Wrapped in Flames: The Great American War and Beyond

[EnglishCanuck]

Splits in paramilitary groups continued into the 20th century and beyond in Ireland.
Brendan Behan famously said that the first item on the agenda of a meeting of an Irish paramilitary/secret organisation was always the split.

Surviving the split: Sinn Féin’s long road to independence from the IRA

After a century of friction, the party of Irish republicanism has finally rid itself of the whiff of sulphur and cordite

www.theguardian.com

Strangely in was the Scotts-Ulster side of my family in Longford who were in the IRB, not the Clare side who were Irish and not involved.
Irish Republicans were for the most part not socialists and were for the most part fairly conservative.

Amusingly, the quote that "when three Fenians meet, there are two informers" is an apt one for why the Fenians failed so often. They were so riddled with government informants and turn coats is amazing they ever got anything actually done.

Though, they do seem to have split a lot for non-socialists. Monty Python's The Life of Brian might well describe the early IRA and Fenians when it talks about splitters...

 

[BELFAST]

Amusingly, the quote that "when three Fenians meet, there are two informers" is an apt one for why the Fenians failed so often. They were so riddled with government informants and turn coats is amazing they ever got anything actually done.

Though, they do seem to have split a lot for non-socialists. Monty Python's The Life of Brian might well describe the early IRA and Fenians when it talks about splitters...

indeed.
Informers were always the problem with Irish rebellions. The Irish War of Independence was the exception to this rule with Dublin Castle downgrading its informer network with the expected reduction in nationalism to come with home rule. Michael Collins head of the IRB for once had a better intel network than Dublin Castle. The main job of the RIC was intel gathering with reports being sent to Dublin Castle on anything out of the ordinary. So if you were buying more food than normal or having more visitors than normal that would be reported. In this way, any even small changes in normal life could alert Dublin Castle and let them of any preparations for a rebellion.
below a list of those working for the ric who died on the job often at the hands of the IRB .

Police Roll of Honour - Royal Irish Constabulary

Police Roll of Honour

www.policerollofhonour.org.uk

 

[Nenshou Yuuki]

It is accurate to say that the Era of Hard Feelings isn't just an internal issue. There's plenty who have a grudge against Britain too. Butler being one of the primary instigators of the problem.

He's got an idea (not unlike William Seward) that all the internal issues of the United States can be solved with a good foreign crisis.

It's a good distraction, the Mexican-American War united the country for a bit. Of course it didn't stop the Civil War from happening.

 

[EnglishCanuck]

Chapter 133: The Fenians are Coming! Part II​

“Thanks to the trans-Atlantic cable, when North Americans opened their newspapers the morning of June 1st, the headlines screamed FENIANS SEIZE DUBLIN. Though an admittedly lurid title, based off incomplete reports from abroad, it sent a jolt of electricity through the Fenian movement in North America. Men who had previously been unsure of the Fenian cause, or reluctant to risk their lives, immediately grabbed rifles or old uniforms and raced for the frontier where everyone knew the Fenians were gathering.

Better news could not have come for Sweeney, who had spent a sleepless night wondering whether the invasion would go off, but now knew that just as the rebels in Ireland were fighting for their freedom, he would be giving his own sacrifice to the Irish cause.

The first invaders had actually set foot on Canadian soil well before midnight on May 31st. Owen Starr’s 17th Regiment of Fenians had crossed under the moonlight in boats, securing docks and rousing customs officials and local militia officers who had been assigned as guards. The ability of the Fenians to round up local officials and militia was all due to their own rather extensive reconnaissance efforts along the frontiers. A combination of spies, old maps from the war and new ones drawn by Fenian agents, as well as veterans, meant that they were largely operating on ground they knew almost as well, and in some cases better, than their counterparts. Fort Erie the town was secured in the early hours of the morning. The small number of militiamen on duty there, absent their small encampment at the ruins of Old Fort Erie, were quickly captured and placed under guard.

