God Save These American States

[Virginia Liberal]

Hell on the Wabash Part 1

Hell on the Wabash marching song of the Army of Ohio.

The First battle of the Spring would take place on March 20,1844 just south of the town of Harrodsburg (1) on the Mississinewa River. The Army of Ohio had 42,000 men having left a Brigade of Militia and a Regiment of the State Guard Cavalry behind to garrison Fort McCoy. This put both sides equal as they had detached a brigade to defend Battleboro and only had 35,000 men with him. The Scouts on both sides encountered each other on the evening of March 19th as Thomas Hungry Bear’s 3rd FPA Corps were preparing to cross the river. Meanwhile General Watts deployed his corps in front of the village of Karas (2). Watts had two of his four infantry divisions with him, one division was to the west at Osman’s Crossroad and one east where the Wheeling Pike crossed Barren Creek. His Cavalry was fanned out between his men and the approaching British troops.

The Battle of Karas would begin at 1030h on March 20, 1844 Thomas Hungry Bear advanced his army down the main road toward Fort McCoy right at the Army of Ohio’s main body. He had detached one Division of Dragoons on the western road, but had left his eastern flank in the air. Thomas Hungry Bear proved to be an unimaginative general and committed his three divisions in a general attack on the Federal positions. The weight of 30,000 men crashing on 20,000 men led to the federal line bending however the Federals had the advantage in artillery and had breech loading rifles; this combination led to the Indian line being forced back by 1300h, with heavy losses. To the west the 5,000 men of the Indian Dragoon Division were easily fended off by the 20,000 federal troops at Osman’s Crossing. By 1400h Hungry Bear had learned that he was on the verge of being flanked and ordered two divisions to retreat Harrodsburg while he led the rear guard with his last divisions. This was the smartest move he made during the battle as Watts sent orders for his two flanking Divisions to begin advancing on Harrodsburg in an attempt to cut off the British retreat. However, they were just too slow and the British Indians had managed to get a defensive position set up before the Federal troops arrived. These two divisions were able to hold off the Federal troops until the last division arrived two hours after sunset. During the night Hungry Bear has his men withdraw across the river.

On March 21 General Watts would bring up the rest of his men and the battle of Harrodsburg would begin at 1300h as the Federals started to force a crossing of the river. Thankfully for his men Hungry Bear proved a much better defensive commander than an offensive commander. He was able to use his reserves to drag the battle out until darkness fell. Keeping the Federals form establishing a bridge head. For the time being.

The Battle of Fort McCoy March 21,1844

The Battle of Fort McCoy was a one sided affair Major General Crying Wolf led the 1st Division of the 3rd FPA Corps on an attack on Fort McCoy the capital of the state of Ohio. Because General Watts was away fighting the 3rd FPA Corps at Karas, Oh all he faced was a brigade of infantry and a 2 regiments of mounted Militia all totaled 7,500 men. The Federal Force was lead by 34 year old Brigadier General Vance Zuckerman of the 44th Ohio Infantry Brigade.
Unlike Thomas Hungry Bear, Joseph Crying Wolf was a skilled offensive commander and realized that his Dragoons could easily out-mavour the Federal Infantry, deafening the city so he split his command into three columns. The two flanking columns of 6,000 men each and a center column of 3000 men. He placed his two brothers Daniel Bleeding Wolf in comand of the northern column and his younger brother Author Singing Wolf in command of the southern flanking column, while he commanded the center column.

On the Morning of March 21,1844 the attack began 1000h so that the sun was well above the horizon. Crying Wolf attacked first with all three batteries of artillery and his Center column advancing as Infantry he waited for two hours to make sure that his command was the center of the Federals attention before he sent word to his brothers via runners to begin the attack. The two Flanking attacks would begin at 1300h and 1430h respectively, having taken longer for the Runner to locate Singing Wolf’s Column. The federal flanks were not wide open Zuckerman had placed his two cavalry regiments 1,250 men each on his northern and southern flanks as well as a company of Infantry. The Northern Flanking Column would run into the 61st Ohio Cavalry Regiment at 1400h the federals put up a dogged fight but soon were forced to fall back under the weight of the attack. Had both attacks been simultaneous then the Federal defenders might have been captured, but as it was with the delay they managed to retreat to the east before being cut off.

1. OTL Gas City Indiana
2. OTL Fairmount Indiana.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

In For the Pinch In for the Pound

Following the capture of Fort McCoy General Watts was forced to reassess his position. He was not possibly caught between three hostile armies, the Force across the River at Harrodsburg the force occupying Fort McCoy and the Force at New Istanbul that could possibly be heading south. Watts knew that Davis and his 25,000 men were marching north towards Council Creek Watts would dispatch a series of runners to intercept Davis’s column and make sure the was aware of Fort McCoy’s fall. Each Runner had simple orders for Davis and his men. They were to swing east and attack Fort McCoy from the South or southeast. Meanwhile he would detach a Division and two batteries of artillery with plenty of ammunition to hold the Indians in Harrodsburg’s attention while he and the rest of the Army slipped away in the night. They would force march his men to Collinsville (1). When would put them in the middle of the line of retreat that Watts expected them to take.

General Davis would receive Watts letter on March 27, 1844 as his men were marching into Council Creek. He received his orders and gave his men 8 hours rest before he issued his new marching orders. While Davis and his men rested, Watt's men were already marching west having slipped away from Hungry Bear’s men two nights before.

The battle of Malatya, Oh

On March 28,1844 General Watt’s cavalry reported that a large force was marching south under the flags of the British First People’s Army. Watts quickly deployed his men across Fort McCoy Pike where it crossed the South Fork of Wild Cat Creek just south of Malatya Ohio (2). Augustus Red Moon, commander of the 15,000 men coming south from New Istanbul was aware that he had Federal troops in front of him but he never thought it would be more than a Brigade. Thus he was horribly surprised when his men started reporting back that they were outnumbered. When he arrived on the field of battle he saw that his men had forced a crossing of the Creek and were now being slowly pressed backwards toward the creek by the better part of three federal divisions. Backed up by artillery. Red Moon quickly tried to take command of the mess that he had arrived to find. Personally taking command of his artillery he concentrated their fire to keep the Federals from pinching off his men’s line of escape. This action most likely saved his command as the concentrated artillery attack stunned the two federal divisions long enough for the First People Army troops to withdraw to the north side of the creek. They didn’t stay stunned for long however by 1445h Watts was organizing an assault across the creek. The federal attack would begin at 1530h. The weight of three full divisions pressing on them quickly forced Red Moon’s men to give their ground. They would hold on till dusk fell which was an impressive and bloody accomplishment before with drawing north. The battle was a bloody affair more for the First people’s army than the Federal troops. The FPC lost 850 men killed 1,000 more wounded while the Federal Army lost 650 men killed and 900 men wounded. Red Moon would pull back further north to the heights on the Northern bank of the Wabash River or the Council Creek as they referred to the river.

The Burning of Fort McCoy.

Flag of the Frist People's Council


Crying Wolf’s scouts quickly told him that a force just larger than his had taken Council Creek and were marching south east. His scouts also told him a day later that the Federals had fought a battle along the Council Creek and had won. This meant that most likely his reinforcements from New Istanbul had been stopped. That meant that he would be facing a force three times his own. On the night of April 1, 1844 he made his decision. That night his men spent the night taking ammunition from the State Arsenal that they had captured. The next morning as they marched northeast aiming to link up with Hungry Bear’s force, Crying Wolf touched off the fuse that started explosions across the city the largest of which was the State Arsenal itself. Explosions that set off fires, within an hour the city was a blaze.

The explosion of the Ohio State Arsenal was heard fir miles across the flat land scape that made up the state. On August 2nd Red Moon ordered his men to start marching back toward New Istanbul with no word from Crying Wolf he rightly assumed that his Superior was heading for a link up with Hungry Bear's larger force. To the west Crying Wolf and his men would arrive at Harrodsburg on the evening of April 3rd. It was quickly discovered that the two Native Generals could not work together so on the morning of April 4th Crying Wolf would March his men to Drysburg 35 miles to the north where he would "protect Hungry Bear's Flank" in reality there was now a five mile gap between the two forces.

