Prologue
Most countries are born out of strife and war. The Confederate States of America was no different. Its birth was short, but the bloodshed surrounding it was tremendous. The hostilities began when Confederate forces began a bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina. As the opening shots of the War for Southern Independence were fired the major European powers, Britain and France declared neutrality and only recognized the Confederacy as a belligerent not an actual nation. The Confederacy knew that without outside support their cause was doomed to fail.
The pivotal point that would lead to the independence of the South was known as the Trent Incident.
On November 6, 1861 the U.S. Frigate San Jacinto intercepted a British mail packet, the Trent as it sailed from the Spanish port of Havana. On board the Trent were the Confederate commissioners, James Mason and John Slidell. During the boarding two British citizens were also shot and killed by the U.S. boarding party. The Captain of the San Jacinto, Charles Wilkes returned with his captured commissioners and became a hero overnight. Yet he also plunged Lincoln and his administration into the worst crisis they had yet faced.
When news of the boarding reached London the British were outraged at what was in essence an act of war. Queen Victoria wrote that British blood “boiled” with rage. The Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russel wrote a memorandum to the United States demanding the release of the captives and an apology. The bluntness of the letter left no room for Lincoln to maneuver and didn’t allow for the North to back down without losing face. The response came from William Seward, the U.S. Secretary of State who said that the Union would wrap the world in flames if forced into conflict with Britain.
Without an official apology from the North things quickly spiraled out of control. Confederate agents operating in British North America began launching raids into Union border towns to try and begin a war. These raids led to gunfights between Canadian militia and Union cavalry that crossed the border to pursue the Confederate raiders. The incidents began to escalate until it became clashes between British and Union soldiers. War finally formally broke out in January of 1862.
As soon as Britain had declared war against the Union France, under Napoleon III quickly followed suit and hell was unleashed on Earth. British ships sank Union merchant vessels the world ‘round and broke the blockade of Southern ports. French troops also fought alongside their Confederate counterparts and at one point earned the respect of General Lee after helping to break Union lines at the Battle of Boonsboro Maryland. Soon the Union found it’s western seaboard being raided and occupied by British forces and being pushed back by Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. The only place the Union was succeeded was in British North America, but that was quickly becoming a guerrilla war that was unsustainable.
The war finally ended after the mediation of Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1863. The peace treaty was finally signed and the Confederacy became a nation recognized by the world. The United States was never pleased with the outcome but never tried to retake the states that had left the Union. Conflict against France and England was always viewed as a folly after the War for Southern Independence.
So as the year 1936 dawned the Confederacy was still a young nation. As a country it was in the midst of the Great Depression and its economy was in shambles. The military was small and outdated, unprepared for any conflict that might come its way. Even so, the nation had seen worse and was prepared to weather the storm. The core of the confederacy was strong and the government under President Harry Byrd was making plans for the coming years to get the Confederacy back on its feet.
The government’s plan began with a massive buildup of the nations industrial capacity. The various states making up the Confederacy had agreed to begin construction on twelve new factories that would be finished in 1937. The second part of the government’s plan was to begin an increase in military spending. The construction of new ships and the raising of new divisions would provide jobs just as the factories would and help to strengthen the nation. The government with the backing of the states also began making its way out of isolation and extended its hand in friendship once more to the Confederacy’s longtime allies Great Britain and France. Still, these changes won’t take effect for years, but in the meantime the nation is making do as it always has, and the young officers of the Confederate military, whose fathers had served in the bloody killing grounds of Europe and whose grandparents had marched with Lee and Jackson for the independence of the nation now would face new challenges as the country pulled itself out of financial misery. Then they would see as one misery left another took its place and the clouds of war would once more sit hauntingly over the European continent. Among these young officers were men like Confederate Army Lieutenant James Hughes, a man who came from an aristocratic family with a hot temper and a nose for trouble, and the Confederate Army Air Force’s Lieutenant Memphis O’Donnell who had risen from poverty to gain a commission in the military. These men and many others would soon find themselves center stage as the world was once more engulfed in flames.
The pivotal point that would lead to the independence of the South was known as the Trent Incident.
On November 6, 1861 the U.S. Frigate San Jacinto intercepted a British mail packet, the Trent as it sailed from the Spanish port of Havana. On board the Trent were the Confederate commissioners, James Mason and John Slidell. During the boarding two British citizens were also shot and killed by the U.S. boarding party. The Captain of the San Jacinto, Charles Wilkes returned with his captured commissioners and became a hero overnight. Yet he also plunged Lincoln and his administration into the worst crisis they had yet faced.
When news of the boarding reached London the British were outraged at what was in essence an act of war. Queen Victoria wrote that British blood “boiled” with rage. The Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russel wrote a memorandum to the United States demanding the release of the captives and an apology. The bluntness of the letter left no room for Lincoln to maneuver and didn’t allow for the North to back down without losing face. The response came from William Seward, the U.S. Secretary of State who said that the Union would wrap the world in flames if forced into conflict with Britain.
Without an official apology from the North things quickly spiraled out of control. Confederate agents operating in British North America began launching raids into Union border towns to try and begin a war. These raids led to gunfights between Canadian militia and Union cavalry that crossed the border to pursue the Confederate raiders. The incidents began to escalate until it became clashes between British and Union soldiers. War finally formally broke out in January of 1862.
As soon as Britain had declared war against the Union France, under Napoleon III quickly followed suit and hell was unleashed on Earth. British ships sank Union merchant vessels the world ‘round and broke the blockade of Southern ports. French troops also fought alongside their Confederate counterparts and at one point earned the respect of General Lee after helping to break Union lines at the Battle of Boonsboro Maryland. Soon the Union found it’s western seaboard being raided and occupied by British forces and being pushed back by Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. The only place the Union was succeeded was in British North America, but that was quickly becoming a guerrilla war that was unsustainable.
The war finally ended after the mediation of Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1863. The peace treaty was finally signed and the Confederacy became a nation recognized by the world. The United States was never pleased with the outcome but never tried to retake the states that had left the Union. Conflict against France and England was always viewed as a folly after the War for Southern Independence.
So as the year 1936 dawned the Confederacy was still a young nation. As a country it was in the midst of the Great Depression and its economy was in shambles. The military was small and outdated, unprepared for any conflict that might come its way. Even so, the nation had seen worse and was prepared to weather the storm. The core of the confederacy was strong and the government under President Harry Byrd was making plans for the coming years to get the Confederacy back on its feet.
The government’s plan began with a massive buildup of the nations industrial capacity. The various states making up the Confederacy had agreed to begin construction on twelve new factories that would be finished in 1937. The second part of the government’s plan was to begin an increase in military spending. The construction of new ships and the raising of new divisions would provide jobs just as the factories would and help to strengthen the nation. The government with the backing of the states also began making its way out of isolation and extended its hand in friendship once more to the Confederacy’s longtime allies Great Britain and France. Still, these changes won’t take effect for years, but in the meantime the nation is making do as it always has, and the young officers of the Confederate military, whose fathers had served in the bloody killing grounds of Europe and whose grandparents had marched with Lee and Jackson for the independence of the nation now would face new challenges as the country pulled itself out of financial misery. Then they would see as one misery left another took its place and the clouds of war would once more sit hauntingly over the European continent. Among these young officers were men like Confederate Army Lieutenant James Hughes, a man who came from an aristocratic family with a hot temper and a nose for trouble, and the Confederate Army Air Force’s Lieutenant Memphis O’Donnell who had risen from poverty to gain a commission in the military. These men and many others would soon find themselves center stage as the world was once more engulfed in flames.
