Canada Wank (YACW)
- Thread starter Dathi THorfinnsson
- Start date
- Status
All right, Dathi, it's Turtledove time again and I have no excuse to nominate this very fine thread as a continuing timeline, since it was abandoned by you as of October 2010!
But I don't see anything here nor have I seen anything elsewhere that has you formally declaring you've given up on it, nor has it reached any kind of natural end. You're active on the site, so what happened here?
It's entirely your right to let it go since we can only be grateful for the fine stuff you've freely given here, and have no entitlement to more.
But in the past month or so I've been reading it, and I had some thoughts about the nature of the crown prince's religious conversion to Catholicism and implications this has for Canada's future (and the whole British Empire). The second war between BNA and allies and the USA/Mexico was going along quite interestingly.
Though I see some grim writing on the wall for the American republican "axis," which kind of makes this bunny cry as a lover of a certain vision of the USA--but we knew upfront going in, this Canada-wank eats the USA, as a "great power" in any sense anyway, for lunch. And does it well, in a respectable and civilized Canadian fashion too.
So much for Liberty Enlightening the World then--this is a Canada-wank, and may be a nicer world despite the lack of such lofty declarations--or some might argue, because of the pre-emption of such pretentious humbug!
So if perchance you have some ongoing stuff on your back burner and just haven't gotten around to it with one thing and another, if you put some up and it's up to your usual high standards and shows some prospect of more coming sometime in 2012, and do so before the last hour of 2011, I'd nominate it for a continuing pre-1900 Turtledove for 2011 in a flash!
Vice versa if you've come to the considered view that this timeline has died, throw it a wake, I suppose you may have already said so somewhere else and if you point me to it I'd be interested to know why. Though saddened!
I see no reason for it to stop; it's really good stuff.
But I don't see anything here nor have I seen anything elsewhere that has you formally declaring you've given up on it, nor has it reached any kind of natural end. You're active on the site, so what happened here?
It's entirely your right to let it go since we can only be grateful for the fine stuff you've freely given here, and have no entitlement to more.
But in the past month or so I've been reading it, and I had some thoughts about the nature of the crown prince's religious conversion to Catholicism and implications this has for Canada's future (and the whole British Empire). The second war between BNA and allies and the USA/Mexico was going along quite interestingly.
Though I see some grim writing on the wall for the American republican "axis," which kind of makes this bunny cry as a lover of a certain vision of the USA--but we knew upfront going in, this Canada-wank eats the USA, as a "great power" in any sense anyway, for lunch. And does it well, in a respectable and civilized Canadian fashion too.
So much for Liberty Enlightening the World then--this is a Canada-wank, and may be a nicer world despite the lack of such lofty declarations--or some might argue, because of the pre-emption of such pretentious humbug!So if perchance you have some ongoing stuff on your back burner and just haven't gotten around to it with one thing and another, if you put some up and it's up to your usual high standards and shows some prospect of more coming sometime in 2012, and do so before the last hour of 2011, I'd nominate it for a continuing pre-1900 Turtledove for 2011 in a flash!
Vice versa if you've come to the considered view that this timeline has died, throw it a wake, I suppose you may have already said so somewhere else and if you point me to it I'd be interested to know why. Though saddened!
I see no reason for it to stop; it's really good stuff.
Thanks for the interest people.All right, Dathi, it's Turtledove time again and I have no excuse to nominate this very fine thread as a continuing timeline, since it was abandoned by you as of October 2010!
But I don't see anything here nor have I seen anything elsewhere that has you formally declaring you've given up on it, nor has it reached any kind of natural end. You're active on the site, so what happened here?
It's entirely your right to let it go since we can only be grateful for the fine stuff you've freely given here, and have no entitlement to more.
But in the past month or so I've been reading it, and I had some thoughts about the nature of the crown prince's religious conversion to Catholicism and implications this has for Canada's future (and the whole British Empire). The second war between BNA and allies and the USA/Mexico was going along quite interestingly.
Though I see some grim writing on the wall for the American republican "axis," which kind of makes this bunny cry as a lover of a certain vision of the USA--but we knew upfront going in, this Canada-wank eats the USA, as a "great power" in any sense anyway, for lunch. And does it well, in a respectable and civilized Canadian fashion too.
So if perchance you have some ongoing stuff on your back burner and just haven't gotten around to it with one thing and another, if you put some up and it's up to your usual high standards and shows some prospect of more coming sometime in 2012, and do so before the last hour of 2011, I'd nominate it for a continuing pre-1900 Turtledove for 2011 in a flash!
Vice versa if you've come to the considered view that this timeline has died, throw it a wake, I suppose you may have already said so somewhere else and if you point me to it I'd be interested to know why. Though saddened!
I see no reason for it to stop; it's really good stuff.
I never meant this to be on hiatus this long, but life in various forms intervened. My son got sick most of two years ago with a weird vomiting thing, which we initially hoped was just the mother of all stomach bugs. But then it came back and has been recurring episodically since then. A year and some ago I started working on some updates - the October post is part of that - but then I lost the thumb drive that held my work, and, idiot me, I hadn't saved it anywhere.
And at the beginning of this year my son was continuously sick for like 2 months.
So...
I have started thinking thinking about this TL again, and will, at absolute minimum, give a look forward to how the universe progresses. I'm even going to try to do some occasional updates, but I'm not sure how much or how often that will be.
My God, sorry to hear how real life bushwacks you like that.
I've never written any kind of timeline at all, so I just don't know the difference between firing off replies on someone else's (which I do quite a lot, even when real life is bludgeoning me) versus focusing on a world one is creating, and trying to get right. It's easy to do the former, I've never dared do the latter, so I am embarrassed.
I saw you posting left and right and figured, OK you're active.
AND the person, I can't remember who it was, who steered me in the direction of CanadaWank ALSO said it was a dead thread. I assumed when I got to the end of it I'd see why, or there would be some post where you renounced it or some such. I was frankly wondering where it was if not here.
Not that it needs any such coda, on its own merits! But I can quite understand that a person might come to an epiphany of some kind where they think, "hey my heart isn't in this anymore."
I'm sorry to learn that you just haven't been able to get back to it.
Here's hoping that real life problems stop wracking you, and then you find space and time to do this if you still like it.
We sure shouldn't be nagging you into doing something you don't want to--and still less, something you do want to do but cannot focus on for compelling reasons.
That would be just mean.
So I'll take any further offerings you give here as a sign life has eased up on you a bit, and I won't noodge.
Much.
Ask DValdron how I am about that.
I've never written any kind of timeline at all, so I just don't know the difference between firing off replies on someone else's (which I do quite a lot, even when real life is bludgeoning me) versus focusing on a world one is creating, and trying to get right. It's easy to do the former, I've never dared do the latter, so I am embarrassed.
I saw you posting left and right and figured, OK you're active.
AND the person, I can't remember who it was, who steered me in the direction of CanadaWank ALSO said it was a dead thread. I assumed when I got to the end of it I'd see why, or there would be some post where you renounced it or some such. I was frankly wondering where it was if not here.
Not that it needs any such coda, on its own merits! But I can quite understand that a person might come to an epiphany of some kind where they think, "hey my heart isn't in this anymore."
I'm sorry to learn that you just haven't been able to get back to it.
Here's hoping that real life problems stop wracking you, and then you find space and time to do this if you still like it.
We sure shouldn't be nagging you into doing something you don't want to--and still less, something you do want to do but cannot focus on for compelling reasons.
That would be just mean.
So I'll take any further offerings you give here as a sign life has eased up on you a bit, and I won't noodge.
Much.
Ask DValdron how I am about that.
Afghanistan
Since I lost most of my notes from about 6 months work, I'm having to recreate it. This means that figuring out what happens in Indiana, for instance, is going to have to take some work. In the meantime, I can pull together a couple of notes about what's happening elsewhere. These were going to have been done in much greater detail as retrospectives after the war was over, but I can throw in a brief synopsis instead now.
