Lone Star Republic

[Kaiser Chris]

God bless the Republic of Texas!-President Rick Perry 2011
If we are to liberate ourselves from Santa Anna's tyranny than a stand must be made at the Alamo.-Colonel James Bowie to Colonel James Fannin. 1836
Five years ago I came to this country to fight for a free and independent Texas. Never have I regretted it.- Davie Crockett 1841.

At the beginning of the year of our Lord 1836 a new nation was emerging among the prairies of the Southwest, a land of opportunities and dreams come true, the land of Texas. The causes of the Texas Revolution while numerous revolve around the many disputes between Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and the Anglo settlers of Mexican Texas. Between the Anglo-Texans and Mexicans there was no compromise available: from slavery, protestant vs. catholic, english vs. spanish, one side was eventually going to dominate the other. Though still peace remained until the reign of Santa Anna. Beggining in 1835, Santa Anna would call for complete centralization of Mexico; abolishing the 1824 constituion, enforcing anti-American immigration laws, and brutally suppressing the Zacatecas revolt. Tired of living under the rule of an oppresive tyrant the people of Texas rose up in a war of secession so that they may govern themselves and live in freedom and liberty.

A Map of the Republic of Texas, 1836

In January 1836 the war was looking well for the rebels. Several small scale battles had been won and the Mexican force under Martin Perfecto de Cos had been driven from Texas. Soon however, the Revolution would reach an epic climax, Santa Anna was on his way to Texas, coming with him a force of 6,000. The Texan leaders knew they had to make a stand and claim victory but where?

In mid-January Jamies Bowie was sent under orders of Sam Houston to the Alamo with 30 men to destroy and evacuate the mission. Under James C. Neill, a garrison of 100 had fortified the mission following the Siege of Bexar (San Antonio). When Bowie arrived Neill was able to convince him the importance of maintaining San Antonio against Mexico and how it was necessary to win the war. Bowie and Neill soon began preperations to make the Alamo into a fortified Citadel and requested reinforcements from all over Texas to defend San Antonio from Santa Anna's onslaught. The most important call for help that would ultimately decide the battle was Bowie's letter to James Fannin.

Up until that point an invasion was being planned by the Texan army to capture Matamoros, Tamaulipas. While as ill-conceived as the Quebec invasion in 1775, the goal was to capture a major Mexican city that would drive the fight away from Texas and pressure Mexico into independence. Unfortunately the plan met several logistical problems and 500 Texans that were supposed to take part in the invasion were stuck in Refugio. On February 8, after receiving word that the Mexican army had marched from Matamoros, Fannin received a letter from Bowie detailing the plight of the Alamo and the need for reinforcements. To this day it is unknown what the exact details of the letter were as a copy never survived, but whatever was inside convinced Bowie that decisive action had to be taken to defend San Antonio. Rallying the 500 men at Refugio, Fannin gave a rousing speech calling upon the men to defend their freedom in the immenent battle for the heart of Texas(at the time San Antonio was the capitol). On February 9, Fannin led all 500 Texans and an additional 9 cannons to reinforce the Alamo. They arrived on Febuary 15, just weeks away before the pivotal Battle of the Alamo.

Colonel James Fannin

POD: Alamo is successfully reinforced with troops that would have gone off on the expedition or go to Goliad. The Texans get a tremendous boost to defense and the battle becomes more equal.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

I will drive those Anglo bastardos from our lands if it's the last thing I do!- Presidente Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna 1833
Looks like we can win this after all.- Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis upon seeing the Refugio reinforcements 1836
Heard you fellas could use some extra rifles.- Davie Crockett 1836

Chapter 1. The stage is set

When Santa Anna crushed the federalists forces at Zacatecas he expected to be welcomed back in Mexico City as a hero, making his mark in Mexican history on the same level as George Washington for the Americans. Upon learning of the Battle of Gonzales on October 23rd, 1835, Santa Anna saw this as his chance to rid Mexico of all American settlers and prevent future rebellions by example. Taking several loans from the Catholic Church, Santa Anna created the Mexican Army of Operations, a force of 6,000 soldiers to defend Mexico's claim of Tejas. He also issued the Tornel decree, a rather controversial document that decreed that all foreign volunteers were acting as pirates and shall be treated as such, under International laws of 1836 this meant that American volunteers would be executed instead of taken as prisoners; this decree however would come to haunt the Mexican government's image in the coming war. Had the Mexicans acted quickly then San Antonio could've been reached before reinforcements to the Alamo arrived and the rebellion crushed. Unfortunately for Mexico, numerous problems arose for it's fledgling army. At 1835 there were only 2500 professional Mexican soldiers in the army, this meant the remaining 3500 had to be trained quickly during the journey. In addition supplies were low and Mexico's poor economy meant that many civilian servants would come to quit the campaign due to delayed pay. Additionally the Mexican army had many soldaderas (women and children of the soldiers) coming along the campaign, reducing the already limited supplies. In order to make up for low amounts, Santa Anna ordered all homes in the path of the army to be ransacked and burned to the ground in the name of the state. These actions would push many Tejanos and neutral Texans into the Independence camp. Upon arriving in Satillo, Coahuila; Santa Anna would split his army into three: Urrea and 1500 men would travel to Goliad (Santa Anna still beilieved the fort was occupied by Fannin), Filisola and 2000 would advance west on the Camino Real, and Santa Anna along with 2000 would march straight to San Antonio de Bexar. Santa Anna's reasoning for this was to avenge the defeat of General Cos in December, who was in fact his brother-in-law, bringing great shame to el presidente and his family name. Little did Santa Anna know that he was sowing the seeds of Mexico's defeat.

Presidente Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, self-proclaimed "Napoleon of the West".

On the Texan side preparations were being made for the grand stand of the Alamo. While Houston thought defending the mission was a folly he sent William Travis along with 30 men of the regular army to help give the Texans a fighting chance, if not to convince them to abandon the mission, arriving on February 3rd. In addition, famous frontiersman Davie Crockett would reinforce the Alamo on Febuary 8th along with 65 other riflemen from the border states, all of whom were fighting for freedom and the promise of a new land. The biggest help to the Alamo came in the form of James Fannin and his 500 soldiers who came on February 15th. With the size of the garrison nearly tripled, along with 9 canons and additional amounts of food and gunpowder, plans were being made to withstand the upcoming onslaught of Santa Anna. Command of the Alamo was divided between James Neill of the garrison forces, James Bowie and the southern volunteers, along with James Fannin and the men of the former Matamortos expedition. These three men would be known as the "James Triumvirate," and would muster all forces to create numerous earthworks, cannon positions, and catwalks to serve as riflemen positions. The volunteers were extensively trained and the forces were divided into three shifts for security and manning the walls. By the time the Mexican army arrived on February 23rd, the Texan forces would number 732 from further volunteers. Each man was ready to die for their new country, a resolve that would be tested in the coming weeks.

Men of the Texan army as portrayed in The Alamo (1961)

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 2. The siege of the Alamo

Victory or Death!- Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis 1836

On February 21st a small group of 5 cavalrymen, acting reconnaissance under orders of Travis, spotted Santa Anna's army 15 miles from San Antonio. Rushing back the group of men warned the Alamo defenders that Santa Anna had near 2000 troops marching towards the Alamo. Quickly, troops were mustered and defensive positions prepared for the possibility of a long siege. All civilians within San Antonio were either given the option to stay in the town, flee east, or take refuge into the Alamo. While most tejanos sought to take their chances with Santa Anna's army the remaining Americans and other Texan settlers sought security within the Alamo. When Santa Anna arrived at San Antonio he made his policy of treating the enemy clear. He ordered his men to hoist a blood red flag atop the tallest building in San Antonio, a sign of no quarter where all of the defenders would be executed rather than taken prisoner. Infuriated by the dictator's actions, Travis ordered a single canon to be shot towards the enemy, a sign of defiance similar to the revolutionaries of Gonzales. Though the James triumvirate wasn't pleased with Travis's response they did acknowledge the prospects of failure if they lost the battle. On the 22nd Colonel Neill accompanied by Captain Albert Martin met with enemy officers under a flag of parley to seek out the Mexicans intentions and the possibility of a honorable surrender. Neill was shocked to learn that only unconditional surrender would be accepted and that were the battle to commence then all Mexican forces would obey the presidente's commands and leave no man alive. When Neill came back to the Alamo he gave Travis permission to fire another shot. The battle would commence.

For the next 10 days from the 23rd the Alamo would be under constant siege from Mexican forces. The first two days would be relatively quiet as Mexican forces set up artillery positions and slowly advanced towards the mission. On the Texans side orders were given from Neill to trade canonfire at one for every ten shots in order to conserve ammunition, for approaching Mexican scouts and soldiers orders were given to only fire if they were within 500 feet of the Alamo. On the 25th Mexican around 250 Mexicans took over abandoned shacks near the San Antonio river in order to have a forward base of operations near the Alamo. The next morning a small Texan force of 50 men under Bowie and Crockett ventured out to burn the huts and drive the Mexicans back over the river. A small skirmish commenced and in the aftermath 11 Mexicans were killed with 16 wounded, only one Texan was injured. For the next hour the Texans would come to burn all the huts before reinforcements arrived then head back to the Alamo. During the siege several couriers were sent out to warn the rest of Texas of their plight and encourage sending reinforcements. The most famous letter of correspondence would be Travis's "To the People of Texas & All Americans in the world", this document detailed the plight of the Alamo and how the brave defenders were ready to make their stand in the name of freedom, Travis noted that he had not lost a single man and that more reinforcements for the Mexicans were likely to arrive soon, his most famous quote from the letter is his line "Victory or Death!" a phrase that showed the commitment of the Texans to their cause. Today the letter is interred within the Texan Archives and is on display at the Texan congressional building in Austin. During the siege a group of reinforcements met in Gonzales in a desire to help out the Alamo. 100 men would set out from the town of Gonzales to reinforce Alamo, increasing the number of Texans to 832. The remaining 300 Texans would remain in Gonzales to skirmish with approaching Mexican forces and wait for word of the outcome of the battle. These men would rendezvous with Houston on the 11th after hearing word of the battle's aftermath, forming the core of Houston's army.

Two authentic pages of Travis's To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World

One main reason that historians contribute to the Texans victory at the Alamo is the incompetency of Santa Anna in command. Despite having two separate armies which he could use to reinforce Bexar, Santa Anna forbid any reinforcements from advancing onto San Antonio. The dictator was convinced that the forces at the Alamo were a distraction from a true threat that lie further east and so had Urrea and Filisola continue on their campaigns. Another strategic blunder was Santa Anna's impatience with the siege. While the Alamo was well manned it did not have enough ammunition or food supplies to continue indefinitely. Indeed most historians agree that had the siege continued til April or May the Alamo would've surrendered under exhaustion. But this type of victory was not what Santa Anna wanted, he wanted a glorious victory that would be remembered for generations in all of the western hemisphere. So against the better judgement of his chief officers, Santa Anna ordered an assault to be prepped for the night of March 5th.

According to eyewitnesses a meeting was called of all of the Alamo's defenders on the evening of the 5th. In it Neill outlined their dire situation and explained that under any moment an attack would come and their was a good possibility that they would not survive. To further stress their situation, Travis drew a line in the ground with his calvary sword and called for all defenders to cross if they were willing to die for the Texan cause, all those who did not were allowed to flee under the cover of night. Unanimously all defenders chose to cross the line. Later that night the battle that would determine the fate of Texas would truly begin.

Col. Travis drawing his famous "line in the sand"

A/N: Next update will start to see the timeline diverge immensely once the assault starts.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 3. It Begins

The Mexicans are coming! The Mexicans are coming!- Unknown Texans soldier 1836
Today is a good day to die!- Colonel James Bowie 1836
Retreat? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances.- Presidente Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna 1836

Midnight on March 6th is when the true battle of the Alamo commenced. On Santa Anna's order 1275 men advanced towards the Alamo's walls, 2/3rds would advance upon the northern wall while 1/3rd would make their way upon the eastern wall. These two positions were the most vulnerable among the Alamo and had the least amount of artillery. However, multiple issues prevented the night assault from succeeding. Due to the multiple men garrisoned within the Alamo, each soldier could take a shift upon the walls instead of having to maintain positions all day. Due to this a significant increase of men were stationed among the walls at all times, meanwhile they would be combat ready all throughout the siege. An additional problem with the Mexican plan was the reliance of the advanced gaurd to eliminate sentries before notice. When arriving at rifle range the front line troops were immediately met by multiple sentries who fired upon sight, meanwhile alerting the rest of the Alamo of the incoming assault. Within minutes the defenders went to positions and artillery fire commanded by Fannin met the approaching Mexican columns dead at night. At least 50 Mexicans died before reaching the walls. To the credit of the Mexican army their advance continued unfaltered, soon reaching the perimeter of the Alamo and preparing to enter over ladders, while the Mexican artillery provided covering fire. Unfortunately for them establishing a breach point proved to be the most difficult task of the battle. Due to many recruits experiencing battle for the first time, most panicked under enemy fire and attacked blindly, often shooting fellow recruits and officers. These conditions were made worse by the onslaught of rifle and shotgun fire at close range by the Texans. The first wave was a complete failure, resulting in multiple bodies and a few haphazard ladders. The second wave met a similar outcome though a few Mexicans were able to reach the top of the walls, only to be pushed back in close quarters combat. The third wave however met some success with a breach. Colonels Cos and Morales, who commanded the northwest and east forces, decided to regroup and join Colonel Duque in a direct attack on the north, they were joined by 100 troops from Santa Anna's reserve unit. Here many Mexican forces were able to find various weak points throughout the wall and emerge through. Soon many Mexicans were able to emerge over the walls and engage in hand to hand combat. It was here were the Texans held supreme due to the rough fighting styles of many of the American volunteers. All around the heroes of the Alamo could be seen in enormous feats of combat; Bowie would slay many Mexicans singlehandidly with his infamous knife, Crockett often resorted to using his own rifle as a club due to low times to reload, while Travis took his time eliminating the enemy in close quarters with his deadly shotgun. When reinforcements arrived from the other portions of the walls, the Texans were able to push the Mexican army back over the walls, where they headed due north in a massive retreat.

