The Medieval South [OOC/Sign-Ups]

[Inis Eagla]

Just for clarity: the application of Leonardo Marquez being accepted means that Mexico in this RP is an Empire, correct?

I know nothing about Mexican history and assumed that Mexico was an empire IRL. If it wasn’t, I’m sure we could ask that Leonardo just be a general rather than a noble, unless there’s a compelling reason for an imperial Mexico.

Ah well I figured since the Confederacy won the French wouldn't be so pressed to get everyone out of Mexico, though eventually they still would I think. If it has to be changed, then I probably can't be Leonardo unless if I make him independent of Mexico.

[The United Empire of Exucular]

I know nothing about Mexican history and assumed that Mexico was an empire IRL. If it wasn’t, I’m sure we could ask that Leonardo just be a general rather than a noble, unless there’s a compelling reason for an imperial Mexico.

Ah well I figured since the Confederacy won the French wouldn't be so pressed to get everyone out of Mexico, though eventually they still would I think. If it has to be changed, then I probably can't be Leonardo.

Maybe instead of scrapping the character you can say that instead of US support coming to the Republicans Confederate support came to the Imperials. Like the Republicans took portions of the country, but couldn't push the Imperials out entirely. Split Mexico into the Republicans and loyalists to the crown. So both the United States of Mexico and 2nd Mexican Empire can exist simultaneously.

[Sarderia]

Sarderia, I doubt Richmond would have burned in this timeline. In real life it was a last ditch effort by the Confederacy as the Union invaded. In this the Union was on the defensive and it was Washington that was sacked and burned, which is something I included in my app.

I'll edit the post later, thanks for the reminding

Imperial Mexico was mentioned in the app for Leonardo Marquez. Its plausibly that it could have survived in this TL. Since the Union lost it would be cut off from sending supplies and putting pressure on Mexico like it did in RL.

Oh I'm aware it was mentioned in his/her application, however I was just citing the fact I believe both Texas players have referenced Mexico as being "The United States of Mexico" as proportionate to their timelines already, or another player did rather. Not entirely sure but I could've sworn I remembered seeing Mexico as a whole referred to as such previously on either the IC or OOC.

I have never mentioned Mexico in my IC posts. However since the OP has already accepted Eagle's app so I would assume Mexico is an Empire by now. Mexico was an empire in the time of the Civil War though, so I'll just assume the belgian Emperor was never de-throned and Mexico stays a monarchy.

[Inis Eagla]

Ah well I figured since the Confederacy won the French wouldn't be so pressed to get everyone out of Mexico, though eventually they still would I think. If it has to be changed, then I probably can't be Leonardo.

Maybe instead of scrapping the character you can say that instead of US support coming to the Republicans Confederate support came to the Imperials. Like the Republicans took portions of the country, but couldn't push the Imperials out entirely. Split Mexico into the Republicans and loyalists to the crown. So both the United States of Mexico and 2nd Mexican Empire can exist simultaneously.

Well, I think that'd be tough since Imperial Mexico would have been in South-Mexico at that point. And I don't think the Confederacy would be all too able, since even earlier in the war their logistics weren't as reliable as the Union.

[Cylarn]

Maybe instead of scrapping the character you can say that instead of US support coming to the Republicans Confederate support came to the Imperials. Like the Republicans took portions of the country, but couldn't push the Imperials out entirely. Split Mexico into the Republicans and loyalists to the crown. So both the United States of Mexico and 2nd Mexican Empire can exist simultaneously.

Well, I think that'd be tough since Imperial Mexico would have been in South-Mexico at that point. And I don't think the Confederacy would be all too able, since even earlier in the war their logistics weren't as reliable as the Union.

I could very easily see Confederate veterans, mustered out of the "wartime" army and with some maybe lacking the ability to return to a civilian life, form their own independent companies or regiments to serve alongside the Mexican Imperial forces. Ten years later, in 1877, these Southerners would likely have helped to establish some notable links between the monarchies. There may be transnational business ventures, arranged marriages between the two nobilities, alliances to deal with Apache incursions on either side of the border, etc. There is ground to work with.

