The Dead Skunk
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Always a pleasure to see this updated - even if I don't comment as often as I should.
I did enjoy Page's gentle sarcasm regarding King Ferdinand (at least, I assume it was sarcasm. It's possible Page wasn't trying to be funny, but it made me laugh regardless).
I did enjoy Page's gentle sarcasm regarding King Ferdinand (at least, I assume it was sarcasm. It's possible Page wasn't trying to be funny, but it made me laugh regardless).
The Inauspicious Incident (4)
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To this day no one knows precisely how it began, or why it formed in the Red River but not in other rivers. There are several theories — that the initial clot of debris was formed centuries ago by a flood on the Mississippi that backed up the Red River, or that the erosion of the river’s loamy banks caused an unusually large number of hardwood trees to fall into it.
What was certain was that by the 1820s, the Great Raft had existed for so long that the Caddo people had no oral history of a time before it. It was a continuous logjam of fallen cypress, cottonwood and red cedar that stretched through some 250 kilometers of what was now western Mississippi. In places, it was so strong that men on horseback could cross it safely. Plants and small trees grew in the more decayed parts. It altered the very course of the river, creating lakes and swamps that ultimately filled with silt and became fertile fields. In this way, it nourished the Caddo even as it protected them from their enemies.
And if the Red River valley was to support anything that an American or Louisianan would recognize as civilization, it would have to go.
Many believed this to be impossible. The sheer scope of the Raft daunted early explorers like Thomas Freeman, who after examining in 1806 said that “no hope can be entertained of the great raft ever being removed.” But with the advent of the steam engine, the problem looked a little more reasonable — particularly to engineers like Henry Shreve. Gigantic as the Raft was, it was only made of wood embedded in silt, which could be pulled from the riverbed with sufficient force. If no one part of it was immovable, then its removal was merely a matter of time and effort — lots and lots of time and effort.
And for the past three years Shreve had been working on a tool for the purpose — a snagboat, a steamboat with a crane to pull snags from the river “like a dentist pulling teeth.” A glance at the blueprints was all it took to convince U.S. Secretary of Domestic Affairs Benjamin Wright. Now it was just a matter of obtaining the funding…
Given the unpleasant history betwee the governments of the Republic of Louisiana and the United States of America, news of the proposed deal was received with some controversy in the legislatures of both countries. In the Assembly, Radicals and some Conservatives angrily denounced Canning and Bouchette for proposing to use state capital to finance the expansion of a known enemy. In Congress, Tertium Quids and some Democratic-Republicans questioned the wisdom of taking a loan from Louisiana which would have to be paid back with interest, further enriching the tiny republic and its British backers at American expense.
Canning reassured the Assembly that in the event of war with the United States, Louisiana could be certain that “the might of the British Empire will surely be employed in your defense.” (What he was courteous enough not to add was that without such aid Louisiana would surely be crushed, Great Raft or no Great Raft.) And in time of peace, he added, the growth of trade would be of great benefit to the economy of Louisiana, and would finance its expansion into its own western hinterland.
In the United States, Secretary of State Sergeant defended the loan by arguing that the very expansion of the United States made it necessary. “The clearing of the Raft is likely to be the work of some decades,” he said. “Most financiers seek projects of more immediate reward.” Indeed, as he pointed out, the Louisianans were offering the Department of Domestic Affairs better terms than they could have received from the Bank of the United States. Opposition to the deal collapsed when a prominent Tertium Quid, John C. Calhoun, voiced his support for the deal in spite of the opposition of TQ leader John Randolph of Roanoke…
What was certain was that by the 1820s, the Great Raft had existed for so long that the Caddo people had no oral history of a time before it. It was a continuous logjam of fallen cypress, cottonwood and red cedar that stretched through some 250 kilometers of what was now western Mississippi. In places, it was so strong that men on horseback could cross it safely. Plants and small trees grew in the more decayed parts. It altered the very course of the river, creating lakes and swamps that ultimately filled with silt and became fertile fields. In this way, it nourished the Caddo even as it protected them from their enemies.
And if the Red River valley was to support anything that an American or Louisianan would recognize as civilization, it would have to go.
Many believed this to be impossible. The sheer scope of the Raft daunted early explorers like Thomas Freeman, who after examining in 1806 said that “no hope can be entertained of the great raft ever being removed.” But with the advent of the steam engine, the problem looked a little more reasonable — particularly to engineers like Henry Shreve. Gigantic as the Raft was, it was only made of wood embedded in silt, which could be pulled from the riverbed with sufficient force. If no one part of it was immovable, then its removal was merely a matter of time and effort — lots and lots of time and effort.