"Fight for Freedom" by Robert Jenkins

Not wanting to retreat from the rebels and be seen as a coward and a failure, Santa Anna decided to personally charge against the north wall with his remaining 400 reserves and ordered 300 of his remaining cavalry to dismount and join the final rush against the enemy. Regrouping with the various survivors almost 1000 Mexicans rushed onto the North wall at once. The Texans were overwhelmed by this massive force and were forced to abandon positions. Artillery from the south fired upon the approaching Mexican troops while most men on the ground rushed to make a last stand at the chapel. At first, all seemed lost and that the Texans efforts were for naught. However the outcome of the entire revolution would change when Davy Crockett noticed Santa Anna standing front and center of the approaching infantry in his bright flashy, uniform. Taking his time to reload his rifle, Crockett aimed dead center at the most hated man in all of Texas. He breathed, then fired.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 4. The shot heard round the world

EL PRESIDENTE ESTA MUERTO! EL PRESIDENTE ESTA MUERTO!- Unknown Mexican soldier 1836
I got him! I got that bastard!- Davy Crockett 1836
After Santa Anna died the Tejanos swarmed upon us like a pack of viscous dogs, all around, mi compadres were being hacked down one by one in the most horrible manner of deaths. I think the Lord and our Blessed Mother everyday that i got out of that hellhole alive.- Pvt. Juan Gonzales 1851

For a single second the fighting stopped, for a single second everyone watched as the most powerful man in the southwest fell to the ground, never to rise up again. Then the battle resumed with the entire Mexican army panicking in massive fright and hysteria. Most of the remaining soldiers for the Mexican army were made up of raw recruits who until just a few months ago were simple farmers tending to their land in the Mexican countryside. The sight of seeing their leader brought down by one of the most legendary marksmen of the enemy was the final straw in this long bloody battle. Not wanting to fight for a cause anymore that was seen as pointless, and now a loss for Mexico, most Mexican soldiers scrambled in a massive stampede towards the north wall, determined to get off the battlefield and back to their homes. Unfortunately for them the death of Santa Anna lit up a fire in the Texan troops and gave them new determination to take the fight to the enemy and claim victory. The men who until just a moment ago were fleeing to the chapel, were now charging wildly at the highly demoralized foe, shooting left and right at any Mexican they could find, taking the fight in hand-to-hand when running out of ammunition. At the same time Fannin's artillery was cutting down entire squads of the enemy as they tried desperately to climb over the walls that just minutes ago they were trying to get in from. For a whole 20 minutes this carnage took place until the last of the enemy scrambled over the walls.

"The Alamo Stands" by Robert Jenkins

However conditions would be made worse once the Mexican remnants escaped outside. By that point in the battle most of the senior officers were killed off during the assault, the highest ranking officer remaining was Colonel Morales, who was too badly wounded to provide any sense of order during the retreat. Left and right chaos was on the rampage as hundreds of soldiers found themselves in enemy territory with no sense of where to go. Some of the remaining cavalry attempted to help cover an escape but with the large loss of cavalrymen during the assault, many horses went wild and stampeded due to a number of recruits attempting to take the horses and escape for themselves, the main issue though was that most of these men hadn't ridden a horse properly before and only helped to make the horses go wild. A small contingent of men decided to take out their anger upon the town of San Antonio as they saw the place as a filthy nest of traitors. During the early morning some of the town's stores were looted or burned to the ground while the remaining Tejano civilians were being beaten or raped by the deranged renegades. Thankfully these deplorable actions would stopped at 7:00 AM when Travis rode out of the Alamo with his group of regulars to secure the town. Approximately 45 men would be hanged the next day for their crimes against the townspeople. The remaining Mexican forces who didn't escape surrendered around noon under the leadership of Captain Eduardo Rivera. Rivera was able to gather the remaining men who were too wounded or weren't able to escape in the morning, he was able to convince them that by surrendering to the Texans they had nothing to lose and just because Santa Anna offered terms of no surrender it didn't men that the Texans wouldn't show them the same mercy. So on 12:15 P.M March 6th 1836, the battle of the Alamo officially ended.

Davy Crockett, slayer of Santa Anna

While many of the defenders were jovial and celebrated the fact that not only did they win a major battle against a superior force, they also brought down Santa Anna, the cost of victory was still high. During the battle 219 Texans died with 100 wounded in Action. Among the dead was Colonel James Neill, the man who made it his mission to defend San Antonio from Santa Anna and who gave courage to the Texan troops to fight on in the name of independence. Although unconfirmed it was said that he was wounded during the third wave in a pistol shot by General Juan Amador. He lasted roughly until the retreat after the fourth wave, his last words where "The Alamo stands". On the Mexican side the casualties were more severe, with 1021 dead, 536 wounded in action, and 348 taken prisoner. Along with the death of Santa Anna this battle would be remembered throughout Mexico as one of the single most devastating defeats in the nations history, for Texans it would be known through generations as the battle that protected their independence.

The Alamo Monument

After a few days of tending to the wounded and civilians, and sending couriers throughout Texas to inform them of their victory, the men of the Alamo set out on March 11th. During this time Travis took command in Neill's place, though he was outranked by Bowie and Fannin both men agreed to it since Travis was the main force that kept the men together throughout the assault, especially after Neill was wounded during the third wave. Approximately 613 Texans marched out of San Antonio with the remaining prisoners and a number of civilians who were either families of the defenders or lost their property in the pillage of Bexar. Along with the men were the Alamo's 23 remaining cannons, which they had taken to prevent the enemy coming back and adding more firepower to their arsenal. Their destination was Gonzales, Texas; which the men sought to go to after the remaining Gonzales volunteer survivors informed them of the remaining 300 men who were waiting on the outcome of the battle. Their goal was to link up with the volunteers and possibly form a combined army under Houston to drive out the remaining Mexican forces. Little did these men know of the far ranging effects their victory would have upon the Western world.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 5. Birth of Independence

I will do everything in my power to avenge you presidente and destroy this rebellion!- General Jose de Urrea 1836
Our independence won't be secure until every last Mexican is driven across the Rio Grande- Sam Houston 1836

While the defenders of the Alamo were enduring the two week siege from Santa Anna's army an important event in Texan history was underway in East Texas. At the start of the Revolution while many were for total separation from Mexico, the official goals of the rebel Texan army were to wright the unlawful laws of Santa Anna, support the re-establishment of the 1824 Constitution, and complete separation from Coahuila as a separate state (at the time Texas was de jure under the rule of Coahuila as the state of Coahuila y Tejas). To decide their course of action a convention was called for March 1836. On February 28th, 41 delegates arrived at Washington-on-the-brazos, a small settlement along the Brazos River where the nation of Texas would be born. Upon meeting on the 1st, the delegates unanimously agreed to a deceleration of independence. The reasons for this were due to all but 2 members of the delegation being recently arrived Americans, in addition till the day of the convention the war had been going well with no losses and there was a chance that the Texans could win the Alamo. Upon the next day a Deceleration of Independence was drafted modelling the American version with a list of grievances pertaining to the injustices of Mexico. The Republic of Texas was born. Among the signatories David Burnet was chosen as the interim President of the new Republic, while Sam Houston who was until that point posted as Major General, was selected as commander-in-chief of the Texan Army. Houston's first assignment was to travel to Gonzales and form his army, while collecting information of the then ongoing battle of the Alamo. In the aftermath of the signing delegates then moved to create a constitution for the new republic, on March 17th the official Constitution of The Republic of Texas was signed and drafted.

Independence Cabin, Washington-on-the-Brazos Texan Deceleration of Independence

To say that Houston was shocked upon hearing the outcome of the Alamo is quite the understatement. While Houston never wanted the garrison to lose and he prayed for a victory, the odds just didn't seem in their favor. Yet not only did they crush the enemy army, Santa Anna had been brought down in the midst of battle. On March 11th Houston arrived at Gonzales where he began training his poorly equipped army of then 374 volunteers. Two days later they were joined by the survivors of the Alamo. Houston consolidated his army with Travis promoted to Colonel and acting as his second in command, Fannin placed in charge of the artillery, Juan Seguin promoted to Major and placed in charge of the Tejanos, Crockett given the commission of captain and head of the Tennessee riflemen, and Colonel Mirabeau Lamar placed as head of the Calvary. Unfortunately James Bowie could not join the upcoming campaign as he was infected with typhoid on the last day of the siege, he would spend the rest of the revolution resting in Gonzales, though his spirit and bravery was never forgotten. For the next month Houston's army retreated towards the Brazos River, where he trained his newly established army of recruits much like Washington had in Valley Forge, all in preparation for the final battle.

Among the remaining Mexican forces the reaction to the Alamo quite differed. Upon hearing of Santa Anna's defeat and death, General Vicente Filisola decided to retreat across the Rio Grande and head back towards Mexico. During the march East among the Camino Real Filisola and his men faced several difficulties. Supplies were low amongst the army and there were few farms or settlements along their route to replenish, in addition the army had faced several attacks by Comanche raiders, killing in total about 63 Mexicans; the worst aspect of the march was the late winter snows in Texas that brought about 16 inches of snow, causing many soldiers to collapse who were unused to the climate. With his troops weak and demoralized due to no contact with the enemy, Filisola thought the best option was to call it quits and head home. While he could have continued the campaign with Urrea, the generals main reason for doing so was a fear of the potential unrest domestically with the death of Mexico's dictator, seeing the possibility of other secession movements and political coups unfolding, Filisola reasoned that it was best to give the Texans what they want and secure the rest of the country, after all it was just one big area of prairies and deserts. Urrea on the other hand was absolutely livid. The general was very loyal to the late president and he saw his death as a terrible tragedy. One that could've been avoided by reinforcements or a retreat, but a tragedy nonetheless. In Urrea's mind, to let the Texans achieve independence was a disgrace to Santa Anna's legacy and a sign of weakness to nearby powers such as the United States. Upon reaching the now abandoned Goliad on the 21st, Urrea and his army would rest for a few days then continue the march east to obliterate Houston's fledgling army. Little did Urrea know however of events being set in motion within Mexico once word of Santa Anna's death arrived, events that would forever change Mexico and prove Filisola's suspicions to be correct.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 6. All good things

"I was never a big fan of that tyrant Santa Anna, in truth i welcomed his death at first. Sadly along with his death came the death of Mexican unity"- Benito Juarez 1846
"Our pact to Mexico died within the Alamo, it is time to take the destiny of the Yucatan into our own hands."- Miguel Barbachano 1836
"For the Constitution" - Battle cry of Federalists 1836

The past 10 years for Mexico since its voluntary transition from Empire to Republic have been unstable to say the least. Originally Mexico had designed the creation of a democratic republic with its own constitution and a large amount of federalization. However, conflicts soon arose between various factions of conservatives, liberals, federalists, and centralists. Each had their own idea of how the country should be run. Fortunately, things for the most part were gearing towards a democracy that might become a US of Latin America. Fate had other plans when Santa Anna abolished the constitution in 1835 and took steps to make Mexico a unitary state. The Zacatecas rebellion and the ongoing Texas Revolution were proof enough of the people's dissatisfaction with the new government. When Santa Anna died while some were saddened many people welcomed it as the beginning for change. Many federalists called for new elections to determine a new president to fill the vacancy. These reformers would be met with conflict from the Centralist faction, specifically Jose Justo Corro. Corro was an ultra-conservative that was also a diehard supporter of Santa Anna's regime. Under Santa Anna, Corro hoped for Mexico to become a Catholic republic that would be based on conservative principles. When Santa Anna left to Texas he left one of his supporters Miguel Barragan as interim president (as one cannot be president and lead an army at the same time). Barragan however, died on March 1st of typhus, leaving Corro to fill his role as interim president. When Santa Anna died this meant that Corro's 4 day presidency should have ended and a transition to elections for the next one (as there was no vice president in the constitution). Corro refusing to see his dreams of a holy Mexico die, decided to declare himself as the rightful president of Mexico and declared that elections could not take place due to Texas's ongoing rebellion. Federalists were outraged and immediate demanded his resignation. A crowd of 5,000 gathered in Mexico City on March 23rd to protest Corro's continued rule and demand the constitution be reinstated. A group of inexperienced guards were soon ordered to contain the crowd and order them back home. Unfortunately like many such events before, it turned deadly. As the hours went on the crowd began to become increasingly more violent and soon objects were being thrown at the guards, when a rock struck a private on the head and caused him to collapse. The captain of the guard panicked and ordered his men to fire. In the ensuing chaos 18 civilians and 2 soldiers were killed, 57 were wounded. The Mexico city massacre as it would soon be called, was the last straw for the federalists. Under the leadership of Valentin Gomez Farias, the federalists advocated rebellion in order to overthrow Corro and reestablish the constitution. Corro then decided to dissolve the Mexican congress and called upon General Anastasio Bustamente to organize an army to crush the rebels. The Mexican Civil War officially began.

Jose Justo Corro (Right), Valentin Gomez Farias (left). Leaders of the respective Centralist and Federalist factions

Meanwhile far south another revolution was brewing, one for independence. The people of the Yucatan peninsula were unique in that there were a large mixture of Creole and Mayan Indians. During the rule of New Spain this region was granted substantial autonomy, and when they achieved independence as the first republic they peacefully joined the Mexican federation in 1823. For the next decade there was peace between the Yucatan and Mexico City due to the latter giving the former a great deal of autonomy. All of this would end when Santa Anna came to power in 1835, one of his several acts of centralization including increasingly limiting the autonomy of the Yucatan and taking away the rights of the Mayan peoples. Over time more and more people advocated for independence. Their answer for a course of action came with news of the Alamo and Santa Anna's death. Immediately Yucatan Federalists took control of the regions major cities and demanded that the central government reinstated the constitution. When Presidente Corro declared war on all federalists, at first the Yucatan would fight for the federalist cause. Then during a city meeting in Merida, Yucatan on April 4th, Miguel Barbachano stormed in with his supporters and declared that Yucatan should be its own independent country. Afterwords members of the city council would remove the Mexican flag and raise the flag of the Yucatan. Revolutionary fervor spread throughout the peninsula and on July 4th, the state of Yucatan declared secession and the formation of the Republic of the Yucatan.

Flag and territory (lime green) of the Republic of Yucatan

During all of these activities of revolution a meeting was called on April 11th in Orevena Ranch(near present day Laredo) between important businessman, land owners, politicians, priests, and lawyers from the states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas to discuss the possibility of secession. Here the idea of the Republic of the Rio Grande was born.

Flag and territory (Red official, light red claimed) of the Republic of the Rio Grande

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 7 Forward to Victory

"For the Republic! Remember the Alamo! Vive le Tejas!"- Battle cries of Texans during the Battle of San Jacinto 1836
"I have failed my country, my people, and El Presidente."- Jose de Urrea 1836
"Here lies our Yorktown."- San Jacinto Monument 1939

With the ongoing events of the Mexican Civil War and the Yucatan Revolution it was clear to many that Texas would remain independent for quite a while. One man who didn't get the message was Jose de Urrea. Unlike his counterpart Filisola, Urrea refused to accept the status quo and made it his mission to finish what Santa Anna started, even when word reached of the Mexico City massacre he was still undeterred, as these were his orders and he would follow them to his death. For Houston came the problem of how to take out his enemy Napoleonic style while training his army of American volunteers and Texan farmers, all he needed was one final battle to crush the Mexican army and Texas would be free. After consulting with Travis, Houston decided to head further east near the San Jacinto river where he would train his army. This move had two major reasoning's: first, if Urrea directed his attention to capturing Texan towns then that gave Houston's army additional training time and he could fight the enemy at his own leisure, if Urrea choose to pursue Houston east then his supply runs would be stretched and the Texans would be close to the border where the could receive official or unofficial aid from the United States. Due to Urrea's desire to end the Revolution quickly he choose to pursue Houston East. Historians actually contribute this move to preserving the partial stability of the early Republic as Urrea's attention on the Texan forces prevented any backlash on the civilians, preventing a mass exodus of women and children.

