America, A City on a Hill: The Presidency of Joseph Smith Jr. and Beyond

[Neshomancer]

The American Slave War (1845-1847), also known as the American Civil War, or the Confederate-Mexican War in Mexico was a landmark conflict in North America as it marked the last gasp of the institution slavery on the continent. Initially it started as a conflict between the United States and the rebellious Confederacy.

The first shots were fired on April, 12, 1845, when the Confederates fired on the Union-held Fort Pickens in Florida. The siege was short-lived because of the difficulty of resupplying a fort deep in Confederate territory.

However this provided the United States President Joseph Smith all the reason he needed to call up troops to put down the rebellion as it had now turned violent. He didn't just call for troops however, he also declared that the states in rebellion were now exempt from his plan to compensate slaveholders for emancipation of slaves.

Five days later after the Battle of Fort Pickens, and a mere two days after Smith call up for troops, Virginia would provisionally secede from the Union pending a referendum. Three other states Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee were also well on the path to secession, or at the vey least considering it.

Historians agree that the war would likely have lasted much longer, if it weren't for the Thornton Affair, better known as “Jones' Folly”. General Zachary Taylor had been dispatched by Confederate President Anson Jones to secure the new country's Rio Grande claims in Texas. Jones thought that Mexico would not resist given now that Texas now had the backing of the Confederacy. He was very wrong.

Although the Confderate States had annexed Texas, both the Confederates and Mexico claimed the area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. Jones had ordered Taylor's Army of Occupation to the Rio Grande early in 1845.

Mariano Arista assumed command of the Division of the North on April 4 and arrived at Matamoros on April 24, making the total force there about 5000 men, and notified Taylor hostilities had commenced. Arista promptly ordered General Anastasio Torrejón to cross the Rio Grande fourteen miles upstream at La Palangana.

Taylor received two reports on April 24 of Mexicans crossing the Rio Grande, the first crossing below his camp, the other a crossing upriver. Taylor ordered Captain Croghan Ker to investigate downriver and Captain Seth B. Thornton with two Dragoon companies to investigate upriver. Ker found nothing but Thornton rode into an ambush and his 80-man force was quickly overwhelmed by Torrejon's 1600, resulting in the capture of those not immediately killed.:48 Thornton's guide brought news of the hostilities to Taylor and was followed by a cart from Torrejón containing the six wounded, Torrejon stating he could not care for them. War Between the Confederacy and Mexico had begun.



From American Slave War: The War the Shaped a Continent Steve Ackerman copyright 2009



Author's Note: Information about the Thornton Affair taken from Wikipedia and modified. Yes, dates are lining up with OTL's Civil War and Mexican American War a bit, but that should change very soon.

 

[Neshomancer]

So, with the CSA in a two front war, would Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee even want to throw their lot in with them? I;m thinking no, but would like other opinions.

 

[Neshomancer]

April 29, 1845, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:



Emma Hale Smith tried her best to keep the socialites busy. This whole thing had started as a trip to show her children Harmony where she grew up, all of them had been born after they had left the area, but now that she was First Lady things could never be that simple. With a war on now public appearances to drum up support for her husband was one of the few things she could do to support him.

So, they'd taken a detour to the great city of Philadelphia, and the elites had made certain to do everything they could to impress. She'd grown up a rural farm girl, so Emma might have been impressed by the splendor of it all if she hadn't been in the throes of morning sickness. Still things weren't all bad. She could see that her oldest Julia, her and Joseph's adopted daughter was hitting it off with a boy around her age. She quickly excused herself from the gaggle of hangers-on so that she could investigate this further.

“Julia, perhaps you would like to introduce me to your friend,” Emma said kindly.

“My name is Theodore, ma'am, Theodore Roosevelt,” the boy said, “My brother Silas and I just happened to be visiting. Our father Cornelius is a wealthy businessman in New York. I must say you have a most enchanting daughter.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you Theodore, I'm sorry to have interrupted,” Emma said.



The meeting of Julia Murdock Smith and Theodore “Thee” Roosevelt [1] was one of pure happenstance, the two just happening to be visiting Philadelphia at the time. Theodore accompanying his older brother Silas on a business trip and Julia and her adoptive mother and sibling being on a sightseeing tour. The Smiths wanting to get out of the White House for a bit because of the mounting pressure of the war. By all accounts the pair were immediately smitten.

After the initial meeting the two would exchange letters and with the help of their families arrange times to meet, and Theodore was a great comfort to Julia after Emma died in childbirth in 1848. Theodore's father, Cornelius, was less than enthused about the relationship because of Joseph Smith's reputation and disowned his some when he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and married Julia in 1850.

The pair would settle in Nauvoo and have five children together. Their son Henry, would become a celebrated general and their family line would produce a future President of the United States.



