America: A TL Retold

herricks

Expansion

The Battle of Pensacola and the Battle of St. Augustine hadn't just caused anger in the US but also in the Spanish territories. Georgia militias had been along the Florida border since the end of August which was worrisome for the Spanish Florida garrisons. In early September Georgian forces would launch several small raids again into Florida with little casualties occurring for either side but causing panic. On September 21,1812 350 Spanish troops and 550 militia crossed into Georgia and attacked the militia's assembled around Saint Marys. The Battle of Saint Marys would, while being another decisive defeat for the Georgia militia, was enough to unite the southern states against Spain.

From their garrison in the Alabama Territory General Jackson and 4,500 troops set out for St. Augustine on October 1. Twelve days later Jackson and his army would decisively defeat the Spanish force on October 14 capturing St. Augustine and after a short six day siege captured Castillo de San Marcos effectively ending Spanish presence in Florida. With Florida occupied General Jackson left St. Augustine on November 5 with most of his army and began moving to New Orleans where he would prepare to invade Spanish Texas. On the same day in Washington Congress would narrowly vote to go to war with Spain as well.
 

herricks

Deep in the Heart

Word would arrive in New Orleans from Washington about war with Spain in early December. General Jackson knew that it would and had prepared an army of nearly 5,500. With the war official, Jackson crossed the Sabine River into Texas on December 29,1812. Spain had few troops in northern New Spain and, with most wrapped up fighting rebels in the south, had even fewer to send against Jackson. To help with this inferiority in numbers, Spain began recruiting the native tribes in Texas to attack the Americans. The first engagement to occur in New Spain would be on January 8,1813 at the Battle of Nacogdoches where 1,100 mostly native forces attacked the Americans resulting in a short violent fight that ended in their defeat.

Over the next three weeks General Jackson moved his army towards San Antonio de Bexar that had a garrison of 500 Spanish and 750 native troops. On February 11 Jackson's small cavalry force reached San Antonio and though the Spaniards outnumbered them, after a brief skirmish the towns defenders withdrew into the more fortified Alamo. For the next twenty days the Siege of the Alamo would occur before the garrison surrendered and Jackson began planning his next target. By April all of New Spain north of the Rio Grande was effectively under American control.

The war in the north against Britain the previous year had exhausted both sides and as spring approached neither side was doing much. With Montreal now under American control the Canadians and British were trying to rebuild at Quebec. It had been the hope of those in Washington the the loss of Montreal would make Britain willing to negotiate a peace. However with spring arriving Britain was still unwilling to negotiate.

To bring an end to the war and let peace resume, General Hamilton began preparing a campaign to take Quebec in early March 1813. For more than a month fresh troops were brought in and his army would grow to nearly 12,000 strong. On April 7 Hamilton and his army set out to capture Quebec and finally bring about an en to this costly war.
 

herricks

Last Actions

As General Hamilton prepared for the Quebec Campaign, in Texas General Jackson began his own along the Rio Grande on March 2. In just over two weeks American forces had reached the Gulf of Mexico and captured Matamoros at the cost of only 71 combat casualties. Spain had had enough of fighting the Americans, with its American colonies up in revolt and the fight against Napoleon still raging in the peninsula Spain had no troops to spare to use against the US and called for peace. On April 17,1813 the Treaty of Cadiz was signed ending the war between the US and Spain in which Spain ceded Florida and all New Spain territory north and east of the Rio Grande to the US. Despite the treaty, just four days later Jackson would fight his largest battle at the Battle of Monterrey against 5,500 Spanish soldiers and militia in which the Spaniards were utterly destroyed.

Known to only a few besides President Lee, who had only narrowly been reelected in November, peace talks had been going on between the US and Britain in London to end the war since late November. However neither side could agree with each other. Britain was wanted to return to the status quo but the Americans were occupying significant parts of Canada including Montreal and were demanding Canada which Britain completely opposed. It was Washington's hope that defeating the British once more and capturing Quebec would prove to London that the Americans had won the war on land.

Quebec was Britain's last major stronghold in Lower Canada and throughout the winter British and Canadian forces had grown to 6,500 British and 4,000 Canadian troops who had been training to fight the Americans. The largest battle of the war would occur on May 5,1813 in the Battle of Quebec.

For more than three days the Battle of Quebec raged. The Americans had the numbers but Britain had the luxury of fighting from pre built defensive positions. US forces launched wave after wave of assaults against the British lines and while some succeeded, they would cause high American casualties and the main British lines would still be held. On the morning of May 9 the Americans, bloodied and exhausted launched a final massive assault on the main British line. For thirty minutes US forces marched into a hail of bullets and cannon fire getting within feet of the line before finally they started to break and withdraw. This was the final attempt for General Hamilton and shortly after the failed assault he ordered his army to withdraw. In their failed attempt to take Quebec the Americans had suffered nearly 5,000 casualties including 1,189 dead to the British 2,150 casualties of which only 218 had died.

