Naval Campaign of the Seconf Mexican War
Phase 2: Declaration of War by France and Britain August 2nd 1881
Britain and France’s motivation for entering the conflict.
On August 2nd, 1881 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Republic of France officially entered the conflict on the side of the Confederacy. The decision to do so was highly contentious in both countries. There were strong financial interests pushing the two nations towards war. Both nations would be major beneficiaries of the sale of Chihuahua and Sonora, as they were Mexico’s largest debt holders. Britain and France also were the largest investors in the Confederacy. British and French capital had paid for the Confederacy's rapid industrialization. If the U.S. could compel the Confederacy to halt its purchase both economies would suffer. If the U.S. succeeded in conquering and re absorbing the southern states, both economies would be ruined.
British Prime Minister Gladstone was especially reluctant to enter the conflict. Gladstone had initially supported recognizing the Confederacy during the War of Secession. After the end of the war Britain and France had guaranteed Confederate independence and there was a strong element of the foreign office, along with those with financial interests, led by Lord Salisbury who supported intervention. A powerful and vengeful newly re-United States would seriously destabilize the international system. However the South’s continued maintenance of the slave system made Gladstone's support for war morally impossible. Longstreet solved this issue by putting forth an amendment to end slavery to Congress and personally offering to manumit his slave at the end of the conflict. Longstreet played to Gladstone’s vanity by suggesting it was his influence which made Longstreet abandon slavery. A lifelong abolitionist Gladstone asked Parliament for a declaration of war on August 2nd.
The Confederate-French alliance was a legacy of Napoleon II and therefore not popular with many of the Republicans now in power. Napoleon II was the driving force behind England and France's entrance into the War of Secession. After the war the it was France that was the more important European ally as the C.S.A. and French Empire worked closely in imperial interventions throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. This abruptly ended with the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. As France recovered from the war, it had little appetite for renewed adventure in Latin America. By the late 1880s this had changed and France was eager to renew its confidence with overseas expansion and cultivation of new allies to array against Germany.
This time the driving force behind French intervention was the driving force behind entering the war was the Republican President of the Chamber of Deputies Leon Gambetta. Though not Prime Minister or President, Gambetta was a powerful republican leader who maintained influence over many state ministries. Gambetta believed that honoring France’s defensive alliance with the Confederacy was necessary for re-establishing France’s international reputation and countering internal threats from monarchists, Bonapartists and other forces on the right . He also sought to establish alliances with similarly liberal powers like Britain and the Confederacy. After Prime Minister Charles de Freycinet faIled to react to Blaine’s dismissal of all British and French diplomatic personnel. Gambetta orchestrated a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister and replaced him. His first act was to help overcome Gladstone’s misgivings about joining such an alliance, by promising to coordinate with him in the future on interventions in the Mediterranean. France joined the British in a declaration of war on August 2nd.
Britain’s Opening Moves
In the months leading up to the war both Britain and France sent sizable fleets to threatened possessions in North America and the Caribbean. In command of the British Forces in North America was the Admiral Beauchamp Seymour. Seymour entered the Royal Navy in 1834, and served in the Mediterranean and the Pacific. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Australia Station from 10 March 1860 and 21 July 1862 as Commodore second class. He commanded the Naval Brigade in New Zealand during the New Zealand Wars of 1860–61, and was made a Commander of the Bath for this. In 1872, he became a Fourth Naval Lord for two years, and then commander the Channel Fleet. He became a vice-admiral on 31 December 1876. From 1880 to 1883 he was Commander-in-Chief, North American Fleet. At the start of the war he was already in command of six ironclad warships and over two dozen wooden steamers.
With the declaration of war Britain’s first act was used its undersea cable networks to alert its naval stations around the world to hunt down and destroy the U.S. Navy’s fleet of wooden steampowered sloops and cruisers. At the same time Seymour had to protect reinforcements to Canada. It was decided that no convoy, carrying a regiment or more worth of soldiers could sail without the protection of at least two ironclad warships. This presented problems for the Royal Navy as many Ironclad battleships were neither exceptionally seaworthy or capable of running their engines for long periods. As a result it was decided to convoy large numbers of troops in single convoys to maximize protection. The first such convoy carrying over a division's worth of men left of August 7th and arrived safely. The only action it saw was the sinking of two U.S. fishing trawlers in the Grand Banks for fear of they may carry mines. The convoy failed to sink a third trawler which observed the attack and quickly returned to Boston with tails of British barbarism.
