Where should the next update take place ?

  • The Battle of Santa Fe

    Votes: 3 18.8%
  • The Guns of Cherbourg

    Votes: 6 37.5%
  • The Fourth Battle of Toledo

    Votes: 5 31.3%
  • Battle of the Rhone

    Votes: 2 12.5%

  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .
And thus ends that bloody chapter of Spanish history. Now we'll probably see Spain be nothing more than France's lapdog, but maybe things will actually get better in Spain now.
 
The Bloody Decade: The Second War of Spanish Succession: The Fall of the Kingdom of Spain Part II
The Battle of Seville 10/3/1843-11/29/1843

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British and Granadan Trenches around Seville

Just a day later 145 miles to the south General Lafayette and the French army of Iberia arrived at Seville to find a much different seane. The French found the British and Granadan dug in in a 40 mile long line of fortifications that had been built on the Ridge that makes a C shape to the west of the city. Lafayette would spend the next five days bombarding the defensive works and launching probing attacks to search for weaknesses in the defenses of the city. However on the southern side of the River the Defenses were very well built and the city defenders were able to drive off all of the French attack. It was not until October 20th when the Army of Aragon finally started to approach the city from the north that the British and Granadan forces realized that they had a problem and were forced to thin the lines to deploy more troops to the Northern side of the river. Lafayette took notice of this and on October 23,1843 launched a coordinated attack on the defenses of the city.

October 23rd would become known as the “Día de tres batallas” or Day of three battle in English. Lafayette would send 90,000 men to attack the Granadan forces in the south at Dos Hermanas, he would send 50,000 men to attack El Viso del Alcor in the Center of the line and lastly he would send 80,000 men to attack the Northern Flank at Guadajoz. Meanwhile the Aragonese would attack Las Pajanosas with their full strength of 48,000 men. The attacks would begin at dawn at all three locations; by noon the Duke of Norfolk realized that he was in trouble. The battle at El Viso del Alcor was going well the terrain in the center of the line meant that the five attacking divisions had struggled to make headway against the British musket and artillery fire indeed in just two more horse at 1400h Général de corps d'armée Pierre Gage would call off the attacks at El Visodel Alcor.

However, the battle on the Flanks would be another story. At Dos Hermanas and Guadajoz the terrain was flatter, negating some of the advantages that the defenders enjoyed. By 1500h the Grandans were in trouble as the French had managed to take two of the five forts in that part of the line and were close to taking a third. The Duke of Norfolk was forced to move two British Divisions form the Center to reinforce the Granadans at 1600h. In the North Things were worse the Terrain was even flatter than in the south with the extreme flank of the line being a flat floodplain. Here General Clarence Appleworth was and his Corps were struggling to hold back the French onslaught By 1700h he was in dire straits down to his last fort and rear line of earthworks and trenches. Appleworth sent repeated calls for Reinforcements to the Duke hoping stressing that if the French hit him again with fresh troops the Flank would not hold. At 1830h Norfolk took yet another division out of the center and sent it north; he was concerned now that his Center would not hold against the French if they renewed the assault, yet if the flanks fell then holding the Center would be pointless.

To the north of the City the battle was fought out in the open not in trenches, earthworks and forts. The defenders had not had time to construct any this far from the city. Instead 20,000 Granadan and 30,000 British under the command of Major General Sammuel Walden Kent went up against the 48,000 Aragonese troops under Lieutenant General Ramon Cabrera y Griñó. The Aragonese were fresh off their bloodless Victory at Cáceres‎, and were in really good spirits. The battle would begin at dawn like the rese and would see-saw back and forth all day however the Aragonese just didn’t have that one extra division they needed to drive the Allied Corps back. As the sun set on October 23,1843 the Northern battle was still deadlocked.

Across the field of battle in the French camp Général de corps d'armée Thibault Brodeur commanding the attack at Guadajoz could see victory ahead of him. He asked Lafayette for another division, stating that one more attack and I’m through their lines the British are on their last legs here. He begged for one more assault even though the sun was low on the horizon. Lafayette instead listened to his Aide de Camp Général de brigade Guarin Chaput who said if the British are that week now rest the troops and hit them hard again at first light tomorrow, its not like they can get reinforcements. Lafayette would give the order for all commands to rest for the night he would give orders for more divisions to reinforce both flank attacks and went to sleep assured that the Morning would bring Victory.

That evening as the fighting died down and night approached. The Duke of Norfolk and General Antonio Jesus Blázquez command of the Granadan Army held a council of war. It was almost certain that the Flanks would be broken come the morning Norfolk admitted that if the French had pushed hard one last time the Northern Flank would have broken this evening. The two decided to use the moonless night to pull their men back to the Inner defenses, even if this meant having to spike a good number of artillery pieces if they couldn’t be moved before dawn. As the heavy guns couldn’t be moved the Duke of Norfolk proposed something radical: a night bombardment by the heavies and some of the field gun batteries to cover the withdrawal. It was agreed and orders were sent out. That evening at 2000 hours the British and Granadan Artillery opened up in a night bombardment. An hour later the British and Granadan Troops started pulling out of their front line defenses. As dawn approached the last of the cannons that could not be moved were spiked.

The move to the Inner Defenses was the beginning of the end for the British and Granadan Defenders. The French moved in digging shallow trenches across from the Defenses creating an early form of trench warfare. From October 24th to November 19th the two sides would batter each other in attacks and counter attacks, however as time went on British and Granadan counter attacks became less and less, as the manpower difference and lack of supplies started to take its toll on the defenders. By November 19th it was clear that the end was near, supplies of ammunition were down to just 25% of the original stores of supplies, and Food was not looking much better. As such King Gilberto I and Carlos Galiano the Premier of the Christian Republic of Granada began to talk about seeking terms of surrender from the French. To the Duke of Norfolk this was not an option; he would not just surrender his army without an attempt to break out. Grudgingly the King and Premier were convinced to allow the british to attempt a break out. At dawn on November 21st after major rearranging of the troops inside the defenses. The British launched an all out attack on the French southern flank. With a little over 6 divisions of Infantry and two divisions of cavalry it was everything that the British had to throw at the French, and after a full day of fighting it was not enough and the setting sun saw a french counter attack force the British back into the trenches that they began in; in eighteen hours of constant combat the British hand suffered massive casualties and achieved nothing in return. That night the Duke of Norfolk agreed to offer terms of surrender.