[Inis Eagla]

Well, I think that'd be tough since Imperial Mexico would have been in South-Mexico at that point. And I don't think the Confederacy would be all too able, since even earlier in the war their logistics weren't as reliable as the Union.

I could very easily see Confederate veterans, mustered out of the "wartime" army and with some maybe lacking the ability to return to a civilian life, form their own independent companies or regiments to serve alongside the Mexican Imperial forces. Ten years later, in 1877, these Southerners would likely have helped to establish some notable links between the monarchies. There may be transnational business ventures, arranged marriages between the two nobilities, alliances to deal with Apache incursions on either side of the border, etc. There is ground to work with.

Actually I like that idea, I had figured there'd be less Confederates serving in the Imperial Army due to their victory. But then again, there were quite a few Confederates who were filibusters. It'd probably be more interesting if Leonardo had better reason to enter the Confederacy if it was due to notable Southrons living in the area.

[Dahyan]

Just for clarity: the application of Leonardo Marquez being accepted means that Mexico in this RP is an Empire, correct?

I know nothing about Mexican history and assumed that Mexico was an empire IRL. If it wasn’t, I’m sure we could ask that Leonardo just be a general rather than a noble, unless there’s a compelling reason for an imperial Mexico.

Mexico was a republic around this period in real life. Napoleon III installed an empire with an Austrian ruler for a while, but that failed rather quickly.

[Cylarn]

-snip-

I would also read Paul Gardner's app. Although Norv gets pulled by the winds of the world at the worst times, his app is full of information.

[Dahyan]

The turning point in the war should be Gettysburg. On Day 1 the Confederates seize key terrain and proceed to easily defeat multiple attacks by Union forces. They go on to burn Washington and ravage Pennsylvania which leads to Lincoln losing re-election and President McClellan suing for Peace in 1864.

I didn't realise Lincoln losing reelection was part of the RP, although I could see how it makes sense. We did establish in the IC already that Grant still became president of the Union, and is still in charge at the time of the RP.

[Inis Eagla]

-snip-

I would also read Paul Gardner's app. Although Norv gets pulled by the winds of the world at the worst times, his app is full of information.

Isn't he mostly just New Mexico-Texas?

[Sarderia]

Joseph Eggleston Johnston - (1807 - Present)

Account Name: Sarderia
Occupation: Count of Manassas, Commissioner of the Virginia Bank, Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia (former)
Motives: Expanding the operations of the Virginia Bank, maintaining the security of Virginia's northern border either from Confederate or Union armies
Background: Johnston was born at Farmville, Virginia on 1807. His grandfather, Peter Johnston, emigrated to Virginia from Scotland in 1726. Joseph was the seventh son of Judge Peter Johnston Jr. and Mary Valentine Wood, a niece of Patrick Henry. His brother Charles Clement Johnston served as a congressman, and his nephew John Warfield Johnston was a senator; both represented Virginia. In 1811, the Johnston family moved to Abingdon, Virginia, a town near the Tennessee border. Johnston attended the United States Military Academy in 1825. He was moderately successful at academics and received only a small number of disciplinary demerits. He graduated in 1829, and was appointed a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery. He would become the first West Point graduate to be promoted to a general officer in the regular army, reaching a higher rank in the U.S. Army than did his 1829 classmate, Robert E. Lee.

Johnston resigned from the Army in March 1837 and studied civil engineering. He later served as a civillian engineer during the Second Seminole War. On 1845 Johnston married Lydia Mulligan Sims McLane in Baltimore, the daughter of Louis McLane and his wife. Her father was the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, a prominent politician, congressman and senator from Delaware, minister to London, and a member of President Andrew Jackson's cabinet. They had a son, Robert Johnston, whom he named after the General Robert E. Lee, born in 1840. However, Robert perished in the Civil War, being honored as a war hero for the COnfederacy, and left a twelve-year old son as Johnston's heir later.