The loss at Quebec and the increasing anti war sentiment within the American population caused Washington to rethink its stance on demanding all of Canada. On May 25 the US offered a new treaty to Britain. The US would withdraw from Upper and Lower Canada, agree to Britain's territorial claim in Maine, and pay 1,750,000 for all of Ruperts Land from York Factory west. Britain, equally tired of the war which was taking some of the focus off of fighting Napoleon would agree to the proposal and on June 2,1813 the Treaty of London was signed bringing an end to the three year conflict and peace in North America.

Wikibox of the War
1916.png

1916.png
 

herricks

Peace on the Continent

Peace had finally returned to the American people. Though they had not gotten all that they had initially aimed for in the war the US still more than doubled in size and with this size new territories were created. Louisiana had been granted statehood in December 1812 and after the Treaty of Cadiz gained Spanish Texas east of the Sabine River. West Florida was split between Louisiana and the Mississippi Territory while East Florida became the Florida Territory. The land annexed from New Spain would be organized into the Texas Territory with the territorial capital being placed in Nacogdoches before its move to San Antonio in 1825.

By wars end the regular army had reached 35,000 strong. President Lee as well as several cabinet members and officers believed that having a larger standing army would not only have given them a stronger stance at the beginning of the war but also could have placed them in position to take all of Canada from Britain. Also with the newly acquired territory, especially Texas and Florida, there were now several more native tribe within the American borders of which many were hostile. Lee proposed to keep the army at its current strength to help garrison the new frontier as well as ward off any future attack. Congress however would quickly shut down that high a number and instead would finally agree to a level of 20,000. With the war in Europe raging little was done to the expanded navy for the time being. Things however were turning against Napoleon as Europe now aligned themselves against him driving him back on all fronts.

Map of North America


1905.png

1905.png
 

herricks

A New Peace in the World

In June 1812 Napoleon crossed Neman River with the Grande Armée, consisting of as many as 650,000 men (roughly half of whom were French, with the remainder coming from allies or subject areas) and invaded Russia. Russia proclaimed a Patriotic War, while Napoleon proclaimed a "Second Polish War". But against the expectations of the Poles, who supplied almost 100,000 troops for the invasion force, and having in mind further negotiations with Russia, he avoided any concessions toward Poland. Russian forces fell back, destroying everything potentially of use to the invaders until giving battle at Borodino (September 7) where the two great armies fought a devastating but inconclusive battle. Following the battle the Russians withdrew, thus opening the road to Moscow. By September 14 the French had occupied Moscow but found the city practically empty. Alexander I (despite having almost lost the war by Western European standards) refused to capitulate, leaving the French in the abandoned city of Moscow with little food, shelter (large parts of Moscow had burned down) and winter approaching. In these circumstances, and with no clear path to victory, Napoleon was forced to withdraw from Moscow.

So began the disastrous Great Retreat, during which the retreating army came under increasing pressure due to lack of food, desertions, and increasingly harsh winter weather, all while under continual attack by the Russian army led by Commander-in-Chief Mikhail Kutuzov, and other militias. Total losses of the Grand Army were at least 370,000 casualties as a result of fighting, starvation and the freezing weather conditions, and 200,000 captured. By November, only 27,000 fit soldiers re-crossed the Berezina River. Napoleon now left his army to return to Paris and prepare a defense of Poland against the advancing Russians. The situation was not as dire as it might at first have seemed; the Russians had also lost around 400,000 men and their army was similarly depleted. However, they had the advantage of shorter supply lines and were able to replenish their armies with greater speed than the French, especially because Napoleon's losses of cavalry and wagons were irreplaceable.

The Convention of Tauroggen was a truce signed 30 December 1812 at Tauroggen, between Generalleutnant Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg on behalf of his Prussian troops (who had been compelled to augment the Grande Armée during the invasion of Russia), and by General Hans Karl von Diebitsch of the Russian Army. According to the Treaty of Tilsit, Prussia had to support Napoleon's invasion of Russia. This resulted in some Prussians leaving their army to avoid serving the French, like Carl von Clausewitz, who joined Russian service. When Yorck's immediate French superior Marshal MacDonald, retreated before the corps of Diebitsch, Yorck found himself isolated. As a soldier his duty was to break through, but as a Prussian patriot his position was more difficult. He had to judge whether the moment was favorable for starting a war of liberation; and, whatever might be the enthusiasm of his junior staff-officers, Yorck had no illusions as to the safety of his own head, and negotiated with Clausewitz. The Convention of Tauroggen armistice, signed by Diebitsch and Yorck, "neutralized" the Prussian corps without consent of their king. The news was received with the wildest enthusiasm in Prussia, but the Prussian Court dared not yet throw off the mask, and an order was despatched suspending Yorck from his command pending a court-martial. Diebitsch refused to let the bearer pass through his lines, and the general was finally absolved when the Treaty of Kalisch (February 28,1813) definitely ranged Prussia on the side of the Allies. Seeing an opportunity in Napoleon's historic defeat, Prussia re-entered the war, proclaiming a crusade of German Liberation against Napoleonic France.
On January 9,1812, French troops had occupied Swedish Pomerania to end the illegal trade with the United Kingdom from Sweden, which was in violation of the Continental System. Swedish estates were confiscated and Swedish officers and soldiers were taken as prisoners. In response, Sweden declared neutrality and signed a secret treaty with Russia against France and Denmark–Norway on April 5. Later on July 18, the Treaty of Örebro formally ended the wars between the United Kingdom and Sweden and Russia. On March 3,1813, after the United Kingdom agreed to Swedish claims to Norway, Sweden entered an alliance with the United Kingdom and declared war against France, and on June the same year the former formally entered the coalition.