The morning of November 22nd was strange because it dawned quiet there was no artillery fire, as the Duke of Norfolk had ordered all Allied artillery to cease fire at midnight. At 1000h a single rider approached the French lines under a flag of truce, he was lead to Lafayette’s headquarters where he presented the French General with the Terms of Surrender that the Duke of Norfolk was offering.
1)The British and Granadan forces would cease resistance and surrender the City of Seville to the French forces encircling the city.
2) The Granadan Army would unconditionally surrender to the French
3) The British Army would surrender all Artillery to the french and evacuate their troops from the Territory of the Kingdom of Spain and the Christinan Republic of Granada. They would keep their long arms, Small Arms,Swords, Bayonets and Knives. The French could escort the British Army as it marched to Gibraltar.
4) King King Gilberto I would accompany the British back to Gibraltar for his safety.,

Lafayette read them and scribbled on the note Gilberto must stay. Otherwise I can accept these terms. He had every intention of being lenient with the surrender of Seville to make up for the horror that was the Sack of Valencia, and Paris had approved this intent as a way to earn some much needed good international P.R. Back in Seville the Duke of Norfolk was willing to keep fighting; he would not sacrifice Gilberto to the people who had murdered his uncle, niece, and father; however it was Gilberto who put an end to all of it. “The people of Spain have suffered enough. I will not have one more person suffer another day of this siege for my sake. I and the Governments of Spain and Granada agree to these terms if you don’t then I will expel your force after I surrender. It was done at 1300h on November 22nd the Siege of Seville ended. The next day at dawn the British army of Iberia would march out of the city heading south under the watchful eye of French Cavalry. Then at 1400h the Army of Granada would march out of the city and stack arms and surrender its colors; before being led away to a Prisoner of War Camp near Madrid, with the Army would go King Gilberto of Spain and the Executive Council of the Christian Republic of Granada.

Madrid December 21,1843

King Louis XVII had made the trip to Madrid to personally sign the Treaty that would end the war in Iberia. The Treaty of Madrid would end hostilities between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain and the Christian Republic of Granada. Under the treaty
  1. Both the Kingdom of Spain and the Christian Republic of Granada would accept annexation by the Protectorate of Aragon.
  2. The Protectorate of Aragon would be renamed the French Protectorate of Spain the Capital of the Protectorate would be moved to Madrid.
  3. Gilberto I would abdicate the Spanish Throne, and would agree to remain in French territory for the rest of his natural life. France would provide him with allowance housing to fit his status as a former King of Spain and a Member of the Italian Imperial Family.
  4. All Armed Forces of the Christian Republic of Granada and the Kingdom of Spain would be surrendered to French forces as soon as possible.
The Treaty would be signed that day. The War in Iberia was over However, the Second War of Spanish Succession would grind its way across Europe for another year before it finally ended.
 
The Bloody Decade: The Second War of Spanish Succession: Normandy in the Fall
The Normandy in the Fall

The War in the Iberia may have reached a climax but that didn’t mean that the Second War of Spanish Succession was over. Indeed the War was far from over; across Europe conflict still raged. From Normandy in northern France to the Shadows under the Alps in Northwestern Italy and the fields of central Germany the soldiers still marched and blood was still spilled; even in Iberia one last campaign was starting as a portion of the French Army of Iberia started the Siege of Gibraltar. No Spain may have fallen but the war had gained a life of its own and that life force had not yet run out.
The Second War of Spanish Succession, 1984
By Jonathan Polk, University of Virginia


Henry Duke of Mann (1) (or Lionheart II) as his men called the former prince had advanced south and established a defensive line running Saint-Germain-sur-Ay in the west to the coast just past Pierreville in the east (2). As things had gone downhill in Iberia King Richard IV and the Government of the British Empire had decided to reinforce Normandy instead of Spain which after the Polish and Danish revolts inside the Prussian Army which fell apart looked like a losing bet. Because of this by October of 1843 the Duke of Mann had 340,000 men (300,000 infantry, 40,000 Cavalry) with 65 batteries of Field guns, 6 batteries of horse artillery, and 250 heavy guns deployed in earthen forts along the trench line. That the Duke had created for the defense of the Peninsular. Most importantly The Duke of Mann had been able to acquire enough of the New Springfield-Sharps and Enfield-Sharps rifles that the majority of his force was equipped with them. Henry’s Army of Normandy was broken down into 5 corps of three Divisions. The 1st Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Arthur Crusher; the 2nd Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Richard Howell, the 3rd Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Christopher Clayton; the 4th Corps commanded by Lieutenant General John W. Maxley; and the 5th Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Alfred Loyns. The Cavalry formed its own detached corps commanded by Lieutenant General Logan Dunavan. Each Corps had 6 batteries of Field guns and the Cavalry Corps had 4 batteries of Horse Artillery attached to them. The remaining 35 batteries of field guns, 2 batteries of horse guns and 250 heavy guns were formed into the Artillery Reserve commanded by Major General Dominik Fox.

To the South the French Army of Normandy was gathering at the City of San-Lo. This army was led by Louis Bourbon, Duke of Normandy, who recently returned from Iberia (stained honor and all); he was quickly assembling an army to match Henry’s. At present he had a force of 295,000 men (270,000 infantry, 25,000 Cavalry) supported by 33 batteries of field guns and 4 batteries of Horse guns. Preliminary scouting reports on British defenses didn’t give Louis a lot of confidence in breaking their lines however he had orders from his brother and the government in Paris to make every attempt possible to do so. Finally the Duke of Normandy decided to launch two attacks on the British Lines one would be aimed at the British positions at La Haye-du-Puits on the western flank on their line while the other would be at Foucarville on the eastern end of the British line. The Duke of Normandy divided his army up into 3 wings Left Right and Center. The Left and Right wings would have 7 divisions of infantry each or 105,000 men while the Center would have just four divisions of Infantry or 60,000 men. He split the Cavalry 10,000 to left and right wings and 5,000 men in the center. The Left wing would be commanded by Général de corps d'armée Patrice de MacMahon (4) the center is commanded by Général de corps d'armée Aimable Pélissier(4) and the Right Wing is commanded by Général de corps d'armée Nicolas Monette. Both Monette and MacMahon are young, rising stairs in the French army MacMohan is 35 and Monette is just 28 years old. The Duke of Normandy knew that his center was weak but he believed that if he had any chance of breaking the British line he had to hit it as hard as possible.

The Battles of Foucarville and La Haye-du-Puits

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The Twin battles of Foucarville and La Haye-du-Puits would begin at first light on October 2, 1843. When the french artillery began a short 45 minute bombardment of the British lines. When the bombardment lifted the French Infantry began its attack. The two battles were fought completely differently.

At La Haye-du-Puits MacMahon and his Left Wing found themselves facing Lieutenant General Richard Howell’s 2nd Corps dug in on the heights around the town. MacMahon began his attack with a strong feint with his Right (eastern) flank. Once he was sure that the British had taken the bait around 0900h He began a massive attack with his left flank. This attack would catch the British off balance; and for several hours it looked like he might manage to roll the British flank and achieve a major victory. Yet, the Duke of Mann was forced to send the better part of his reserve in to restore the British position; finally forcing MacMahon from the field at 2100h. MacMahon and his men will pull back to Lessay; yet the Duke of Normandy would have them pull back to Coutances where the ground was more defensible.