Johnston was enthusiastic about the outbreak of the Mexican–American War. He served on the staff of Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott in the Siege of Veracruz, having been chosen by Scott to be the officer carrying the demand for surrender beforehand to the provincial governor. He was in the vanguard of the movement inland under Brig. Gen. David E. Twiggs and was severely wounded by grapeshot performing reconnaissance prior to the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He was appointed a brevet lieutenant colonel for his actions at Cerro Gordo. After recovering in a field hospital, he rejoined the army at Puebla. During the advance toward Mexico City, he was second in command of the "U.S. Regiment of Voltigeurs", a unit composed of light infantry or skirmishers. He distinguished himself at Contreras and Churubusco, was wounded again at Chapultepec, and received two brevet promotions for the latter two engagements, ending the war as a brevet colonel of volunteers. After the end of hostilities, he reverted to his peacetime rank of captain in the topographical engineers. He developed a mentor relationship and close friendship with one of his junior officers, Capt. George B. McClellan. Later McClellan faced him from the Union Army.

When Virginia seceded from the Union following the rest of the Confederacy in 1861, Johnston resigned his commission as a brigadier general in the regular army, the highest-ranking U.S. Army officer to do so. He was initially commissioned as a major general in the Virginia militia, but the Virginia Convention decided two weeks later that only one major general was required in the state army and Robert E. Lee was their choice. Johnston was then offered a state commission as a brigadier general, which he declined, accepting instead a commission as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. Johnston relieved Colonel Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson of command at Harpers Ferry in May and organized the Army of the Shenandoah in July. In the First Battle of Manassas), Johnston rapidly moved his small army from the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce that of Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard, but he lacked familiarity with the terrain and ceded tactical planning of the battle to the more junior Beauregard as a professional courtesy.

Johnston was placed in command of the Department of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of the Potomac on 1861, and the Department of Northern Virginia later that year. From July to November 1861, he was headquartered at the Conner House in Manassas. When the Confederate States later disbanded, he would claim Manassas as his personal demesne, given he had used the city as his base of operations throughout the war. In early April 1862, McClellan, having landed his troops at Fort Monroe at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula, began to move slowly toward Yorktown. Knowing that his army was half the size of McClellan's and that the Union Navy could provide direct support to McClellan from either river, Johnston attempted to convince Davis and Lee that the best course would be to concentrate in fortifications around Richmond. He was unsuccessful in persuading them and deployed most of his force on the Peninsula. Following lengthy siege preparations by McClellan at Yorktown, Johnston withdrew and fought a sharp defensive fight at Williamsburg, and turned back an attempt at an amphibious turning movement at Eltham's Landing. By late May the Union army was within six miles of Richmond, and realizing that he could not defend the city from the Union's overwhelming numbers and heavy siege artillery and that McClellan's army was divided by the rain-swollen Chickahominy River, Johnston attacked south of the river in the Battle of Seven Pines - or Fair Oaks. His plan was aggressive, but he managed to ensure they understood his orders in detail or to supervise them closely. The battle was tactically a conclusive victory for the Confederate troops, as it stopped McClellan's advance on the city. Johnston later set up camp in Henrico county, effectively controlling Virginia by the moment as his troops forced all other Union brigades out of the Confederate capital region.

Both during the War and after, Johnston developed a close acquaintance with many of his former partners in the Union army, including Generals McClellan and William Tecumseh Sherman. This friendly relationship in part helped him settle on his roles to guard any further Union incursuion from Washington, and he later claimed - or crated - the title March of Washington, serving as the guardian of the southern states' doorstep. Unlike other Confederate veterans and Southern nobles, Johnston is less inclined to be very loyal to the Emperor. Johnston partnered Salomon de Rotschild to create the Virginia Bank, the state's primary financial institution, and developed a close relationship with Salomon's son and heir Arthur Rotschild Lee. Johnston still retained the position as President of the Bank until this day, and occasionally managed the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia railroad - the Bank's investment, in business trips. After the War, Johnston rewarded the Army of Northern Virginia which he commanded in the war with lands between the Potomac and York rivers as minor nobles and counts. He reorganized parts of the Army as the city guards of Manassas - increasing the city's population significantly, and formed a militia that is fairly loyal to himself.

