Grand Duke in America (1863).

In January Captain Nikolai Birilev returned from Tsushim to the Baltic, surprised that Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich had been there to receive him in his new post.

After some talks between the two the Grand Duke asks a question.

"I'm going to take a trip to the United States with other members of the Baltic navy. Do you want to come?"

"Does it involve another of your crazy plans?" Captain Birilev hints.

"No ... probably" Grand Duke Alexander sentences.

"... No, I think I will stay in the Baltic, closer to home and family" Captain Birilev rejects the offer, but in the year the relationship of Birilev and the Grand Duke as companions did not stop.

In this year, Birilev's daughter Maria was born. The captain was congratulated by the Grand Duke.

[Polish Uprising part]

On January 22 of this year Russia was shaken by war, the Polish poet Maria Ilnitskaya was arrested by the authorities (Okhrana), a manifesto about the future of a new Polish uprising was found among her possessions.

The members of the Central National Committee (Polish: Komitet Centralny Narodowy) promised independence, democracy and land reform to all the peasantry who joined them.

The actions of the police forced various groups to rebel early, which caused problems in a group that was already very little organized in the military.

It did not help that the political leaders of the movement had been arrested, depriving the January uprising of what was closest to competent politicians and generals (with few exceptions).

There were small cells in the western parts of Ukraine, nothing too worrying. In Poland is where there were more rebel groups, on the other hand in Courland / Lithuania and western parts of Belarus there were some medium pockets of rebellion.

The Lithuanian-Belarusian areas soon fell quickly, they were organized by a different body than the Polish rebellion, but without the support of a central government, they could do little.

The Okhrana also supported the war effort, finding out how certain citizens sent taxes to the "government" of Poland.

The Polish uprising of 1863 lasted less than a year, more specifically the Russians managed to capture the last active rebels in mid-October.

The rebellious Poles and Lithuanians had tried guerilla tactics, but were outnumbered and in logistical inferiority from the start. The Poles also did not have foreign support, except for some French, Hungarian and Italian volunteers (the Garibaldi Legion).

In the Kingdom of Poland the Russian response was brutal, public executions and deportations to Siberia (as the Okhrana practiced in members of the Central National Committee).

By then Tsesarevich Nicholas and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich were no longer in Russia, they had left as planned, in September.

In February 1863 the votes of the Greeks are revealed, the Greeks would probably be disappointed that none of the 10 first places would become their monarch.

The order of votes was something like this:

1-Prince Alfred Edward.

2-Prince Leuchtenberg.

3- "An orthodox king".

4- "The Emperor of Russia".

5-Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolayevich.

6- "King"

7-Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich.

8- "Long Live the Three Powers".

9-Grand Duke Constantine.

10-Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte.

The Balkans ... Alexander Alexandrovich knows that it is more complicated than a barrel of powder, it is a much more advanced and complex bomb.

After the Crimean War, it is obvious that France and England would never allow Russia to stick their claws too far into the region or the Eastern Mediterranean.

Austria and the Ottoman Empire (decadent but not dead) were also in the region.

Speaking of Prince Albert Edward, he married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in March, as a curious fact this was a possible candidate to marry Tsesarevich Nicholas, but it never came to anything.

By the middle of the year there was not much to comment on for the Grand Duke, the Polish rebellion was only falling faster, the French were entering Mexico City, and the American Civil War continued.

The highlight was that in July the Confederates tested their hand-propelled submarine, the H. L. Hunley, for the first successful time. Unfortunately for the Grand Duke the Confederates were the enemy of Russian foreign diplomacy.

So if the Grand Duke wanted to do something with it, it would be illegal.

In August the British bombed the city of Kagoshima due to the Namamugi incident (the murder of a British merchant).

The Grand Duke didn't have much to say about that, as long as the British didn't threaten the Russian Tsushima, the Grand Duke knew that the situation wouldn't escalate too far (or more finds than he knows).

*******

Finally the day had come, from the Baltic a flotilla of Russian ships, including the Alexander Nevsky, travels to the American city of New York.

In this aforementioned ship, none other than Tsesarevich Nicholas and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich traveled, with the intention of visiting the Russian embassy in the United States and helping the Union on the east and west coasts (San Francisco and New York) .

At least that was the official purpose, the truth is that the Russians also wanted to monitor British and French movements in the Atlantic. Some Europeans more than others had certain interests in the war.

The Tsesarevich Nicholas was received splendidly by the Americans, the Russians in general were well received but there were more things prepared for the heir to the Russian throne.

Grand Duke Alexander on his side was greeted and received with honors, but he went more unnoticed than his older brother.

Alexander was taller and larger, but dressed more simply, and he did more to his job as a sailor than to salute (as Nicholas did).

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich insisted on his companions to keep watch on American ships, possible Confederate movements, and naval battles of the American Civil War.

Although of course everyone had some time to relax, visit America and all that, there were some photos for example.

Alexander Alexandrovich also had his free time, he had been teaching some English to his colleagues in the navy to get along better in America.

*******

It was late November when Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich first seriously left observation work on the east coast of the United States, heading for some of the United States shipyards and naval bases.

With certain diplomatic permits, the Grand Duke began to offer considerable sums of money for the purchase of plans and technical equipment. In the worst case.

At best the Grand Duke offered sums of money to work, even for a short period of time, in aid of the imperial Russian navy.

Unfortunately the Grand Duke still did not get the necessary technical help, but he did manage to buy some plans and designs from the US Navy regarding the latest ships from him.

Then the Grand Duke turned to agricultural interests, more specifically machinery to help mechanize the process of Russian agriculture.

There the Grand Duke found more fertile soils to get workers and assistants, experts in agricultural techniques and the use of equipment. Of course it was not yet time to return to Russia, but one of the objectives was already more or less completed.

Now Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich would have to find a way to expand all this in Russian agriculture, without being the emperor or the heir yet.

In November in Europe things seem tense, King Frederick VII of Denmark died, causing Christian IX to inherit the throne.

On the 18th of this month King Christian IX launched the November Constitution, marking the area of Schleswig as part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which angered the German Confederation (according to them this act would be a violation of the London Protocol of 1852) .

The Grand Duke knew this would end in a war, but that's already for next year.

*******

The Tsesarevich Nicholas entered the office where his younger brother practically lived, usually fixing papers about the actions of the Russian sailors in New York "Hey brother, guess what?"

Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich dropped his papers and looked up at his older brother, waiting.

"I got access to a wrestling match. Come with me! It will be fun" Tsesarevich continued to insist all afternoon until his younger brother accepted.

The Tsesarevich seemed genuinely excited, but luckily neither brother got into trouble.

A curious little fact is that Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich played the trombone in an orchestra between Russians and Americans, a celebration made for some members of the government and the Tsesarevich of Russia.

In June 1864 the two sons of Emperor Alexander II would leave America.