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Part One Hundred Seventeen: War on the Home Front
It's done!
Part One Hundred Seventeen: War on the Home Front
America's First Moves:
After the declaration of war was signed by Congress, the first action in the United States' involvement were on the border with British North America. The fortifications that were established along the straits on the Great Lakes saw the first action, firing shells across the Niagara River and the Detroit River into Canada. The action spread along the border with New England and New York. American sorties into Canada began on June 1 at Wolfe Island and How Island on the far eastern end of Lake Ontario. The objective was to cross the Saint Lawrence River and make a quick capture of Kingston. But despite naval support based from nearby Sackets Harbor, the fortifications on the islands and the Canadian navy on Lake Ontario halted an immediate invasion of the Canadian capital. The parliament, however, left and later convened in York. The Battle of the Frontenac Islands also saw the first naval action of the war, with Sackets Harbor serving once again as an important naval station as it had a century before.
Elsewhere, diplomatic support was given to Acadia and Deseret during the first months of the war in support of the two dominions gaining full independence from Great Britain. While Roosevelt and several senators supported the idea, the passage of the bill through Congress was delayed due to the question of how to treat the western lands owned by the Hudson Bay Company. Technically the company and the land it owned were under British sovereignty and because of this many expansion-minded politicians desired the annexation of New Caledonia into the United States. However, other issues arose with the shareholders. During the 1890s and early 1900s, many prominent American financiers had acquired stakes in the Hudson Bay Company as it grew more independent of the British government, and did not want to lose their profits. Additionally, the company's governor Wilfrid Laurier[1] had mixed feelings about British authority and was seeking further control over New Caledonia. Finally in January of 1909, after clandestine talks with Laurier, a compromise act was passed. The Joint Resolution on the Governance of the Laurentine Countries specified that the United States would support efforts in British North America for independence, and would accept the results of referenda on joining the United States. In talks with Laurier, it was agreed that United States companies would gain some mining rights in New Caledonia and a peaceful purchase of land would be considered after the war.
Aside from the action on the northern border of the United States, there was little fighting during the first months of the war. The American navy quickly made a show of force in the Caribbean and established blockades on the Bahamas and Jamaica. While the blockade of the Bahamas lasted for much of the war, the British navy in Jamaica after only a few months. A later blockade of British Honduras in October was broken up after an even shorter period of time. There were deliberations on whether a similar blockade of Puerto Rico should go ahead as it was unclear if the United States had declared war on just Great Britain or if it was at war with the entire New Coalition. President Roosevelt ended any uncertainty in the scope of the United States' participation in the war in August in a message to Navy Secretary Talbott to order the blockade to go ahead, and American ships were soon parked off San Juan harbor.
British Raids:
After the American entry into the war, the British Navy began to step up its operations on both sides of the Atlantic. It was vital for Britain to keep both sides of the Atlantic separated. To accomplish this, the Royal Navy strengthened its blockade on the French Atlantic and Channel coasts and began to perform smaller raids into France to disrupt supply and harass the French on their own soil. In the spring and summer of 1908, the British navy undertook many raids into mainland France[2]. The first two were in the Channel, in an attempt to confirm British dominance over the channel and separate the France and German naval positions. A British raid that landed at the French town of Dieppe in April 1908 tried to capture Rouen and cut off the French supply to Le Havre. However, the two thousand marines that landed at Dieppe were able to establish a landing, but only reached halfway to Rouen before being turned back by the French in the battle of Auffay. Of the two thousand the British sent, only eight hundred returned to England after the raid. In June, another British raid was launched on Guernsey in the beginning of a campaign to recapture the Channel Islands. This raid, while more successful, only led to the British controlling the island for a few months before being forced off again before the year's end. The final British landing in France in 1908 took place in August at Concarneau in Brittany. The Concarneau landing was even less successful than the landing at Dieppe, and the French were victorious before the Royal Navy even entered the town.
Along with numerous attempted landings on the French mainland, British forces also made several incursions into American territory in 1908 during the first months of American involvement in the war. The major actions where the United States was confronting Great Britain was at sea, in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. On June 2, 1908, the British attacked a United States squadron heading for Puerto Juarez[3] in Mesoamerica. In the resulting battle, the British destroyer HMS Badminton was sunk, but the British won the overall battle, sinking an American escort ship and three merchant ships. Later in the summer after the American blockade of Jamaica broke up, the British West Indies squadron launched their own raid, this time on Cuba. In late July, British ships set forth from Jamaica and began patrolling the area near Cienfuegos. The British attempted a landing at the city of Jagua to cut off the approach to Cienfuegos harbor, but valiant American marines stopped the invasion. With the support of the navy, the British were repelled from Cuba within two weeks.