Royal Navy Atlantic Fleet
Ironclad Battleships
- HMS Hercules (1868)
- HMS Temeraire (1876) (NT)
- HMS Dreadnought (1875)(T)
- HMS Neptune (1874) (T)
- HMS Inflexible (1876)(T)
- HMS Devastation (1871)(T)
- HMS Monarch (1868)
- HMS Invincible (1869)
- HMS Audacious (1869)
- HMS Iron Duke (1870)
- HMS Vangard (1870)
- HMS Bellerophon (1865) Flagship
Coastal Service Ironclads (stationed at Bermuda)
- Bellisiele (1876)
- Orion (1879)
Battle of the Grand Banks
The Boston fishing community reports of Royal Navy troop movements through the Grand Banks confirmed the Intelligence department’s reports that the Royal Navy was using Halifax as its main port for troop disembarkation in Canada. Naval intelligence confirmed that another convoy had already left Britain and was heading towards Canada. After the Army’s failure to seize the town of Winchester Virginia, President Blaine was anxious us for any kind of victory. He therefore ordered the U.S. Navy to intercept the next convoy.
The Navy department quickly organized a flotilla of eight ships to intercept this convoy. Drawn mainly from warships based in Portland the Naval dockyards at Portsmouth and Kittery. The core of the flotilla was three ironclad warships including two Kalamazoo class ironclads the USS Passaconaway, USS Mystic and the USS New Ironsides. Completed in June the New Ironsides was a wooden warship whose armor was upgraded with iron plate. The fleet also included seven wooden hulled ships of the line.
The Fleet commanded by Commodore Robert H. Wyman left Portland, Maine on August 10th and arrived in the Grand Banks on August 13th. Upon arriving at the Grand Banks the fleet was beset by problems. Heavy morning fog created visibility and signaling issues. Both the USS Mystic and USS Passaconaway, suffered engine difficulties, which meant they could only steam at 7 knots. On August 15th the USS Charles Ellsworth captained by Alfred Thayer Mahan, spotted the troop transports and their escorts. Initially only three wooden escorts were detected and the fleet drew into a line of battle headed by the steam powered ships, which despite their steam power could only travel at 7 knots. A fog obscured the five Royal Navy Ironclads also protecting the convoy. Steaming at reduced speed the Ironclads made directly for the troop transports. Iit was not until they were in range of the of the Royal Navy Battleships did they spot the vessels, traveling at twice their speed.
The skipper of the Charles Ellsworth, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, watched in impotent rage as the superior armor and gunnery of the Royal Navy hammered the the U.S. ironclads. Commodore Wyman ordered the wooden vessels to make for the troop transports, while the Ironclads fended off the British ironclads. However the British wooden warships and two Battleships managed to interpose themselves between the attacking Americans and the troopships. In short order the USS Ironsides and five wooden ships were critically damaged. Commodore Wyman ordered a retreat but damage and engine difficulties prevented the USS Mystic from moving at anything more than a few knots. USS Mystics commander Captain Frederick Sterling sacrificed his vessel, along with his life, so the remainder of the Flotilla could escape.
The British commander Commodore Edmund Fremantle judge correctly by their course that they were retreating to Maine and Portland harbor. After escorting the convoy to Nova Scotian waters. Commodore Freemantle ordered his Battleships to steam for Portland in a retaliatory raid. Upon entering the Casco Bay Fremantle’s squadron sank the USS Passaconaway, destroyed a large section of the Portland waterfront and damaged forts Preble and Gorges which defended the city. Luckily for the future history of the navy and the nation, the Charles Ellsworth had been ordered to set sail for Portsmouth three hours earlier. Thus sparing the life of President Mahan.