On March 27th Houston and his army made camp 20 miles Northwest of Harrisburg. With word of the Alamo spreading volunteers welled up the Texans ranks so rapidly that by the time the Battle of San Jacinto commenced the Texan forces would number over 2,000. With many of the Alamo veterans training the new troops, morale was high as the the weeks went by and the recruits slowly got more experience. For the Mexican army it was entirely the opposite. After news of the Alamo reached the army morale plummeted immensely as many soldiers felt they had lost the war, talk of Filisola's apparent "desertion" did nothing to help. Like Filisola's troops the men were slowly getting more restless as they had not encountered a single battle whilst in Texas with the exception of bandits and Indians. An opportunity presented itself when a defector presented information that Houston's army was heading towards Lynchburg Crossing near the Buffalo Bayou in order to escort the Texas government to Galveston. With this new information Correa marched east for the final battle. In reality, this information was falsified by Sam Houston as he had Juan Seguin order one of his Tejanos to pretend to defect in order to lure Urrea into a trap. During these crucial weeks the Texas Rangers under Deaf Smith were split between spying on Urrea's movements and scouting the terrain around the Buffalo Bayou to coordinate with Houston in order to plan the attack. The chance to strike at the enemy came when on April 21st Urrea and his men reached Lynchburg's crossing and were waiting there to catch Houston's army by surprise, unaware that Houston was only a few miles away, actively planning the surprise assault upon the enemy. When the Mexican army reached Buffalo Bayou they were in poor condition. Weeks of marching without rest along with low supplies due to the beginning of the civil war, infighitng over the last few days due to which government the soldiers would hold allegiance to once news of the civil war began, and belief spreading that the war was a lost cause, caused the army to become weak and tired with low morale; along with 259 soldiers deserting over the course of the campaign. These forces were replaced with 463 men from Filisola's force on the 14th who chose to continue to fight, bringing Urrea's force to 1694, however the reinforcements were equally in low morale and supplies . Therefore when they man set up camp all they did was prepare tents and enter into a period of much needed rest. Meanwhile, a small camp of 300 Texans was camped about 1 mile east in an area of woods. These men were reinforced by the rest of the army in the nighttime and the Texan force slowly made their way across the grass, setting up artillery and readying positions under the cover of darkness, all according to plan.

"The Battle of San Jacinto," by Henry McArdle.

The attack came upon April 22nd at approximately 7:30 in the morning. The Mexican forces were caught completely by surprised as hundreds of Texans rushed across the field shouting "Remember the Alamo!", a battle cry to show how they had achieved victory with greater odds before and would do it again. After a single volley the Texans then descended upon the Mexican camp doing what they did best, fighting brutally in hand-to-hand. Retreat was difficult to achieve as the battlefield was surrounded by Fannin's 30 cannons while Lamar's cavalry flanked any organized retreat. It took an estimated 18 minutes until any resistance on the Mexican side completely collapsed, hours until the viscous killing stopped. The aftermath was a complete Texan victory in what would be noted as one of the most one sided battles in history. 850 Mexicans were killed in action, 416 wounded, with 277 captured. The Texans only suffered 13 killed along with 35 wounded, among the wounded being Sam Houston who was shot in the ankle. On the 23rd the captured Mexican command along with Urrea were brought to Houston were they officially surrendered the last remnant's of the Mexican military in Texas. For the next few weeks while Texans celebrated the latest victory for the nation talks were ongoing between Urrea and the Texan government over the treatment of prisoners and Texas stance. Both sides reached an agreement under the unsigned Armistice of Velasco, which stated that all prisoners would be allowed to return to Mexico so long as they promised to never take arms against the Republic or cross the Rio Grande, the other important clause stating that both sides would not cross the Rio Grande under the guise of a cease fire until further negotiations between the Mexican and Texan governments could advance. With the Texans stating that their two prerequisite terms for negotiations being a recognition of independence and a respect and restoration of all private property. This was done as due to the current conflict in Mexico there was no legitimate side to negotiate with as neither faction held the upper hand, it was the hope of Governor Smith and President Burnett that by the time an outcome was decided Texas would have more than enough time to prepare for continued conflict and strengthen their positions, resulting in a weakened Mexico being more willing to allow independence. Whatever the outcome the Texas Revolution for now, was at an end.

Surrender of Urrea

As soon as the Armistice of Velasco was drafted preparations were being made for Texas to become its own nation. Elections were being planned in September for the first permanent government while diplomats were sent to Washington to gain recognition and advance possible efforts of annexation. The lives of the Texan people turned to happiness as peace arrived and they were free to live according to their own laws and lifestyle. The future while uncertain looked bright, Texas entering its own destiny for the first time. The future of the young Republic though would not be decided on the field of battle, the heart of Mexico, or the halls of congress in Washington. Rather its course would be altered forever when a young empresario by the name of Stephen F. Austin would walk on the streets of Paris, France. Where an alliance that would forever change the course of Western history was about to be made.

San Jacinto Monument (Right). San Jacinto 70th Anniversary Veterans of the Revolution Reunion 1906 (Left).

A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys but the beginning of the year was rather hectic. As of right now it looks unanimous that the future Presidents will be able to be re-elected. Thank you all for your input as we might very well have Houston continue his presidency to '41. Next update will bring something new as we'll have a Third Person POV of Austin and his aforementioned negotiations. Long live the Republic!

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 8 Parisian Nights

"I shall always remain a Patriotic American, a piece of my heart though belongs to Paris."- Benjamin Franklin 1783

July 21st, 1836. Paris, France

If someone were to go back in time and tell a young Stephen Fuller Austin that one day he would be the founding father of a nation and would be playing diplomat for a revolution in Paris, then Austin would call that man a crazy loon. Yet here he was about to enter the court of King Louis Philippe as Texas's official ambassador, in order to gain recognition and aid for the new nation. Originally all Austin wanted in life was to have a simple living as a lawyer, and if he was successful enter into the field of politics as a congressman. All of that changed though when his father Moses died in 1821, leaving in his will the empressario grant that he had received from Mexico to his son Stephen. At first Austin did not want to move to Texas as he was content in Arkansas and had no experience in being a leader, though after spending time in reflection he took the job as he could not ever live with himself by denying his father's dream. So he set out to Texas with 300 American families, the first settlers of Modern Texas. Over the years Austin grew to love his new home. The land was plentiful and ripe and the people all looked to him as their beloved leader, under Austin's guidance the colony grew to become the most successful in all of Texas. Unfortunately, the era of peace would not last as Santa Anna's reign of tyranny began, though Austin tried and tried again to negotiate for more American settlers to come and for his colony to live with their unalienable rights, all attempts however eventually failed and Austin was arrested for supposed dissent and treason in 1834 (rather ironic consider latter events), though he was freed before the end of the year Austin came to believe more and more that only in rebellion can the people of Texas protect their rights. When the Revolution was launched Austin was a stern supporter of the rebels and worked closely with the government to organize the revolution. Austin's until then small role in the revolution would change when he was appointed as commissioner to France by Governor Henry Smith in February 1836. While Austin argued that he would be more effective gaining support in the United States, Smith believed that if the war was to continue indefinitely then the young nation would need the support of the European great powers to their cause, just as the United States had in their revolution. Seeing the logic of the arguement Austin relented and he left on a ship to Bordeaux from New Orleans on March 13th, only a week after the Alamo.

When Austin arrived at Paris he had been taken away with the magnificent city, it truly stood as a monument to the great culture of Western Europe, 'will Texas ever had a capitol like this' he wondered. The first few weeks spent in the capitol were spent settling down in the American embassy due to Jackson's support of the Revolution and his old friendship with Sam Houston. During that time Austin had been touring the city and had attended many meetings with nobles and various national politicians, outlying their plea for nationhood and why it should be supported. Though he had found support most were skeptical about Texas's prospects or tried to talk down to him like he was some backwards redneck. After news of the Alamo and San Jacinto though many were starting to take him very seriously, with some openly expressing support as revolutionary brothers in arms. After talks between Ambassador Livingston and French foreign minister Adolphe Thiers, a meeting was scheduled for Austin to represent his case directly to King Louis on the 21st.

The city of Paris, 1836

To say that Austin was nervous when arriving at the Palace of Versailles was quite the understatement, while he could hold himself up in a courtroom but he never had to present himself for a monarch, it probably didn't help that last time he visited a head of state he was thrown in jail, 'at least that bastard was killed by Crockett, good riddance'. Upon entering he was ushered into a private waiting room where he was to stay until Louis Philippe requested for the audience to begin. For over half an hour Austin sat staring at the various paintings adorning the wall, 'these art pieces are probably worth more than my entire estate'. Finally a servant entered and escorted Austin to the Royal conference room where he would finally get to meet the esteemed French King. Upon entering the room Austin was actually surprised at what he saw. Growing up in a land of republicans and frontiersman Austin expected to be confronted with an air of pompous nobility and have to partake in a number of ceremonies. When he looked at the King he only saw a man who kept to an average military uniform and the room itself was just a plain room with a large table seated in by the King and Thiers. After staring for a few seconds, Austin awkwardly tried to get back into a business manner and presented himself to the King.

Stephen F. Austin (Right), King Louis Phillipe I (Left).

"Your excellency, i am grateful to be in your presence and would like to thank you for taking your precious time in order to hear the plight of my people."
"Thank you for coming, please take a seat. Monsieur Austin i am very curious to know why you believe the people of France should provide their support to your current rebellion." Louis replied in English.
Taken somewhat aback by the Monarch's apparent fluency in his native tongue, Austin then replied with the speech he prepared; "Your excellency for many years the people of Texas only wished to live in peace with freedom and liberty according to their natural rights. However this liberty came under danger when the tyrant Santa Anna denounced our right to representation, banned our families from entering into Texas, and abolished the constitution." He took great care not to mention imposition of Catholicism and banning slavery, as it wouldn't be a good argument to a abolitionist Catholic monarch. "As we sought to defend our natural rights the people of Texas rose up in revolution just as yours did against the rule of Charles X. So far the Texan force has won every single battle and we have achieved two incredible major victories against opposing forces with greater odds. As of right now Mexico has entered into lawlessness with the beginning of a Civil War, it is only a matter of time before other independence movements rise up against the oppressive central government in Mexico City. With your support and recognition Texas can be truly free from Mexico and you will gain a valuable ally in the West."
"Yes these are all valid points for why intervention will succeed, the point is WHY should France commit itself to such a cause, what do we possibly have to gain from this venture." Asked Theirs.
"You see Minister Thiers, Texas is a land full of opportunities. We have vast arable lands which can be used for large amounts of crops that can be traded with France for a fair price. We have lots of opened land that can be opened to French colonists for a cheap price, thereby getting rid of any population problem's for France in the future and allowing potential emigrants to leave France who may be opposed to the countries policies. In addition by having an ally in Texas you will be able to open up a large amount of trade in the America's, while taking action against Mexico, a close friend of Great Britain which i know you would not want to dominate the America's." 'Yes tell him all the benefits for his country and how he'll be sticking the Brits too.'
Louis thought for a few seconds, understanding all the benefits he could gain and the potential glory and prestige from a successful foreign venture. He was already in the midst of taking over Algeria and a few friends in the Western hemisphere couldn't hurt. "How do we know that you will not just stab France in the back like Washington did in 1792?"
'Crap, the Frenchies are still sore about it.' "I assure you your excellency that Washington's only reasons for doing so was because France was very unstable at the time with revolutionary strife, as such even though we are eternally grateful for your role in the revolutionary war, we simply could not agree to an continued alliance with a bloody regime, especially as the Legitimate rulers of France, the Bourbons, were executed and overthrown by the anarchists. We simply could not assist such a nation in any way."
"I still do not see what France can gain in any of this. Mexico is a Catholic nation, as faithful of the Church, France just simply cannot declare war on a fellow nation of faith. What can Texas even be willing to contribute in this alliance. I already hear whispers that many in your so called-Republic wish for Annexation to the United States". Replied Thiers.
"Since the start of Santa Anna's reign Mexico has taken very many actions which can be described as non-Christian, when Santa Anna crushed the Zacatecas revolt he slaughtered hundreds just to get a message across, if our brave fighters had lost the Alamo he would've massacred all the survivors, just recently you have heard of the Mexico City massacre. While it is true that many of my people wish to join the United States that is simply because America is our former nation and we would do so for protection from Mexico, were our independence to be guaranteed by the great nation of France there would be no need of annexation, in addition given time our great nation will be able to flourish and be able to work with France in securing a partnership of liberty and freedom across the West. If you are uninterested in our cause we would be willing to enter talks with Great Britain, the United States, or Spain."
"That will not be necessary," said Louis "I am willing to enter into an alliance with Texas as i have seen what the wonders of Independence can do when i lived in the United States. All i need to know are the exact details of the support you want and what specific guarantees my nation will receive in such an alliance." 'Maybe this my efforts may succeed after all,' thought Austin. Afterwords the men spent the next 3 hours discussing the details of a possible treaty and the role France would play in securing independence. Once evening came Louis dismissed Austin and promised the Texan to speak with his advisors and parliament on the matter, with a promise of an additional meeting later in the week. The two shock hands and then Austin left the palace. Afterwords Louis had a conversation with Thiers.

"So Adolph what is your opinion of the man?"
"Well your excellency he seems like a competent politician who truly does believe in his cause of independence. As a prominent ruler from the nation i trust that much of what he is saying concerning Texas may be true. Over time France may be able too reap many benefits from young republic. Still there are simply too many risks involved. I am wary of Britain's reaction on our approach on what might be considered their influence, or what the Untied States would have to say with their Monroe Doctrine."
"It is precisely because of those nations that i cannot sit back and let America run amuck in expansion or let Britain gain another puppet. If we are not careful then France will be surrounded by enemies with little support, power, or influence. While i do intend to create a great Empire i will not make the same mistakes as Napoleon. That Jackson fellow is too supportive of the Texans to be against our intervention, besides i doubt that Britain will end the last 20 years of peace over us intervening in a backwards nation. Already i hear several reports of new independence movements springing up in Mexico. This is a gold mine for us to create a potential New World Empire. One full of states like Texas that will be entirely dependent on us and help our goals to expand our influence in the region."
"I hope your right my King. Still though, do you really believe this Texas is that significant."
"Adolphe, I have a feeling that in time Texas will be the key to the west." After two months of negotiations the Franco-Texan Alliance was born.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 9 Democracy in Action

"We the People of the Republic of Texas"- Constitutional preamble, Republic of Texas 1836
"I Samuel Houston, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the Republic of Texas, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. So help me God."- Sam Houston, Presidential Inauguration. 1836

After writing the Deceleration of Independence, the delegates decided under the leadership of provisional president David Burnett to form a Constitutional Convention to determine how they would run their new government. This was due to the conventions desire to avoid a period of disorder similar to that of America under the Articles of Confederation. Due to the majority of delegates being American the Constitution was modeled after the United States in that it included a bill of rights, had a government divided into three separate branches based with an executive, judicial, and bicameral legislature. However due to conflicting situations between 1783 and 1836 there were many differences that had to be included in the constitution:
1. English and Spanish shall be the de jure languages of the Republic. However English shall be the de facto language of government documents and sessions and shall be mandatory for all nationwide education. All other languages shall be protected under freedom of speech.
2. Slavery shall be allowed within all areas of the Republic. A slave can only be set free by the will of its master and a freed slave must seek permission from the govt. to settle with lands in Texas.
3. The President shall serve a 3 year term 3 maximum terms. Upon death of the President secession decrees that the ofice shall be given to the Vice-President.
4. All Presidential elections shall be done under popular vote, Electoral vote will not be accepted.
5. All residents of the Republic shall be able to seek citizenship after six months of residency, they shall then swear an oath and become citizens of Texas.
6. The requirements for political office are as follows. All men 25 or older may be able to seek office of the House of representatives, they must have been a citizen of their represented county or district for at least 6 months. All men 30 or older are allowed to seek the office in the Senate, they must have been a resident of their represented district for 1 year. All men 35 or older are able to seek the office of the Presidency, they must have been a citizen of Texas for at least 3 years.
7. All male citizens over the age of 18 shall be granted the right to vote regardless of ethnicity or race.
8. Each family is entitled to one league of land. All men over seventeen are entitled to 1/3rd league of land.
9. At any time the government may enact the process of decentralization and create new states or provinces. This must be done by a full majority in both houses.
10. They House of Representatives must have a membership between 24 and 40, this shall increase between 40 and 100 once the population reaches 100,000. The senate shall be between 1/3rd and 1/2 of the House.
11. National Elections shall take place on the first Monday of September, all politicians shall be sworn in office on the second Monday of December.
12. Any amendments to the Constitution shall be voted upon with a 2/3rd's majority by both houses.