And for the past three years Shreve had been working on a tool for the purpose — a snagboat, a steamboat with a crane to pull snags from the river “like a dentist pulling teeth.” A glance at the blueprints was all it took to convince U.S. Secretary of Domestic Affairs Benjamin Wright. Now it was just a matter of obtaining the funding…
Given the unpleasant history betwee the governments of the Republic of Louisiana and the United States of America, news of the proposed deal was received with some controversy in the legislatures of both countries. In the Assembly, Radicals and some Conservatives angrily denounced Canning and Bouchette for proposing to use state capital to finance the expansion of a known enemy. In Congress, Tertium Quids and some Democratic-Republicans questioned the wisdom of taking a loan from Louisiana which would have to be paid back with interest, further enriching the tiny republic and its British backers at American expense.
Canning reassured the Assembly that in the event of war with the United States, Louisiana could be certain that “the might of the British Empire will surely be employed in your defense.” (What he was courteous enough not to add was that without such aid Louisiana would surely be crushed, Great Raft or no Great Raft.) And in time of peace, he added, the growth of trade would be of great benefit to the economy of Louisiana, and would finance its expansion into its own western hinterland.
In the United States, Secretary of State Sergeant defended the loan by arguing that the very expansion of the United States made it necessary. “The clearing of the Raft is likely to be the work of some decades,” he said. “Most financiers seek projects of more immediate reward.” Indeed, as he pointed out, the Louisianans were offering the Department of Domestic Affairs better terms than they could have received from the Bank of the United States. Opposition to the deal collapsed when a prominent Tertium Quid, John C. Calhoun, voiced his support for the deal in spite of the opposition of TQ leader John Randolph of Roanoke…
Michel Beauregard, A History of the Republic of Louisiana
Cooperation between America and Louisiana? Heavens ta murgatroyd, say it ain't so! 
I'd be happy to keep reading up on these republics. That and it's been a bit since we last saw them if I remember right...
I'd be happy to keep reading up on these republics. That and it's been a bit since we last saw them if I remember right...
The Inauspicious Incident (5)
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There'll be a little more about the U.S. later this year. But for now…
By early 1825, Assam was firmly established as a princely state of the Raj. The next stage of the British plan of war was to seize the vassal states of Manipur, Arakan, Pegu and Tenasserim and likewise incorporate them, and to take the city of Rangoon[1]. As it turned out, however, the Burmese had plans of their own.
At the beginning of April, the Burmese general Maha Bandula invaded eastern Bengal, attacking Ramu and crushing the tiny force of sepoys and police there.[2] Most historians agree that Bandula intended to quit while he was ahead rather than press his advantage any further. But everything changed a week later when Bandula fell ill with dysentery, leaving command of the army in the hands of his subordinate, the warrior-poet U Sa — soon to become a legend in the history of the Burmese nation.
Sa pressed the Burmese advantaged, falling upon Chittagong. This city turned out to be only a little better defended than Ramu, and fell in just six hours. Bandula had boasted that his army could march to Calcutta living off the land, and Sa was ready to make good on that boast. The Raj now faced its worst nightmare: an enemy invasion aimed at its very heart, taking place at the beginning of the monsoon season when the weather was least suitable for the transportation of large armies — particularly the cavalry and artillery which were the core of British might.
And there was no hope of reinforcement from elsewhere in the Empire. To counter this incursion, Beresford had the men and material he had assembled for the invasion of the Irrawaddy delta, which now needed to be called off…
Now supplied by Beresford, Sir Archibald Campbell prepared to meet the Burmese at Satkhira. He had intended to keep his distance from U Sa’s army for as long as possible, using the Congreves to diminish the ranks of the enemy before meeing them directly. Meanwhile, Bandula had recovered from his illness and caught up with his army. He could not undo what U Sa had done, so determined to make the best of the situation. There seemed little hope of breaking British power in India altogether, but a defeat near Calcutta might force them to withdraw from Assam.
However, when a major storm flooded the area and forced the armies of Campbell and Bandula onto the same stretch of high ground, the matter was decided for them. Outnumbered three to one, he fired every rocket he had into the packed mass of the Burmese army at just above point-blank range, and then the real fight began. In torrential rain, British soldiers and Bengali sepoys fought the invaders with muskets, bayonets and knives until night fell. In the fight, U Sa was wounded and captured, and Bandula organized a retreat under cover of darkness. His army made their way back to Burma, tigers and crocodiles picking off wounded stragglers.
