Second Mexican War
From Turtledove
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Second Mexican War was a conflict fought from 1881 to April 22, 1882. It was fought between the United States on one side and an alliance of the Confederate States, Britain and France on the other. The war began when hard-line Republican U.S. President James G. Blaine declared war on the C.S.A to prevent its purchase of the states of Sonora and Chihuahua from Mexico.
[edit] Major battles and campaigns
Although the war was sparked by the purchase of Mexican territory, the major campaign of the war was fought on the Ohio. The U.S. Army, under General Orlando Wilcox tried to cross into the Confederate state of Kentucky and capture the city of Louisville, with an eye towards returning the state to the U.S. The C.S.A., under their own General-in-Chief Thomas Jackson, was able to establish excellent defensive positions, forcing Wilcox's troops to advance incrementally at best, with each move paid for in blood. After the armistice between the warring powers was signed, US forces abandoned Louisville for no territorial gain.
In the southwestern desert, Confederates under General Jeb Stuart and Apaches under Geronimo successfully repelled U.S. invasions into their new territory. They also were able to win several battles in southern New Mexico, until tensions between the Apaches and the CSA's new Hispanic subjects led to a vicious war between the Apaches and the CSA. Stuart himself was a casualty of this conflict.
In Maine, the United States lost land to the invading British. The British and French also successfully attacked U.S. ports including Los Angeles San Francisco and Buffalo.
The only military success the U.S. had was in Montana. Here, cowboy Theodore Roosevelt and his Unauthorized Regiment joined George Armstrong Custer in fending off an attack from Canada led by British general Charles George Gordon. Here, despite Custer's efforts to abandon them, Roosevelt successfully used gatling guns to beat the British back. As a result of this battle, Custer and Roosevelt became heroes of the war, prominent national figures, and rivals for the remainder of their lives.
[edit] Long term effect
Despite George Washington's farewell address warning against European alliances, the United States concluded that it needed a counterbalance to the CSA's allies. To that end, the formed an alliance with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, which would become the Central Powers.
The Confederacy continued its alliance with Britain and France. The price for this was manumission of the slaves. Out of this amendment to the Confederate Constitution, and the admittance of the new states of Chihuahua and Sonora, the Confederacy developed political parties, the Whigs and Radical Liberals.
In the United States, mandatory military service was introduced, as was rationing. April 22 was designated Remembrance Day in honor of the country's defeat in two wars. The Statue of Remembrance, a woman with a sword, was gifted to the U.S. by Germany, and erected in New York harbor. The Republicans became a regional party as about one-third of their support went with Abraham Lincoln into the Socialist Party and another third went to the Democratic Party.
In Germany, Alfred von Schlieffen developed the Schleiffen Plan based on his studies of Robert E. Lee's victory at Camp Hill. The plan was employed in the Great War, which the Central Powers eventually won.
