Death of a Republic (A monarchical USA timeline)

How is the timeline so far?

  • It's good

    Votes: 198 64.9%
  • It's ok

    Votes: 61 20.0%
  • It's bad

    Votes: 3 1.0%
  • It's really bad

    Votes: 2 0.7%
  • It's gone to the Alien Space Bats

    Votes: 41 13.4%

  • Total voters
    305

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Will "Washington" become the official name of the capital while "Fair Haven" becomes a somewhat rebellious unofficial name? Something like the situation with Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon?

EDIT: And now that the federal government has begun paying states... What is its plan to handle the states' wartime debts?

Washington will be the name of both the district and the actual city that will be established in the city. Fair Haven will have a special relationship with the Federal District of Washington.

And the war debts will be absorbed by a national debt, but how they will be paid off will be slightly differently. Because of the British Blockade, tariffs might be seen less warmly but at the same time most possible taxes are likely to spark an equivalent of OTL's Whiskey Rebellion only worse.
 

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Hello everyone, news. I have to retcon something real quick: It is Rumson, not Fair Haven that the F.D. of Washington has engulfed and provoked the secession of. Nothing different in what chunk of land becomes the Federal District, the two towns are only about 1-2 miles apart. The reason for the retcon is simply that I confused the two somehow, and it is Rumson, not Fair Haven that exists in 1792.

Also, I've been slowly remaking the various flags that will show up, so here's another spoiler but in flag form. While I intend on posting them after I finish an update on the "Title War," I'm going to make flags for the States, a few cities and some Legionary flags too. Expect a flag update eventually.

Конфедерация российских регулируемых республик.png

The firebird isn't 100% the design I would like (it's a tad overdetailed), but while I can do a decent Photoshop job, I can't draw to save my life, so it is the best for now.
 
Murmurs of Breton Independence

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Hello everybody, I am back again. Sorry it took a bit, I lost my notes on France with the computer crash, and I've just gotten back to college, so I've been pretty busy. Anywho, here's an update on the French Civil War which is slowly approaching its end.

"I have tried to lift France out of the mud. But she will return to her errors and vomitings. I cannot prevent the French from being French."
--Adam Philippe.

By late March, 1789, the relative calm that had arisen following the Disaster of Dijon came to an end as the Conseillères went on the offensive. Planning to exploit the Disaster and their newfound religious support, the Conseillères consolidated their forces and planned a single, rapid-strike attack on Paris to keep the loyalists from successfully regrouping and hopefully overwhelming them in a single blow. Commanding the Conseillères Army was the competent Victor-François, the Duc de Broglie.

When the news reached Paris, the loyalists weren’t quite caught off guard, but it was not the best of situations. The loyalist plan had been to attack with three somewhat smaller armies in different regions in the hopes of overstretching the Conseillères forces. The three armies had been dispersed across France by this point with the first army in Paris, the second in Nancy and the third in Nantes. With the large Conseillères force speeding north in the hopes of catching one of the armies alone, the Parisian army and the Nancy Army set out to consolidate near Troyes.

The loyalists found some unexpected luck as the Conseillères were slowed down by disruptions from anti-Conseillères forces, allowing for the Parisian and Nancy armies to meet in the village of Montreuil-sur-Barse, about ten miles southeast of Troyes. After consolidating, the loyalist army began moving south in pursuit of the Conseillères army.

On March 29th, just north of the village of Vix (about halfway between Troyes and Dijon), the loyalist and Conseillères armies would meet and once again the loyalist army would be defeated. The Conseillères would be unable to achieve total victory; a combination of loses from the Battle and exhaustion from the march north left the Conseillères army too fatigued to follow up the victory, allowing the loyalist army to escape largely intact.

In the west however, news that the loyalist army had yet again been defeated triggered violence in Brittany. While the re-establishment of the sovereign Duchy of Brittany had been declared after the Battle of Dijon, the Bretons hadn't actually taken up arms against King Louis, and Nantes had actually been retaken without fighting. Had the Battle of Vix gone in a different direction, Brittany would likely have come directly back into the fold. With the loyalists in retreat even more, and the abolishing of provincial privileges, Brittany finally rose in revolt on April 12th as a mixture of militia and citizenry attacked the loyalist army in Nantes. Caught off guard, the army was pushed out of Nantes. While initially laying siege to the city, the loyalist army was eventually ordered east to partake in the defense of Paris.