Napoleon vowed that he would create a new army as large as that he had sent into Russia, and quickly built up his forces in the east from 30,000 to 130,000 and eventually to 400,000. Napoleon inflicted 40,000 casualties on the Allies at the Battle of Lützen (May 2) and the Battle of Bautzen (May 20–21) but he himself lost about the same number of men during those encounters. Both battles involved total forces of over 250,000 – making them some of the largest battles of the Napoleonic Wars to that point in time. The belligerents declared an armistice from May 31,1813 and lasting until July 31, during which time both sides attempted to recover from approximately quarter of a million losses since April. During this time Allied negotiations finally brought Austria out in open opposition to France (like Prussia, Austria had slipped from nominal ally of France in 1812 to armed neutral in 1813). Two principal Austrian armies were deployed in Bohemia and Northern Italy, adding 300,000 troops to the Allied armies. In total the Allies now had around 800,000 frontline troops in the German theatre with a strategic reserve of 350,000.

Napoleon succeeded in bringing the total imperial forces in the region up to around 650,000 (although only 250,000 were under his direct command, with another 120,000 under Nicolas Charles Oudinot and 30,000 under Davout). The Confederation of the Rhine furnished Napoleon with the bulk of the remainder of the forces with Saxony and Bavaria as principal contributors. In addition, to the south Murat's Kingdom of Naples and Eugène de Beauharnais's Kingdom of Italy had a combined total of 100,000 men under arms. In Spain an additional 150–200,000 French troops were being steadily beaten back by Spanish and British forces numbering around 150,000. Thus in total around 900,000 French troops were opposed in all theatres by somewhere around a million Allied troops (not including the strategic reserve being formed in Germany).
Following the end of the armistice Napoleon seemed to have regained the initiative at Dresden, where he defeated a numerically-superior allied army and inflicted enormous casualties, while sustaining relatively few. However at about the same time Oudinot's thrust towards Berlin was beaten back, and the French sustained several defeats in the north at Grossbeeren, Katzbach, and Dennewitz. Napoleon himself, lacking reliable and numerous cavalry, was unable to fully take advantage of his victory, and could not avoid the destruction of a whole army corps at the Battle of Kulm, further weakening his army. He withdrew with around 175,000 troops to Leipzig in Saxony where he thought he could fight a defensive action against the Allied armies converging on him. There, at the so-called Battle of Nations (October 12-15,1813) a French army, ultimately reinforced to 191,000, found itself faced by three Allied armies converging on it, ultimately totalling more than 430,000 troops. Over the following days the battle resulted in a defeat for Napoleon, who however was still able to manage a relatively orderly retreat westwards. However, as the French forces were pulling across the Elster, the bridge was prematurely blown and 30,000 troops were stranded to be taken prisoner by the Allied forces.

Napoleon defeated an army of his former ally Bavaria at the Battle of Hanau on October 21 before pulling what was left of his forces back into France however, Napoleon would be wounded during the battle . Meanwhile, Davout's corps continued to hold out in its Siege of Hamburg, where it became the last Imperial force east of the Rhine. During Napoleon's retreat into France however the wound he had received at Hanau became infected which quickly turned into gangrene. Unaware of Napoleon's worsening condition, the Allies offered peace terms in the Frankfurt proposals on November 1,1813. Per these terms Napoleon would remain as Emperor of France, but it would be reduced to its "natural frontiers." That meant that France could retain control of Belgium, Savoy and the Rhineland west of the Rhine River, while giving up control of all the rest, including all of Poland, Spain and the Netherlands, and most of Italy and Germany. Metternich told Napoleon these were the best terms the Allies were likely to offer; after further victories, the terms would be harsher and harsher. Metternich's motivation was to maintain France as a balance against Russian threats, while ending the highly destabilizing series of wars.

Though Napoleon had expected to win the war his condition was deteriorating fast. On November 14 Napoleon agreed to the proposals and in his stead Marshall Ney signed the Treaty of Frankfurt ending the War of the Sixth Coalition in France's defeat. Two days after the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed Napoleon succumbed to the infection and he died leaving his two and a half year old son Napoleon II as the new Emperor of France.