The next morning, the Fenians began crossing in earnest using barges and rowboats to haul themselves and their supplies across. Notably they had three wagons with them, but no horses, alongside enough old army hardtack to sustain a division. The residents of Fort Erie could remember a similar crossing in 1862, and many had little good to say about their supposed defenders in the aftermath. The remainder of the militia encamped at Old Fort Erie, beating a hasty retreat to the rail station at Ridgeway. By 8am over 2,000 Fenians had crossed the Niagara River and were organizing to march inland with the goal of seizing the Welland Canal.

A pertinent question for all at the time was, why did the United States government not stop the Fenians? Once again, a combination of local support for the Fenian cause and military misadventure led to the ease of the Fenian advance.

In theory, the USS Michigan should have been able to easily interdict the Fenian crossing, but in reality the Fenians had already planned for just such an occasion. However, a local Fenian circle, including 17 of the Michigan's 120 man crew, had made plans to waylay the vessel. On the night of the 31st, Assistant Engineer James P. Kelley waylaid the pilot, and plied him with a steady stream of cigar, whiskey and the tender attentions of a “lady friend” until early in the morning on June 1st[1]. When the outraged commander of the Michigan found the two men the next morning, he ordered them arrested. However, he still ordered both to their posts, where they did their duty with admirable incompetence, forcing the Michigan to lay at anchor just off Black Rock, hapless to intervene.

The small company of US Regulars in Buffalo was shut up in their barracks, their officer unwilling to order them out against an enormous crowd of well wishers who cheered the Fenians on. Hundreds more Fenians were arriving in Buffalo as the trans-Atlantic news led many Irishmen to believe that the moment had finally come. Grabbing old uniforms and rifles, or simply hunting guns and green sashes, men were rushing to the border. By the afternoon of June 1st, another 1,000 men would be eagerly crowding Buffalo for a chance to get in on the action.

On the frontier with Quebec, the roughly 3,000 men of Spear’s little army were waiting for the order to cross. They were waiting on another 500 men from further in New York state who were under the guidance of Henry Le Caron, however, telegrams flashed saying that they would be delayed by a Federal Marshal. Unwilling to let the United States government organize more to prevent his passage into Canada, Spear requested permission from Sweeney to commence the invasion. Sweeney telegraphed the order to proceed and Spear, mounted on a splendid white horse, raised his sword and unfurled the green banner of the Fenians and sent the men over the border.

Waiting on the other side, were roughly 50 men of the “red sashes”, a Home Guard of local Canadians led by Asa Westover. These were men who, five years earlier, had watched helplessly as their farms were looted or burned by American marauders. They were grimly determined to prevent history from repeating itself, and they had armed themselves accordingly with Ballard sporting rifles and trained for long range shots and accuracy. The day before they had sent word to Montreal that an invasion was coming, but they had no word on whether or not they would get reinforcements. So it fell to these men to protect their homes.

In truth, they could not have picked a better spot for their stand. Eccles Hill was an imposing natural fortress crafted by retreating glaciers. Covered in rock faces, trees to obscure the fires of attackers, and nigh impervious to frontal assault with marshy ground at its base. It was a position “by which twenty men could defy a thousand,” one newspaperman would breathlessly report when writing of the aftermath of the battle[2]. From there the Home Guard could pour fire down on anyone marching into their little valley.

This they did. The Fenian army crossing the frontier came under immediate, sustained and deadly accurate fire. Bunched in marching order, the men in green began to fall. Some maintained good order and sprinted for cover on the other side of the Chickabiddy River, while those in the rear fell back and took cover behind buildings on the opposite side of the river. Some retreated to a farmstead on the opposite side of the frontier, Richard’s Farm, which became a focal point of the ensuing firefight.