Beresford could now report success to London. As for U Sa, despite his reputation as a Burmese national hero, he would regret his decisions for the rest of his life. “I was a fool,” he would say. “Kill a tiger or leave it be, but never, ever frighten it. I frightened the greatest tiger in the world.”
[1] At this time, the capital of Burma was Ava (the modern town of Inwa) in the central part of the country.
[2] This happened in 1824 IOTL, but Bandula stopped there.
By early 1825, Assam was firmly established as a princely state of the Raj. The next stage of the British plan of war was to seize the vassal states of Manipur, Arakan, Pegu and Tenasserim and likewise incorporate them, and to take the city of Rangoon[1]. As it turned out, however, the Burmese had plans of their own.
At the beginning of April, the Burmese general Maha Bandula invaded eastern Bengal, attacking Ramu and crushing the tiny force of sepoys and police there.[2] Most historians agree that Bandula intended to quit while he was ahead rather than press his advantage any further. But everything changed a week later when Bandula fell ill with dysentery, leaving command of the army in the hands of his subordinate, the warrior-poet U Sa — soon to become a legend in the history of the Burmese nation.
Sa pressed the Burmese advantaged, falling upon Chittagong. This city turned out to be only a little better defended than Ramu, and fell in just six hours. Bandula had boasted that his army could march to Calcutta living off the land, and Sa was ready to make good on that boast. The Raj now faced its worst nightmare: an enemy invasion aimed at its very heart, taking place at the beginning of the monsoon season when the weather was least suitable for the transportation of large armies — particularly the cavalry and artillery which were the core of British might.
And there was no hope of reinforcement from elsewhere in the Empire. To counter this incursion, Beresford had the men and material he had assembled for the invasion of the Irrawaddy delta, which now needed to be called off…
Now supplied by Beresford, Sir Archibald Campbell prepared to meet the Burmese at Satkhira. He had intended to keep his distance from U Sa’s army for as long as possible, using the Congreves to diminish the ranks of the enemy before meeing them directly. Meanwhile, Bandula had recovered from his illness and caught up with his army. He could not undo what U Sa had done, so determined to make the best of the situation. There seemed little hope of breaking British power in India altogether, but a defeat near Calcutta might force them to withdraw from Assam.
However, when a major storm flooded the area and forced the armies of Campbell and Bandula onto the same stretch of high ground, the matter was decided for them. Outnumbered three to one, he fired every rocket he had into the packed mass of the Burmese army at just above point-blank range, and then the real fight began. In torrential rain, British soldiers and Bengali sepoys fought the invaders with muskets, bayonets and knives until night fell. In the fight, U Sa was wounded and captured, and Bandula organized a retreat under cover of darkness. His army made their way back to Burma, tigers and crocodiles picking off wounded stragglers.
Beresford could now report success to London. As for U Sa, despite his reputation as a Burmese national hero, he would regret his decisions for the rest of his life. “I was a fool,” he would say. “Kill a tiger or leave it be, but never, ever frighten it. I frightened the greatest tiger in the world.”
Harrison et al., A History of Southeast Asia
[1] At this time, the capital of Burma was Ava (the modern town of Inwa) in the central part of the country.
[2] This happened in 1824 IOTL, but Bandula stopped there.
The Inauspicious Incident (6)
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In June, Buenos Aires began seeing an influx of refugees from Montevideo. Lavalleja’s failed attempt to undo the Brazilian annexation of the Eastern Province[1] had led to a crackdown by Pedro’s government. Over the course of the next year, 40,000 people (a fifth of the population of the province) fled to Buenos Aires. To the unitarian cause, this was both a reprieve and a challenge. Some of these people were, or could be trained to be, soldiers — soldiers who might make the difference between utter defeat and, if not victory, at least a stalemate. But in the short term, feeding and housing them was going to be a problem…
Alpirez et al., History of the South American Nations
August 1, 1825
Threadneedle Street, London
Cornelius Buller considered the letter on his desk. So… the Prime Minister and the foreign minister wanted him to tender a loan to the government in Buenos Aires.
Buller wasn’t exactly happy about this. There was an abundance of other possible investments, both in the Empire and out of it, that seemed likelier to offer a good return. And there was no guarantee that whatever statelet emerged down in the Argentine would even be viable. On the other hand, his predecessors had had the same worries about Louisiana, and today their loan payments were a solid source of income for the Bank. If it weren’t for those payments, the Bank might be running low on specie right now.[2] (True, that American canal would be opening this year, but Buller wasn’t too worried. In the first place, everyone seemed to agree that it would divert only a fraction of the Mississippi traffic. In the second place, the Bank of England owned a good thirteen percent of that canal.)