On April 12th General W. W. Watta met with all three of his Corps commanders at the town of Pasha's Station. The Cavalry had concluded there scouting missions. The forces were arranged on a map. the 1st and 2nd Corps were at Jonestown just east of Malatya, the 3red Corps was at Dead Indian just North of the Ruins of Fort McCoy. The Scouts placed two enemy corps in the Harrodsburg area and one back at New Istanbul. Dubya decided that he would attack the two Corps at Harrodsburg. The reason was the five mile wide gap between the two corps.

The Battle of St. Joseph's River

The Battle of St. Joseph's River began on April 13,1844 with General Davis' 3rd Corps attacking Hungry Bear's corps at Harrodsburg at the same time 35 miles north of Harrodsburg General Poindexter's 1sr Corps attacked Crying Wolf's corps at Drysburg. These two attacks effectively locked each commander on the enemy trying to kick in his front door. Meanwhile General Watts lead along with General Hunt's 2nd Corps across the river at Newville(3)and into the five mile gap between the two FPA corps. Once across he turned South to attack the larger of the enemy corps from the rear.

Battle Flag of the Frist People's Army

By 1300h Hungry Bear was pleased the federals had been attacking him since sun up and has little to show for it. Yes they had managed to cross the river but that was all overall his lines were holding, despite the superior federal artillery. Thirty minutes later however his world turned upside down when his cavalry returned with word that two divisions of Federal Infantry were coming up from the North on the Eastern back of the river.

Dubya looked over the field the Indians had shifted a division over to confront his attack but only a few field artillery pieces. A fact that he was taking advantage of that by having all 5 batteries of field guns pour shot and shell into the Indian lines. He had one division attacking head on while the other flanked the Indian line to the east. The commander of the Indian division was clever, he right wheeled one of his brigades to reform his flank but he was short on men and support. By 1445 it was over the Indians were flanked and being rolled up. With that the FPA positions at Harrodsburg became untenable.

At 1500 Hungry Bear would order a withdrawal and lead his last reserve brigade out of town to the southeast. He would manage to extract about a division worth of men before the trap closed at 1600h. His men and himself would make a wide circle to arrive at Toledo on April 26th. Where he would be stripped of his command and sent home in disgrace. Of the 38,000 FPA troops at Harrodsburg only 9,500 would escape with Hungry Bear. The men who were left would suffer the rage of the federals. Officially some 3,500 were taken prisoner, while the rest fought till the end; unofficially many of the survivors told stories after the war of Federal soldiers killing men trying to surrender, men who had thrown down their guns and were running even wounded men laying on the ground. Harrodsburg would go down as the bloodiest battle in the history of the FRA, and the FPC/FPA. General W.W.Watts(Dubya) would receive a commendation and a promotion to Lieutenant General for his victory. Crying Wolf would withdraw his men towards New Istanbul arriving on April 28th, reuniting his Corps, Cursing Hungry Bear the whole way there. The Federals didn't escape unscathed between all three actions in the Battle of St. Joseph's River, they would suffer 1,600 killed and 2,400 wounded. And the entire Army of Ohio was fought out. With the Battle of St. Joseph's River what would become known as the Ohio campaign, would come to an end as both sides had to rest, resupply, and regroup

 

[Virginia Liberal]

War on the Rivers

The Treaty that ended the War of 1805 had established the Mississippi River and Ohio Rivers as an International waterways, and all parties were prohibited form keeping armed ships on them. What this meant was that the Nations of North America built their River Marine Bases on the deep water tributaries to these rivers. The Federal Republic of America kept its main River flotilla at New Cork on the Great Miami River; the Federal Navy had a second squadron based Osmantown (1) at The Commonwealth of American States had three River Squadrons The Upper River Flotilla based at Fleet Town on the Green River, The Arkansas Flotilla Based at Piette Roche and the Lower Flotilla based at New Orleans. The Royal Navy was not without representation on the American Rivers The Missouri Squadron was based at Finchburg (2) and the Mississippi Squadron based on the Rock River at Fort Tilde (3).

The First Action on the Rivers was Commander West CASN Southern Squadron moving up to Baton Rouge to attempt to aid the defenders of the city hold off the British. And it proved unsuccessful. The failure of the bombardment to make a difference would trigger a Shipwright named Martin McDonald in New Orleans to design a new type of river gunboat, it featured a casemate with an open top and a simple steam engine but mounted a single ten inch mortar. The CWS Surprise would make its way up the Mississippi slowly to take part in the bombardment of Fort George III.

CWS Cotton Queen flag ship of the Arkansas River Squadron

The Bombardment of fort George III would be the second action by the river marines of the war and it would feature the FN Ohio Squadron and the the CASN Northern Squadron steaming down the Ohio and taking up positions around the fort on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and adding the weight of their heavy guns to those of the Commonwealth batteries on the south bank of the Ohio. This would be the action that the CWS Surprise would join when she arrived on March 27th. Meanwhile the FN Illinois Squadron and the CASN Arkansas Squadron would sortie against the Royal Navy. This would see the first two naval battles on the Rivers. The First would take place on April 15,1844. The CASN’s Arkansas Squadron consisted of 6 ships: the CSW: Bullfrog (6), Redfish (6), Bluegill (6), Snapper (6), Mary Sue (6) and the Flagship Cotton Queen (6). Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Frederick Anderson. Anderson and his Squadron would run into the Royal Navy’s Missouri Squadron at Marquette Island. The Royal Navy Missouri Squadron consisted of Five ships HMS: Iroquois(9), Abenaki(9), Pequot (9), Winnebago(9), Tionontat (9). The Tionontati was the largest and the flag ships. The designs of these ships were similar, all had wooden enclosed gundecks (casemate) and were all steam powered. The British ships were all screw steamers while the Commonwealth were mostly paddlewheelers of one form or another. The British ships all mounted 3 guns forward 2 guns aft and 2 guns port and starboard. The Commonwealth ships (and their federal kin) were smaller mounting 2 guns forward and aft and 2 port and starboard. The exception to this was the CWS Cotton Queen which was a converted cargo steamer the Cotton queen mounted its six guns 3 forward 3 aft. The Battle of Marquette Island would begin at 1335h with the CASN coming up the river from the south and the Royal Navy down the river from the north. The battle lasted just under an hour and was a draw or a Commonwealth tactical victory as the British fleet was turned back from trying to break the siege of Fort George III. However both sides were hurt the CASN losing 1 ships sunk and 3 damaged the British lost 2 ships sunk and 2 damaged. Two weeks later a second battle would be fought to the north. In the Battle of Mason Island just north of St. Louis the Federal Illinois Squadron would engage the Royal navy’s Mississippi squadron. However the Federal Squadron possessed the FNS Armor the and Ironclad river boat with armor based off of the FNA Ironsides Class Frigates. The Armor and the Illinois Squadron would shred the Royal Navy’s Mississippi squadron sinking 3 of its ships and damaging 3 more. Before steaming back up the Illinois River. The Royal Navy would limp up the Missouri River and begin trying to figure out how to deal with the “ Illinois River Monster”

1. Beardstown Il OTL
2. Across the river from OTL Jefferson City
3. Davenport

 

[Virginia Liberal]

As federal forces advanced across Ohio they found miles and miles of destroyed Railroad track where ever the First People's Army had been. Not only were these tracks torn up but they had often been twisted and deformed to make them unusable in the future. Federal troops quickly started calling these deformed rails British Bowties.

Federal Soldiers eximaning destroyed track around the ruins of Fort McCoy

FPA troops destroying rail during their occupation of Ohio

 

[Virginia Liberal]

Those Damned Frenchmen

Flag of the Quebec Independence movement

Field Marshal Arthur Weasley Earl of Ontario had a problem two thirds of the Eastern Army had failed to report; instead the french speaking Qubecos had chosen to muster their army but instead keep them at home. He had sent numerous request for the status of those troops but was met with silence; that was until the Royal Governor of the Crown Colony of Quebec Sir Dudley Moore turned up in York, telling the story that the french speaking Qubecos had evicted him and his staff from the Governors place in Quebec City handing him a wax sealed envelope as he left. In this envelope he had found a declaration of their Intent to form an Independent Nation. This Declaration of Independence was different from the American one sixty eight years ago. It first stated that the Quebecois first choice was to create a Crown Republic within the British Empire much like New England. However the Declaration made clear that if this could not be arranged then they would break away from the British empire and establish a government along other lines. Weasley sighed there was little he could do, having to fight the Ameicans first. He passed the issued orders for a troop of cavalry to escort now Ex Governor Moore to Boston where he could take the Declaration to London the would decide what they wanted to do for the foreseeable future he would be without the Quebecois troops.

