"Looking for a democratic monarch in Europe is like trying to find an atheist in heaven".
Brockenbrough House, Richmond VA
On 25th August 1871, the dejected members of the Confederate Cabinet met at Brockenbrough House to discuss the events of Windward Passage[1]. News of the battle had reached Seddon late the previous night and already word of the Navy’s near-annihilation was spreading through the streets of Richmond. Dispatches from the Army of the Antilles suggested the Siege of Havana was proceeding well but all assembled knew that without a serviceable fleet, the hard fought gains of Cuba were up for forfeit. Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory, provided only further bad news. Admiral Buchanan’s force, now under going emergency repairs at Key West was effectively all that remained of the CS Navy. Only the damaged man-o-war CSS Calhoun stationed in New Orleans, and the CSS Prometheus, recently returned from privateering along the Western African coast, offered reinforcement. The Spanish fleet refuelling at San Juan could alone call upon six ironclads to Buchanan’s two, while in terms of wooden and steam frigates, the disparity was even higher. That was not to mention rumours of a fresh flotilla already steaming from Barcelona[2].
The meeting soon turned heated. General Jackson, Secretary for War, had long been a critic of Mallory, and attacked his Department’s wartime conduct with uncharacteristic venom. He blamed him personally for the fate that now threatened not only General Bragg’s men in Cuba but the entire war effort. Jackson was not alone in his thoughts. Mallory had ruled over the Navy Department since the Secession through connections and political dealings. He was certainly a skilled fighter in the corridors of power but little besides. Many blamed his louche approach to office for the Navy’s present state. Indeed, little had changed in his Department from the ad-hoc days of 1861. Unlike their Union counterpart, the C.S Navy relied on private agents to acquire warships from foreign naval yards, many of them Mallory’s lackeys[3]. This indirect approach had been partly responsible for the collapse of the French ironclad deal in early August.
Meanwhile at home, funds were focused on the Secretary’s obsession with experimental weaponry rather than laying new ships[4]. Jackson pointed to Windward Passage as the end result of such wasteful research. As Mallory attempted to defend himself, President Seddon joined in, criticising his overconfidence in the days leading up to war. Although Mallory had been far from alone in this, the Cabinet rounded on him. For reasons of both personal disapproval and political expediency, Mallory was going to suffer for the Navy’s mauling. The Secretary of the Navy demanded a Congressional hearing on his conduct before ‘rash‘ action was taken. The President would have none of it, knowing full well of Mallory’s “old boys“ network in the Senate and the House[5]. Seddon put it bluntly, leave or be forced. The next morning the Charleston Mercury headline read “Navy Secretary Mallory Resigns - Good Riddance!”. Regardless of public opinion, the President was certainly aware that Mallory’s removal would make him powerful enemies in Richmond.
Stephen Mallory, Secretary of the Navy 1861-1871
While the Government had a clear picture of the overall military situation, the fall out from the Battle of Windward Passage was less clear to the public. After all they had no idea of Spanish naval reserves or the exact condition of Buchanan’s fleet. Although the press was divided as ever along political lines, all praised the CSN’s sacrifice in repulsing a Spanish invasion of Cuba - some less factually stringent newspapers even suggested Charleston had been saved a second attack. Patriotic comparisons were made to Salamis, Trafalgar, and even (perhaps most fitting) a naval Charge of the Light Brigade. Many believed Windward Passage had put an end to all Spanish hopes for the conflict. In Charleston, still reeling from Nunez’s sacking of the city, street parties were organised, celebrating the revenge of the Holy City[6]. At quayside a wicker effigy of the Numancia, former flagship of the Armada’s Caribbean Squadron, was pushed into the harbour and set alight to the delight of thirty thousand onlookers.
In Havana, were word from the outside world was naturally sparse, the news (selectively provided via Confederate agents) was devastating. General Campos and the citizens of the city were equally aghast to hear of the Armada’s repulsion and the loss of the Numancia. Unsure of future relief attempts, many assumed the worst. By 28th August, shots were fired into crowds of civilians as many broke the restrictions of martial law to call upon Campos to lift the siege. Many white criollos and peninsulares feared a brutal sack of the city by mulatto barbarians and pleaded for a negotiated surrender. On 29th August, an assault by Gomez’s guerrillas penetrated a far as Havana’s outlying suburbs. Their worst fears seemingly come true, many loyalists fled to the apparent safety of La Cabana fortress and Morro Castle. Hearing of the panic, General Bragg redoubled his efforts. On 30th August a major assault by both Confederate and Cuban forces once again pierced the Spanish frontlines. Although Campos, who had established a defence in depth strategy, soon pushed back the attackers, it was with heavy losses.