Despite outnumbering their Canadian opponents roughly 60 to 1, the Fenians were at a disadvantage that they could hardly see where the enemy was and how he was operating. The return fire at Eccles Hill was ill organized, and a number of Fenians mistakenly fired on one another as the battle began and the Fenians lost track of their own units as they attempted to surround the hilltop fortress of the Canadians. Spear rode around rallying his men, and they finally began returning fire in an organized fashion. However, the rifle pits and natural impediments protected the Canadians who fired on in a methodical manner, almost every shot killing or wounding a Fenian. The Irish return fire was not so accurate.

As the hours wore on, Spear issued the order for a bayonet charge by a company up the hill to compel the Canadians to surrender. Despite being simple farmers, the roaring charge by a hundred well armed Fenian soldiers met a gruesome end as the men held their fire until the Fenians were struggling towards the slope. The sudden and deadly accurate volley at close range killed or wounded forty-one Fenians, sending them in a panic down the hill. This demoralized the watching fighters at the base, and Spear’s officers urged him to leave a force to besiege this ground and march in haste into Canada where it could support Murphy’s column. Spear however, was reluctant to leave such a strong position in his rear and was determined to exterminate the small Canadian presence before advancing.

However, Spear began to hesitate when 200 militiamen of Missisquoi County under Captain C. W. Carter, formerly of Her Majesty’s Sixteenth Regiment of Foot, arrived to survey the scene. At seeing so many Fenians he began to order a retreat until his own men cursed him for a coward and he reluctantly ordered them to engage the Fenian flank. At the upper end of the valley, Carter could see most of the Fenian force, and his men shook out into a skirmish line and began to fire in defence of their brethren.

Many were now convinced the main body of British troops had arrived, and some men began to quietly slip across the border, while others regrouped there hoping to reform and counter attack. Spear, seeing his men trapped between a literal rock and an assumed hard place of the British vanguard, ordered a withdrawal by 4pm that day…

Eccles Hill, later cheered as “The Canadian Thermopylae” was perhaps the most one sided engagement of the whole Canadian invasion. For only five wounded, the Canadians had killed 57 Fenians and wounded perhaps as many as 200 more. The casualties are difficult to establish as the Fenians took many of their wounded while leaving most of their dead. Spear’s invasion was a fiasco.

He might have felt better had he known that Murphy’s 800 man column fared little better. Running into companies of Canadian militia and engaging in a running fight along the shores of Lake Champlain. He managed to stay in Canada a day longer before a regiment of Volunteers and Cavalry from Montreal arrived to chase him south again…” - The Emergency of 1867, Howard Senior, 1986

The Fenian landings at Fort Erie​

“The alarm went out the morning of June 1st. The Fenians had landed, and I was roused early by my then nineteen year old brother, Frederick Denison, cornet in the troop at that time, he said to me “1,500 Fenians have landed at Fort Erie. You had better get to town and see if there are any orders to go out!” I was up and in uniform with barely a chance to say goodbye to my wife. Fred and I were mounted and off like a rifle shot.

General John Michel, a well liked man if somewhat contemptuous of our corps despite its proud history, immediately ordered my troop out[3]. Toronto was a riot of organizing soldiers and companies as men rushed to find their officers, officers their men, and companies their regiments. I was astounded at the lack of preparation. We had known of the oncoming problem for years, yet the officials in Ottawa for means of ‘economy’ had only sent single companies to the frontier, and were only now issuing a general mobilization! I cannot blame myself for not forseeing such. We had organized marvelously in the face of the Yankee invasion in 1861-62, and I had not then the confidence in the average stupidity of officials which, through long experience, I have since acquired.

Battalions were dispatched pell mell with orders for companies to “follow on” as they assembled. As such, the Queen’s Own, and the 10th Battalion were dispatched with only half their contingent organized, only some 800 men all told. At Hamilton the whole of the garrison that showed up that morning was turned out for the frontier, but with only the first companies dispatched to Thorold, leaving almost a third of their strength unorganized in the city. Her Majesty’s soldiers, the 16th Regiment of Foot from Toronto, were also turned out, with companies from the 26th rushed from London to reinforce them.

