Chapter 69: Regency
15th October, 1780
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
"This meeting of the United States, in Congress assembled, will come to order." Arthur Thomson, secretary for said congress stood. He watched as the New York leader, a judge named John Jay, looked up from his conversation with Searle of Pennsylvania then turned back. "Gentlemen, please!"
It was no good. Joseph Hewes, president since Hancock's removal in 1777, resigned on the first after falling ill and died days later. His last act had been to bring Britain's proposal for peace to the table. It offered an undisclosed sum (132g) to return to the status quo. He'd wanted to end his reign taking back the most destructive war in American history, but the 'southern bloc' betrayed him. Virginia, North and South Carolina, and even Georgia might as well have only one delegate. For the past year they'd sent at best indifferent people to Congress and they all voted together. The powers that be in Charleston, New Bern and Williamsburg wanted the war to go on - and so it did.
"I said 'ORDER,' damn you!" snarled Thomson. He walked to the vacant president's desk and rapped the gavel.
That caught everyone's attention. "Sit down!" called one, followed by a general low, discontent murmur. Who was this servant to speak to their betters so?
"I will when you take your seats like gentlemen!" cried the servant, which shocked them all extremely. Even Oliver Wolcott, an ex-sheriff and officer from Connecticut who'd fought in the '73 war, sat contritely.
"There is business before this Congress," Thomson announced. "And while picking a new president is surely important, the fact remains that we are at war with not one, but six nations." Portugal had sued for peace earlier in the year, but that left England, Denmark, the Shawnee, Prussia and Hessen fighting France, Spain, Helvetia and the US. Then, just to add to the chaos, in July Congress declared war on Bavaria. It was nothing more than a show of support for French King Louis XVI, no one expected nor really wanted American troops in the middle of Europe, but it did add to public distress. The newspapers, never particularly fond of the Congress, had shrieked in indignation. "Who is next?" demanded the (Hartford) Connecticut Courant. "The Russians? The Turk? The Chinese maybe?" The Philadelphia Gazette was far less kind:
Philadelphia Gazette, 25 July 1780
"Nor does it help that Lord Cornwallis continues to evade us."
"Bloody right!" cried Searle. Cornwallis apparently bored of the constant attacks by Kosciuszko, Arnold and a New York militia force under a man named Leyton. He'd abandoned Albany, worked his way past White Plains then invaded Pennsylvania.
"There is no concern," offered a Maryland delegate. "We are raising troops at Baltimore now. If New York and Massachusetts cannot fight, then..."
This earned the expected howls and cries of shame. Thomson slammed on the gavel again.
"Get down off there before you hurt yourself," snapped the Massachusetts leader.
"And who shall take this seat?" he retorted. "You, Mister Adams?"
Again the howls. The presidency stood vacant because there were effectively thirteen candidates for office, and all said motions would fail twelve to one. The only states showing any sign of unity were the south, who'd managed to alienate everyone else. A few people in the room might have made fine leaders, but politicking took time .... time the fledgling nation didn't have.
"Gentlemen, we can address the presidency later." Thomson moved back to his smaller desk. "However we really have business to attend to. Firstly, we have a missive from a Mister Partridge, who informs us that he's successfully established a trading post on the coast of the Mississippi River near the outposts taken from Britain. He acquaints us of another great nation, the Sioux Indians, nearby."
"Great? They're Indians," snorted New Jersey.
"I misspoke. Great as in organized, like the Iroquois..."
"...who we forced onto a reservation.."
"...the Creek..."
"...whom the French destroyed..."
"Reverend Witherspoon, please." Thomson frowned.
"The Sioux do not signify," Virginia sniffed. "We knew of them from French explorations anyway."
"It grieves me to dispute my colleague," Adams stood, "but in this very room we've heard reports the Sioux have repeatedly defeated French auxiliaries."
"But they're French!" Congress may have been at war with Britain, but at heart they were still Englishmen.
So under Thomson's 'leadership' - about one step short of mockery - work slowly progressed. Partridge received his congratulations and a promissory note. Trading companies from Newport, Boston and Charleston were invited to continue their efforts in France, Portugal and Brasil. Then a messenger ran in and dropped a paper on Thomson's desk. He recognized the Army's seal and ripped it open. Thomson read the note quickly, then smiled and stood. "Gentlemen!"
