American Civil War PART II
As promised here's the second installment of the ACW series. I have the final update started so hopefully I won't delay much next time...but I make no promises
American Civil Wars: The House collapses inward
Marching through Oregon
The issue concerning Oregon’s independence took observers from both near and abroad by surprise. While all the other seceding parties involved in the Civil Wars operated with the mutual resolve to preserve slavery (or in Cuba’s case, its eradication), Oregon proved to be an exception. While some Oregonians, recent arrivals from the east for the most part, felt some inclination to join the United States, others (mainly “exiled Americans” that were forced out of Mexico in the previous decade) felt they could no longer rely on Washington—that city a continent away—to protect them. While the fighting itself began on February 22, 1858, soon after the territory voted to cut all remaining ties to the United States and become an independent republic, the origins of Oregon’s independence go back over a decade, at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. Hundreds of Anglo settlers fled Alta California
en masse following the Mexican victory, a trend which continued into the 1850’s as the thousands of post-Gold Rush Anglos residing in northern Mexico faced mass deportation episodes, in obsessive fear on the part of the Mexicans of any repeated attempts to rebel and join with the United States (both real and imaginary).[1] While some of these Anglo refugees returned east, many flooded into Oregon and formed the core of the Autonomy Party. The party, led first by John McLoughlin, then by his protégé Lansford Hastings, advocated strongly for an independent Oregon, and soon found a strong following amongst those displaced settlers.
Then in the spring of 1857, a filibuster led by disgraced Mexican General Santa Anna penetrated into the Salt Lake Valley, attaining victory after several weeks of gruesome fighting against the scant American garrison charged with defending the territory.[2] Though Santa Anna’s rule over Deseret was rather short-lived, his band of marauders managed to force an estimated 1,500 Mormon settlers out of the Salt Lake Valley, oftentimes evicting them from their homes, frequently resulting in violence. Nearly all of the displaced ventured north into the Saptin River Valley, which would grow in time to be a major settlement magnet for Mormons and non-Mormons alike. The beginning of the American Civil Wars prevented the government in Washington to react in a timely fashion, allowing the small Mexican occupying force to entrench itself further, as a mixture of Mexican volunteers and regulars trekked north over the course of the summer and autumn. Initial condemnations from Mexico City were soon followed by tacit support for Santa Anna’s military venture, and by the time an adequate American counter-offensive could be mustered the Mexicans too were ready to defend their gains.
In the spring of 1858 the Union commissioned Major General Patrick Edward Connor with the task of expelling the Mexicans from the Salt Lake Valley. In defiance of his better judgement, Santa Anna underestimated his enemy’s strength and opted to leave much of his manpower in Salt Lake City, an act which ultimately cost him his life at the Battle of Diablo Pass, east of Ogden. Command of the Mexican forces swiftly passed to Santa Anna’s highest ranking lieutenant, Miguel Negrete, bringing his army’s full strength to bear against the Americans at the Battle of Ogden, which resulted in a stalemate. Negrete managed some success, notably at the Battle of Little Mountain, though both armies made little headway over the remainder of the year, mostly harassing each other north of the Great Salt Lake. In late December Conner transferred command to Lieutenant colonel James Allen in order to subdue draft riots in the Willamette Valley. Allen proved inept enough to allow Negrete the upper hand, ultimately losing to the Mexicans north of Provo. Amid these disappointing performances by the Americans against the Southern Rebels and the Mexicans, the first rumbles of dissent became discernable as various secret pro-independence meetings were held around the New Year in Oregon City, Chemeketa and Kanamostalo.[3]
Initial battles for Oregon's independence, 1859
General Connor dispersed draft riots in late January 1859, and after a brief stay at Fort Vancouver proceeded to march east to reengage the Mexicans. During his visit Connor instituted martial law in the Willamette Valley, prohibiting any propaganda on autonomy and in many cases jailing autonomist protesters in the streets. The worsening Civil War in the east only made life on the fringe of empire more taxing, as basic necessities became scarcer. Despite the frigid temperatures Oregon Country was a tinder box begging to be ignited. Lansford Hastings, sensing his opportunity fading away, organized an emergency session of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, and after gathering the eighteen deputies required for a quorum brought the issue of autonomy for discussion and vote (as reserved by right via the Treaty of Amsterdam). After several days of heated deliberation the Assembly voted on February 14 for total independence through a slim majority.
