Bookmark1995
Banned
Well...OTL West Virginia, a state founded by anti-Confederate secessionists, is a place full of Confederate flags. So yes, the Confederacy has become a toll on the right to promote racism in the name of "heritage."
Dixieland: The Country of Tomorrow, Everyday (yet another Confederate TL)
- Thread starter TastySpam
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Well...OTL West Virginia, a state founded by anti-Confederate secessionists, is a place full of Confederate flags. So yes, the Confederacy has become a toll on the right to promote racism in the name of "heritage."
The Confederate flag pops up in strange places more or less not closely related to the actual Confederacy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...nd-other-foreigners-fly-the-confederate-flag/
Broadly speaking, the most well-known use in America was when it was used as a symbol by defenders of Jim Crow 1890-1960 (lost cause mythology and all that), but it's also become a weird generic working class symbol in places like Germany and Italy and probably some parts of the US with no connection to Jim Crow. Political symbolism is some strange stuff.
Chapter 46 - The Christian Commonwealth of North Carolina
The Christian Commonwealth of North Carolina
The North Carolina State Militia collapsed almost immediately after they knew what they were up against. Although they were better armed, they were outnumbered and increasingly shocked when they realized who they were up against: Stonewall Jackson, the hero of Chancellorsville. Stonewall's famous "foot cavalry" was at work, when his army arrived at the state capital of Raleigh days before anyone expected them to get there. A totally unprepared state militia collapsed, surrendered, deserted, or most commonly, defected. The Governor and much of the legislature fled. The legislators who stayed in North Carolina were generally the most hardcore populists, who had become increasingly radicalized due to the disenfranchisement of their voter base. As the state legislature had no quorum, they pulled out random people to pretend to be legislators who had fled. In many times, this became quite hilarious to the participants, because they liked to pick escaped slaves to "fill-in" for prominent slaveholders, who would play along and indicate their non-absence in humorous, highly exaggerated ways. The fake legislators did not vote however. However, the actual legislators who did voted to hold a Constitutional Convention, which was amazingly held over two days. A new Constitution declared the Christian Commonwealth of North Carolina, forgave all debts, abolished slavery with some vaguely promised compensation, mandated universal firearm ownership (for both whites and blacks), banned working on the Sabbath, banned alcohol, opium, gambling, and prostitution, guaranteed universal elementary education (for both whites and blacks, though it was silent on whether they would be taught together), declared silver legal tender, and instituted a Georgist "single-tax" on land ownership to fund the government. Of course, Stonewall Jackson was voted unanimously by the new legislature as the "Lord Protector" of North Carolina.
Although the fleeing politicians felt that the rest of the state would rally against this insurrection, they quickly found out with horror that most farmers supported the new government. Most of North Carolina's yeomen declared allegiance to the new Christian Commonwealth of North Carolina. Several planters found out in horror that their slaves were deserting en masse and a few enterprising planters even contacted Stonewall's army on their own volition, agreeing to support them in exchange for a solid guarantee of compensation. Most of the planters weren't abolitionists, but they were pragmatists who didn't want to be on the losing side.
This generally horrified the Confederate government, which sought to crush the insurrection with force. President Morgan demanded that Stonewall stand down as governor and relinquish control to the legitimate Governor. Jackson responded perhaps in the most interesting way possible: by stating that his "Crusaders" were necessary to repulse the Spanish occupation in New Orleans, volunteering his army to help retake New Orleans. The Confederate government immediately rejected this offer and in 1886, the Confederate Army marched from South Carolina, just south of New Zion near the town of Rowland, North Carolina. Luckily for Stonewall, the close location to New Zion made it easy to draft sympathetic militia troops. The Battle of Rowland is still often treated as one of the most significant battles in Confederate history, often cited as the "Confederate Valmy." Although there were 18,000 men on both sides, the Confederate Army was significantly better armed. However, they also had poor morale and poor training. The best troops were in Cuba or trying to protect against further Spanish attacks. Quite notably, Charleston was now under siege and the local commander in Charleston refused to aid the anti-Jackson expedition, feeling a Spanish Marines attack was imminent.
The Confederate Army tried to encircle Jackson's army, expecting him to make some kind of crazy maneuver that he was famous for. Anticipating this, Jackson gave his men a simple order they could. "Yell like furies" and charge through the center. At the end of the day, 500 rebel troops and 400 government troops died, with the Confederate Army shattered, disorganizingly retreating from North Carolina. Horrified, Morgan lost the confidence of most of his cabinet, as they had turned against the Spanish-Confederate War and Morgan was one of the leading proponents of the idea. Seeing that Morgan's expansionism was threatening his own domestic agenda (slave power), the Confederate Cabinet in a quasi-not-so-legal move unanimously voted to declare Vice President William Miles the Acting President. Miles was in particular horrified by the notion that Jackson's rebellion might spill into his South Carolina. Despite not being particularly constitutional, Miles immediately contacted the Spanish with an offer for peace.