After over twenty years of nearly continuous warfare on the European continent peace had resumed. Making that peace last, especially in the wake of Frances defeat and the loss of virtually all of Napoleon's satellite allies and territory east of the Rhine was going to be a feat all on its own. In March 1814 a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna. The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off and remain at peace. The leaders were conservatives with little use for republicanism or revolution. France had lost its recent conquests east of the Rhine, while Prussia, Austria and Russia made major territorial gains.

The most dangerous topic at the Congress was the so-called Polish-Saxon Crisis. Russia wanted most of Poland, and Prussia wanted all of Saxony, whose king had allied with Napoleon. France was against Prussia annexing Saxony and instead pushed for Prussia to get its Polish Partitions again. For Russia's views on Poland, the tsar would become king of Poland composed of most of the former Duchy of Warsaw. Austria was fearful this would make Russia much too powerful, a view which was supported by Britain as well as France who was supposed to keep the balance of power from swaying into the Russian camp. On June 2,1814 a compromise was made for both Prussia and Russia. Prussia would receive 20% of Saxony's territory to become the Province of Saxony, with the remainder returned to King Frederick Augustus I as his Kingdom of Saxony. In Poland the former Duchy of Warsaw's territory was split between Russia and Prussia with roughly 2/3's of it's territory being awarded to Prussia and the remainder going to Russia.

The Final Act, embodying all the separate treaties, was signed on August 11,1814. Its provisions included:
Russia was given the eastern third of the Duchy of Warsaw (Poland) and was allowed to keep Finland (which it had annexed from Sweden in 1809).

*Prussia was given one fifth of Saxony, the western two thirds of the Duchy of Warsaw, Danzig, and the Rhineland/Westphalia east of the Rhine River.

*A German Confederation of 36 states was created from the previous 360 of the Holy Roman Empire, under the presidency of the Austrian Emperor. Only portions of the territory of Austria and Prussia were included in the Confederation.

*The Netherlands created a constitutional monarchy, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the House of Orange-Nassau providing the king.

*Swedish Pomerania, given to Denmark a year earlier in return for Norway, was ceded by Denmark to Prussia. France received back Guadeloupe from Sweden in return for yearly installments to the Swedish king.

*The neutrality of Switzerland was guaranteed.

*Hanover gave up the Duchy of Lauenburg to Denmark, but was enlarged by the addition of former territories of the Bishop of Münster and by the formerly Prussian East Frisia, and made a kingdom.

*Most of the territorial gains of Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Nassau under the mediatizations of 1801–1806 were recognized. Bavaria also gained control of the Rhenish Palatinate and parts of the Napoleonic Duchy of Würzburg and Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. Hesse-Darmstadt, in exchange for giving up the Duchy of Westphalia to Prussia, received Rhenish Hesse with its capital at Mainz.

*Austria regained control of the Tyrol and Salzburg; of the former Illyrian Provinces; of Tarnopol district (from Russia); received Lombardy-Venetia in Italy and Ragusa in Dalmatia. Former Austrian territory in Southwest Germany remained under the control of Württemberg and Baden, and the Austrian Netherlands were also not recovered.

*Habsburg princes were returned to control of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Modena.

*The Papal States were under the rule of the pope and restored to their former extent, with the exception of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin, which remained part of France.

*Britain was confirmed in control of the Cape Colony in Southern Africa; Tobago; Ceylon; and various other colonies in Africa and Asia. Other colonies, most notably the Dutch East Indies, were restored to their previous owners.

*The King of Sardinia was restored in Piedmont and was given control of Genoa.

*The slave trade was condemned.

*Freedom of navigation was guaranteed for many rivers, notably the Rhine and the Danube.

The Final Act was signed by representatives of Austria, France, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Sweden-Norway, and Britain. Spain did not sign the treaty but ratified it in 1815.



Post War Map of Europe


1923.png

1923.png
 

herricks

New Projects and Leaders

Though the war with Spain had been brief it had made severe anti-Spanish sentiment develop in many American citizens. With Spain's colonies in the Americas fighting for their independence there were calls, including many from Washington for the US to give the rebels their support to further harm Spain. While President Lee approved giving some support to the rebels he wanted to avoid giving open full support to them as he feared that would cause international backlash against they Americans. Instead Lee would spend his final years in office, declining to run for a third term, consolidating American rule over its newly acquired territories.

In November 1816 Secretary of War William Eustis would be elected as the nations fifth president taking office five months later. In one of his last acts as president, President Lee would oversee admitting Indiana into the Union as the country's 19th state. Upon entering office Eustis's first significant act as president was authorizing the construction of the Erie Canal which had first been proposed a decade earlier. Over the course of eight years the canal would be constructed over 360 miles between Albany and Buffalo, New York and would create a much more cost-effective way to ship bulk goods to the interior of the country.

There were few events that occurred through the first three years of Eustis's presidency saw few significantly major events occurring in the nation outside of the admittance of Illinois in 1818 and Alabama in 1819 as the 20th and 21st states of the Union. In 1820 however the first major attempt to regulate slavery in the lands west of the Mississippi occurred.