To the west Général de corps d'armée Nicolas Monette and his Right Wing was assaulting Foucarville the land was flatter and offered less advantage to the defenders. However, here Monette ran into the 3rd and 4th corps under the overall command of Lt. General John W. Maxley who was senior by two weeks to Lt. General Christopher Clayton commander of the 3rd corps. Monette gambled that he could knock the British off guard and roll them into the sea. He sent 4 of his seven divisions along with his two cavalry brigades in a massive assault on the British right flank. Leaving the remaining three divisions in a defensive position securing his assault’s right flank. Maxley redeployed his men to meet the french assault and by 1000h he had stabilized his flank; in doing so however a gap had formed in the center between his 4th corps and Clayton’s 3rd corps. Clayton was aware of this and had moved his reserve division to a spot where he could quickly meet any french attack into the gap while not making it apparent to the french that he was doing this. At 1100h Monette took the bait and ordered two of his unengaged divisions into the gap hoping to split the British corps apart and save the battle which he was starting to feel slip through his fingers. This was just what Clayton wanted, by 1200h the French had slammed into a wall as the British 3rd Corps had closed the door on the gap after the French had committed. Worse at 1300h the British began their own freak attack on the French Right flank. Clayton’s men managed to encircle a full french division before Monette’s last unengaged division was able to mount an attack on the British flanking attack that allowed the second division committed to the gap attack to escape. The ensnared division would hold out for three more hours before Général de division Gabriel Sylvestre finally surrendered to the encircling British at 1645h. In the meantime Monette realizing that his chance for victory was gone had the rest of this Wing conduct a fighting withdrawal. They would first fall back to Carentan then Louis would have them march to Bayeux.

The Battle of Saint-Lo

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Henry Duke of Mann was happy his defenses had been tested and had held, however his victory came at the same time as the start of the battle of Seville. Upon receiving word of this Henry told his aide de camp Colonel Charles Hathaway “Only defeat can come of this news I am afraid.” This news cemented Henry's next move in his mind. On October 6, 1843 he called a War council of his generals in which he laid out his next campaign. Two days later the British Army began to march. In three columns General Crusher’s First corps, General Loyns 5th Corps both of which were mostly fresh only one division of each having taken part in the fighting on October 2nd and General Clayton’s 3rd Corps which was not so fresh would link up at Périers then; march on toward Saint-Lo. Meanwhile the 2nd Corps and 4th Corps would hold at Périers and await the report of General Dunavan’s Cavalry which would be scouting to find out where the French had taken up positions at. Henry was taking 3 corps to Saint-Lo because if he knew from old reports that that was where Louis the Duke of Normandy had been concentrating his army.

The Battle of Saint Lo would take place on October 11, 1843. When Henry the Duke of Mann led three corps 160,000 men supported by 28 batteries of Fields two brigades of Cavalry and one battery of Horse guns toward the town of Saint-Lo. He cavalry detachment quickly brought back word of a large French force encamped around the town, they estimated it at between 30,000-60,000 infantry. Henry would Send Clayton and his third Corps off to the South to cross the River below the town while he took the 1st and 5th corps in.

Louis had been rudely awakened by the news of the British approaching Saint-Lo he and quickly ordered his men into defensive formation The British appeared on western bank of the Vire at 1100h and a vicious battle over control of the bridges crossing the river would begin. Judging by the reports he was getting he was facing two corps that meant that there were around 120,000 men opposed to his 60,000 after receiving his last bit of reinforcements. However the defensive advantages of the River negated this somewhat. He dispatched orders to his Left and Right wings to begin moving toward Saint Lo with all due speed.

For the next 5 hours the battle roared around the old french city the French made the British bleed for every ounce of ground that they gained but the British numbers showed. By 1330 after two and a half hours of battle they had forced the crossing of the bridges in front of the city. Louis had received word that his two wings were moving toward the Center with all speed. But the Left wing was a days march away and the Right was just under a days march to the south. Then at 1730h Clayton’s 3rd Corps appeared at Condé-sur-Vire where Louis had deployed a single division in reserve. Sending what reinforcements he could Louis the Duke of Normandy sent new orders for this is wing commanders to his right wing he gave MacMahon leave to act independently for the time being striking as he saw fit but not allowing the British to get between him and Paris and to make his way toward Falaise while Louis and Monette would like up with him. To Monette he sent orders to link up with him at Bérigny, before they began to make their way to Falaise. At 2000h the last french troops pulled out of Saint-Lo and the British occupied the city. For now Henry Duke of Man chose not to push his luck. One final battle of the Fall Campaign in Normandy would be fought on October 12,1843 MacMahon’s army gave a rearguard action at Coutances before withdrawing. Once more they Second Lionheart had given the British People something to cheer as the Iberian Front fell apart.


  1. The Duke of Mann holds the Rank of General
  2. OTL Utah Beach
  3. French Division 15,000 men British Division 20,000 American Division 10,000
  4. Same person as in OTL
 
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FRA Cities and States

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FRA Railroads

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Commonwealth of American States (Continental) Cities and States

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Commonwealth of American States (Continental) Railways and cities

The island states and South carolina's African Holdings are still in progress


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British North America Cities

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British North America Railroads

Blow up of the Crown Republic of New England in the Works

I have up dated my North American Maps with British North America Cities and Railroad Maps as of 1840
 
The Bloody Decade: Second War of Spanish Succession: Last Stand in the Shadow of the Alps
Last Stand in the Shadow of the Alps

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On March 28,1843 Marshall Sacco set the 1843 campaign season in to motion by detached General Lombardi with 90,000 mne west in two flanking columns. Lombardi’s objective was to take control of the mountain passes that were keeping the French Army at Cuneo supplied. This would lead to the Battle of Borgo San Dalmazzo. Inside Cuneo General Roux had already dispatched a force of 70,000 Infantry 3,000 Cavalry and 13 batteries of field guns Borgo San Dalmazzo under command of General Francis Montclair. Meanwhile Marshall and his 150,000 men would march up and begin moving west toward Cuneo, ready to begin a siege of the town.

The battle of Borgo San Dalmazzo began on April 5, 1843. The French deployed in a giant C with the opening facing west toad the two passes. Lombardi’s men attacked from both the North and South. At first the northern attack came in hard forcing Montclair to send his reserves to his Left Flank This persisted for the better part of the day then at 1500h Lombardi ordered a full attack with his southern Column. The Fighting was intense to say the least and the Italians took heavy casualties as they forced the river crossing to the South of the town. But it worked by 1900h the French Right flank was failing and renewed attacks from the north on their Left flank kept the French form adjusting men to stabilize the lines. Finally at 20000 Montclair was forced to withdraw west. Or face losing his army. Worse still the Italian Cavalry kept his men from being able to fall back into one of the major passes west to France instead he was forced into the Central valley west of the town that dead ended into the Maritime Alps; he would rally his men at the town of Valdieri. The battle of Borgo San Dalmazzo cost the Italians 1,200 men Killed and another 4,500 wounded. The French suffered 1,000 men killed, another 2,500 men wounded and 5,000 men captured or missing. Lombardi would go about fortifying the town, which would now act as a plug keeping French reinforcements and supplies out of Italy and keeping Montclair’s army from rejoining General Roux’s Army at Cuneo. To do this Lombardi would detach 30,000 men west to Brignola where the valley narrowed and another 20,000 men to Santuario della Madonna del Colletto cutting both of Montclair’s escape routes out of the central valley. Meanwhile one April 8,1843 Marshall Sacco and the main body of the Italian Army of Northern Italy arrived and encircled the city of Cuneo. Sacco didn’t have enough men to take the French Fortifications but he didn’t need to, time was on his side; the siege of Cuneo had begun, and with an almost constant artillery bombardment as the field guns on both sides opened up on each other.