Second Battle of San Marco, La

With the Coming of Spring the situation in Tejas/Western Louisiana favored the Commonwealth even with the British destructing of Baton Rouge and sinking the Rail Ferries there. Rojo’s Mexian army was still at the forts around San Marco, while Major General General Randolph had succeeded in surrounding Santa Anna’s Army at the port town of Beauregard. Thomas O'Keefe, newly promoted to Lieutenant General was ready to renew his drive on retaking San Antonio from the Mexicans and the Louisiana rebels. The Commonwealth Western Army was back to full strength after receiving reinforcements during the winter despite everything else going on and was in good spirits despite being repulsed back in the fall. They began their march on March 1,1844, and would arrive at the Mexican Positions around San Marco early on the morning of March 4th. In the defenses around the town Major General Rojo’s force was also back at full strength at 110,000 men; however many of these men were locals form San Marco and San Antonio that had been drafted into service by the Republic of Louisiana, and were not of the same caliber as the professional Mexican soldiers. Unknown to O’Keefe, Rojo was already planning on abandoning his positions at San Marco; the fact that Santa Anna’s army had been bottled up at Beauregard meant that this southern Flank was more open than Rojo felt comfortable with. Yet, he was not going to just give the Americans the fortified town without a fight.

The Second Battleof San Marco would begin at 0900h on March 4th. The Mexican Positions were in three parts a three mile line of trenches and redoubts that stretched from the Blanco River north of town to Spring Lake. A second line ran from the southern part of Spring Lake just behind the southern bank of the San Marco River to Scrutin Lake The last bit was a mile lone line running for the southern Point of Scrutin lake along Mockingbird Ridge protecting the Southern Flank. In the Fall O’Keefe had focused on the line between the lakes along the San Marco River. This time he would make a feint toward that section of line with three divisions of infantry and supporting artillery while he sent five Divisions across the Blanco River to attack the Mockingbird Ridge line of the Mexican line. The Mockingbird Ridge attack would begin at 1145h almost three hours after the start of the feint on the Center line. The Mockingbird Ridge attack would begin with the 50,000 Commonwealth troops overwhelming the 20,000 Mexican troops defending the ridge; However the Mexicans quickly rallied and Rojo sent three Divisions of his reserve to reinforce the ridge. These fresh troops began to slowly retake the ridge from the Americans. O’Keefe had reinforcements to send as well and by 1800h the battle for Mockingbird ridge had become a stalemate. Sensing an opportunity O’Keefe would send his last three Division that he had been holding in reserve to hit the Meixcan Center. The assault would not go in till right as the Sun was sinking resulting in a Confused action that lasted till around 2200h before the last of the Commonwealth troops could make it back to their lines. The last minute assault would achieve little beside adding to the mounting casualties count. What this Commonwealth did do was tie down the Mexican Center making it harder for Rojo to disengage and withdraw like he had planned; and so the stage was set for the second day to start.

The Second day of the Second Battle of San Marco began with a Mexican Counter attack from Mockingbird Ridges. Rojo had moved men from his Left flank to free up 2 divisions to reinforce the 5 divisions already on the ridge. Being attacked caught off guard, after the fighting on the previous day they didn’t believe that the Mexicans had the strength to attack. For most of the morning the Mexicans managed to force the Commonwealth soldiers back till finally they retake the southern bank of the Blanco River. O’Keefe had only managed to establish a reserve of a single division after his late attack the day before. He would commit this division to reform his Flank and keep the Mexicans from flanking him. Once the flank was stabilized around 1500h the battle calmed down again; at 1630h both O’Keefe and Rojo would meet and establish a Ceasefire to see to the wounded,on both sides. The Next day Rojo would withdraw his army to the south leaving behind a division of Cavalry to act as a Rear Guard. It would not be needed as O’Keefe had no plans on following him. The Second Battle of San Marco would continue the trend of ever increasingly bloody battles. The Mexicna Army would lose 2,600 men killed and 6,000 men wounded with 2,000 captured or missing. The Commonwealth Western Army would lose 1,050 men killed; 3,500 men wounded and 1,500 men missing or captured. Rojo would retreat with his army to Las Martinas (1) on the Guadalupe River here as the ground became more rugged Rojo would make his last stand North of San Antonio. If he could not hold here then the Next defensive position would be at San Antonio itself. However when he arrived the more bad news awaited him Santa Anna had been forced to surrender on March 3rd after a Tornado touched down in on top of his army at Beauregard killing hundreds of men and wounding thousands more, even Santa Anna had been wounded when the storm picked up a field gun and flung it at the house that Santa Anna had made his headquarters in. It had smashed in the walls and landed on Santa Anna’s leg crushing it, following the storm the doctors had had to remove the limb. The Commonwealth Commander Major General Randolph had paroled him and his men so that they could fight in Central America after they were equipped in Mexico. That evening Rojo Gave up the position at Las Martinas falling back to San Antonio.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

The Erie in the Spring and the Fourth battle of Toledo.

To the east of Ohio the State of Erie was witnessing its own spring offensives. In an Irony of war the opening moves missed each other. The FPA first corps stormed east then south while the Army of Erie. Marched north towards New Dublin on the most direct route. On March 30, 1844 after a brief battle with a holding force that Soaring Hawk had left behind to harass any Federal Troops that came to retake the city. This force was easily driven away by the men under Major General Royce. Royce would detach a Division and a battery of field guns to hold the state capital before marching west, New Dublin flew the Eagle Flag once again. Now it was time to link up with General Sherman and drive the Redskins out of Toledo too. He didn’t know that Sherman would be delayed.

Battle of Zanesville

Railyard and Roundhouse at Franklin Erie

Southern Pennsylvania Railroad bridge at Zanesville

On April 1st General Sherman and the Federal 3rd Army was east of Franklin at the down of Zanesville. General Sherman had moved here to keep Soaring Hawk and his men from destroying the Railroad bridge over the Muskingum River. The Indians had cut the Susquehanna Railroad east of Franklin that left the Southern Pennsylvania Railroad was the last intact rail link connecting the Eastern part of the Republic to the Western part. The battle began around 1100h. At first Soaring Hawk believed that was just a militia unit pressed into the attack as the Federals were dug in on the Eastern side of the river. He soon realized that he had run into something more than just militia as by 1200h the enemy still held, and had an impressive amount of field artillery behind them. After another hour of combat he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to break through. He gave it till 1400h then he gave the orders for his men to begin disengaging from the Federal Troops. By 1600h the FPA 1st Corps had managed to withdraw from the 3rd Army and ended the Battle of Zanesville.

Battle of Adam's Tavern

Soaring Hawk and his men were not out of the woods yet. As night fell Soaring Hawk would lead his men north hoping to circle north and cross the river at the town of Longford (1). However he soon found his route blocked by Major General Rosco Coldtrain of the 9th Legion, the 3rd Army’s Cavalry arm, dug in around a crossroads called Adam’s Tavern. Soaring Hawk cussed under his breath that was the same command that had harassed his men back in the winter. The battle of Adam's Tavern would begin just before dawn on April 2nd, Soaring Hawk had hoped that an early attack would catch the Federals off guard, this didn't happen. Coldtrain had kept his men in their entrenchments during the night and only about half of them were sleep when the attack came. The predawn gloom sprung to life as the sparks of light from the Federals rifles and flaming bursts from the horse Artillery batteries behind the line met the incoming charge. As dawn broke on the crossroads the fog of gun smoke covered the land, the men of the FPA 1st corps limped back to their starting points the attack had failed. Soaring Hawk now began to try and flank the Federal Cavalry sending two divisions out on the far left and far right. By 0900h he had achieved this when both commanders reported that they were around the Federal flanks. At 1000h Soaring Hawk began an attack from three sides at once. Coldtrain was forced to give ground and by 1150h his men were mounted retreating north. With word of more Federals coming up from the south Soaring Hawk ordered his men to ride hard to the west and was able to cross the River at Longford before the federals caught up with him. Not wanting to push his luck he bypassed the city of Franklin and headed northwest toward Toledo.

The fourth battle of Toledo.

The fourth battle of Toledo would begin when the Army of Erie arrived from the south having crossed the Maumee river at Perrysburg. Major General Royce surveyed the British defenses around the city they were impressive, they had taken over the three American Forts and built a system of trench ms connecting the Forts, even now they were working on building redoubts and supporting trenches. If they had the time they could make Toledo a hard nut to crack. Royce decided not to give them that time. There was still no sign of the 3rd Army but still his Army of Erie looked to outnumber the British forces in the city. He gave the order to have the army come up with all haste, he would liberate Toledo before the British could reinforce their position.