In attempts to regulate the spread of slavery west of the Mississippi a federal statute had been emplaced prohibiting the practice north of parallel 36 30 north. This however prohibit slavery within the boundary of the proposed state of Missouri which was due to soon become a state. To allow Missouri's admittance as a slave state a compromise was made. To balance the number of “free” and “slave” states the northern region of Massachusetts gained admission as Maine the the 22nd state and a free state and as the 23rd state Missouri as a slave state in the Missouri Compromise.

The Missouri Compromise would have its critics on both sides of the fence however and it along with the panic caused by the financial crisis that began in 1819 caused Eustis to not be reelected for a second term and instead saw John Quincy Adams become the nations sixth president.
 

herricks

Tears from the Jacksonians/ BRONCOS WIN!!!

Adams's role as chief negotiator in the Treaty of London had greatly risen his popularity among the American people and helped him make his way into the White House. Upon entering office, Adams would work on transforming America into a world power through "internal improvements," as a part of the "American System". It consisted of a high tariff to fund internal improvements such as road-building, and a national bank to encourage productive enterprise and form a national currency. In his first annual message to Congress, Adams presented an ambitious program for modernization that included roads, canals, a national university, an astronomical observatory, and other initiatives. The support for his proposals however were mixed.

Some of his proposals were adopted, specifically the extension of the Cumberland Road into Ohio with surveys for its continuation west to St. Louis; the beginning of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and the Louisville and Portland Canal around the falls of the Ohio; the connection of the Great Lakes to the Ohio River system in Ohio and Indiana; and the enlargement and rebuilding of the Dismal Swamp Canal in North Carolina. One of the issues which divided the administration was protective tariffs, of which Henry Clay was a leading advocate. In 1822 Adams would lose control of the Congress however, and the situation became more complicated. He would sign into law the Tariff of 1823, which would be quite unpopular in many parts of the south.

Adams' generous policy toward Native Americans would cause trouble. Settlers on the frontier, who were constantly seeking to move westward, cried for a more expansionist policy. When the federal government tried to assert authority on behalf of the Cherokees, the governor of Georgia took up arms. Adams defended his domestic agenda. While he had many good ideas to improve the American infrastructure it wouldn't be enough to secure a second term for Adams who would in 1824 lose the presidential election to the War of 1810 warhero General Andrew Jackson.

Jackson's philosophy as President advocated Republican values held by the Revolutionary War generation. Jackson's presidency held a high moralistic tone; having as a planter himself agrarian sympathies, a limited view of states rights and the federal government. Jackson feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. Jackson believed that the president's authority was derived from the people and the presidential office was above party politics. Instead of choosing party favorites, Jackson chose "plain, businessmen" whom he intended to control. Jackson chose Martin Van Buren as Secretary of State, John Eaton Secretary of War, Samuel Ingham Secretary of Treasury, John Branch Secretary of Navy, John Berrien as Attorney General, and William T. Barry as postmaster general. Jackson's first choice of Cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip, especially between Eaton, Vice President John C. Calhoun, and Van Buren. By the Spring of 1826, only Barry remained, while the rest of Jackson's cabinet had been discharged. Jackson's following cabinet selections worked better together.

Barely a year after entering office President Jackson would begin what would end up being one of the most actions of a president, the eviction of Indian tribes east of the Mississippi. In the early 1800s, the United States government had began a systematic effort to remove Native American tribes from the southeast. The Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee-Creek, Seminole, and original Cherokee Nations—referred to as the "Five Civilized Tribes" by Anglo-European settlers in reference to the tribes' adoption of aspects of colonial culture—had been established as autonomous nations in the southeastern United States.

This acculturation (originally proposed by George Washington) was well under way among the Cherokee and Choctaw by the turn of the 19th century. In an effort to assimilate with white American culture, Native peoples were encouraged to "convert to Christianity; learn to speak and read English; and adopt European-style economic practices such as the individual ownership of land and other property (including, in some instances, the ownership of African slaves)." Andrew Jackson sought to renew a policy of political and military action for the removal of the Native Americans from these lands and worked toward enacting a law for Indian removal. In his 1825 State of the Union address, Jackson called for removal.

The Indian Removal Act was put in place to give to the southern states the land that Indians had settled on. Although the act was passed in 1826, dialogue between Georgia and the federal government concerning such an event had been ongoing since 1802. As time had passed, southern states began to speed up the process by posing the argument that the deal between Georgia and the federal government had no contract and that southern states could pass the law themselves. This scheme forced the national government to pass the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1826, in which President Jackson agreed to divide the United States territory west of the Mississippi into districts for tribes to replace the land they were removed from. President Jackson promised this land would be owned by the Indians forever. The Indian Removal Act brought many issues to the table, such as whether it was constitutional; who had the authority to pass what; and could the sovereignty of Indians be protected as was promised.
In the 1823 case of Johnson v. M'Intosh, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands. Jackson opposed Washington's policy of establishing treaties with Indian tribes as if they were foreign nations. Thus, the creation of Indian jurisdictions was a violation of state sovereignty under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution. As Jackson saw it, either Indians comprised sovereign states (which violated the Constitution) or they are subject to the laws of existing states of the Union. Jackson urged Indians to assimilate and obey state laws. Further, he believed he could only accommodate the desire for Indian self-rule in federal territories, which he deemed required resettlement west of the Mississippi River on federal lands.