The Siege of Cuneo was a very active siege, for a couple of reasons. First General Roux was not one just to stand by and watch as his army starved Roux would attempt no less than 48 break out attempts between the start of the siege On April 7,1843 until it ended on January 17,1844, The most successful of these was the Battle of October 17th. This is possibly due to it being Roux’s most desperate break out attempt, with his stockpiles of ammunition starting to run low Roux threw everything he had in a breakout to the West. Although the battle is known by its start date it lasted for three days with Roux’s men not being forced back inside the pocket until late on October 20,1843 even then several brigades did manage to escape. These men would roam the Italian countryside for months becoming more like bandits than an organized military unit. After the Battle of October 17th Roux would not have enough ammunition left to mount anything but a determined defense. By the start of December Ammunition was not the only thing running low, Roux’s stockpiles of food were beginning to grow scarce The writing was starting to appear on the wall as Roux faced the facts; however he would hold out. Then on December 14,1843 the Montclair’s Corps starving in the snowed in valley gave up the ghost and surrendered unconditionally in exchange for food. For his part Sacco was continent to wait out the French. His men were well fed, well supplied and in good spirits if a little cold. And so just nineteen days into the new year Roux his men now on starvation rations gave in and surrendered to Sacco. The French Army of Italy was done. On January 20,1844 Roux’s men marched out, stacked their arms and surrendered their colors, Roux would surrender his sword to Sacco in person; then march back into the city and Italian supply wagons rolled in behind them. Sacco would use Cuneo as a massive Prisoner of War camp as many of the civilians had left the city at the start of the sige. He would later detach 65,000 men under the command of Major General Lorenzo Folliero. He also took pride in promoting his son Luigi Napoleon Sacco from Colonel to Generale di Brigata (Brigadier General) and placing him in charge of an Infantry Brigade in Lombardi’s Corps. So ended the French Italian Campaign.


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Generale di Brigata Luigi Napoleon Sacco

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Grand Marshal Lazzaro Ennio Sacco
 
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The Bloody Decade: Second War of Spanish Succession: The Kaiser Falls as the Republic Rises
The Fall of Berlin

The Battle of Rendsburg September 1,1843

After Frederick von Bismarck masterful escape from the Jutland trap at the Battle of Drantum had not only allowed him to escape with his army intact but had made the Swedish pause for a month before they resumed their offensive. Bismarck had taken his army to Rendsburg where he had started to entrench along the Eider River’s southern bank. While he was fortifying his position he collected as many local reserves and militia units that he could find, and by the time the Swedish showed on the northern bank of the River he commanded an army just under 62,000 infantry, 1,500 cavalry and 3 batteries of field guns fully, recovering his losses from the previous battles, if the quality of these troops was not as good as the regulars no matter Bismarck was convinced that one Prussian Militiaman was as good as 4 Swedish regulars.

To the north the Battle of Drantum had forced the Swedish to pause and collect their entire army plus reinforcements from both Sweden as well as the Danish Rebels. This force minus guards for supply dumps now number at 80,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 12 batteries of field guns and 4 batteries of Horse Guns. Generallöjtnant Björn Nordin would begin his push south in the second half of August and his scout located the Prussian Army under Bismarck on August 30,1843.

Bismarck had deployed his army on the South Bank of the Eiber River with three of his six divisions in a line running west to east with sight curve to the south on either flank his three batteries were deployed with a battery of field guns supporting the Right, Center, and Left. He kept two divisions in reserve; his last division he divided up into its four brigades and sent two brigades and a Regiment of Cavalry east to Keil 18 miles away and the other regiment of Cavalry and two brigades of Infantry he sent West to Hamdorf. He did this in an attempt to keep his army from being encircled by flanking maneuvers. The fact that he did this would most likely save his army in the coming battle.

Nordin meanwhile had divided his army once more. He kept the vast bulk with him 40,000 infantry, 1,500 cavalry and 8 batteries of field guns as his Main column as he once again detached 20,000 Infantry,10,000 cavalry, 2 batteries of field guns and Horse guns under Generalmajor Noah Marcussen this would form the Western wing and another 20,000 Infantry,10,000 cavalry, 2 batteries of field guns and Horse guns under Generalmajor Vilhelm Ohlson creating the Eastern Wing.

At 1000h on September 1, 1843 the Main column of the Swendish army came marching into Rendsburg and engaged Bismarck's main defenses on the southern side of the river. Bismarck is outnumbered but thanks to the advantage of the defense and having the breech loading Needle Rifle in the hands of his troops. However numbers did matter and by 1300h not only was the battle of Rendsburg turning against him but he was now learning that his units guarding the other crossings were being forced back. With this in mind he began a fighting withdrawal at 1330; by 1500h his army was marching south, however this ended at Nortorf when his vanguard arrived they found the men of Nordin’s two wings not only blocking the way but spreading out east and west. Realizing that he was now suffering the fate that he had escaped from in Jutland he was surrounded. He was tempted to launch a night attack however he ruled this out as by now the bulk of his men were not the well dressed regulars but Landwehr. So he settled at a dawn attack. His men however had other thoughts and during the night men started slipping out of camp and vanishing into the countryside. So many that when the dawn came Bismarck was left with just 30,000 infantry. Still he would order the attack in his three divisions attacked at 0645h the battle went back and forth for a few hours however by 0900h the Prussians were repulsed. Had he had more time he might have been able to scout out an escape route either west of east of the town but he didn’t have the time as Nordin’s main body was fast approaching from the north Bismarck chose to end the pain of this men and at 1000h he surrendered to Generalmajor Noah Marcussen. The Swedish would go on to occupy Hamburg and the Prussian Baltic Coast meeting little resistance after Bismarck's defeat.

The battle of Berlin 11/5/1843

To the South the Bavarian Generals General Eckehard Schiele and General Jakob von Hartmann had replied and secured their supply lines respectively they had wasted little time in launching a fall campaign aimed at taking Berlin. Molke and Roon had done their best to stop the Bavarians but they had the momentum and they kept driving the Prussians back towards Berlin. Slowly over the course of September tyhe Bavarians swung east and west of the city till on October 7,1843 the 1st and 2nd armies linked up Berlin was surrounded. The Kaiser and his family along with a small imperial guard brigade had fled the city before the pincers closed and had set up a government in the port city of Settin. The Siege of Berlin would last form October 7th till November 5, 1843. However the Turning point would occur on November 1,1843. By the start of November the people of Berlin had had enough. The Kaiser had fled like a coward abandoning them to the fate of the siege. Why should they suffer for a coward who would not share that fate with them. So on November 1,1843 a General strike was declared the people took to the streets demanding an end to a lost war, the Kaiser had followed the British and what had it got them, no it was time for this war to end. As the strike continued word was allowed to spread by the Bavarians and soon Stettin was in strike as well and Rostock and all the remaining Prussian cities. On November 5th in Berlin the Republic of Prussia was declared; two days later Kaiser Frederick III and his family fled to safety in Russia. The Republic of Prussia quickly asked for a cease fire and sent out feelers for a potential peace treaty.

