“This is my prayer; this last utterance I pour out with my blood. Then do you, Tyrians, persecute with hate his stock and all the race to come, and to my dust offer this tribute! Let no lover or treaty unite the nations! Arise from my ashes, unknown avenger, to harass the Trojan settlers with fire and sword – today, hereafter, whenever strength be ours! May coast with coast conflict, I pray, and sea with sea, arms with arms; war may they have, themselves and their children’s children!”-Dido, The Aeneid, Book 4.
1634 continued: Although rather disturbed by the high losses, mostly to disease, of the previous force, Demetrios III elects to dispatch reinforcements to the Caribbean. There are no more colonists in this batch; setting up new sugar plantations really isn’t a priority.
The priority, in the Emperor’s mind, is to send a message to Emperor Henri II. Looking to the possible post-war situation, it is clear to Demetrios Sideros that the United Kingdoms have the potential to be a far more serious challenge to Roman interests than the HRE. Reports from the Office of Barbarians regarding the status of the Triple Monarchy are disturbing.
The Triune realm is not quite on the scale of the Holy Roman Empire, but with a population of over 22.5 million (substantially more than the Imperial heartland, but slightly less than the heartland plus despotates) it has to be taken very seriously. Henri’s domains still have lots of local privileges, internal tolls, and feudal dues that would have any Roman civil servant twitching in annoyance. Plus there are powerful nobles that would have every Roman Emperor since the Laskarids twitching (and the English Parliament, which would inspire a more spectacular and incendiary response from the Basileus in question), but it is far more cohesive than the HRE. There is no French Duke who could be an Ottokar.
There is also an ethnic-political divide as well. The Triple Monarchy, despite also being known as the United Kingdoms in Plantagenet propaganda, is still a personal union. The Kingdoms are only connected in the person of Henri II, not being integrated like the Act of Union between Castile and Portugal that forged the Kingdom of Spain. And more than a few Roman diplomats have compared the situation in the Triple Monarchy to the Ottoman Empire, with the Persians=French, Turks=English, and Arabs=Irish. Which considering the issues that have given the last few Ottoman Shahs, is unpromising for King’s Harbor.
But having said that, Henri rules over domains that are well-developed, growing in population, and has a capable administrative and financial structure (albeit hampered by those local restrictions). Both France (in Paris) and England have national banks and there are stock exchanges in London, King’s Harbor, and Paris. Henri II’s interest rates have consistently been just 2-3% higher than Demetrios III (although he has yet to demonstrate the ability to float loans the size the Basileus has to date), far better than Ferdinand or Theodor for example.
The tour system, originally based off the Laskarid theme-tagma system, has developed into a cantonal district responsible for providing the manpower and money for a regiment. In peacetime, the ideal is that each tour has at least an active company to serve as a veteran cadre for new recruits, with some tours (predominately eastern French ones) kept at full strength, although these draw recruits from wider areas to lessen the burden on their home districts. Plus there are the various guard and foreign mercenary regiments (including the anti-English Scots formations whose origins date back to the Ninety Years War, which for obvious reasons are deployed only in France).
After the defeats during the Second Rhine War at the hands of a younger Blucher, the Triunes also created a Military Academy to train the officers that command the tours. Unlike the Bavarian one, which has remained a minor usually-forgotten affair, a decade after its establishment the Triune one is a growing concern. Only nobles can enter, but one of the purposes of the Academy is to make young nobles more loyal and disciplined. It does well at that.
All of that means Demetrios III finds it important to emphasize that Rhomania can project force into the Caribbean. This is a minor field for Rhomania, despite the hopes for new sugar plantations, but it is vitally important to the Triunes, who must defend their holdings. Every recruit and cannon sent off to Barbados is one less that can threaten serious Roman interests. Demetrios knows that in an all-out contest, any of the Atlantic powers could flood the Caribbean with far more reinforcements than the Romans, but the threat is still useful.
There is only one new battle-line ship sent, a 50-gunner. Given the high wastages among the crews of the big warships, it’s not considered wise to send more of those ships. But there are also a pair of 40-gunners, plus two fregatai and two sloops.