Royal Navy Battleships
- HMS Hercules (1868)
- HMS Dreadnought (1875)(T)
- HMS Audacious (1869)
- HMS Iron Duke (1870)
Royal Navy Wooden Warships
- HMS Prince of Wales
- HMS Royal Sovereign
- HMS Marlborough
U.S. Navy Ironclads
- USS New Ironsides
- USS Passaconaway
- USS Mystic
- USS Alert (iron gunboat)
U.S. Navy Wooden Warships
- USS Charles Ellsworth
- USS Colorado
- USS Chesapeake
- USS Porter
- USS Brooklyn
- USS Hartford
- USS Seminole
The U. S.’s Guerre de Course
In words reminiscent of Secretary of State Seward during the war of Secession., President Blaine warned the Europeans powers that if they intervened the U.S. would “set the world ablaze.” Staying true to his word, upon France and Britain’s declaration of war coded messages were immediately transmitted through U.S. cables and third party cables to warships stationed in neutral harbors to attack all French and British merchantmen. (This would lead Britain to cutting the cables in the opening days of the First Great War). Within twenty four hours of Britain and France’s declaration of war two squadron of six wooden steam warships departed New York and San Francisco to begin cruising the Atlantic and Pacific for British and French merchantmen.
The U.S. commander of the commerce raiding operation was the legendary Seaman Commodore Stephen Luce. Luce had joined the navy at age of 14 in 1841. He served in the First Mexican War and the War of Secession. He was also one of the nation's foremost Naval theorists, having continuously lobbied Congress for the creation of a naval war college. Luce understood that in its current state of decrepitude, the U.S. could never hope to fend off the Royal Navy. therefore the navy’s only option was to hit the Royal Navy in so many places it could never concentrate its forces. The U.S. had over 48 wooden steam warships of War of Secession vintage in fairly ready condition on reserve. Though they could never take on a modern a ironclad or steel battleship, they were certainly lethal enough to take on British Empires merchantmen and shore installation. Luckily for Luce the Navy currently had a serious excess of officers and not enough ships to go around. One of the problems in naval modernizing the fleet was the glut of War of Secession officers still in the Navy without a command. They ate Up funds that could be used to construct new warships. Luce had spent the months leading up to the war training and convincing these men that this was their last shot for staying in the navy. If they could prove they could fight they could hope to keep earn a command in the new vastly expanded navy that he prophesied would be regenerated by the war. Luce also readily found the enlisted men as many citizens of coastal communities flocked to join the navy before they were scooped up by the army.
By the outbreak of the war Luce had 40 of these vessels, despite their being given a lower priority for repair then Ironclad warships. Luce had also worked with naval intelligence to preposition many of these warships near important navigational choke points around the world. Working with neutral powers to use their undersea telegraphic cables to alert U.S. warships via coded message.
The first reports of clashes between British merchantmen and U.S. warships came out of the Sandwich when the USS Eldridge captured a British merchantman and towed it to Honolulu as a prize. The Sandwich islanders accepted the prize but King Kalākaua warned against attacking British ships in Kingdoms waters. Reports of attacks soon began to filter into the British admiralty from around the world. Merchantmen were being lost off the coast Chile, Dutch East Indies, Japan, Russian Alaska, the Azores, the Canaries, Brazil, Iceland, Egypt and even Faroe Islands. The U.S. commerce raiders were most effective in the more remote areas where the British or French warships on station. Many Future Commanders of the Great War served in Luce’s commerce raiders. Men like George Dewey commander of the USS Colorado, who captured four prizes and was heralded in the local Tagalog as “Bayani ng Manila” or Hero of Manila.
One of the Navy’s greatest success in this period was a raid on British vessels off Scotland and its surrounding islands. In attack reminiscent of John Paul Jones. This operation was possible only after the USS John Paul Jones and USS Bonhomme Richard captured three iron hulled British transports. These were quickly converted into Cruisers and deployed to attack British shipping off the home islands. On October 3rd three ships the USS Vengeance, Intervention and Bunker Hill raided the Scottish coast. Under the command of Commodore George Browne these vessels terrorized british shipping for three weeks before they were intercepted by a Squadron of the Home Fleet. Only one vessel the USS Bunker Hill under the command of Captain Winfield Scott Schley escaped. A fourth iron hulled vessel was captured in the pacific, which began raiding off Japan and China.