It would not be until 1100h the next day April 5th that the Army of Erie was up and fully deployed. Royce's plan was to attack with four of his seven legions aimed at the trench line between Swan Creek and the Ottawa River, a fifth his cavalry he would send to the northwest as a feint. The attack would start at 1300h 40,000 men all of the Erie State Gaurds no Militia advanced in the British line. Almost from the start Artillery took a toll on the as shot and shell tor into the lines of men. As they got closer to the trenches rifle fire was added to the mix and more men fell. Then at 100 yards as the Boys of Erie broke into a charge the smooth bore brown besses opened up. Then they were in the trenches fighting hand to hand. The weight of numbers began to tell then just in the knick of time Soaring Hawk's exhausted FPA 1st Corps arrived behind the Federal lines charging into their rear. Caught off guard and from behind the Federal broke off their attack and fell back. However they would remain on the battle field beginning there own trenches. The Fourth battle of Toledo had cost the Army of Erie 2,000 men killed, 4,500 men wounded Two days later General Sherman and the 3rd Army arrived the siege of Toledo had begun.

1 Dresden,oh

 

[Virginia Liberal]

map of Toledo Erie showing trench lines the "three forts" mentioned in the last update only reference the three on the Eastern side of the River.

The yellow orange stars mark battles note the Battle in Mississippi has not been covered yet. Currently the British/First Peoples Army hold New Istanbul, Battleboro and Toledo. Fort McCoy is black because it is a burn city. Fort Michigan is not controlled by the FRA that sliver blue is my default city color, FRA captured British cities will appear dark grey.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

The Battle of Jonestown, Ms.

On March 15th two armies met on a field in north central Mississippi. These were the 60,000 strong Federal 4th Army and the 70,000 strong British Army of Michigan. The 4th Army led by General Washington Lee Wilson while the Army of Michigan was led by General Charles H. Armstrong. Neither commander expected at the crossroads named Jonestown the Federals were on route to attack the FPA troops at New Istanbul. The British were moving on New Ankara to act as a buffer to the troops at New Istanbul as well as Fort Michigan. While neither commander had planned on it when the two advanced troops started fighting at the crossroads the rest of the armies were drawn in like a moth to a flame. As the two armies were even and the ground offered no advantage. It came down to the commanders experience and the training of the troops.

The battle began at 1056h when the two cavalry brigades ran into each other. Over the next two hours the two brigades of cavalry fought it out as more troops trickled into Jonestown. The rest of the cavalry arrived first, with the first brigades of infantry not arriving until 1350 for the 4th Army and 1415 for the Army of Michigan.
The battle would slowly spread out from the crossroads town and more and more troops arrived. By the end of the first day all of the Army of Michigan was on the field with two Infantry divisions in line and a third just arrived and in reserve. The 4th Army was also all up, And the cavalry on both sides were fought out and moved to the extreme flanks of the armies.

So when the second day of battle began at 0700h on March 16,1844. The 4th army had 60,000 men up with 30,000 in the line and 20,000 in reserve while the Army of Michigan had 60,000 men up with 40,000 in line and 20,000 in reserve. The British start out on the offensive with their 2nd Division attacking the 8th Legion and part of the 11tt Legion on the Federal left flank. After three hours of combat the Federal flank was crumbling forcing Wilson to commit half of his reserve to reinforce it. While he did this he sent his other reserve Legion to his Right and launched an attack on the British left with the 25th and 27th Legions. This prevented Armstrong from using his reserve to reinforce his attack. And Wilson had no troops to feed into his attack so by 1700h the battle of the Second day had ended.

As the third day dawned the ball was in the British court. The 4th army was forced into a defensive stance with just one Legion in reserve. The attack came at 1100h after a five hour Artillery duel. It came in the center with 40,000 men, the full third division and half of the first and second divisions as well. The 11th Legion held the center and would take the brunt if the British assault. However the 27th Legion quickly joined them as did brigades from the 8th and 26th legions. In the end the assault would not break the Federal line and the survivors would fall back around 1355h. Later that day the two Generals would agree to a ceasefire to see to the wounded, both commanders would agree to withdraw the following day realizing that their armies were fought out. In the final count the Battle of Jonestown was a draw. And a costly one. The Federals lost 975 men killed and 2,600 wounded, the British lost 1,002 men killed and 2,900 wounded. Both armies would be out of action for the rest of the spring.

Start of the siege of St. Louis

Federal Troops manning the heavy 13.8 pounder guns at fort Hamilton

The City of St Louis was a divided city. The original french settlement of St. Louis lies in Massive Missouri territory of the Federal Republic of America however it is commonly known as South St. Louis because it is smaller than the British settlement that also uses the name St. Louis. The Federal Army kept a defensive garrison of 5,000 infantry supported by a battery of field guns and two batteries of heavy artillery guns, in Fort Hamilton on the south bank of the Missouri River. The British kept a slightly larger garrison 10,000 infantry, two batteries of field guns and two batteries of heavy artillery on the Northern Bank of the Missouri River at Fort Missouri. For the first five months of the war these two groups stared at each other exchanging the occasional artillery volley. Then in June this changed when Arnott arrived in St. Louis on June 7,1844 with his column 35,000 men strong. The March though the Ozark Territory had taken its toll on Arnott’s column but his arrival shifted the numbers west of the Mississippi drastically. In a rush the Federal Army rushed the 28th Legion from Federal Port and the 32nd Mississippi Infantry Brigade as well as the 1st Maryland Colored Infantry Division; this brought the Federal forces to South St. Louis up to 30,000 Infantry, three batteries of field guns and two batteries of heavy artillery.

Commonwealth of American States Officers stand by the massive 13 inch mortar battery assigned to support the 1st Maryland Colored Infantry Division defending St. Louis.

Arnott would assume command of the British forces in St. Louis and with the assistance of the Royal Navy Missouri Squadron Crossed the Missouri River on June 14,1844, with 40,000 of his 50,000 men. Beginning at 1435h on June 14th he would assault the Defenses however he found that the American forces had more than enough fire power that by 1800h he had to halt any further assaults. However he would not retreat backa across the river instead he had his men construct trenches parallel to the American Defenses. The Siege of St. Louis had begun.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

War on the Connecticut River

Field Marshall Thomas Childs

Author Wellesley Grand Duke of New England

By the start of April the war which had remained frozen in New England thawed out and came back to life. Over the winter months the Crown Republic of New England and mustered a total of 150,000 men. This represented the bulk of her male population between the ages 16 and 45. With older men forming up taking over Coastal defenses and creating reserve units. There would be a total of 4, maybe 5 divisions in reserve this showed New England's chief problem, lack of population. All of the New English army was equipped with the Springfield-Sharps Breech loading Rifle. The Royal Army of New England was divided into two Field Armies, the Northern and Southern Armies. The Northern Army would be led by Field Marshall Thomas Childs while Field Marshall Arthur Wellesley led the Southern Army. Their plan was to breach the Connecticut Line and swiftly sever the links to the Southern Republics and take the Capital of Vermont Montpelier.

The Battle of Fort Green

Vermont Green Coats

For Childs this meant going though Fort Green Rock or Fort Whitehead. Of these two fort Whitehead was the easier but it meant hauling all of the Artillery over White Mountain, and New England had only a small redoubt adjacent to that fort, where Fort Green Rock was opposed by the Great Lebanon Redoubt with three batteries of heavy Artillery. So he aimed his Army at Fort Green Rock betting that numbers would carry the day. The day. Before his force the New English Heavy guns opened up on Fort Green Rock with a full 24 hour bombardment.

Across the River Fort Green Rock was more a series of defenses than an actual fortress. It stretches from the White River to the Ottauquechee River. It is made up of three belts the Lower Belt is located on the ridge line behind the village of White River Junction, and runs south along that ridge line to where Burnap Island is. This belt consists of three masonry forts Forts 1, 2, and 3, connected by a series of earthwork forts and trenches. The Middle Belt is located at the foot of the mountains west of the river this belt consists of a series of earthwork Forts that have cover each other with enveloping fire this belt runs from the White River to the Ottauquechee River. Lastly there is the Upper Belt built along the ridge Crest of the mountains. It is a mix of five masonry Forts and eighteen earthen redoubts. Fort Green Rock is armed with no less than fifteen batteries of heavy artillery and fifty batteries of field guns supported by three divisions of Vermont Infantry. Fort Green Rock was commanded by Lieutenant General Alexander Guzzman.