My troop was entrained to Thorold, joined by Major Bate’s two cavalry troops from Wentworth, forming an ad hoc cavalry battalion. We were the only units ready for duty, I am pleased to say that we beat Bate’s men by an hour despite coming from a further distance!

By the evening of June 1st, over 2,400 men had gathered at Thorold, and our intelligence informed us that the Fenians had organized and were marching towards Black Creek…” - Soldiering In Canada, Recollections and Experiences of Brigadier General George T. Denison III, Toronto Press 1900

“...the alarm had well and truly gone out by the afternoon of June 1st. Men were rushing to drill sheds to collect weapons and uniforms, officers sprinting from job sites, and the colonels of their respective districts had assembled their staffs and were sending orders to battalions to mobilize.

At Kingston, the three mighty ironclads which had lain dormant since the guns fell silent on Lake Ontario in 1864 were hastily launched from their sheds alongside a flotilla of other gunboats from the Canadian naval companies to patrol Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence.

Macdonald ordered out 25,000 men to protect the various frontiers, with the British forces mobilized in support…

Come June 2nd, O’Neill had gathered 3,000 men in Canada. His advance guard was as far west as Ridgeway, eyeing the growing Canadian presence there, while he had formed a fortified position at Black Creek, expecting battle. He had another 500 men guarding his rear and ferrying supplies to his camps, while he had hoped to organize men now streaming to the frontier into new units to act as reinforcements. That was proving more difficult as the United States finally organized itself to divert the Fenian attacks.

The night from June 2nd to June 3rd would prove crucial, as the 13th Battalion of Volunteers, then forming at Port Colborne under Major James A. Skinner, a veteran of all the hard fighting from the War of 1862, was in command. He had organized his men, now the whole battalion 800 strong and a single company of local Volunteers, into a force which could move swiftly. He had received orders from Col. Peacocke, to ‘make a junction with my command’ either by marching to Stevensville or ‘if practical’ to dislodge the Fenians at Ridgeway and follow the rail line to its terminus. These were surprisingly vague orders.

Skinner was thus torn, until news from Canadian detectives on the frontier told him that the Fenian headquarters had moved to Black Creek and that ‘there were only 100 Fenians between [Skinner] at Fort Erie.” Skinner, now believing he had up to date information, telegraphed the news to Peacocke, and received only a one word reply: “Proceed”

The nature of that reply has remained a mystery. Skinner adamantly believed that it meant to proceed to Fort Erie. While Peacocke, apparently not realizing that his order had not been properly transmitted, would resend his command as “Proceed to Stevensville” nearly an hour later. The reason for the confusion has never properly been explained. Either Peacocke dashed off an order quickly which was then missent, and then fell asleep, or the initial message was sent in error. Whatever the case, nearly 900 Canadians shouldered their rucksacks, took up arms, and marched to Fort Erie…

Gustave Cluseret in American uniform, circa 1864​

Duffy’s failure to seize all the bridges over the Liffey meant that Dublin Castle was not isolated, and along Barrach Street the garrison rapidly seized control of the bridges, driving off the Fenians who had been dispatched to guard them. This meant that, despite their control of central Dublin, the British were able to coordinate their response across the river, leaving the Fenians in a sorry state.

Two days into the rising and their reinforcements had failed to arrive, the city had failed to rise up for them, and there was next to no news coming in from the countryside. A smattering of fighters had drifted in from the country, but Duffy was increasingly realizing he was on his own. Cluseret urged him to make a strike at Dublin Castle while they still had the time before more British reinforcements arrived. Duffy however, demured. He wanted to seize one of the barracks and more weapons, defeating one of the garrison regiments to demoralize the others.

Cluseret disagreed, pointing out the heart of military and political power was the castle. If it was seized they had a rallying point for more fighters. Duffy shot back that if they failed there was no going back and it would most likely demoralize the whole rising. When he failed to make an impression upon Duffy, a frustrated Cluseret resigned his commission with the Irish Republic and left the city, managing to sneak past the British cordon and make a boat for France. He would not be the last.

