alternatehistory.com

25th October

A major fortification project begins around Norfolk and environs, replacing the guns of Forts Monroe, Calhoun and Norfolk (as well as outlying batteries) with the most modern rifles possible.
The existing smoothbore guns and earlier rifles are to be placed in landward batteries, including between Tanner's Creek and Mason Creek (to protect the Sewall's Point batteries) and a line between Indian Creek and Pollock's Creek (to close that landward approach) as well as upgrading existing fortified positions.

Since Gosport Navy Yard and the associated buildings is by far the most important naval base of the Confederacy, it is considered to be highly important to protect it against any practicable attack. For the same reason, it is officially designated as the base for a peacetime regiment of the Confederate Army as well as being a major nexus of mobilization for the well-drilled Virginia Militia.



26th October

The price offered to Mexico for French Minie rifles is revised down somewhat, allowing for the purchase of half again as many rifles for the same quantity of gold or silver. This allows for a revision in Mexican military planning, and for some money to be spent on acquiring railway expertise (in order to assist the Imperial Mexican Railway Company in the construction of the rail line from Vera Cruz to Mexico City).
The Emperor of Mexico is quite pleased with this, as the rail line is a project he is very interested in and the delays have been a worry.


29th October

Morant Bay rebellion begins in Jamaica, a bloody episode sparked by a deputation of peasants attempting to speak to the island's governor. The 2/12th is deployed by the governor to suppress what is seen by him as a rebellion, and through a series of errors of judgement the battalion will ultimately kill hundreds of black Jamaicans and burn thousands of homes.


1st November

Founding of the National Temperance Society and Publishing House in the United States.


2nd November

News of the Morant Bay Rebellion arrives in Britain. Thanks to the telegraph link under the Atlantic it is possible to get news at lightning speed compared to previous years, but the details are lacking. What is known is enough to cause a sudden huge controversy in the press, however, with many decrying it as "a positively Confederate course of action".


4th November

Publication of a joint work between Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel, The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. A weighty tome, it has been completely rewritten over the past two years from Darwin's original manuscript in order to take into account the Genetic Theory of evolution.
It is made clear that the precise alleles involving many of the changes are not known, and that in several cases it is clear there must be three or more alleles acting upon the same trait, but nevertheless the arguments are compelling and the book is (much as with the Origin of Species) oversubscribed upon publication.
Translations into all the languages of the Austrian Empire are ongoing, as are translations into Spanish, French and Portugese.


7th November

Confederate elections take place. There are still no official party designations, but broadly speaking there are three blocs present in the House - one for states' autonomy (up to a few representatives per state espouse this position), one for greater central government control (largely concentrated in Virginia and Louisiana, which have the largest cities) and one for keeping everything the same thank you very much (the remainder).
The blocs are ill-defined in numbers, membership and even views, and anyone drawing a hemicycle would need approximately as many colours as there are Congressmen.


9th November

An assassination attempt is foiled in Japan, with the assailants gunned down by Shinsengumi as they attempt to kill the Shogun.
It is not known where the attackers came from, with their clothing and equipment being from a very wide variety of sources (oddly, one is armed with an extremely rare Prussian Dreyse rifle, though it is jammed, while another carries a naginata polearm), and none survived to be questioned - with some shot in the head, others bayoneted, and at least one having his knee shot out followed by a close-range shot to the back of the head.
The Bakfu is outraged about the assassination attempt, stating that it shows the lawlessness of the opponents of the Shogun.


13th November

The Belliqueuse begins sea trials at Toulon. A French attempt at a cheap "foreign service" ironclad (known as a "stationnaire"), she is quite heavily armoured and carries four heavy guns and six somewhat lighter guns, totalling eight broadside guns and two pivots.
She is accompanied by two ships of the Provence class, a huge ten-ship class of ironclad frigate also being built by the French (as part of their equivalent to the British plan replacing their line fleet).


16th November

The design of Monarch is finalized. She is to displace around 8,000 tons, and to have two twin turrets amidships and three single guns in the ends; she is also to have steam power to train her guns, and her length:beam ratio is to be the very fine 5.7:1.
Armstrong has assured the Navy that he can produce either 11 inch or 12 inch breechloading guns by the time of the completion of the Monarch, assuming she takes roughly as long as normal.