Afghanistan
First Anglo-Afghan war starts on schedule. Emir Dost Mohammad Khan[1] is ruler, and, as OTL, is of doubtful sympathies as far as the British are concerned. (Due to the Persians, who were backed by the Russians, invading western Afghanistan.) So the British invade to install Shuja Shah Durrani [2] as the 'rightful' king. However, William Elphinstone is not in charge of the operation, and while the invasion is not terribly competently handled, it is not a total disaster.[3] It is clear that the British forces simply can't hold down the countryside. Indeed, as Dost Mohammed's sons raise the clans, they temporarily push the Brits out of Kabul. While they are pushed out of Kabul, they successfully fall back on Jalalabad, without major loss. Cooperation with the Sikhs and additional troops from the East India Company allow the recapture of Kabul. In the meantime, Shah Durrani has been assassinated[4], which means that the initial British plans of using him as a puppet can't work. By the end of '41, things are in a simmering stalemate, with minor skirmishes but no major battles. Since NO ONE is happy about the results of the whole mess as stands, discussion is possible. Following difficult negotiations, Dost Mohammed returns to power in exchange for his 'eternal friendship' with the British and Sikhs. They provide some minor support against the Persians in the West, the Sikhs get to keep Peshawar (one of the causes of the war in the first place), and Dost Mohammed knows that if he crosses the line too far, he'll get smashed again. Basically hundreds of people die, and the end result is status quo ante bellum, but at least that frontier is 'quiet' again. And the British and Sikhs have a functioning alliance, which leads to some Sikh forces being sent to North America. In mid '42 things are calm enough they send 1 regiment. By mid '43, the treaty with Afghanistan is in place and they can send more forces.
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 Dost Mohammad Khan is born after the PoD, but was conceived before. It may be that the order of rulers varies from OTL, but in 1838 iOTL and iTTL, he's in power and acts the same way (initially).
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 Shuja Shah Durrani had previously been king, and the British tried imposing him as the 'rightful' ruler.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 iOTL, the retreating army was massacred before it reached safety, which ruined British prestige, and led to the later attack on the Sikh empire to restore it. Here, due to butterflies, things happen somewhat faster, and the British cement an alliance with the Sikhs, who together get what they want... more or less.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 earlier than OTL, he doesn't seem to have been very popular...[/FONT]
Since I lost most of my notes from about 6 months work, I'm having to recreate it. This means that figuring out what happens in Indiana, for instance, is going to have to take some work. In the meantime, I can pull together a couple of notes about what's happening elsewhere. These were going to have been done in much greater detail as retrospectives after the war was over, but I can throw in a brief synopsis instead now.
Afghanistan
First Anglo-Afghan war starts on schedule. Emir Dost Mohammad Khan[1] is ruler, and, as OTL, is of doubtful sympathies as far as the British are concerned. (Due to the Persians, who were backed by the Russians, invading western Afghanistan.) So the British invade to install Shuja Shah Durrani [2] as the 'rightful' king. However, William Elphinstone is not in charge of the operation, and while the invasion is not terribly competently handled, it is not a total disaster.[3] It is clear that the British forces simply can't hold down the countryside. Indeed, as Dost Mohammed's sons raise the clans, they temporarily push the Brits out of Kabul. While they are pushed out of Kabul, they successfully fall back on Jalalabad, without major loss. Cooperation with the Sikhs and additional troops from the East India Company allow the recapture of Kabul. In the meantime, Shah Durrani has been assassinated[4], which means that the initial British plans of using him as a puppet can't work. By the end of '41, things are in a simmering stalemate, with minor skirmishes but no major battles. Since NO ONE is happy about the results of the whole mess as stands, discussion is possible. Following difficult negotiations, Dost Mohammed returns to power in exchange for his 'eternal friendship' with the British and Sikhs. They provide some minor support against the Persians in the West, the Sikhs get to keep Peshawar (one of the causes of the war in the first place), and Dost Mohammed knows that if he crosses the line too far, he'll get smashed again. Basically hundreds of people die, and the end result is status quo ante bellum, but at least that frontier is 'quiet' again. And the British and Sikhs have a functioning alliance, which leads to some Sikh forces being sent to North America. In mid '42 things are calm enough they send 1 regiment. By mid '43, the treaty with Afghanistan is in place and they can send more forces.
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 Dost Mohammad Khan is born after the PoD, but was conceived before. It may be that the order of rulers varies from OTL, but in 1838 iOTL and iTTL, he's in power and acts the same way (initially).
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 Shuja Shah Durrani had previously been king, and the British tried imposing him as the 'rightful' ruler.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 iOTL, the retreating army was massacred before it reached safety, which ruined British prestige, and led to the later attack on the Sikh empire to restore it. Here, due to butterflies, things happen somewhat faster, and the British cement an alliance with the Sikhs, who together get what they want... more or less.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 earlier than OTL, he doesn't seem to have been very popular...[/FONT]
Sikh soldiers helping to defend British America? Brilliant stuff! I'm glad this is back, and hope it is not too hard to remake what has been lost.
EDIT:
I can't believe I missed this post! I'm so sorry to hear about the ill health of your son. I do hope he has a better year in 2012.
EDIT:
I can't believe I missed this post! I'm so sorry to hear about the ill health of your son. I do hope he has a better year in 2012.
Last edited:
Glen
Moderator
I hope your son does better in 2012, both for his own sake and the sake of Alternate History!
As a moderator at the left hand of Ian, may I ask, Glen, may I go ahead and submit this timeline for a Turtledove now? Or should I not, since I was noodging Dathi before I realized he really didn't need the pressure?
If we start getting stuff in good time in 2012 I will surely nominate it for 2012 next year, if I'm still around then. (Not planning to go anywhere but a year is a long time).
The thing is, this timeline is new to me, having read it all just in the past month or so. And it is excellent. I think it deserves some recognition. So, is it OK with the rules and Dathi if I nominate it, or should I back off?
Now to read the actual post!
"Conceived before" is perfectly OK even by Strong Butterfly Theory. We all know the drill.
I personally think that in AH, SBT is silly. There's another shoe to drop in considering that the smallest disturbance causes chaotic events to happen differently and the odds against the same stuff happening ATL as happen OTL are zillions to one. By that same token, you see, there are zillions of timelines pretty closely paralleling any instant of OTL we choose for a POD.
Some of these timelines are vanishingly close to ours and a divergence there will surely result in different conceptions etc etc. But by that same token, some of them were going to go down a different path than ours until the POD, and the random stuff emanating from that divergence just happens, in this huge sheaf of timelines, to Butterfly them toward our timeline.
Thus, if we want characters closely paralleling OTL ones years or even decades after the POD, we can have them even in a strict timeline, provided none of the non-chaotic, direct cause and effect consequences of the POD would put their conception and birth into doubt.
Big events in Canada throw US and European society into a tizzy and make the butterflies there, especially among the leading classes who pay attention to the news, or the armies and so on dispatched differently, very robust and deterministic. But in South Asia, who's gonna care? Eventually, as in your post, we see the consequences of different officers of the EIC being in place, of the calculations of the British being different based on a different situation elsewhere in their Empire (now being formalized early!) Now that Sikhs are being dispatched in numbers to America, their absence in South Asia will set the deterministic changes cascading there.
But if you really want some OTL character that you really like who was conceived even after this to pop up, they can if they weren't born in one of the places directly affected. Mere random change can be compensated for by decree, that we actually chose the timeline in advance where these butterflies stampede events, in this case, in the direction we want. Provided the overall deterministic situation in the place and time our target was born OTL are overall the same as OTL still. Which in a place like India is reasonable, since events in Punjab might not have a lot to do with what happens in Kerala, say.
Well... I'm one of the strongest supporters of the Strong Butterfly Effect, so I'd better at least attempt to follow my own rules.
But, ja, allowing SOME sort of butterfly nets makes writing a lot easier. The next post originally would have had rather stronger butterfly effects (different people, for instance), but it was too much work to sit down and recreate all that. So there's a touch too much parallelism. Oh well.All the tea in China
another 'rest of the world' post. Then we get back to Indiana. I hope.
