For the Want of a King TL

And here's a new update, after an absence:

Part 6: The Great American Revolution 1784-1798 Section 1: Louisiana:

In the American colonies that still remained under European rule, those of the Spanish and French Louisiana, rebellious sentiment among the people was rising. The French defeat in Canada and the war in Europe had demoralised the Louisianans, who only remained docile under the impression that the French could protect them from the British. The secession of the URCN and the taxes heaped upon them by Louis XV finally ended the tolerance of the Louisianans; even the more liberal Louis XVI failed to convince them to return to the fold.

In 1784 the Louisianans rebelled against French rule. Marquis Louis-Auguste de Castries, son of Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries (OOC: Louis-Auguste was born after the POD) a French noble who had fled France during the Great Movement, and his friend Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (OOC: Same as OTL) lead the largest and best armed group of the rebels. Under Marquis de Castries and Dumas the Empire de la Louisiane rebel group marched on Nouvelle Orléans. They fought the French garrison outside the city and routed them; the garrison promptly fled the city by sea. The EL rebels managed to capture the city and Charles-Phillipe Aubry (OOC: Who hasn’t died in a shipwreck ITTL), the elderly Governor-General of Louisiana. Whilst there were other rebel groups the EL rebels put themselves at a major advantage over the others with their capture of Nouvelle Orléans and the Governor-General. The other main rebel groups were the Alliance Populaire Louisianaise or APL (The Louisianan People’s Alliance) and L'armée Révolutionnaire Louisianaise or ARL (Louisianan Revolutionary Army). The APL held territory in the north-west of Louisiana and were supported by Canada whilst the ARL held land in the Ohio River Valley, which they contested with the URA. As well as the three rebel groups there were also French loyalists and garrisons that still fought for the crown. This 4 sided war was brutal and terrible. The three Battles of Nouvelle Orléans were the largest battles of the Louisianan Civil War in 1785 as the APL, ARL and French all attacked the EL stronghold and were all defeated. Marquis de Castries and Generalissimo Dumas, as he was known by the EL rebels, were proving to be brilliant military tacticians. Having successfully defended Nouvelle Orléans, Generalissimo Dumas led an attack on Baton Rouge, which was still under French control. The EL army under Dumas met the French garrison in the shadow of the Istrouma Bluff. Dumas lined up his army and ordered his heavy cavalry to charge. The French army was unorganised and demoralised; many of them actually supporting the EL rebels, and the rebel cavalry charge smashed the French right wing, subsequently the army fled the field. These heavy cavalry became a favourite of Dumas and he frequently utilised them throughout the Great American Revolution, in fact he was so fond of them that they were nicknamed ‘Dumas’ Cavalry’. After the Battle of Baton Rouge the French loyalists would never again be a major force in the Louisianan Civil War. 

After their significant victory at Baton Rouge the EL continued to advance up the Mississippi Basin, defeating the ARL and APL several times, they were clearly the dominant force in Louisiana and in 1787 the Empire de la Louisiane (Empire of Louisiana) was proclaimed by Marquis de Castries in Nouvelle Orléans with him crowned Emperor Louis-Auguste I and Generalissimo Dumas made commander-in-chief of the new nation’s army.

The collapse of the URCN into a civil war between the French and British ethnic groups and the rebellion in New Spain gave the new Louisianan Empire to opportunity to expand. The URCN descended into civil war after a law banning people of French descent from holding public offices. French rebels ceased control of Quebec and much of form New France, whilst the URCN government held former British Canada and Newfoundland. The Louisianans responded to this by offering the French rebels support in exchange for becoming part of the Louisianan Empire, the rebels agreed and Generalissimo Dumas led a Louisianan army into the URCN in March 1788. They marched to Montreal where they and a rebel army fought a major URCN force. The Louisianan and rebel army lined up in battle order to face the URCN army and Dumas ordered the cavalry to charge the URCN left wing. The Louisianan cavalry were, by now, renowned across America and the URCN left wing were slaughtered, this broke the resolve of the URCN army and they fled the field, even as the Louisianan cavalry turned and charged again.

The Massacre of Montreal, as it would be known in URCN, inspired many more of the French to rise up against the Canadian government. With the surge in rebels the URCN pulled their forces out of former New France leaving it to the Louisianans and the rebels. On the 20th June 1788 a plebiscite was held in former New France, in which the French rebels voted to join the Louisianan Empire by an over-whelming majority, because of this secession the URCN was forced to rename itself the Republic of Canada.

Meanwhile New Spain also erupted into rebellion in 1788. Just like in Louisiana the colonial government raised taxes that the colonists paid on many of the essentials of life, such as tea and corn. Unsurprisingly this angered the inhabitants of New Spain, but not enough to make them rebel. Rebellion only broke out because of Louisiana. Louisiana sent agents into Tejas and northern New Spain to spread rumours about how good life would be Louisianan rule, their promises, of a better life and arms to win it, were popular with the peasant farmers of the north and in July 1788 a large peasant army, armed by the Louisianans and led by New Spain-born Louisianan General Ignacio-Agustín de Iturbide, captured the city of San Felipe. Two days after this a Louisianan army entered northern New Spain. Whilst this was going on rebellion broke out against the Spanish further south, in and around Mexico City, as this rioting and open rebellion gripped Mexico City and the surrounding area, the Louisianan army was rapidly seizing control east of the Rio Grande. The victory at San Felipe had defeated the largest body of Spanish forces in Tejas and, what with the rioting further south; the remainder of the Spanish forces were pulled out of Tejas. The Louisianan control of Tejas was confirmed at the Battle of San Juan de los Esteros Hermosos, more commonly known as the Battle of the Rio Grande. This battle, which was fought on the banks of the Rio Grande River at a small village that was little more than a collection of cattle ranches, was a decisive defeat of the Spanish, who were routed as they fled Tejas. The Louisianans, under de Iturbide, had crossed the Rio Grande up river, near the Reynosa, and were now marching down the river to secure all forts and other settlements. General de Iturbide arrived outside San Juan de los Esteros Hermosos just as the last of the Spanish forces had crossed the river by boat. The Louisianan cavalry circled around the Spanish and then charged them from behind, as they began to march northward along the river, whilst the infantry marched towards from the opposite side. The, already retreating, Spanish were now caught between a hammer, the cavalry, and an anvil, the infantry. The Spanish rear guard fled from the Louisianan cavalry charge, scattering in all directions, the rest of the Spanish force collapsed as the cavalry crashed through their rear and their escape route was blocked by the Louisianan infantry in front of them. The Spanish army was decisively routed and fled the field. 

After the Battle of the Rio Grande the Spanish governor, Count Juan Vicente de Güemes of Revillagigedo, sent an envoy to sign the Treaty of San Juan de los Esteros Hermosos with General de Iturbide on the 4th April 1790, under this treaty all territory east of the Rio Grande River was ceded to Louisiana.