As his Army arrived at Lebanon Childs sent his seven batteries of field guns to add to the bombardment. His two batteries of horse guns and Cavalry he sent north to join with the Woodville Redoubt in bombarding Fort Whitehead in a Feint. With large stores of ammunition and Britain supplying plenty more if needed. Childs let the bombardment go on for a week. On the night of April 28th he sent his engineers to build the pontoon bridges. He would attack at two points, half the army crossing at White River Junction and the other crossing at Johnson Island. Major General Ruchard Ratcliffe would lead the White River Junction assault and Major General Forest Patterson would lead the Johnson Island assault.

The battle would begin in the predawn hours of April 29th when the columns started the river during this the Artillery shifted its fire so that it bore on the lower belt of defenses. While seeking to protect the crossing Infantry it alerted the Vermont Artillery that the crossing was starting who began dropping shells around the bridges by the time that the sun shone down in the valley Childs had managed to get a division across at each crossing. His plan had been to wait till he had all three divisions across but the fire that his men were taking made him slow Ratcliffe and Patterson to begin their assaults. Both attacks began at 0645h. With their second divisions still crossing the pontoon bridges. As the Infantry went in the New English Artillery shifted toward the Middle and Upper Belts trying to suppress the Vermonter Artillery. The battle for the lower belt had turned into a fierce melee as the New English commanders fed brigades regiments and companies in as soon as they had crossed the bridges. Then at 1117h the Vermonter Artillery scored a direct hit on the pontoon bridge at White River Junction breaking it up and throwing most of the 75th New Hampshire Regiment into the Connecticut River. And stopping the rest of Ratcliffe's third division from crossing until more Pontoons could be brought up worse still the free floating debris from that bridge impacted the Johnson Island bridges destroying the longer bridge east of the island too and dropping the 12th Connecticut Infantry regiment into the Cumberland. Each corps now had two divisions and a part of their third divisions on the western bank but with limited supply. Still the battle continued as Childs improvised a ferry system to bring supplies across the river even if manpower was stopped for now. The rest of the days battle pitted four new English divisions against three Vermonter divisions, however the Vermonters were armed with .50-56 Colt Revolving Rifles. And now the New English like the Colombians, and Mexicans before them found out just how deadly repeating rifles were.

The New English attack ground to a halt with them clinging onto a bridgehead. During the night the New English engineers managed to get the bridge to Johnson Island rebuilt and after a hard night march both remaining divisions across that bridge setting up Patterson for the morning attack. That attack would begin at 0645h on April 30th. While Ratcliffe had his men also renew the attack to keep the Vermonters tied down. Once again the battle would last the full day; however when the sun set the Vermonters had pulled back to the middle belt. Childs had secured his bridgehead and occupied the lower belt. But,his army had been fought out to get here. The Northern Army had lost 5,000 men killed and 12,000 wounded, as well as 3,000 missing. All totaled two full divisions worth of men were gone for the forsee able future, he sent word back to Boston requesting reinforcements, as his men dug in. The Vermonters were better off but just. They had lost 1,100 men killed and 3,000 men wounded but they had less men to start with. They could not counter attack as the battle of Fort Green Rock became a stalemate. While other battles were fought to the south.

(1) yes I know I'm using the Otl portrait of the 2nd Duke of Wellington for Childs and Prince Albert for Wellesley but ITTL Albert is butterflied and it works better for pictures of Victoria

 

[Virginia Liberal]

Fort Green Rock at the start of the battle

During

after black equals destroyed

 

[Virginia Liberal]

The Mattabesset Gap Campaign

To the south the Duke of New England faced an easier situation than Childs did here the Fortifications were anywhere from five to ten miles behind the river. This meant that his army was able to cross with only minor opposition. He now swung his army south around the southern flank of Ragged Mountain and into the Mattabesset Gap. This was one of the weaker points in the Connecticut line. The gap bas guarded by two batteries of Field artillery on Owl’e lair cliff and Small Clif on Ragged Mountain as well as two batteries of field guns and a brigade of Infantry on Timberland Hill in the Center of the gap, to the south was Fort Craig but its guns didn’t bear of the Mattabesset Gap. This meant that the Battle for Mattabesset Gap was a short affair as the Vermonter Infantry brigade fought a delaying action to allow the two batteries of gus to withdraw off of Timberland Hill.

Once he thought the Metacomet Ridge and the Connecticut line there was little to impede his army’s march. He would engage with Vermonter forces at Southington and Cheshire Village. These Vermonter Forces were made of the 21st West Connecticut Infantry Brigade and the two batteries of field guns that had been run off of Timberland Hill in addition to several Companies of Home Defense militia that Brigadier General Laurance Holland was able to rally to his command. Still with little more than a brigade all he could do was delay and send runners for help. After the battle of Cheshire Village Wellesley had to make a choice: he could keep heading south and attack New Haven or he could turn west and head toward the Housatonic River. New Haven was the Principal port of the Republic of Vermont but it was also heavily defended where as if he could cut the New Haven Northern and New York Railroad (1) he would effectively cut one of the two rail links connecting the Republic of Vermont with the Federal Republic of America. He chose to aim for the town of Derby where the track crossed not only the Housatonic River but also the Naugatuck River. He would reach the eastern banks of the town of Seymour on April 18th he was shocked to find *Lieutenant General Ronald Staunton and the 55,000 strong Vermont Expeditionary Force deployed on the hills to the east of town. The stage was set for the battle of Seymour.

The battle of Seymour began at 1200h when Wellesley committed his men to the attack. His attack had three elements A divisions would deploy west along Bladens River to prevent a Federal Flanking attack on his right flank. Meanwhile his cavalry brigade and infantry divisions would attack the Federal Right (eastern) flank, simultaneously four Infantry divisions would attack the Federal Center which was the lowest point in their line. The first of the attacks made contact with the federal center at 1235h while the Flank attack did not engage the enemy on the hill till 1325h The federals fought hard but in a contest where the fire power was close enough to even with both sides armed with breech loading rifles. The federals gave a good fight but the weight of numbers was able to break though their center Staunton was able to rally about have his men in a C near the town and a second cluster of Federals Held out on the hill, however the New Jersey Guardsmen in the center broke and ran. Wellesley had his men surround both groups of Federal troops. The smaller group on the hill would manage a breakout and retreat to the south during the night however Staunton and his men were not able to do likewise. Staunton and his 15,000 men would surrender at dawn on April 19th. Operating in enemy country Wellesley would simply parole the federal soldiers and destroy their arms before marching south to Derby where his men would burn the bridges there before marching north for the planned link up with Childs’ army.

Events were not in a vacuum however and while Wellesley and his men burned bridges at Derby to the east Lieutenant General Zachary Taylor and the Commonwealth Army of New England were already marching. Taylor guessed that the New English army would not linger on the coast but turn north with the home of rolling up the Connecticut line all together. So he left a brigade to reinforce the Vermonters defending New Haven and started marching. So just four days after the Battle of Seymour was fought the Second battle of Seymour would be fought.

The Second battle of Seymour began on April 25th when Wellesley and his men approached the town to once again find their path blocked this time by soldiers under the Commonwealth of American States Flag of all things, “weren’t they supposed to be busy everywhere else?” Wellesley thought as he deployed his men for battle once more. This time attacking north across Bladens River in. This time however his men were tired from close to a month of constant marching and battle. Wellesley began his attack at 1300h aiming once again at the enemy’s center in hopes of repeating his earlier success. However this time his men ran into a hail of led as the Commonwealth soldiers and their revolving rifles gave each soldier the fire power of at three soldiers armed with single shot weapons. By 1500h he had called off the attack and began shifting men towards the east. At 1800h he would launch his Flank attack and succeed in escaping with his army largely intact to the east. He would have his army march back toward the Mattabassett Gap. He arrived back at the Mattabesset Gap at 1130h on April 28th to find that it had been occupied by Vermonter troops. His tired men would have to fight their way east which they did starting at 1300h. The Second battle of Timberland Hill would be a Victory for Wellesley and his army who marched back to Manchester and dug in around their bridge head.