The light ships are most useful as the Triune reinforcement arrives just a week after the Romans, eight battle-line ships (although all 50 to 60 gunners) and six lighter vessels. Demetrios III is not the only one who can make statements. This is far too powerful for the Mexican-Roman fleet which is blockaded in harbor at Port Royal, Jamaica. But while the battle-line ships are penned up, they tie down the bulk of the Triune fleet and also mean the Triunes dare not attempt to land troops on Jamaica. The light ships, several of which avoid getting cornered, can still cause trouble.
It is decided that with the extra light vessels, the range of operations should be extended beyond the Caribbean. The Triune colonies in northern Terranova have been unmolested; that should be remedied. Several Mexican and Roman warships split off to go north, including the
Octopus which is still commanded by Eikosarchos Leo Kalomeros.
The first action goes poorly. A Roman sloop (not the
Octopus) encounters a small convoy in the Bahamas and moves to attack, but is intercepted by an escorting Triune sloop. In the two-hour duel, the Roman warship is forced to strike and made a prize.
The plan is for the individual vessels to take up specific territories to harass, although neighboring ships can coordinate on bigger targets. The
Octopus, along with the 30-gun Mexican fregata
Xolotl (named after the founder of Texcoco) are sent well to the north. They sail past the colony of Carolina, named after the Lord Proprietor Charles Duc d’Anjou, Henri II’s uncle, then the colonies of Alexandria [1] and Maryland, named after their Lord Proprietors the Princesses Alexandra and Mary, Henri II’s two sisters.
Then they arrive at their target, New England, where there are a cluster of smaller colonies rather than the large colonial realms granted to noble lords further south. The oldest of these is the New Town colony [2], centered on its first settlement and capital, New Town. At 5000 people, it is by far the largest Triune town in all of North Terranova, with a respectable shipbuilding industry that supports whalers and fishermen, in addition to larger haulers for shipping timber and fur to the Triple Monarchy proper.
To the southwest of the New Town colony is the Colony of Shechem [3], named after its chief settlement, Shechem [4], which lies along the coast opposite Long Island. The only other proper town in the colony is the town/trading outpost of Hebron [5] up the Jordan River [6], although there are multiple prosperous villages. The colony is settled almost entirely by Puritans who named their settlements after prominent Biblical locations. Shechem was where God renewed his covenant with Abram for the first time in the Promised Land, pledging that the land would belong to his descendants. That is no coincidence; the Puritans view this as a new Promised Land, one pledged to them as the “new Israelites”.
Christians have a long history of arguing over the proper details of their faith, and the Bohmanist Church of the United Kingdoms is no different. The Puritans are a branch of the church who largely believe that the Church is both corrupt and didn’t go far enough in its reformation away from the Papist idolatry. Two of their key distinguishing beliefs are the abolition of episcopacy (bishops) and in
sola scriptura, which puts them at odds with the Triune bishops.
While they are scattered throughout the Triple Monarchy, the English are more prone to fall into this category. They were largely ignored by the crown and church in their early years, but their greater numbers and volumes in the past few decades have resulted in harassment and persecution. (While many regular Bohmanists dislike the Puritans, there have been a few cases in northern England where English neighbors of English Puritans objected when they were harassed by a Bohmanist bishop who happened to be French.) So some decided, with the permission of the crown which saw it as a good way to export troublemakers, to set up a haven for Puritans in the New World. (Some had also settled in the pre-existing colonies, where the Triune Church had less clout than in the heartland.)
Many Puritans were excited by the chance, an opportunity to remake the world, or at least a little corner of it, into the way it should be, rather than the way it is. Even though the colony is less than twenty years old, Shechem Colony already has over 5000 whites in its borders, nearly a tenth of all whites living in all the Triune colonies of North Terranova.