While the Conseillères weren't able to achieve total victory at Vix, after regrouping, the Conseillères army continued its slow march north towards Paris, hounded the whole way by loyalist irregulars waging a petite guerre. On April 1st, the Conseillères finally arrived at Melun, a town on the bank of the Seine and only a eight-hour march from Paris. It was here, in an evacuated convent on the Île Saint-Etienne in the Seine that the loyalist army had holed up. The presence of the loyalist army in Melun left the Duc de Broglie with a problem. The loyalist army was able to be easily kept bottled up on the island and thus the path to Paris was open, however leaving the loyalist army behind him would allow for the loyalist armies to attack his already strained supply train. And so, the Conseillères settled in to break the loyalist army.

The Siege of the Île Saint-Etienne would be a high water mark for the Conseillères. While the Duc de Broglie was initially confident that the demoralized loyalist army would collapse if just a small amount of pressure was applied, the loyalist army withstood three attempts by the Conseillères to take the bridges onto the island, inflicting heavy damages on the Conseillères in the process. With the failure to gain a toehold on Saint-Etienne, the Duc de Broglie settled into sieging the island, hoping to starve the island out. At first, this plan saw success; the bridge on the loyalist-held left bank was rendered useless on April 3rd when an attempt to resupply the loyalists’ supplies of powder was bombarded by the Conseillères. The resulting explosion destroyed much of the central section of the bridge and subsequent damage from bombardment left the bridge too structurally damaged to be repaired even after the French Civil War ended.

For nearly a week, the Siege went smoothly for the Conseillères, however on the early morning of April 7th, loyalist irregulars struck, spiking nearly half of the Conseillères’ artillery under the cover of darkness. The loss of artillery broke the siege enough to allow for resupply via boat from the left bank, leaving the two armies at an impasse, at least until April 25th. On April 25th, the army from Nantes as well as nearly twenty thousand soldiers who had been assembled due to fears that the Conseillères were going to march straight on Paris, arrived in Melun, and (somewhat unexpectedly) collided the Conseillères. Commanding the loyalist army was the new head of the French Army, the disciplined and popular Adam Philippe, the Comte de Custine.

Less than four hours after Custine arrived in Melun, the fighting was over with the Conseillères in full retreat. Paris was no longer under threat, and loyalist victory neigh inevitable to be the outcome of the Civil War. However, the war was not over yet, and while the loyalists might win, France could still lose.
 
Céspedes vs Walton vs Céspedes

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
It's update time, and after 11 months, I am finally talking about Florida again! Hopefully, this time the server won't crash minutes after I post.



Florida is a crazy place...
--Henry Rollins


In early 1787, East Florida was teetering on the brink of crisis. George Walton, the leader of the various American refugees who had fled the New African slave rebellion, had forced the Governor of the colony, Vicente Manuel de Céspedes y Velasco, to keep the colony open to American refugees. In response, Governor Céspedes requested troops from the Captain-General of Cuba, José Manuel de Ezpelet.

Captain-General Ezpelet was, to say the least, frustrated at the request. Not only had Governor Céspedes allowed thousands of American protestants into East Florida, but he had allowed them to overtake the Spanish authority! Ezpelet wasn’t about to take this sitting down, and the field marshal turned Captain-General intended to personally ensure the safety of East Florida. Thus, after two months of preperation, Captain-General Ezpelet departed Havana with slightly more than three thousand soldiers. Ezpelet was “going to put down the fool Walton like the rabid dog he is.”