President Miles offered the Spanish essentially a status quo peace. Confederate troops would leave Cuba, Spanish troops would leave New Orleans, and the Confederacy would pay small, mostly symbolic reparations for starting the war. This was more or less all that Spain desired - they had no grand aims of imperialism in the continental United States. Miles believed this would allow him to focus primarily on crushing Jackson. Declaring that he had secured peace, Miles was confident that he could finally restore peace and tranquility in the Confederacy. After announcing the peace agreement with Spanish officials, Miles sent a telegram directly to General Longstreet, who had led reinforcements to Cuba, where they served brilliantly, outmaneuvering Spanish forces, to withdraw from Cuba entirely and redeploy in North Carolina.
What happened the next shocked both Madrid and Montgomery. General Longstreet, alongside his subordinates, Thomas Jordan, Joseph Wheeler, and Ambrosia Gonzalez, politely noted that they would be unable to comply with the order, throwing both capitals into chaos.
Bookmark1995
Banned
Abolitionists: North Carolina is in revolt.
Harriet Tubman: Honey, get the popcorn!
The Confederacy is faced with a very ironic nightmare: its own civil war. Let's see how they get out of this mess.
Harriet Tubman: Honey, get the popcorn!
The Confederacy is faced with a very ironic nightmare: its own civil war. Let's see how they get out of this mess.
Okay, this is suddenly getting interesting. Has there been a single Confederate President who hasn't had just a dreadful term 
This is indeed a very interesting Confederate Civil War. And it is quite the nightmare, with two of it's most famous generals in insurrection.
That alcohol ban is going to be wildly unpopular, especially in Appalachia.
My personal bet is that Longstreet will either pull a coup or declare a Republic of Cuba with his troops occupying the Island.
There’s one major problem with the latter and that is Spain.
Bookmark1995
Banned
I am crossing my fingers on the former.
Longstreet is one of the true heroes of the post-Civil War era. OTL, he spoke out against the Confederacy and tried to the defend the civil rights of newly freed black Americans. And he did this, despite the criticism of his colleagues, who wanted to glorify their own actions.
Another was PGT Beauregard, who helped found the Louisiana-based Reform Party, which called for equal civil and political rights for black people, including an end to segregation.
Indeed. Ah well, the new South is coming right here and right now.
Bookmark1995
Banned
I don't know. Jackson's rebellion seems like the Southern version of the Taiping Rebellion.
Didn’t the US say it wouldn’t recognise a rebelling nation from the Confederacy? Could they intervene militarily if the South is too inept.
Bookmark1995
Banned
I am referencing the religiosity of Jackson's rebellion, and how Jackson sees himself as a messiah.
Ahh, I see. Yeah, this might go down in flames. On the other hand it could force a painful abortion of slavery on paper since *we can’t have these religious nuts thinking that us owning negroes is wrong*
*presenting as a planter.
Chapter 47 - The Army of Rogues
The Army of Rogues
Longstreet was stunned at what the White House had done. As far as he was concerned, their removal of President Morgan was blatantly illegal and unconstitutional. Longstreet was no fan of Morgan at all (he openly admitted he had voted for the CSIP candidate), but Longstreet still believed that he was the legitimately elected President. Worst of all, the palace coup against President Morgan by Vice President Miles seemed to have the worst reasoning: making peace in a war that as far as Longstreet could tell, he was easily winning. Worst of all, the Confederate Army in Cuba, was part of the peace agreement, was ordered to disarm the Cuban rebels before retreating, which would mean betraying their close allies.
The Confederates knew exactly what this felt like. In the War of Southern Independence, as a general in the Army of Northern Virginia, Longstreet had keenly known that the Union was definitely winning and would have won if not for McClellan's assassination (by abolitionist radicals no less!) and the ascendance of President Pendleton. Similarly, the Confederacy was ultimately winning in Cuba! Yes, massive Spanish reinforcements had forced them into a guerrilla fight, but it was clearly a losing fight Spain had picked. Spanish superiority in artillery and on sea meant little when Confederate-Cuban forces could launch hit and run attacks, using both their expertise in melee combat and superior small arms to devastate small Spanish garrisons, before disappearing again into the countryside. Spanish losses in battle were horrible, not to mention disease and widespread desertion.
