lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Feb 4, 2020 19:44:02 GMT
If I finish this TL, how would it sound to be made into a purchasable Alternate History Textbook on Amazon? When you finish it, i will buy it as a ebook, if you ever release it. |
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genyodectes
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I'm just a Ceratosaur trying to make his way in Alternate History
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 4, 2020 19:47:13 GMT
If I finish this TL, how would it sound to be made into a purchasable Alternate History Textbook on Amazon? When you finish it, i will buy it as a ebook, if you ever release it. Depending on when/if I finish it, it'll most likely be an Ebook that is around $4-$5 USD, if that seems acceptable, though I might increase it by a few more if it's deemed to be good enough quality. |
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genyodectes
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I'm just a Ceratosaur trying to make his way in Alternate History
Posts: 226
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 5, 2020 0:43:10 GMT
Post #4 of the Timeline, this time dealing with the Eastern Theatre all the way to TTL's Battle of Malvern Hill
As war raged in the West with Generals Grant and Buell marching South to capture Tennessee and the Confederate Capital of Montgomery, the East was being thought out more thoroughly. Following the humiliating defeat at First Manassas, President Lincoln believed it was time to reorganize the Union Army and thus, on August 20th, 1861, Lincoln placed Major General George B. McClellan, a soldier who was able to win at the Battle of Rich Mountain on July 11th, 1861 and a smart man at logistical capabilities, in command of the newly formed Army of the Potomac, consisting of nearly 50,000 men, though he was the man who indeed founded it. As leader of the Army of the Potomac, McClellan greatly improved the organization of his army and increased morale by frequently visiting the troops to review their training and encourage them to continue. This made many in the AotP feel as if he was the Army itself and that if he fell, the Army would too. Knowing Washington would be a major target in any future Confederate endeavor, McClellan crafted a nigh impenetrable defense network for the Nation's Capital, consisting of 48 forts and strong points with 480 guns in total manned by 7,200 men. This severe defense network would reach Confederate President Breckenridge in Montgomery and convinced him to be against any advance on Washington D.C. to avoid significant causalities before warning severe consequences for any who disregarded his orders. On November 1st, 1861, General-in-chief, Winfield Scott, retired and President Lincoln appointed McClellan to replace him, though he expressed grave concern of the man's ability to handle to massive tasks at the same time, though the General insisted that he could do it without rest. On January 12th, 1862, McClellan revealed his plans for the campaign in the East. He would first transport the Army of the Potomac to Urbana, Virginia on the Rappahannock River to outflank any Confederate Forces near Washington before proceeding 50 miles overland to capture the state's capital of Richmond. The Union President believed the plan was sound and on January 27th, he ordered that all Union Forces in the East would conduct offensive operations on February 22nd, the Birthday of George Washington. 4 days later, on January 31st, he issued a supplementary order for the Army of the Potomac to arch overland and engage Confederate forces at Manassas Junction and Centreville. McClellan immediately responded with a 22 page letter giving a detailed objection to the President's order and pushing for his Urbana plan instead. Despite thinking his plan superior, Lincoln stood down and allowed McClellan to continue on with his plan, relieved that the cautious and careful general was now moving. He was still reluctant of the Major General's Resolve, however, and on March 8th called a Council of War with McClellan's Subordinates, asking if they were confident in the Urbana Plan, with the result being mixed. Following this meeting, Lincoln issued another order, naming specific officers as Corps Commanders to report to McClellan despite the man's initial reluctance to do so before the campaign had even started. However, the thing the plan wasn't counting on was the withdraw of Confederate forces near Washington on February 19th, which reached Washington on March 8th, several hours after the council of war had taken place. Initially, many historians believed spies had struck again and revealed McClellan's plans just like they had done with New Orleans, but this was not the case. Instead, Confederate President Breckenridge, ever the cautious man, feared a possible Union Assault on Richmond that would trap the Army of Northern Virginia and so instead, he sent a telegram to General Joseph E. Johnston to turn back and defend the State's Capital in Mid January. This movement would completely nullify McClellan's Urbana Plan, forcing the Major General to retool the plan, instead having his forces land at Fort Monroe, Virginia and advance up the Virginia Peninsula to Richmond. However, he came under extreme criticism from the press and the United States Congress when it was discovered that the Army of Northern Virginia had not only slipped away unnoticed for weeks, but had also fooled the Union through the use of Quaker Guns, wooden logs painted black, to convince them that Confederate Forces were still in the region. Another, even more complicating matter for the campaign, was the emergence of the first Confederate Ironclad Warship, the CSS