Unfortunately for Ezpelet, three thousand troops were more troops than St. Augustine could support. As both Walton and Governor Céspedes were rapidly discovering, East Florida was running out of foodstuffs. The unexpected arrival of thousands of Georgians during the winter had strained East Florida’s food situation and by the time Ezpelet’s troops arrived in June, the political crisis had been set aside to prevent famine. Ezpelet’s troops represented an already over-sized army for the Floridas, but this was too much. Governor Céspedes, alarmed by the prospect of feeding such a large army, demanded that the Captain-General send most of his army back to Cuba. Ezpelet refused, but Ezpelet was also no fool and would make arrangements to secure food and other supplies from Cuba.

Ezpelet’s army did wonders to stabilize Florida as when the Captain-General led half of his army north to New Savannah, Walton and his followers backed down, with Walton and near the entire population publicly converting to Catholicism and swearing allegiance to the Spanish Crown. Despite his boasts that he would execute Walton, Ezpelet found himself charmed by the Georgian. Leaving behind a garrison of two hundred of his soldiers in New Savannah, the Captain-General would be satisfied with Walton’s oath of allegiance and return to Havana, believing he had stopped a rebellion before it even occured. Ezpelet’s Cuban army, on the other hand, would remain garrisoned throughout East Florida under the command of Colonel Raul Estrada, eroding the goodwill of the Spanish population of East Florida and slowly losing strength to disease and desertion.

During late August, a smallpox outbreak tore through East Florida, mostly harming Ezpelet’s troops in no small part due to the poor quality of both the housing and provisions that could be provided in Florida. By September, a quarter of the Cuban army had either died from disease or deserted. The rate of desertion exploded on September 12th, when Colonel Raul Estrada died from smallpox. These deserters fled into the interior of Florida where they would join with other deserters in the “Ejército Verde” which marauded both natives and settlers under the direction of the former private Teódulo Ochoa.

Within days, Governor Céspedes finally had enough. On September 16th, Ezpelet demanded the Cubans return to Cuba. Colonel Agustín Céspedes (no relation), the new commander of the garrison refused to take action unless ordered by Ezpelet. And Ezpelet wasn’t backing down; after all there was an army of raiders lurking in the region and the settlements needed protection. So Governor Céspedes did the only thing he could do; appeal to the Viceroy of New Spain, Manuel Antonio Flórez. Flórez had heard scattered reports of what was going on in Florida, but upon learning the full details of the situation, Flórez did the only logical thing to do: kick the problem up the curb to the King.

Unfortunately, this meant that the situation in Florida continued to fester. In contrast to Colonel Estrada who at least attempted to keep his men in line, Colonel Céspedes was unfortunately lax with discipline amongst his remaining troops. While this did keep his soldiers’ morale high, and caused desertions to slacken, it provoked the population of East Florida.

It wasn’t until April 14th that the King’s response arrived in Havana in the form of Ezpelet’s sacking. The replacement Captain-General, Domingo Cabello, the former (and controversial) governor of Texas wasn’t as stubborn with his first act in office being to sack Colonel Céspedes and put a more competent replacement. Captain-General Cabello would not however remove the garrisons from East Florida. Britain and Spain were at war yet again, and Britain would likely try to retake Florida. Cabello wasn’t about to let Britain occupy the various territories of the Captaincy-General of Cuba as they had in the Seven Years War.

Unfortunately for Captain-General Cabello, this was the worst answer he could have given the Floridians. Governor Céspedes reached out to George Walton to form an alliance with Georgians. While Céspedes wasn’t about to declare independence, he needed the support of the refugees to force the Cuban army to return to Cuba. On April 19th, Governor Céspedes met with Colonel Céspedes as the Colonel prepared to return to Havana and demanded that the Colonel take seven hundred of the remaining eleven hundred Cuban soldiers with him. Colonel Céspedes refused, only to find himself arrested by militiamen under the Governor’s command. While a few soldiers in the garrison did resist, the mixture of Spanish and New Savannahan militiamen were able to disarm the confused Cuban soldiers with ease.