Titles/Positions: March of Washington, Count of Manassas, Executive Commissioner of the Virginia Bank,
Holdings: Manassas, Manassas Park, Prince William county, Fauquier county, Loudoun county, King George county, Westmoreland county, Richmond county, Lancaster county, Northumberland county
Politics: Unlike other veteran Confederate generals, Johnston has a rather good view in regards to the Union, partially because his acquaintance with Union General William T. Sherman during the war. Johnston is neutral in politics, favoring neither the south or the United States, but he is loyal to Virginia and committed to make northern Virginia free of any further conflicts.
Faith: Southern Baptist

[The Grand Duchy Of Nova Capile]

Okay, I'm really engrossed in this RP, but my current position is a bit boring (no offense Sanabel, not your fault). So I'd like to add another character with more power (while keeping Mercer, for the time being at least).

I noticed Alabama is the only unclaimed area, I'd like to slither my slimy tendrils over it right now and reserve it, considering that the last person to mention it later forewent it in favor of Tennessee, it seems. Unless anyone objects, I'll try to brainstorm any interesting character/power system and have an application up within a few hours.

[Sanabel]

Okay, I'm really engrossed in this RP, but my current position is a bit boring (no offense Sanabel, not your fault). So I'd like to add another character with more power (while keeping Mercer, for the time being at least).

I noticed Alabama is the only unclaimed area, I'd like to slither my slimy tendrils over it right now and reserve it, considering that the last person to mention it later forewent it in favor of Tennessee, it seems. Unless anyone objects, I'll try to brainstorm any interesting character/power system and have an application up within a few hours.

Sorry about that.

[Cylarn]

Okay, I'm really engrossed in this RP, but my current position is a bit boring (no offense Sanabel, not your fault). So I'd like to add another character with more power (while keeping Mercer, for the time being at least).

I noticed Alabama is the only unclaimed area, I'd like to slither my slimy tendrils over it right now and reserve it, considering that the last person to mention it later forewent it in favor of Tennessee, it seems. Unless anyone objects, I'll try to brainstorm any interesting character/power system and have an application up within a few hours.

Nah, that's on me. I have a post for a happening in Morganton that is in the works.

[The Grand Duchy Of Nova Capile]

Sorry about that.

No problem at all! When I originally asked I assumed I wouldn't have much time to devote to this RP but have since proved myself wrong.

Nah, that's on me.

Nonsense!

I have a post for a happening in Morganton that is in the works.

I didn't expect you to address my post what with everything else happening and so was going to go ahead and post Mercer arriving in Morganton, but I'm happy to hear that nonetheless! If it helps at all you can assume Mercer arrives and goes into the rail station/telegraph booth/whatever for the purposes of your post.

[Confederate American SU]

Cassidy F. Pickett - (1848 - Present)

I have no image.

Account Name: Confederate American SU
Occupation: Revolutionary
Motives: Restoring democracy to the Confederacy, reuniting America under a pan-white government, establishing socialism for the white man, eliminating the Southern aristocracy and Northern capitalists
Background:Cassidy Flannery Pickett was born to an Irish immigrant father and Tennessee-born mother in Manhatten. His father was a fervent Democrat who raised his son to despise Whigs, Know-Nothings, and Republicans. As a child, he was often bullied for his dimunitive size. However, he found protection with a female bouncer known as Gallus Mag. When he reached adolescence, Pickett went into an affair with Gallus.

Initially, the Picketts were neutral on the Civil War, but the Emancipation Proclamation drove them to become fervent Copperhead Democrats. Cassidy and his father Connor Pickett took part in the Draft Riots, which was the start of Cassidy's violent political career. Fleeing from authorities with Gallus, the two went to the South to join the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Army, with Gallus disguising herself as a man. Cassidy, meanwhile, became a drummer boy. The two survived the Civil War, which ended with the South achieving independence.

However, Cassidy, now an adult, grew dissatisfied with the Confederacy he had fought for. Instead of a white man's democracy, the Confederacy devolved into feudalism. Disgusted at this, Cassidy ventured into the realm of radical politics. Reading the works of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Cassidy became a revolutionary, dedicated to restoring democracy in the Confederacy under a socialist and white-nationalist regime. Finding support among former Border-Ruffians and Bushwhackers as well as many Northern workers, Cassidy formed a secret organization of militants known as the White Democratic League, or the Redshirts for their red uniforms that were inspired by Garibaldi's red-shirts. Militants within the organization attack both the feudal order of the South as well as crossing the border to assault Federal and capitalist targets and engaging in violent acts against blacks and other nonwhites. Cassidy himself was elected as one of the Grand Wizards of the Committee of Grand Wizards, who lead the guerilla campaign.