On the night of 1st September, Cuban guerrillas managed to infiltrate the city and dynamite the magazine at La Cabana. Although all of the attackers were killed or executed trying to make their escape, the attack not only gutted the Spanish army’s ammunition supplies but allowed dozens of political and criminal prisoners to escape the fortress, causing panic throughout Havana[7]. Fear of Gomez’s partisans had reached fever pitch. The next morning a group of officers, led by a Colonel Batista made the bold move of requesting the General surrender. Batista pointed to low food, medical and now munitions reserves, as well as the low morale of soldiers and civilians alike[8]. Under different circumstances the stern Campos would had the men arrested for insubordination. However after almost three weeks of intense siege, with little prospect of immediate relief and fear of Cuban reprisal, an exhausted Campos relented. Within hours Batista crossed no-man’s land under a flag of truce.
Captain-General Campos of Cuba(l), General Pavia's forces mustering in San Juan(c), and General Prim(r)
The Spanish terms of surrender were simple; General Campos would surrender Havana and western Cuba to Confederate occupation, and no one else. Bragg, hardly a fan of his guerrilla allies was more than willing to accept. However by September Gomez’s army had risen to almost 10,000 strong, while their success during the war would no doubt make the terms totally unacceptable to the rebel commander. Under pressing orders to finish the campaign as soon as possible, Bragg and Colonel Batista organised a farcical ruse to ensure the Stars and Bars alone flew over Havana. On the 4th, the 2nd Virginian and 9th Georgian infantry attacked Fort 3, on the extreme west of the Spanish defences. Within minutes the redoubt was surrendered with barely a shot fired. The attacking forces were quickly followed up by the entirety of Bragg’s reserves who pressed on into the city, Spanish forces surrendering without a fight. By the time Gomez and the Cubans in the east were aware of the supposed breakthrough, General Bragg was already at Morro Castle, accepting Campos’ sword. The Cuban campaign was over[9].
Antonio I of Spain had never been a particularly popular king. His insistence on speaking French with ministers and nobles was cause for great resentment in the circles of power[10]. Meanwhile his ignorance had caused public ridicule early in his reign, during a tour of Madrid. Informed he was passing the home of the famed author Miguel de Cervantes, Antonio praised his work and chided his arrogance for not paying his new monarch a visit. Cervantes had been dead for over 250 years[11]. By the time word of Campos’ surrender reached Madrid, the Spanish capital was already in crisis. On 30th August, while leaving his residence at Villamejor for a cabinet meeting, Marshal Serrano had been gunned down by a gang of Carlist agents[12]. The death of King Antonio’s prime minister and main supporter struck a major blow to his regime. Serrano’s murder was only the latest in a series of ministerial assassinations, which caused the King great trouble as he struggled to find willing replacements for his government.
The inconclusive result at Windward Passage had only further disgruntled the public towards a war they felt was being fought half-heartedly and at great expense. News of Havana’s fall caused outrage in the liberal press and saw left-wing groups protesting across Spain. Antonio, ruling without Serrano’s moderating influence, called for the closure of La Vanguardia, a radical Catalan publication on September 8th. However the King was restricted by the Constitution he had sworn to defend and had few sympathisers in the Cortes for his wishes; ultimately all he achieved was to gain the ire of liberals and Catalonian nationalists alike. On 10th September, word reached the King of anti-monarchist uprisings in Valencia and Malaga. Antonio ordered the forces of General Juan Prim stationed outside the capital to march south, however it was not to be. For months, the Spanish government’s finances had been in ruins. By September, cuts to army pay had become intolerable and on receiving orders to march, first the artillery corps and then all 9,000 of Prim’s men laid down their arms in protest.
The Assassination of Prime Minister Serrano
Antonio rightly believed that Prim, a long time political rival of Serrano’s, had orchestrated, or at least encouraged the soldier’s strike, however there was little he could do about it. As the General marched into the capital to ensure the King made no moves against him, Antonio announced his intention to abdicate. His forces already in control of Madrid, Prim was quickly appointed Regent by the Cortes. In Puerto Rico, the pay crisis had led to similar strikes amongst Manuel Pavia’s forces, prompting the General to return home with several regiments to secure his stake in the new regime. Meanwhile Admiral Nunez, keen to quash Confederate sea power, was shocked on 11th September when thousands of sailors, many having gone without pay for several weeks, mutinied, effectively paralysing the Spanish war effort in the Caribbean. On the 18th Prim’s forces met General Pavia as he arrived in Cadiz. Aware of Pavia’s Legitimist leanings, the Regent had him arrested and his forces paid off to avoid any attempted coup d’etat[13].