In an orgy of destruction within the first months of the war, U.S. warships seized forty vessels. Luckily the British merchant fleet was the largest on earth comprising more than 60% of the world's shipping. The British admiralty responded by reinforcing these remote stations with older warships formerly kept in reserve. Soon U.S., British and French warships were clashing in these remote places. Knowing the U.S. could never hope to defeat the Royal Navy, the U.S. raiders were ordered to inflict as much damage on the Royal Navy as possible. All ships had orders to stand and fight if cornered. In many of these engagements U.S. ships crews out performed their British counterparts. U.S. commanded often ordered reckless and daring maneuvers knowing they would be rewarded if they sunk British vessels even if they lost their ships. On the other hand nearly 70 years of peace had made the british reluctant to commit themselves to fights for the death. For British Captains the greatest black mark on their career was to lose their vessel. As a result they shied away from life and death struggles. The Royal Navy was already showing the paucity and caution that would be their downfall in the Great War.
Though the campaign was successful in damaging British trade, it also damaged U.S. relations with many neutral nations who were reliant on British trade. Argentina was the south american nation most affected by the loss of British trade, went so far as to fire on U.S. vessels preying upon British vessels in their water. One of the worst moments of the campaign was the accidental ramming of the Emperor of Japan’s yacht by the sloop USS Benicia. This nearly ignited a war, however Japan’s similar lack of naval strength prevented this. The British Navy and Foreign Ministry would capitalize on these incidents to help convince neutrals to stop taking prizes or supplying U.S. vessels.
The Royal Navy’s doctrine to handle commerce raiding was strategic patrolling. Focusing the majority ships on key strategic crossroads , like the eastern U.S. and Canadian coasts, the Channel, Canary Islands, Falkland Islands, the Horn of Africa, Cape of Good Hope, Sandwich Islands, Mediterranean, Singapore and Malacca straits. This was supplemented by patrols of major sea lanes. Convoying was seen as unnecessary at the time due to the demands of British Industry and the overwhelming size of the British merchant marine, which was four times the size of nearest competitor. As shipping costs rose across the Empire, the admiralty was forced to change tactics. Wartime supplies like ammunition and men were organized into convoys. Instead of hunting down U.S. warships the Royal Navy concentrated on finding and hunting down colliers and vessels that supplied them. Forcing U.S. warships to rely on their sails and decreasing their speed. This greatly increased the Royal Navy’s chances in battle. Because of their greater access to coaling stations, the Royal Navy could use their steam engines more often, allowing the British to expend more fuel in running down U.S. warships. The British also responded by threatening ports who were accepting U.S. prizes and giving them aid. By the end of september few ports were willing to accept U.S. ships, besides the Russian Empire and Germans. However this was only helpful to U.S. ships in East Africa and the Pacific. By the end of September there was a 50% drop in attack on British and French shipping. However the cost of the attacks drove the admiralty to extreme measures.
Royal Navy Assault on the U.S. Atlantic Cities
After the Battle of the Grand Banks and the costly attacks on British shipping, Admiral Seymour finally convinced the Naval Ministry that the best way to remove the threat of the U.S. navy was to systematically destroy U.S.‘s naval yards and harbors. These attacks would also put economic pressure on the nation’s financial elites and remind these cities far away from the front lines of the of the cost of the war. The plan was sound but risky. To accomplish this, Admiral Seymour would necessitate the vast majority of Britain's most modern warships. Including over twelve ironclad warships; both it older centerline and new turreted battleships. This would require the deployment of sizable elements of both the Mediterranean and Home Fleet, potentially leaving the Home Islands and vital parts of the Empire open to attack. Seymour however argued that with the French allied in the conflict, there was no major naval power capable of threatening the British Fleet outside Russia, who gave no signs of joining the conflict.