Virginia, which devastated any union support operations on the James River. During the Battle of Hampton Roads (March 8th-9th), the Virginia destroyed Union Ships blockading the Harbor of Hampton Roads, Virginia, including the frigates, the USS Cumberland and USS Congress on March 8th, which made many call into question the viability of the use of Wooden Ships against Ironclads. The following day, the Union's first Ironclad, the USS Monitor, challenged the Virginia in the famous first duel of the Ironclads. The battle would end in the Monitor's destruction, though it did receive worldwide publicity and made it clear that Ironclads were the future of Naval Warship with both Union President Lincoln and Confederate President Breckenridge ordering the construction of more, with Lincoln looking to improve the blockade while Breckenridge sough to increase the defenses of the Mississippi River, New Orleans, and the many tributary rivers of the Mississippi. On March 11th, Lincoln removed McClellan as General-in-Chief, leaving him as command of only the Army of the Potomac so that the Major General could focus all of his efforts on Richmond. Despite supportive comments from Lincoln the entire time, McClellan saw the move as an act of sabotage so that the planned campaign would fail. All the while, the Army of Northern Virginia was busy setting up a number of defensive positions around Richmond, hoping to make any Union attack on the city bloody. At the same time, forces in the Shenandoah Valley would play an indirect role in the campaign. Nearly 50,000 men under the command under Major Generals Nathaniel P. Banks and Irvin McDowell that were originally planned to assist McClellan in his advance by marching overland to Virginia was instead pushed by Lincoln to engage Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's 17,000 strong force that looked to be much larger than it actually was and could pose a threat to Washington, though the Major General had no intention do doing so thanks to orders from General Joe Johnston and President Breckenridge to not even try it. Because of this, Jackson's much smaller force was able to prevent 30,000 men under McDowell from joining McClellan from March to June of 1862.  The Battle of Hampton Roads, First Clash of the Ironclads, was a key moment for the Peninsula CampaignWhile waiting at Fort Monroe, the Army of the Potomac grew from the original 50,000 men that it began with to 121,500 before McClellan began operations with the Army being organized into three Corps : II Corps (Under the command of Brigadier General Edwin V. Sumner), III Corps (Under the command of Brigadier General Samuel P. Heintzelman), and IV Corps (Under the command of Brigadier General Erasmus D. Keyes), with other units scattered about. McClellan's forces would set sail from Alexandria, Virginia on March 17th in an armada that dwarved all previous American expeditions, transporting the Army of the Potomac, 44 Artillery Batteries, 1,150 Wagons, over 15,000 horses, and ton of supplies and equipment, with many calling it the movement of a giant. However, with the CSS Virginia still in service and currently unchallenged, the U.S. Navy would not be able to properly aid McClellan's operations on either the James or York rivers, rendering his initial plan of amphibiously enveloping Yorktown, where America won it's independence from Great Britain 81 years prior, obsolete and instead, he ordered an advance up the Peninsula on April 4th. On April 5th, the same day that the horrendous Battle of Shiloh began in the West, the IV Corps of the Army of the Potomac battled Confederate defensive works at Lee's Mill, where McClellan had hoped to advance through unchallenged. As Yorktown was besieged, the Confederate Commander of the City, Major General John B. Magruder, ever the fan of theatrics, set up a brilliant deception campaign with his 13,000 strong force. By moving just one company in circles through a glen, he made it seem as if there were endless lines of reinforcements marching to relieve him while also spreading his artillery far apart, ordering it to fire sporadically. This had the intended effect of convincing the federals that his works and Yorktown was held by an army of nearly 100,000 was under Magruder's command. As an artillery duel sprung up, reconnaissance indicated to Brigadier General Keyes about the strength of Confederate fortification, causing him to warn McClellan against assaulting them. Taking Keyes' advice, the Major General ordered siege fortifications to be constructed and brought forward heavy siege guns to the front. As this was going on, the Johnston reinforced Magruder. By April 14th, news reached the Eastern Threatre of the Battle of Shiloh, bolstering Confederate Morale and slightly lowering federal resolve. Hearing that two large forces of theirs were practically destroyed and the West almost completely left open to attack for a time wasn't the best motivator and McClellan himself knew that the overall effect would be Lincoln focusing even more on the Western Theatre than on the Eastern Theatre, a fear that would soon come to fruition. Despite the result of Shiloh in the West, the Peninsula Campaign continued unabated. McClellan chose not to attack Magruder's position without more reconnaissance and ordered the Army of the Potomac to instead entrench parallel to Magruder's positions before initiating a siege of the city. While reacting to the reports of Keyes, the Major General also received reports from the I Corps, under Major General Irvin McDowell, would be withheld to defend Washington due to the threat Jackson seemed to pose. In addition with Jackson's campaign, Union President Lincoln believed McClellan had left an insufficient force to defend the capital