As Buller looked over the account books, he nodded. It might not be all Wellington wanted, but the Bank could spare the porteños a little something…
[1] a.k.a. Uruguay, which at this point IOTL succeeded in sending off the Brazilians with help from Argentina.
[2] About this time IOTL, the Bank of England was worrying about their supply of specie, which caused them to cut back on issuing credit, which in turn helped to trigger a global financial crisis.
Threadneedle Street, London
Cornelius Buller considered the letter on his desk. So… the Prime Minister and the foreign minister wanted him to tender a loan to the government in Buenos Aires.
Buller wasn’t exactly happy about this. There was an abundance of other possible investments, both in the Empire and out of it, that seemed likelier to offer a good return. And there was no guarantee that whatever statelet emerged down in the Argentine would even be viable. On the other hand, his predecessors had had the same worries about Louisiana, and today their loan payments were a solid source of income for the Bank. If it weren’t for those payments, the Bank might be running low on specie right now.[2] (True, that American canal would be opening this year, but Buller wasn’t too worried. In the first place, everyone seemed to agree that it would divert only a fraction of the Mississippi traffic. In the second place, the Bank of England owned a good thirteen percent of that canal.)
As Buller looked over the account books, he nodded. It might not be all Wellington wanted, but the Bank could spare the porteños a little something…
[1] a.k.a. Uruguay, which at this point IOTL succeeded in sending off the Brazilians with help from Argentina.
[2] About this time IOTL, the Bank of England was worrying about their supply of specie, which caused them to cut back on issuing credit, which in turn helped to trigger a global financial crisis.
Stolengood
Banned
I am curious... has anyone chanced to try this recipe, yet?
Should I make austriaco for Christmas?
Should I make austriaco for Christmas?
The Inauspicious Incident (7)
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The beginning of the end came with a seemingly innocuous order. Sultan Mahmud II commanded each of the 51 Janissary units in the area of Constantinople to assign 150 men to begin training for his new army. This was about a fifth of the Janissaries on active duty. Anticipating what would happen and not wishing to suffer the fate of Seliim III, he also summoned loyal soldiers to the capital.
But he was not the only one anticipating trouble. The Janissaries knew as well as their sultan that their empire had suffered a humiliating defeat, and suspected that they would be blamed for the catastrophe. They knew that even as they had been retreating before the Austrians and Russians, Mahmud had begun training a new infantry force that owed nothing to them. When the command issued from the Topkapi Palace, they were already on the alert.
On July 31, the Janissaries took to the streets of Constantinople to protest the Sultan’s military reforms. “We want the names of those responsible for these innovations!” said one of them. When the Sultan brought in his loyalists and ordered the Janissaries to disband, they disobeyed. Mahmud gave the order, and blood flowed in the streets of the Sublime Porte.
Two hours later, the battle was over and the Sultan was again master of all Constantinople. He shut down the harbors, but many Janissaries had already escaped. With the blessing of the Sheikh al-Islam, the Sultan ordered all Janissaries throughout the empire disbanded. Local governors were to execute their leaders and seize their barracks and equipment. Even the very word “janissary” was to be removed from the Turkish language.
Results were mixed. In Egypt, Mesopotamia and most of Anatolia, the Janissaries were disarmed and expelled before they could cause any trouble. But along the Anatolian coast, the Levant and all through the Balkans, they rose in rebellion…
But he was not the only one anticipating trouble. The Janissaries knew as well as their sultan that their empire had suffered a humiliating defeat, and suspected that they would be blamed for the catastrophe. They knew that even as they had been retreating before the Austrians and Russians, Mahmud had begun training a new infantry force that owed nothing to them. When the command issued from the Topkapi Palace, they were already on the alert.
On July 31, the Janissaries took to the streets of Constantinople to protest the Sultan’s military reforms. “We want the names of those responsible for these innovations!” said one of them. When the Sultan brought in his loyalists and ordered the Janissaries to disband, they disobeyed. Mahmud gave the order, and blood flowed in the streets of the Sublime Porte.
Two hours later, the battle was over and the Sultan was again master of all Constantinople. He shut down the harbors, but many Janissaries had already escaped. With the blessing of the Sheikh al-Islam, the Sultan ordered all Janissaries throughout the empire disbanded. Local governors were to execute their leaders and seize their barracks and equipment. Even the very word “janissary” was to be removed from the Turkish language.
