Post by spanishspy on Jan 8, 2016 10:39:08 GMT
Preface: This timeline was originally posted on alternatehistory.com on March 9th, 2014 and is based off of a John Jameson whiskey advertisement.
Eamon Finnegan and the Iron Horse
Eamon Finnegan was born in Stradbally, County Waterford, in 1772, to parents Devin and Mairenn Finnegan, a family of merchants of the Catholic faith, and as such deeply opposed to the contemporary state of British domination over their home country. Among the items that Devin curated were a variety of books on a multitude of subjects, books that would drive
Eamon to the construction of the Iron Horse.
The significance of these books was twofold: they introduced young Eamon to both Enlightenment philosophy and to principles of engineering, the two areas of knowledge that radicalized him in the cause of liberating Ireland from the British yoke. He read the philosophy of Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and others, inundating him with an idea of independence that was reminiscent to the cause of the Patriots in the nascent United States of America as well as the conceptions of liberty embodied in the spirit of the French Revolution.
Equally important was the technological knowledge that he acquired, including metalworking, classical mechanics, and aerodynamics. Finnegan rapidly became known for his mechanical creations, often drawing the attention of those who supported independence and the occasional concern of the Anglo-Irish who had come to dominate the island since the Protestant Ascendancy. Even so, Finnegan’s steam-driven creations would become widely known, and were not acted upon until 1802.
In 1802, Finnegan debuted his track-based contraption called the ‘Iron Horse,’ a large steam-driven vehicle that rode along a predetermined path due to its grooved wheels. After several demonstrations of the machine in Stradbally, a coalition of Catholics asked for the deployment of the Iron Horse to be used as transportation between the various towns of County Waterford. Finnegan agreed, and between 1803 and 1804 the first such connection, between Stradbally and the major settlement of Dungarvan, a coastal settlement. The line bordered the sea, and it passed through the towns of Clonea and Ballinacourty.
In 1807, the project of the Iron Horse trails throughout Ireland had stalled due to the participation of Finnegan in a small Irish resistance movement, the Sons of Rory O’Moore (an Irish nationalist resistance fighter against the English who fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms), which began mounting assaults on various Protestant Anglo-Irish landowners in the county and in other parts of southern Ireland. Local garrisons were often deployed elsewhere, as the forces of the United Kingdom were exhausted from fighting in the War of the Third Coalition, and wre possibly able to be deployed in the current War of the Fourth Coalition. Due to such a war, the Sons of Rory O’Moore were able to attack with greater ability due to British preoccupation.
The Prussian Incursion of 1807
Prussia was more directly involved in the War of the Fourth Coalition, as the war had been prompted by the French violation of the agreement made after the Battle of Austerlitz promising Hanover to Prussia in exchange for the cession of Ansbach to Bavaria, a French ally. However, it became apparent that the French were hoping to restore Hanover to British rule, something that utterly appalled the Prussian government, and the expulsion of a Prussian garrison in recently annexed territories only solidified such an arrangement. Prussia joined with Britain, Sweden, Russia, Saxony, and Sicily in declaring war on France.
However, Britain’s problems in Ireland were a thorn in their side, and prevented the British from aiding their allies on the continent to the fullest. The suns of Rory O’Moore were a unique threat and hence required a certain form of warfare to fight against them, a form of warfare that British generals were not immediately capable of adapting to. However, they found themselves with aid in the form of a Prussian by the name of Heinz Kempf.
Heinz Kempf had been living in Spain during the War of the First Coalition and had fought with the Spanish rebels. Kempf offered his mercenary band to the services of Prussia and Britain to relieve the problems in Ireland. Prussian king Frederick William III, with the advice of his generals, agreed to this and allowed their ship, the Calypso, to fly the Prussian colors when sailing to Ireland. King George III of the United Kingdom agreed to this and had a Royal Navy escort take them as far as Cornwall, and from there the Calypso made its way to County Waterford.
John Jameson and the Great Accident
The Iron Horse route between Stradbally and Dungarvan was commonly used by the Sons of Rory O’Moore during the small rebellions in County Waterford. British regulars’ unfamiliarity with the device made it hard to operate by those other than the Irish rebels. The Iron Horse was used commonly for transportation of goods and men between the two settlements and those between them. However, such transportation would end up to be the undoing of the entire enterprise.
John Jameson, an Anglo-Irish soldier of fortune fighting for Britain and based out of Ballinacourty, heard the Iron Horse coming past the inn in which he was staying. Understanding that he could profit from derailing it greatly, Jameson took off on his horse in pursuit of the vehicle.
The vehicle contained a shipment of beer for the Irish rebels in Dungarvan, as well as several captive daughters of Anglo-Irish landowners, most likely intended to be held for ransom. Jameson, in a daring albeit poorly known raid, attacked the Iron Horse near the coast of the Irish Sea, derailing it and liberating its contents, sending the vehicle itself plunging into the sea.
However, to the dismay of the British, the Calypso was approaching Dungarvan at precisely the point where the Iron Horse would fall. To the dismay of Heinz Kempf and his crew, the Iron Horse came ramming into the ship, destroying it and sinking all of its contents. The aid that had been promised to Britain during the War of the Fourth Coalition in Ireland would never materialize.
Such a failure was derided as a nigh-incredible twist of fate, and a letter from the Prussian to the British King said that “we must never again mention this tragedy; it will not be believed.” Hence, most modern histories of the Napoleonic Wars do not mention the Prussian Incursion of 1807 into Ireland, nor do they mention the Iron Horse (which was dismantled after the Sons of Rory O’Moore were put down) and its components shipped to England, where its designs would be used as inspiration by the likes of John Blenkinsop and James Watt.
