Prelude
-1879 assassination of American Presidents > 1877-1879 John Wentworth (Justice) † by neo-Richmondites causes wave of panic, US issues ultimatum to Spain to send away Richmondite exiles in Caribbean, refuse
-Richmondites in Jamaica still continue to exist
-spanish tentative attempts to remove congress over the water to Jamaica, declare surface-level recognition, not enough
-when the US sends an expedition to Jamaica, Spain ends up firing on it and forcing to retreat
-causing a massive crisis
-American Presidents > 1879-1887 Curran Emmet (Justice) decides the US isn't ready for a war and so in time to prepare decides to make a big show of confronting White Knights
-behind the scene decides to "negotiate" with Spain to "prevent" war
-while at the same time organizing and constructing a fleet in the Inland Waterways and the Great Lakes which can combat the Spanish
-in response, us recognizes cuban rebels as legitimate government
-not quite enough to provoke a Spanish declaration of war
-but this does result in tense relations and it does look like the US is doing something
-arms funneled to spanish haiti, sent to independentist rebels
-speed gathers ironclads in gulf ports, and despite supply issues (worsened by destroyed railroads) gathers soldiers in new orleans, mobile, appalachicola thru waterways
-to make sure Spanish do not see this as threat, ships gathered inland inside river waterways
-internal ports used and, with Canada being pro-US, sends all ships from Great Lakes inside river system
-after failed attempts to negotiate, spanish capture of us merchant vessel and speed impressed by military readiness results in war in mid 1880
War
-spanish attacks on ports
-most infamously on Port Townsend as the US has no navy whatsoever in Pacific
-additionally there is a Sack of Mobile but ships being up river mostly means it doesn't destroy a whole lot of the navy
-and they keep ships bottled in and prevent the US from launching attack
-Spain secures control over Key West and decides to invade Florida
-faced with brutal battles against the Seminole who defeat it before American troops can come in
-however waters around Florida remain dominated by Spanish ships
-repeated attempts by Americans to punch through it defeated
-rebels in Cuba rise up
-however, the rebellion is chiefly in the south of Cuba, far from Havana
-some Spanish ships torched but not enough to improve American war effort
-small American blockade runner flotilla coming from Appalachicola successfully bombs Havana and attacks fleet located there
-afterwards the US attacks Havana before it can react, in a sort of bridge of ship
-amphibious landing successfully takes it and makes it a beachhead
-this additionally provokes popular uprising there
-Spanish attempt to attack and push out the beachhead defeated
-after that the US is capable of landing ships there
-sees a land invasion from there
-slave migration towards Havana to be escaped
-with Spanish facing two-front war they get swiftly defeated in Cuba
-after that the American navy limps around Cuba and attacks Kingston
-takes the city, a relatively easy affair
-captures Woodward and other infamous people
-similarly force invades puerto rico in alliance with rebels there
-with the US now having modest levels of ships
-this scares Spain onto the table because it's holding up their forces
-by 1884, spain driven to the peace table, in effort to keep mexico in their hands
Aftermath
-Spain concedes independence of cuba, puerto rico
-and Jamaica formally constituted as an independent state
-but Richmondites in Grao-Para reconstitute Congress Over the Water
-with US finances strained, troops pull out
-after having established just enough bases, and hopefully also just enough alliances
-additionally, this gives the US a very strong position in the Caribbean
-and in decades that follows the US expands and grows its navy in the hopes of making it a blue-water navy affair
-US also seeks to establish a solid naval presence in the Pacific
-which also takes a great deal of time
By year
1879: John Wentworth assassinated, White Knights considered responsible; expedition to Jamaica defeated by Spanish attack; American Presidents > 1879-1887 Curran Emmet (Justice) prepares for war while engaging in talks with Spain; Emmet launches attacks on White Knights
1880: War declared by Spain preemptively; a wave of Spanish attacks from Newport to New Orleans keeps American ships bottled; Spanish ships sack Port Townsend
1881: US blockade runners attack Havana, devastating the fleet positioned there; a second pronged fleet takes Havana, establishing a beachhead; troops invade Western Cuba
1882: Cuba taken by American and Cuban rebel forces, expelling the Spanish from the island
1883: US navy take Kingston, Jamaica; troops invade and occupy Jamaica
1884: US troops invades Puerto Rico, ceasefire; Treaty of Manchester; war comes to an end, Antillean Confederation achieves independence, Republic of Jamaica established as a mulatto republic