1824: The Arkansas War
| Author | Eric Flint |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Alternate History |
| Publisher | Del Rey |
Publication date | November 28, 2006 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 427 (hc edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-345-46569-5 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| Preceded by | 1812: The Rivers of War |
1824: The Arkansas War is a 2006 alternate history novel by American writer Eric Flint.
Summary
The story, takes place in 1824–25, ten years after 1812: The Rivers of War. The United States, under the influence of Sam Houston, the Commissioner for Indian Affairs, has signed a treaty with the southern Indian tribes, establishing a Confederacy of chiefdoms in the territory that in our time line is composed of the State of Arkansas west of the Red River, and the State of Oklahoma without the Panhandle.
Shortly thereafter, in Louisiana, Henry Crowell, a free black man and one of the officers of the Iron Battalion who won the Battle of New Orleans, offended the local Creole leadership by courting a Creole woman. Slave-catchers waylaid Crowell and castrated him. In revenge, the Iron Battalion mobilized and destroyed the homes of the Creole leadership, then smashed the Louisiana militia who came after them to suppress "servile rebellion". (This is referred to later as the "Algiers incident".) Shortly afterwards, Crowell and the Iron Battalion moved to Arkanas.
The easternmost chiefdom, Arkansas, is ruled by Patrick Driscoll, the "Laird". Arkansas has banned slavery, and has become a magnet for freedmen throughout the United States, who are forced to leave Northern states. Under the influence of Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, states pass Freedmen Exclusion Acts, compelling free blacks to quit their territory.
As the book begins, one such family, the Parker family, leaves Baltimore, Maryland, after the head of the household is killed by a mob of whites. They are stopped on the Ohio River by slave-catchers, who will take them before a friendly judge, have them declared runaway slaves, and sold. However, before the slave-catchers can haul the Parkers away, a party of abolitionists led by John Brown and his brother Solomon Brown intervenes.
When the Parkers arrive in New Antrim, the capital of Arkansas, they learn that Crowell's bank will loan the family money to start again if the men join the Arkansas Army. Sheffield Parker and his uncle Jem enlist and undergo a rigorous training regimen.
In the United States, Henry Clay secretly finances a filibustering expedition to be led by Robert Crittenden to attack Arkansas.
Themes
Historical Figures Appearing in the Novel
- John Quincy Adams, U.S. Secretary of State
- John Brown, abolitionist
- William Cullen Bryant, poet and journalist
- Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives
- William Henry Harrison, U.S. general
- Sam Houston, U.S. official
- Andrew Jackson, U.S. senator
- Richard M. Johnson, U.S. senator
- Josiah Johnston, U.S. politician
- James Monroe, President of the United States
- Peter Porter, U.S. politician
- John Ross, Cherokee leader
- Winfield Scott, U.S. general
- Henry Shreve, steamboat entrepreneur
- Zachary Taylor, U.S. Army officer
- Robert Crittenden, leader of a filibustering expedition into Arkansas. In the real world he was Governor of Arkansas Territory in 1828-1829.
- General Robert Ross of the British Army. In the real world, the General died in 1814, leading an attack on Baltimore, Maryland.
- Charles Ball ?
External links
- ericflint.net: "About the Rivers of War" (afterword to 1812: The Rivers of War by Eric Flint)
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