THE PRUSSIAN INCURSION OF 1807
BY SPANISHSPY
BY SPANISHSPY
Eamon Finnegan and the Iron Horse
Eamon Finnegan was born in Stradbally, County Waterford, in 1772, to parents Devin and Mairenn Finnegan, a family of merchants of the Catholic faith, and as such deeply opposed to the contemporary state of British domination over their home country. Among the items that Devin curated were a variety of books on a multitude of subjects, books that would drive
Eamon to the construction of the Iron Horse.
The significance of these books was twofold: they introduced young Eamon to both Enlightenment philosophy and to principles of engineering, the two areas of knowledge that radicalized him in the cause of liberating Ireland from the British yoke. He read the philosophy of Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and others, inundating him with an idea of independence that was reminiscent to the cause of the Patriots in the nascent United States of America as well as the conceptions of liberty embodied in the spirit of the French Revolution.
Equally important was the technological knowledge that he acquired, including metalworking, classical mechanics, and aerodynamics. Finnegan rapidly became known for his mechanical creations, often drawing the attention of those who supported independence and the occasional concern of the Anglo-Irish who had come to dominate the island since the Protestant Ascendancy. Even so, Finnegan’s steam-driven creations would become widely known, and were not acted upon until 1802.
In 1802, Finnegan debuted his track-based contraption called the ‘Iron Horse,’ a large steam-driven vehicle that rode along a predetermined path due to its grooved wheels. After several demonstrations of the machine in Stradbally, a coalition of Catholics asked for the deployment of the Iron Horse to be used as transportation between the various towns of County Waterford. Finnegan agreed, and between 1803 and 1804 the first such connection, between Stradbally and the major settlement of Dungarvan, a coastal settlement. The line bordered the sea, and it passed through the towns of Clonea and Ballinacourty.
In 1807, the project of the Iron Horse trails throughout Ireland had stalled due to the participation of Finnegan in a small Irish resistance movement, the Sons of Rory O’Moore (an Irish nationalist resistance fighter against the English who fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms), which began mounting assaults on various Protestant Anglo-Irish landowners in the county and in other parts of southern Ireland. Local garrisons were often deployed elsewhere, as the forces of the United Kingdom were exhausted from fighting in the War of the Third Coalition, and wre possibly able to be deployed in the current War of the Fourth Coalition. Due to such a war, the Sons of Rory O’Moore were able to attack with greater ability due to British preoccupation.
The Prussian Incursion of 1807
Prussia was more directly involved in the War of the Fourth Coalition, as the war had been prompted by the French violation of the agreement made after the Battle of Austerlitz promising Hanover to Prussia in exchange for the cession of Ansbach to Bavaria, a French ally. However, it became apparent that the French were hoping to restore Hanover to British rule, something that utterly appalled the Prussian government, and the expulsion of a Prussian garrison in recently annexed territories only solidified such an arrangement. Prussia joined with Britain, Sweden, Russia, Saxony, and Sicily in declaring war on France.
However, Britain’s problems in Ireland were a thorn in their side, and prevented the British from aiding their allies on the continent to the fullest. The suns of Rory O’Moore were a unique threat and hence required a certain form of warfare to fight against them, a form of warfare that British generals were not immediately capable of adapting to. However, they found themselves with aid in the form of a Prussian by the name of Heinz Kempf.
Heinz Kempf had been living in Spain during the War of the First Coalition and had fought with the Spanish rebels. Kempf offered his mercenary band to the services of Prussia and Britain to relieve the problems in Ireland. Prussian king Frederick William III, with the advice of his generals, agreed to this and allowed their ship, the Calypso, to fly the Prussian colors when sailing to Ireland. King George III of the United Kingdom agreed to this and had a Royal Navy escort take them as far as Cornwall, and from there the Calypso made its way to County Waterford.
John Jameson and the Great Accident
The Iron Horse route between Stradbally and Dungarvan was commonly used by the Sons of Rory O’Moore during the small rebellions in County Waterford. British regulars’ unfamiliarity with the device made it hard to operate by those other than the Irish rebels. The Iron Horse was used commonly for transportation of goods and men between the two settlements and those between them. However, such transportation would end up to be the undoing of the entire enterprise.
John Jameson, an Anglo-Irish soldier of fortune fighting for Britain and based out of Ballinacourty, heard the Iron Horse coming past the inn in which he was staying. Understanding that he could profit from derailing it greatly, Jameson took off on his horse in pursuit of the vehicle.
The vehicle contained a shipment of beer for the Irish rebels in Dungarvan, as well as several captive daughters of Anglo-Irish landowners, most likely intended to be held for ransom. Jameson, in a daring albeit poorly known raid, attacked the Iron Horse near the coast of the Irish Sea, derailing it and liberating its contents, sending the vehicle itself plunging into the sea.
However, to the dismay of the British, the Calypso was approaching Dungarvan at precisely the point where the Iron Horse would fall. To the dismay of Heinz Kempf and his crew, the Iron Horse came ramming into the ship, destroying it and sinking all of its contents. The aid that had been promised to Britain during the War of the Fourth Coalition in Ireland would never materialize.
Such a failure was derided as a nigh-incredible twist of fate, and a letter from the Prussian to the British King said that “we must never again mention this tragedy; it will not be believed.” Hence, most modern histories of the Napoleonic Wars do not mention the Prussian Incursion of 1807 into Ireland, nor do they mention the Iron Horse (which was dismantled after the Sons of Rory O’Moore were put down) and its components shipped to England, where its designs would be used as inspiration by the likes of John Blenkinsop and James Watt.