Titles/Positions: Grand Wizard of the Redshirts
Holdings: None
Politics:Pickett's ideology is a radical version of the Jacksonian Democracy, seeking to establish direct democracy in America. He also took inspiration from the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, implementing a mutualist-syndicalist economic philosophy in addition to a radical democratic programme.
Faith: Atheist (Born Catholic)

I hope this application is okay.

[Union Princes]

I need an update on the IC since we have a bunch of new characters now

[The Grand Duchy Of Nova Capile]

For the purposes of this application I'm assuming that the War ended at some point between late 1863 and the end of 1864, considering the Confederate victory at Gettysburg and subsequent events; nothing hinges on that date, however. Also, I've gone with the title of Archduke, since that has been the most standard title for the ruler of a state so far.

---

Raphael Semmes - (1822 – Present)

Account Name: Capile
Occupation: Archduke of Alabama
Motives: Preserving slavery and "the Southern way of life," increasing Alabama's (and his own) prominence in the South
Background:
The eldest son of a wealthy, slaveholding Marylander family, Raphael Semmes was fascinated from a young age with the sea and, more specifically, the hulking wooden leviathans that braved its salty dangers. In pursuit of high-seas adventure, Raphael forsook the title and status he would otherwise have inherited for a midshipman's commission in the United States Navy. His first assignments were far from home, aboard steamers supporting the Army during the Second Seminole War. An intelligent and inspiring man, he studied law between battles. It was aboard the riverboat that he learned the basics of command and leadership, rising to the rank of lieutenant by the conflict's close. The over-officered Navy hastily granted him leave at Mobile, where he began his law practice and a lifelong love affair with the Deep South.

He soon seduced and wed a beautiful Southern debutante, Anne Spencer, who bore him six children and ingratiated him with the local elite. Using his inheritance and law profits to invest in vast plantations and legions of slaves to work them, Raphael became one of the youngest and yet most prominent Alabamian aristocrats. Despite his new life ashore, Semmes' true passion never waned, and he headed countless hydrographic surveys, granting him an understanding that would be vital later in his career. He was finally recalled to duty during the Mexican-American War and charged with the command of the brig Somers, which was lost along with most of its hands to a violent and unexpected squall. Exonerated of guilt for this disaster by the courts, Semmes served the remainder of the war on foot, alongside the Army.

Returning to Alabama, Raphael cemented himself as a true Southerner by vocally defending the South's "peculiar institution" and arguing that Dixie would be better off unfettered by its rabid Northern cousin. His growing wealth and prestige earned him the admiration of Alabama, which adopted him as its son. When the tensions he had helped inflame finally burst into secession, Semmes was personally charged by President Jefferson Davis with securing seaworthy vessels for the upstart Confederate Navy. Before long, he was helming the refitted steamship CSS Sumter. Three days after eluding the Northern blockade of New Orleans, Raphael scored his first victory of the War, sinking the Unionist merchantman Golden Rocket. Over the next six months, Semmes utilized his extensive knowledge of shipping lanes, impeccable navigational skill, and impressive tactical acumen to score seventeen prizes from the Caribbean to the coast of Spain, where he found refuge at British Gibraltar. There he commissioned his final command, a new screw sloop of war crewed by Britons and specially designed as a raider for the Confederate Navy, whom he christened after that for which he was fighting: Alabama.

Promoted to captain, Raphael led that beauty of a ship under a false British flag up and down the Atlantic, from the coast of Canada to Cape Town, wreaking havoc on Union shipping and arousing the unshakeable ire of the Lincolnite navy. With Northern ships hot on her stern, Alabama fled briefly through the South China Sea, but ultimately ended up in the neutral port of Cherbourg, where she could finally undergo much-needed repair after a legendary voyage. Over the course of twenty-two months, Captain Semmes had burned fifty-four Union merchantmen, bonded ten others, and even defeated a Union warship. Meanwhile, sloop of war USS Kearsarge had managed to track Alabama to Cherbourg and was preparing to attack when news reached both ships that the War had ended in a Southern victory. Thus, the man feared and despised by every Yankee to ever sail the Atlantic was begrudgingly allowed to cruise peacefully back to the South.

