My little wargaming scenario, turned into a mini-timeline.
BACKGROUND
The Secession
The northern and southern Democrats split in the 1856 election instead of the 1860 election, and John Fremont was elected President of the United States. The Deep South promptly seceded, and as in OTL, when the President announced that the Union would be preserved by force if necessary, the Upper South seceded.
The handling of what were known as the "border states" in OTL was managed spectacularly badly, with the result that Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri all declared for the Confederacy, although there were serious battles between pro-Union and pro-Confederacy factions. Fremont was forced to take his oath of office in Philadelphia, where he announced that the South would be forcibly returned to the Union.
Unfortunately, the Civil War was an utter disaster for the North. As in OTL, incompetent Northern generals in the East suffered defeat after defeat in Maryland, and the war in the West, while prosecuted fairly enough, did not result in any major gains.
After a year of this stalemate, President Fremont, a former general himself, took personal command of the Grand Army of the Republic, and marched south. With a little luck, he was able to defeat the Confederate army in two engagements, capturing Baltimore without a fight, and besieging Washington DC.
But the South had fortified Washington well during the previous winter, and slaughtered wave after wave of Federal assaults. Eventually, the Southern army was able to recover its strength to the point where it fought a pitched battle against Fremont. The Confederate troops were victorious, and the battered remains of the Grand Army of the Republic were trapped in Baltimore.
Baltimore could've been held indefinitely, seeing as it was possible to supply it by sea, if a new war machine had not intervened. The Confederate ironclads Maryland and Frederick wreaked havoc on the Federal supply ships, and destroyed the warships sent to try to defeat them. Eventually, President Fremont was forced to capitulate on August 1, 1858.
With the nation's president in the hands of the enemy, Vice-President Dayton vowed to continue to the war. But the North had lost its stomach for the war now, and any further attempt to continue the war was ended when the French Empire recognized the Confederacy on September 15. When it was announced that a French naval squadron had departed Brest to restore trade with the Confederacy and end the Northern blockade by force, Dayton gave in and after a short round of peace talks, the Confederate States of America were recognized as an independent nation by the United States.
Uneasy Peace
The independent Confederacy proceeded to use its newfound independence to spend nearly a decade bickering over what sort of government was truly best for the new nation, before settling into international insignificance.
The French Empire used the United States' defeat and temporary isolation to place Maximilian on the throne of the Mexican Empire, and establish itself in that country.
The United States returned to isolation for a decade, then began to set out on a course to become a Great Power, in great leaps forward, and small steps back. Americans remembered how instrumental the French fleet had been in forcing them to release the South from the Union, and after a confrontation with Chile showed the weakness of the American fleet, the nation embarked on a impressive shipbuilding program beginning in 1879: sixteen protected cruisers and eighteen wooden cruisers as well as two coastal battleships were scheduled to be completed by 1885, with an additional four battleships and eight cruisers to be completed by 1889. The army was modernized, albeit to a lesser extent.
When President Butler was elected in 1884, he promised to reinforce the Monroe Doctrine: almost immediately arms and funds were funnelled to the Mexican resistance against Maximilian, and the "yellow press" began trumpeting the Spanish oppression of the Cubans to the entire country.
War
On May 7, 1886, an American merchantman smuggling arms to Cuban rebels was seized, and its crew summarily tried and executed. This was Butler's excuse to drive the Spanish from the Western Hemisphere.
After giving Spain a ridiculous ultimatum that asked for immense reparations and economic concessions in Cuba to America, and upon its rejection, Butler asked for a declaration of war against Spain, ignoring France's calls for a peaceful solution. The US Congress declared war on Spain in a narrow vote on June 16, 1886.
The Opening Moves
An expeditionary force was loaded aboard transports in New York Harbor, preparing to sail for Cuba as soon as possible. Their escort was the responsibility of the Atlantic Fleet under the command of the newly-promoted Read-Admiral John Irwin. On July 1, the fleet, consisting of twelve protected cruisers, six frigates, three torpedo boat destroyers, several small gunboats, and thirty-five transports carrying 18,000 infantry, 1,500 cavalry, and various supplies set sail for Cuba.
Unbeknownst to the Americans, a hurriedly-scrambled together Spanish force under the command of Admiral Cervera had sailed at best speed across the Atlantic, stopped to recoal in Puerto Rico, and were now heading to engage the American invasion fleet...