In the mainland United States, the Oregon Country also saw major action during the first months of the war. On the border of Champoeg and California, there were small skirmishes as Champoeg border forts attempted to raid into northern California and provoke an uprising among the Anglo settlers in the area. During this stage of American involvement in the Great War, this was the only action taken by the United States against California. The British Navy, meanwhile, established a brief blockade of the Columbia River mouth and shelled Astoria from June to August, 1908. The largest action in the northwestern front, however, was further inland. As news of the American entry into the war spread west across the continent, some small groups in the sparsely populated American and Canadian plains were eager to participate. The largest of these was a group of British from the coal mining town of Lethbridge. A group of thirty men started south from Lethbridge in July. Their aim was to eventually reach Bannack and the capital of Washington, but after weeks of gathering more men from the area and marching through the Washington wilderness, they became lost. The raiders, which swelled to over seventy men by the time they actually entered the United States, reached their first lucrative target, Cobbstown[4], in late July. From there, the men followed the course of the Missouri River, believing that Bannack was on the river. However, after a while of following the river upstream, they broke off and headed straight south after attacking Three Forks. The seventy men finally were stopped at the Battle of Ponyville[5] after they had been found at last by an American army regiment and attempted to sack the town. The Battle of Ponyville lasted for barely the day on September 12, 1908. Ten of the raiders died, and the rest were imprisoned.
[1] Laurier was OTL Prime Minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911.
[2] Raiding the French coast is a longstanding British pastime, and it hasn't stopped yet.
[3] La Ceiba, Honduras.
[4] Helena, Montana. Cobbstown is named after Howell Cobb because it was founded by ex-Confederates. There is an OTL comparison in Virginia City, whose Southern founders wanted to name the town after Jefferson Davis's wife.
[5] OTL Pony, Montana, in OTL a ghost town about 40 miles west of Bozeman.
Part One Hundred Seventeen: War on the Home Front
America's First Moves:
After the declaration of war was signed by Congress, the first action in the United States' involvement were on the border with British North America. The fortifications that were established along the straits on the Great Lakes saw the first action, firing shells across the Niagara River and the Detroit River into Canada. The action spread along the border with New England and New York. American sorties into Canada began on June 1 at Wolfe Island and How Island on the far eastern end of Lake Ontario. The objective was to cross the Saint Lawrence River and make a quick capture of Kingston. But despite naval support based from nearby Sackets Harbor, the fortifications on the islands and the Canadian navy on Lake Ontario halted an immediate invasion of the Canadian capital. The parliament, however, left and later convened in York. The Battle of the Frontenac Islands also saw the first naval action of the war, with Sackets Harbor serving once again as an important naval station as it had a century before.
Elsewhere, diplomatic support was given to Acadia and Deseret during the first months of the war in support of the two dominions gaining full independence from Great Britain. While Roosevelt and several senators supported the idea, the passage of the bill through Congress was delayed due to the question of how to treat the western lands owned by the Hudson Bay Company. Technically the company and the land it owned were under British sovereignty and because of this many expansion-minded politicians desired the annexation of New Caledonia into the United States. However, other issues arose with the shareholders. During the 1890s and early 1900s, many prominent American financiers had acquired stakes in the Hudson Bay Company as it grew more independent of the British government, and did not want to lose their profits. Additionally, the company's governor Wilfrid Laurier[1] had mixed feelings about British authority and was seeking further control over New Caledonia. Finally in January of 1909, after clandestine talks with Laurier, a compromise act was passed. The Joint Resolution on the Governance of the Laurentine Countries specified that the United States would support efforts in British North America for independence, and would accept the results of referenda on joining the United States. In talks with Laurier, it was agreed that United States companies would gain some mining rights in New Caledonia and a peaceful purchase of land would be considered after the war.