Arriving at Mobile to a hero's welcome, Semmes was personally congratulated and, in a grand gesture, promoted to admiral by President Davis; although with the War over, that rank carried few responsibilities, and so Raphael was once more rendered a land-lubber, presiding over his plantation empire and spending some long-overdue time with his family. He could not long resist the call of the sea, however, and took it upon himself to strengthen the Confederate Navy in the postbellum years. A charismatic figure, he was called upon by the Confederate government to head a diplomatic naval expedition to various powers, including the Mexican Empire, the Empire of Brazil, the French Empire, and Great Britain, in an attempt to ameliorate relations with those polities. In the admiral's absence, however, a calamity befell the Confederacy, and it collapsed.

News of the Confederacy's demise reached Raphael Semmes just as he and his fleet were rounding the Cape to begin the second leg of their voyage. Devastated, he immediately turned around and made for Alabama, intending to save his beloved state from the chaos. Along his hasty journey he received more and more news, and was disgusted to find that former Confederate leaders were now declaring themselves monarchs over the states. His fleet finally reached Mobile to find that Governor Thomas H. Watts had assumed total control over Alabama and imposed martial law. Anchoring in Mobile Bay for the morning, the admiral prepared to carefully assess the situation, but upon sight of Semmes' ensign, civilians swarmed the decks of the fleet and besought Raphael to intervene. Governor Watts, they complained, was an iron-fisted dictator who had inflicted iniquitous taxes and impressments upon his people.

Semmes and his men promptly disembarked from their warships and embarked upon a weeklong march from Mobile to Montgomery, the capital, joined along the way by thousands of civilians, from ruined farmers and businessmen to militant housewives to disgruntled veterans. Governor Watts dispatched the state militia to disperse the marchers at Selma, but after a rousing speech from the admiral, the soldiers joined him instead. When they reached the state capitol building, a humiliated Watts bloodlessly surrendered, and Raphael Semmes became the Governor of Alabama.

A flamboyant and charming man, Semmes applied the same style of leadership he had used aboard the Alabama to the state of that name. Lovingly known as "Old Beeswax" because of his perpetually waxed mustache, he preferred the moniker "The Admiral," which became synonymous with his office. His first imperative was to restore Alabama to its antebellum glory, healing the wounds of war with generous farm subsidies. He also invested heavily in modern projects, such as expanding the rail and telegraph network throughout Alabama, providing new jobs and economic opportunities for the state. These efforts quickly endeared him to his constituents, few of whom noticed when the Admiral suspended gubernatorial elections indefinitely. Meanwhile, the rest of the South was organizing itself under the leadership of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Southern Emperor.

A skeptic of the Imperial system, Semmes was one of the last Confederate holdouts, but eventually recognized that standing against the rest of the former Confederacy was untenable. Seeking accommodation with the Emperor, he was given generous terms and named the Archduke of Alabama. Although the concept of nobility was alien to him, Raphael soon found that he was tailored for it. He delighted in the ostentatious garb, enormous entourage, and sanctimonious speeches expected of a nobleman, as did the people of Alabama, his adoptive homeland. Semmes nourished a cult of personality around himself, the arch-hero of the Confederacy, and notably encouraged his fanatic subjects to be "Alabamians first, Imperials second."

As Archduke, Semmes struck a careful balance between the rural masses, who adored him as the messiah of Alabama, and the landed gentry, who remained supportive allies so long as their interests were pursued. He remained a hardliner on the issue of slavery, refusing any compromise or relaxation of the harsh treatment of blacks in his state, although they comprised 40% of the population. He subsidized vast railroad projects, intending to make Alabama the central artery through which overland trade between the prestigious East— Virginia, the Carolinas, and Florida— and untamed West— Texas and Louisiana— would flow. He also recruited fellow Alabamian Josiah Gorgas to oversee and slowly expand the Archduchy's industrial base. Selma's arsenals were the foremost producers of ammunition in all of the Confederacy; the city also assembled cannon and procured niter for gunpowder. The Admiral also never forgot his passion, and spent an inordinate amount of his time meticulously organizing the Archducal Navy. With major dockyards and a glut of government funding, Alabama's quickly became the largest armada in the Empire, boasting a small squadron of ironclads alongside a host of steam sloops and screw frigates. This costly fleet was justified as necessary to protect Alabama's economy, which was heavily dependent on transatlantic trade with Europe.