"From Anthony Wayne,
Commanding, United States First and Second Armies.
Shawnee Territory, west of Lake Erie.
Sirs:
I have the honor to acquaint you that Shawnee resistance has ended, and I accepted the surrender of their chief..."
Thomson broke off, as the room filled with roars and cries of "Huzzah!" "Hear him!" and "Wayne's a northerner, you bastards!"
"...I however must protest against our treatment at the hands of Bernardo de Galvez, a general in His Catholic Majesty's forces. Lord de Galvez, who informed me he is also a governor in the Rio Grande territory of Tejas and a veteran of Indian wars against the Navajo, apparently understood that with the assassination of General Washington in July he was in charge of the Shawnee campaign. He also ensured I knew that while I had five men at my disposal, he had six and 'natural law' should guarantee my submission.
I gave him to know that my masters were in Philadelphia..." ('Damn right,' murmured someone) "...and I answered to no other man on Earth. I further gave him to know that since the armies I have the honor to command did all of the fighting, justice demanded our claims be honored."
"Infamous," snapped Searle of Pennsylvania. Everyone agreed.
"Given the nature of Lord de Galvez' claims, I thought it imprudent to ask for directions regarding a permanent agreement with Congress, for dread that the Spanish would take matters into their own hands. So, invoking the power you allowed General Washington as Commander in Chief, I took the liberty of signing a comprehensive treaty with the Shawnee ending all hostilities, pending your approval of course."
The treaty was simple. All lands south of the Ohio River, as well as the southern tribal camps (Miamis and Kentucky) would become American, while the north would be turned into an Indian reserve under US protection (vassalization). The Spanish would receive nothing. Having been part of the war only out of honor and never having committed troops, Prussia and Hessen would also be at peace and their markets reopened to American merchants.
"Gentlemen," Thomson rolled up the letter and smiled. "Are there any objections to General Wayne's proposal?"
------------------
OOC:
Damn Spanish. Oh..any idea why the peace agreement (as I said above, two territories plus vassalization) would be binding on my other allies - but not on France? France is now alone in a war with the Shawnee, Hessen and Prussia...and they didn't restart it after the treaty.
15th October, 1780
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
"This meeting of the United States, in Congress assembled, will come to order." Arthur Thomson, secretary for said congress stood. He watched as the New York leader, a judge named John Jay, looked up from his conversation with Searle of Pennsylvania then turned back. "Gentlemen, please!"
It was no good. Joseph Hewes, president since Hancock's removal in 1777, resigned on the first after falling ill and died days later. His last act had been to bring Britain's proposal for peace to the table. It offered an undisclosed sum (132g) to return to the status quo. He'd wanted to end his reign taking back the most destructive war in American history, but the 'southern bloc' betrayed him. Virginia, North and South Carolina, and even Georgia might as well have only one delegate. For the past year they'd sent at best indifferent people to Congress and they all voted together. The powers that be in Charleston, New Bern and Williamsburg wanted the war to go on - and so it did.
"I said 'ORDER,' damn you!" snarled Thomson. He walked to the vacant president's desk and rapped the gavel.
That caught everyone's attention. "Sit down!" called one, followed by a general low, discontent murmur. Who was this servant to speak to their betters so?
"I will when you take your seats like gentlemen!" cried the servant, which shocked them all extremely. Even Oliver Wolcott, an ex-sheriff and officer from Connecticut who'd fought in the '73 war, sat contritely.
"There is business before this Congress," Thomson announced. "And while picking a new president is surely important, the fact remains that we are at war with not one, but six nations." Portugal had sued for peace earlier in the year, but that left England, Denmark, the Shawnee, Prussia and Hessen fighting France, Spain, Helvetia and the US. Then, just to add to the chaos, in July Congress declared war on Bavaria. It was nothing more than a show of support for French King Louis XVI, no one expected nor really wanted American troops in the middle of Europe, but it did add to public distress. The newspapers, never particularly fond of the Congress, had shrieked in indignation. "Who is next?" demanded the (Hartford) Connecticut Courant. "The Russians? The Turk? The Chinese maybe?" The Philadelphia Gazette was far less kind:
Philadelphia Gazette, 25 July 1780
"Nor does it help that Lord Cornwallis continues to evade us."