The Peace

On November 15,1843 Representatives from the Swedish Empire, The Kingdom of Bavaria and the Crown Republic of Poland and the Republic of Prussia would meet in the City of Potsdam for the Potsdam Conference at which a final treaty would be hammered out. The Treaty of Potsdam would see Prussia ceded most of its territory to Sweden, and Bavaria as well as recognizing the Crown Republic of Poland. Sweden got Jutland and Northwestern Prussia including the city of Hamburg. Bavaria gets Saxony Brandenburg and part of Mecklenburg namely the Port of Rostock.

Following the conclusion of the treaty the Bavarian Parliament has issued ratifying the treaty as they don’t want the massive influx of Lutherans and other protestant Christians like wise the protestant Christians of occupied Prussia were not thrilled in being grafted into a catholic kingdom. Then Karl has a brilliant idea: he would recreate the Kingdom of Saxony which had been absorbed into the Prussian Empire upon its creation. The New Kingdom of Saxony would be a puppet of Bavaria with its foreign policy controlled by Bavaria. But it would have home rule on domestic issues, with its own parliament and courts. The Kingdom of Saxony would have four provinces, Saxony, Anhalt, South Brandenburg, and West Mecklenburg. Sweden would restore jutland to the Duchy of Denmark Schleswig-Holstein would become a new duchy in yard empire, and Hamburg would become an independent imperial city. The Republic of Prussia, glad to still exist, would move its capital from Berlin to Stettin. Now the much shrunken nation would start moving forward, to do so they would have to chart a path that stayed clear of the larger nations that surrounded it.

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The Flag of the Kingdom of Saxony


The Flag of the Republic of Prussia
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Map Northern Central Europe after the Treaty of Potsdam
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Flag also updated

Provinces of the Republic of Prussia
Brandenburg
Mecklandberg
Pomerania
 
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The Bloody Decade: Old Rivals Renewed: Part 1
Old Rivals Renewed

Part 1 Prolog


The end of the New English Civil War was not so much and ending to some people on both sides but a pause before the second round. These people would spend the intervening years between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the War of 1844 getting their respective side ready for the next round. The Republicans in Vermont focused on creating and maintaining the American Defense Pact with the Federal Republic of America and the Commonwealth of American States. The Royalist in the Crown Republic focused on encouraging Britain to focus its settlement plans on British North America building its population up to a point where it could stand toe to toe with the Americans to the South. However, neither side had expected that when the time came all their hard laid plans would almost be undone because the rest of the western world let Hell come to visit before the New English were ready.

The Second New English Civil War 1844-1847: How New English Hotheads started the Third Anglo American Conflict By William Ames University of William and Mary Press Williamsburg Va 2001


The Crown Republic of New England on the eve of war

By the start of the winter of 1843 the New England the new pro expansion party the Pinetree Party had been formed following the Election of 1838 by Andrew Pinkman the Mayor of Springfield Massachusetts the main plank of this party was for the New English to assert their prominence in North America with in the British Empire of course. Pinkman’s and the Pinetree Party’s ultimate goals were 1) the unification of the Region of New England into the Crown Republic and 2) the Rise of New England to Lead a Confederation of British North America. This party grew with quite a bit of speed and in the Fall of 1843 the Pinetree Party took 20 of 65 seats in the house of commons, the Tories took 22 seats and the Whigs took 23 seats. For the first time the Tories did not win the most seats and would not lead the government. The Whigs had and with a one seat majority could form a government of their own. However Norman Gildson of Maine the leader of the Whigs chose to offer to create a Coalition with the Tories for an 54 seat supermajority. The New Government meant that Gildson would become Prime Minister and William King would become the Speaker of the House. In the rest of the government Christopher Allen (Whig-Ma) would become the Secretary of the Treasury, Gordan Giles (Whig-N.H.) would become the Secretary of Imperial Relations, Mathew Miles (Whig-NB) would become the Minister of the Interior, Neville Armstrong (Tory-Con) would become Secretary of the Army, and Henry Wilcox (Whig-N.H) would become the Secretary of the Navy.

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Norman Gildson (Whig-Maine) Third Prime Minister of the Crown Republic of New England

Having been shut out of the Government and forced into the minority opposition role. Didn't change the members of the Pinetree Party that they needed to act now while Britain was distracted and not paying attention to their Colonies in North America. They reached out to the First Peoples Council, the collection of Indian chiefs and religious leaders who were the De Facto government of the Huron Territory, many of whom were also looking for an excuse to go to war. From the point of view of these men now was the perfect time. The CAS was distracted already fighting two wars to their south and west. The FRA was not looking for war, enjoying their economic upswing as they sold the nations of Europe the means to kill each other, erasing the downturn they had suffered in the 1830’s. To them this meant that the CAS would be too busy to interfere and the FRA would not. (In later years many in this group who survived the war would cuss the fact that they had not inquired harder what the Indians' plans were.). In early December things started coming together the conspirators acquired a company’s worth of Vermont Army Uniforms and on Christmas eve of 1843 they were settled into their safe houses in Manchester, Massachusetts at midnight they would strike.

The Commonwealth of Huron on the Eve of War.

The Commonwealth of Huron was in theory ruled by the governor in Detroit, but it fact it was ruled by the First Peoples Council in Cold Harbor.

The History of American Indians in British North America Ally, and Irritation
By Robert T. Townson Imperial University of York, Canada 1998



In 1840 the Commonwealth of Huron had a population of 762,578 people;of that number 372,919 were members of one of the American Indian tribes that had ended up in Huron over the years. These tribes had banded together early on and created the First Peoples Council to act as a universal representative for all the tribes. Over the years this turned into a de facto government.

Following the loss of the Great Lakes Confederacy at the end of the war of 1805 and the forced removal of all Native Americans from the area by the Federal Republic of America those displaced people moved north into what would become the Commonwealth of Huron. The Surviving leaders of the defeated people assessed what had happened to them and why it had all gone south so fast. These men are led by Bloody Bear Claw, one of the last surviving leaders of the Great Lakes Republic. He would follow the vision that the gods had granted him as the war came to its bloody conclusion and led them to a small sliver of land with a steep cliff leading down to the cold waters of the lakes on two sides. There they built Final Keep (1) a great fortress that would protect the people. A town quickly built up near the fortress this would become Cold Harbor.