Once all areas had been agreed to the Constitution was ratified on March 17th, the day the members of the delegation learned about the battle of the Alamo. In the months since then preperations had been made for communities of Texas to heed to the law of the Republic and transition the nation's economy to one that was independent of Mexico. During this time the government was seated in Harrisburg, Texas. Among the interim government there had been great discontent into when elections should truly begin. Half had been wanting elections to take place immediately in order to prove the Republic's legitimacy and to get the issue of governance done before the Texas gained recognition from Mexico. The other half were worried that as in technicality the war had not been officially declared over, to transition the government now would be unstable if the Mexicans were to invade (though highly unlikely due to the fighting between the Federalists and Centralists). Burnett for one hoped that elections would be delayed. That way he could secure his presidency and possibly be elected to office. After news of San Jacinto spread and the Mexican Civil War intesened then a majority agreed for elections to go forward on September 5th. Of the candidates Austin was made as a write-in even though he was finishing negotiations in Paris. This was due to the actions of Fort Bend county as they were firm supporters of the man who lead them into Texas. The second one was Governor Henry Smith, who while uncharismatic had lead the government at the start of rebellion until officially handling power to Burnett. The third one took most Texan politicians by surprise as Sam Houston announced his candidacy on July 25th. Houston believed that as commander in-chief who won San Jacinto it was his duty to lead the country until Texas had obtained peace with Mexico, he also hoped to use his position to move forward with annexation into the United States. Though there was little campaigning done, the efforts would be pointless as Houston was the clear front runner. Like Washington before, Houston had won the respect and love of his men when leading them into battle. As the only man who had fought in the Revolution he was the ideal person to become the nations first leader in the eye's of the people. The results are as follows:

For the members of Congress they would serve one term for the first year until 1837 were they would take official terms if re-elected. Sam Houston would serve his first term from October 22nd until December, 1838, afterwords terms for the Presidents would be the same. For the position of Vice-President Mirabeau B. Lamar was elected due to his courage and valiance during the Revolution. The two men would soon come to form a rivalry that would mimic Adams and Jefferson, though less hateful. With Houston and his faction of Annexationists forming the origins of the Western Union Party. While the idealistic Lamar and his cohort of Nationalists would become the founders of the Republican Party. In his Absence William Barrett Travis was promoted to Brigadier General and head of the Texan Army, training it to be every vigilant in a possible Mexican return and defending the settlers from attacks by Indians, most notably the Comanche. The first Texan Cabinet are as follows:

President of the Republic of Texas: Sam Houston

Vice President of the Republic of Texas: Mirabeau B. Lamar

Secretary of State: Stephen F. Austin

House Speaker: Ira Ingram. Image N/A

Secretary of War: Thomas J. Rusk

Attorney General: Lorenzo de Zavala

Postmaster General: David G. Burnet

Chief Justice: James Collinsworth. Image N/A

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 10 A House Divided

"I'm trying to keep this country together but the damn Federalists keep pulling it apart."- Presidente Jose Justo Corro 1836
"What do you mean there's a Republic of the Rio Grande?! WE OWN THE RIO GRANDE!!!- President Sam Houston 1836
"Looks like i won't be needing an Austrian Emperor after all."- King Louis Phillipe 1836

Unlike the American Civil War 25 years later, the Mexican Civil War was rather limited in the scale of its conflict. There were many reasons for why full scale warfare didn't commence but they can usually be drawn down to three main reasons. First, almost all of the Mexican army had gone to Texas under Santa Anna, most ending up killed, captured, or wounded. This would cause a severe shortage in trained veterans and officers that made both sides weak in battle. Second, the nation of Mexico was quite large and undeveloped at the time, to properly train and recruit a large army from the peasant population at the time would have taken a massive logistical effort. Third, a majority of the population were apathetic to the causes of the civil war, at that point Santa Anna's reign had little effects on the average Mexican as a whole and while many were alarmed at the centralization of power there was little curtailing of civil liberties (at least not against ethnic Mexicans). Support for the Federalists and Centralists varied among the country as there was no clear unity for the states to choose either side. Generally the support can be drawn from two main areas, the north for the Federalists, and Central Mexico for the Centralists. From April to September of 1836 the war was in a stalemate as both sides organized and political divisions were made. Farias had formed a provisional government in Zacatecas, which they made the center for the Federalist cause, forming the basis of the federal army there. Meanwhile Corro was trying to consolidate his political power within Mexico City while politically maneuvering to make sure that most of Mexico was loyal to him and the military didn't defect to the cause of the rebels. One factor that did immensely help the cause of the Centralists was the arrival of Filisola's army shortly after the war began. While many saw Filisola as a coward for failing to destroy the Texans, he was still loyal to the Central government and brought with him 1400 troops to Corro's cause, the rest having retired to their homes or defected to the Federalist cause. Another boon of reinforcements was the arrival of Urrea and the rest of the prisoners of the Mexican army due to the Armistice of Velasco. Not keeping his word to the Texan government, Urrea reportedly threw a copy of the treaty into the Rio Grande and marched straight to Mexico City to defend Santa Anna's legacy; among his force though were only 200 Mexicans as the rest were too shell shocked from their Texan adventures to want to fight in another war. For both sides though Texas was a rather complicated issue, while Farias sympathized with the revolutionaries he could not recognize their independence as it would drive many potential recruits away from his cause for seeing him as a collaborator with the Anglos. Corro was also inclined to repudiate Texas's claims as his faction was fighting for one centralized, united Mexico. For the time both sides ignored the new state and resolved to deal with the issue later.

Flag of Zacatecas. Heartland and rallying point of the Federalist Cause.

The first major battle of the war that was fought was the First Battle of Mexico City on April 24th. A large group of 2500 farmers and craftsman under the command of Vincente Garcia marched onto Mexico City in a feeble attempt to overthrow the corrupt Centralist government and give Mexico back to the people. This group was mostly made up of the lower class of Mexico who were suffering the last year due to high taxes, low economic progress, and increased stability. Though they were in no way connected directly to Farias they proclaimed themselves to be loyal Federalists. In the morning of the 24th the capitol garrison of 1500 met the band of rebels on the outskirts of the city, the battle resulted in a Centralist victory due to the garrison being well supplied and trained against the peasants who had low ammunition and used pitchforks and axes for some weapons. Over half of the federalists were killed or wounded while the garrison only suffered 119 casualties, for now the capitol was safe. Meanwhile, the Northern campaign was well underway with the northern states governments pledging loyalty to the Federalist cause and taking control over the state garrisons and ammunition depots. For many months this would take place with minor skirmishes where Federalists would rout out Centralist supporters from their territory. The most significant battles of this region were the first and second battles of Satillo. During the First Battle, Filisola and his forces arrived at Satillo, Coahuila on April 30th and forced the state government and city garrison to retreat from the state capitol. There Filisola and his forces lied in wait in order to guard Mexico from a Texan invasion and prepare to reconquer the Republic, they were joined by Urrea and his group on May 18th. Quickly Filisola gathered the federalist forces and on June 5th an army of 1700 Federalists under the command of Antonio Cruz commenced the Second Battle of Satillo when their force met a Centralist patrol west of the city. Tactically the battle was a draw as both sides took heavy losses with the Centralists suffering 636 casualties and the Federalists 710, and neither force retreated from the city. Strategically, it was a Federalist victory with Filisola and the remaining army retreating a week later due to low supplies and morale, the Centralists planned to regroup in Mexico City and contain the Center and Southern Mexico so that they could fully return their attention northward. In the aftermath the North was firmly federalist with a large army being organized to march down to the capitol. Little did both sides know that the Second Battle of Satillo would be crucial in securing Texan independence by forcing a large government force from the border and preventing a possibly planned second invasion into Texas. With the Federalist's under a unofficial cease fire with Texas, the Lone Star Republic was given more time to prepare its young army and secure the nation to be free from all Mexican influence.

Map of Mexican Independence Movements in 1836. Dark Red: Independent Republics. Maroon: Texan claimed territory. Red: Rio Grande claimed territory. Brown previous rebellions

The Yucatan Front

In the Aftermath of the Barbachano coup, the Yucatan peninsula was swiftly undergoing preparations to launch its war for secession. All across the state Centralist garrisons defected en-mass to the Yucatan cause, with what little fighting that happened swiftly due to the large number of Yucatan patriots combating the remaining loyalists. After the Deceleration of Independence on July 4th, the Republic of Yucatan officially mobilized the first Republican army and moved to secure the borders to prevent an hostile invasion (one main benefit of Yucatan versus Texas being its small borders). After hearing of the Yucatan revolt, an outraged Corro ordered a divergence of 2000 forces under Antonio Bustamente to the peninsula, preventing additional reinforcements to fight against the Federalists. The small Mexican Navy captured the Island Carmen, an important strategic base that gave access to Yucatan's waterways. Determined to end the revolution now the Centralist army marched onto the city of Campeche. The next two months would see some of the fiercest fighting in the Yucatan Revolution as multiple attempts were made to take the city from the Yucatan. All of these attempts would end in failure with the Centralists being pushed back due to fierce resistance from the cities defenders. When the assaults were on hold the situation got only worse for the Mexicans as a large group of Mayans waged guerilla warfare in the jungle, constantly attacking Mexican supplies and unsuspecting patrols within the trees. On September 16th (ironically the date for Mexico's independence) the Mexican army retreated from the city and headed across the border into Tabasco. A larger force would later be formed with the intent on capturing the capitol city of Merida.

Miguel Barbachano, Father of the Yucatan. Map of the Republic of Yucatan and its 5 districts.

Rio Grande

In the aftermath of the Orevena Ranch meeting many were still unsure if this so called Republic of the Rio Grande would actually work. Many of the local populace were mainly pro-federalist and there was little regional desire to form a new nation from among the Rio Grande states. In addition all other filibuster movements in the past two decades had failed to create a new country for the rebels. Many representatives wondered what would make them succeed. Still many of the inner circle of insurgents under the leadership of Jesus de Cardenas were confident that they could succeed given the right opportunity. This opportunity presented itself in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Satillo, where the Centralists retreated from Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Leon; meanwhile the federalists were organizining there forces to leave the area on march onto Mexico city. These developments combined with Yucatan's revolution firmly convinced the insurgent leadership. The time for independence was now. Slowly over the coming months the rebels gathered up resources and spread recruitment throughout the states, promising the offer of glory in a revolution to free their people from the Central government. The Republic of the Rio Grande officially declared independence on August 10th. In a quick move the capitols of all three states were captured under the combined revolutionary army led by Antonio Canales. These successes were possible due to the low federalist and centralist forces in the region, combined with the dream of a new nation, few would initially resist this uprising. The state governments all fled to Zacatecas where they affirmed their loyalty for Farias and forced the Federalists to recognize the Rio Grande as a rebellious state. Unfortunately for both sides of Mexico the worse was about to come, the French were heading west.

The Republic of Rio Grande and Republic of Texas. Contemporarily referred to as the "Bloody East" (Left). Image of the Museum of the Republic of the Rio Grande, site of the first executive office in Laredo, at the time also a part of Texas

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 11 Treaty of Paris

"Well I'll be, he hasn't even had one day as Secretary of State and yet Austin's got me a treaty."- President Sam Houston 1836
"By entering an alliance with the great Kingdom of France we shall be able to liberate ourselves from the oppressive British and step forward into the great nations of the world"- General George Washington 1778
"Why would the French be interested in Texas? Where is Texas anyway?"- Queen Victoria 1837

After two months of negotiations and appeals to the French parliament an alliance between the Republic of Texas and the Kingdom of France was created. The treaty of Paris, which was formally drafted on September 3rd, officially made France the first nation to recognize Texas's independence and made the European nation the chief benefactor to the young republic through troops and financial aid. The main terms of the treaty were:

1. The Republic of Texas shall have its independence officially recognized by the Kingdom of France
2. 6000 French troops shall be stationed within the Borders of the Republic of Texas to protect settlers from hostile Indians and the Republic from foreign invasion. Fort locations shall be decided in coordination between the two parties.
3. A defensive pact shall be made where in the event of a deceleration of war both parties shall aid each other against belligerent nations.
4. A free trade agreement shall be created between the Republic of Texas and the Kingdom of France. This is non-negotiable and shall remain in place for the duration of the treaty.
5. All french mercantile and naval ships shall be welcomed at all Texan ports without any payment . The French Navy shall have the right to construct a port of their choosing.
6. 10000 French settlers shall immigrate to Texas over a 15 year period. If the number is not reached by 1851 then the French government shall pay $5 per each missing person.
7. The French military shall have the right of free access through Texas in the events of military conflict within the Western hemisphere.
8. A loan of $2 million dollars shall be given to Texas and paid with 7.75% interest over the next 20 years.​

While some saw these terms as entirely one sided for Texas there were actually many benefits for France. The main one being the free trade agreement where France would have a secure market for their manufactured goods and in return receive large amounts of agricultural products for a cheap price. With the large amount of colonists the French monarchy could use the opportunity to "encourage" liberals, protestants, republicans, Germans/Italians, and other anti-establishment groups to leave France and settle in a new country, never to plague France again. In addition France would have virtual military control over Texas and be given a free reign to use its army within the new world, where they can divert British attention from mainland Europe or the colonies in a possible war, meanwhile having a strong force in the region to provide a check on American or British rise in power. With these many benefits for the nation being argued it didn't take too long for the French nobility to come around to support the cause. Another surprisingly large area of support was among the Republican faction, many French Republicans saw Texas as fighting in a noble cause against an oppressive regime similar to its fight for liberty over 40 years prior. These people were filled with romantic ideals from propaganda on how the Texans had made an heroic stand at the Alamo and were simply a group of proud frontiersmen who wanted their families to live free in peace and liberty. Support was so widespread that for a while there was a small movement to form volunteer regiments to aid the cause, though Austin assured them that it wasn't necessary at the current moment. This large support in addition to patriotic fervor in the aftermath of the Algerian campaign, all but ensured the French people were behind their Texan friends. Now the treaty was sent off to Texas.