After two days of sporadic firing, Straithnairn would give the order for his men to storm the barricades…

Two days of vicious street to street fighting had left 400 Fenians dead and a further 700 wounded, with 200 British dead and nearly 1,000 wounded. Duffy was compelled to surrender alongside most of his commanders, besides those who had managed to flee the city. Straithnairn rounded up all the prisoners and began to intern them. The question of just what to do with over 5,000 prisoners, and many of them American, would become a pressing issue in the coming days.

Though the worst of the fighting was done in Dublin by June 4th, but the bleeding and the dying would continue on land, and most importantly, at sea…” - The Emergency of 1867, Howard Senior, 1986

-----

1] Amazingly, this is real.

2] True description. It is something of an imposing rock mound that would be daunting to assault, and with a swamp covering the base its unpleasant to have to attack uphill against. Especially as I’m not exaggerating the farmers' preparations from OTL either.

3] It should be noted this is a far cry better than what the Canadians managed in OTL’s Fenian raids of 1866. There’s more organization, most of the militia are veterans of the last war, and the Canadian government despite its laxity has more infrastructure in place to call out the militia.

 

[Khaine]

Sounds like a event that will greatly help with the shaping of them militaristic spirit of the Canadians in the future.

 

[Nenshou Yuuki]

The question of just what to do with over 5,000 prisoners, and many of them American, would become a pressing issue in the coming days.

I imagine there's going to be a large portion of the Union population who will want McClellan to do everything in his power to bring those prisoners home, some pushing for war, maybe even Butler. In Britain there's going to be people who're going to want mass executions especially as the fighting continues.

 

[EnglishCanuck]

Sounds like a event that will greatly help with the shaping of them militaristic spirit of the Canadians in the future.

The Canadians will have a lot to be proud of in the aftermath, but as we'll see next week, they will have reason to question the wisdom of the outcomes.

I imagine there's going to be a large portion of the Union population who will want McClellan to do everything in his power to bring those prisoners home, some pushing for war, maybe even Butler. In Britain there's going to be people who're going to want mass executions especially as the fighting continues.

Oh boy will they. This is only the tip of the rising diplomatic iceberg on the crisis. As we'll see next week, the Fenians are about to do something monumentally stupid, and McClellan is about to have to try and save face. There's lots of problems floating around here!

Historically, the Fenians captured in Canada were given commuted death sentences or just hard labor. Most of them were eventually freed when the ruckus died down, but here there will be a lot of pressure on both sides of the Atlantic for what amounts to mob justice. Meanwhile, these days in June and May will not be the end of the Fenian movement in 1867 either, with a grim coda sounding off the year.

 

[basileus]

Canada got solid.

 

[Thomas Lloyd]

Haven't been keeping with the TL as much as I'd like, but here's an election wikibox for the 1864 Presidential election. (Pedantic note, Nevada had 3 electoral votes in 1864, but one elector was snowbound and couldn't make the vote)

While losing the Pacific hurt, the West Coast wouldn't have been enough for little Mac to win had it not been for Fremont's splinter. McClellan does gain support compared to OTL, picking up about a 100,000 votes and 2 points in vote share. Against a united Republican ticket, he'd have lost 47-53 in the popular vote (PV) and 49 to 173 in the electoral college, picking up only New York (33 Electoral Votes) and Connecticut (6 EV) for what is still a veritable landslide for Lincoln.

It's a testament to the electoral advantage Republicans hold in the North that despite a splinter that siphons off 300,000 votes (nearly 8 percentage points!) from the Republican ticket, Lincoln only barely comes up short.

This probably translates down ballot as well, Little Mac likely doesn't have to deal with a pro-peace majority in Congress. Republicans likely have strengthened majorities in both Houses, probably picking 20-30 seats in the House and expanding their majority in the Senate (Nevada functioning as a virtual rotten borough for the Republicans in this regard).

edit: fixed %s

Hey, this wikibox link died.