In New Savannah, Walton’s attempt to remove the garrison proved troublesome as the garrison troops had constructed a small fort and refused to come out. For six days, the fort was “under siege” although no aggressive action was taken by either side during this time. The siege finally broke when Governor Céspedes arrived in New Savannah and managed to negotiate their departure. With the departure of the New Savannahan garrison, East Florida was finally free of the soldiers that Governor Céspedes had requested for the previous year. But, while Céspedes had finally managed to secure his administration from the threat of the American refugees, East Florida was in a significantly less stable position than it was when the Americans were threatening to topple it.
 
Lovely to see more on Florida, will we stick around for how this plays out?

I am guessing the Captain General will declare Florida in Rebellion, and this will spiral out of control. I wonder, will this Walton be declared Emperor of Florida?
 

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Lovely to see more on Florida, will we stick around for how this plays out?

I am guessing the Captain General will declare Florida in Rebellion, and this will spiral out of control. I wonder, will this Walton be declared Emperor of Florida?

I'm actually planning on the next update being on Florida as well. And George Walton won't be the emperor, but his son, George Walton II, on the other hand...
 
  1. How much of West Florida will Florida own? Given that American control over the territory now known in OTL as Mississippi and Alabama is more theoretical than anything I think they could get a favorable border there.
  2. Is New Savannah going to be Florida’s Capital? I like the idea of a prominent city being named “Georgetown” for Walton.
 
A Tale of Two Floridas

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Buenos Noches everyone, sorry for the long wait yet again and for not responding to your comments. I had hoped to get this next chapter done quickly, however, I've been kinda stuck writing and rewriting it. In fact, I've got another update on Florida coming real soon because of all of what I just couldn't finish yet, but I'll probably jump somewhere else first then back to Florida. Nevertheless, the next part of the East Floridan adventures of George Walton are here, now with 200% more flags!

Also, real quick, I'll answer those questions.

  1. How much of West Florida will Florida own? Given that American control over the territory now known in OTL as Mississippi and Alabama is more theoretical than anything I think they could get a favorable border there.
  2. Is New Savannah going to be Florida’s Capital? I like the idea of a prominent city being named “Georgetown” for Walton.

1. This was why I didn't answer the questions earlier, I had hoped to answer it with this update. West Florida won't snag much, but the Ejército Verde will play a vital role in the disputed regions.
2. New Savannah will be the Capital, but it's going to be renamed Waltonia in honor of Mr. Walton. Georgetown is a good name too though, I'm nicking it for something else in Florida.

What’s the current scoop on good old Gilbert I?

I've jumped a bit back in time, so at this point he's still the Marquis de Lafayette. But, Prince Gilbert will play a role in Floridan affairs soon enough.


And, on with the update!


"This damned land is hardly worth fighting over. I'd sell my crown for a shilling if somebody would actually be willing to buy it."
--George Walton II

When the Cuban garrison returned to Havana on May 3rd, Captain-General Cabello was deep in hot water. Cabello had been transferred to Cuba from Texas, and during his governorship of Texas Cabello had abused his position and it was coming back to bite him. Those who had suffered his abuse had taken their protests to Viceroy of New Spain Flórez, leaving Cabello under a lot of scrutiny. When the Cuban garrison returned, Cabello knew that he would likely suffer the blame as many of the grievances listed by the East Floridans resembled those of the Texans.

And so, Cabello did arguably the only thing he could do: quitely shelve the issue for a later date. However, for as much as both Cabello and Céspedes were happy just forgetting about the whole affair, and for four months, they were successful. However, Viceroy Flórez wasn’t able to be kept in the dark indefinitely.

When the Viceroy heard of what happened, it came in a distorted manner. Flórez believed that Walton had seized total control of East Florida and was holding Céspedes hostage. Fearing that Walton might turn East Florida over to the British, Viceroy Flórez sent 300 regular soldiers from New Spain to East Florida. As for Cabello, Flórez would formally request his replacement but otherwise took no action in response to Cabello’s failures.

News of the Viceroy’s army arrived in St. Augustine through rumours brought by a trader six days before their arrival however their intent was misunderstood. Governor Céspedes was informed that the army was coming to arrest him for treason. Céspedes was distraught and horrified, Céspedes was always loyal to Spain and had done what was in his eyes the best he could do to serve King and Country. Devastated and out of his right mind, Céspedes was swayed by Walton to allow for New Savannahan militia to “defend” Céspedes from false arrest.