The Removal Act was strongly supported by non-native people in the South, who were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, which, in 1802 was the largest state (with claimed territory from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi), was involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee. President Jackson hoped removal would resolve the Georgia crisis. Besides the Five Civilized Tribes, additional peoples affected included the Wyandot, the Kickapoo, the Potowatomi, the Shawnee, and the Lenape. The Indian Removal Act was controversial. While many European Americans during this time favored its passage, there was significant opposition. Many Christian missionaries, most notably missionary organizer Jeremiah Evarts, protested against passage of the Act. In Congress,*New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen and Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett spoke out against the legislation. The Removal Act passed only after bitter debate in Congress. In November 1827 the Indian Territory was created to place the displaced tribes out of the western two thirds of the Arkansas Territory and confined to the lands between the Arkansas River to the north and the Red River to the south.

Jackson viewed the demise of Indian tribal nations as inevitable, pointing to the advancement of settled life and demise of tribal nations in the American northeast. He called his northern critics hypocrites, given the North's history: Indian tribes had been driven to extinction; Indian hunting grounds had been replaced with family farms; and state law had replaced tribal law. If the Indians of the south were to survive and their culture maintained, they faced powerful historical forces that could only be postponed. He dismissed romantic portrayals of lost Indian culture as a sentimental longing for a simpler time in the past, stating: "...progress requires moving forward."

While Native American removal was in theory voluntary, in practice great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties. Most observers, whether they were in favor of the Indian removal policy or not, realized that the passage of the act meant the inevitable removal of most Indians from the states. Some Native American leaders who had previously resisted removal now began to reconsider their positions, especially after Jackson's landslide re-election in 1828. The Removal Act paved the way for the forced expulsion of tens of thousands of American Indians from their traditional homelands to the West, an event widely known as the "Trail of Tears," a forced resettlement of the native population. The first removal treaty signed was the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek on September 27, 1826, in which Choctaws in Mississippi ceded land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West. The Treaty of New Echota, signed in 1830, resulted in the removal of the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears.

The Seminoles and other tribes did not leave peacefully. Along with fugitive slaves they resisted the removal. The Second Seminole War lasted from 1830 to 1837 and resulted in the government allowing the Seminoles to remain in the south Florida swamplands. Only a small number remained, and around 3,000 were killed in the war between American soldiers and Seminoles.
 

herricks

The Stars at Night

While the eviction of the native tribes east of the Mississippi opened up new land for settlement in the southern states, in the American southwest another territory was bringing about an increasing amount of immigration, Texas. Since acquiring the land from Spain in the Treaty of Cadiz American immigrants had slowly been moving into Texas mostly by Moses Austin who would die in 1821. The following year his son, Stephen Fuller Austin, would begin following in his fathers footsteps to settle Texas and would bring nearly 300 American families into Texas to settle along the Brazos River beginning a boom of immigration to the territory. Over the next decade Austin and others like him led thousands of families to Texas and by 1830 there was over 17,000 American settlers in Texas along with around 7,000 Tejano residents from families that had remained after American annexation.

Texas however was not always the “promised” land for all immigrants. Several hostile Indian tribes inhabited the territory most notably the Comanche. As more and more American immigrants came to Texas these two groups began coming into conflict with one another. While some US troops to Texas to protect the immigrants that wasn't enough and another group was needed to fend of the Indians and keep the peace. In 1823 Austin had employed ten men to act as rangers to protect the families families he had brought to Texas. By 1830 the number had risen to nearly 400 and Austin, now territorial governor of Texas, constituted the group as the Texas Rangers, the first official law enforcement agency in Texas. These men, along with keeping the peace, would patrol the frontier fighting hostile tribes and would quickly earn a reputation as fierce fighters and horsemen.

In 1832 President Jackson would do something none of his predecessors had yet done and would run for a third term in office. Though unlike his landslide victories in previous elections in November Jackson would narrowly clinch a victory and become the first president elected to three terms. In Jackson's third term however there was a problem growing in Texas, not a native one but international. When the US went to war against Spain in 1812 Mexican nationalist had already rebelled in New Spain. While initially greeting the Americans as allies that quickly changed following the end of Spanish-American hostilities that pulled a third of New Spain's territory away from it. This had caused resentment among many Mexicans who felt that Texas was theirs by right and the resentment only grew following the independence of Mexico from Spain in 1821.

