever fought. It began over the disagreement between the United States and the British Empire over their border in the Northwest, specifically the San Juan Islands near Vancouver Island. Both nations claimed the islands, and each sent settlers to the islands to stake their claim. Both nations, however, did not wish to fight a third war in less than a hundred years, so they tried to make Boundary Committees to settle the disagreement. And yet, tensions reached a boiling point, all over a pig. An American farmer, Lyman Cutlar, shot and killed a pig that he found in his yard eating his potatoes. It turned out that the pig was owned by an Irishman, Charles Griffin, with whom Cutlar had lived peacefully with up to that point. While Cutlar offered $10 for compensation, Griffin wanted $100. Cutlar didn’t want to pay that much, as the pig had been transgressing on his land. However, Griffin claimed that it was Cutlar’s duty to keep his potatoes out of the pig. The situation escalated when British officers threatened Cutlar with arrest, after which Cutlar called for American military protection.
The commander of the Department of Oregon sent a force of American troops under Captain George Pickett to the islands. When the British reacted by sending a force of warships to the islands, Pickett said he’d turn the islands into another Bunker Hill. More American and British forces were sent to the island, but no shots were fired, as each force had been given orders to not fire the first shot. The British admiral in the area refused to attack the Americans, not wanting to start a war over a silly issue like a pig (1). However, a group of American settlers took matters into their own hands, and killed a British soldier they claimed had been trying to appropriate supplies from them. Recently, the validity of that story has been put into question, with several other potential causes to the conflict put forward. No matter the cause, by the time American General Winfield Scott arrived to defuse the situation, the San Juan Islands were a warzone. In the face of superior naval forces, the American troops were driven from the islands, losing most of their troops, including George Pickett, to naval gunfire.
The incident was soon resolved in the Vancouver Accords, in which the islands of San Juan and Orcas (and the surrounding isles of Shaw and Blakely) were awarded to the British, while Lopez Island (and the surrounding isles of Decatur and Cypress) were given to the Americans. This was only after a joint Anglo-American surveying team mapped out the islands, though the exact location of the border was still unknown until satellite imaging solved the issue permanently. The incident, while damaging to both nations prestige, showed clearly the resolve the two nations had to prevent another war between them. It also showed to Britain a potential worrying flaw. Britain relied primarily on imports to feed their country, and a major exporter of food was the United States, mainly in grain. In the event of war between the two nations, Britain could be faced with major starvation. France, using the somewhat friendly relations resulting from the Crimean War, offered to replace the United States in imports, even though France was in no way capable of supplying Britain entirely. This was one of the several attempts Napoleon III made to Britain, trying to form a strong alliance to offset the rising power of Prussia. This new alliance would be formalized in the Entente Cordiale in 1874.
One of the other ways Napoleon III cemented his alliance with Britain was in his interventions in Syria and China. Both times, Anglo-French troops fought side by side, furthering the comradeship between the two nations. Napoleon III maintained a very pro-British stance throughout his time as Emperor of the French, refusing to intervene in the American Civil War without British assistance, and constantly seeking British aid for their endeavors across the globe.
(1)- Up to this point, it actually happened.