An official Timeline for those of you who have not read the books.
November 8th, 1861: The Trenth Affair commences with Confederate diplomats James Murray Mason and John Sidell taken prisoner by the USS San Jacinto
November 15th, 1861: (POD) Prince Albert is bedridden of Typhoid Fever while in the middle of dealing with the Trent Affair.
December 21st, 1861: An ultimatum is sent to the Union from Britain demanding reperations for the Trent Affair and the release of the Confederate envoys. President Lincoln refuses.
December 21st, 1861: Prince Albert passes away surrounded by his wife and children. His last words are "The Trent Affair", most likely wanting to resolve it. Queen Victoria takes it differently and blames the Americans for the death of her love.
February 16th, 1862: Fort Donelson falls to Ulysses S. Grant.
March 9th, 1862: The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia clash in the Battle of Hampton Roads.
April 6th-7th 1862: Battle of Shiloh occurs with the combined leadership of Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman overwhelming Confederate forces. General Albert Sidney Johnston is killed in the fighting. Sherman is promoted to Major General.
May 1st, 1862: A border skirmish takes place on the Vermont-Quebec border between Canadian Mounties and U.S militia. The skirmish ends in blood drawn on both sides.
May 1st, 1862: New Orleans captured by Union forces.
May 9th 1862: The Anglo-American War begins with the invasion of New York by Canadian forces. General Grant is sent to New York in response while Sherman takes over in Tennessee. The Battle of Plattsburgh takes place which results in a Union loss. Northern New York is overrun.
May 30th, 1862: The Duke of Cambridge and Major General Bullers launch a strike against Biloxi, Mississippi. Believing the town to be in Union hands. During the battle the town of Biloxi is sacked with hundreds of civilians dead, half the town burnt, and much of the female population raped.
May 31st, 1862: A ceasefire is commenced between General P.G.T Beauregard and Major General William Tecumseh Sherman over the attack on Biloxi. Sherman leads elements of his army to assist Beauregard in driving out the British.
June 8th 1862: The Battle of Handsboro takes place with Union and Confederate forces decsively overruning the Royal Marines and forcing them back towards Biloxi where they are captured. The USS Monitor also drives away the British squadron off the coast, securing the Gulf region of the South.
June 22nd, 1862: President Abraham Lincoln meets John Stuart Mill.
June 23rd, 1862: General Robert E. Lee meets President Lincoln in Washington under a cease fire, bringing news from Confederate President Jefferson Davis of a greater cease fire and coordination against the British.
July 3rd 1862: A meeting takes place between Presidents Lincoln and Davis on the Chesapeake over the course of the war. Both presidents agree to ally their nations against the British to drive them out of North America, with a promise of later talks of reunification. William Tecumseh Sherman is promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the combined Union and Confederate Armies.
July 4th, 1862: The Battle of the Chesapeake takes place with a British Flotilla: attempting to launch an invasion of Washington. They are promptly beat back by Union reinforcements led by the USS Avenger, an Ironclad vessel.
July 15th 1862: The Battle of Saratoga ends in an American victory thanks to the arrival of Southern cavalry forces which drive the British back.
July 27th 1862: The Battle of Hudson Valley ends in an American victory. The Canadian/British forces take heavy losses and are forced across the border with the Americans launching an invasion of Canada.
August 5th 1862: The Confederate Congress votes to rejoin the Union. Part of the Reconstruction Bill between both nations agrees that the children of black slaves henceafter shall be born free. Slavery shall end in the United States in totality in the next five year with Slave owners able to sell their slaves freedom for a monetary gain.
September 12th 1862: The Battle of Quebec ends in the capture of the city by American forces. The Republic of Canada is proclaimed with the capitol placed in Quebec City.
November 23rd, 1862: The Office of Naval Intelligence is established. ONI is the first form of an established foreign espionage agency within the United States.
December 10th, 1862: The Freedman's Beureau is established to help freed black slaves integrate into American society.
April 1st, 1863: British troops land in Mexico to plan an invasion of the Gulf through the crossing of troops through the country.
June 1863: The Siege of Monterrey begins with Mexican guerilleros besieging the foreign contingent within the city.
July 1863: General Ulysses S. Grant is sent with a regiment of American troops to Mexico to push the British out of the country.
August 19th 1863: Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis participates in a Klu Klux Klan on a black church in Jackson, Mississippi. He is shot dead by a black private L.D. Lewis. The south erupts into uproar at the death of their former president.
September 1863: An American Armada is launched from New York to invade the island of Ireland.
October 8th, 1863. The Invasion of Ireland commences with a three-pronged attack into the island. Coordination with Fenian rebels who cut off all communications to the island give the Americans an element of suprise. General Sherman takes 1/3rd of the force to Dublin, Stonewall Jackson leading the American contingent to capture the Southern portion of the Ireland, while Robert E. Lee strikes Belfast.