All the tea in China
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The major problem with the China trade is that there was a huge demand for Chinese goods in Europe, especially tea, but also silk, porcelain and chinoiseries. In exchange, there was very little that China would accept. No doubt local Chinese would have been prepared to buy (some) British manufactured goods, but the Mandarins in charge refused to allow that. Silver (and gold) was acceptable, as were a few other goods – ginseng from North America, certain furs - mostly from Siberia (or presumably North America), rice from Southeast Asia (at least in famine years) and certain amounts of cotton from India. However, low profit, high bulk goods like rice and cotton didn't buy much tea, nor were they in great demand; the Chinese could get good furs cheaper from the Russians; while the supply of ginseng was severely limited.[1] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Britain was thoroughly addicted to tea by this point, and there was no other source for their drug.[2] Something had to be done. The East India Company, which had a monopoly on (British) trade with China kept trying to push Indian cottons, but there was little demand. So, when certain employees started smuggling opium (not officially EIC trade, but they knew about it), they discovered that a seemingly limitless market for the drug existed. This gave rise to the possibility of not only stemming the hæmorrhage of silver flowing into China, but even reversing it. Of course, the Chinese authorities did their best to stamp out the drug trade, but their ability to regulate foreigners basically stopped at the shoreline. So the trade moved from Canton[3][/FONT] out into the harbour. The differing conceptions of trade and drugs slowly led to escalating tensions, and would eventually to war. Some British initially worried about the ethics of dealing in addictive drugs, but the siren song of profit worked to overcome those scruples. Besides, the British themselves used a fair bit of opium (in the form of laudanum, mostly), and as far as they were concerned it wasn't much more of a problem than alcohol. The removal of the EIC monopoly and the influx of independent traders starting in 1833 changed what had been a somewhat restrained supply of opium into a flood.[4]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Still, the ethics of the situation worried some in authority[5], and some effort was made to deal with the quandary. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Firstly, pressure was placed on Chinese authorities to allow more varieties of trade goods, but the British had very little leverage and that was ineffective[6]. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Secondly, lowering the price of cotton cloth. Godfrey Parker, a Lancashire mill owner and Alex Burns, his Scottish brother-in-law decided to set up a cotton mill in Bengal, closer to the source of cotton, to provide cheaper local products. They hoped to make greater profits by being able to undercut the price of British cotton goods in the Asian markets. This caused a huge furore in the textile community in Britain and Parker had to move out to India with his whole family to avoid being ostracised. While Parker and Burns were quite successful within India, their exile dissuaded other mill owners from following. Moreover, the price of their goods, while cheaper than those shipped to Britain and back, were still not cheap enough to break into the Chinese market.[7][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Thirdly, if tea could be sourced from elsewhere (preferably British India), it would ADD to British wealth rather than subtracting from it. Several attempts were made to spread the cultivation of tea. Plants and seeds were smuggled out China by the British, but mostly they were planted in the wrong places (e.g. lowlands instead of in the hills). The Dutch planted seeds in Java which they had obtained from Japan, and again weren't wildly successful. Major Robert Bruce heard rumours of tea in India, tracking them down and found wild tea growing in Assam in the mid 1820s. Bruce worked with his brother Charles, an employee of the EIC to bring this to the attention of the outside world, and to demonstrate that the plant in Assam was, indeed, tea.[8] Their efforts received some attention, and after the First Anglo-Burmese War once Assam was under British rule, experimental efforts were made to cultivate this wild tea.[9] More trials were made trying to grow Chinese tea elsewhere in India and Ceylon, and eventually sites with the right (higher) elevation and soils were found. Still, the whole process of growing, harvesting, and especially treating tea for production required skilled labour, which the British didn't yet have. 'Proper' tea would have to wait until some people with the knowledge were smuggled out of China to help. In the meantime, the experimental plantations increased and grew, producing a low-quality tea that was better than nothing.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Fourthly, a serious effort was made to increase the supply of goods the Chinese WOULD accept in trade. Fortunately, the silver mountain in Wisconsin was discovered in 1830[10], which increases the silver supply, which in turn eases the shortage there, a bit. Furs were another possibility, but they were starting to be trapped out already, there's not much that can be done there. Any effort to increase the catch of the kinds that China liked is a short term solution, at best. Ginseng, however, had some potential. While ginseng is basically a wild crop, growing in the woods, it is possible to increase its growth, so natives planted additional plants throughout their hunting areas in areas where it grows well. This would give them a nice added income, and help the China trade.[11][/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 all this is as OTL. In terms of cotton, the Chinese had more use for raw cotton than cotton fabric – which, OTL, had to be shipped to Britain, woven, and shipped back, adding significantly to the price. IOTL, wild Appalachian ginseng was harvested almost to extinction.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 technically, there is, of course, as Japan grew tea as well, but Japan is closed to all but a certain amount of Dutch trade at this point, and so the point is functionally true. Addiction to tea is, of course, not a problem, but the right and proper state of affairs. <g>[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 From Wiki: “ [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]广州[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]; Mandarin pronunciation: [kwɑ̀ŋʈʂóʊ̯]), known historically as Canton or Kwangchow”. Note that Canton was the only port where Europeans could legally trade – aside from the Portuguese at Macao. (The Russians traded overland, not at a port.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 all of this is OTL as well. Opium, as I say, was fairly widely used in Britain, and did suffer some abuse – but so did alcohol. Gin was probably a worse problem at the time. One major difference that wasn't very well appreciated is that the Brits ate or drank their opium (as pills or laudanum – a suspension of opium in alcohol), whereas the Chinese smoked theirs. Smoking is a MUCH more addictive way to take opium.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 OTL, by the time of the Opium Wars, those moral qualms had been extinguished almost entirely except for a few quixotic or particularly ethical individuals. For instance, there were some Quaker merchants who absolutely refused to carry the drug.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 as OTL.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]7 completely ATL. Parker was a mill owner, Burns engaged in the Asian trade. They decided to pool resources and try for greater profits.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8 all as OTL, so far. As it happens, the Assam tea is a different, larger leafed variety. Sometimes called Camellia sinensis assamica or Camellia assamica as opposed to the Chinese, smaller leaved variety Camellia (sinensis) sinensis. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]9 the treaty ending the war was in 1826, iTTL and iOTL. IOTL, no move was made for some time to deal with growing tea there, as the reports didn't excite much interest. Here, because people are looking harder for ways to circumvent the Chinese monopoly, efforts start earlier. ITTL, Robert Bruce doesn't die quite so young, so is available to do some more pushing, too. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Note that the text oversimplifies the situation in Assam. The British didn't have full control of the area quite yet, but it was definitely in their sphere of influence now.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]10 see the post “Miscellaneous bits, post war” for the Silver Mountain.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]11 basically, none of these efforts work very well to ease the trade imbalance, but effort IS being made, and there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Especially with tea production in India. Ginseng semi-domestication is something that should have happened a lot earlier, and here, with natives a more functional part of the whole society, their skills and botanical knowledge are tapped and helps both them and wider society. Win-win.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The easing of the silver drain into China, and the lessened emphasis on opium smuggling means that relations with China are deteriorating more slowly than iOTL, so by the time the crisis does comes to a head, the war with the Americans is visibly immanent and there really aren't enough resources to “teach China a lesson” at that point.[/FONT]
another 'rest of the world' post. Then we get back to Indiana. I hope.