When the Viceroy’s army arrived in St. Augustine on September 11th, there was confusion about the actual state of affairs. The Cross of Burgundy, the longstanding symbol of Spain’s Empire flew in the city and yet as the troops began to disembark, it became obvious that the militiamen in the city were Americans not Spanish. The events which actually started the fight between the Americans and Viceroyal soldiers are unknown, Spanish accounts claim that an American fired upon the Spanish soldiers unprovoked, while American accounts claim that one of the Viceroy’s soldiers struck an American militiaman, prompting the exchange of blows that rapidly boiled over into fighting between the two groups.

Regardless whether it was an American or Spanish soldier who provoked the fighting, the American militia and Spanish army clashed and the Viceroy’s troops drove the Americans out of the city, however the Americans held the Castillo de San Marcos, the principal fort in the city. Governor Céspedes surrendered to the Viceroyal army, only to discover that they had been sent to “save” Governor Céspedes. Disgusted at how George Walton had successfully led him on, Governor Céspedes would resign from his post.

George Walton on the other hand had just started. When the Viceroyal army tried to attack the
Castillo de San Marcos, the New Savannahans not only managed to fend them off, but actually push the Spanish troops back. The Spanish army would attack three more times, being thrown back time until finally surrendering, after which the remaining two hundred and fifty Viceroyal troops were allowed to return to New Spain. Governor Céspedes would flee with them. After the fighting ended, George Walton would give a speech in the town square, given in both English and Broken Spanish, where he would declare Spain’s rule over. Denouncing the Spanish governance as tyrannical and corrupt, Walton would declare the establishment of the Sovereign Republic of East Florida with himself as the Rector of the Republic. Tearing down the Cross of Burgundy, Walton hoisted the new country’s flag. The Floridan War of Independence had begun.

Walton’s first act during this period was to reach out to Teódulo Ochoa and his Ejército Verde in preparation to an invasion of West Florida. Walton offered Ochoa the leadership of West Florida if Ochoa and the Ejército Verde joined in the invasion of West Florida. Ochoa accepted readily, and on September 16th Ochoa would declare himself the Rector of the Republic of West Florida in St. Augustine. After an additional week of preparation, the Ejército Verde and four hundred East Floridans would begin their expedition to cross Florida to take Pensicola, the capital of West Florida. Thanks to the skills of the Ejército Verde troops, the expedition was surprisingly successful at crossing through Florida, crossing the Apalachicola River into West Florida on October 8th, and arriving at Pensacola on October 21st. The Governor of West Florida, Arturo O'Neill was severely ill, and the planned interim replacement, Francisco Cruzat, had been captured as a part of British operations during the Great Dutch War. Thus, with a bedridden and seriously ill governor, the colony’s administration was in shambles and surrendered readily to Ochoa.

Under normal conditions, Viceroy Flórez would have responded swiftly and firmly to such a rebellion. However, as the Great Dutch War continued to rage on, the Viceroy had his hands full with fending off the British and the two Republics were able to consolidate without risk. With little communication between the two Rectors, the Floridan Republics developed dramatically differently. East Florida formed a legislative branch with the new Senate holding elections for Senators in November, and an election for Rectorship in December which Walton won handily. The twelve member Senate was entirely Waltonite except for the Spanish loyalist Juan Zespedes, and on Walton’s orders, would draft the Constitution of the Republic through the winter. West Florida on the other hand functioned as a stratocratic dictatorship with Ochoa as absolute leader of the fledgling Republic. No constitution or legislature was established for the Republic of West Florida.