Admiral Raphael Semmes has always been a grandiose man, and that extends to his domain. He has boundless plans for Alabama— but it remains to be seen whether that backwater will live up to his expectations.
Titles/Positions: Archduke of Alabama, Baron of Birmingham, Marquess of Mobile*, Grand Admiral of the Confederate Navy of Alabama
Holdings: Archduchy of Alabama, Barony of Birmingham, Marquessate of Mobile
Politics: Incorrigibly pro-slavery; believes the Confederacy should be reunited, but that the institution of nobility should remain; vehemently anti-Unionist, believing that the South made the right decision in seceding; loyal to his state and its people above all else
Faith: Roman Catholic

*I like alliteration, okay?

[Dahyan]

I'm flirting with the idea of applying for a second character as a Seminole tribal chieftain/warpath leader in the Rio Grande area. That is, if having another outlaw/reaver character is still acceptable for the purposes of the RP.

[Cylarn]

Originally, I was going to have three perspectives in this next post. However, that last perspective will be portrayed in a different post, hopefully today. For Dahyan, I shall be commencing the introduction of Tevis and Church, and the beginning of a fateful Watauga Council meeting.

[Lux Pulchrae]

I'm reading up on the thread trying to catch up. Pretty good reading so far. I'll try to think of something to do. Especially introduce my second character.

[Cylarn]

Give us more Partisans to set the South aflame.

[Dahyan]

Give us more Partisans to set the South aflame.

The men of the North will come beckoning soon enough.

[Dahyan]

Application for a second character. I went with the idea that Mexico is an Empire in the current RP, as I believe we settled on that in Marquez' application.

Juan Cavallo/John Horse - (1812 - /)

[img]Small300x300ImageGoesHere[/img]

Account Name: Dahyan
Occupation: Tribal chieftain, mayor, warband leader, guerilla fighter
Motives: Protect the Mascogo tribe, build up El Nacimiento as a refuge for Maroons and Natives, enact vengeance on slavers and American colonists north of the Rio Grande
Background: Juan Cavallo was born in the Micanopy region of Florida around the year 1812 as the son of a Seminole trader, of partial Spanish descent, and an African woman who was officially registered as a slave. Although born slaves by law, Juan and his sister Juana were not in fact use for slave labour, and were not considered slaves by fellow Seminoles.

During the US invasion of Florida in the 1812 War,  Juan's family fled before the onslaught of Andrew Jackson's forces and relocated to Tampa. Growing up amongst the Oconee Seminole, he learned hunting, fishing and tracking, becoming am expert marksman with both bow and rifle. He also learned to read and write, not only in his native Hitchiti language but also in the Muscogee tongue of the Upper Creek tribe as well as English and Spanish. This allowed him to communicate with Spanish and US settlers in the area on behalf of his tribe.

As a young man, Cavallo made contact with US troops at Fort Brooke in Tampa Bay. Under the name John Horse, he would sell food to the troops and settlers and was not afraid of doing some swindling. Eventually, he got caught carrying out a racket selling gophers to the fort's cook. Although US Major George Brooke pardoned the lad in exchange for hunting services, this earned Cavallo the nickname Gopher John amongst US troops.

Although Cavallo had established good ties with local US troops, tensions between the Seminole people and encroaching US settlers and planters increased. As did conflict over the issues of plantation slavery and runaway slaves, the so-called Maroons, who often settled amongst the Seminole tribes of inland Florida. When the Seminole people's old foe Andrew Jackson was elected president, he decreed that the Native population had to be deported west of the Mississippi, starting the Second Seminole War in 1835.

John Horse joined his people in the war against the colonists, commanding his forces in a guerilla war as field officer. His proficiency in languages and his wit as a speaker and negotiator made him rise to the position of one of the chief diplomats for chieftain Osceola, the highest-ranking commander of the Seminole forces.