All the tea in China
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The major problem with the China trade is that there was a huge demand for Chinese goods in Europe, especially tea, but also silk, porcelain and chinoiseries. In exchange, there was very little that China would accept. No doubt local Chinese would have been prepared to buy (some) British manufactured goods, but the Mandarins in charge refused to allow that. Silver (and gold) was acceptable, as were a few other goods – ginseng from North America, certain furs - mostly from Siberia (or presumably North America), rice from Southeast Asia (at least in famine years) and certain amounts of cotton from India. However, low profit, high bulk goods like rice and cotton didn't buy much tea, nor were they in great demand; the Chinese could get good furs cheaper from the Russians; while the supply of ginseng was severely limited.[1] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Britain was thoroughly addicted to tea by this point, and there was no other source for their drug.[2] Something had to be done. The East India Company, which had a monopoly on (British) trade with China kept trying to push Indian cottons, but there was little demand. So, when certain employees started smuggling opium (not officially EIC trade, but they knew about it), they discovered that a seemingly limitless market for the drug existed. This gave rise to the possibility of not only stemming the hæmorrhage of silver flowing into China, but even reversing it. Of course, the Chinese authorities did their best to stamp out the drug trade, but their ability to regulate foreigners basically stopped at the shoreline. So the trade moved from Canton[3][/FONT] out into the harbour. The differing conceptions of trade and drugs slowly led to escalating tensions, and would eventually to war. Some British initially worried about the ethics of dealing in addictive drugs, but the siren song of profit worked to overcome those scruples. Besides, the British themselves used a fair bit of opium (in the form of laudanum, mostly), and as far as they were concerned it wasn't much more of a problem than alcohol. The removal of the EIC monopoly and the influx of independent traders starting in 1833 changed what had been a somewhat restrained supply of opium into a flood.[4]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Still, the ethics of the situation worried some in authority[5], and some effort was made to deal with the quandary. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Firstly, pressure was placed on Chinese authorities to allow more varieties of trade goods, but the British had very little leverage and that was ineffective[6]. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Secondly, lowering the price of cotton cloth. Godfrey Parker, a Lancashire mill owner and Alex Burns, his Scottish brother-in-law decided to set up a cotton mill in Bengal, closer to the source of cotton, to provide cheaper local products. They hoped to make greater profits by being able to undercut the price of British cotton goods in the Asian markets. This caused a huge furore in the textile community in Britain and Parker had to move out to India with his whole family to avoid being ostracised. While Parker and Burns were quite successful within India, their exile dissuaded other mill owners from following. Moreover, the price of their goods, while cheaper than those shipped to Britain and back, were still not cheap enough to break into the Chinese market.[7][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Thirdly, if tea could be sourced from elsewhere (preferably British India), it would ADD to British wealth rather than subtracting from it. Several attempts were made to spread the cultivation of tea. Plants and seeds were smuggled out China by the British, but mostly they were planted in the wrong places (e.g. lowlands instead of in the hills). The Dutch planted seeds in Java which they had obtained from Japan, and again weren't wildly successful. Major Robert Bruce heard rumours of tea in India, tracking them down and found wild tea growing in Assam in the mid 1820s. Bruce worked with his brother Charles, an employee of the EIC to bring this to the attention of the outside world, and to demonstrate that the plant in Assam was, indeed, tea.[8] Their efforts received some attention, and after the First Anglo-Burmese War once Assam was under British rule, experimental efforts were made to cultivate this wild tea.[9] More trials were made trying to grow Chinese tea elsewhere in India and Ceylon, and eventually sites with the right (higher) elevation and soils were found. Still, the whole process of growing, harvesting, and especially treating tea for production required skilled labour, which the British didn't yet have. 'Proper' tea would have to wait until some people with the knowledge were smuggled out of China to help. In the meantime, the experimental plantations increased and grew, producing a low-quality tea that was better than nothing.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Fourthly, a serious effort was made to increase the supply of goods the Chinese WOULD accept in trade. Fortunately, the silver mountain in Wisconsin was discovered in 1830[10], which increases the silver supply, which in turn eases the shortage there, a bit. Furs were another possibility, but they were starting to be trapped out already, there's not much that can be done there. Any effort to increase the catch of the kinds that China liked is a short term solution, at best. Ginseng, however, had some potential. While ginseng is basically a wild crop, growing in the woods, it is possible to increase its growth, so natives planted additional plants throughout their hunting areas in areas where it grows well. This would give them a nice added income, and help the China trade.[11][/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 all this is as OTL. In terms of cotton, the Chinese had more use for raw cotton than cotton fabric – which, OTL, had to be shipped to Britain, woven, and shipped back, adding significantly to the price. IOTL, wild Appalachian ginseng was harvested almost to extinction.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 technically, there is, of course, as Japan grew tea as well, but Japan is closed to all but a certain amount of Dutch trade at this point, and so the point is functionally true. Addiction to tea is, of course, not a problem, but the right and proper state of affairs. <g>[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 From Wiki: “ [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]广州[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]; Mandarin pronunciation: [kwɑ̀ŋʈʂóʊ̯]), known historically as Canton or Kwangchow”. Note that Canton was the only port where Europeans could legally trade – aside from the Portuguese at Macao. (The Russians traded overland, not at a port.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 all of this is OTL as well. Opium, as I say, was fairly widely used in Britain, and did suffer some abuse – but so did alcohol. Gin was probably a worse problem at the time. One major difference that wasn't very well appreciated is that the Brits ate or drank their opium (as pills or laudanum – a suspension of opium in alcohol), whereas the Chinese smoked theirs. Smoking is a MUCH more addictive way to take opium.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 OTL, by the time of the Opium Wars, those moral qualms had been extinguished almost entirely except for a few quixotic or particularly ethical individuals. For instance, there were some Quaker merchants who absolutely refused to carry the drug.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 as OTL.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]7 completely ATL. Parker was a mill owner, Burns engaged in the Asian trade. They decided to pool resources and try for greater profits.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8 all as OTL, so far. As it happens, the Assam tea is a different, larger leafed variety. Sometimes called Camellia sinensis assamica or Camellia assamica as opposed to the Chinese, smaller leaved variety Camellia (sinensis) sinensis. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]9 the treaty ending the war was in 1826, iTTL and iOTL. IOTL, no move was made for some time to deal with growing tea there, as the reports didn't excite much interest. Here, because people are looking harder for ways to circumvent the Chinese monopoly, efforts start earlier. ITTL, Robert Bruce doesn't die quite so young, so is available to do some more pushing, too. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Note that the text oversimplifies the situation in Assam. The British didn't have full control of the area quite yet, but it was definitely in their sphere of influence now.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]10 see the post “Miscellaneous bits, post war” for the Silver Mountain.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]11 basically, none of these efforts work very well to ease the trade imbalance, but effort IS being made, and there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Especially with tea production in India. Ginseng semi-domestication is something that should have happened a lot earlier, and here, with natives a more functional part of the whole society, their skills and botanical knowledge are tapped and helps both them and wider society. Win-win.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The easing of the silver drain into China, and the lessened emphasis on opium smuggling means that relations with China are deteriorating more slowly than iOTL, so by the time the crisis does comes to a head, the war with the Americans is visibly immanent and there really aren't enough resources to “teach China a lesson” at that point.[/FONT]
Welcome back, man! And I'm so sorry about your son. Is he okay now, I hope? I hope to see this TL get back on its feet again......and maybe see if I can spur myself to get back on my own story.
Indiana 7, US efforts (April onwards 1843)
Not as long as I'd hoped, but here's the next war post.
Indiana 7, US efforts (April onwards 1843)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]With the fall of Fort Francis, the US starts working on its next moves. In their favour is that many of the Canadian militia have had to return home to plant their crops. Working against them is a whole range of factors. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The fall of Ft. Francis was accompanied by a huge destructive explosion, they have to deal with all the PoWs from the surrendered fort, and many American troops came down with botulism and food poisoning from the improperly canned goods taken from the fort.[1] Moreover, the US had really been counting on using some of the supplies in the fort (food and gunpowder in particular) – but now the food is either untrustworthy (all the canned goods) or mostly needed to feed the PoWs; and the gunpowder (essentially) all went up in that explosion. All of this means that the US command needs to do even more balancing of short resources to progress. Still. By the end of April, the quartermasters have brought forward new supplies of food and gunpowder (although not nearly as much of it as desired due to the national shortage), the recruiters have brought in new recruits to replace the dead and permanently invalided (from wounds and botulism) casualties (again, but not enough to replace ALL the wounded, let alone increase the force – demands in other theatres are soaking up most of the newly raised/federalized forces), and the army has moved most of its siege equipment and soldiers north to Liverpool[2] and west to Ft. Brock. More go north to Liverpool than west to Ft. Brock, as more effort will be needed there (more defenders, some resupply can be snuck in).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In addition to that, the Canadian[3] late winter recapture of the rail line and territory down to Indianapolis and even to the Eel River[4] means the US has to respond. All of the considerable supplies that were used for besieging Indianapolis (and Ft. Tecumseh) have been lost - destroyed or captured by the Canadians - and thus have to be replaced. While many US soldiers were able to flee, avoiding capture, not all made it back into any kind of organized military units (some trying to merge into the civilian population once they reached any), and those that did were often pretty demoralized. Thus the US had to do a significant rebuilding of military units and supplies. It wass vital, as well, that the US prevent the Canadians from advancing further. The solid, well supplied Canadian base at Indianapolis meant that they could come down the White River and recapture more territory that the US then held within Indiana [the Protectorate], unless they were blocked. And the Canadians advance up the rail line, while stopped at the Eel River needs to be permanently checked there, too.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Thus, 2 new forts had to be built from scratch – a major one on the banks of the White River some 20 miles or so southwest of Indianapolis [near OTL's Waverly], and a minor one just to match the Canadians on the west back of the Eel. But these diverted men and supplies from the sieges at Liverpool and Brock – which attacks were already weaker than the US would have liked. The only bright spot (for the US) is that they didn't need to provide siege equipment to the new forts, as their aim was simply to stop the Canadians. What they needed most was men and food, which were relatively easy to come by, and an initial amount of ammunition for defence (but not the massive amounts that active fighting would use up).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Still, the splitting of effort between 2 sieges and 2 new forts meant that none of them were as well supplied as they could have been. In particular, the effort at each of the sieges remained rather less than the effort it took to reduce Ft. Francis. The decreased gunpowder supply meant that the bombardment was weaker, too.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The American camps also had major problems with sanitation.[5] That had been less of a problem during the cold winter months, but the warming weather brought flies which spread disease. Moreover, the camp in front of Liverpool and the base camp further south (at Vincennes, near Ft. Francis) are downstream from the Canadian fort, which is also a problem. [/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 post 'Indiana 4' (post #1097) covers the fall of Ft. Francis, post 'Indiana 5' covers the British/Canadian advance preceding it. Ja, out of order, I know.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 on the site of OTL's North Terre Haute IN, as previously mentioned.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 NB: 'Canadian' forces/territory used generically for 'British/Allied/Canadian/native'. New England history books might well use 'Allied', and English ones 'British' for the same forces.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 the Eel River is a north-south river approximately halfway between Indianapolis and the *Illinois border.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 this is not being nasty to the Americans. OTL, even the British, who were arguably the best in the world at the time, had problems with sanitation in camps, and e.g. the Crimean War had more casualties from disease than from battle, IIRC. ITTL, the British are even more strict, partly due to the FNS (Florence-Nightingale Society[6]), and they're starting to get a clue as to WHY sanitation is important.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 Sister Florence was a nursing sister, and 'She who sings sweetly'/La Rossignole/Nightingale was a native woman during the *War of 1812. Their nursing and sanitation/hygiene efforts were so effective in that war, that even the male dominated army had to pay attention. It was authorial joking parallel to the efforts of Florence Nightingale in OTL's Crimean War rather later. [/FONT]
Not as long as I'd hoped, but here's the next war post.