The Campaign consisted of four battles three of which had been New English Victories. Wellesley had succeeded in destroying the Road and Rail bridges over the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers at Derby. However he had not been able to sever the Conicutect line from resupply nor had he been able to link up with Childs’ Northern Army and threaten the Vermont Capital. The Campaign had cost him a total of 1,500 men killed, 3,200 men wounded and 1,800 men missing. However, he still held a bridge head over the Connecticut River. For the Allied American forces the campaign had shown that the Connecticut line was not impregnable, and the Army of Vermont and what was left of the Federal Army’sVermont Expeditionary Force would spend the next month fortifying the Mattabesset Gap . The VEF had suffered the most in the campaign; it had been reduced from an army of 55,000 men to just over 25,000 men and was now commanded by Major General Daniel Fickelstine of New Jersey. Taylor’s Commonwealth Army of New England returned to New Haven having only lost 300 men killed and 600 wounded at the Second Battle of Seymour.

1. The New Haven and Northern Railroad has a monopoly on the Railroad Industry in the Republic of Vermont as mentioned in the earlier update. However they didn’t merge all their conquered competitors into one company instead adding their name to acquired lines. So the New Haven and New York Railroad became the New Haven Northern and New York Railroad.
2. * denotes a Brevet Rank

American Block Commanders during the Spring Campaigns in New England

 

[Virginia Liberal]

 

[Virginia Liberal]

London, England

King Richard IV and Viscount Goderich the Prime Minister as well as other members of the Cabinet were meeting on the Quebec issue as the Former Governor of the Crown Colony of Quebec explained the events that had occurred in the Crown Colony since the start of Hostilities in North America, and presented the Quebecois Declaration Independence. It was Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Secretary of State for the Colonies who spoke frist. "Your Majesty, if I may?" When Richard nodded the Earl continued "Before all this started, we were talking about the future of the North American Colonies. The New Albion proposal, in a way this kills that but I would say let the Quebecois have their Crown Republic if they want. The New English experiment has proved a success in my eyes." Secretary at War James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn chimed "But only after the current conflict is finished. Also only if they participate in said conflict. If the Frogs in Quebec want autonomy then they can earn it. The other option is for us to send a couple of Corps over there to sit on them and hope that the Americans don't take advantage of our weakness much less the French here in Europe." Richard weighed the information finally he said "So we have a plan. Goderich, can you get the needed legislation though the parliament or do I need to lead on this? '' Goderich thought for a minute "It will be closer than I like but as long as it is known that it has the Crown's blessing and backing it should pass, your majesty". With that the meeting ended. On May 21st the Quebec Dominionship act passed the Parliament. Of course no sooner had they figured out how to deal with the Quebec problem then news reached London of the Irish Rebellion in the south pacific and the French Crown’s proclaiming Charles Edward Stuart, the Duke of Albany the King of the Kingdom of South Erie; presenting yet another brushfire for the British to deal with.

New Dublin, New South Erie

At the State house in New Dublin in New South Erie a meeting was taking place. Over forty years ago the Irish Population had been exiled to the rugged and beautiful land at the ass end of nowhere. Now the Irish were ready to try and cast off their hated English oppressors once and for all. Aengus O'Connell, John Shanahan, Paddy McGlinchy, and Frank Kelly the leaders of the Irish Freedom Party were meeting the French Admiral Fabien LaRue.
The Admiral along with the Southern Squadron of the French Pacific Fleet had engaged the Royal Navy’s Small South Pacific Fleet stationed at New Dublin driving off the few ships that they didn’t send to the bottom. Then he had landed a Regiment of French Royal Marines who along with a Rising by the Irish Freedom Movement had quickly secured both of the Islands that made up the South Erie Islands. Along with those few Marines the French had brought muskets and ammunition for the Irish Rebels.

Now the admiral along with the leaders of the Irish Revolutionaries were negotiating what type of state the Irish would be able to set up and Defend. The French offered to recognize the new Irish State and make it a protectorate of the Kingdom of France. In return France had two conditions; the first one was that France be allowed to station ships in the Irish State as well as men they promised to keep it to a minimum except in time of war. The second was that the Irish state be a Constitutional Monarchy. This at first confused the Irish they were not keen to trade a King in London for a King in Paris. Then the French confused them even more when the French admiral laughed “No, No, King Louis doesn’t seek to add the Irish Crown to his own. No. His Majesty asks that you raise Charles Edward Stuart, the Duke of Albany the Jacobite heir to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.” The Irishmen talked it over with each other. To raise the house of Stuart to any throne would be a sore spot to the British and their Hanoverian kings. It would be a way to spit in the British eye. “That may be possible, as long as he is willing to accept the powers that we would be willing to give him. We won’t promise much to, us Irish have long grown tired of Lords and Kings.” Aengus O'Connell said after the discussion was complete. LaRue nodded the throne titles and a good allowance is all that my king asks. I will say that the more important his son in law has the more gracious he and France will be in dealing with your new Irish State.” The meeting would continue for the rest of the month however LaRue and his fleet had to leave to engage the British elsewhere.

In July LaRue and his fleet returned to New Dublin. The Admiral found him and his men welcomed by the government of the Kingdom of South Erie. This Irish had created a Constitution and formed a provisional government until elections could be held the following year. The Irish Constitution created a Constitutional Monarchy, however the monarch held little power. The Monarch was the one who summoned the Parliament and oversaw the results of parliamentary elections, the monarch also could dissolve the parliament however this triggered a snap election to take place within three months. Lastly the Monarch was the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of South Erie, in that role the monarch had to be the one to ask the parliament to declare war on another nation. The power of the government was vested in the parliament. The Parliament was made up of two houses, the House of Commons was made up of 120 seats and the Senate which was made up 60 seats. The Premier who had the executive authority in the government was elected by the house of commons.

Flag of the Kingdom of South Erie

Normandy

The developments in North America had Robbed the Duke Of Mann of any Reinforcements his opponents didn't have that problem the French had brought to another whole army to challenge him. The Duke of Mann had made the decision to withdraw from Saint-Lo, even if he had all of his 330,000 men up with him he would be outnumbered by at least 100,000 men by what his cavalry was telling him. Besides he didn’t have his whole force with him at Saint Lo only about half of it. So He was pulling back to the defenses he had been building with the rest of his army all winter. If he had gotten the Reinforcements he might have thought about a phush on Paris even then he would have been outnumbered. No he would pull back to his defensive line just south of Cherberg. There behind defensive works he and his Army of Normandy would just have to hold the line until Britain finally found men to send to reinforce them, or peace came.

To the south both The Duke of Normandie and Lafayette were moving north with their armies. On April 7th the engaged the British rear guard at Saint Lo. It would be a brief fire fight with the British pulling back before they could be cut off. The British would make another stand at Carentan and Lessay on April 10th, and Bricquebec on April 13th. Valognes on April 14th. All of these would be short skirmishes but they serve their purpose of slowing down the French advance. However, on April 16th the French would converge on Cherbourg. Hoping that their numbers would allow them a quick victory the two Armies would commit to a heavy assualt, with both armies committing 11 divisions to the attack. The attacks begin at 1300h after a morning long bombardment. However the French soon. Find the English English defenses tough to break. The British having concentrated field gun batteries though out their lines and redoubts of heavy guns with interlocking fields of fire. By 2000h hours the attack is called off and the French start deploying for a siege. However both the Duke of Normandie and Marshall Lafayette knew that for a siege to be successful the French Navy would have to blockade the port and hold the British Royal Navy at bay, only time would tell if it was up to the task.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

The holiday that is modern Christmas can be traced back to a couple of events that occurred in the mid 19th Century. Prior to these events Christmas was a hit and miss religious holy day in most of the various Christian churches,and even then it was overshadowed by other holy days.

These events were the publication of the poem Santa Clause Comes to Town, published in 1823 in New York. This popular poem would spread across north America and even cross the Atlantic to Europe by the time the wars began. However its biggest impact would be in the FRA where it would bring the Christmas holiday to an unofficial prominence. Well before the wars of the Bloody Decade. The second was the publication of drawings of Duchess Victoria and her family exchanging gifts on Christmas Morning around a decorated Pine Tree, this would popularize Christmas in the British Empire as the rest of the royal family and upper class mimicked this trend.

