La Tierra Fortunada: A Better, and Nicer, Mexico.

[The Uchronian]

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }First update of the new year. Apologies for the delay, but this has been tough to write.

…..The defenders of Austin realized that they were already at a disadvantage, and did everything they could to keep the capital city out of the hands of Santa Anna's men. One popular tactic was the tried-and-true strafing by cavalry method, which actually did a surprisingly fair amount of damage on it's own. They also had a few cannons they could use, and they did; one shot actually landed right next to one of the adjutants of General Juan Garrido, maiming him and mortally wounding his horse. Another shot impacted near the middle of General Vega's flanks, killing half a dozen of his men outright, and injuring more than a dozen others. .




But the Mexican cannons soon fired in response, and one shot came close to hitting Capt. John“Coffee” Hays' position; several of the Captian's men just a hundred to his right were badly maimed, and two of them eventually died of their injuries. And another cannonball landed in front of a cavalryman serving with T.N. Minter's company, gravely injuring the horse, and knocking both the rider and Minter himself out of action, though Minter recovered much sooner than the other man, and was able to keep fighting after a couple of hours....


All in all, the situation on the first day of the siege was relatively stable in terms of fighting, as neither side budged much at all, but the Texians would, however, have to face the full test of their numbers and their abilities, once the full assault began.....

Still, though, I hope you like it.....

 

[TFSmith121]

"cannon" is plural....

"cannon" is plural and singular ....

"cannons" is like "aircrafts."

Annoyings.

Best,

 

[The Uchronian]

"cannon" is plural and singular ....

"cannons" is like "aircrafts."

Annoyings.

Best,

Are you sure, TBH? I've never, ever, heard "cannon" used in the plural before(just "cannons").....or maybe it's just me. I dunno. Regardless, I hope to have another update up soon, maybe tonight if all goes well.....

 

[The Uchronian]

Here it comes.....

Yes, indeed.....

On December 10th, the bulk of the Mexican force began to make it's final approach towards Austin; coming from the west to reinforce Mariano Zurita, were Ensign Tomas Santa Cruz, now with 500 men under his command, thanks to last-minute reinforcements, and Lt. Colonel Antonio Perez, who had spent most of his time in San Antonio, with 500 men of his own. And from the east, Santiago Zuhiga and Pedro Rangel were gathering their own forces, with 2,000 and 1,000 men each.

The Texians, by this time, had rallied as many as 4,000 men to Austin, but there were other folks in other towns in the area that were themselves readying for a fight, including the Yankee town of Liberty Creek, and it wasn't to be long before the enigmatic Yankee lawyer, Lysander Spooner, was to play his own role in the conflict, and one that would influence the history of the region for many years to come.....

Stay tuned.

 

[The Uchronian]

Given that I just recently realized that it was Texas Independence Day, I managed to get a last-minute thing done, out of the blue.

The next couple of weeks would indeed, as suspected, prove to be a real challenge for the Texians; they not only needed to hold their ground, but also to do enough damage to the invading Mexicans so that they wouldn't come back and try again. Their main problem, at this time was, logistics wise, whereas the Mexicans had some extra supplies trickling in every other day, the Texians could only take their own aid about a week at a time; the last supply convoy had arrived on December 9th and the next one wasn't to come until the 16th . It was one of the men at Liberty Creek that came up with an idea - some of the Texians not immediately needed for defending Austin and the surrounding areas, could try to intercept some of the incoming Mexican supply wagons, and procure a little extra food and ammunition that way. This idea seemed a bit risky to some, but when Sam Houston himself heard the idea(at the request of Lysander Spooner, no less), he decided to give it his seal of approval, feeling that anything that could distract the Mexicans, even if for a moment, was worth a try.....

A glimmer of hope for the beleaguered Texians....

 

[The Uchronian]

To keep you engaged.....

Could this be what helps save the Texians?

It was “Coffee” Hays who volunteered first-he himself had realized that Santa Anna's men were indeed becoming increasingly reliant on their ever-stretching supply chain-and gathered 50 men, including some volunteers, for this daring plot. Chauncey Johnson, a frequent visitor of Liberty Creek, and himself a Yankee like Mr. Spooner, was able to enlist a hundred men himself, including a few from Austin proper. Their first mission was to be carried out on the night of December 11th.....