When the treaty arrived into Galveston on October 24th, Houston had barely set up quarters and congress had not even begun session. At the moment Columbia was the current capitol of the Republic and there was much speculation that it would change soon, however there were few ideal towns to be fit for the national government so therefore the Congress and the President were a bit disorganized. So when Congress officially began session on October 30th the first issue brought before the legislature was the fight to ratify the treaty. Among the congressmen a few radicals rejected the treaty as they called it becoming no more than Louis's lapdogs, they asserted that Texas had won its independence without foreign assistance and could remain so for the future, therefore following in the ideals of Washington. Others while accepting of an alliance were wary of the effects this could have of possible annexation of Texas into the Union. The pro-alliance camp would win in the end however after Mirabeau Lamar gave a grand speech before the Texas senate. In it he stated how the war was not yet won and Texas could come under threat at any moment, proclaiming that while Mexico may be divided today, tomorrow they may rise up and take back all that Texas had achieved. Lamar reminded these men how the French had helped their grandfathers during their time of need against the British, and that by rejecting their offer now it would be a disgrace to their memory. When the Treaty came to a vote the final tally was 11-3 within the Senate. Houston would soon sign the Texan copy of the treaty on November 10th. For now Texas had an ally in one of the world's most powerful nations. It's independence all but secured.

Texan Embassy in Paris (Right). French Legation in Austin (Left)

January 16th, 1837. Galveston, Texas

It was on a cold southern winter morning that Brigadier General William Barrett Travis stood on the port of Galveston. His reason for being there was to greet the arriving French forces as they were about to embark onto their tour of Texas. While Travis was at first reluctant to have a foreign army within the borders of his land, he later grew warm to the idea as he realized how much of an immense help one of Europe's largest professional armies would be for the Republic. While for the second half of last year Travis had turned the Texan army into a good fighting force, he knew that they could not keep up their large numbers forever without a strong treasury, even the number of recruits slowly died down as the ever present phantom danger of the Mexicans died down. Fortunately, it was a time of peace within the borders as Houston had managed to negotiate several treaties with the surrounding Indian tribes, oh sure the Comanche would probably be on the warpath in a few years, though when that happened Travis knew he and his men would be ready. It was around 11:00 that sailors on the shore reported the sight of a French flag. Eagerly, Travis rushed to the dock to greet his new allies. When he arrived at the docks though he noticed several details that were off about the French force, instead of a small transport squadron to ferry French troops there looked to be a large armada full of several frigates, ships of the line, and a few capitol ships. In addition from the number of troops transports there looked to be 30,000 French troops entering into Texas, not the mere 6000 that they were promised. 'Could the French have been planning to take over our nation all along? No that's impossible, Austin assured us that he secured a fair deal for our alliance, yet here it looks like Napoleon himself is preparing to do battle.' Quickly, Travis ran to the nearest group of infantrymen to find out what was going on. Luckily there was a group of officers conversing with the local portsman that he could get answers from.
"What the hell is the meaning of this?!"
" Who might you be that you dare raise your tongue against esteemed officers of the French military?"
"I'm Brigadier General William Travis, head of the Texan army. And i want to know exactly why you people look like your about to invade Britain."
"Oh i assure you sir if we were to invade the damn British we would've come in a much larger force than this. Forgive my manners though, I am Captain Jacques Gautier, head of the frigate Bordeaux. As to answer your question we are here according to the terms of our alliance. To bring aid to the Republic in order to secure its recognition from the Mexican state."
"But we only asked for 6000 troops and yet you brought this massive fleet along with 24000 more men. Does this mean that you intend to force your way with us?"
"Oh no General you misunderstand, we do have 6000 troops here that will be stationed within Texas along with a small squadron to defend the coast. The rest are to achieve our other objectives."
"What could that possibly be?"
"Why to win your war and secure independence for the neighboring republics through the only solution possible. By conquering Mexico, of course."

French Forces portrayed in the Battle of Constantine. At the time France had one of the most powerful military's in the world. Second only to Britain in the Navy.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 12 The Eagle's Gaze

"Did those idiots really think they could've won by dividing their votes?"- President Andrew Jackson 1836
"If we do not act now then Texas will be forever lost to the Union."- Speaker of the House James K. Polk 1837

One question that various Americans who are reading this book might ask is "Where were we during this time?", the answer for that is quite simple, playing politics. 1836 was the final year of the Jackson administration and was a tense time for one of the first major two party elections. In the previous year not only did Jackson remove all Indians tribes east of the Mississippi to present-day Sequoyah, against Supreme court mandate, but he also vetoed any renewal to the Bank of America's charter, a situation that would later result in one of the worst recessions in 19th century America. This created many enemies against Jackson and huge anti-democratic resentment among the Whig party, leading to precarious situation for the Democratic nominee Martin Van Buren to become elected. The main reason that Jackson choose not to intervene in Texas directly was an issue that was just starting to take root and could've cause the north to turn against the Democrats, slavery. In the Texas Constitution slavery was guaranteed as a right throughout the Republic, meaning that any possible intervention for independence would be a war to help a slave nation against one that was strictly abolitionist. And while the Missouri-Arkansas line explicitly guaranteed slavery in almost all territory that Texas claimed, to possibly annex Texas would've ruined the current slave vs. free state balance within the senate. Therefore, while Jackson was deeply pro-Texan and a close former friend of President Sam Houston, he took the cautionary route and made an official neutral stance on the Revolution. Unofficially he raised private support among the American elite to send financial aid to Texas and used government resources to set up volunteer groups to head west and either settle or fight for the Republic. As fate would have it, it turned out that all of these measures for Jackson to protect his vice-president's chances of re-election were unnecessary. As the Whigs would create the cause of their own defeat.

Andrew Jackson, one of the most popular yet controversial figures in American history.

With two prior defeats against the charismatic Jackson, the Whig party knew that they had to try new tactics to gain the presidency. At the Whig National convention there was much disagreement on who exactly would lead the new crusade against the Democrats. The northern states drew their support to William Henry Harrison, a charismatic frontiersman who was a war hero due to his victory over Tecumseh in the Battle of the Thames during the War of 1812. The south meanwhile choose to support their candidate Hugh L. White, a man who was very pro-nullification and promised when elected to be a firm supporter of state's rights. With these regions having very different reasons for the presidency and the leadership northern faction being pro-abolition, a schism in the party occurred. Eventually the leadership under Henry Clay actually encouraged for the Whig party to have separate candidates according to each region. Their goal was to divide the electoral votes so that in a situation where no one candidate would be able to get a majority then the vote would go to the House of Representatives, where the Whig dominated house would vote the next president (even though this direct process led to Adams unpopularity and Jackson's direct rise to power). Two other candidates from the Whig party joined the fray, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Willie Person Mangum of North Carolina. Oddly one man John Taylor was on the vice-presidential ticket for both White and Mangum. Unfortunately for the Whigs this strategy turned out to be their undoing as the divided ticket served to only secure Van Buren's election in several states while both the North and the South served to only draw votes away from the two other major candidates. Indeed evidence suggests that if the Whigs united by one candidate then they easily could've won by both electoral and popular vote. However, while Van Buren and the Democrats would claim victory for the third time in a row, what would come next would prove that Van Buren should've stayed out of politics and retire as a competent vice president, the same can only be stressed more importantly for vice president elect Richard Mentor Johnson.

As for Texas, with his vice president claiming victory Jackson was now secure to move forward with official recognition of its independence. Unfortunately for him France was able to beat the United States as the first nation to recognize Texas's independence. Even more importantly they had secured an alliance with Texas and now had a firm sphere of influence within North America. While many nationalists expected Jackson to defend the Monroe doctrine and dispute France's interference, he instead welcomed it. Jackson saw this as an opportunity for Texas to win its independence without America having to be dragged into a war with Mexico and he expected the United States to annex it in the future anyway as his friend Houston assured him in a letter that the people of Texas would love to join the Union. Besides with Mexico delving further into bloodshed America could easily sweep in later and claim the Southwest. Had Jackson realized France's true intentions though, he would've immediately ordered the American army to march into Mexico to preserve America's interests and limit France's actions. By the time anyone realized what was going on in the southwest it was too late. America wouldn't be expanding to the Pacific south of Oregon.

A/N: I know that this post is mostly OTL developments but it was necessary as America does play an important role in this TL as Texas's most powerful neighbor. Next post will be the second/middle phase of the Mexican Civil war and then its off to 1837. Stick around for more and as always be sure to leave a comment for input.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 13 Growing Wounds

"Within my country 1836 is a year of independence, freedom, and liberty.To the Mexicans it was a year of hell and chaos."- Juan Seguin 1886
"If we are to preserve Mexico then the rebel scum must be exterminated."- General Antonio Bustamente on the eve of the Battle of Guanajuanto 1836
"While i did wish for our people to stay in union with Mexico, the revolution brought me great hope that my people can finally live in a nation where their children may not be judged on their native origin." Andres Quintana Roo 1848

For the Centralists and Federalists each had two different agendas that needed to be completed in order to take control of Mexico. For Farias, in order for the Federalists to have any form of legitimacy then Mexico City would have to be captured, then the Federalists could easily claim victory and get the remaining states to surrender under their rule. Since the Centralists had control of Mexico City then all they had to do was buy time and crush the Federalist armies in open battle. Since most of the regular army (or what remained of it after Texas) was loyal to Corro then this plan should have been easy to undertake. Unfortunately for both sides there were now three independence movements growing in Mexico, each day meant one more territory was in open risk of rebellion and that by the end of the day whoever won wouldn't have mattered as there would be no more Mexico to govern. This didn't already take into effect that neighboring powers might come down in and intervene in Mexico at any time of their leisure (as Mexico would unfortunately learn at the beginning of next year). With time running out Farias had the whole of the Federal army, a grand total of 8000 men (mostly untrained peasants), march onto Mexico City to "liberate" the capital from the Corro regime. Corro meanwhile stood would make one last gamble with 5000 of his best regulars. He planned to take out the source of the rebellion in Zacatecas. With the Republic of the Rio Grande being popped up the Federalist home front would start to crumble and their territories start to decay into anarchy. By wiping out the rebel armies there was no chance that they could rise back up. With Bustamente leading the Centralists and the Federalists under Pedro de Ampudia, the fate of the war would be decided in the Battle of Guanajuanto, located in a state that was midway between Zacatecas and Mexico City. The two sides met each other on August 16th when both scouting patrols trading fire approximately 7 miles south east of the city. Both sides raced to be able to become the first to reach the city and on the morning of the 17th an artillery barrage from positions near the nearby mines started from both the North and the South in order to make the city undefendable to the other side. Both sides rushed in and a deadly battle of street fighting ensued between the two sides. Eyewitness accounts from the surviving civilians detail of the chaos that took place as the central regulars unleashed wave after wave of firepower upon the rebels, while the rebels overwhelmed loyalists with sheer numbers and beat many to death with handcrafted weapons or nearby objects. The situation was rather sad to say the least considering that Father Hidalgo made the city the start of his revolution over 25 years prior. The tide of the battle turned when a loyalists artillery position struck a church and caused it to collapse, entraping dozens of civilians inside who had sought sanctuary from the bloodshed. As news of this action spread the people of Guanajuanto rose up in collusion with the Federalist and attacked the loyalist groups in mass mobs, eager to take vengeance on the wrongdoings the central government had committed. Due to orders by Bustamente the loyalist army was saved from total annihlation as snipers were placed among the rooftops providing covering fire for the retreating soldiers as the cavalry jumped in and protected the infantry. Meanwhile the artillery camps on the mountainside diverged their fire on the entire city to lay it to rubble and prevent any chance of a rout. While this can be described today as a heinous war crime it did manage to save what was left of the Central Mexican army from being obliterated. The end of what would become the bloodiest battle in the civil war showed that in many ways both sides had lost. On the rebels side 5328 casualties were taken with 4000 civilians dead from the fight. The Loyalists had no right to claim any victory as 2489 were killed with 568 wounded and 241 taken prisoner. For now this group retreated back to Mexican City to prepare for a siege and try to recuperate from the horrible loss. While this presented the rebels with the perfect opportunity to follow there would be no chance for the capitol to be conquered. The best veterans of the army perished during the fighting and many of the survivors were either too wounded or filled with PTSD to fight. What made the situation worse was that the day before the army would move out on the 31st, word had arrived of the Rio Grande's deceleration of independence. So Ampudia decided to send 1000 men to Mexico city while the rest would be sent back either to Zacatecas or to the east to quell the Rio Grande rebellion. While both sides strategies had been achieved with the Federalists taking a huge blow to their millitary capacity, and a federal force being sent to Mexico City. The Battle of Guanajuanto caused a quick solution to the war to be made impossible. This would take Mexico down to new lows as the French were just months away before arriving.

The Battle of Guanajuanto, also known in Mexico as La Tragedia Gran

Yucatan Front

After the failed assaults on Campeche the Yucatan leaders were divided on what strategy to proceed on. Some of the nationalists under Barbachano advocated for the rebels to go on the offensive by gaining Tabasco as well as Chiapas in order for the country to have access to the pacific (gaining these states would also reunite the Mayan peoples of Mexico), the liberal faction under Santiago Mendez wished for the rebels to stay within Yucatan so that the Republic could be protected from further attacks. Once word of Guanajuanto reached Merida however, the army then decided to march west to Tabasco in order to expand the Republic. Intellegence also indicated that the remnants of the Centralists were also in Tabasco so in a way it would be killing two birds with one stone. When the Yucatan reached the city of villahermosa on October 2nd, they were shocked to find only a small band of Tabascan loyalists left behind that offered minimal resistance. When questioning local authorities the army would learn that the remaining centralists forces under Nicolas Bravo Rueda had actually escaped to sea with a force of 2500 men (1500 being recruits from the surrounding states), the Centralists using their limited naval superiority landed their forces at Telchac Puerto On October 3rd and then proceeding to Telchac Pueblo, Motul, and Tixkokob. After conquering these cities easily due to the army staying in Tabasco the group then marched directly onto Merida, expecting a quick capitulation. What they were suprised to find was a large 12000 Mayan force being stationed within Merida, preparing the city with high defenses. The reason for the heavy Mayan concentration was that within the Yucatan and Southern Mexico emerged a Pan-Mayan movement, the Pan-Mayans expressed a desire to be free from the rule of Creole politicians in Mexico and live together as one people in a Mayan dominated or coexisting society. With the Mayan forces already having made several substantial contributions the the Yucatan independence movement, the Mayans decided that the Yucatec would become the flag that they would rally under and under the leadership of Andres Quintana Roo would become a major force of Yucatan society. Seeing the impossibility of conquering Merida as well as the possibility of encirclement from reinforcements in the west, Rueda called a cease fire and managed to negotiate for his force to withdraw from the Yucatan. The Centralist army would proceed to escape to Veracruz and remain there for the rest of the war. With all primary resistance being wiped out the Yucatan army would proceed to conquer Tabasco and Chiapas by mid-November, their task would be made much easier with the uprising of the Mayan natives. Like Texas the Yucatan would remain in peace for the rest of the war, consolidating their gains as well as trying to balance of power between the two peoples.