Indeed, many feared that the Spanish escalation of the war by attacking New Orleans would trigger an intervention by Great Britain or the United States. However, the Spanish went ahead anyways, figuring that the only way to defeat the Cuban rebels was to defeat the Confederacy - and the only way to defeat the Confederate was to strike them directly. Such strategic planning, supported by Prime Minister Juan Prim was more or less correct. However, the Spanish had not counted on the Confederate Army in Cuba simply refusing to disarm even after the civilian government in Montgomery threw in the towel. Longstreet wasn't alone - almost all of his subordinates agreed. The government in Montgomery was not legitimate and the war was not yet over - they were supposed to win it!
Interestingly, while the Confederate Army in Cuba remained loyal to President Morgan, they didn't actually follow his precepts. Morgan had sought to annex Cuba in order to preserve it as a slave state. However, after a year of fighting and struggling besides Cuban officers and soldiers, most Confederate officers became deeply skeptical of the notion of annexing Cuba as part of a Golden Circle, sympathizing instead with the notion of Cuban independence (though Cuba would presumably be very close to the Confederate States).
In shock that the peace agreement had been "broken", the Spanish continued their next planned assault, a bombardment and seizure of Fort Sumter (rebuilt from rubble as a symbolic victory and then blasted into rubble again) and a Marine assault on Charleston. With most of the Confederate Army tied up in North Carolina being defeated by Stonewall's crusaders, the second largest city in the Confederacy also fell, with reports of a Spanish assault on the third largest city, Mobile, quick to arrive. New Orleans and Charleston were also some of the wealthiest cities in the Confederacy, and stories of frenzied Spanish looting sparked fear, but also anger in the Confederacy. The Spanish encouraged such looting as they figured that further damaging the Confederacy would finally get the Confederate Army out of Cuba.
With reports that the Spanish Army was approaching Mobile, elements of the Confederate Army were called up, marching through the capital of Montgomery where they would presumably march down south to defend Mobile from the expected Spanish assault. However, one man had another idea. The head of the army sent to defend Mobile was one of the Confederate Army's best engineers, General William Mahone, who famously helped dig many of the trench networks that bought the Confederacy the months it would need to grind the Union into defeat. Corresponding with various factions of the Confederate Army, Mahone became convinced that something dramatic would have to happen if the Confederacy was to win the war.
His army, instead of simply stopping by for Montgomery for resupply, surrounded the Capitol House and White House. For the second time in a decade, rifles were pointed at the Confederate seat of government. After a brief firefight (seven were wounded, but none of them died), Mahone arrested the Confederate cabinet, claiming that they had illegally deposed President Morgan. Amusingly, President Morgan had gone to meet his closest supporters in the United Provinces of Central America, so Mahone declared that Morgan was also unable to serve and that he would serve as Acting President as the "Chairman of the National Salvation Committee of the Confederate States of America." Although Mahone thought Jackson was a nut, he nevertheless sent Jackson a telegraph, recognizing him as Governor of the Christian Commonwealth of North Carolina, ordering him to march his army south into South Carolina to evict the Spanish out of Charleston.
Most of the state governments didn't know how to respond. The states most opposed were South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. However, with Charleston and New Orleans under occupation, those governments were willing to give Mahone a shot to at least beat the Spanish. The Alabama state government was also seized in Montgomery, which dealt with that problem. Finally, Mississippi resented Mahone, but with Spanish ships sailing down and up the Mississippi, raiding commerce, they at least kept their tongue silent. Louisiana was so outraged by the Sack of New Orleans, that Governor P.G.T. Bureaugard became the first Governor from the Constitutional Democratic Party to openly endorse Mahone's National Salvation Committee. As a result, the floodgates soon opened, with Tennessee, Texas, Florida (terrified of the Spanish), Arkansas, and Mahone's native Virginia also endorsing. The only state to condemn Mahone's assumption of "Emergency War Powers" was Georgia.
Mahone promised to crush the Spanish, both at home and in Cuba. However, he knew this was a tall order. He knew that the Confederacy did not have the naval power to seek the overwhelming victory he needed. The Spanish weren't trying to occupy the entire Confederacy, they were just looting coastal ports. Naval power would be needed to stop them. As a result, he sent a fateful telegram abroad, asking for help. He was rebuffed by London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and even Lisbon (he wasn't even sure why he asked the Portuguese for help). None of them wanted to spark what they feared could explode into a broad European war. Interestingly, only one telegram was returned with anything but a total denial: a reply from President Cassius Clay of the United States of America.