BACKGROUND
The Secession
The northern and southern Democrats split in the 1856 election instead of the 1860 election, and John Fremont was elected President of the United States. The Deep South promptly seceded, and as in OTL, when the President announced that the Union would be preserved by force if necessary, the Upper South seceded.
The handling of what were known as the "border states" in OTL was managed spectacularly badly, with the result that Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri all declared for the Confederacy, although there were serious battles between pro-Union and pro-Confederacy factions. Fremont was forced to take his oath of office in Philadelphia, where he announced that the South would be forcibly returned to the Union.
Unfortunately, the Civil War was an utter disaster for the North. As in OTL, incompetent Northern generals in the East suffered defeat after defeat in Maryland, and the war in the West, while prosecuted fairly enough, did not result in any major gains.
After a year of this stalemate, President Fremont, a former general himself, took personal command of the Grand Army of the Republic, and marched south. With a little luck, he was able to defeat the Confederate army in two engagements, capturing Baltimore without a fight, and besieging Washington DC.
But the South had fortified Washington well during the previous winter, and slaughtered wave after wave of Federal assaults. Eventually, the Southern army was able to recover its strength to the point where it fought a pitched battle against Fremont. The Confederate troops were victorious, and the battered remains of the Grand Army of the Republic were trapped in Baltimore.
Baltimore could've been held indefinitely, seeing as it was possible to supply it by sea, if a new war machine had not intervened. The Confederate ironclads Maryland and Frederick wreaked havoc on the Federal supply ships, and destroyed the warships sent to try to defeat them. Eventually, President Fremont was forced to capitulate on August 1, 1858.
With the nation's president in the hands of the enemy, Vice-President Dayton vowed to continue to the war. But the North had lost its stomach for the war now, and any further attempt to continue the war was ended when the French Empire recognized the Confederacy on September 15. When it was announced that a French naval squadron had departed Brest to restore trade with the Confederacy and end the Northern blockade by force, Dayton gave in and after a short round of peace talks, the Confederate States of America were recognized as an independent nation by the United States.
Uneasy Peace
The independent Confederacy proceeded to use its newfound independence to spend nearly a decade bickering over what sort of government was truly best for the new nation, before settling into international insignificance.
The French Empire used the United States' defeat and temporary isolation to place Maximilian on the throne of the Mexican Empire, and establish itself in that country.
The United States returned to isolation for a decade, then began to set out on a course to become a Great Power, in great leaps forward, and small steps back. Americans remembered how instrumental the French fleet had been in forcing them to release the South from the Union, and after a confrontation with Chile showed the weakness of the American fleet, the nation embarked on a impressive shipbuilding program beginning in 1879: sixteen protected cruisers and eighteen wooden cruisers as well as two coastal battleships were scheduled to be completed by 1885, with an additional four battleships and eight cruisers to be completed by 1889. The army was modernized, albeit to a lesser extent.
When President Butler was elected in 1884, he promised to reinforce the Monroe Doctrine: almost immediately arms and funds were funnelled to the Mexican resistance against Maximilian, and the "yellow press" began trumpeting the Spanish oppression of the Cubans to the entire country.
War
On May 7, 1886, an American merchantman smuggling arms to Cuban rebels was seized, and its crew summarily tried and executed. This was Butler's excuse to drive the Spanish from the Western Hemisphere.
After giving Spain a ridiculous ultimatum that asked for immense reparations and economic concessions in Cuba to America, and upon its rejection, Butler asked for a declaration of war against Spain, ignoring France's calls for a peaceful solution. The US Congress declared war on Spain in a narrow vote on June 16, 1886.
The Opening Moves
An expeditionary force was loaded aboard transports in New York Harbor, preparing to sail for Cuba as soon as possible. Their escort was the responsibility of the Atlantic Fleet under the command of the newly-promoted Read-Admiral John Irwin. On July 1, the fleet, consisting of twelve protected cruisers, six frigates, three torpedo boat destroyers, several small gunboats, and thirty-five transports carrying 18,000 infantry, 1,500 cavalry, and various supplies set sail for Cuba.
Unbeknownst to the Americans, a hurriedly-scrambled together Spanish force under the command of Admiral Cervera had sailed at best speed across the Atlantic, stopped to recoal in Puerto Rico, and were now heading to engage the American invasion fleet...
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