The pig war : the most perfect war in history
"With a plot to grace any comic opera, the 1859-72 'Pig War' broke out when an American living on a quietly disputed small island in the Gulf of Georgia shot a British pig he found rooting up his garden produce. The authorities on nearby Vancouver Island and the military leadership of the adjacent Washington Territory both felt they had good reasons to escalate a trivial incident into a full-blown war between the United States and Great Britain. Soon, American soldiers found themselves looking down the barrels of the Royal Navy cannon. Whilst both the British and the Americans continued to threaten and bluster, Royal Marines and US soldiers settled down on the island to a round of social events, including sports days, combined dinners and even summer balls. Despite the outbreak of the American Civil War, and British intervention on the Confederate side, the hot-heads were restrained and, eventually, it was decided that the problem should become one of the earliest examples of international arbitration. The German Kaiser was brought in and - from the British point of view - came to the wrong decision. Set against the framework of US attempts to gain control of the whole North American continent, [this book] is [an] account of a little-known episode in Anglo-American history"--Publisher's website
Print Book, English, 2009. Stroud
History Press, History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2009. Stroud
History
223 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm
9780752452272, 0752452274
426119214
A new nation flexes it muscles
The boundary settles?
Defining a 'Channel'
The Americans begin their 'Molestation'
Unco-operative sheep and the mustering of arms
The Boundary Commission
The shot is fired, and the general responds
The South arises in the West
The order is given
The Americans land and the Royal Navy sails
Opening negotiations
Reinforcements
The chief antagonists correspond
The President becomes involved
Scott arrives on the scene
A different war looms
The Royal Marines arrive
Replaced by a northerner
A remarkable incident
Great Britain aids the South
The island settles down
Attempt to take Canada
Alaska and British Columbia
A new commander
The politicians grow restless
British Columbia joins Canada
Decision and aftermath