The Puritan Church is hugely important to the governance of the colony. Every settler must dwell within 6 miles of a church, resulting in a tight network of villages. This is to ensure their godliness, and twice-weekly church attendance and tithes of all produce are required. All males who are at least 25, are members of the church in good repute, and met a property requirement are members of their village council. Church deacons have a double vote and a pastor has 5 votes, meaning that given the typical size of the council the deacons and pastors usually dominate village government.
All deacons and pastors, who have a double vote in this case, in each recognized ‘church district’, elect one of their members to the colonial assembly. A church district is usually synonymous with a village, although larger communities have multiples based on population. The colonial assembly then elects three members, from which the crown chooses as the colonial governor. This is as it is set up in the charter.
The system is set up that while the government is technically separate from the church, the clergy are the ones who rule. Local ordinances are highly concerned with the morality of the inhabitants, with laws passed that regulate gambling, card playing, use of music outside of church, the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, clothing, and sexual activity. Church members are required to observe and report the behavior of their neighbors. To have known of a neighbor’s sin and to not have reported it merits the same punishment. A group of three deacons or a pastor and one deacon can enter any home at any time with no cause in order to ensure that the occupants are properly following the precepts of the church.
To be poor means that one is ungodly and is therefore a sin. There are some setups for poor relief, but to be on them means that one forfeits any political rights and typically the person is forced into involuntary servitude. For those in the community who are of “good repute” though there are strong provisions to support families if the breadwinner is sick, injured, or dies, the expense taken from the tithes paid to the church.
Some Puritans argue against slavery, but they are a minority. Most small farms don’t have enough labor needs for slaves to be economical, but larger farms and enterprises use them. There are about 400 Africans and 1000 natives used as slave labor on larger estates, or in logging, sail-making, and construction. The pastor of the New Church in Shechem is the biggest slave-owner in the colony, his “thrift and wealth” considered proof of his godliness. The work of their bodies is considered by the Puritans to be more than compensated by the salvation of the souls that the Puritans provide.
When the Puritans first appeared, they’d expected that their godly examples would convince the native Terranovans, ravaged by disease, to convert. By conversion, the Puritans also expected the natives to abandon their culture and start adopting Triune ways, including Triune clothing, land ownership, and food. With a few exceptions, the Puritans were mistaken. Now, near a generation after the first landings, the general Puritan view (there are some exceptions) is that the natives by their obstinacy have proven themselves not innocents, but “servants of Satan, the spiritual descendants of the Canaanites, who for the sake the godly should be destroyed, so that the New Israel will not be led astray as was the old. Thou shalt not cast pearls before swine.”
The Puritans hate their neighbor to the east, the small Colony of Sanctuary, founded by Benjamin Church in 1625 on Rhodes Island [7] in Narragansett Bay. Benjamin Church was a dissident Puritan minister, although he’d preached in the New Town colony before he relocated to the settlement of Sanctuary he’d founded.
Although still personally a Puritan, Benjamin founded his colony on the idea of religious freedom, believing that the relationship between an individual and God was not the business of the state. Although it must be said that freedom is only extended to Christians, but it is to all types of Christians. Plus his relations with the Narragansett natives are quite good, namely because unlike most Triunes (not just the Puritans) he actually deals fairly and honestly with them. He would like to see them convert, but doesn’t blame them for being unimpressed with Christianity considering the treatment they’ve received from most Christians they’ve encountered.
Sanctuary to the Puritans is a seat of ungodliness. There be heretics and heathens, not chastised or educated, but allowed to live free. This is the work of Satan. And yet to their frustration this is not something they can easily smoke out. The Narragansett, swelled by the remnants of the destroyed Pequot tribe, are the most formidable native group in the immediate vicinity, although the more distant Mohawk, one of the members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, are mightier. Plus Church has a charter from Henri II, so launching a direct attack on him would earn the Puritans the ire of the crown. There have been legal efforts to get his charter annulled, but the Puritans were hardly the crown’s favorites before, so their efforts are going nowhere.