Results were mixed. In Egypt, Mesopotamia and most of Anatolia, the Janissaries were disarmed and expelled before they could cause any trouble. But along the Anatolian coast, the Levant and all through the Balkans, they rose in rebellion…
Kemal Demirci, The Cardboard Lion: The Last Years of the Ottoman Empire
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A Bubble in the Water (1)
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On October 19, 1825, in New York State, the Erie Canal was opened with great ceremony. A succession of cannons were fired from Buffalo to New York City along the length of the canal and the Hudson to mark the moment of opening. Governor DeWitt Clinton began a ten-day boat trip down the canal to New York City, where he poured a keg of Lake Erie water into New York Harbor in a symbolic “wedding of the waters.”
One week later, three different states opened the Tennessee and Tombigbee Canal with all the ceremony they had at their command. After presiding over the incorporation of the new and unimaginatively named Canalport[1], Tennessee Governor John Williams traveled by boat down the T&T to Chickasaw, Mississippi[2], where he met Governor David Holmes. He completed his eight-day trip in Demopolis, Alabama, where he met Governor Henry H. Chambers.
The advantages of the Erie Canal were both military and economic. Not only did it strengthen U.S. control of Lake Erie, it opened a route to the Midwest that did not involve crossing the Appalachians. New York City, as the gateway to that route, grew to eclipse Philadelphia and Boston, becoming the preeminent city of the East Coast. The T&T Canal also yielded both miltary and economic advantages — however, the economic advantages were almost entirely in the form of disasters avoided rather than benefits gained. British-backed Louisiana would never be able to cut off the trade of the western United States or suck it dry through tariffs. Unfortunately, there was no way to calculate these unincurred losses when determining whether the canal was paying for itself.
Not that it mattered. By the time Governor Williams began his boat trip, many of the original investors in the T&T had already turned a tidy profit on their shares — by selling those shares for three or four times what they had paid for them. Investors all over the world wanted to get in on the act. And there was plenty of room for them, with the canal industry booming from Massachusetts to Mississippi. Some of the planned projects, like the the Great Southern, the Ohio and Erie and the Chesapeake and Ohio canals, certainly seemed to make sense on paper. Others, like the Brunswick Spur or the Savannah and Ashley Canal, had no conceivable economic justification beyond making it more difficult for the Royal Navy to blockade the American coast in time of war. Still others, like the Illinois and Michigan Canal, were of obvious merit, but construction could not even begin until the infrastructure was in place to support the work force and transport the materials.
But again, none of this mattered. Few investors had any sense of what would and would not work — or cared, so long as there were others to resell the shares to.
[1] Counce, Tennessee
[2] Burnsville, Mississippi
One week later, three different states opened the Tennessee and Tombigbee Canal with all the ceremony they had at their command. After presiding over the incorporation of the new and unimaginatively named Canalport[1], Tennessee Governor John Williams traveled by boat down the T&T to Chickasaw, Mississippi[2], where he met Governor David Holmes. He completed his eight-day trip in Demopolis, Alabama, where he met Governor Henry H. Chambers.
The advantages of the Erie Canal were both military and economic. Not only did it strengthen U.S. control of Lake Erie, it opened a route to the Midwest that did not involve crossing the Appalachians. New York City, as the gateway to that route, grew to eclipse Philadelphia and Boston, becoming the preeminent city of the East Coast. The T&T Canal also yielded both miltary and economic advantages — however, the economic advantages were almost entirely in the form of disasters avoided rather than benefits gained. British-backed Louisiana would never be able to cut off the trade of the western United States or suck it dry through tariffs. Unfortunately, there was no way to calculate these unincurred losses when determining whether the canal was paying for itself.
Not that it mattered. By the time Governor Williams began his boat trip, many of the original investors in the T&T had already turned a tidy profit on their shares — by selling those shares for three or four times what they had paid for them. Investors all over the world wanted to get in on the act. And there was plenty of room for them, with the canal industry booming from Massachusetts to Mississippi. Some of the planned projects, like the the Great Southern, the Ohio and Erie and the Chesapeake and Ohio canals, certainly seemed to make sense on paper. Others, like the Brunswick Spur or the Savannah and Ashley Canal, had no conceivable economic justification beyond making it more difficult for the Royal Navy to blockade the American coast in time of war. Still others, like the Illinois and Michigan Canal, were of obvious merit, but construction could not even begin until the infrastructure was in place to support the work force and transport the materials.
But again, none of this mattered. Few investors had any sense of what would and would not work — or cared, so long as there were others to resell the shares to.
Alice Fleming, An Economic History of the United States
[1] Counce, Tennessee
[2] Burnsville, Mississippi
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Do I smell a "waterway bubble" approaching in the US? That's an original allohistorical concept for an economic crisis, for sure!