Both Walton and Ochoa maintained a cautious optimism over their position as the months wore on and no sign of Spanish retaliation arrived. Ochoa is known to have speculated that West Florida was too poor and remote for the Spanish to bother with a serious military excursion, and considered sending envoys to Viceroy Flórez to seek peace. However, on a hot, humid day in late August, Walton was alerted to the sighting of warships near St. Augustine. Fearing the Spanish were arriving to retake the city, Walton mustered the New Savannahan militia and marched to St. Augustine, determined to defend his Republic. But, much to Walton’s surprise, it wasn’t the Cross of Burgundy or the Red-Gold banner being flown by the newcomers. No, the Union Jack flew proudly from the two ships. Britain had come to reclaim her Floridan colonies from Spain.
 
Well it looks like the Waltons are destined for greatness whether they like it or not. I get the feeling Walton may be amiable to accept a British rule but will get denied somehow.

I get the feeling West Florida will not last.
 
I do wonder which characteristics of West Florida will end up integrated into the structure of the United Floridian Empire. Could it maintain political or legal autonomy, if Ochoa's retinue or successors get the time to build up West Florida's institutions?
 

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Well it looks like the Waltons are destined for greatness whether they like it or not. I get the feeling Walton may be amiable to accept a British rule but will get denied somehow.

I get the feeling West Florida will not last.

Walton certainly will be a "friend" of Britain. But, timing is going to be important here. Britain makes peace with Spain in a month, but the colonies won't know that for a few months after.



I do wonder which characteristics of West Florida will end up integrated into the structure of the United Floridian Empire. Could it maintain political or legal autonomy, if Ochoa's retinue or successors get the time to build up West Florida's institutions?


West Florida will remain fairly autonomous throughout Florida's history. It's remote enough from the capital that without a telegraph system or something similar, direct rule from New Savannah isn't practical.

And Ochoa will be very important in West Floridan history.
 

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Hello everyone! I just realized that I forgot to upload the flags from last update, so I've decided to rectify this situation. Also, I'm over halfway done with the next update (which will likely be a bit shorter), so there will be an update soon.


Flags:

east-florida.png

west-florida.png


So, the flag of West Florida at the moment is the same as the flag of the Ejercito Verde and is just a solid green flag, but the Ejercito will start adding the six pointed star to their flag soon after an important event.

a-new-challenger.png
 
Red Crosses on the Coast

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Oh boy, this update was probably both the darkest and most fun update to write. Anyone who has even a passing interest in Native American cultures, I recommend reading up on the Miskito people. They have such a unique history!

Anywho, on with the update. And, as some might have guessed from yesterday's spoiler, its on the Red Crosses.



"The Red Crosses watered their Perfect Society in blood, and paved its roads with bones. If King George hadn’t signed the Treaty and instead expelled them when they were few, perhaps all of this misery could have been averted."
--George Dilton, first Rector of the Republic of Miskito, 2033


Benjamin Meiners arrest was the first of dozens of arrests of Red Cross members across the southern United States. While Southern planters had intended to break the Red Crosses, the arrests only radicalized the Red Crosses. While in prison, Meiners began to write of a “Negroid Power” that he believed had seized control of the Southern states, claiming that the free black population and the southern planter elite were conspiring to spread “Negro Savagery” across the whole of the American continent.

While Meiners was obviously delusional, his message spread rapidly amongst the southern lower classes, particularly amongst the white Carolinians who had fought in the New African slave rebellion. And one man, William Blount, seized upon a plan to both combat Britain and support the Red Crosses. Blount was a part of the North Carolinian assembly, which prevented his arrest despite him being a major member of the North Carolinian Red Crosses, and had used his position to secure large tracts of land in the North Carolinian territories west of Franklin. With a decent amount of money to his name, Blount bought ships and supplies to launch filibusters against Britain. While officially Blount’s plan was to “distract” Britain in an attempt to force an end to the blockade that was crippling the American economy, Blount had a darker motive as well: the Red Crosses could seize control of the territories and create “model societies” that would “prove” the Red Crosses ideology correct. In Blount’s mind, this would shatter any influence the “Negroid Power” had over the southern states and allow the Red Crosses to hold sway across the whole South.