Taken from Lineage of Light: A History of the Smith Fily, Sara Peterson, 1970



[1] For anyone confused this would be Theodore Roosevelt Sr., the father of Teddy OTL. Of course Teddy doesn't exist TTL. I will get back to the war next update, just had this idea and wanted to show some butterfly effect in play in action.

 

[Neshomancer]

May 5, 1845, St. Louis, Missouri:



Ulysses S. Grant, Second Lieutenant in the United States Army couldn't believe the situation that he'd found himself in. Everyone had expected their assignment to Jefferson Barracks to be a quiet one, and it had been when they got here. Then Joseph Smith had been elected President and things had gone crazy with states trying to leave the Union over slavery. Missouri itself being one of the first. He was indifferent to slavery himself, but he was staunchly a Union man. Some had given up their commissions and sided with the rebels, but Ulysses Grant was no traitor.

That said, he wasn't indifferent to the plight of the people of Missouri. His thoughts of course went to his fiance Julia Dent, the sister of his West Point friend Fred Dent. Her family own slaves and Grant knew the army would not take well to that. He hoped sincerely for her safety in this conflict.

Grant shook his head, he couldn't think about that right now. Brigadier General Kearny had ordered the 4th Infantry and a few other units to secure this city.

Ulysses hadn't wanted to serve in a war, and he'd certainly not expected the war to be like this. Door to door fighting with no way of knowing if a rebel was hiding behind the next corner. All this because that Mormon Prophet had won the White House. In truth he wasn't sure how he felt about Joseph Smith, at the moment none of that really mattered to him. Here he was up on night watch hoping some rebels didn't ambush him. The smell of smoke filling his nose, both from expended gunpowder and the houses and other buildings that were burning in the city. War wasn't supposed to be fought in fields, cities were besieged yes, but something like this... So many of his comrades had already died...

Grant was drawn out of his thoughts by the approach of a Union courier. “Lieutenant Grant? I was asked to deliver this to you, I had a devil of a time finding you in this mess,” the courier said before handing him a letter. He opened it to find that it was from Julia. He had to read it three times to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was.

Julia was breaking off their engagement. Union soldiers had come to their plantation to free their slaves as per President Smith's orders. Her father had tried to resist and had been shot dead, their home ransacked and pillaged. She could no longer love him because he wore the Union uniform, and she never wanted to see him again. Grant crumpled up the letter his heart shattering from grief. The slavery issues didn't matter to him, but he'd lost the woman he loved because of Joseph Smith. Grant knew the preserving the Union was more important than any romance, he would not abandon his post, but when it came to the President he'd made up his mind. He hated Joseph Smith.

 

[Jon Crawford]

That update fulfills another prophecy.

Your name will be had for both good and evil.
Joseph Smith History.

 

[Neshomancer]

That update fulfills another prophecy.

Your name will be had for both good and evil.
Joseph Smith History.

Not my my iention, but yeah, the horrors of war would turn people against him.

 

[Neshomancer]

Still, I don't think this Civil War will be anywhere as bad as OTL since the Confederacy is fighting against the US and Mexico, and the Upper South probably doesn't want any part of a two-front war and will probably stay with the Union.

 

[Neshomancer]

May 20, 1845. Montgomery, Alabama:



Anson Jones found himself cursing a lot lately. The war was going badly for the Confederacy, and things were unlikely to get better any time soon. Virginia, Arkansas, and North Carolina had all declared that they would be staying with the United States. Kentucky had voted for Smith, so it was a lost cause, and given these developments Tennessee wasn't likely to join either.

Which meant Missouri was isolated and likely to fall in short order. This war was turning into a disaster quickly and people were likely going to blame him. After all, it was Texas that had gotten the Confederacy into a two front war. He'd underestimated Mexico's backbone. Texas had won independence from them so what threat could they be to the Confederacy?

Alone, they surely would have been able to take Mexico, but they weren't fighting alone, they were fighting Mexico and the United States. The Confederacy was caught in a vice. If things kept going the way they were the blame would fall on Texas and Jones himself. Having to split troop focus was not going to make this war any easier

In a way he couldn't blame the Uper South for sticking with the United States, yes they'd lose their slaves, but Smith was at least promising them compensation. Something had to be done to turn the tide and fast. His neck was probably quite literally on the line.

There was only one sane option: They had to knock out Mexico and secure the southern border, Then they could move troops up north and give the Yankees a real fight, perhaps impress Britain and France enough that they would send help.

There was on bright side though, the newspapers were already railing against the slave states that hadn't joined, Calling them traitors, and “Masoners” after the Mason-Dixo line, just as the Deep South was called Dixie. The betrayal had given the soldiers just one more reason to fight harder in the border states. Hopefully that ferocity wouldn't be all for naught.

 

[Neshomancer]

Sorry guys, I've realized I'm not very good at writing battles, at least not the kind that would be in this timeline. I'm considering opening this up for (curated) reader submissions, and as always and feedback and ideas on how things should go is appreciated.