Do I smell a "waterway bubble" approaching in the US? That's an original allohistorical concept for an economic crisis, for sure!
Well, rail bubbles were super common in the 19th century. A "canal bubble" seems like a logical outcome if investors have enough money to throw around, but no railways to plow their money into...
A Bubble in the Water (2)
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This is the sort of thing I do when I get bored with the usual infodumps.
This is a great time to be into the counterfact genre. Not only has Wrongworlders been renewed for a fifth season, but Adastra Books has announced that they will be publishing the first English translation of Guillermo Quiñones Abascal’s Agente de la Federación series. If you’ve never heard of this series, let me rectify that right now.
The divergence point for the series is in the autumn of 1825, in the Republic of Gran Colombia. For those of you who aren’t up on the history of the hispanophone world, this was right in the middle of a war between Colombia[1] and the Spanish Empire, including the Virreinato. Now, the interesting thing about this war — bear with me, I swear this will become relevant — is that at this point, Spain and the Virreinato were basically fighting two different wars. Spain was just raiding commerce and hitting the ports,[2] but the Infante Carlos, who was running the Virreinato, was trying to take over Colombia completely. He wasn’t having much luck, either — he got defeated south of Quito, retreated to Ambato and won there, then advanced to Latacunga and got defeated again… not exactly losing, but all he was accomplishing was getting people killed.
I mention this because eleven years ago, a Virreinatan writer named Fernando de Mendoza (probably a nom de plume) published a counterfact novel called Imperio de los Héroes, in which Carlos succeeded in conquering Colombia and by the 1940s the Spanish Empire is one big happy clerical-aristist family and the rest of the world is either aristist or just begging to be conquered and instrumentalized. It’s almost as good as it sounds.
Quiñones — whose family fled the Virreinato when he was just a child — began writing his series as a response to Imperio de los Héroes, but it gradually grew into something more. In Agente de la Federación, Carlos is killed in battle at Latacunga and Gran Colombia liberates the Virreinato. The series begins in the 1930s, in a world where somehow or other everything from Texas and California down to Tierra del Fuego is part of the Federation of the Americas. It relates the adventures of Cuauhtemoc Palczynski Cállahan as he struggles to protect his beloved Federation from the machinations of the inexplicably aristist United States of America…
[1] People don’t always say “Gran Colombia” for more or less the same reason we don’t always say “Great Britain.”
[2] By now, Spain’s armies in the north have been pushed out of everywhere except the city of Caracas itself. The goal of the Cortes and King Ferdinand is to destroy the marine commerce of Gran Colombia, force it to seek terms and guarantee that it can’t project power into the Caribbean or threaten Spain’s hold on its remaining possessions. I should point out that at this point a very large chunk of Colombia’s economy depends on the export of sugar and tobacco, so this is a problem for them.
This is a great time to be into the counterfact genre. Not only has Wrongworlders been renewed for a fifth season, but Adastra Books has announced that they will be publishing the first English translation of Guillermo Quiñones Abascal’s Agente de la Federación series. If you’ve never heard of this series, let me rectify that right now.
The divergence point for the series is in the autumn of 1825, in the Republic of Gran Colombia. For those of you who aren’t up on the history of the hispanophone world, this was right in the middle of a war between Colombia[1] and the Spanish Empire, including the Virreinato. Now, the interesting thing about this war — bear with me, I swear this will become relevant — is that at this point, Spain and the Virreinato were basically fighting two different wars. Spain was just raiding commerce and hitting the ports,[2] but the Infante Carlos, who was running the Virreinato, was trying to take over Colombia completely. He wasn’t having much luck, either — he got defeated south of Quito, retreated to Ambato and won there, then advanced to Latacunga and got defeated again… not exactly losing, but all he was accomplishing was getting people killed.
I mention this because eleven years ago, a Virreinatan writer named Fernando de Mendoza (probably a nom de plume) published a counterfact novel called Imperio de los Héroes, in which Carlos succeeded in conquering Colombia and by the 1940s the Spanish Empire is one big happy clerical-aristist family and the rest of the world is either aristist or just begging to be conquered and instrumentalized. It’s almost as good as it sounds.
Quiñones — whose family fled the Virreinato when he was just a child — began writing his series as a response to Imperio de los Héroes, but it gradually grew into something more. In Agente de la Federación, Carlos is killed in battle at Latacunga and Gran Colombia liberates the Virreinato. The series begins in the 1930s, in a world where somehow or other everything from Texas and California down to Tierra del Fuego is part of the Federation of the Americas. It relates the adventures of Cuauhtemoc Palczynski Cállahan as he struggles to protect his beloved Federation from the machinations of the inexplicably aristist United States of America…
Janice Terebey, Exmundane News (March 1980)
[1] People don’t always say “Gran Colombia” for more or less the same reason we don’t always say “Great Britain.”