The Survivors of the Great Lakes Confederacy would welcome the refugees from the south when the states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia and Florida expelled the natives from within their borders following the war’s conclusion. With these exiles would come two men Feathered Bobcat and War Hawk. Feathered Bobcat was a creek religious leader while War Hawk was the son of Red Hawk the leader of Red Hawk’s rebellion. They would meet with Bloody Bear Claw (who was by now an old man) at Cold Harbor and together from the First People’s Council. Over the next 30 years the First Peoples Council would focus on getting their population up by encouraging women to have as many children as possible and sending emissaries north east and west seeking out any native Americans who wanted to come settle with them in Huron. The tribes also welcomed most anyone seeking to escape form the east who was looking for whatever reason to start a new life, as long as he or she joined one of the tribes and lived according to that tribe's law.

By 1825 a decade after the last of the Southern Indian refugees arrived back in 1815 and some resettlement by other native american groups the Indian population of Huron was 178,895(2) total about half of the territory’s total population. Not happy with this War Hawk who wanted to rebuild native american numbers faster would take a controversial action. He would send representatives to the orphanages across Europe. They would be brought back to the tribal lands in Huron and divided evenly between the tribes that had settled there and raised as members of that tribe. Over the period between starting in 1825 and ending in his stepping down from the council in 1833 this program would see some 150,000 children ranging from newborns to ten years old brought back to the tribes. Upon his stepping down from the leadership of the council Susan White Swan the spiritual leader of the council declared that War Hawk’s idea had brought some balance to the world “the Europeans tried to destroy our people it seems fitting that we should take the children that they cast off to restore our culture.” In 1839 a new generation would start taking over the council; these would include Buford Blue Hawk grandson of Red Hawk, George Bearclaw grandson of Bloody Bear Claw, and Andrew Wolfsblood great grandson of Thomas Wolfsblood. It would be these individuals that the members of the Pinetree Party would create their secret alliance with in the lead up to the War of 1844

(1) The Hill between Cedar Lake and Lake Michigan north of Traverse City
(2) Traverse City Michagan
 
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The Bloody Decade: Old Rivals Renewed: Part 2
The Manchester Massacre December 25,1843

December 25,1843 began cold and cloudy with a light snow falling over Manchester Massachusetts quietly a group of 50 men wearing the uniforms of Vermont infantry moved around the town large barrels filled with gunpowder, nails, spoons, and whatever else they could get their hands on to turn into shrapnel. Two barrels placed at city hall filled with a new explosive called Nitroglycerin in addition to gunpowder once they had all of their presents in place, they set themselves up at critical intersections, readied their Vermont army issue Colt Revolving Rifles and waited for the show to start.

The just minutes after dawn on Christmas day explosions destroyed the quiet of the morning. The loudest of which was the two bombs at city hall where the two nitro bombs had leveled the building and damaged the two to either side. Fires were started around the city with bells going off calling for the fire brigades to deal with the crisis. However now the “Vermonter” soldiers opened fire on the men rushing to put out the fires and see people stuck in collapsed buildings.

The "Vermonters" would cause chaos as the city burned for over 6 hours before colonel Faber Miller and the 7th Massachusetts Dragoons arrived and proceeded to attack the “Vermonters” who refused to surrender and fought to the last man. The Dragoons then assisted in helping out as best they could as by this point many had become uncontrollable.

December 26,1843 Boston Ma

Grand Duchess Victoria sat on her podium overlooking the assembled House of Commons that made up the only house in the New English House of Parliament. This was all new to her as her Father the late duke Edward had passed away earlier in the Month on December 15,1843. Off to her side was her husband Albert Wellesley, eldest son of Arthur Wellesley the Earl of Ontario. Once everyone was seated she stood up “Mr. Prime Minister, I hereby ask the Parliament to call the armed forces of the Crown Republic of New England to readiness. And to send a formal petition to the Government in London for a Declaration of War upon the Republic of Vermont.” The address was met with a thunderous applause. The Call to Arms was passed with no dissenting votes as was the petition for a declaration of war on Vermont on behalf of the Crown Republic of New England. A rushed petition along with statements form the men of the 7th Massachusetts Dragoons and citizens of Manchester Massachusetts would leave Boston Harbor on the HMNES Swiftwind, a high speed steam packet boat heading for London.

Indian’s Revenge December 31,1844

City of Bear Claw
General Christopher Soaring Hawk led his column of 60,000 warriors and 3 batteries of Field guns out of the City of Bear Claw in the early morning hours on New Years Eve. All of his men were mounted on horses, mules or asses. They would fight on foot for the most part but speed was everything. His was the largest of the Columns that the First People’s Council had assembled in Huron Territory, but he also had the largest objective to capture Toledo and destroy the Federal Republic of America’s 3rd Army based there. To the west General Thomas Hungry Bear was leading a Column of 40,000 men and 3 batteries of mixed artillery south to capture Battle Boro then if things went right Fort McCoy. Still further west General Joseph Crying Wolf was leading the smallest column 30,000 men and two batteries of mixed artillery southwest to New Istambul, and if luck favored them in this campaign detaching a division south to take Council Creek. The Spiritual leaders on the council had told them that they would have good weather until the 12th day of the new year. It was time for revenge.

January 1,1843

Brigadier General Richard Howard, commander of the 1st Independent Cavalry Brigade watched the approaching cloud of dust on the horizon as the first of his scouts came galloping back towards him. Out of breath the man gasped “General.. Indians in Red Coats thousands of them riding in columns. George, he was gonna try and ride around them and get a better count.” Howard nodded “Go get a drink and a fresh mount son you did good.” as he dismissed the riders. Signaling to his staff with his other hand as he scribbled a note to General Sherman back in Toledo. “Thomas Ride like the devil is behind you get this to General Sherman.” As Thomas took the note saluted and road off full gallop Howard called to the Bugler Sound they ready we are gonna delopy where the road crosses the Ottawa River. He would soon be joined by General Walters and the 6th Cavalry Brigade as well as their two batteries of Horse Guns.

Howard’s stand at the Ottawa River was a brave act but it was a futile act that actually played into the Soaring Hawk’s plans. Soaring Hawk took the risk of splitting his command sending 30,000 men on a wide swing to the south then east.
Meanwhile in Toledo General Sherman was readying his men to match. General Coltrain and the other half of the 9th legion were already on the road. The rest of the army would be ready to march in the hour; he was concerned that each legion was at half strength with men away on leave for the recent holidays. However by 1450h his men were marching. With his cavalry engaged he had no knowledge of the flanking column.

Up at the crossing Howard was thrilled to see Coldtrain come up to the Infantry brigade that made up the rest of the 9th Legion. As General Davin's brigade started to file into line his boys made their way with each of his five regiments sliding to the Infantry's flanks. Coldtrain told Howard and Walters both to get one of their regiments in the saddle and go scout the flanks. At 1830 General Sherman and the rest of the Army arrived and now the battle was truly finally on. As the sun set General Sherman and his generals held a council of war. Sherman asked if this was good ground to fight on Generals Coldtrain, Pittman and Gordan (Alexander was still in Toledo with his 10th Legion) “Not really General but it's the ground we got to fight on unless you want to fight it out inside Toledo.”