Aside from the action on the northern border of the United States, there was little fighting during the first months of the war. The American navy quickly made a show of force in the Caribbean and established blockades on the Bahamas and Jamaica. While the blockade of the Bahamas lasted for much of the war, the British navy in Jamaica after only a few months. A later blockade of British Honduras in October was broken up after an even shorter period of time. There were deliberations on whether a similar blockade of Puerto Rico should go ahead as it was unclear if the United States had declared war on just Great Britain or if it was at war with the entire New Coalition. President Roosevelt ended any uncertainty in the scope of the United States' participation in the war in August in a message to Navy Secretary Talbott to order the blockade to go ahead, and American ships were soon parked off San Juan harbor.
British Raids:
After the American entry into the war, the British Navy began to step up its operations on both sides of the Atlantic. It was vital for Britain to keep both sides of the Atlantic separated. To accomplish this, the Royal Navy strengthened its blockade on the French Atlantic and Channel coasts and began to perform smaller raids into France to disrupt supply and harass the French on their own soil. In the spring and summer of 1908, the British navy undertook many raids into mainland France[2]. The first two were in the Channel, in an attempt to confirm British dominance over the channel and separate the France and German naval positions. A British raid that landed at the French town of Dieppe in April 1908 tried to capture Rouen and cut off the French supply to Le Havre. However, the two thousand marines that landed at Dieppe were able to establish a landing, but only reached halfway to Rouen before being turned back by the French in the battle of Auffay. Of the two thousand the British sent, only eight hundred returned to England after the raid. In June, another British raid was launched on Guernsey in the beginning of a campaign to recapture the Channel Islands. This raid, while more successful, only led to the British controlling the island for a few months before being forced off again before the year's end. The final British landing in France in 1908 took place in August at Concarneau in Brittany. The Concarneau landing was even less successful than the landing at Dieppe, and the French were victorious before the Royal Navy even entered the town.
Along with numerous attempted landings on the French mainland, British forces also made several incursions into American territory in 1908 during the first months of American involvement in the war. The major actions where the United States was confronting Great Britain was at sea, in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. On June 2, 1908, the British attacked a United States squadron heading for Puerto Juarez[3] in Mesoamerica. In the resulting battle, the British destroyer HMS Badminton was sunk, but the British won the overall battle, sinking an American escort ship and three merchant ships. Later in the summer after the American blockade of Jamaica broke up, the British West Indies squadron launched their own raid, this time on Cuba. In late July, British ships set forth from Jamaica and began patrolling the area near Cienfuegos. The British attempted a landing at the city of Jagua to cut off the approach to Cienfuegos harbor, but valiant American marines stopped the invasion. With the support of the navy, the British were repelled from Cuba within two weeks.
In the mainland United States, the Oregon Country also saw major action during the first months of the war. On the border of Champoeg and California, there were small skirmishes as Champoeg border forts attempted to raid into northern California and provoke an uprising among the Anglo settlers in the area. During this stage of American involvement in the Great War, this was the only action taken by the United States against California. The British Navy, meanwhile, established a brief blockade of the Columbia River mouth and shelled Astoria from June to August, 1908. The largest action in the northwestern front, however, was further inland. As news of the American entry into the war spread west across the continent, some small groups in the sparsely populated American and Canadian plains were eager to participate. The largest of these was a group of British from the coal mining town of Lethbridge. A group of thirty men started south from Lethbridge in July. Their aim was to eventually reach Bannack and the capital of Washington, but after weeks of gathering more men from the area and marching through the Washington wilderness, they became lost. The raiders, which swelled to over seventy men by the time they actually entered the United States, reached their first lucrative target, Cobbstown[4], in late July. From there, the men followed the course of the Missouri River, believing that Bannack was on the river. However, after a while of following the river upstream, they broke off and headed straight south after attacking Three Forks. The seventy men finally were stopped at the Battle of Ponyville[5] after they had been found at last by an American army regiment and attempted to sack the town. The Battle of Ponyville lasted for barely the day on September 12, 1908. Ten of the raiders died, and the rest were imprisoned.
[1] Laurier was OTL Prime Minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911.
[2] Raiding the French coast is a longstanding British pastime, and it hasn't stopped yet.
[3] La Ceiba, Honduras.
[4] Helena, Montana. Cobbstown is named after Howell Cobb because it was founded by ex-Confederates. There is an OTL comparison in Virginia City, whose Southern founders wanted to name the town after Jefferson Davis's wife.
[5] OTL Pony, Montana, in OTL a ghost town about 40 miles west of Bozeman.
- wilcoxchar
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