john quickman expects to become the governor, but he means dictator of cuba with a view of cuba being brought into the united states as one or two slave states and this will persist beyond this particular expedition. as i said it's the bay of pigs. there's no popular uprising. there's a battle, but the americans are pretty nearly driven back into the water, reboard their steamships and high tail it to key west, florida. chased at a distance of just a few hundred yards by a spanish warship, straight into key west harbor. but this is part of the same atmosphere of crisis. >> well, in nashville, we have the anticipation of this secessionist conference of congresses that we'll have later in nashville, represented by maybe some nine i think of the confederate states there. so that is serious business. articulating reasons for leaving, exiting the union. >> yeah. i think it's worth pointing out that the south -- the leaders -- political leaders of the south have already by 1850 in large numbers, not universally, but in large numbers already have arrived at a belief that secession is both de

john quickman, the rabidly slave-holding governor of mississippi, a yankee, who migrated to mississippi and reinvented himself, and in the process of reinvention he displayed great valor at the battle that gave the united states the victory ultimately in the mexican-american war. he reached a generalship there and then he becomes mississippi governor. he decides that given all of these things going up in washington, the south needs to look after itself in rather adventuresome ways, so we have this filibuster moment in american history where some 550 men are organized under quitman and a cuban emigr erk, and what is the story there? >> this is a wonderful story and indeed i was so enthralled about it, i wrote another 50 pages on it that isn't in the book because it deserves it's own extended treatment. this is the first american invasion of cuba which occurred in the midst of the debate, while the debate is taking place in washington, this force lands -- it is the bay of pigs in 1850. an american army lands, all of them togged out in bright red shirts and bandanas and black hats and stri