Map of the Republic of the Yucatan during the war. Gains highlighted in Red

Rio Grande Front

With the Federalists focused on the South there was relatively little conflict within the Rio Grande. Most of the population were rather confused as until that point they had been fighting for the sake of de-centralization and greater autonomy. Now a group of men suddenly decided that they were their own country apparently based around the Rio Grand river. While many Federalists in the area were against separation there was little they could do to stop them as most of the available manpower had been sent off to Zacatecas. Indeed the Rio Grande army was primarily rather focused with quelling dissidents than fighting in open conflict. The only major battle of note took place on October 14th when a small federal force of 600 men had been sent to try and rally the states against the traitors and return them back to the federalist camp. They camped out at Morelos, Coahuila, where they planned to march into Laredo. Unfortunately this group was made up of the weakest and lowly trained of the federalist reserves and expected little fighting. When a Rio Grande force under Colonel Jose Antonio de Zapata met them on the 16th, a battle ensued where the ill-prepared Federalists were caught off guard and surrounded by Zapata while personally leading the cavalry. After taking losses of up to 100 men the Federalist leader Major Juan Gonzales surrendered and agreed to withdraw to Zacatecas. After the battle the Republic faced their most unexpected enemy yet, Texas. 1000 men lead directly by Brigadier General Travis had received orders from Houston to march directly to Laredo and force all Rio Grande forces out of Texas. The main issue was that the two countries had claims that overlapped each other where Texas was directly on the Rio Grande whereas the Rio Grande Republic claimed lands to the Nueces. In the battle of Laredo on November 1st the far more experienced Texan force crushed the local garrison and held the government of the Republic captive. While Cardenas and his cabinet feared that this was the end of their venture, Houston had other plans. The Texan government was never against the direct existence of the Rio Grande but actually encouraged it, by setting up another country from the ashes of Mexico, the border would be further secured with a friendly nation and there would be no chance of reconquest. Therefore Travis laid out these terms to Cardenas:

1. The Republic of the Rio Grande will surrender all lands east of the Rio Grande to the Republic of Texas and give up any claims to the territory.
2. The Republic of Texas will recognized the Republic of the Rio Grande's independence.
3. In the future should either party wish to expand upon further Mexican territory then the opposite side shall support said endeavor.​

Seeing this choice as the best option Cardenas signed the Treaty of Laredo where it would head unto the Texas Senate and be ratified on December 3rd. Travis and his men would withdraw from the former capitol of the Rio Grande and spend Christmas in San Antonio. While the Rio Grande suffered a large defeat their existence was still intact and they would proceed to cement further control over their territory.

Laredo, Texas. One time capitol of the Rio Grande and currently one of the largest trade cities in North America

With 1836 approaching its end it appeared to be the worst year in existence for Mexico. The country was torn apart in civil strife with thousands dead and three new nations springing up from their territories. No matter what both sides agreed the war would end next year. The federal forces established a "siege" upon Mexico City (in reality just an encampment a few miles from the capitol), preparing for reinforcements to conquer the capitol and bring the Corro regime down. Corro also planned to scrap whatever men he had left that could be spared from the cities defense and task them to capture the lightly defended Zacatecas before the rebels assaulted. It was a race against time that would decide which path the nation would take. Ultimately it would prove to be fruitless. The French landed at Veracruz on February 1st.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 14 The Veracruz Invasion

"What a splendid little war."- King Louis Phillipe I 1837
"And we would've gotten away with the war if it weren't for those meddling French and the rebels too."- General Vicente Filisola 1840
"Looks like i don't need to prepare for a Mexican invasion any time soon."- Brigadier General William Barrett Travis 1837

With the entire nation collapsing from civil conflict it can be easy to understand why no one in Mexico expected the French of all nations to invade their country. The one question that was on everyone's mind in the region was "Why?" You see Louis was not a man who would support foreign revolutions simply out of the kindness of his heart, rather he foresaw this as an opportunity to found a Second French Empire. This time period was the start of what many historians would call, "The Second Imperial Age", new colonies were being founded in Africa and Asia every year and the whole of Europe was expected to get some action this time around. In 1837 Latin America was a land of a British trade hegemony with London churning out tons of industrial goods to the people of the region for a good profit. America was also expanding ever westward with the dream of Manifest Destiny beginning to form in the eyes of Uncle Sam, it was only a matter of time before the United States turned South. Napoleon himself had wanted to establish a grand empire in the Americas but those dreams fell after the Seven Years War and the Haitian Revolution. With Mexico, half of North America, falling apart every day and new nations appearing it was the perfect chance for France to expand it's influence here and establish client states to meet its economic and political needs. Thus, after dropping off the required 6000 troops at Galveston to begin their service within the Lone Star Republic, the other 25000 made their way down the Gulf to begin what would be called the Veracruz Invasion, as Veracruz would be their port of entry into Mexico. On February 1st, 20000 men of the French Army landed at Veracruz under the leadership of Admiral Charles Baudin, there they encountered Rueda's force of 2000 who were still Recuperating from the failed Merida campaign. The Battle of Veracruz commenced and within an hour it was a clear French victory as the Baudin's fleet surrounded the port laying heavy support fire from the naval cannons, while the French troops who had high morale and were veterans from the Algiers expedition were able to overcome surround and annihilate the war-weary Mexican force. The end of the battle had Rueda's force suffer 458 dead with 231 wounded and the rest taken prisoner, the french army suffered only 54 dead with 122 wounded. After the city capitulated the French Army began a march towards Mexico City on February 4th, their goal was to seize the capitol so that they would be able to end the war decisively and have leverage to decide Mexico's fate.

Bombardment of Veracruz. March onto Mexico City

When word reached Mexico City of the French intervention, both sides panicked as neither camp could comprehend what was France's casus belli for starting a war against them, many believed that this was the beginning of the establishment of a possible French colony over the Mexican territory. Pressure caused both the Centralists and the Federalists to engage in one last battle even though both sides weren't ready, their reasoning being that by controlling the capitol when the french came they would have legitimacy in negotiations and be able to persuade foreign powers to join their side in defense against France. Thus the Second Battle of Mexico City commenced on February 8th as the two armies clashed in the rural outskirts of the city limits. . The battle was a rather chaotic affair as both armies had low supplies and weak morale, the generals had to scrap months of planning and launch a hastily assembled force with poor coordination due to the French being only days away. Mass waves of men were launched at the enemy with artillery laying a constant barrage upon the field with their remaining ammunition, while the cavalry advanced about in a confused manner as close quarters fighting made swift charges impossible. The fighting would be drawn out from beginning to the end of the day as men on both sides fought under the assumption that it was a battle to protect their country against traitors and foreigners. The only reason that the battle was not as bloody as the Battle of Guanajuanto was due to the fact that most of the soldiers were tired of fighting in suicidal charges at this point and hundreds of men deserted from the battlefield, firsthand accounts have it that some deserting Federalists and Centralists would journey side by side as they would make their way back to their home towns. The battle ended in a Centralist victory under Filisola as their army had more manpower was the only one to have a capacity to continue fighting with extra ammunition only a few miles away. The Centralists suffered 303 killed with 496 wounded and 500 desertions, the Federalists had 365 killed with 272 wounded and the rest of the army either deserting or being captured. Corro had finally won his victory over the Federalists and was ready to meet the French Army once they arrived at the capitol. To his shock when the 20000 strong army arrived they proclaimed that they would capture the capitol for the Federalist cause and demanded an unconditional surrender. The reasoning for this was that under a Federalist government Mexico would be highly de-centralized and would not be able to conquer the independent Republics, unlike a resurgent Centralist Mexico. Corro stupidly replied that he would defend the city to the death and never surrender to a foreign power. This was the final straw for the people of Mexico City as they were tired of constant warfare and did not want their homes to be destroyed, riots erupted within the streets hours after the announcement. Fearful for their positions, Generals Bustamente and Filisola launched a coup against President Corro to make peace with the French Army and secure amnesty from a federal regime. The men managed to get most of the support of the garrison as well as the federal prisoners by freeing them, and stormed the presidential palace to arrest Corro. General Jose Urrea was one of the few men who still pledged loyalty to Corro and led a small group of patriots to protect the palace. After overwhelming the palace gaurd and storming their way inside, the coup plotters discovered Corro dead in his office after committing suicide with a pistol. The city surrendered unconditionally to the French on February 15th and the French army occupied the capitol while the remaining forces were sent across the countryside to secure Farias's claim and defeat any remaining Centralist resistance. After a bloody year of fighting the Mexican Civil War was over.

French occupation of Mexico City

Unknown to both sides fighting to claim Mexico, the French had actually sent envoys to both the Republic of the Rio Grande and the Republic of the Yucatan in order to gain alliances in support of their independence. Before leaving France, Baudin had been given specific instructions by the King that should any other independence movements rise up within Mexico then he would divert resources to support them immediately. To Baudin's surprise he had two new nations which he could use to further accomplish his objectives. The main French fleet was diverted to Merida after the Battle of Veracruz where they would enter into talks with the Yucatan government to establish troops within the nation and support the Yucatan's conquests and independence from Mexico. Meanwhile, the remaining French forces of 5000 men were sent to Tampico, Tamaulipas, to secure the Republic of the Rio Grande's fragile hold upon the region. Around the time of the French landing in Galveston, they had already sent an envoy to the Rio Grande informing them of their intentions to support the Rio Grande's claims to areas west of the Rio Grande. Thus, General Antonio Canales would order his upstart army to march into Chihuahua and Durango so they could press their claims at a future peace conference. Due to most Federal forces being sent down south the Rio Grande army was able to capture both state's capitols by the time the French arrived. With the war wrapping up and all rebel sides securing their claims, a conference would be called within the small town of Guadalupe Hidalgo where the Treaty of Guadulpe Hidalgo would be signed on April 4th, signaling the end of an era and the beginning of a new order within the Southwest.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 15 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

"This is a direct violation against the Monroe Doctrine and a Deceleration of War against the United States."- Speaker of the House James K. Polk 1837
"Why did i send Lamar in the first place? Only he is crazy enough to grab California."- President Sam Houston 1837
"We won the war, but at what cost?"- Presidente Valentin Gomez Farias 1837

On April 4th, representatives of five nations, three of which have existed for less than a year, met at the small village of Guadalupe Hidalgo, there began a process of which some would call the "Partition of Mexico". It was obvious to everyone that attended that the Federal regime in Mexico had little to no say in what was about to take place. While they did technically win the war it was only through the French intervention that they managed to capture the capitol at all, in addition even if Farias wanted to continue war against the French, Mexico had little to no available manpower or resources to fight them head on in battle, and unlike the War of independence, the Mexican people were to tired to continue fighting and wanted desperately a return to peace. If Farias expected for the terms to be light then he would've been dead wrong, Baudin used this conference as an opportunity for France to claim permanent dominance over the region by enforcing trade agreements in favor of France, setting up French forts and ports within the region, and supporting ALL claims to Mexico by the rebel nations. The terms of the treaty are as follows:

1. The Federation of Mexico shall recognize the independence of the Republic of Texas, Republic of the Yucatan, and the Republic of the Rio Grande.
2. The following territories shall be ceded to the independent Republics:The Republic of Texas shall gain the entirety of Texas, New Mexico east of the Rio Grande river, Alto and Baja California; The Republic of Yucatan shall gain the states of Yucatan, Tabasco, and Chiapas; The Republic of the Rio Grande shall gain the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Chihuahua, Durango, and Ne Mexico west of the Rio Grande River. Mexico will give up all claims to these former territories.
3. Mexico shall pay a total of $3,250,000 to the victorious parties; $3,000,000 shall be divided among the Independent Republics while France receives $250,000. If payments are not met by 1856 then a 6.5% interest rate shall be added each year.
4. Mexico shall enter into a Free-trade agreement with the Kingdom of France, this shall remain valid for the duration of the treaty and cannot be revoked.
5. Mexico will allow free access to any and all French troops or ships that desire movement through its territory. Mercantile ships shall be welcome at Mexican ports without payment.
6. Mexico shall pay for all destroyed property in its campaigns within the seceded territories
7. All prisoners of war on both sides shall be released by October 16th.
8. The Independent Republics shall have free fishing rights throughout all oceanic territory that Mexico claims.
9. An economic union called the "Southwest Trade Union" shall be established within the former territory of the Centralist Republic where trade goods will be exchanged without tariffs between the participating nations
10. This treaty shall be ratified within 6 months of its signing.​

It was a comprehensive treaty that effectively split Mexico apart and made it subservient to France and its former territories. While it was celebrated within the Republics as a total victory for their part within the wars it brought upon a three decade national trauma within Mexico called "The Generation of '36". Civil conflict would reign within Mexico for the next decade while the Farias regime would dedicate all its resources to improving the domestic situation within the country as well as implementing vast liberal reforms and de-centralizatoin. Eventually a new wave of revanchism and Mexican cultural revivalism would hit the nation in the 1850's and a new Mexian unification movement lead by Benito Juarez would lead the country to the Mexican War.

New Borders according to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Among the other nations of the world the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was met with much divisiveness. Within Latin America many nations were filled with both fear and joy, fear that what happened to Mexico would later come to them by European powers, and joy that as strong regional rival had been thoroughly eliminated. Much of Europe was either indifferent or worried for the rise in French power. The two nations that were most livid were the Untied States and the United Kingdom. The United States was furious that France had directly violated the Monroe Doctrine and had given Texas what they had considered to be part of America's territory, as many American settlers had made their way to California within the past decade. Great Britain was apalled at the French's attempts on what was considered their corner of the world and feared the emergence of a new Napoleon. Yet many factors would prevent these nations from going to war or joining against each other against France; for one while France had violated Mexican sovereignty it had done so to protect independent nations and had taken no personal land from Mexico. To try and dispute France's actions would be hypocritical of Britain's actions to other nations in Asia and to the United States for doing the exact same thing in its Revolutionary War. While France had defied America, there was little America could do about it as they had a poorly funded and small army back then and had no direct way to fight France at the time, in addition the oncoming Recession of 1837 would prevent any action from happening due to America's poor economy. The United States would be reluctant to intervene in Texas's claims on California in the future as due to its Constitution, slavery was now legal throughout all of California, meaning that any U.S expansion into the region would be forced to expand slavery as well. Finally the British people as a whole were apathetic to France's actions as they saw it as some minor war fought in a backward part of the region. If France had done the same thing in India or the Middle East then it would be a cause for concern, but because it took place in Mexico, where the main government was bound to lose anyways, the British people did not want to start another war and end the twenty years of peace. So reluctantly both nations backed off from France's gains. Although they would be keeping a closer eye on France and Latin America in the future.

The American dream of Manifest Destiny was on hold. For Now.

