Spanish-American War hits the home nations

I'm once again reading Estonianzulu's excellent Victoria AAR, "The Footsteps of Illustrious Men", a record of his game where he's playing as the U.S. So far, the former Populist president just pulled a Teddy Roosevelt and jumped ship to unite the fractured Democrats and Republicans, beating Tom Watson and regaining control of the White House. Oh, and there's a Spanish-American War where France is involved.

Because it is based on the happenings from a game, after all, there's bound to be some wacky occurrences. In this alt-war, the Spanish assaulted Baltimore and burned the city, and the U.S. right now is in the midst of invading Spain itself.

The question is, are either of those two things (the Spaniards attacking the continental U.S. and/or the U.S. attacking mainland Spain) even remotely possible for the Spanish-American War?
 
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Because it is based on the happenings from a game, after all, there's bound to be some wacky occurrences. In this alt-war, the Spanish assaulted Baltimore and burned the city, and the U.S. right now is in the midst of invading Spain itself.

At the same time, that's funny, weird, and verging on ASB. To wit:

* To attack Baltimore, the Spanish would need to either get past the defenses at the mouth of the Chesapeake (with a major naval base at Norfolk) and sail about 200 miles north unmolested AND get past the local coastal defenses at Baltimore--including a brand-new fort built expressly to keep the Spanish fleet away (Fort Howard, at the tip of North Point, in Baltimore County). As an alternative, they'd have to force their way past the coastal defenses at Cape May, NJ/Cape Henlopen, DE, get up the length of the Delaware Bay, and negotiate the narrow Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and then get to Baltimore from the northeastern end of the Chesapeake. In either case, they'll have to get by any number of civilians, all of whom know the Chesapeake and its estuaries intimately, who could mislead them, set water-going traps, warn the US government, etc. Bottom line: ain't gonna happen.

* In the early going of the Spanish-American War in OTL, Ft. McHenry was still very much an active military/coastal defense installation. Access to Ft. McHenry was and is via Fort Avenue, a more-or-less east-west thorofare in southern Baltimore. That street was served at the time by a streetcar line that would become designated route 2 a few years thereafter.

At the time, Baltimore's streetcar fleet consisted entirely of double-ended cars with stub-ended track terminals, often with middle-of-the-street layovers at the ends of the line. One night in April 1898, one of those cars, admittedly running at low speed, was unable to stop at the east end of the line, very near the gates of Ft. McHenry. The car crashed into the sentry post, and the young private raised the alarm that the Spanish were attacking via Fort Avenue. His face was just a bit red not long thereafter.
 

Kaptin Kurk

Banned
Were the French fighting the Americans as well? How does that change things is the duplicitous Gauls are assaulting the Worlds Last Best Hope as Well?

(Yes, always wanted to design war propaganda posters.)
 
Estonianzulu said:
Footsteps Timeline

Color Chart
White- Political News
International News
Economic News
Military news
War

1836
- Martin Van Buren elected 8th President of the United States of America
-Van Buren signs a treaty with Texas guaranteeing its independence from Mexico
-Texas falls to Mexico, US pressure forces Mexico to allow ‘Free City of Austin’ to remain independent

1837

1838

1839
-Cherokee Indians, in response to the trail of tears, revolt in parts of Tennessee

1840
-John Forsyth, despite loosing the popular vote, is elected by Congress as the 9th president

1841
-Forsyth renews the alliance with the Free City of Austin
-The final Indian revolts of Tennessee are put down
-The growth of factories in the South-West helps kick start an economic upturn
-President Forsyth dies in office of old age, he is succeeded by Mahlon Dickerson

1842
-The Mexican army attacks the Free City of Austin, the US honors its treaties and goes to War
The Mexican American War 1842-1844
-General Zachary Taylor is killed at the battle of Green River

1843
-The US army under General Briggs is badly defeated at the battle of San Antonio
-Without a significant victory, the US army had conquered Texas, California and the South West

1844
-Henry Clay is elected 11th President of the United States
-The growth of the Baltimore-Ohio during the war spurs further railway development
-A Mexican raiding party burns the colony of Kansas (later “Kansas City”) to the ground

1845
-The Treaty of Austin is signed- granting the USA minor territorial gains in Utah and ending the Mexican-American war

1846
-Great Britain cedes the Oregon Territory, in its entirety to the USA. Te land later becomes the states of Colombia and Oregon

1847
-The American Party comes to power in New York

1848
-The Ballot Crisis of 1848 extends President Clay’s term in office until 1850.