[2] By now, Spain’s armies in the north have been pushed out of everywhere except the city of Caracas itself. The goal of the Cortes and King Ferdinand is to destroy the marine commerce of Gran Colombia, force it to seek terms and guarantee that it can’t project power into the Caribbean or threaten Spain’s hold on its remaining possessions. I should point out that at this point a very large chunk of Colombia’s economy depends on the export of sugar and tobacco, so this is a problem for them.
A Bubble in the Water (3)
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December 7, 1825
No. 10 Downing Street
Wellington considered the man sitting in front of him. He had a fringe of beard from his sideburns all around his jawline, making him look rather like a human daisy. He met the Prime Minister’s gaze with an expression of utter innocence.
“Your Excellency,” said Wellington, “I am anxious to hear your government’s explanation for this.”
“If you are referring to the incident at Favignana, Your Grace,” said Guglielmo Pepe, Italian Ambassador to the Court of St. James, “you might do better to direct your inquiries to Algiers or Tunis.” His English was quite good, but with a peculiar accent, Scots over Italian — probably from his wife.
“Your government had no hand in this?” said Wellington. “It seems very convenient for you.”
“Not half so convenient as it must have seemed to the pirates,” said Pepe. “The treasure of a small nation, a whole family of important hostages… all at one fell swoop, as you say.”
“That is not an answer.” Wellington gave his most intimidating glare.
It didn’t work. Pepe was the most politically important man of a politically important family back in Terni, and had been spoken of as a future prime minister. It was a mark of Italy’s wary regard for Britannic might that he had been sent as ambassador. (Another mark was that the Italians had obeyed the command Wellington had relayed through Clancarty not to intervene in Sicily on pain of war — or at least, not to get caught sending men or arms across the Strait of Messina.) But it also meant that there was no hope of eliciting folly or cowardice from the man.
“Your Grace,” said the ambassador, “I know what you think of my government. I will not waste breath saying that it would not suit with our national honour to do such a thing. But there is a much simpler explanation which I commend to your attention.
“To begin with, Sicily was a weak kingdom even before civil war came to it. It was protected more by your navy than by its own — and your navy is only so large. So it should not be a surprise that the Barbary pirates single it out for their depredations. And anyone who knows anything of pirates knows they often have informants in the lands they raid, to tell them where the gold is. So when Francis and his family decided to take the treasury and flee—”
“That is not true,” said Wellington. “If it had been his intention to flee the country, he would have left on a British vessel — we kept that offer open, as I’m sure you are aware. He left Palermo because he feared assassination there. He was retreating to a stronghold in the west of Sicily, where his supporters are still strong.” In fact, Sicily west of Alcamo and Sciacca was the only place where the king’s loyalists held sway — the rest of the island was a patchwork of Republican and Italianist areas. The heart of Palermo had been another place Francis had held, until he left it. He’d chosen Favignana because it was a small island where he could keep away anyone who wasn’t supposed to be there… unless that someone was several boatloads of Algerines.
“We have heard differing accounts,” said Pepe. “But whatever may be the case, he trusted in secrecy rather than strength. He and his family made their departure in the dead of night on one rather small gunboat. Now is it really so implausible that some dockworker let slip where his ship was bound? And who and what was on it? How many people were there in Palermo who did not like him?”
Wellington reluctantly nodded. He should have asked us for help, the fool, he thought. But no. He still claims the Neapolitan lands. He thinks we failed his father. He blames Beresford and Morisset.
And he will probably blame us for this as well, if we ever get him out of it. There was one RN packet boat in Palermo harbour when he left — the rest of the fleet was at the other end of the island watching the Italians. No help for it.
Wellington had never thought he would tire of lending his strength to faltering kings. Serving George III had been an honourable task. He had also helped ensure that the kings of Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands were on their thrones today… although two of them were much diminished in power. But in the end, he had not been able to help Louis of France (his left foot gave a little twinge in memory of its fallen digit), and Britain hadn’t been able to do much for King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies… or his son, Francis I of the One Sicily, who was probably going to be Francis I of No Sicily Whatsoever before this was over.
No. 10 Downing Street
Wellington considered the man sitting in front of him. He had a fringe of beard from his sideburns all around his jawline, making him look rather like a human daisy. He met the Prime Minister’s gaze with an expression of utter innocence.
“Your Excellency,” said Wellington, “I am anxious to hear your government’s explanation for this.”