However the largest push toward our modern commercial Christmas occurred in 1843 when several states in the C.A.S. started encouraging families to send their loved ones at the Front Christmas presents as away to boost both frontline and Homefront morale. This would prove successful and be repeated in December of 1844 and 1845. This so engraved the Christmas holiday into the fabric of the C.A.S. that following the war the Commonwealth Congress would establish Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Service Day (1) as the First National Holidays in the C.A.S. with the Holidays Act of 1850.

Christmas trees also evolved from this point with Duchess Victoria setting the trend for much of the world. However this comtept that the American Republics had for the Crown Republic of New England would see the FRA and C.A.S. swing away from pine trees and adopt Holly trees instead, a division that separates the American Republics from the rest of the world still today.

Santa Clause would also evolve with the political world. In the poem Santa Clause Comes to town Santa Clause is described as a plump man with rosy cheeks and and a white beard, dressed all in furs as white as the snow with a Silver bell on the end of his cap. Who brings toys and treats to good little boys and girls and brings Bundles of switches to bad children. He visit children the night before Christmas in his Slay pulled by eight raindeer who flight though the night. This is the common version of Santa in both the FRA and C.A.S. Western Europe and the British Empire Santa Clause is closer to the Dutch Sinterklaas, a version who was popularized by Queen Louise wife of George IV and Dowager Queen to Richard IV. who brought the Dutch traditions with her to Britain. This version of Santa Clause is dressed in all in Red fur and Rides a white horse as he delivers presents to good children and plays pranks on bad children.

1. The Saturday after Christmas when people do good works for their community as a day of thanks for all they have received.
2. I'm not going into Germany and eastern Europe with this cause what I've found is very different from American Santa Clause and I'm not familiar enough with it to change it so east of the Rhine is gonna be OTL.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

Fall of Caracas

June 21st in Bolivia was the start of winter however General Tyler was ready to finish his Campaign against the city of Caracas. Over the summer and fall he had forced the Colombians back towards their final line of defenses one hill at a time. Now one the Colombians were back to their last line south of the city if they lost it they would have to choose fight house to house or give up. That evening General Tyler sent a man under white flag to ask his counter part to surrender and save the needless spilled blood to come. To his disappointment the Colombian general refused. So Tyler began to plan the final battle of this god forsaken campaign.

Because of the lack of reinforcements from the Commonwealth he had been forced to lean on the Bolivians who where now made up about half of his 190,000 men. When properly trained and equipped they made decent soldiers. However Tyler knew that this would come back on him as the Bolivian Government would most likely want more say in any treaty and the establishment of the state of Bolivia and other South American territories after the war.

General Jose Martinez commander of the Eastern Imperial Army looked at the maps on the wall of his headquarters. Since the Americans cut off supplies his men had been slowly beaten back battle by battle. Still he had refused to surrender. His men had enough ammo and spirit for one more battle at least they could bleed the Americans and maybe kill enough of them to allow the army coming up from the south to drive them back once more.

Two hours before dawn on June 23rd the Commonwealth Artillery opened up on the Colombian defenses in Caracas. The bombardment would go in for six eight hours. Then at 1300h the Infantry attack began. That bombardment had not killed all the Colombians who began firing back as soon as the Infantry left their trenches. The Colombian artillery which had also been silent also joined the battle pummeling the advancing Infantry with shot and shell then canister as they drew close to the defenses. Once the C.A.S. soldiers made it into the Colombian defenses the battle turned into a hand to hand melee fought with the Knife, Bayonet and for the Bolivians the Machete. The Colombians with their backs against the wall fought for every inch of ground. Yet by the end of the second day of battle they're moral was being to break as more and more Colombians surrendered to the advancing Commonwealth forces. By the end of June 26th General Jose Martinez accepted the reality that it was over. End the early morning hours of June 27,1844 he asked Tyler for a ceasefire and offered his surrender. At dawn on June 28,1844 the Colombian Eastern Imperial Army marched out of the battered city stacked arms and colors and marched into captivity under the guard of Bolivian troops and officers.

The Fall of Caracas marked a turning point in the war with its primary Army in the East taken off the board Bogota lost its will to continue and risk the loss of further territory. The army that was just starting to arrive in the east was rebrand the 2and Imperial Eastern Army; however it was placed on a defensive footing. While Emperor Christobal reached out to the United Portuguese Empire to mediate a peace treaty with the C.A.S.

To say that the Harrison administration was thrilled to recieve the news that the Colombians wanted peace. Harrison would send Foreign Secretary Franklin Lincoln (CMDP-Va) and Stephen R. Laine (CCP-NC) and Secretary of State Daniel Cameron (CMDP-MD) as the C.A.S. negotiating team. The Colombians would send Foreign Minister Fernando Calderon and Defense Minister Emmanuel Lopez. The two would meet in Rio de Jenro the Capital of the Kingdom of Brazil. Over the next month they would hammer out a peace deal the border between Colombia and Bolivia would start at the Junction of the Meta and Orinoco Rivers it would go straight north to the coast. It would follow the Orinoco east to where the Rio Caroni joined it. The border would follow that river till it reached the border with Brazil.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

The Siamese Invasion of Mayla

The Siamese Imperial Army at the start of the Anglo Siamese War.

The Siamese had been watching the events of the Second War of Spanish Succession closely. However,it was not till after the Second Irish Revolution that they decided to join. On June 28,1844 the Siamese officially declared war on Britain and sent an army of 65,000 men under General Tiwat Keacham down the Malayan peninsula, while the Royal Siamese Navy sailed south to cut off the British East India company base at Singapore.

The British East Indian Army was still mostly deployed in India and there were only 20,000 men to defend Malaysia from the Siamese. Commanded by Major General Bernard Smith the British Army of Malaysia would fight a series delaying actions meant to slow down and bleed the Siamese Army before it reached Singapore.

It would take the Siamese six months to battle their way down the peninsula. With the British fighting battles at Terengganu on July 2,1844, Perak July 7th , Shah on July 11th, Alam on July 10th, Kuala Dungun on August 4th, Pekan Melayu on August 28th. The British had never really believed that the Siamese had modernized their Army. This view proved to be wrong much to the grief of the British soldiers after the first few battles when Siamese troops armed with Rifled Muskets with Wolf Shot easily drove off the Redcoats and their smooth bore Brown Bess muskets. Over the course of the summer of 1844 the British traded space for time hoping that reinforcements would arrive from India. However, on September 20th the battered British army crossed to the island of Singapore where they hoped to hold out as long as possible. On September 23rd the Siamese Army occupied the shores north of the island and a Siamese French Fleet started blockading the island, so began the siege of Singapore

 

[Virginia Liberal]

The Division of the Repulbic of Bolivia post Treaty of Rio

 

[Virginia Liberal]

The Rhone Campaign

During the winter and spring of 1844 Marshal Sacco and General Lombardi had been pouring over maps planning their invasion of southern France whale at the same time amassing an army to carry out that invasion. The army was the largest army that the Italian empire had fielded to date. They had assembled 450,000 men and 85 batteries of artillery (390,000 Infantry (39 divisions), 60,000 Cavalry (six divisions) 68 batteries of field artillery, 12 batteries of Horse Artillery, and 5 batteries of heavy artillery.). This Grand Army was divided up into three columns Northern, Central, and Southern. Each column would be made up of 13 divisions of infantry, two divisions of Cavalry 23 batteries of Field artillery, and 4 batteries of Horse Artillery; the southern army would also have the 5 batteries of heavy artillery.

The Southern Column would be commanded by General Ramiro Summa. This column would be the first to engage the enemy. In late June General Summa and his men headed east to attack Nice. This was to be the first phase in the Rhone Campaign. On July 1st Summa’s men slammed into the unexpecting French Garrison in the hills north and east of Nice. The city was defended by 75,000 French Infantry supported by 36 batteries of field artillery and 8 batteries of heavy artillery all of which fortified in a rig on masonry and earthen forts and by mountains that surrounded the city. Because the French lacked any sizable cavalry contingent they had been caught off guard. Summa would use this to his advantage by having hsi men envelope the French defenders cutting them off form resupply by land before french reinforcements could arrive. Summa had the manpower to over wealm the french defenders but he didn’t that was not the plan; so instead he brought up his artillery and began a siege of the city.