Seymour’s plan called for moving down the U.S.’s Atlantic coast targeting one naval yard, before replenishing their supplies at prearranged locations and moving on to the next city. It would be the largest Royal Navy operation since the Napoleonic Wars. The Admiralty had identified ten target that need to be eliminated on the Atlantic seaboard; Portland, Boston, Plymouth, Providence, Newport, Mystic, New London, New Haven, New York, Brooklyn, Wilmington, Philadelphia and Dover. Simultaneously attacks would be made by Canadian and British ironclads on the Great Lakes including; Buffalo, Rochester, Erie, Cleveland and Detroit. In the Pacific the French fleet steaming out of Mexican Ports would attack southern California, while a combined British and Australian flotilla would focus on San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.
Admiral Seymour’s logic had won the day and by September 18th a dozen ironclad battleships along with another two dozen gunboats and support vessels anchored at Halifax Nova Scotia steamed south. Having already attacked Portsmouth in retaliation for the attack on the Halifax troop convoy, the Fleets first major attack would be Boston. The attack on Boston took place September 20th, and comprised seven Battleships and five gunboats. The three main forts defending Boston were Fort Independence, Fort Warren and Fort Winthrop. There was also more than two dozen artillery batteries scattered around the harbors islands. Along with the USS Onondaga a Kalamazoo class ocean going Ironclad and two Passaic class ironclads the USS Passaic and USS Patapsco. The Battle of Boston lasted all but seven hours, leaving the Charleston navy yard and most of the harbor on fire. The defenders of Boston were successful in destroying four gunboats that were committed to the attack too early, however the result was the same destruction which occurred at Portland only writ larger. The battle proved instructional. U.S. harbor defenses were antiquated and completely useless. Only one fort, Fort Warren had modern artillery and even that proved inadequate against the fleets armor. Only the gunboats proved vulnerable and should be held in reserve until the forts were silenced. This was also important as it was the first major Royal Navy operation involving mastless turreted ironclads. The trip between Halifax and Boston put a tremendous strain on the steam engines resulting in the breakdown of two of the vessels, one on the way their and one on the way back. Only the poor state of the U.S. Navy prevented them from taking advantage of the fleets vulnerability. If the Fleet was going to attack targets further south it would need a port of anchorage somewhere off the U.S. coast.
The next operation was an attack on Plymouth Massachusetts On October 3rd. Though not a major naval base it was selected as a diversion tactic, to draw reinforcements away from the British Army’s invasion of Maine and the seizure of Block Island by royal marines. While only three Battleships took part on the attack on plymouth eight battleships to part in the seizure on Block Island. Over a brigade of royal marines took part in the landing and seized the island with little resistance. From their anchorage on Block Island, Admiral Seymour launched his attacks on Rhode Island, Connecticut and eventually New York. On October 9th two squadron of four battleships and six gunboats each attacked Newport and Providence. From their they moved on to Mystic and New London Connecticut. The Royal Navy was not above raiding small coastal towns like Chatham, New Bedford, Nantucket, Niantic and Old Saybrook. Everywhere they Royal Navy attacked the result was the same as Boston, massive damage for no losses to British ships of the line.
By the end of October patience in the Royal Navy was running thin. No matter how many ports or whaling towns the Royal Navy attacked the Yankees refused to quit fighting. U.S. warships still prowled for British merchantmen and U.S. soldiers continued to resist british soldiers in Maine. Pressure was mounting in the British Press to take the fight to the enemy and end the struggle. It was under these conditions that the Admiralty approve Admiral Seymour’s plan to attack New York harbor. After Boston Seymour decided that the attack required nearly all of the fleet. Only two Battleships were left to defend Block Island the Iron Duke and Vanguard. The remaining battleships were committed to the attack. Because of the heavy harbor defenses, only four gunboats were committed. The attack on New York occurred on October 23rd. It began like so many other Royal Navy attacks. The Royal Navy used the superior range of their guns to reduce the city’s outer forts. However trouble began when Admiral Seymour landed marines to attack the cities outer forts from the rear. Stout local resistance forced them to break off the attack. Then the fleet defending the harbor managed to surprise and sink the admiral’s flagship. The Admiral relocated to the Inflexible, but the loss of his flagship was considered as serious blow by the admiralty. These twin losses resulted in the fleet being unable to carry out its secondary objective of seizing the gold reserves held in New York’s banks.