Cavallo booked great successes in guerilla combat and the war of attrition, ambushing US patrol, burning plantations and freeing slaves. Nevertheless, by 1838 the war had grown untenable for the Seminole nation. John Horse, further shaken by the loss of his wife, opened negotiations with US forces. His tribe agreed to surrender in exchange for promises of safe conduct to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi, as well as legal liberation of all Black Seminoles and Maroons. The freedom guarantee was offered by US General Thomas Sydney Jesup, although it was not backed by official US legislation.

Juan Cavallo and his people were transported to New Orleans and north on the Mississippi River to the Indian Territory, where they were settled in land belonging to the Creek tribe. Cavallo quickly rose to the position of leader of the Black Seminole.

In the coming years, Horse worked as an intermediary between the US military and the Seminole, returning to Florida in 1839 to convince other Seminole guerrillas to accept relocation and avoid extermination. One of the leading Florida Seminole chiefs, Coacoochee, was convinced by Cavallo to join him, and the two formed a strong and lasting friendship. Cavallo married again, to a Black Seminole woman named Susan July.

Returning to Indian Territory in 1843, Cavallo found his people embroiled in another upcoming conflict, despite US guarantees of safety. The US, not recognizing the cultural differences between the tribes, had settled the Seminole in Creek lands. The Creek, who had adopted American chattel slavery, saw the presence of free Blacks on their territory as a threat to their economic interests, as well as a target for slave raids. The Black Seminole lands soon became hunting grounds for Creek, Cherokee and White Southern slave raids.

Cavallo and Coacoochee traveled to Washington to demand the fulfilment of US safety guarantees for the Black Seminole. While they were unable to obtain Federal aid, the delegation did get support from General Jesup. Jesup had the tribe relocate to Fort Gibson, where the local army garrison vowed to defend the nearby Seminole.

In 1849 however, the US government annulled Jesup's emancipation proclamation, and ordered all Black Seminole back into slavery. Rather than obeying, John Horse and Coacoochee decided to lead hundreds of Seminole and Maroons south towards Mexico, where slavery was illegal. On the way, there were joined by groups of Kickapoo natives. Pursued by slave catchers and Texas Rangers, they trekked through Comanche lands towards the Rio Grande.

After months of travel under harsh and numerous skirmishes with Texan raiders and Comanche warbands, the exodus crossed the Rio Grande and made contact with Mexican officials on July 12, 1850. In exchange for a pledge to defend the Mexican border, the Mascogo (as they were known in Mexico) were granted land in Coahuila, on which they established the town of El Nacimiento. Cavallo, Coacoochee and other leading members were granted the rank of Captain in the Mexican army.

Throughout the 1850s and 1860s, Cavallo and Coacoochee served with verve in the Mexican cavalry, defending the border from Texan incursions and Comanche and Apache raids. During the American Civil War, he made numerous daring raids into Texas, plundering Confederate supply trains and plantations. In 1865, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel.

He remained out of most of the conflict following the French invasion and the establishment of an Empire due to his concentration on fighting Texan troops. Although he participated in battles against the French and Belgian invaders, he eventually decided to submit to the Second Mexican Empire. This allowed him to retain his position and tribal lands.

Harbouring a deep grudge against the plantocracy of the South, which he holds responsible for the loss of his homeland and the enslavement of his people, Cavallo still carries out periodic raids across the Rio Grande, specifically targeting plantations and colonial outposts on tribal hunting grounds. Cavallo is known for his keen strategic military mind, as well as for his willingness to engage in brutal violence when fighting those who threaten his tribe. His plantation raids often are accompanied with the mass lynching of planters and plantation staff.

Cavallo's policy of freeing slaves has led to a steady growth of El Nacimiento, although the amount of cross-border raids he conducted has been in sharp decline for the past years.

Titles/Positions: High Chieftain of the Mascogos, Mayor of El Nacimiento, Colonel in the Mexican Army
Holdings: El Nacimiento, located in the Coahuila state of Mexico
Politics: Seminole Traditionalist, Abolitionist
Faith: Syncretic Christianity

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

I want to make sure you all know this: what I wrote is absolutely terrible, and it's something I am only foreshadowing to tear it apart later.