Without delay, street fights erupted between autonomists and the vastly outnumbered American garrison when the latter moved to detain the entire Assembly. Within days the autonomists gained control of Chemeketa, Corvallis, Champoeg and Oregon City with relative ease, before encountering stiff resistance at Kanamostalo, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. The presence of Fort Vancouver on the north bank of the Columbia made autonomist control of Kanamostalo tenuous at best. By the time word of the revolt reached Washington much of southern Oregon had been taken over by the Provisional Government, now stylizing itself as the Republic of Oregon. A fuming President Seward ordered a full division under Brigadier general Philip Sheridan to march west from St. Louis and return Oregon back to the fold. The President was tired of secession on top of secession, and he would not allow rebels to threaten the U.S.’s only link to the Pacific.
Cuban insurgents conduct a cavalry charge
To his utter horror Seward was already, by the summer of 1859, forced to contemplate the severing of the proverbial cord with Cuba. The Union war effort had become vastly overstretched, and on the island itself the target for the combined firepower of Confederate troops and Cuban insurgents. By November Union control was reduced to little more than Havana, which in the end was evacuated in lieu of making a last stand, in a clear attempt to conserve manpower. Confederation forces swiftly filled the vacuum and the state government soon followed, relocating from Port Jefferson back to resume rule of the island from Havana. No longer deterred by the presence of the United States, Confederation forces made significant strides in reclaiming much of central Cuba over the course of 1860. The sudden string of successes lay in part with Confederate collaboration with Anglo partisan groups such as Crocker’s Cut-throats, an organization known for its brutality towards Cuba’s Black population.[4] The Confederation’s fortunes finally took a turn for the worse that autumn, at the Battle of Buenaventura, which saw General Thomas Jordan’s army crushed by an army of former slaves and free black volunteers nearly three times his own army’s size, led by the charismatic Gregorio de Cortés, who’s syncretic Christian “Liberation” theology attracted large swathes of Black Cubans. Cortés had offered his services to the Provisional Cuban government back in 1858, but was rudely snubbed, and subsequently created an independent black Cuban army led by Cortés himself and aided by his supporters such as John Brown.
The primary conflict centered in eastern North America demonstrated some gains for the beleaguered Union through 1859, mainly in Missouri and central Kentucky though inroads were made into northern Tennessee as well, with General Frémont’s capture of Nashville in January 1860. The invasion of Louisiana even seemed to bear fruit, with the fall of Natchez later in the spring. Once again however, the fronts seemed to slow down, as Generals Lee and Jackson remained strong on the defensive. As Election Day 1860 loomed both President Seward and Congress Republicans feared losing control of the government or worse, the opposing Democrats agree to a ceasefire. The Democrats themselves were in utter disarray, as both war and peace factions competed to get their preferred candidate nominated. The Republicans, for their part, were rife with factionalism as well, mostly from radical elements within the party that felt Seward had failed to prosecute the war hard enough, as well as his reluctance to commit to emancipation. Ultimately the radicals relented and fell behind Seward, fearful that altering the government would hinder the war effort. They did so however on the condition that Seward would follow through on the party’s platform to free all of the nation’s slaves. The Democrats too, in the end presented a united front to stand a chance at the polls, nominating War Democrat and former General George B. McClellan for President and Senator Augustus C. Dodge as his vice-Presidential nominee.