In the meantime, the Mexicans, unfortunately, continued to slowly make ground against the defenders of Austin. And adding to the Texians' troubles, was the fact that Santiago Zuhiga in particular, had, on the 13th, begun ordering his cannons to start firing some of their shots directly at the center of town, as an attempt to intimidate the Texian leadership into surrendering themselves; Ildefonso Vega would later make a similar order the following morning. Both generals were already feeling self-assured about their impending victory, as their grip on the Texian capital continued to tighten. But unbeknownst to them, there was a python in the prairie grass getting ready to strike at the legs of the army, as it were.....

 

[The Uchronian]

Anybody there?

Any comments appreciated.

 

[Unknown]

Good updates so far.

Waiting for more, of course...

 

[The Uchronian]

Good updates so far.

Waiting for more, of course...

Thanks. I actually do have more, btw:

While the Mexicans were focusing the bulk of their efforts on trying to hold down Austin, they were blissfully unaware of the active sabotage plot right under their noses. Although Johnston's men initially only found a single caravan on their first day, and only managed to steal some of the provisions before the wagon driver managed to flee, their tactics quickly improved; over the next several days, dozens of guns(and boxes of ammunition), and dozens of pounds worth of rations, amongst other things, would go missing, without any of the commanders having much of a clue; indeed, it wasn't until the afternoon of the 17th, when one of Col. Carrasco's adjutants noticed that one of their wagons had come back completely empty of anything but a single rifle and a trace of rations, that the realization finally dawned on them. Carrasco, on that same day, had a message relayed to San Antonio regarding the Texians' theft of the provisions, and requested for armed protection of the wagon caravans.


At that time, however, the damage had already been done; the Mexican attack on Austin had begun to slow rather noticeably, and, despite considerable losses, the Texians finally had some faint glimmer of hope.....

 

[The Uchronian]

The suspense builds.

As Santa Anna's men continue to grind up against Austin, Chauncey Johnson has a daring plan that could potentially help alter the course of the war for good.....

Despite their setback, the Mexicans continued to grind up against the defenders of Austin; much of the city had been rather damaged by the offensive, and even the Capitol was in bad shape-not to mention Sam Houston himself had a close call, when one Mexican shot badly missed it's intended target and landed about twenty feet in front of the entrance, as he happened to be there that day-but even so, the Texians continued to hold out, in the hopes that the siege might soon be broken; thankfully for them, an opportunity would come sooner than any of them expected.....


On the morning of December 19th, Santa Anna's army was on the verge of entering the city, with Pedro Rangel's front flank a mere couple hundred feet from the east side of town, and Mariano Zurita's men were within a mile of the west side of town; many of the Mexicans reassured themselves into believing that they could still force a surrender of the Texians, possibly by Christmas. That hope, however, would be dashed.


As a last attempt to take back some ground, Chauncey Johnson decided to make a long play, as it were, and try to strike at the rear of the Mexican flank; neither Zurita and Santa Cruz had noticed, just yet, that they had both made a vital error in their approach, as a significant part of the northern half of the west flank had been left open to exposure beforehand; Johnson realized that, under the right conditions, he might be able to sneak a few hundred Texians out of that opening, and behind Zurita and Santa Cruz's men. Gathering about 300 comrades, including some who had participated in the sabotage operations, they left at about 7 in the evening, and took their positions about 8 miles due southwest of Austin, readying for the next morning.....

Will Johnson's gamble pay off? And if so, how well? Stay tuned, dear readers.

 

[The Uchronian]

Just after 10 a.m. on December 20th, Johnson gave the order to fire upon Santa Cruz's contingent of men, hoping that his ruse would work; it did, and better than expected. A stunned Santa Cruz had barely registered the gunfire before he saw over a dozen of his own men cut down before him, and a few distant figures on horses scattering around on the horizon. Quickly realizing that these were Texians, Santa Cruz ordered his cavalry to chase them off. It seemed to work at first, but not long afterwards, many more of the Texians would appear, and as they fanned out, Santa Cruz realized he might need assistance from Mariano Zurita; he ordered one of his adjutants to send a message to him, and to the rest of his men, to now focus on fighting off the ambushing Texians.....