Blount’s filibuster plans would be set into motion when on April 14th, 1792, the first expedition was launched. 176 men under the command of Job Redman departed intending on striking British Honduras. However, a run in with a British ship near British Honduras led to the filibusters seeking refuge in Trujillo in Spanish Honduras. It was here that the filibusters discovered that the remains of the British protectorate over the Mosquito Coast was a potentially easier target. Officially, the protectorate had ended in 1786 and the British settlers were to be evacuated, however with the Great Dutch War pitting Spain and Britain against each other and the Floridan crisis keeping tensions between the two nations high, the settlers remained but were growing increasingly unruly as the Spanish government attempted to assert control over the region. In addition, the native Miskito people were well known for being resistant to Spanish rule, making an alliance against the Spanish a serious potential.

Thus, the filibusters turned their sights on the Mosquito Coast, first seizing the town of Black River roughly seventy-five miles east of Trujilo on May 6th, then proceeding to the former capital of the protectorate, Bluefields, bloodlessly seizing it on June 24th. It was here that Redman would proclaim the Republic of Mosquito with himself as a General of the Republic and both Meiners and Blount as Directors. The new republic was extremely fragile, but the Red Crosses found support amongst the British settlers and from the King of the native Miskito people, George II, who, as expected, allied with the Red Crosses.

Back in America, William Blount was in hot water. Blount’s support for the Red Crosses and the filibuster saw him accused of treason and facing arrest. While Blount continued to fund the filibuster despite the fact it had gone seriously off course, he would resign his position in the North Carolina assembly on July 1st and flee into South Carolina. Here, Blount was able to drum up over a thousand supporters of the Red Cross who were willing to depart to Mosquito before also falling foul of the South Carolinian government. However, before Blount fled the authorities in South Carolina as well, he was able to bribe officials to release Meiners from prison, and the two men would depart South Carolina for Mosquito.

Upon arriving in Bluefields, Meiners and Blount would set to work establishing their government. Meiners would rename the country to be the “State of Albe-Mosquito” with himself as the “Marshal-General.” Blount’s position was downgraded to being the Minister of Economics (likely the origin of the rift between the two men later in life) while Redman was appointed Minister of War. A ten man legislature was established, however the legislature held little actual power with the bulk of power being held by Meiners alone. However for as much as Meiners wished to rule absolutely over the whole coast, the Miskito people held sway over most of the coastal towns and inland settlements.

When Meiners arrived in Bluefields, the Miskito Kingdom was divided into four territories each ruled by a separate leader. In the North was the territory ruled by the young General Luttrel Tempest and his regent John Smith from Brewer’s Lagoon near Black River. Directly south was the territory directly ruled by King George II, ruled from Sandy Bay. South of the King’s territory was the territory of Governor Colville Briton who ruled from Tebuppy, and even further south was the territory of Admiral Trelawny Alparis Dilson who ruled from Pearl Lagoon. While the King technically had authority over the General, Governor and Admiral, his authority was questionable at best. King George II was a cruel and brutal leader, and his efforts to assert further control over the three other regional leaders provoked chaos in the Kingdom. General Tempest’s successor had been killed at King George’s command which left the underage Tempest the generalship and provoked chaos in the north while Governor Briton was actively backing the Spanish in their attempts to assert control over the coast. Bluefields was located in the territory of Admiral Dilson, and Meiners maintained healthy contact with the Admiral as the conflict unfolded.

It was through this contact that Meiners began to develop an idea about how his new state ought to be ran. Meiners found the synthesis between the tribal culture of the Miskitos and English culture to be a sign that “the Savages of America can be taut [sic] how to be Civilised, unlike the Savages of Africa.” And so, Meiners began to negotiate with King George, proposing that Albe-Mosquito be a government run in parallel to the Miskito Kingdom, with the white settlers of the Mosquito coast being a part of Albe-Mosquito, while the native Miskito people would be under King George’s governance. In order to “guarantee peaceful and beneficial relations” between the Miskito and the white settlers, Meiners proposed to add four representatives of the natives to the Albe-Mosquito legislature, one from the King, General, Governor and Admiral. Additionally, Meiners promised that Albe-Mosquito would provide aid to ensure that George II and his descendents would rule over the Miskito forever. King George welcomed the idea of having Meiners and his supporters assist in stabilizing his kingdom, and with the prospect of Britain re-asserting their protection over the region growing increasingly dim, George agreed to Meiners’ plan. Affirming the agreement in the Treaty of Sandy Bay on October 30th, 1792, Meiners and King George shook hands over the parchment which proclaimed eternal friendship between the Red Crosses and the Miskito People. While none could have guessed it from the smiles of the men and the subsequent celebrations, a reign of terror would soon descend upon the Mosquito Coast.
 