After the fleet regrouped at Block Island, inspections of their boilers revealed many ships needed extensive repairs. More than twelve hours of high operation tempos was causing serious damage to the ship's boilers. It was a failure of the Bellerophon’s engines that allowed it to be rammed by the Intrepid. Only six ships were still fit for service, the rest would need weeks to repair. Those that could sail returned to Halifax, the rest required the Royal Navy to convoy engineers and spare parts to Block Island. A subsequent operation was undertaken against New Haven, on November 5th. Any major operations requiring more than six ships would have to wait for more than a month.
Attacks on the Great Lake Cities
Britain’s naval attacks extended to the U.S. cities of the Great Lakes as well, ensuring that the pain of war expanded beyond the coastal cities to the American heartland. The attack was spearheaded by the Canadian Navy. After the formation of the Canadian Dominion in 1867, the new Confederation quickly began construction of a fleet of Great Lakes warships. With its Coasts and St. Lawrence seaway, defended by the Royal Navy, what resources the lightly populated nation had was poured into its Great Lakes Fleet. Any Army trying to invade the core population centers of Quebec and Ontario, would have to pass over some body of water. Therefore A strong fleet of Great Lakes warships was key to defending these regions. By 1880 the Canadian Navy had completed eight Ironclad Monitors and fourteen gunboats. These were divided into three squadrons, the Lake Ontario Squadron, Lake Erie Squadron, Lake Huron/Michigan Squadron. Unfortunately for the U.S. inhabitants of the regions the inter-war Dough Faced administrations devoted little resources to improving Great Lakes defenses or ships. Both out little they spent on national defense and out of fear of antagonizing a new enemy to the north. As a result, within a week of Britain’s declaration of war a squadron of two ironclads and four gunboats bombarded the city of Rochester, New York.
The cities only defense were eight antiquated War of Secession era cannons and two small frigates/revenue cutters. These defenses were destroyed within an hour. The bombardment caught the city, its inhabitants and defenders completely by surprise. The attack set off a flurry of naval and coastal fortification construction across the Great Lakes. Unfortunately these were not ready when Buffalo was attacked three days later. The U.S. retaliated by bombarding the city of Windsor, Ontario with artillery, to little availe. Unlike the attacks on the Atlantic coastal cities, the bombardment of the Great Lakes cities were merely spoiling attacks. They were intended to divert resources that could have been used to invade Canada and the Confederacy. All told by the end of September Canadians had bombarded Oswego, Rochester, Buffalo, Erie and Cleveland.
By October the Canadian Lake Erie Squadron had turned its sights on Sandusky and Toledo. With the Canadian Fleet unstoppable the local commander tried anything including deploying War of Secession vintage torpedos. Later called mines in the two Great Wars, of over sixty torpedos deployed at Sandusky and Toledo, only a third were still active. During the battle of Sandusky six mines were struck, with only one detonating and harming an ironclad. Though damaged the ironclad was able to repair itself and continue on with the attack. The news quickly spread throughout the Great Lakes region and local ordinances and workshops began turning out as many torpedos as possible. When Toledo was attacked on October 20th, they found dozens of heavy belts of mines. Though many of the mines again turned out to be duds, this time the U.S. defenses managed to cripple an ironclad, which had to be scuttled. Though the Toledo still received substantial damage the news was out.
When the Lake Erie Squadron attempted to attack Detroit, the Canadians were able to fire a few shots before they forced to break off attack by a combination of shore artillery and mines. The Lake Huron and Michigan Squadrons fared little better. The Squadron was succeeded in attacking Sheboygan and Milwaukee. However it encountered disaster in its attack on Chicago. In an attack on November 5th, both ironclads struck mines and were surprised by a makeshift Ironclad. In a single afternoon the entire Lake Huron/Michigan Squadron was lost.