Indiana 7, US efforts (April onwards 1843)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]With the fall of Fort Francis, the US starts working on its next moves. In their favour is that many of the Canadian militia have had to return home to plant their crops. Working against them is a whole range of factors. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The fall of Ft. Francis was accompanied by a huge destructive explosion, they have to deal with all the PoWs from the surrendered fort, and many American troops came down with botulism and food poisoning from the improperly canned goods taken from the fort.[1] Moreover, the US had really been counting on using some of the supplies in the fort (food and gunpowder in particular) – but now the food is either untrustworthy (all the canned goods) or mostly needed to feed the PoWs; and the gunpowder (essentially) all went up in that explosion. All of this means that the US command needs to do even more balancing of short resources to progress. Still. By the end of April, the quartermasters have brought forward new supplies of food and gunpowder (although not nearly as much of it as desired due to the national shortage), the recruiters have brought in new recruits to replace the dead and permanently invalided (from wounds and botulism) casualties (again, but not enough to replace ALL the wounded, let alone increase the force – demands in other theatres are soaking up most of the newly raised/federalized forces), and the army has moved most of its siege equipment and soldiers north to Liverpool[2] and west to Ft. Brock. More go north to Liverpool than west to Ft. Brock, as more effort will be needed there (more defenders, some resupply can be snuck in).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In addition to that, the Canadian[3] late winter recapture of the rail line and territory down to Indianapolis and even to the Eel River[4] means the US has to respond. All of the considerable supplies that were used for besieging Indianapolis (and Ft. Tecumseh) have been lost - destroyed or captured by the Canadians - and thus have to be replaced. While many US soldiers were able to flee, avoiding capture, not all made it back into any kind of organized military units (some trying to merge into the civilian population once they reached any), and those that did were often pretty demoralized. Thus the US had to do a significant rebuilding of military units and supplies. It wass vital, as well, that the US prevent the Canadians from advancing further. The solid, well supplied Canadian base at Indianapolis meant that they could come down the White River and recapture more territory that the US then held within Indiana [the Protectorate], unless they were blocked. And the Canadians advance up the rail line, while stopped at the Eel River needs to be permanently checked there, too.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Thus, 2 new forts had to be built from scratch – a major one on the banks of the White River some 20 miles or so southwest of Indianapolis [near OTL's Waverly], and a minor one just to match the Canadians on the west back of the Eel. But these diverted men and supplies from the sieges at Liverpool and Brock – which attacks were already weaker than the US would have liked. The only bright spot (for the US) is that they didn't need to provide siege equipment to the new forts, as their aim was simply to stop the Canadians. What they needed most was men and food, which were relatively easy to come by, and an initial amount of ammunition for defence (but not the massive amounts that active fighting would use up).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Still, the splitting of effort between 2 sieges and 2 new forts meant that none of them were as well supplied as they could have been. In particular, the effort at each of the sieges remained rather less than the effort it took to reduce Ft. Francis. The decreased gunpowder supply meant that the bombardment was weaker, too.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The American camps also had major problems with sanitation.[5] That had been less of a problem during the cold winter months, but the warming weather brought flies which spread disease. Moreover, the camp in front of Liverpool and the base camp further south (at Vincennes, near Ft. Francis) are downstream from the Canadian fort, which is also a problem. [/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 post 'Indiana 4' (post #1097) covers the fall of Ft. Francis, post 'Indiana 5' covers the British/Canadian advance preceding it. Ja, out of order, I know.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 on the site of OTL's North Terre Haute IN, as previously mentioned.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 NB: 'Canadian' forces/territory used generically for 'British/Allied/Canadian/native'. New England history books might well use 'Allied', and English ones 'British' for the same forces.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 the Eel River is a north-south river approximately halfway between Indianapolis and the *Illinois border.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 this is not being nasty to the Americans. OTL, even the British, who were arguably the best in the world at the time, had problems with sanitation in camps, and e.g. the Crimean War had more casualties from disease than from battle, IIRC. ITTL, the British are even more strict, partly due to the FNS (Florence-Nightingale Society[6]), and they're starting to get a clue as to WHY sanitation is important.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 Sister Florence was a nursing sister, and 'She who sings sweetly'/La Rossignole/Nightingale was a native woman during the *War of 1812. Their nursing and sanitation/hygiene efforts were so effective in that war, that even the male dominated army had to pay attention. It was authorial joking parallel to the efforts of Florence Nightingale in OTL's Crimean War rather later. [/FONT]
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Indiana 8 (raiding, April-onward '43)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]While the Canadian forces were too weak (at the moment) to make any major attacks in the theatre (due to the withdrawn militia), and the bulk of the US forces are more concerned with rearranging their forces for the next stage, there are things both sides CAN do. Raiders are an easy 'cheap' tactic for both sides. True, they can only attack lightly defended targets, but given the size of the theatre and the relative scarcity of soldiers, there are lots of those.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]By this point, the Canadians have figured out the US supply problems, so they made special efforts to attack US ammunition supplies, local farms which might aid front line fighting, and the rail infrastructure (i.e. the Canadian built rail linking their forts that the US is now using to aid its attack on Liverpool and Brock), as well as any movement of supplies to the front. The ammunition dumps were very well guarded, so there is little that can be done about them, and supply shipments tend to be erratic and semi-well guarded, which make them a difficult target to aim for, so the rail lines and farms near the front were the primary target.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Rail raiding.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Rail is a vitally important resource for both sides – but it is very difficult to guard due to its length. Patrols along the line and guard stations at e.g. bridges, those are possible and both sides do that (although that soaks up a lot of soldiers), but stretches of rail are vulnerable. Raiders do several things. If they have the time, they pry up rails and carry them off – if they're Canadians, then preferably dumping them in muddy streams or burying them, as replacing rail is a real problem for the US (their own nearest rail is hundreds of miles away). A simpler method is to pry up most of the spikes holding a section of rail down. If the rail is actually missing, a 'train'[1] will usually see it in time, stop, and try to fix it. But a rail that's loose is not visible and the train will derail, possibly damaging men, equipment and supplies. In addition, if a big enough raiding party can be assembled, they can attack the small guard posts at the bridges, and then try to blow the bridge.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The most strongly defended section of rail was the US line leading west across to the siege at Ft. Brock[2]. It was more vulnerable to attack, so it received the best defence. Firstly, it's easier to defend the rail north to Liverpool paralleling the Wabash, and secondly, if when line was cut temporarily, well the river was an even better avenue for bulk resupply (not as quick, but lower cost/higher volume).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Of course, the raiding of the railways was not strictly one-sided. Much of the Canadian rail wasn't within reach of the US forces, but the section between Indianapolis and the Eel River was quite vulnerable to US raiders going around north or south of the fortlets on the railway line. Also, some of the rail leading north-east from Indianapolis towards Ft. Tecumseh was attacked by US forces slipping across the border. On the other hand, their support bases were quite far back from the line, and the raiders weren't locals who are familiar with the territory. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]One big difference was that, when the Canadians had to replace a rail, they just get supplies from the nearest rail supply area. When the Americans do, they had to replace it with a section of rail from elsewhere on the line (cannibalizing sidings, for instance), or get a factory in the US to tool up for a different rail size and shape than anything they currently make. Actually, what happened by this time (April or so) is that a supply of the closest size of rail has been shipped to Vincennes, and they jimmy it into place as needed. (That US rail is a bit shorter, and much lighter, which means any rail car going over it was going to bump a bit.[3])[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Another advantage the Canadians had, is that all the rail is on 'their' territory. That means every raiding party can at least include (or even be comprised of) locals who know the target area well. They also know any surviving/remaining farmers who can provide information and some support.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]'Scorched ground' raiding[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This was mainly Canadians raiding south and east of their lines into US territory. The idea was primarily to force out any US settlers in the area, which means that US forces coming through will not be able to resupply locally. Secondarily, supplies taken help support the raiding parties. Basically this area consisted of a band along the old US border gradually increasing in depth as spring and summer progressed. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Areas that were currently occupied by US forces (but had been Protectorate - the triangle between the Wabash and the White River up to Indianapolis[4] and large portions of west central Indiana[5]) were treated very differently. While both sides (US occupiers and Canadian raiders) requisitioned goods (especially food) from whatever locals are left, often to the point where they fled their land, neither side wanted the area to revert to wilderness, as each wanted to rule productive farmland after the war was over.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]However, in the scorched earth areas, Canadian raids were pretty merciless. Few of the civilians were murdered in cold blood, but, of course, several died defending their farms. Most of the livestock was collected and driven back into Canadian territory (or simply slaughtered), and buildings burned. The earliest raids were before planting, or before it's completed anyway, which results in no crops being planted in those closest areas. Later raiders didn't burn crops, as they're too green to burn, but basically it's clear to the farmers in the area that staying wasn't really an option. Most of them fled. Some only as far as the nearest US fort – but that increases the supply problem for those forts, and some back to more settled American territory. A few of them, including a disproportionate number of young women, came back with the raiding parties.[6][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]other raiding[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Outside the scorched earth area, raiders (on both sides) ranged, trying to intercept the enemy's supply lines and occasionally attack small forts. The US used Maceroni rockets, and the Canadians used either captured rockets or coehorn mortars[7]. Mostly the raiding parties were far too weak to actually take a defended fortlet, but when the defenders were ill or depleted due to some of them being out on patrol/raids of their own, for instance, the occasional fortlet was taken and burnt. More often, they could surprise small wooding/foraging parties near the fortlets. The Canadians managed to get some incendiary rounds for their mortars, so sometimes they could just shoot a couple of rounds into a fort, starting fires, and then flee.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 most of the trains on the US run section of track are not pulled by locomotives (most of which escaped or were destroyed) but by horse or oxen. This still massively improves their logistics over transporting stuff cross country.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 Ft. Brock, as you may or may not remember, is in the vicinity of OTL's Centralia IL. This rail line cuts across OTL's southern Illinois.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 it's true that the US is still laying as much rail as Canada is at this point, but it's proportionately much less, and they're cutting corners. They still even have strap rail (a strap of iron surfacing a wooden rail) on few of their less important lines. The iron industry in ATL's US is in much worse shape than iOTL.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 If you're looking a political map, not a topographic one, think a triangle from Vincennes at the base to Indianapolis at the upper right and back to Terre Haute at the upper left.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 *Indiana being the protectorate, i.e. most of OTL's Indiana and Illinois, what we're talking about here is mostly central Illinois.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 Whole families going north: given a choice between going north with SOME goods, or south with none, a few make the choice to go north (see also below). Starting a farm from scratch after the war with no livestock and no equipment would be very difficult, so saving those (and avoiding being a penniless refugee) may trump national loyalty. As for the disproportionate number of young women, if you're a young woman of marriageable age, your family farm has been destroyed, and you are clearly going to be a refugee for a while if you retreat, going where there's lots of young men (and few women) has some potential for your future. Moreover, some of the raiding parties would threaten/bribe – 'if you come with us, we'll let your family flee with a cow and what they can carry, otherwise, it's the clothes on their backs' – for instance. Presented with a choice 'your daughter's going north with us, you can go south with 1 cow and all you can carry, or come north with more livestock and a wagon', several families rationalize that they're doing it to protect their daughters virtue and come north.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]There weren't a LOT of these women come north, and they tended to be more resigned to their fate than enthusiastic, but some did come. Of course, the press in the US painted lurid stories of 'the abduction and despoliation of the pure flower of our womanhood'... The fact that a very few of the stories are completely true, and, in many others, that the family has no idea what 'persuasion' was used to convince their daughters, and thus often fear the worst, only make the press reports more believable. The Canadian authorities had strict rules against rape and forcible abduction – but if a girl comes across the border without being bound or visibly damaged, she's obviously 'willing' for some value of that word. The FNS, among others, couldn't do much about activities out on US soil, but they did help the odd abductee convince the courts of her status, and a small handful of raiders were hung by Canadian authorities for rape. A small handful, but some.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]7 Coehorn mortars. These transportable mortars were invented in 1673, and used significantly in OTL's American Civil War. The US got sidetracked by the high tech Maceroni rockets and didn't invest in these, iTTL, as much. The effective use the Canadians are getting out of them make them change their minds, but it is a few months before any significant number make out into the field. Also, the rockets are more versatile, and more suited to the US's original goals, even if less suited to the current situation. [So we can pretend that this was a reasonable decision iTTL, not just that I just discovered them.<g>][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]While the Canadian forces were too weak (at the moment) to make any major attacks in the theatre (due to the withdrawn militia), and the bulk of the US forces are more concerned with rearranging their forces for the next stage, there are things both sides CAN do. Raiders are an easy 'cheap' tactic for both sides. True, they can only attack lightly defended targets, but given the size of the theatre and the relative scarcity of soldiers, there are lots of those.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]By this point, the Canadians have figured out the US supply problems, so they made special efforts to attack US ammunition supplies, local farms which might aid front line fighting, and the rail infrastructure (i.e. the Canadian built rail linking their forts that the US is now using to aid its attack on Liverpool and Brock), as well as any movement of supplies to the front. The ammunition dumps were very well guarded, so there is little that can be done about them, and supply shipments tend to be erratic and semi-well guarded, which make them a difficult target to aim for, so the rail lines and farms near the front were the primary target.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Rail raiding.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Rail is a vitally important resource for both sides – but it is very difficult to guard due to its length. Patrols along the line and guard stations at e.g. bridges, those are possible and both sides do that (although that soaks up a lot of soldiers), but stretches of rail are vulnerable. Raiders do several things. If they have the time, they pry up rails and carry them off – if they're Canadians, then preferably dumping them in muddy streams or burying them, as replacing rail is a real problem for the US (their own nearest rail is hundreds of miles away). A simpler method is to pry up most of the spikes holding a section of rail down. If the rail is actually missing, a 'train'[1] will usually see it in time, stop, and try to fix it. But a rail that's loose is not visible and the train will derail, possibly damaging men, equipment and supplies. In addition, if a big enough raiding party can be assembled, they can attack the small guard posts at the bridges, and then try to blow the bridge.