So the Miskito system is a tetrarchy where the King is first among equals? Does this mean the de-facto capital of the kingdom is Sandy Bay, while the capital of the former British administration is in Bluefields? So many overlapping jurisdictions, and now we have the Red Crosses absorbing the a British administration...

Does the "Albe" in "Albe-Mosquito" mean "white" like in albino? Seems a little on the nose, but I'd expect nothing less from the Red Crosses.

Lastly, how will the remaining Red Crosses in the US become a reputable enough organization (despite word of a bloodbath in Central America that the Southern press will likely publicize) to take power in Franklin by 1804?
 
Last edited:

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
So the Miskito system is a tetrarchy where the King is first among equals? Does this mean the de-facto capital of the kingdom is Sandy Bay, while the capital of the former British administration is in Bluefields? So many overlapping jurisdictions, and now we have the Red Crosses absorbing the a British administration...

This is pretty much it. Officially, the whole schebang was ran from Bluefields, however since the King lived in Sandy Bay, the native administration ran from there, while the European settlers would have answered to Bluefields still.

Also, I don't think it was fully a tetrarchy as well, as there were others who had claim to power over certain regions as well. The Duke of York (actual Miskito native title) arguably had some authority over the King while there were still tribal Chiefs, and there were multiple Princes who at one point or another also were able to jockey for some power. And, of course, all of them were related to each other which muddies who held power over who. Admiral Dilson was Governor Blount's nephew, and might have been his superior. And General Tempest's regent John Smith might have also been General in addition to Tempest just to make it so much worse.

Does the "Albe" in "Albe-Mosquito" mean "white" like in albino? Seems a little on the nose, but I'd expect nothing less from the Red Crosses.

Yes. Albe is Latin for white, and the Red Crosses are supposed to be as subtle as an airhorn. They are to the southern racists what Nazism is to nationalism.

Lastly, how will the remaining Red Crosses in the US become a reputable enough organization (despite word of a bloodbath in Central America that the Southern press will likely publicize) to take power in Franklin by 1804?

A lot of Red Crosses will move to Franklin over the years because of persecution in the states with large slave populations. And since Franklin has a very low population, they can become a dominant force fairly easy.

And, of course, the terrors of Albe-Mosquito won't be well publicized for a long time. Albe-Mosquito is remote, and most of the atrocities will occur outside of the few towns that visitors would ever be in. Plus, people weren't super sympathetic to violence against natives or black populations during this time which makes it harder for outrage to be learned of.
 

Schnozzberry

Gone Fishin'
Hi everyone, this isn't an update, but a question for you all.

I've been practicing writing in a story format recently, and one of the things I wrote while practicing was a short half-page or so segment of a story that was supposed to go with an earlier draft of the latest update that was in a different format. I wrote this to try to capture the horror of what is happening in Albe-Mosquito. I didn't include it because it didn't fit the final format of this update, and because I don't feel it's very good. However, I saw it while checking through my other scrapped stuff and realized it is the only finished thing in my scrap section, so would anyone be interested in reading it?
 
Hi everyone, this isn't an update, but a question for you all.

I've been practicing writing in a story format recently, and one of the things I wrote while practicing was a short half-page or so segment of a story that was supposed to go with an earlier draft of the latest update that was in a different format. I wrote this to try to capture the horror of what is happening in Albe-Mosquito. I didn't include it because it didn't fit the final format of this update, and because I don't feel it's very good. However, I saw it while checking through my other scrapped stuff and realized it is the only finished thing in my scrap section, so would anyone be interested in reading it?

I would.
 
Top