Bombardment of Southern California
Because of Britain’s already sizeable presence in Canada and the Confederacy’s domination of the Caribbean, France focused its efforts on the Pacific theater. Before the outbreak of hostilities the French Navy had sent three of its most modern battleships, including the Redoubtable, the world’s first battleship constructed from steel. The battleships and a flotilla of six gunboats were stationed at Acapulco, a French Treaty Port secede by Emperor Maximilian I in 1866. The ships were largely pulled from its Pacific Fleet, creating the special command of West Pacific Squadron led by Admiral Amedee Courbert. Courbert had joined the French Navy in 1849 and had served in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific. He undertook several naval expeditions against Mexican rebels in the late 1860s. At the time of the outbreak of the war he was serving as the Governor of New Caledonia. Working in conjunction with the British Admiralty, Confederate Department of the Navy and Mexican Secretaría de Marina. Courbert planned an aggressive campaign against southern California. Just as the British were beginning their attacks against Boston the French flotilla was moving up the Mexican Coast towards San Diego. His targets were the ports at San Diego and Los Angeles, the railyards at the terminus of the southern transcontinental railroad and the oil fields of southern California. Unlike the British attacks in the east, many of these targets were far inland. Luckily Courbet had spent years as an advocate of using steam powered warships in aide of marine landings.
On September 21st the French Navy bombarded San Diego, inflicting severe damage to the port and burning much of the surrounding neighborhoods. After spending three days refitting in the ruins of San Diego the fleet proceeded on to Los Angeles. On October 1st the French Fleet struck Los Angeles. The U.S. had few defenses to resist the French outside a dozen antiquated artillery pieces. The french overwhelmed U.S. defenses in a matter of minutes. The destroyed the ports and the train yards serving the ports. With much of the waterfront ablaze, Courbert ordered the landing of two marine battalions to destroy the remaining railroad yards. During the bombardment, the french battleship Ocean was ordered to Santa Monica to support the landing of another two battalions whose targets was the oilfield at Pico Canyon 11km north of the town. The landing encountered little resistance as most of the militia was defending Los Angeles. Having achieved its objectives, the fleet retreated to Tijuana. Corbeut wa hailed as a national hero and promoted to full admiral for his exploits.
Bombardment of San Francisco
Not to be left out of the struggle the Royal Navy Pacific Fleet was organizing its own coastal raid. Commanded Rear Admiral Frederick Sterling, Sterling was tasked with pacifying the harbors of Northern California, Oregon and Washington. Sterling gathered as many of the fleets best warships from across the pacific as he could. Including the HMVS Cerberus, a new turreted ironclad recently purchased and delivered to the colony of Victoria in Australia. The Victorian colonial government was happy to contribute to the defense of the Empire. Marking the first time U.S. and what would become the Australian Royal Navy would engage in combat.
San Francisco was by far the largest U.S. Harbor on the Pacific and the home port of the Pacific Fleet. It was also a tempting target in that it was a strategic naval asset, lightly defended and contained the U.S. mint; responsible for coining all gold found in California. The seizure of its substantial of its gold reserves would put furth financial strain on the U.S. and hopefully cause resistance to continuing the war by the nation’s important financial class. For the attack the Royal Navy gathered five warships; three Ironclad Battleships, two ironclad cruisers and more than seven gunboats. The U.S. defenses were centered around the Presido which protected the golden gate and Alcatraz citadel which defended the inner-harbor. These forts and the overall defense were commanded by Colonel William T. Sherman. San Francisco being the home port of the Pacific Squadron was defended by the Kalamzoo class ironclad the USS Kalamazoo and the passaic class USS Passaic. The U.S. also had five wooden warships and the ironclad Alert class gunboat the USS Huron. The Naval defenses were led by Commodore Thomas H. Stevens Jr.