Within the new Republics each focused on creating its own new destiny in world affairs. France would sign new treaties with both the Yucatan and Rio Grande similar to its own agreement with Texas(with the exception of colonists), 5000 troops would be stationed within each nation and a new sphere of French power was established within the Americas. Both nations then diverted attentions to their internal affairs. The Yucatan focused on consolidating their gains as well as trying to improve relations between the Creole and Mayan citizens of the nation, a task which would prove difficult for the next decade. The Rio Grande took this time to establish its identity and control over its new states. Unfortunately, the young republic was formed out of the minds of fortunate filibusters and had little love among the populace who desired a return to Mexico, this would create much conflict within the nation that would lead to the Mexican War. What came as a shock to most nations in Latin America, as well as the U.S, was Texas's annexation of California. While it was originally true that Texas only desired to expand to the Rio Grande, the actions of vice president Mirabeau B. Lamar would change the limits of the Lone Star Republic. Lamar was sent to Mexico along with Secretary of State Austin in order to represent the Texas government at the negotiations, Lamar was also a fervent nationalist of the new country and had a dream of Texas being a powerful nation that resided from coast to coast. Lamar was able to convince Charles Baudin of the benefits of Texas having California by preventing America form expanding southward as well as giving Texas (and in extent France) more land and strong ports on the Pacific Ocean. Houston for one was not happy about this new agreement as he believed that it was beyond the nations capabilities for governance and that the Californian people might resent their new masters. Nevertheless the Texas Senate unanimously ratified the treaty and Houston, albeit reluctantly, signed the treaty to prevent a loss of support for him in the next election. The only benefits that Houston saw though was that more land on the Pacific would be a fruitful offer to encourage U.S annexation, as fate would have not only would California become a factor in the United States rejecting Texas annexation, but it would also prove to become a boom for Texas later in the century. For now Texas expanded its lands and focused on encouraging new settlement and creating a stable economy, its journey had begun.

Lone Star Flag of the California Commonwealth of the Republic of Texas

A/N: All credit for map belongs to member "Cool-eh"

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 16 Texan Immigration 1836-1846

"Gone To Texas (GTT)"- a common sign posted outside of American homes alerting their neighbors of the families immigration to Texas
"This, This here is our promised land!"- Brigham Young 1840
"Alright. I'll move to Texas with you Carl."- Princess Sophie of Lowenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg to her husband Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels 1845
"What a nice little country." Alois Hitler 1855
"Stephen... he must lead my people to Texas."- last words of Moses Austin 1821

One principle that the United States likes to brag about in its American exceptionalism is its large diversity and welcome immigration, of how anyone can achieve greatness in the American dream, and how America finds its strength through diversity. While these claims can be said to be true one way or another they pale in comparison to the achievements of the Republic of Texas. Over the years Texas has truly become a truly multicultural country, at the current time the demographics represent an equal proportion among various ethnicity with Texans, Tejanos, and German Texans forming the three largest ethnic groups. Afro-Texans and Asian Texans are also becoming an increasing prominent group within Texas as Texas's technology and energy sectors have grown exponentially within recent decades. To be a Texan is more than just a nationality; it is an culture, a melting pot of several unique cultures with a southwestern spin that has developed into an identity of freedom and simplicity that strives towards prosperity where any man or women can choose their own lifestyle and live in liberty among the frontier. All of these developments can be laid back to the countries immigration policy during its only years that helped to shape the newborn Texan culture.

In the early years Texas was had a very low density in terms of population. In 1836 there were only an estimated 50000 Texans within the Rio Grande borders, however with mass immigration (of 260k from 36-46) as well as the incorporation of California, Texas would climb to a population of 320,000 by 1848. The region was never a popular destination for Spanish colonists and it wasn't until Moses Austin received his empressario grant that immigrants arrived in mass. In order to populate Texas and make the nation strong, the central government to various steps to relax immigration control to the new country. Naturally as the revolution had been built by Americans it would be Americans who would become the largest source of a new population. In general there were three groups of Americans who would journey west to find a new home within the lone star republic; Dixies, Yankee farmers, and Mormons. The largest portion of the three were the Southern farmers who found Texas to be a likeable country to resettle due to the legalization of slavery throughout the country as well as the climate being well suited for cotton and subsistence farming.This group of people would mostly settle east of the Nueces river and would come to influence the young state by creating its southern culture that would acculturate with western customs, indeed by 1846 over 75,000 immigrants from the southern region of the United States would come to Texas in search of new land and adventure, creating the modern Southwest culture that Texas is famous for. Unfortunately many slaves would be brought with these settlers, bringing the slave population of Texas to over 40,000 in 1846. Many Yankees would also come to Texas though they were few in number compared to the Dixies and would mostly settle within Northern California. Of all of the immigrant groups the most surprising was the wave of Americans who were the pioneers and founders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka the Mormon Church. While today the Mormons are universally known as a kind and peaceful Christian denomination, back then they were intensely persecuted in the United States for their radical ideas of the bible and practice of polygamy. Founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, the Mormon Church was based around the teachings of Joseph's book, The Book of Mormon, this version of the bible taught that America was God's new Zion and that God had anointed Joseph himself as his prophet within the promised land. With many Americans believing the church to be a cult, there was mass persecution and the church was driven out of Missouri in 1839 in a series of riots where Smith died. Before he died Joseph reportedly received a "vision" in which God had told him to move his people west where the lone star of Bethlehem would shine. When Brigham Young came to power of the church in Smith's death, he took this as a sign for the Mormon's to move west where they would find a true promise land. Over the next decade Young received a grant from the Texan government to form a new settlement within the California Commonwealth where he would lead over 60,000 Mormons west. While many within the Texan government weren't exactly big fans of Mormon beliefs (especially polygamy), the Texan congress also saw the chance to bring thousands of settlers into the new republic, and due to the low decentralization of Texas, the Mormons would be tolerated for now so long as they didn't cause rebellion. In the 1850's this group of Mormon immigrants would come to found the Deseret Commonwealth and would soon cement the Latter Day-Saints position as one of the three religious authorities in Texas( along with the Southern Baptist and Catholic Church), and a strong established church within North America.

Map of Texan migration from Southern US. Salt Lake Temple

In the aftermath of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, France surprisingly had very little trouble finding settlers to fulfill the quota of the treaty. During this time massive economic inequality was spreading through France and the French people had found liberal reforms being curtailed once more. Tired of living in a state with little advancement and reminiscing of the glory of the Napoleonic days, many French peasants and noblemen alike jumped on the offer to start a new colony in Texas. Indeed by 1846, French immigrant numbers exceeded expectations with over 25,000 French men and women moving to the lone star republic. Many people were attracted by the large stretches of land as well as vast political and social freedoms that Texas offered that cannot be found within Europe. Due to Texas's proximity to the Cajun population of Louisianan, many French settlers chose to make their homes within East Texas, extending the Cajun culture as well as adding the culture of metropolitan France to create the modern French Texan identity. Today Nacogdoches, Texas is considered to be one of the three French centers of North America(along with Quebec City and New Orleans), and is famous for being the wine capitol of the west (a title that is heavily disputed by Napa Valley, California).

The "Eiffel Tower" in Paris, Texas

One group of Immigrants who can absolutely not be forgotten is the German Texans. In the 1830's and 1840's, the German region was entering a turmulous time with massive industrialization, political strife, and massive calls for unification that would lead to the 1846 Revolutions in Europe. Within Germany a group of noblemen emerged that created a society that sought to encourage German immigration to Texas where they would potentially find their fortune within the new nation. This group, the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, better known by its German name Adelsverein, sought to create a new Germany within Texas, one free from the politics between Prussia and Austria where German culture could thrive and dominate the new land. Under the leadership of Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, who would later be remembered as one of the founding fathers of Texas, the Adelsverein achieved great success with 80,000 Germans immigrating to Texas with the promise of plentiful land and the opportunity to embrace and express their cultural heritage in peace. The German Texans would settle mostly within the areas of West Texas and would come to form major communities within the cities of Galveston, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin. Two new towns Fredricksburg and New Braunfels, would come to form the two basis of German culture within Texas as they would receive the largest number of immigrants, New Braunfels was named in honor of Prince Carl and he was able to move to Texas in 1846 and create Sophie's castle, who he named after his wife. Today German culture forms a major role in the Texan identity with the creation of the Texan-German dialect, German membership of the Republican party, various cultural celebrations such as Oktoberfest, as well as many of Texas's future political leaders and key scientific and industrial personnel being Germans.

Princle Carl, Solm-Braunfels. Logo of Adelsverien

The last, but not least, of the major Immigrant groups is the Mexican immigrants. In the aftermath of the Mexican Civil War, the country was laid to waste economically and experienced many years of political and social disorder. While Texas was the first to secede, many Mexicans looked past this and sought to create a new life for them in in this new anglo-dominated country. Over 30,000 Mexicans would immigrate over the next ten years with a majority coming from Central Mexico as well as a good number from the Rio Grande (a group that would expand in later years). Settling together with the native Hispanic population, this group of Mexican Texans would come to form the Tejano subgroup of Texas which contributes to Texas's unique position as both an Anglo and Latin American nation. Most would settle west of the Nueces around the Rio Grande or in San Antonio in order to live with their cultural brethren and avoid conflict with the white majority. A small number of 5,000 Mexicans would go on to either move to Santa Fe or in Southern California within the new California Commonwealth. While racial divisions would be large at first, as the decades went on the Tejanos would become an essential part of the Texas population and under the leadership of Juan Seguin, would become an equal cultural and political force to the German and Southern populations. In some aspects its as if Texas had never left Mexico at all.

San Antonio, Texas's 3rd largest city and center of Tejano Culture

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 17 Texas 1837

"You would've been so proud of what your dream became, father."- Secretary of State Stephen F. Austin 1841
"It's times like these where i wonder if this is how proud Washington felt like when running the United States."- President Sam Houston 1837

The following is a series of events that take place within the Republic of Texas in 1837 A.D

January 24th, 1837: Senator William H. Wharton from the district of Victoria, introduces the design of the Lone Star flag to the congressional floor. Based on the flag of the United States of America, the colors in the Lone Star flag have; blue which represents loyalty, red for bravery, and white for liberty. The lone star represents Texas and the nations unity and strength before God and country. Meanwhile, the lone red and white stripe is based on the flag of the rebels during the Fredonian Rebellion. The flag is unanimously approved by the Texas Congress and is signed into law as the national flag on January 27th. The Burnet flag meanwhile is used as the nation's war flag until after the Mexican War.

March 2nd, 1837: On the one year anniversary of Texas's independence, Congress convenes to establish a new capitol for the nation. There is much debate over where the capitol will be located as the Tejanos and westerners push for San Antonio, Gulf representatives for Galveston, Houston's faction for the new city of Houston, and a few proposals for establishment at Santa Fe to act as a midway point. Vice-President Lamar suggests a compromise and calls for construction of a capitol at a location near the Waterloo area around the Colorado river. Lamar cites his reason for the location as being directly in the center of Texas, an established midway for trade between Galveston and Santa Fe, as well as the areas large hills for defense and fertile landscape. In the two months afterwords congress would be decided until the Treaty of Gudadulupe Hidalgo would arrive before the senate. After ratification, congressmen start to move towards Lamar's idea and the proposal gains a majority. President Houston enacts a veto against the proposal but the bill is able to gain a 2/3rd's majority after being sent back to congress. Seeing no other choice, Houston signed the bill into law on June 14th. Official settlement does not start until late in September and Columbia is still the temporary capitol until the next presidential term on December 10th, 1838.

Present day Texas Congress in Austin

March 3rd, 1837: On his last day of office, US President Andrew Jackson recognizes the Republic of Texas's independence and sets up relations between America and Texas. A Texan embassy is set up within Washington by the end of the year while the United States constructs a consulate within Galveston and a permanent embassy in Austin in 1839.

May 5th, 1837: The Republic of Texas recognizes both the Republic of Yucatan and Republic of Rio Grande's independence, relations are quickly established between all nations with embassies being set up by the end of the year. Rio Grande is able to keep a consulate within Laredo, tensions rise between both countries however on the Rio Grande border, for now peace and trade remains between both nations. The Texan-Yucatan alliance soon turns into a special relationship that remains well into the 21st century, early ties are affirmed when Attorney General de Zavala, a native of the Yucatan, makes a trip in 1838 supporting Texas's friendship with the Yucatan. Texas will also be of immense support in both the Guatemala War and the Mayan rebellions in the 1840's, while Yucatan will play a pivotal role in the Mexican War.

May 29th, 1837: Debate begins within congress over the status of California within Texas. Some argue that California should be sold to the United States in order to receive a large amount of money to boost the economy. Others advocate for California to remain within Texas and be invested in as the nations pacific port. There is much debate within the nationalists on in the situation a Texan California occurs if the nation should remain centralized or become a United States of Texas. The House and Senate finally compromise on a solution and enact the constitution on the decentralization of California in a new Commonwealth system. In it the Commonwealths are set up similarly to states but with several exceptions; Senators are determined by districts as within Texas. The Commonwealth is given a greater amount of autonomy compared to the states, with the national government controlling state militias in wartime, controlling all foreign trade and national commerce, and national infrastructure. All forms of government that are not specified by the Constitution or laws by the national government may be interpreted and enacted by the commonwealth government. The Commonwealth would also have its own regional legislature with a format similar to the national structure. California would be given control over both Alta and Baja California but the national government has the right to divide it into 5 separate commonwealths. Monterrey is kept within as the capitol while Juan Bautista Alvarado is recognized as its Governor. While many Californians are still angry at what was essentially a forced annexation of their territory, most see the benefits of living in Texas with extra autonomy that was not given to them in Mexico. Therefore, no major rebellions occur within California during its time in Texas.

June, 1837: Settlers, primarily form the states of Arkansas and Missouri, start to settle near the Trinity river, close to the borders of Indian territory and Arkansas. American pioneer, John Neely Bryan, builds a permanent settlement after attempting to establish a trade outpost with local Native American tribes. This settlement is founded in 1842 and is named Lamar, Texas, after then President Mirabeau B. Lamar. The area is reinforced by the Texan army in 1846 with the construction of nearby Fort Travis. Over the years the Lamar-Fort Travis area becomes a major transportation hub with Lamar acting as a terminus to the Texas rail line from the United States, with Fort Travis being a center of the cattle industry as well as a gateway to the west for Texan immigrants from East. The metropolitan area today is Texas's second largest and a rival to the Houston-Galveston area. (OTL Dallas-Fort Worth)

Lamar, Texas

June 5th, 1837: The city of Houston is officially incorporated into the Republic of Texas, it is confirmed as the seat of Harris county and senatorial seat of the Harris district.

June 13th, 1837: The first Congress of the Republic ends according to terms set by last years election. A new session is enacted on August 13th with many senators and congressmen keeping their seats after being reelected 2 months prior. One notable exception is Juan Seguin who is elected as Senator of San Antonio.