Any comments, and/or suggestions, offers of assistance, etc. are welcome.

 

[The Uchronian]

Hi folks.

As we draw ever closer to the climax, Johnson's big gamble might just pay off.....

Gen. Zurita received the dispatch from Santa Cruz at around 7 p.m. on that evening, and ordered about 100 of his men to go directly after the Texians harrying the Santa Cruz contingent. There was only one problem; the messenger had not told Zurita exactly just how many Texians there were-a fact that would come to cause both him and Santa Cruz a good bit of grief.


Meanwhile, Chauncey Johnson, informed of Zurita's attempt at interception, realized that the Mexican general hadn't sent nearly enough men to actually do that much damage; he decided to take yet another gamble. Late that night, after the fighting died down, Johnson gathered up his men and asked if at least one third of the survivors-311 at this point-were willing to splinter off and relieve the Texians on the east side of Austin; to his surprise, 152 of them agreed to do so. Early that next morning, those volunteers, headed up by a then freshly arrived German immigrant, August Luckenbach(better known for his later exploits in Texas, including during the Civil War), split off from the main force and headed eastwards towards, and behind, Vega and Garrido's line of offense.....

How much damage can Johnson inflict before he's forced to withdraw? Stay tuned, dear readers.....

(Just so you know, btw, I will be taking a temporary 24 hour vacation on the 28th-hopefully, it'll allow me to catch up with some writing; if all goes well, we may finally have this conflict largely wrapped up by Weds. evening. )

 

[The Uchronian]

Here's what I managed to get done today. It isn't much, but hopefully that's not too much of an issue.

Neither Vega or Garrido had any warning of what was coming, before several of Vega's men suddenly began to drop dead from the rear flank at about 12:40 p.m.; sensing a trap, one of Vega's adjutants, having noticed the discrepancy, immediately ran to his superior, informing him of the problem. But only when a couple of the soldiers closest to their position were themselves, struck down did Vega finally act; the general, furious at what he perceived as an embarrassment, ordered several of his companies to turn their rifles to the rear and scatter the harassing Texians.

Any comments welcome.

 

[The Uchronian]

By the way, folks, having watched "Texas Rising" recently, it's given me an idea: I'm wondering if maybe you all might be interested in seeing some of the head Texians(Coffee Hays, etc.) volunteer for the U.S. Army when the Mexican-American War starts up(probably in late 1844; things have been heating up in California, too)?

 

[The Uchronian]

Finally managed to get something done today. It's brief, but I hope you like it.....

Vega's men, however, were too slow to react properly, allowing the Texians to gain the upper hand for a bit, despite their disadvantage in numbers.....


All in all, they were able to keep the offense up for just about a full day before finally withdrawing the next afternoon.Though Luckenbach lost about 35 of his men, they had managed to kill over a hundred of Vega's; Johnson's main force had killed about 120 of Zurita and Santa Cruz's men. But had the gamble paid off? The Texians would have to wait just a little longer to find out.....

 

[The Uchronian]

Hi there!

Believe it or not, I actually got a decent bit done today!

By the morning of December 22nd, the fighting was beginning to slow down; although, unfortunately, the Mexicans still had the upper hand, to a slight extent, luckily for the Texians, they were running quite low on ammunition; and, more importantly, their morale was starting to falter. Furthermore, another 1,000 Texians would arrive in the vicinity, including some newly arrived immigrants from Europe, and Yankees from the United States. And, even better, one contingent from Liberty Creek would later come up and help the Austinites as well-this group in particular was home to many experienced combat veterans, including at least a few talented snipers; these men were primarily set against the Mexican contingents of Ildefonso Vega and Tomas Santa Cruz.....this strategy would end up working better than expected, as both Vega and Santa Cruz found themselves even more distracted from the main objective of capturing Austin than they already had been, thanks to Chauncey Johnson.