As the morning of January 2nd dawned cold but clear the lines were dawned up and the battle commenced in earnest once more. Sherman was able to use his superior artillery to keep the Indian troops at bay while the two Cavalry Brigades now mounted for the most part traded charges with the Indians who were mounted on the flanks of the lines all in all it looked like a textbook battle being played out. Technically the Indains had more troops but the advantage of his rifles and rifled artillery on the defensive negated this. Then around 1300h a runner reached Sherman’s headquarters and the General commanded the Federal 3rd Army went white. The message was from General Alexander He and his Legion were engaged in a desperate fight just south of Toledo facing superior Indian numbers. Alexander stated that he would hold out for as long as humanly possible but he advised Sherman to make plans to withdraw his men. Sherman surveyed the battlefield with his glasses. It would be difficult to disengage his men as the Indian Commander seen that his men were fully engaged. He sent orders to his commanders. General Pittman was to begin disengaging his men, slowly as he did this Generals; Coldtrain and Gordan would extend their lines to cover Pittman’s withdrawal once Pittman was disengaged. Coldtrain and Gordan would begin a fighting withdrawal with Gordan extracting his men and Coldtrain forming a final rear guard.

It would take most of the afternoon before Sherman had managed to get Ptittman’s and Gordan’s Legions out of the battle and marching southeast. He had started to hope that he would manage to extract his army without losing any of his major formations He had sent word to Alexander to fight his way out of Toledo and link up with the army at the O’Brian’s Mill (1) were the army would cross the Maumee River and regroup on the eastern bank. When a runner came galloping up his finger in a bullet hole in his horse's neck keeping the poor creature from bleeding out. He jumped off and the horse ran about fifteen more yards and collapsed, dead. “General Sherman! General Alexander sends his last regards sir our Legion is surrounded I barely got out. The Indians are driving him back into the Lake.” Sherman read the blood spattered message and started urging his men to march on. As night fell Howard’s Cavalry came riding up. Howard reported that Coldtrain had ordered him and his men to escape as the Indians had started to encircle the 9th Legion Howard and his men had had to cut their way through the Indian troops to do so and that Coldtrain and rest had been overrun. As his men gathered on the Eastern bank of the Maumee River Sherman took count of the losses of his roughly 28,000 men 30 batteries of artillery and going into the battle of the Ottawa River and the Third Battle of Toledo he had a force of 10,500 men and 19 batteries of artillery currently active here opposite of O’Brian’s Mill. Facts in hand he ordered his men ready to march after they had eaten and filled their canteens He was headed to Franklin, Erie where he hoped to link up with his men returning from enlistments as well as the State Guard Troops.

January 11,1844

Christopher Soaring Hawk proudly led his men on a victory march though the streets of New Dublin, Erie the state's capital. It had been a momentous campaign in just two weeks his men had taken Toledo and New Dublin on the shores of Lake Erie. to the west New Istanbul had fallen after only minor skirmishing with the hastily assembled local militia. Similar scenes had played out at Battleboro and most importantly at Council Creek. Joseph Crying Wolf had lead 15,000 men and a battery of artillery south from New Istanbul to Council Creek Town. The current town being five miles downstream and on the Eastern Bank of the Wabash River. Local refused to go near the ruins of the old town which they claimed to be haunted by angry ghost of the Indians who once lived there. Council Creek had fallen with even so much as a skirmish to Crying Wolf’s scouts. After occupying the current town Crying Wolf and the medicine woman Laura White Swan would visit the ruins of the former Council Creek Town on the western bank of the river where Laura would perform a ritual that would allow the angry spirits to rest once and for all. As the sun set on January 11th the snows started to fall, as the Native American troops began to entrance in their newly captured towns and cities; the snows would not stop for 14 days, the newly declared war had gone cold, for the moment.

  1. Isaac R. Ludwig Historical Mill Grand Rapids OH
 
Interlude: Plebeianism
Plebeianism: A Social and Political School of thought in which the state’s state's resourcesare used to benefit the masses of the poor and the working class before the well off and the wealthy. Most Plebeianism uses the idea of the Social Contract to justify creating social safety net programs to protect the lower classes from the upper classes, as the lower classes form the base upon which the country functions and the wealthy draw their wealth.

Plebeianism developed from the teaching Father Francisco and can be considered the first cousin to Franciscanism. While the later developed in the Iberian peninsula Plebeianism developed first amongst the Italian Revolutionaries during the Troubles at the start of the 19th Century. Unlike their Iberian brothers these revolutionaries didn’t want to forsake the Catholic church so they took Father Francisco’s works and stripped them of their religious aspects 2aand created a secular political school of thought. Developed by Emmanuel Rotono of Venice Plebeianism focused on using the existing republican and constitutional monarchies to protect and enrich the lives of the poor and downtrodden, while making the wealthy pay their share for the upkeep of the nation. Central to Rotono was the premise of the Social Contract and the Consent of the Governed. This school of thought stated that the nations of the world drew their power from the people that made up their nation. Of these the lower classes did the most work, fought and died in wars to defend their country. In return it was the duty of the country to take care of the working classes. According to Rotono there was no need for revolution once the people had representative government there was only the need to make sure that that government never forgot who it was working for. It was Rotono who coined the name of this Political School when he referenced the modern working class to the Plebs of Ancient Rome

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Emmanuel Rotono father of Plebeianism

A second form of Plebeianism and it is a second as Rotono published his book The Work’s of Plebs (Il Lavoro è Della Plebe) in July of 1799 and Herman Dreckler didn’t publish The People’s Will (Der Wille des Volkes) until August of 1803 and he cites Rotono’s work in his book. This Second School is known as Volkspolitik or German Plebeianism. Dreckler himself kept most of Rotono’s work concerning the role of the Social Contract and the Consent of the Governed. To Dreckler simply relying on the old ways and modernizing them to meet the needs of the Plebs was not enough. No, Dreckler saw it as the right of the Plebs (or the Volk as Dreckler Calls them) to “Take control of the means and workings of the state; to used the state to reduce the wealthy and rise the Volk so that all are equal and no one man stands above the other.”. This means that Volks States or Peoples States focus on securing the fruits of the people's labor so that it benefits all of the people; not just the wealthy. To do this they use State Capitalism where the State owns the industry and gets all the profits that are then evenly distributed to all the people. Volks States also invest most of the political power in the legislature not the executive branch. Legislature is also set up so that the people have the most representation as possible.

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Herman Dreckler father of Volkspolitik

Since the end of the Troubles both schools of Plebeianism spread across the globe however it is Rotono's Plebeianism or pure Plebeianism is the most common. German Plebeianism or Volkspolitik is mostly confined to Europe.
 
The Bloody Decade: 1844 the Winter of Discontent
Fall Out

Hamilton, F.D.