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The most strongly defended section of rail was the US line leading west across to the siege at Ft. Brock[2]. It was more vulnerable to attack, so it received the best defence. Firstly, it's easier to defend the rail north to Liverpool paralleling the Wabash, and secondly, if when line was cut temporarily, well the river was an even better avenue for bulk resupply (not as quick, but lower cost/higher volume).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Of course, the raiding of the railways was not strictly one-sided. Much of the Canadian rail wasn't within reach of the US forces, but the section between Indianapolis and the Eel River was quite vulnerable to US raiders going around north or south of the fortlets on the railway line. Also, some of the rail leading north-east from Indianapolis towards Ft. Tecumseh was attacked by US forces slipping across the border. On the other hand, their support bases were quite far back from the line, and the raiders weren't locals who are familiar with the territory. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]One big difference was that, when the Canadians had to replace a rail, they just get supplies from the nearest rail supply area. When the Americans do, they had to replace it with a section of rail from elsewhere on the line (cannibalizing sidings, for instance), or get a factory in the US to tool up for a different rail size and shape than anything they currently make. Actually, what happened by this time (April or so) is that a supply of the closest size of rail has been shipped to Vincennes, and they jimmy it into place as needed. (That US rail is a bit shorter, and much lighter, which means any rail car going over it was going to bump a bit.[3])[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Another advantage the Canadians had, is that all the rail is on 'their' territory. That means every raiding party can at least include (or even be comprised of) locals who know the target area well. They also know any surviving/remaining farmers who can provide information and some support.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]'Scorched ground' raiding[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This was mainly Canadians raiding south and east of their lines into US territory. The idea was primarily to force out any US settlers in the area, which means that US forces coming through will not be able to resupply locally. Secondarily, supplies taken help support the raiding parties. Basically this area consisted of a band along the old US border gradually increasing in depth as spring and summer progressed. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Areas that were currently occupied by US forces (but had been Protectorate - the triangle between the Wabash and the White River up to Indianapolis[4] and large portions of west central Indiana[5]) were treated very differently. While both sides (US occupiers and Canadian raiders) requisitioned goods (especially food) from whatever locals are left, often to the point where they fled their land, neither side wanted the area to revert to wilderness, as each wanted to rule productive farmland after the war was over.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]However, in the scorched earth areas, Canadian raids were pretty merciless. Few of the civilians were murdered in cold blood, but, of course, several died defending their farms. Most of the livestock was collected and driven back into Canadian territory (or simply slaughtered), and buildings burned. The earliest raids were before planting, or before it's completed anyway, which results in no crops being planted in those closest areas. Later raiders didn't burn crops, as they're too green to burn, but basically it's clear to the farmers in the area that staying wasn't really an option. Most of them fled. Some only as far as the nearest US fort – but that increases the supply problem for those forts, and some back to more settled American territory. A few of them, including a disproportionate number of young women, came back with the raiding parties.[6][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]other raiding[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Outside the scorched earth area, raiders (on both sides) ranged, trying to intercept the enemy's supply lines and occasionally attack small forts. The US used Maceroni rockets, and the Canadians used either captured rockets or coehorn mortars[7]. Mostly the raiding parties were far too weak to actually take a defended fortlet, but when the defenders were ill or depleted due to some of them being out on patrol/raids of their own, for instance, the occasional fortlet was taken and burnt. More often, they could surprise small wooding/foraging parties near the fortlets. The Canadians managed to get some incendiary rounds for their mortars, so sometimes they could just shoot a couple of rounds into a fort, starting fires, and then flee.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 most of the trains on the US run section of track are not pulled by locomotives (most of which escaped or were destroyed) but by horse or oxen. This still massively improves their logistics over transporting stuff cross country.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 Ft. Brock, as you may or may not remember, is in the vicinity of OTL's Centralia IL. This rail line cuts across OTL's southern Illinois.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 it's true that the US is still laying as much rail as Canada is at this point, but it's proportionately much less, and they're cutting corners. They still even have strap rail (a strap of iron surfacing a wooden rail) on few of their less important lines. The iron industry in ATL's US is in much worse shape than iOTL.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 If you're looking a political map, not a topographic one, think a triangle from Vincennes at the base to Indianapolis at the upper right and back to Terre Haute at the upper left.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 *Indiana being the protectorate, i.e. most of OTL's Indiana and Illinois, what we're talking about here is mostly central Illinois.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 Whole families going north: given a choice between going north with SOME goods, or south with none, a few make the choice to go north (see also below). Starting a farm from scratch after the war with no livestock and no equipment would be very difficult, so saving those (and avoiding being a penniless refugee) may trump national loyalty. As for the disproportionate number of young women, if you're a young woman of marriageable age, your family farm has been destroyed, and you are clearly going to be a refugee for a while if you retreat, going where there's lots of young men (and few women) has some potential for your future. Moreover, some of the raiding parties would threaten/bribe – 'if you come with us, we'll let your family flee with a cow and what they can carry, otherwise, it's the clothes on their backs' – for instance. Presented with a choice 'your daughter's going north with us, you can go south with 1 cow and all you can carry, or come north with more livestock and a wagon', several families rationalize that they're doing it to protect their daughters virtue and come north.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]There weren't a LOT of these women come north, and they tended to be more resigned to their fate than enthusiastic, but some did come. Of course, the press in the US painted lurid stories of 'the abduction and despoliation of the pure flower of our womanhood'... The fact that a very few of the stories are completely true, and, in many others, that the family has no idea what 'persuasion' was used to convince their daughters, and thus often fear the worst, only make the press reports more believable. The Canadian authorities had strict rules against rape and forcible abduction – but if a girl comes across the border without being bound or visibly damaged, she's obviously 'willing' for some value of that word. The FNS, among others, couldn't do much about activities out on US soil, but they did help the odd abductee convince the courts of her status, and a small handful of raiders were hung by Canadian authorities for rape. A small handful, but some.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]7 Coehorn mortars. These transportable mortars were invented in 1673, and used significantly in OTL's American Civil War. The US got sidetracked by the high tech Maceroni rockets and didn't invest in these, iTTL, as much. The effective use the Canadians are getting out of them make them change their minds, but it is a few months before any significant number make out into the field. Also, the rockets are more versatile, and more suited to the US's original goals, even if less suited to the current situation. [So we can pretend that this was a reasonable decision iTTL, not just that I just discovered them.<g>][/FONT]
They didn't, of course, that was an unauthorized map by someone presenting their thoughts of the future.