As the next couple of days progressed, the Mexican offense against Austin would eventually essentially ground to a halt, and at least a few of the Mexican soldiers were considering desertion. However, though, General Vega in particular was not one to simply give up and go home-furious at the losses he had suffered at the hands of the Texian raiders, on Christmas Eve, he decided to order several hundred of his men to find the town of Liberty Creek.....and raze it all to the ground, if necessary. However, though, a Texian scout happened to be nearby at the time, and ran down towards Liberty Creek to warn the people there.

So, it's becoming clear that the Mexican effort is failing, and increasingly swiftly at that, but how will Liberty Creek fare, should Vega carry out a raid? And what role could Lysander Spooner play in the late stages of the conflict, and the latter-day history of the Republic of Texas.....and, later, both East and West Texas? Stay tuned.

 

[The Uchronian]

Here it comes.....

The suspense continues to build.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } When word of the impending attack reached Liberty Creek late on the morning of Christmas Day, most people in town were trying to settle down and keep their spirits up. The mayor, however, took no chances, and called for a meeting of the most prominent citizens to be held 3 p.m., including one Lysander Spooner.....


Despite their fears & concerns, however, the people of Liberty Creek realized that they still had plenty of arms to defend themselves with, and many adopted a cold resolve to never retreat from their homes, even under the direst of circumstances, even if that ultimately translated into a second Alamo. Even Mr. Spooner himself, though normally a pacifist, had procured a gun from one of his fellow Yankees for self-defense...which would later turn out to be a wise decision on his part. By 9 p.m., the first Mexican soldiers were spotted just 5 miles outside of town.....

It's coming, can't you feel it?

 

[The Uchronian]

A revised version of the last post.....

Despite their fears & concerns, however, the people of Liberty Creek realized that they still had plenty of arms to defend themselves with, and many adopted a cold resolve to never retreat from their homes, even under the direst of circumstances, even if that ultimately translated into a second Alamo. Even Mr. Spooner himself, though normally a pacifist, had procured a gun from one of his fellow Yankees for self-defense...which would later turn out to be a wise decision on his part. By 9 p.m., the first Mexican soldiers were spotted just 5 miles outside of town; Spooner, by this point, personally headed up a group of fifty men, most of them Yankees, and most of the other men in the city had also taken up arms; even a few of the women and older children of this small town of 1,000 residents was armed with some sort of weapon. Now, all the townspeople needed to do, was wait for their enemy to come knocking.


At 9 a.m., that next morning, the Mexicans under Vega's control opened fire, signaling the beginning of the fighting; the struggle for Liberty Creek had begun.....

And there we go. How long can Liberty Creek hold out against the feared General Vega and his forces? And just what does Lysander Spooner do that starts him on the road to ATL fame? Stay tuned.

 

[The Uchronian]

A slight revision.

I thought I'd revise that last bit; I also included more details on where Liberty Creek is actually located in the Hill Country of (the Republic of) Texas.

Despite their fears & concerns, however, the people of Liberty Creek realized that they still had plenty of arms to defend themselves with, and many adopted a cold resolve to never retreat from their homes, even under the direst of circumstances, even if that ultimately translated into a second Alamo. Even Mr. Spooner himself, though normally a pacifist, had procured a gun from one of his fellow Yankees for self-defense...which would later turn out to be a wise decision on his part. By 9 p.m., the first Mexican soldiers were spotted just 5 miles outside of town; Spooner, by this point, personally headed up a group of fifty men, most of them Yankees, and most of the other men in the city had also taken up arms; even a few of the women and older children of this small town of 1,000 residents was armed with some sort of weapon. Now, all the townspeople needed to do, was wait for their enemy to come knocking. And come they would.

Vega's Mexicans had initially travelled to the southern part of the Balcones Canyon area, in what was to be southern Burnet Co.(and had made their camp just outside of the unincorporated town of Crestway); at sunrise, they began making their final approach along was then Cow Creek, before putting together the last details of the attack.

At 9 a.m., that next morning, the Mexicans, having been positioned just to Vega's liking, opened fire on the Texians' makeshift defensive lines, signaling the beginning of the fighting; the struggle for Liberty Creek had begun.....

Maybe we can finally finish this long overdue part of the TL.

 

[Not Henry G.]

"It's been three thousand years..."

JK man, glad to see you're still working on this. Your TL was one of my inspirations for mine, and it's good to know it's still alive.