 

[EnglishCanuck]

Canada got solid.

Yeah, the Canadians of WiF are way more militant in their outlook than OTL. That's going to have some interesting repercussions both economically and societal.

 

[McAuslan_in_the_Rough]

Well none of this will help Mr. Gladstone with home rule.

 

[Nenshou Yuuki]

What was the general Irish feeling on the monarchy at the time?

Honestly the only things I can think of making things way worst is an attack on London or an assassination attempt against the PM or Victoria.

 

[SultanArda]

Yeah, the Canadians of WiF are way more militant in their outlook than OTL. That's going to have some interesting repercussions both economically and societal.

Combined with the lumber barons being much more powerful (after all you said that the lands of giant potato fields and lumberyards made them even more powerful) and a much earlier unification, this Canada will be a very different place.

Well none of this will help Mr. Gladstone with home rule.

I think it was mentioned that after Palmerston’s death in 1866, Liberals was either going to directly lose power, or lose it slowly but decisively. (Or they find themselves being forced to sacrifice many of their ideals)

---

I am really curious about your plans of Ottoman Empire. You mentioned that they will be in a better situation (and it is also made clear in the Winston Churchill’s “RULE BRITANNIA!”-like fantasy that they are in a good enough situation that he makes them get carved up) but how can this happen?
With or without Abdulaziz?
With or without the constitution?
…

 

[DarkAvenger]

I'm pretty sure Palmerston is still alive in 1867 but you're right, there is a split within the Liberals if my memory is correct. Not sure how this will affect British politics in the long run.

As an aside, the author of Nothing For Which To Apologize has been banned and the story has apparently been discontinued. The funny thing is that the last post talks about the Fenian Brotherhood launching attacks on Canada among other things like Trotsky migrating to the CSA.
[Highlight to reveal spoilers] To summarise, Corcoran aids Sweeney as his co-conspirator, and the US Secretary of War James Shields provides them with weapons and officers sympathetic to their cause. This led to deteriorating relations between the US and Britain to the point both sides withdrew their ambassadors and war between the US and Britain appeared imminent.

P.S.: Am I allowed to discuss this, or is this against forum rules?

 

[PaulJones202718]

The Canadians will have a lot to be proud of in the aftermath, but as we'll see next week, they will have reason to question the wisdom of the outcomes.



Oh boy will they. This is only the tip of the rising diplomatic iceberg on the crisis. As we'll see next week, the Fenians are about to do something monumentally stupid, and McClellan is about to have to try and save face. There's lots of problems floating around here!

Historically, the Fenians captured in Canada were given commuted death sentences or just hard labor. Most of them were eventually freed when the ruckus died down, but here there will be a lot of pressure on both sides of the Atlantic for what amounts to mob justice. Meanwhile, these days in June and May will not be the end of the Fenian movement in 1867 either, with a grim coda sounding off the year.

I have a memory that remembers Canada taking it for the team because the big kids think they come first (coughAlaska bordercought) so I have an idea of what we're in for.

 

[EnglishCanuck]

Well none of this will help Mr. Gladstone with home rule.

Oh it's going to spur some sense of reform. Two violent rebellions in two decades means something has to give. However, Gladstone's dreams of Home Rule will certainly be on the back burner for a time. The Irish Question is going to be a vexing one both in the immediate aftermath of 1867 and in the future.

What was the general Irish feeling on the monarchy at the time?

Well on that I honestly couldn't say. I don't think the monarchy was overall well regarded in Ireland, but Victoria was not yet in her period as "The Widow of Windsor" and had shut herself away from the public, so broadly she's still popular to the public at large. That may not be as true in Ireland.

Honestly the only things I can think of making things way worst is an attack on London or an assassination attempt against the PM or Victoria.

Man have the Fenians still got a few ill advised tricks up their sleeves...