Which... since the thread seemed dead at that point, I can't complain too much about, I guess.<g>
Indiana 9, riverine warfare (May '43)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The unprecedented success of the Armoured Steam Boats in the Mississippi theatre led to their further adoption and use. Firstly, of course, a second generation of boats was prepared for use on the Mississippi to keep the whole river under British[1] control. That work mostly had to wait until spring break-up when iron could be shipped down the Illinois River from the mills at Chicago. In fact, there was a nasty couple of weeks when 4 US boats[2], hastily constructed up the Ohio, came down to contest control of the river. The US boats were slightly better armoured than the four remaining weasel boats[3], but the latter were better armed. Because the British crews were more familiar with their vessels, the British boats managed to keep the US boats out of the Mississippi until the new generation boats[4] were ready for service. By that time, one each of the US and British boats were sunk, and the others damaged to a greater or lesser extent. Once the British reinforcements arrived, the US force was thoroughly outnumbered and outclassed, so they retreat up the Ohio a ways and prepare to stop the British from attacking that river. A fifth US boat, held up with engineering troubles, finally arrived just after the others had retreated, when it was too late.[5][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander: if armoured boats are so good on the Mississippi, they would be good on other rivers, too. The US gets a head start by sending one of the existing Mississippi boats up the Wabash to guard the river from Vincennes to Liverpool[6]. However, these boats are bit large for the smaller rivers, and they are to be withdrawn in favour of new boats built for the inland rivers. These boats don't arrive until May, however, as they have to be designed and built once the need becomes apparent. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Canadians weren't standing by idle, either. They know they want control of the Wabash and White River, and they started work on an inland river optimized version themselves. Unfortunately, some are going to have to be built on site (e.g. at Indianapolis which has no water connexion with any iron working area), so the boats have to be designed to be built, disassembled, transported (e.g. by rail) and re-assembled.[7] The first couple of attempts didn't entirely work, so the design had to be tuned a bit. Thus, despite having built a shipyard above Indianapolis shortly after having relieved it, the first boat, the ASB Lemming isn't ready to patrol the White River until May, as well. She was followed by the Mouse and then the Hare. Similarly, the Pika, and Groundhog, followed by the Mole and Shrew were built on the Wabash and the Jackrabbit, followed by the Gopher and Vole were scheduled for the Illinois. (There aren't any US boats on the Illinois, but having mobile gun batteries that can move up and down the river in response to US overland probes/attacks is useful.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The ASB Lemming was just working up when the first US boat on the White River, the USAB (United States Armored Boat) Shenandoah arrived up river on the 7th of May. Expecting to totally outclass the US boat, the Lemming steamed out the next day and made a head-long attack without any finesse or subtlety. The US boat was handled by a better crew, one far more used to their boat (they'd brought it all the way down the Ohio and up the White River, after all), and while the boat wasn't as technically sophisticated as the Lemming, they sank it while the Lemming did rather less damage. (You could say this Lemming ran over a cliff.) Fortunately for the Canadians, one of the few solid shots the Lemming did land was to the engine, so the Shenandoah was also out of commission for a week, by which time the Mouse was ready. In that confrontation, the Mouse, under the command of L. Patrick Wibberley, used her superiority (better steam engine, better manoeuvrability, better cannon) to sink the Shenandoah. Which made her, of course, the Mouse the Roared. The loss of the Lemming meant that the parts for the Vole, originally destined for the Illinois, were redirected to Indianapolis, when they're ready (the Vole was then launched June 6). For the moment, this means the Canadians have control over the upper reaches of the White River. The Mouse patrolled up and down the river, shelling the fort at *Waverly, but the Canadians didn't have enough manpower to take it at this point. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, on the Wabash, the USAB Michigan has been patrolling the river waiting for the USAB Susquehanna (the first of the proper riverine boats slated for the Wabash) to show up.[8] Captain Philip George[9], in charge of the Wabash operation, held back the Pika and the Groundhog a few days to work them up before sending them downstream. Thus the crews, even if they were somewhat green, had a bit of a feel for their boats. Thus, when both boats confronted the Michigan on the 18th of May, they were able to damage her and drive her off, although they couldn't sink her. However, they suffered some damage, and weren't able to move further south/downstream than Liverpool. By the time they were repaired, the Susquehanna had arrived, on the 27th. So there's a stalemate on the Wabash for a while.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 British, because no one south of St. Louis is a 'Canadian' yet.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 the Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. The Florida's engine suffered serious failure and wouldn't show up for a while.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 the Sable and Wolverine survived the nasty battle on the Mississippi at the beginning of the year. The Badger and Glutton were finished afterwards, partly from extra parts and partly from salvaged remains of the dead boats. See “Mississippi theatre 1”, post 902[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 predator boats: Wolf, Lion, Lynx, Coyote, etc.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 The Illinois was sunk as was the Badger.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 not a specific boat, but in rotation, to start with, at least. In general 2 of the 4 are on guard on the Ohio, 1 is under repair, and 1 is on the Wabash.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]7 hint, hint.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8 the first riverine boat went up the White, as the larger boats just couldn't get there, and they wanted to beat the Canadians. The Wabash, although more important could be (badly) patrolled by one of the larger boats.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]9 interestingly, he was a Pennsylvanian (born in Punxsutawney) who moved to Canada and naturalized. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The unprecedented success of the Armoured Steam Boats in the Mississippi theatre led to their further adoption and use. Firstly, of course, a second generation of boats was prepared for use on the Mississippi to keep the whole river under British[1] control. That work mostly had to wait until spring break-up when iron could be shipped down the Illinois River from the mills at Chicago. In fact, there was a nasty couple of weeks when 4 US boats[2], hastily constructed up the Ohio, came down to contest control of the river. The US boats were slightly better armoured than the four remaining weasel boats[3], but the latter were better armed. Because the British crews were more familiar with their vessels, the British boats managed to keep the US boats out of the Mississippi until the new generation boats[4] were ready for service. By that time, one each of the US and British boats were sunk, and the others damaged to a greater or lesser extent. Once the British reinforcements arrived, the US force was thoroughly outnumbered and outclassed, so they retreat up the Ohio a ways and prepare to stop the British from attacking that river. A fifth US boat, held up with engineering troubles, finally arrived just after the others had retreated, when it was too late.[5][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander: if armoured boats are so good on the Mississippi, they would be good on other rivers, too. The US gets a head start by sending one of the existing Mississippi boats up the Wabash to guard the river from Vincennes to Liverpool[6]. However, these boats are bit large for the smaller rivers, and they are to be withdrawn in favour of new boats built for the inland rivers. These boats don't arrive until May, however, as they have to be designed and built once the need becomes apparent. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Canadians weren't standing by idle, either. They know they want control of the Wabash and White River, and they started work on an inland river optimized version themselves. Unfortunately, some are going to have to be built on site (e.g. at Indianapolis which has no water connexion with any iron working area), so the boats have to be designed to be built, disassembled, transported (e.g. by rail) and re-assembled.[7] The first couple of attempts didn't entirely work, so the design had to be tuned a bit. Thus, despite having built a shipyard above Indianapolis shortly after having relieved it, the first boat, the ASB Lemming isn't ready to patrol the White River until May, as well. She was followed by the Mouse and then the Hare. Similarly, the Pika, and Groundhog, followed by the Mole and Shrew were built on the Wabash and the Jackrabbit, followed by the Gopher and Vole were scheduled for the Illinois. (There aren't any US boats on the Illinois, but having mobile gun batteries that can move up and down the river in response to US overland probes/attacks is useful.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The ASB Lemming was just working up when the first US boat on the White River, the USAB (United States Armored Boat) Shenandoah arrived up river on the 7th of May. Expecting to totally outclass the US boat, the Lemming steamed out the next day and made a head-long attack without any finesse or subtlety. The US boat was handled by a better crew, one far more used to their boat (they'd brought it all the way down the Ohio and up the White River, after all), and while the boat wasn't as technically sophisticated as the Lemming, they sank it while the Lemming did rather less damage. (You could say this Lemming ran over a cliff.) Fortunately for the Canadians, one of the few solid shots the Lemming did land was to the engine, so the Shenandoah was also out of commission for a week, by which time the Mouse was ready. In that confrontation, the Mouse, under the command of L. Patrick Wibberley, used her superiority (better steam engine, better manoeuvrability, better cannon) to sink the Shenandoah. Which made her, of course, the Mouse the Roared. The loss of the Lemming meant that the parts for the Vole, originally destined for the Illinois, were redirected to Indianapolis, when they're ready (the Vole was then launched June 6). For the moment, this means the Canadians have control over the upper reaches of the White River. The Mouse patrolled up and down the river, shelling the fort at *Waverly, but the Canadians didn't have enough manpower to take it at this point. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, on the Wabash, the USAB Michigan has been patrolling the river waiting for the USAB Susquehanna (the first of the proper riverine boats slated for the Wabash) to show up.[8] Captain Philip George[9], in charge of the Wabash operation, held back the Pika and the Groundhog a few days to work them up before sending them downstream. Thus the crews, even if they were somewhat green, had a bit of a feel for their boats. Thus, when both boats confronted the Michigan on the 18th of May, they were able to damage her and drive her off, although they couldn't sink her. However, they suffered some damage, and weren't able to move further south/downstream than Liverpool. By the time they were repaired, the Susquehanna had arrived, on the 27th. So there's a stalemate on the Wabash for a while.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 British, because no one south of St. Louis is a 'Canadian' yet.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 the Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. The Florida's engine suffered serious failure and wouldn't show up for a while.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 the Sable and Wolverine survived the nasty battle on the Mississippi at the beginning of the year. The Badger and Glutton were finished afterwards, partly from extra parts and partly from salvaged remains of the dead boats. See “Mississippi theatre 1”, post 902[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 predator boats: Wolf, Lion, Lynx, Coyote, etc.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 The Illinois was sunk as was the Badger.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 not a specific boat, but in rotation, to start with, at least. In general 2 of the 4 are on guard on the Ohio, 1 is under repair, and 1 is on the Wabash.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]7 hint, hint.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8 the first riverine boat went up the White, as the larger boats just couldn't get there, and they wanted to beat the Canadians. The Wabash, although more important could be (badly) patrolled by one of the larger boats.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]9 interestingly, he was a Pennsylvanian (born in Punxsutawney) who moved to Canada and naturalized. [/FONT]
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