In 1825 Mexican bandits began crossing the Rio Grande and raiding into Texas. Over the next five years these raids, which were first few in numbers as well as not often, grew in number and ferocity and the number of casualties climbed. Many in Texas and in the rest of the country believed that the Mexican government was supporting even possibly leading some of these raids to cause unrest in Texas. While this couldn't be proven anti-Mexican sentiment began to rise. The Texas Rangers began to combat the raiders in sometimes significant battles such as the Battle of Salado Creek on April 10, 1833 where 115 Rangers defeated 189 Mexican bandits. By 1835 raids were almost a daily occurrence and the Texans had had enough of simply defending themselves. On July 30, 1835 560 Texas Rangers and volunteers commanded by Robert McAlpin Williamson crossed the Rio Grande and attacked Mier where many of the raids had began. For nearly two days the Battle of Mier was fought as the Rangers fought against almost 1,300 Mexican bandits, volunteers, and soldiers before the Texans captured the town. After occupying the town for three days the Rangers would cross back into Texas after a larger Mexican force neared.

Upon hearing of the battle Mexican dictator Antonio Lòpez de Santa Anna would condemn it as an act of war by murdering innocent Mexican citizens. In late September a Mexican army of 2,200 under General José de Urrea crossed the Rio Grande under Santa Anna's orders to strike back against against the Texans.

Though thousands of Americans had been coming into Texas the vast majority of them had stayed north of the Nueces River and many of those that had settled there had either been killed or driven out by the raids. This allowed General Urrea to be almost unnoticed until he neared the Nueces. Hearing of the Mexican Army's advance the Texans quickly tried to assemble a force to defend the settlers while riders rode both east and towards the frontier to inform the army. On October 2,1835 an advance group of 100 Mexican cavalry entered the town of Gonzales. Around 150 Texans had gathered at Gonzales and the two sides attacked. The Battle of Gonzales was short and ended with the Mexicans retreat, Gonzales however wasn't Urrea's target.

Five days after the attack on Gonzales General Urrea's army came within sight of Goliad where the only regular army garrison of 300 men were stationed at Presidio La Bahia under Lieutenant Colonel James Fannin. Before Fannin could escape with his men the Mexican Army surrounded the complex and laying siege to it.
 

herricks

Presidio

Word of Mexico's assault into Texas made it to Washington twelve days after the Battle of Gonzales took place. Though President Jackson had condemned the Ranger attack into Mexico, Mexican regular army forces invading American soil was another matter entirely. On October 18,1835 Jackson asked Congress for a formal declaration of war against Mexico. Two days later war would officially be declared by the US for the second time in the nations history. Fighting in Texas however was already in full swing.

Brigadier General Zachary Taylor was the the commander of the 1,700 US Army regulars station in various garrisons throughout Texas headquartered in Nacogdoches. However at the time of the Mexican attack General Taylor was in Louisiana and wouldn't hear of Mexico's advance until October 10. Worse the army had no major force in the area outside of Colonel Fannin's besieged unit. While Jackson had called for 40,000 troops to be raised to fight Mexico for now it was up to the Texans to protect their land.

By October 15 over 700 Texan volunteers and 300 current and former Texas Rangers had gathered in Victoria and were quickly preparing to relieve Goliad. An overall commander however hadn't been named and Governor Austin believed he had just the right person. Riders had already been sent to Nacogdoches and arrived at the home of, War of 1810 veteran who had served under Jackson, Sam Houston. Austin commissioned Houston Major General of the Texas State Army with orders to take control of the growing force in Victoria. Three days later Houston arrived where the Texas Army, now grown to 1200, was preparing.

Though the Rangers and few veterans in the force had been training the volunteers they were a long way from an actual army. The Texans really needed more time, Goliad however didn't have it. Urrea's force had already made one attempt to take Presidio on October 14. Though the assault failed there was no way Fannin or his men could hold out much longer and reluctantly Houston set out with his army on the 19th. Three days later in the early morning of October 22 Houston's army reached Goliad.

The Battle of La Bahia began around 6:00 A.M. when General Urrea launched a second larger assault on the presidio with his 1,900 remaining troops. For three hours the presidio saw waves of bombardments and assaults. The Americans fought off the the Mexicans but by 9:00 A.M. parts of the wall were beginning to crumble from artillery strikes. At 9:30 A.M. however 375 Texas Rangers and volunteer cavalry plowed into Mexico's rear guard surprising and overwhelming them. In just over half an hour the rest of Houston's army would arrive and began attacking Urrea's forces.

The vast majority of the Texans in the battle had lost property, homes, or worse family members to Mexican raiders and the Battle of La Bahia quickly became a bloody messy brawl as the Mexican army was more or less surrounded by angry Texans shooting, stabbing, slicing, clubbing, and strangling every Mexican they could. By noon the Battle of La Bahia was over with less than 200 Mexicans, General Urrea included, escaping back towards Mexico. Of the 1,700 or so Mexicans that couldn't escape over 1,100 were killed or would die of wounds with over 90% of those captured being wounded. While the Texans had gained their revenge they hadn't came off unscathed. Over 270 had or wound died and nearly 400 were wounded. However, for the moment major Mexican units were no longer on American soil and the US had time to prepare for a counter attack.