 

[EnglishCanuck]

Combined with the lumber barons being much more powerful (after all you said that the lands of giant potato fields and lumberyards made them even more powerful) and a much earlier unification, this Canada will be a very different place.

Some men who were less prominent OTL will become more prominent in WiF as time goes on. I've got some names coming up - and you've met one - who will rise to prominence. But the very different political animal that is the Kingdom of Canada will change the way politics function ever so slightly. The PM can't quite wield power like a club anymore thanks to an actually functional Senate.

I think it was mentioned that after Palmerston’s death in 1866, Liberals was either going to directly lose power, or lose it slowly but decisively. (Or they find themselves being forced to sacrifice many of their ideals)

As of 1867 Palmerston is still alive. The future of the Liberal Party still seems bright. Palmerston though has been a titan in opposing electoral reform, and he still commands enough power and respect that he's strangled any attempt at Reform in its crib. Many of his fellow ministers think the time for Reform is now, but Palmerston vehemently disagrees, and no one is willing to challenge him.

---

I am really curious about your plans of Ottoman Empire. You mentioned that they will be in a better situation (and it is also made clear in the Winston Churchill’s “RULE BRITANNIA!”-like fantasy that they are in a good enough situation that he makes them get carved up) but how can this happen?
With or without Abdulaziz?
With or without the constitution?
…

So Abdulaziz (if you mean the Sultan who was OTL still on the throne in 1867) is still the reigning Sultan. He is still a bit overenthusiastic about the navy too. I'm going to try and delve into them more now that we're approaching the 1870s, but still very much in the background. He's currently on his European tour.

But let's just say that just because the empire is around by the 1930s, doesn't mean they are necessarily going to be much stronger than OTL 1914. Existing at all is certainly better for them!

 

[EnglishCanuck]

I have a memory that remembers Canada taking it for the team because the big kids think they come first (coughAlaska bordercought) so I have an idea of what we're in for.

Oh our dear friend George Denison III who founded the Canada First movement OTL is alive and kicking. He's going to be... a bit of an influence on the future of Canada. For better or for worse. His movement will outlive him, but a rabid feeling of Canadian nationalism is very much in the future, and much of that will be focused around the Crown.

1869 is the next big year for Canada. The remainder of 1867 is focusing on Mexico and the Confederate election!

 

[EnglishCanuck]

I'm pretty sure Palmerston is still alive in 1867 but you're right, there is a split within the Liberals if my memory is correct. Not sure how this will affect British politics in the long run.

The OTL split in Liberal policy was on the depth of Reform. That's much the same here. Gladstone thinks they aren't going far enough, Russell thinks it needs to be more conservative, Palmerston thinks it doesn't need to happen at all. So the current schism between reformers is what brought down Russell's government OTL in 1866 paving the way for Lord Derby to make a ministry, followed by Disraeli.

As an aside, the author of Nothing For Which To Apologize has been banned and the story has apparently been discontinued. The funny thing is that the last post talks about the Fenian Brotherhood launching attacks on Canada among other things like Trotsky migrating to the CSA.
[Highlight to reveal spoilers] To summarise, Corcoran aids Sweeney as his co-conspirator, and the US Secretary of War James Shields provides them with weapons and officers sympathetic to their cause. This led to deteriorating relations between the US and Britain to the point both sides withdrew their ambassadors and war between the US and Britain appeared imminent.

P.S.: Am I allowed to discuss this, or is this against forum rules?

Oh that is a shame! I had quite liked that TL.

However, that's a bit different from my ideas. Still in the same vein, though more of a war scare rather than an outright short of war crisis! That will be this weekend's emerging issue!

 

[DarkAvenger]

Oh that is a shame! I had quite liked that TL.

Yeah, it is a shame. However, there is another Confederate Victory TL called This Guilty Land to fill the void. The author intends to cover the Boss Tweed Presidency in the future.

So far, Wrapped in Flames, Cinco de Mayo (and its sequel), and This Guilty Land are the known Civil War TLs on this site that are, to my knowledge, still ongoing.