Although Prim had been a strong supporter of the war effort, by late September his main focus was on stabilising Spain itself. As such, still facing Carlist, separatist, Legitimist and radical Republican opposition, the Regent contacted President Seddon through his ambassador, Frederick Hayes, in Paris to discuss terms. The Confederates were more than happy to bring the Cuban War to an end and following an armistice on September 22nd, a delegation from the State Department left Richmond for Paris, where the peace treaty would be signed under Emperor Napoleon’s arbitration. Prim, represented by Emilio Castelar, was willing to accept Cuba’s loss but only with compensation. Despite the chaos with in Spain and its military at the time, the Regent used the bluff of his all but inactive Caribbean fleet to threaten the Confederates into more agreeable terms. Meanwhile William M. Browne, acting on behalf of an ill Judah P. Benjamin had been instructed to retain Bragg’s military gains at any cost.
On October 1st, the Treaty of Paris was signed. In return for recognising Confederate control over Cuba, Spain would receive a much needed C$20,000,000 in compensation, as well as agreements to protect Spanish property on the island. The Treaty lacked any mention of Cuban rights or freedoms, while the property amendments and exclusion of Cuban delegates from the Treaty’s signing sowed yet more seeds of distrust between the Confederates and the guerrillas. Regardless, in Richmond there was jubilation, as citizens celebrated, as a visiting Samuel Clemens dryly put it “with a combination of patriotic fervour and enthused relief”. In the Charleston, Admiral Buchanan’s battered fleet steamed into port under a barrage of cheers, while in New Orleans, another round of anti-Hispanic violence marred the celebrations. In Spain, things were understandably more subdued but government troops faced little of the violence expected from the public. Many were simply glad to see the war’s end, while the majority of rebellious sentiment was already focused , inward towards the future of Prim’s regency. Perhaps ironically, the constitutionalist General would hold his temporary position as near-dictatorial head of state until his death in 1883, having failed to find a suitable new monarch for Spain[14]. In turn he would establish the 1876 Constitution, laying the groundwork for the Spanish Republic after his death.
William M. Browne signs the Treaty of Paris, 1st Oct. 1871
[1] The CS President’s official residence, the so-called “Grey House”. It happens that the mansion was actually James Seddon’s private residence before the Civil War and he donated it to the Government. Wonder if he appreciates the new paint job?
[2] This is nonsense, the Spanish threw everything into Windward Passage just as the Confederates did, but desperate times give pessimistic rumours credence.
[3] Same as OTL. During the Civil War it was clever improvisation but I doubt Mallory would reform such a personally lucrative set-up even given a decade.
[4] Mallory loved submarines, torpedoes, river monitors, eccentric gun designs and the then-innovative ironclad. However he had a bad habit of focusing on new ideas over the tried and tested. Arguably fine in a self-contained environment, bad when you have a small budget and U.S Marines landing in New Orleans.
[5] IOTL towards the end of the Civil War, Mallory was ‘punished’ in such a way for his incompetent administrative skills. However the hearings were packed with his friends and allies, who lionised him to a farcical degree. Some members of Cabinet knew this beforehand and were critical of Davis’ judicial approach. James Seddon was one of them.
[6] One of Charleston’s nicknames, on account of its church strewn skyline.
[7] La Cabana was very much Havana’s Bastille well into the Castro era.
[8] Western Cuba in the 1870s was home to massive sugar and tobacco plantations and little else. This makes it very difficult for Campos to stock the vast quantities of food necessary to feed the whole of Havana in a siege environment.
[9] This is how U.S forces secured Manila in 1898 IOTL, ensuring the Filipino partisans had no foothold in the capital.
[10] IOTL, Antonio did little to ingratiate himself with the Spanish while he was up for election as king, insisting on speaking French. It was the language of international diplomacy true. but the Spanish nobles certainly didn’t find it very diplomatic.
[11] A similar thing happened to King Amadeo IOTL, but it’s a nice story to include.
[12] Juan Prim, King Amadeo’s main sponsor suffered a similar fate IOTL.
[13] Prim was the leader of the 1868 Revolution that deposed Isabella II while Pavia had been one of her main defenders and was keen to see her son, OTL’s Alfonso XII, put on the throne.
[14] ITTL Prince Amadeo, Juan’s Prime first choice, is now the heir apparent to the Italian throne, while the Hohenzollern who kicked off the Franco-Prussian War is now King Leopold I of Rhineland.