Democrats across the North were led to believe that they might be able to wrest power from Seward as the year progressed without a single major Northern victory to show for it. Nevertheless, the North finally got its long coveted victory, or rather victories, in late September with breakthroughs at Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Jonesboro, Arkansas, with the latter opening the way for the eventual capture of Memphis several weeks later. This provided Seward with the boost needed to beat McClellan at the polls, combined with the War and Peace Democrats ineptitude to cooperate in the crucial final weeks of the election. Despite winning the presidency, the war-wariness felt amongst the general population had a profound impact on the makeup of the House of Representatives, with the Democrats gaining a slim majority, subsequently catapulting Ohio Representative (and senior Democrat) George H. Pendleton to become the new Speaker of the House. An ardent Anti-war Democrat, he proved to be a notable thorn in Seward’s side. Keeping true to his promise, Seward formally announced at his Inauguration that he would issue an executive order to emancipate all the slaves in the territories still in rebellion to the United States, which would come into effect on April 1.
Bushwhacker terrorism in the west
As the Civil War entered its fourth year without a clear resolution, many on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line grew increasingly radical. The previous year had seen exceedingly brutal episodes of guerrilla warfare throughout Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, with infamous groups such as Quantrill’s Raiders and Bloody Bill’s Bushwhackers wreaking havoc over much of the Plains. In early 1861 the guerrilla war escalated, with rival Northern partisans forming in order to inflict retaliatory strikes against the Confederates. Between March and June nearly a dozen raids were conducted across Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, with an estimated 400 dead as a result. Though the Confederation had initially supported such groups to operate in the Western Theater (a decision they quickly came to regret), such partisan activity was illegal in the North, resulting in a strong military backlash against said groups. The Union military managed to subdue the partisans rather quickly, but that did not bring an end to the civil unrest brewing on both sides of the Mason-Dixon.
For nearly four years both the Union and Confederation governments had exercised their constitutional prerogative to suspend the writ of
habeas corpus in the event of rebellion (or as the Confederation labeled it, invasion), which resulted in the detention of several thousand people on charges such as sedition and treason. Radical Democrats (also known as Copperheads) such as Clement Vallandigham, well known for his sympathies to the Confederation and public statements made against the Seward administration and the war was arrested by Union soldiers on June 8. Vallandigham’s arrest incited protests across Ohio against the specter of “military despotism.” At the insistent persuasion by Attorney General Abraham Lincoln, Seward agreed to release Vallandigham from prison on the condition he be banished to the Confederation, fearful that the leader of the Copperheads become a martyr to the multitudes of radicals. The number of detainees continued to grow however, and only inspired radicals to riot in various cities both North and South during the summer of 1861. The army, regardless of affiliation, managed to subdue these threats in good order, but enmity remained, and the general consensus gradually began to shift towards finding a swift resolution to the fighting. Cuba was all but lost to the Union, Oregon hung on only by a thread, and the European Powers continued to pressure Seward to agree to a negotiated settlement and recognition of the Confederation. Seward would have none of it however, flatly stating he would not "accept anything short of an unconditional surrender from Robert Toombs himself.”
Arrest of Clement Vallandigham
In early October tensions between the United Kingdom and the United States arose off the Oregon Coast, as a British steamer sailing near Vancouver Island, the HMS Grappler, was engaged by the U.S. Navy, resulting in the loss of one American vessel at sea while the damaged Grappler limped south to Yerba Buena for repairs. The Grappler Incident provoked a stronger Royal Navy presence in the waters near Oregon, as well as demands for a formal apology from the American government, something that Seward was obstinate to follow through, only doing so at the strong urging of his Cabinet. Despite these setbacks, the Union managed to gain a major victory at the Battle of Knoxville in November, eliminating the last threat to occupied Kentucky as well as fortifying Union control of northern Tennessee. The Union war effort was struck a severe blow only several weeks later, when General Hiram Grant was mortally wounded at the Battle of Pittsburg Landing in southern Tennessee, an event which many historians consider as a major factor in the Union’s failure to capture Vicksburg the following year. For all the despair this would bring to the Union, it pales in comparison to the events of Black Friday.