Through the usage of Gatling Guns, mobile artillery, and Ironclad warships, Lightning warfare is officially invented as the Americans overrun the island in a matter of weeks while decimating the British contingent.
November 20th, 1863: Ireland is declared to be free of British rule with the beginning of American occupation of the Ireland.
March 17th, 1864: The Republic of Ireland declares its independence. On the same day Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa is sworn into office as the first President of Ireland with President Abraham Lincoln in attendance.
November 8th, 1864: The United States holds its presidential elections with Abraham Lincoln runnign for reelection while Judah P. Benjamin is nominated by the Democratic Party for the presidency, making him the first Jewish-American Presidential Candidate in history. The Popular vote is close with Lincoln obtaining 52.3% to Benjamin's 47.7%. In the end the election goes to Lincoln with an electoral victory of 205-98 Electoral Votes. The Republican Party also manages to keep a slight majority in the reunified congress thanks to the war effort and the growing popularity of the Republicans in the South.
December 1864: French forces withdraw from Mexico and Beinto Juarez is recognized as the rightful ruler of Mexico as President. Archduke Maximilian von Hapsburg returns to Austria, having been prevented from being installed as Emperor of Mexico.
2.
June 4th, 1865: A Peace Conference takes place in Brussels, Belgium to discuss the talks of rising nationalism within Europe and various conflicts abroad. In addition to the great powers in attendance, Presidents Lincoln and Rossa of the United States and Ireland are in respective attendance. Virginian actor John Wilkes Booth attempts to assassinate President Lincoln on the first day. Fortunately the bullet is taken by General Grant who is wounded but later survives, while General Sherman kills the assassin with his scabbard.
June 5th, 1865: Upon finding out of the American and Irish delegations, the British delegation led by Lord Palmerston walks out. Without the presence of the British the conference generally collapses in a week with President Lincoln returning to Washington. Before President Lincoln leaves he is met by Emperor Napoleon III for intense discussions on the British issue
1. Unfortunately the issue of German Unification is not brought up, something which will cast a dark shadow in the future.
July 1865: Russian Count Alexander Korzhenevski plots an espionage trip to London to scout out British defenses within the capitol. He is joined by Secretary of the Navy Gus Fox, General Sherman, and Commander William Wilson. The mission is a success with the British none the wiser.
August 1865: Warfare is changed forever when Robert Parker Parrot introduces the mobile battery, a mobile platform run by steam power which is used to transport Gatling guns without the need for horse power. The invention is the precursor to the modern tank.
May 20th, 1866: For the first time in over a thousand years, the island of Britian is invaded with an American/Irish invasion force landing at Liverpool. With an invasion force of 150,000 troops, General Sherman sets out to conquer London and end the war.
May 22nd, 1866: The Battle of Plymouth is over with the town taken by American forces.
June 4th, 1866: The Battle of London commences as an amphibious assault force of U.S Marines attack London through the Thames which is under American control. On the second day Buckingham Palace is captured with the American flag raised over the palace. Queen Victoria and the Royal family are nowhere to be seen.
June 7th, 1866: The Queen's estate at Windsor Great Park is surrounded by American troops. Prime Minister John Russel unconditionally surredners to General Sherman with Queen Victoria taken into custody.
June 22nd, 1866: 3. After four years the Anglo-American War ends with the Treaty of London. The terms of the Treaty of London are as such;
- All hostilities shall cease between the Armies of the United States of America and the Armies of Great Britain:.
- The Republic of Canada shall have its independence recognized. Of Canada's territory, the former territory which comprised the Oregon Country shall return to the United States with free passage between the American and Canadian borders.
- Ireland shall have her independence recognized as the Republic of Ireland.
- Scotland is to be granted independence and recognized as the Republic of Scotland.
- Queen Victoria is to abdicate her position as Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and give up all claims to Ireland and Scotland. The United Kingdom is henceforth dissolved and transformed into the Federation of Great Britain with England and Wales comprising the two main remnant of Great Britain. John Stuart Mill is chosen as the intern President until democratic elections can be held.
- All British colonies within the Americas shall be transferred to the position of the United States as American territories.
- Reparations of $1.5 Million shall be paid from Great Britain to the United States due to damages during the war.
- American military occupation of Great Britain shall continue for one year until June 22nd, of 1867, upon said date power shall transfer to the civilian government of the British Federation.
- All persons of Irish or Scottish descent within the newly-formed British Federation shall be given citizenship to their respective homelands and leave to return to their nation, if not then they shall remain British citizens.
- All British colonies within the Eastern hemisphere are recognized to belong to the Federation.
1. This never took place within the books but will be expanded upon as part of the Prologue of this TL with Napoleon plotting due to the fall of British power.
2. Maximilian's survival will have major consequences TTL.
3. These are basically the terms of the treaty that were not given within the novels and were very vague in the books. This is what I think Lincoln would pursue.