1849
-The Transcontinental Railroad opens

1850
-Charles M. Conrad of the American Party is named 12th President of the United States
-The Second Mexican American War 1850-1858
-The United States, under a flimsy pretense, invades Mexico

1851
-US forces drive deep into Mexican territory, virtually unopposed

1852
-The US army is stopped deep in Mexico and forced into a long, costly, retreat

1853
-The United States captures all of California
-Colonel Douglas Farr is trapped in Corpus Christi by the Mexicans, his break-out and subsequent death at Kingsville becomes the rallying cry of the war

1854
-The United States wins the battle of the Rio Grande, turning the tide of the conflict
-Conrad is re-elected president

1855
-Revolts by the Métis in Colombia and slaves in Tennessee send shockwaves through the country. A revolt by slaves in the capital puts the White House under siege briefly.

1856
-The Mexican Army is totally routed and destroyed in numerous battles

1857
-The Americans and Mexicans meet at San Lorenz, where the back of the Mexican army is finally broken once and for all
-The Mexican government sues for peace

1858
- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
-The Métis is put down
- William Patterson stops Conrad from seeking a third term and is elected 13th President of the United States

1859
-With Federal Aid, the mid-west sees a rapid boost in industrial production

1860
-The Texo-American War 1860
-The US army marches into Austin and it is incorporated into North Texas

1861
-Don Carlos Buell, hero of the Mexican War, resigns his commission to revive the American Party.

1862
-Don Carlos Buell is assassinated, William Patterson is re-elected to the White House.

1863

1864
-President Patterson begins openly influencing the course of South American politics

1865
-The Third Mexican-American War 1865-1868
-General John Pope lands an US army in the United States of Central America and begins a conquest of the small nation.
-The Republican of Mexico declares war on the United States to support the USCA

1866
-General Pope begins his march into the heart of the USCA.
-For violating the Constitutional restrictions on a declaration of war, President Patterson is impeached and forced to resign. His Vice President follows him. Daniel Clark succeeds him as the 14th President.
-The Senate and House quickly pass a resolution to extend President Clark's term until 1868.
-As a result of the resolution, the Southern States, feeling as though the Democratic candidate (Patterson) was illegally removed, declared themselves free of their ties to the Union and established the Confederate States of America.
-The American Civil War 1866-1868
-North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, the Indian Territories and Virginia all join South Carolina in the CSA. Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland and both North and South Texas remain neutral
-Colonel P.G.T. Beauregard and his soldiers turn on the US army in Central America
-The Confederates win the battle of Leesburg, holding the Americans out of Virginia

1867
-The Confederates, and General Jackson, win the battle of Beckley and capture West Virginia
-General William Sheridan lands in Louisiana with an Union army and begins the conquest of the state
-The Confederate army under Lee wins the battle of Cotting Lake, capturing the Union capital
-The Union wins the battle of Frederick, driving the Confederates back into Virginia and opening up the South for conquest

1868
-The Union defeats the Confederate army at Smithfield, effectively ending the war
-The Mexicans surrender to the United States, ceding territory around the Rio Grande
-Daniel Clark is elected President of the United States
-Philip Sheridan divides the South into five military districts
-Thomas Jackson founds the Southern Christian Army

1869
-New Congressional agreements encourage the spread of immigrants into the North, and the spread of freed Confederate slaves into the far west

1870
-The KKK is disbanded and effectively destroyed by Philip Sheridan.

1871
-The SCA and the Southern League begin their passive-religious resistance against the north.

1872
-Thomas Ewing is elected 15th President of the United States

1873
-The United States Army begins a series of Indian Wars

1874
-The Panic of 1874 damages the US economy

1875
-The Re-Unification Act of 1875 ends Reconstruction

1876
-Thanks to a promise of war against the Italian occupiers of Mexico, Justin Smith Morrill is elected 16th President of the United States

1877
-The Italo-American War 1877-1879

1878
-The US army lands in Italy and wins numerous battles against minor Italian states

1879
-The Italian states cede their land in Mexico to the United States (who sells it to Mexico) to end the war

1880
-Justin Smith Morrill is re-elected
-Leon begins to become populated by Southerners moving west

This post is about the Spanish-American Battle of Cadiz.
 
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