General Taylor arrived at the Texan camp on the Nueces with1,600 regular army troops on November 3. He had word from Washington congratulating Houston on defeating the Mexicans at Goliad and with a promotion for Houston to Brigadier General in the regular army, Taylor had been promoted to Major General. The Texas State Army was reformed into the Texas Brigade and merged with Taylor's army with Houston becoming Taylor's second.

Recruits were entering Army training camps with thousands more recruits flowing into Texas and elsewhere along the California frontier and forming units to invade. At sea Naval squadrons were moving to blockade Mexican ports. The US was gearing up for war.
 

herricks

Going on the Offensive

By January 1836 there was close to 35,000 troops either in training camps throughout the south or moving into Texas or to Pueblo where an army under Brigadier General William J. Worth was being formed to invade California. On the banks of the Nueces near the settlement of Corpus Christi General Taylor's army had grown to 3,700 regular and volunteer troops. In San Antonio another army was preparing under brevet Major General Stephen Kearny was also growing but was for the moment only at a strength of 750 and needed to grow.

Following his defeat at La Bahia General Urrea had been replaced by General Martín Perfecto de Cos. Cos had spent the winter months rebuilding the shattered Mexican army in northern Mexico and by January he had almost 4,000 men. On January 19,1836 Cos crossed the Rio Grande with his army and occupied the border town of Laredo. This new incursion brought the beginning of the new years campaign.

On January 26 General Taylor moved his army out to meet Cos and drive him back into Mexico. Seven days of marching later Taylor's army would meet Cos's just a few miles away from their objective in the Battle of Laredo. Unlike at La Bahia where Houston had caught the Mexicans by surprise, this time around both sides were fully alert and more or less evenly matched in numbers. The Battle of Laredo raged however, while the numbers were the same the Americans were superior in armaments and discipline. Most Mexican soldiers had been forcibly conscripted into the army and on seeing lines of blue clad professional soldiers moving towards them proved to much. After less than three hours the Mexican army turned and ran crossing back into Mexico causing only 312 American casualties compared to over 800 of their own. Nine days later war would come to Mexico as General Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and invaded.

General Taylor's army, while the largest, wouldn't be the first American force to cross into Mexico. On February 10 900 Texas Rangers, volunteer cavalry, and volunteer infantry under the command of Colonel Deaf Smith of the Texas Rangers crossed the Rio Grande a few miles east of Matamoros. Smith was charged with taking the city before it could be used as a counter invasion back into Texas. On February 12 Smith's force attacked Matamoros and its 600 regular and militia defenders. The Battle of Matamoros would last only 90 minutes before the Mexican garrison surrendered with the Texans suffering only 34 casualties. The next day Smith and his men would leave to regroup with Taylor at Monlova, where Taylor had defeated part of Cos's army in a minor battle on February 13, with the occupation of Matamoros being passed to the US Navy.

On February 21 General Stephen Kearny left Pueblo with 2,100 men. Though nearly half of them had very little training Kearny felt his army was ready enough to assault California. However instead of moving straight towards the Pacific Kearny chose to moved south down the Rio Grande where he could capture Santa Fe and Albuquerque for the US. After a brief engagement with an understrengthed Mexican force at Taos on February 28 Kearny's army would enter Santa Fe nearly unopposed on March 5 claiming Nuevo Mexico for the US. Three days later after establishing a civilian government and leaving a small police garrison Kearny left to continue his trek south. Ten miles southeast of Santa Fe however he finally met a larger Mexican force of 1,800 in Apache Canyon. The Battle of Apache Canyon lasted nearly two days, March 9-10, before forcing the Mexicans to withdraw suffering 281 casualties to the Mexicans 319. The battle forced Kearny to halt his advance for two days while his army recuperated but on March 13 he moved out.

Albuquerque wouldn't be unprotected as Santa Fe had. When Kearny's force reached the city on March 17 his army was met by over 2,000 defenders. In the Battle of Albuquerque it would take the Americans nearly three days to drive out the Mexicans and would end with the town being nearly completely destroyed. The Battle of Albuquerque was the last major engagement Kearny fought in Nuevo Mexico and cost him over 700 casualties. While his army did see minor battles at Socorro (April 3) and Valverde (April 11) his New Mexico Campaign was over there though the inbound occupation forces did see several months of fighting the New Mexicans and Pueblo Indians. On May 10 General Kearny and his army left Nuevo Mexico entering Mexico and turning west for California.
 

unprincipled peter

Donor
a comment and an opinion:
comment: in one of your early segments, you seem to be interchangeably using TL prez Clinton and OTL prez Jefferson.

opinion: you seem to be falling into what I call the 'turtledove trap', where some fairly major changes (such as an early formation of standing army, or alternate presidents) yields the same heroes/cast of characters, and chain of events. I appreciate as a reader, as it's easier to follow, but drives me nuts as an alternate historian.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top