John C. Frémont

    

The Honorable Sir John Charles Frémont
Portrait of John Frémont in 1877
6th Prime Minister of Sierra
Monarch	Charles I of Sierra
Deputy	Frederick Bachelor Jr.
In office February 9, 1882 – September 11, 1885
Preceded by	Nicholas Calhoun
Succeeded by	Frederick Bachelor Jr.
In office August 10, 1878 – June 16, 1881
Preceded by	Maxwell Gibson
Succeeded by	Nicholas Calhoun
Personal details
Born	January 21, 1813 United States Savana, Georgia, United States
Died	March 16, 1895(1895-03-16) (aged 82) Fremont, Tahoe, K.S.
Political party	Royalist
Religion	Episcopalian
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Sierra
Branch/service	Sierran Royal Army
Years of service	1838–1848 (U.S. Army) 1861–1864 (Union Army) 1866-1882 (Sierran Army)
Rank	Supreme Field Marshal
Battles/wars	War of Contingency Sierran Civil War

Sir John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813–March 16, 1895) was an American-born Sierran explorer and military commander. He became a naturalized citizen of the California Republic and was a signatory of the Constitutional Convention of 1858, later becoming the sixth Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sierra from 1882 until his retirement in 1885.

Born in Savannah, Georgia, in the United States, Fremont was opposed to slavery and became a United States explorer in Western North America. After Fremont arrived in California, he joined the Bear Flag Revolt and became a military leader during the Mexican–American War. He became a state senator in the California Republic and was one of the signatories of the Constitutional Convention of 1858. Fremont sided with the Monarchist faction and became a Royalist member of Parliament after the Kingdom of Sierra was founded. He entered active military service as a lieutenant general during the War of Contingency and became distinguished in battle, returning to the Kingdom of Sierra as a national hero. Fremont would continue his service in the army and in 1874, he found himself fighting against the Bear Flaggers and other soldiers of the self-proclaimed Second California Republic lead by Sierran senator and republican advocate, Isaiah Landon, during the Sierran Civil War.

Fremont was one of the generals that led the initial response by monarchist forces against the revolting republican forces and was able to suppress revolts in Southern Sierra, but lost Bernheim in San Joaquin and later the core provinces of the Styxie. Before long, monarchist troops were in retreat across Central Sierra and withdrew towards San Francisco and established his headquarters in San Francisco City and commanded the royal army in an unsuccessful defensive campaign as the republican armies pushed towards San Francisco and Shasta. The city and province fell in 1875, but manage to slow down the republican forces and by 1876, he managed to halt the republican armies in the Merced Campaign and went on the offensive. Afterwards, Fremont began pushing towards the Syxie and was a leading commander in the Liberation of the Peninsula and by autumn, he captured Reno and Tahoe and by pushed into the heartland of republican territory.

In 1877, Fremont was made the Commander of the Royal Armies by King Charles I and he managed to drive as far as San Joaquin and captured Bernheim by September of 1877. One month later, Fremont cornered Landon and forced him to surrender on November 11th and ended the war. Fremont was declared a war hero and became the military governor of the Styxie after the war to retain order and suppress radical republican militias. He would eventually run for prime minister in 1882 as the Royalist Party candidate and won. From February 9, 1882 until his retirement on September 11, 1885, Fremont had worked hard to restore Sierra after the war including rebuilding damaged infrastructure and cities that suffered heavy damage after the war and invested in rebuilding the region. During his premiership, Fremont focused on industrialization and military buildup, although his autocratic style of leadership and personality made him unpopular among his peers, including those within the Royalist Party. Facing the threat of a motion of no confidence, Fremont retired prematurely in 1885 and was succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Frederick Bachelor Jr. and withdrew from public life. He lived in his private estate in Sacramento, Tahoe for the rest of his life until he died on March 16, 1895 at the age of 82.

In the years following his death, Fremont's status as a war hero has been upheld and persisted into the modern era. During Great War I, a battalion of the Sierran Expeditionary Force, the 112th Infantry Battalion, was nicknamed the Fremont Battalion as it had volunteers from Tahoe and was later part of the "Tahoe Regiment" during Great War II. Most modern historians credit Fremont for helping secure a monarchist victory in the Sierran Civil War, though many debate if he was the sole reason for the monarchist victory. Fremont's reputation in Sierran society is mostly positive, but has faced criticism from republicans, landonists and dissident republicans who claim that he was a "puppet of the monarchy" and cite many war crimes that were committed by his forces during the war as a challenge to his war hero status. He has also been criticized for his participation in the genocide of the indigenous Amerindians in the Kingdom of Sierra as a military leader.