July 4th, 1837: The Redback is introduced as the primary currency of the Republic of Texas

September 4th, 1837: The Santa Fe expedition is launched. The idea which originated from Vice-President Lamar and later approved by Houston, was created with the intentions of incorporating the New Mexico territory into Texas as well as supporting the creation of a stable trade route with Santa Fe, that could eventually lead to California. The expedition is headed by Jose Antonio Navarro as well as Attorney General Lorenzo de Zavala. The expedition carries merchandise around $150,000, and is accompanies by 250 Texan soldiers as well as 1,000 French troops that are sent to garrison the area. The expedition arrives in mid-December and is an immense success with large amounts of trade being conducted as well as negotiations between former New Mexican governor Manuel Armijo and de Zavala. While New Mexico is incorporated as a part of Texas and is not given the same Commonwealth status as California; they gain numerous economic benefits as well as Santa Fe being the center of the new New Mexico district and Santa Fe county. Manuel Armijo is chosen as the district's first senator.

September 14th, 1837: The Texas Defense and Security act is brought before congress. In it the Texan army is reduced to a single regiment of 1,000 men; with four battalions being stationed at Santa Fe, San Diego, San Antonio, and Houston. The Texas Rangers are formed into a regiment and given extensive funding and extended powers to patrol the frontier and uphold the law within the Republic. Finally 6 ships are proposed to be added to the Texas Navy by 1840. Many within congress are divided on additional expansion to the Navy as it would require massive funding and is not necessary at the time due to peace with Mexico. Support begins to grow when French Admiral Charles Baudin assures the government that France would be more than willing to support Texan Naval expansion and would possibly be willing to sell old French warships. The bill is passed on July 31st with Travis still retaining command of the army, while American sailor Edwin Moore (Father of the Texas Navy), receives command of the Texan Navy as a Commodore. Deaf Smith is assigned as the head of the Texas Rangers and over the years will shape the organization into its current day standard with its introduction into a paramilitary state police force.

RTS Archer Early Texas Rangers (1845)

November 10th, 1837: In order to deal with the oncoming waves of immigrants to the new nation and help them settle in the frontier, the Department of Immigration and Customs is formally established. Jose Antonio Navarro is chosen as the first Secretary of Immigration.

Jose Antonio Navarro

December 11th, 1837: President Houston announces the Indian Citizenship initiative. The program details that any Indian tribe currently living in Texas may seek to live under the Republic as lawful citizens, in return for obeying the nation's laws, the tribes lands are converted to a county and possible senatorial district depending upon the tribe's population and land area. Houston's reasons for this being his past years living among the Cherokee and wanting for them to find a place in Texas after having been forced from the United States. As expected, many congressmen and Vice-President Lamar disapprove of this program and vow to block any sort of admittance of the Indians. Houston instead works around congress and operates the initiative through the State Department as the matter is one of negotiations between Texas and "sovereign" Indian tribes. It is unknown which tribes will come to the negotiations but many look towards the Comanche in anticipation of their response.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 18 The Van Buren Administration

"I could've done... so... much."- Last words of President Martin Van Buren 1838
"Who the hell is Richard Mentor Johnson?"- President Andrew Jackson 1836
"Your damn obsession with the bank is going to lead this country to ruin."- Henry Clay 1833

To say that Martin Van Buren is one of the unluckiest presidents in American History is quite the understatement. Coming into office in 1837, Van Buren lead the country in the aftermath of a highly popular (yet controversial) two terms under Jackson. Overall the economy was doing great, Texas had won its independence from Mexico, Michigan was about to enter the union; what could possibly go wrong? Apparently for the unfortunate 8th president, everything. Only five weeks into his term, the United States entered into a extreme depression when the New York banks suspended specie payments (refusing redemption of commercial paper) on May 10th, causing a immense panic throughout the country which lead to multiple withdrawals from state banks and foreclosures of many within the west. The so called panic of 1837, was so severe that a depression lasted in the United States for the next 7 years and unemployment was so high that in some areas it was 25%. The causes for the panic are rather numerous but can be traced to land speculation in the west, decreasing cotton prices, a collapsed land bubble, and international specie movements. Though one primary factor that numerous historians agree upon is the closing of the Second National Bank. Andrew Jackson was a rather paranoid man who believed that the bank was a large venue for corruption and monopolization of the economy by the wealthy class. Using his presidential veto, Jackson refused to renew the banks charter past its expiration date. Unfortunately, the Whigs were never able to rally enough support in congress and the bank closed in 1836. Once the national bank closed, spending and loan powers were transferred to state banks, who often gave out loans in large amounts of paper money without backing of gold or silver, which lead to an increased inflation. This along with the land speculation in the west caused the effects of the depression to stay for several years instead of being handled within a few. Even though Van Buren never had any direct role to play in the closing of the national bank, many members of the Whig party blamed incorrectly blamed him as the cause of the Panic and issued propaganda of him acting as Jackson's "pawn" to ruin the economy, giving him the unfortunate nickname of "Martin Van Ruin". Due to large infighting among the Democratic party, as well as staunch opposition by the Whigs, Van Buren was unable to find any sort of comprehensive solution while the nation slid further into economic ruin.

A political ad in 1837 showing a family of Jackson supporters wondering why they can't find work, while portraits of Jackson and Van Buren hang in the background.

Van Buren's poor domestic situation unfortunately (or fortunately if your a patriotic Texan) lead to the cancellation of any plans within the United States to annex the new Republic of Texas. This movement was going to receive many difficulties in the first place, as Van Buren being a northerner, was against any admittance of a slave state into the Union in order to preserve the slave/free state balance. While Van Buren was all for supporting Texas independence, he did not want slavery to grow to the pacific under any circumstances. Additionally, even if Van Buren was a strong supporter of Texan annexation, the motion would have come under heavy opposition from Northern Democrats and the Whig party, both of who saw Texas as a wild and lawless land which would only give power to the south in the long run. The Panic only served to increase Whig power and they were expected to gain a majority in the '38 midterm elections, preventing any treaty for annexation from passing the senate. Finally in scenario where annexation did occur, it would take millions of dollars to incorporate the new territory into the nation due to the need to assume Texas's debt as well as setting up the national infrastructure, with a high depression going on it would be impossible for the United States to assume this extra economic burden. So, to the upset of Houston, Texas would remain independent for the indefinate future.

If fate had smiled kindly on Martin Van Buren, then he would've served the rest of his term fixing the economy and quietly retire in 1841 or 1845. What Van Buren would've done is something that many people can only speculate as his life would end in 1838 due to the actions of one man, Edward Booth. Booth was a cotton plantation owner from South Carolina who was a firm supporter of Calhoun's nullification faction. He was already ill content at Jackson for what he perceived as the upmost violation of state's rights for the nullification crisis in 1832. He would soon develop a hatred for Van Buren after losing much of his fortune from the Panic due to the collapse of the cotton market as well as money lost in speculation schemes in Missouri. Forced to sell his slaves and plantation, Booth was a ruined man. For him there was only one man to blame for his troubles, thus Booth traveled to Washington D.C with a pistol in his luggage with a plan for blood. On April 15th, 1838, Martin Van Buren was enjoying a play in an outdoor theater on the outskirts of D.C. Bribing the stage crew with the last of his money, Booth snuck up on stage on shot the president in his reserved theater box, shouting "DEATH TO THE TYRANT!". The crowd as well as the actors rushed onto booth while the presidents aides struggled to get Van Buren to a hospital, by the time they got there it was too late. Martin Van Buren was no longer of this world.

President Martin Van Buren (1782-1838)

April 15th, 1838. 8:30 P.M, The White House

Vice-President Richard Mentor Johnson was currently enjoying a meal within his office of the West Wing. In the past year Johnson had found much boredom and depression within the capitol. When he was offered the chance to be on the Democratic ticket with Van Buren, Johnson jumped at the opportunity to become center stage in national politics and quickly agreed. Unfortunately as he would find out in his first year, the office of Vice-President was merely a bureaucratic dead weight with very little power and him mostly standing in for ceremony. No one took Johnson seriously and Van Buren gave him little to do within the government. Thankfully though, with the ongoing depression, no one pointed fingers at the Vice-President for any of the country's problems. It was, as he later recalled it, worth a bucket of warm piss. Johnson missed his glory days during the War of 1812 where he personally killed Tecumseh, and often wished he stayed as a congressman instead of accepting Van Buren's offer. He quietly looked forward to when the damn elections came so that he could retire in Kentucky so that he could run the family tavern. As Johnson was musing over his future, Speaker James Polk burst into his office in a disorganized and sweaty appearance as if he had practically ran from his Georgia home just to get here.

"James, what's gotten into you?"
"The... President.. Martin, he's dead. Got shot by some fucking lunatic from Carolina just a hour ago."
Johnson could not believe it. The man who he had been serving with for the past year, and had just had a conversation with a few hours ago was gone. The president, leader of the free world, was no more. "What, what the hell does this mean? Who's going to become the President?"
"We gotta act fast Dick, if we sit on the sidelines with our hands in our pockets while this shitstorm goes down, the the Whigs will get the White House from us. This means Dick, that YOU must assume the Presidency."

9th President of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Chapter 19 Disunited States of Central America

"One People, One Nation!- Rallying Cry of Pan-Mayan Movement 1838
"Do those people really believe they can last on their own as a country?"- Emperor Augustin de Iturbide 1822
"Well at least the world now knows there is only one United States."- President Richard Mentor Johnson 1838

One of the greatest tragedies of Latin America is its virtual self destruction in the post-colonial period. Originally under Spanish rule there were 4 separate main colonies throughout the America that had provided Europe for years with gold, raw materials, sugar, wood, and tons of other products. Since the Napoleonic Wars, all but Cuba have been successful at kicking out their Iberian masters. This came at an heavy price though as what was originally envisioned by Miranda to be one united region that would become the eye of the world, quickly devolved into anarchy, civil warfare, ideological conflict, ethnic strife, and a load of other problems that would not be solved until the dawn of the next century. With Mexico being the latest case of latinization (balkanization), many thought that the region would once more return to a time of peace, they would be proven wrong when in 1838, Central America would erupt into large scale regional warfare over sovereignty. You see since 1823 the Central American region of New Spain had broken off to form their own country after the collapse of the short lived Mexican Empire. This region would come to form the Federal Republic of Central America, or as its known by its more popular name, The United States of Central America. The USCA was founded by Central American liberals who had placed high hopes for the nation becoming a bastion of democracy in Latin America that would become a regional power due to its strong trade ties to the Pacific. Indeed as shown in the alternate history novel "The US of CA" written by popular author Henry Garrett, had the USCA survived then it could have taken place of Yucatan to become one of the leading states of the Western hemisphere. Sadly this was not meant to be as the nation was full of internal rebellions every year as multiple revolutionaries sought to defy federal rule and establish their own nations. The penultimate event that may have accelerated the process of the USCA's collapse may be attributed to the Mexican Civil War, as the virtual collapse of one of the West's most powerful nations and the independence of 3 new nations (including the fillibuster-esque Rio Grande), encouraged the rebels to accelerate their efforts and fight to gain freedom from Guatemala. The battles reminiscent of this time were in many ways different from those of the Mexican Civil War, this type of warfare was often dominated by guerilla campaigns where local militias and federal forces would exchange fire for a few hours, then retreat and declare victory based on attrition. The collapse of the nation was finalized when on April 30th, 1838, the nation of Nicaragua declared its independence. This would later be followed by Costa Rica and Honduras, and the federal congress would meet on May 31st to officially declare that the people of Central America were free to choose their own nations. The USCA was no more. These nations would soon be joined by El Salvador and Los Altos, with the remainder of the nation forming the country of Guatemala. This would've been the end of our chapter as the region would've possibly collapsed into instability and infighting for the next several decades, were it not for the actions of an ambitious Yucatan and the Mayan people.

Flag of USCA and map of new nations in dissolution

In the aftermath of the Mexican Civil War, Yucatan had been doing pretty good so far. While it had been invaded during the war, the infrastructure was left mostly intact and the gains of Tabasco and Chiapas more than made up for any losses. Trade had been established within the Gulf, farmers were having good harvests, strong ties were being established with Texas and France, everything was good. One main issue though remained in the Yucatan from gaining true peace, the Mayan Question. During the revolution, the Mayans had played a pivotal role by supplying thousands of troops as well as rallying support with their native brethren in the conquered territories to drive out the Mexican armies. Due to this, the Mayan people had expected to gain a right as equals within the Republic with some extremists wanting their people to take control of the country. While President Barbachano was sympathetic to their cause, he could not risks openly defying Conservatives and oust him from power. So Barbachano made several compromises between both groups where the Mayans would gain equal rights as well as property, but there would be no land restructuring in favor of the natives and the Creole culture would still be dominant with Spanish being enforced as the premier language and Catholicism imposed over native paganism. While this agreement satisfied many, there will still several powerful groups on both sides who called for total victory in their goals. In order to appease both sides and strengthen the nation. Barbachano rallied the people of the Yucatan towards one goal that would satisfy nationalists desires in both parties as well as launch the Yucatan into the realm of great nations, the Yucatan would conquer northern Central America.

While this desire would seem outright aggressive to several neutral observers, the local conditions proved that the casus belli was more than justified as the northern halve of the USCA had in the last two years experienced a new movement within its borders that was different from the Creole independence movements, the Pan-Mayan movement. Similar to the Italian and German nationalists that would appear in the next decade, the Pan-Mayans were a group of people within Central America who wanted to cast off the chains of oppression from their creole masters and live together as one nation. While this idea was a pipe dream in many natives in the colonial and early independence years, the Yucatan revolution proved their dreams could become reality as a new nation formed that had an equal division of Creoles and Mayans and had successfully "liberated" their brethren from Mexico City. Thus, overnight new native rebellions would spring up overnight calling not for complete independence, but for unification with the Republic of the Yucatan. These movements would largely be unorganized until the emergence of Dr. Diego Cortes, a Mayan mestizo intellectual who wrote "Our History (1836)", a largely comprehensive book that detailed Mayan culture and traditions and similar to Paine's Common sense, called for the complete independence of the Mayans in order for their people to live in peace with their unalienable rights. When literate Native priests read the book at villages, the movement was spread even further and in 1837 Dr. Cortes would be chosen to lead the People's Unification Army. Even after the breakup of the USCA, or maybe because of it, the movements numbers only grew as support in firearms and volunteers arrived from the Yucatan (with French aid) in droves. Yucatan statesman Andres Quitana Roo, was sent to meet with Cortes in June of 1838 where they discussed the next course of action. Roo proclaimed that Cortes's cause had the backing of Barbachano and the Yucatan congress and that all that was needed was for a decisive revolt to commence so that the Yucatan would march in to "liberate" the entirety of the Mayan region, which would include Guatemala, parts of Honduras, and El Salvador. Aid was also being promised from the French in terms of material arms while negotiations were present with Texas in order to secure the support of the Texan Navy as well as the possibility of volunteer regiments. With support from his soon to be home country secure, Cortes formed a plan for a large revolution with his native cells, and on July 2nd, revolts suddenly sprung up all across Guatemala, El Belize, Los Altosand Honduras, with Mayan militias attacking local barracks and national capitols with newly procured French rifles. On July 4th on the 2 year anniversary of Yucatan independence, the Yucatan Congress declared war on the Republics of Los Altos, El Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. The Guatemala War and the beginning of Yucatan power had officially begun.

"Rise to Power" depicting the Mayan rebellion, Mayan Mesoamerica, Doctor Diego Cortes