"Bloody right!" cried Searle. Cornwallis apparently bored of the constant attacks by Kosciuszko, Arnold and a New York militia force under a man named Leyton. He'd abandoned Albany, worked his way past White Plains then invaded Pennsylvania.
"There is no concern," offered a Maryland delegate. "We are raising troops at Baltimore now. If New York and Massachusetts cannot fight, then..."
This earned the expected howls and cries of shame. Thomson slammed on the gavel again.
"Get down off there before you hurt yourself," snapped the Massachusetts leader.
"And who shall take this seat?" he retorted. "You, Mister Adams?"
Again the howls. The presidency stood vacant because there were effectively thirteen candidates for office, and all said motions would fail twelve to one. The only states showing any sign of unity were the south, who'd managed to alienate everyone else. A few people in the room might have made fine leaders, but politicking took time .... time the fledgling nation didn't have.
"Gentlemen, we can address the presidency later." Thomson moved back to his smaller desk. "However we really have business to attend to. Firstly, we have a missive from a Mister Partridge, who informs us that he's successfully established a trading post on the coast of the Mississippi River near the outposts taken from Britain. He acquaints us of another great nation, the Sioux Indians, nearby."
"Great? They're Indians," snorted New Jersey.
"I misspoke. Great as in organized, like the Iroquois..."
"...who we forced onto a reservation.."
"...the Creek..."
"...whom the French destroyed..."
"Reverend Witherspoon, please." Thomson frowned.
"The Sioux do not signify," Virginia sniffed. "We knew of them from French explorations anyway."
"It grieves me to dispute my colleague," Adams stood, "but in this very room we've heard reports the Sioux have repeatedly defeated French auxiliaries."
"But they're French!" Congress may have been at war with Britain, but at heart they were still Englishmen.
So under Thomson's 'leadership' - about one step short of mockery - work slowly progressed. Partridge received his congratulations and a promissory note. Trading companies from Newport, Boston and Charleston were invited to continue their efforts in France, Portugal and Brasil. Then a messenger ran in and dropped a paper on Thomson's desk. He recognized the Army's seal and ripped it open. Thomson read the note quickly, then smiled and stood. "Gentlemen!"
"From Anthony Wayne,
Commanding, United States First and Second Armies.
Shawnee Territory, west of Lake Erie.
Sirs:
I have the honor to acquaint you that Shawnee resistance has ended, and I accepted the surrender of their chief..."
Thomson broke off, as the room filled with roars and cries of "Huzzah!" "Hear him!" and "Wayne's a northerner, you bastards!"
"...I however must protest against our treatment at the hands of Bernardo de Galvez, a general in His Catholic Majesty's forces. Lord de Galvez, who informed me he is also a governor in the Rio Grande territory of Tejas and a veteran of Indian wars against the Navajo, apparently understood that with the assassination of General Washington in July he was in charge of the Shawnee campaign. He also ensured I knew that while I had five men at my disposal, he had six and 'natural law' should guarantee my submission.
I gave him to know that my masters were in Philadelphia..." ('Damn right,' murmured someone) "...and I answered to no other man on Earth. I further gave him to know that since the armies I have the honor to command did all of the fighting, justice demanded our claims be honored."
"Infamous," snapped Searle of Pennsylvania. Everyone agreed.
"Given the nature of Lord de Galvez' claims, I thought it imprudent to ask for directions regarding a permanent agreement with Congress, for dread that the Spanish would take matters into their own hands. So, invoking the power you allowed General Washington as Commander in Chief, I took the liberty of signing a comprehensive treaty with the Shawnee ending all hostilities, pending your approval of course."
The treaty was simple. All lands south of the Ohio River, as well as the southern tribal camps (Miamis and Kentucky) would become American, while the north would be turned into an Indian reserve under US protection (vassalization). The Spanish would receive nothing. Having been part of the war only out of honor and never having committed troops, Prussia and Hessen would also be at peace and their markets reopened to American merchants.
"Gentlemen," Thomson rolled up the letter and smiled. "Are there any objections to General Wayne's proposal?"
------------------
OOC:
Damn Spanish. Oh..any idea why the peace agreement (as I said above, two territories plus vassalization) would be binding on my other allies - but not on France? France is now alone in a war with the Shawnee, Hessen and Prussia...and they didn't restart it after the treaty.
How and when did that happen? That is a huge loss which I am very glad we avoided in real life. 