In early December Seward, accompanied by Vice-President Adams and several members of Congress traveled to Massachusetts and Connecticut to engage with Abolitionist leaders. On their return to Washington Seward and his retinue stopped in New York City, staying at the luxurious Astor House in Manhattan. On the evening of Friday December 13, a gang of Confederate agents, in collaboration with sympathizers within the city planted dynamite underneath the area of the hotel Seward was in. The resultant explosion (enhanced by the nearby presence of the building’s gas supply) completely destroyed the hotel, killing the vast majority of its occupants, including the entire Presidential entourage. The whole Union was stunned at what had transpired, soon followed by anger at the utter low the Confederation was willing to sink to steal away victory. After several days of exhaustive man hunts, several of the conspirators were captured, including their leader, Kentucky colonel Robert Martin. Swift military tribunals were held for the conspirators, and on December 22 all nine were executed at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. As per the rules of presidential succession, President Pro Tempore of the Senate (and former Democratic vice-Presidential nominee) Augustus Caesar Dodge became acting-President of the United States, with confusion instantly setting in as the nation was untested in succession procedure.[5] The issue quickly split between party lines, as Democrats argued for Dodge to be inaugurated as the Fourteenth President of the United States, while Republicans called for new elections to be held as soon as possible. After several weeks of heated debate the issue was ultimately shelved for fear that snap elections would destabilize the country further, and on February 4, 1862 Dodge was formally inaugurated in a solemn ceremony in the Capitol Building.
Fourteenth President of the United States, Augustus Caesar Dodge
Despite vehement calls to do the contrary by Republicans and War Democrats, President Dodge agreed to negotiate with the Confederates under British mediation. Several weeks of intense deliberations ensued and on March 31, the United States and Confederation of South America agreed to an armistice, and for the first time since 1857 the guns fell silent. The British encouraged both sides to conclude a formal peace treaty, though neither Dodge nor Toombs dared to try. The armistice allowed both North and South to “lick their wounds” as well as deal with their respective revolts in Oregon and Cuba. Several divisions were soon routed west to punish the Oregonian rebels for aiding the traitorous Southerners and compromising the United States’ only link to the Pacific. Richmond for its part ordered several thousand troops south to defeat the insurgency in Cuba, invading through Guantanamo Bay in an attempted pincer movement with the aid of troops in the west of the island. The Confederates managed to gain control of a small pocket on the southern coast, but the hardy rebels of the eastern highlands were prepared with an ace of their own—Haitian volunteers, fresh from fighting the French for five years in Napoleon III’s failed bid to reconquer France’s old Caribbean colony.[6]
The Haitian government was the first nation to recognize the Cuban Republic, and the support provided in manpower allowed Cortés’ Cuban Liberation Army and the Republican Army led by Ignacio Agramonte (both now working in unison) to overcome the Confederate invasion of southern Cuba, and crush it completely in late 1862. The following year the Cuban rebels would capture and raze Port Jefferson, threatening Havana for the first time, and more importantly a move that convinced the Mexican government to explicitly recognize and aid the rebels. It was the beginning of the end for Confederate Cuba, and for the likes of Gregorio de Cortés a vindication of his revolution. In private, he confided in his ally John Brown that as their work on the island approached its conclusion, work needed to begin on the next phase of his revolution. For both men, the war was only just beginning, as Cortés himself remarked,” three million men, women and children suffer the ravages of human bondage…we must continue the fight John, the lord commands us north!”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
[1] Lol what can I say, I love irony
[2] I forgot to do this the last time, so here's a
link to the relevant post.
[3] Chemeketa is TTL Salem, Kanamostalo is TTL Portland.
[4] Timothy Crocker (OTL was one of Walker's lieutenants in Nicaragua) basically becomes another Quantrill fighting in Cuba.
[5] Harrison never dies a month into his term (which was already different to begin with) so Tyler never sets the precedent so to speak.
[6] Lol see the previous post.