About fifty miles south of Noepe [8] the
Octopus takes a small Triune slaver on course for Shechem. On board as part of the cargo are 14 Ethiopian sailors, a crew of an Ethiopian slaver doing business in the Kingdom of Kongo which had been taken by a Triune raider and then sold to the slaver captain. Leo Kalomeros hits the roof, enraged at seeing a Roman ally being treated as such. They are freed immediately; the remaining slaves are kept as prize to be sold in a neutral port for money. Kalomeros and the Romans don’t care about them.
The
Octopus and the
Xolotl, which has taken two prizes of her own, put in at New Ghent, a Lotharingian colony on the western end of Long Island. The Lotharingians are quite happy to trade in goods pilfered from the Triunes, well aware of the escalating tensions between Albrecht III and Henri II. There Leo Kalomeros and Ramon Olintecle de Tecoac, the captain of the Mexican fregata, hatch a plan.
Inspired by the attack on Basse-Terre, the two look for allies for an assault on Shechem. Those are easy to find. There are a few Narragansett traders in New Ghent, who know the terrain and keen on revenge for Puritan insults and lies. More come from a contingent of Mohawk traders, who have a monopoly on fur trade with the Lotharingian colonists, for which they destroyed the Mahican, driving the survivors into Shechem. They too have suffered insults and lies from the Puritans, and revenge sounds good to them. Heading up north, the two ships pick up some warriors from the Paugussett tribes, who are hostile to their Puritan neighbors.
Landing west of the town, they are challenged by the Puritan militia of Shechem town, led by their Pastor-Colonel, which outnumbers them close to two to one. They’d been forewarned by a brig who’d spotted the pair of ships off Long Island and managed to escape pursuit by hiding in a convenient squall.
The militia and their Preacher-Colonel are veterans of skirmishes with natives so the native warriors, while respected for their fighting prowess, are not particularly fearful to them, although the Mohawks are disturbingly well-equipped with long-barreled Lotharingian muskets. But on board the
Xolotl are Tlaxcallan soldiers for use as marines, disciplined and fierce. Their concentrated musketry volleys smash through the Puritan ranks, killing their commander and routing them.
With the defenders scattered, the allies storm their way into Shechem town, looting and burning. Of the inhabitants, which didn’t evacuate before the battle, that get within their range, the native tribes scalp the males of warrior-age and make captives of the rest. The Mexicans shoot the warrior-age males and take captive the rest. The Romans under Kalomeros, still fuming from the Ethiopians and who find the Puritans to be a particularly noxious type of Latin heretics, just shoot theirs, shocking the natives by their brutality.
There is a sizeable haul of loot. The Puritans may be no fun at parties, but they are frugal and hard-working, building up a substantial stockpile that is carried off, most sold at New Ghent. Several villages near Shechem are also hit, although in most cases the inhabitants flee out of range.
The damage to Shechem colony is devastating. A little over 300 Puritans, over 6% of the white population, is killed or carried off, and an assessment by the colonial assembly three months later estimates the property damage to be equivalent of 15% of the colony’s entire property value. Benjamin Church, to his credit, offers assistance from his limited resources, but is denied. The Puritans don’t want any connection with his ungodliness, and a few believe him to have been in cahoots with the attackers because of the presence of Narragansett natives in the raid. He wasn’t.
The Romans were, on a person-by-person basis, the most destructive and murderous of the attacking parties. But in the Puritan consciousness, they are overshadowed by the Mexicans. It was their gunnery that broke the back of the Puritan militia. Their Mesoamerican apparel and modern weaponry made them memorable in appearance. And unlike the Romans, who’d taken slaves as war booty to be sold in New Ghent, the Mexicans liberated the Africans they seized, although requiring them to come with them back to Mexico. Heathen in look, heretic in practice, enemy of property, clearly these are satanic spawn. They will not be forgotten.
[1] OTL Virginia.
[2] Roughly equivalent to eastern Massachusetts.
[3] Corresponding roughly to Connecticut.
[4] New Haven, Connecticut.
[5] Hartford, Connecticut.
[6] Connecticut River.
[7] IOTL, the explorer Verrazano compared an island in Narragansett Bay to Rhodes, a possible explanation for the name of ‘Rhode Island’.
[8] Martha’s Vineyard.