Like so many other attacks on U.S. harbors the battle began with a long range bombardment of the city's outlying forts. The three british battleships and two ironclad frigates bombarded the presido and the U.S. ironclads protecting the golden gate. After three hours the Presidio was destroyed and both the USS Kalamazoo and USS Camanche had received critical damage. The British Fleet then moved on towards the harbors inner defenses. While the Triumph, Swifture and Cerbus moved to engage Alcatraz citadel, the small frigates Shah and Inconstant moved towards the city’s port facilities. After the reduction of Alcatraz the main Royal Navy Battleships joined in the attack on the city. Unlike the attaks on Portland, Boston, Plymouth or Mystic. The Royal Navy Squadron attacked not just the port facilities or the surrounding neighborhoods. The bombardment of San Francisco was a bombardment of the whole cities. Targeting neighbors deep in the cities interior. This seemingly indiscriminate destruction was in fact part of the Royal Navy’s plan to seize the U.S. mint. The pattern of Royal Navy destruction was intentionally designed to create barriers separating the mint from the city’s defenders and creating a corridor by which the marines could gain possession of the mint and easily withdraw. In a little over five hours the Royal Navy destroyed the Cities defenses, all the ironclad warships of Pacific Squadron defending the city and looted millions of dollars in species.
The destruction of San Francisco was the only major operation against a Pacific port carried out by the Royal Navy. Further operations were planned against Portland and Seattle, but fear of an overland reprisal against the Pacific Squadrons home port of Vancouver prevented the attack. Portland was never carried out due to the Cease Fire being in place.
Royal Navy Ironclad Battleships
- HMS Triumph (1872)
- HMS Swiftsure (1870)
- HMS Shah (1873)
- HMS Inconstant (1868)
- HMVS Cerebus (1872)
U.S. Regroups
By the end of October the U.S.war effort was in dire straights. The U.S. Army in Louisville had suffered a defeat at the hands of General Jackson. All other attempts to invade Confederate territory by land had failed. At the same time British Army had invaded and occupied a swaths of Northern Maine.
The Navy was in even more dire straights. Most major U.S. harbors were severely damaged or under blockade. All but two of the U.S. Navy Yards were still operational. Seventeen of the twenty five ironclads the U.S. had worked so painfully to restore were either destroyed or critically damaged. The U.S. Navy’s war on British trade though costing the British merchant fleet serious money had failed to draw british forces away from the North American theater. Though majority of Americans wished the government to fight on, many in the U.S.’s powerful capitalist class wanted the war to end and trade to resume with the outside world. As a President Blaine dithered on whether to make peace or no the navy did its best to regroup. While dozens of U.S. ships still prowled the shipping lanes, most of prewar ironclad warships were destroyed defending the nation’s harbor.
After the destruction of most major naval installations President Blaine fired Chief of Navigation Christopher Rodgers and replaced him with commander of the war on trade campaign Stephen Luce. Luce mission was threefold, rebuild the navy’s main battlefleet, continue the war on trade and protect the de facto capital Philadelphia at all cost. Luce’s first priority was to protect the surviving Navy Yards. Only three major shipyards had survived the Royal Navy attacks; the shipyards at Kittery and Portsmouth, League Island Navy Yard and the Roach and Son Navy Yard in Chester Pennsylvania. Learning from the past Royal Naval attacks on the Great Lakes and atlantic cities, Luce ordered massive numbers of torpedoes, to be deployed in all major harbors, prioritizing the three surviving Navy Yards. Next he ordered all surviving ironclads to be deployed to these yards. Luckily for Luce of the five modern Amphitrite class ironclads under construction. Three were now operational with two likely to be completed early 1882. All were currently stationed at the League Island Navy Yard south of Philadelphia. Luce was building a new battlefleet centered around the Amphitrite class ironclads. With 4 ten inch guns these vessels were a match for british counterparts.The protection of Philadelphia was vital, if the de facto capital was successfully bombarded after Washington, it was likely the U.S. would have to beg for peace. As important the neighboring city of Chester, Pa contained the last major naval yard capable of constructing iron and large caliber gun mounts. Just as Luce had completed his preparations for the defense of the Philadelphia and the Delaware river, Blaine sued for peace.