Meanwhile the other two columns began to march the Central Column commanded by General Eusebio Bava fromaly of the Royal Sardinian army who swore loyalty to UnNapoleon II after he married Esmeralda queen of Sardinia. He was not the only one seven of his thirteen infantry divisions and one of this two cavalry divisions were formed up by a majority of former Sardinian soldiers. Bava’s column began moving on July 1st the same day that Summa’s column began the siege of Niece. They were not the only ones marching that day to the north Lombardi’s Northern Column was also starting its march. Bava’s column marched through Gap then down the Rhone River and on Marseilles. Whale Lombardi’s column would march to Gernobel then strike north toward Loyns. Marshall Sacco’s intent with this plan was to keep the French off balance and reacting to the Italian moves.

The Italian offensive didn’t happen in a vacuum to the west as Toulouse General Henri Bovian was gathering his army together after the long trip from Spain. Boivin was an elder general who had never gained much fame nor had he ever sought any. Now he started receiving disturbing reports on July 8th the first reports of the Italians besieging Nice. To respond to this he had two veteran divisions from the Spanish campaign as well as four freshly raised divisions that gave him 90,000 Infantry, he also had 15,000 cavalry, 20 batteries of field artillery 10 of which were veterans of the Spanish campaign and 2 batteries of horse artillery. On July 9th Bovian ordered his army to march to Marseilles where he hoped to pick up at least one more division of infantry.

His army arrived just at Nimes just a days March west of Marseilles only to find the east bank of the Rhone river patrolled by Italian soldiers and survivors of the French Garrison from Marseilles who had escaped the fall of the city told Bovian that an Army of 13 Italian divisions had stormed into the city just days before. Unable to challenge this force Bovian deployed his army into a defensive position and sent word to Paris.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

The Invasion of Newfoundland or not.

On July 12,the last part of the Swedish invasion force left Scandinavia heading for Iceland this was the main battle force of the Swedish Royal Navy consisting of 23 ships of the line, 33 Frigates, and 40 smaller ships. This didn't go unnoticed and with in a day a British fleet that was just slightly larger was sailing to intercept.

The two fleets would meet just west of the Faroe Islands. The British had the advantage of a faster line due to them having more frigates than liners but that same factor meant that the Swedes brought more firepower to the fight. It was the British Admiral Thomas C. Hood that was the deciding factor in the battle. A young admiral at just 31 years old he was know for "odd" thinking. As his line met the Swedish line in a classic line dual he detached a good number of his frigates and smaller ships and sent them racing west ahead of the battle.

As the fighting progresses Admiral Maximilian Ekholm was enjoying this fight he could feel the blood of his Viking ancestors flowing though him,and he was winning. His shops had already forced two of the British liners to fall out of line, they had sunk two more and set a third ablaze. He was beginning to believe that he and his men were going to humble the mighty British Royal Navy. It was then that his men in the fighting tops started crying ships on the horizon. When he looked he saw a wall of British ships blocking his path. As if on cue the British fleet started pulling away from his just as the fleet that as crossing his T erupted in fire and smoke.

Admiral Hood watched in Glee as his frigates started dumping enveloping fire on the Swedes. But he wasn't done yet; no he started issuing orders for shops to break off and swing in line behind the Swedes, while others continued to fire on them from their current position. The battle wasn't over yet but Hood knew the day was his.

For Admiral Ekholm the battle had gone to Hell. He had ordered his fleet to turn but that only exposed them to the english off their port. Then after about two house the a third British Column appeared to his east. By this point though Ekholm wasn't concerned anymore a huge splinter from this ship's main mast had punched though his abdomen and he was fast on his way to the afterlife. "At least he thought It was a violent death worthy of the old ways" as darkness enveloped him. With the Admiral dead it was Captain Josef Sjöberg who ordered the colors struck and the guns silenced. Slowly as the Swedish ships still inaction saw the flag ship's colors go down and followed suit. The Battle of the Faroe islands was a complete British victory, one of the few in this war. Hood and his men would be hailed as heroes throughout the Empire and the Swedish plans for Newfoundland died still born.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

Counter Moves

August 1844 Christophe Beauvilliers and his army of 150,000 men and 20 batteries of artillery march east. They along with another smaller force were moving to counter the Italian invasion of Southern France. What news had escaped the Italian held zone was not good the defenders of Nice were barely hanging on thanks to a supply line kept open by the French Navy however the navy had lost its main fleet base in the Mederatrian Sea and was being forced to work from ports in Spain. His men had been pulled off of the siege lines around Cherbourg all and all Beauvilliers thought that this was the better way to fight a war out in the open not huddled in the trenches.

August 15,1844: General Lombardi watched the french army deployed in front of him. The two armies were equal in number or close enough he had 130,000 infantry while the French had somewhere around 150,000 Infantry but he had more artillery and most importantly he had the high ground here just north of Loyn. The French Commander had plenty of “gaul” he chuckled at his own joke. The man had committed to a frontal attack on the Italian position with the height advantage.

General Beauvilliers watched as his Infantry began what appeared to be a suicidal attack on the Italian positions on the heights supported by his Artillery. He knew that he was ordering many of these brave young men to their deaths but he had to sell his feint attack to the Italians. He let his men bleed for four long hours until he was as certain as he could be that he had Lombardi's full attention. At 1700h he sprung his real attack. Two divisions of cavalry and three divisions of Infantry east of the Saone River on the rather weak Italian defenses there.

General Victor Dodge commander of the Italian right flank stared out of his defenses as the massive French attack bore down on his men. He had just four divisions three in line one in reserve to hold off this onslaught. He had already sent word to General Lombardi. All he could do now was react. Already his Artillery was hitting the charging French blowing gaps in their lines however the french simply closed ranks and kept coming. The cavalry where already at his trenches however the horse men found trenches and Abbatis hard to trample over and the horsemen were suffering heavy losses as they broke off and tried to withdraw. Which impeded the Infantry assault.

1835h. General Beauvilliers was ecstatic he was now on his Left flank. His men had drove the Italians back into the city of Loyn itself fight block by block as they pull back on to the peninsula in the city center. More importantly they had moved their reserve into the city to shore up their failing right flank. Meaning that his men had finally gained a foothold on the ridge line north of the city. The battle was in his favor now he just had to hold on.

1950h. General Lombardi met with his commanders, the battle had turned against them in a bad way. After a long night of discussion they decided to pull back south east. Slowly throughout the night the Italian army would pull back though the city to the southeast. In the morning the last two divisions in the line fought a rear guard action while the artillery with drea before exiting the battlefield around 1300h. Had the French cavalry not been mauled the day before they could have chased down the retreating Italians; yet as it is they were forced to let them go.

In Paris the battle of Loyns would be celebrated as a great victory proof of God's favor for the French people. The fact that the Italians still most of France east of the Rhone River was played down. Then word would reach the capital about the battle of the Ligurian Sea putting a damper on the Celebrations.

The Battle of the Ligurian Sea

For Admiral Alexandre Ferdinand Parseval-Deschenes of the French Mederterain Fleet he had to drive the Italian navy back to Italy and keep the supply lines to Nice open. To so this he had assembled his entire force, on the open seas the "La Royal" was holding the English at bay now it was his turn to put the upstart Italians in their place.

At Its new base in Genoa Admiral Andrea Balotelli had the Northern Fleet ready to begin the blockade of Nice and cut off that city's last supply line. When word reached him from Spanish loyalist that the French Fleet was sailing in mass. This news changed things instead he had his ships and men ready to do battle with the enemy fleet.

On August 18,1844 the Italian Imperial Navy's Northern Fleet consisting of 24 ships of the line 34 frigates 13 Corvettes, 37 sloops and 56 smaller ships would engage the French Mederterain Fleet consisting of 18 ships of the line 22 frigates, 23 Corvettes, 34 sloops and 44 smaller ships met in the Ligurian Sea about 10 miles off the coast of Nice.

The battle began classically enough the two fleets formed lines and began their deadly dual. Deschenes found it odd that the Italians had an inferior fleet to his; he was only facing 12 ships of the line. Still the Italians fought fiercely however by 1450h the french numbers were telling. Five of the Italian liners had been knocked out of the fight and two more out right sunk. Then the look outs spotted sails coming from the west. When he looked thought his glass he saw italian flags flying from their mast.

Admiral Balotelli looked on with a grim smirk. His maneuver had taken longer to pull off than he had planned on. And his 1st division had paid the price for it from the looks of it but now he was on course to bracket the french fleet between the two parts of his fleet. Three hours late the battle was over the battered French fleet had limped away to the southwest. The French Mederterain fleet had been beaten in but the Italians had paid a high price for their victory. But they held the seas around Nice meaning that the city was now cut off fully from supply.