“If you are referring to the incident at Favignana, Your Grace,” said Guglielmo Pepe, Italian Ambassador to the Court of St. James, “you might do better to direct your inquiries to Algiers or Tunis.” His English was quite good, but with a peculiar accent, Scots over Italian — probably from his wife.
“Your government had no hand in this?” said Wellington. “It seems very convenient for you.”
“Not half so convenient as it must have seemed to the pirates,” said Pepe. “The treasure of a small nation, a whole family of important hostages… all at one fell swoop, as you say.”
“That is not an answer.” Wellington gave his most intimidating glare.
It didn’t work. Pepe was the most politically important man of a politically important family back in Terni, and had been spoken of as a future prime minister. It was a mark of Italy’s wary regard for Britannic might that he had been sent as ambassador. (Another mark was that the Italians had obeyed the command Wellington had relayed through Clancarty not to intervene in Sicily on pain of war — or at least, not to get caught sending men or arms across the Strait of Messina.) But it also meant that there was no hope of eliciting folly or cowardice from the man.
“Your Grace,” said the ambassador, “I know what you think of my government. I will not waste breath saying that it would not suit with our national honour to do such a thing. But there is a much simpler explanation which I commend to your attention.
“To begin with, Sicily was a weak kingdom even before civil war came to it. It was protected more by your navy than by its own — and your navy is only so large. So it should not be a surprise that the Barbary pirates single it out for their depredations. And anyone who knows anything of pirates knows they often have informants in the lands they raid, to tell them where the gold is. So when Francis and his family decided to take the treasury and flee—”
“That is not true,” said Wellington. “If it had been his intention to flee the country, he would have left on a British vessel — we kept that offer open, as I’m sure you are aware. He left Palermo because he feared assassination there. He was retreating to a stronghold in the west of Sicily, where his supporters are still strong.” In fact, Sicily west of Alcamo and Sciacca was the only place where the king’s loyalists held sway — the rest of the island was a patchwork of Republican and Italianist areas. The heart of Palermo had been another place Francis had held, until he left it. He’d chosen Favignana because it was a small island where he could keep away anyone who wasn’t supposed to be there… unless that someone was several boatloads of Algerines.
“We have heard differing accounts,” said Pepe. “But whatever may be the case, he trusted in secrecy rather than strength. He and his family made their departure in the dead of night on one rather small gunboat. Now is it really so implausible that some dockworker let slip where his ship was bound? And who and what was on it? How many people were there in Palermo who did not like him?”
Wellington reluctantly nodded. He should have asked us for help, the fool, he thought. But no. He still claims the Neapolitan lands. He thinks we failed his father. He blames Beresford and Morisset.
And he will probably blame us for this as well, if we ever get him out of it. There was one RN packet boat in Palermo harbour when he left — the rest of the fleet was at the other end of the island watching the Italians. No help for it.
Wellington had never thought he would tire of lending his strength to faltering kings. Serving George III had been an honourable task. He had also helped ensure that the kings of Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands were on their thrones today… although two of them were much diminished in power. But in the end, he had not been able to help Louis of France (his left foot gave a little twinge in memory of its fallen digit), and Britain hadn’t been able to do much for King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies… or his son, Francis I of the One Sicily, who was probably going to be Francis I of No Sicily Whatsoever before this was over.
A Bubble in the Water (4)
Lycaon pictus
Donor
The Class of 1825:
People Born This Year Who Will Show Up Later
People Born This Year Who Will Show Up Later
Lawrence Agar-Ellis, born February 15 in London, the son of George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover, and Lady Georgiana.
Thomas William Eustace, born March 24 in London, the son of William Cornwallis Eustace and his wife Caroline Margaret.
Baptiste Remiller, born July 13 in Paris, son of a metalworker.
Dawn Gilpin, born October 4 in Montgomery County, Maryland, daughter of a recently freed teenage slave and some white guy who seems to have disappeared. Not the world’s greatest start in life, and things will only get worse when at the age of seven she is kidnapped and sold into slavery.
John Crosthwaite, born December 11 in Boston, to Edward and Rachel Crosthwaite.
Now, who wants to get in the 1000th post?
I will quite happily oblige.
Great to see this back; and interesting to see the 'present day' play out alongside hints of what is to come.
Out of interest, what's become of William Roscoe? He's something of a hero of mine, and at this point IOTL he still had a good couple of years left in him...
Great to see this back; and interesting to see the 'present day' play out alongside hints of what is to come.
Out of interest, what's become of William Roscoe? He's something of a hero of mine, and at this point IOTL he still had a good couple of years left in him...