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Martin Van Burren President of the Federal Republic of America

The News of the Invasion of the Western states hit Hamilton like a bomb blast in its town right. The Government was adjourned for the Christmas holiday and only the President and his cabinet were in the Federal Palace having returned to deal with the growing New England Crisis when the news of the attacks and occupations started coming in over the wire. As he read the first message sent before the battle of the Ottawa River had started Van Burren looked at the Cabinet and said “So, It's War then. Maybe we could have worked out a settlement in New England but not Now the Blood will be flowing before the day is out. He issued orders for all the Senators to Return to the Capital at once. It would take till January 28,1844 for the Senate to arrive or most of it two Senators had been caught when Toledo Erie and New Istanbul Ohio were taken. At 1345h that day President Van Burren addressed the Senate.

“My Fellow Americans a SPEAR! Has been thrust into the back of our Republic by the Indians and their British Masters. As I speak two thirds of the State of Ohio lies under the British Union Flag as does the City of Toledo, Erie. That this attack came as we were seeking to prevent a War between the Republic of Vermont and the Crown Republic of New England can only mean one thing; the British seek to two expand their dominion on this Continent. They seek to Restore their Indian Puppets to the lands of the Ohio Valley, and Expand the CROWN! republic down the East Coast. I have received word from Williamsburg that if we fight the Commonwealth of American States despite their ongoing wars will honor the American Defense Pact and join us in the defense of both Our Federal Republic and the Republic of Vermont. Now, I ask you the Senators of the Federal Republic to give our Army and Navy the permission to do what they must and Drive the Royalist and their Indian Allies from our land once more. I Martin Van Burren President of the Federal Republic of America Hereby ask you the Senate to Declare War on the British Empire and All of Her Dominions.”

The Senate chamber erupted into applause the Vote would be nineteen to zero in favor of War with Britain with two not voting. The War of 1844 had officially begun.

Williamsburg, C.G.D.

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Chancellor William Henry Harrison of the Commonwealth of American States

Chancellor William H. Harrison was not a happy man. The Commonwealth was already fighting two wars, one against the Columbian Empire in South America and one with the Empire of Mexico in the Commonwealth’s own backyard. As if that wasn’t enough the British Invasion of the Federal Republic of America had scuttled his hopes for a negotiated end to the New English Crisis. The total of three years of war was showing on the Commonwealth home front as well. His party the Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party had held a fool proof majority in the House of Delegates at the start they had lost seats in the 1841 election but had held a majority; however last November had seen that majority smashed. The Commonwealth Chartist Party now held the most seats with 78 out of 238, His party was a Firm second with 65 out of 238. The newly formed Liberty Party A merger between the Aqualia Party and the Louisiana Republican Party and the Freedom Party was third with 55 seats and the States Nationalist held 40 seats but this was split between their Hawk and Dove faction. The Commonwealth Chartist Parter now held a clear majority, in case they may have needed the help the Palmetto Party that dominated South Carolina (but was part of the SNA nationally) announced that it was going to back the Chartist on any major national laws. This made Charles E. Read (CCP-Va) the new Speaker of the House, Read was firmly against the War in Colombia however admitted that the War against Mexico and now Britain had to be fought. Still the Chartist in the House made it clear that it was time to look at peace in South America. The Vote to Declare War on Great Britain, Her Empire and Dominions took place on February 2,1844 a month before the new house would be seated in March; and the house was still controlled by the Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party. The Vote was 198 to 40 in favor on February 2, 1844 the Commonwealth of American States entered its third war in less than five years.

Election of 1843: 238 Total Seats
Commonwealth Chartist Party: 78 seats
Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party: 65 seats
Liberty Party: 55 seats
State Nationalist Alliance: 40 seats (30 doves, 10 Hawks)

London, England

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King Richard IV King of British Isles; King of the Crown Republic of New England; Ruler of the British Empire.

In London Prime Minister F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, King Richard IV and the rest of the Government of the British Empire were in shock at the war of the happening in North America. Another war was the last thing that the British Empire needed right now. The current War against France was balanced on a knife edge. They had lost in Spain with the Iberian army now hold up on Gibraltar, However in India the East India Company’s Army along with their Marta Allies had crushed the French and Mysore Armies at the battle of Devadurga in which the Sultan of Mysore Krishnaraja Wadiyar III was killed. This victory quickly led to the fall of Mysore and the retreat of the French back to their port cities along the southeastern coast of the subcontinent. That plus the Duke of Mann’s victories in Northern France had almost countered the defeat in Iberia in the view of the general public. Now there was a whole other front that they had to deal with, however one that from early reports they had a good start at. It was generally decided that they would let the Colonials fight each other for the most part in America. They would send a fleet to reinforce the Royal Navy’s Caribbean Fleet at Kingston Jamaica and American Fleet at Bermuda. As well as sending 150,000 men in two formations two thirds of them would be sent to New England population wise the Crown Republic was the weakest part of the British Empire in North America. The Remaining 50,000 men were sent to Jamaica under General Maxwell Arnott. This would show the Colonial that Britain had not forgotten them and they despite being involved elsewhere. Meanwhile word was sent to the British ambassador in Naples to pressure Napoleon II to launch an invasion of Southern France stating that Britain would support Italy gaining everything east of the Rhone River and south of the Isere River.

Paris France

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King Louis XVII of France

King Louis XVII and the French Government looked on the events happening in America were viewed as a good thing. They had won the war in Spain, but the war was far from over, and wasn’t going so great for them elsewhere. The British had handed them an utter defeat in India and French army was barely hanging on to the few port cities they had in Southeast India. The French hold on Japan was also threatened by the Russian’s after the Japanese had been too successful at raiding Russian gold shipments from Russian America. In North Africa the Italians were driving french forces back and in Italy the Sardinians had surrendered and were being absorbed into the Italian Empire as had Corsica. Then there was the British Army encamped in Northern France to close to Paris for comfort. Lucky the end of the war in spain had freed up a couple hundred thousand troops to be moved elsewhere. In December at the conclusion of the Iberian Campaign the French army of Iberia had numbered 330,000 men: 350,000 Infantry, 20,000 Cavalry, 84 batteries of field guns, and 25 batteries of horse guns. (1) This army was going to be broken up, now that it was pure excess in Iberia. The Army of Iberia would remain with 100,000 men 60,000 Infantry, 10,000 Cavalry 25 batteries of Field guns and 6 batteries of horse guns. The 30,000 infantry and 10 batteries of Field guns to garrison Spanish cities in addition to the Army of Aragon. Of the Remaining 150,000 men and 29 batteries of field guns and 11 batteries of horse guns would be sent to Rennes under Marshal Lafayette and the French Army of Brittany The remaining artillery would be sent to the new Southern Army forming at Marseille. It was hoped that as long as Spain remained quiet the 30,000 infantry and 10 batteries of artillery could be moved to Southern France by the summer.

  1. The French captured all of the British and Spanish artillery
 
Things are really heating up now. I wonder how much this will hurt the poor Commonwealth of American States with having to fight so many wars. If the Commonwealth ends up dropping out due to war exhaustion, it could seriously harm their relation with the other American states they are aligned with.
 
Yes both the CAS and France are starting to feel the pinch. The CAS in particular is starting to see political shifts that are not all that healthy. South Carolina is very nervous and disgruntled.
 
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