and that the general had been deceptive in reporting of the force situated to defend Washington while counting troops that were deployed elsewhere. McClellan pleaded with Lincoln that he didn't do such a thing and requested that resources be sent to him immediately to run a major campaign, but with Lincoln refusing the budge on the issue, he was forced to move anyway. For the next 10 days, McClellan's men continued to fortify their positions while Magruder maintained a steady stream of reinforcements. By mid April, he commanded 35,000 men, just enough to defend his line. Despite McClellan's doubts about his own numerical superiority, in large part thanks to Magruder's earlier theatrics, he believed his artillery was indeed superior, with the siege preparations at Yorktown consisting of 15 batteries with more than 70 heavy guns which, when fired, would send over 7,000 pounds of ordinance directly into the enemy. On April 16th, Union forces probed a point in the Confederate line at Dam No. 1 on the Warwick River near Lee's Mill. Magruder, realizing the weakness this presented for his line, ordered it to be strengthened. Three Regiments under the Command of Brigadier General William Mahone with six other regiments nearby, improved their position on the west bank that overlooked the Dam. McClellan, fearful of what an entrenched enemy may do, ordered his men to conduct a general assault. A battle took place between Georgians and Vermonters for the Dam that would end in Vermontian victory by 5 PM, with the Union holding the Dam. For the rest of April, the Confederates, now numbering 57,000 men and under the direct command of General Joe Johnston improved their defenses while McClellan continued to focus on siege works, planning to deploy specific batteries on May 5th. The Confederate general, aware that the bombardment would likely spell the end for his force, sent supply wagons to Richmond on May 3rd. Despite escaped slaves reporting this to McClellan, he dismissed them, believing that Johnston, who he estimated having an army of 120,000, would fight to the bitter end. On the evening of May 3rd, the confederates launched a brief bombardment before their guns fell silent as, contrary to what McClellan believed, they retreated back towards Richmond. Early the next morning, Brigadier General Heintzelman ascended in an observation balloon and found out that the Confederate fortifications were empty. McClellan, stunned by the news, ordered Cavalry under Brigadier General George Stoneman in pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia and told Brigadier General William B. Franklin's Division to reboard navy transports and sail up the York river, hoping to cut off Johnston's retreat even though the CSS Virginia was still a threat.  The Siege of Yorktown (1862) was the first major engagement of the Peninsula CampaignFrom May 5th-27th, the Army of Northern Virginia would retreat towards their defensive works near Richmond while the Army of the Potomac remained in hot pursuit. The two sides would have portions of their forces engage at Williamsburg (May 5th), Eltham's Landing (May 7th), Drewry's Bluff (May 15th), and Hanover Court House (May 27th) before the AoNV finally reached it's destination. By this point in time, Kentucky had been captured by the Army of Mississippi under General Albert Johnston, leading to an even larger strengthening of Southern Morale, though this would make the Union Invaders more determined to capture Richmond, as the fall of the city could lead to a quicker end to the War. General Joe Johnston knew he would be unable to survive a massive siege of Richmond and instead decided to attack McClellan. His original plan, an attack on the Union right flank, was scrapped upon learning his main cause of concern, the Corps under McDowell, was diverted to the Shenandoah thanks to Jackson. General Johnston decided against attacking against his natural defense, the Chickahominy river, and planned to capitalize on the Union Army's position near the river, attacking two corps south of the river, leaving them isolated from the other three corps. With the plan in mind, this would Johnston would engage 2/3rds of his army (51,000 Men) against the 33,000 men of the combined III and IV Corps. However, the plan was complex and was doomed to fail from the start with vague and contradictory orders and he failed to inform his subordinates about the chain of command. By June 1st, the battle had ended inconclusively, with General Johnston being wounded in the fighting. Both sides claimed victory in the battle of Seven Pines, but they had roughly equal causalities, with the Union suffering 5,031 to the Confederacy's 6,134. It was due to this battle that McClellan's advance on Richmond was halted, allowing the Army of Northern Virginia to fall back into Defensive Positions. Despite claiming victory, McClellan had been shaken by the carnage of the battle and redeployed his army, except for the V Corps, south of the river, though he planned to continue to siege Richmond. He would never regain the initiative to do so, however. For the Confederates, President Breckenridge sent a telegram that his war adviser and one of the most brilliant minds in the Confederate military, Robert E. Lee, was to take command of the Army of Northern Virginia effective June 1st. For almost a month, Lee extended his defensive lines and organized his forces while McClellan sat passively in front of him, awaiting for dry weather and roads until the start of the next phase of the Campaign, the Seven Days Battles. Lee, who advocated caution early in the war, knew he had no numerical superiority over McClellan but he did indeed plan for an offensive that would characterize his nature for the Seven Days. Lee's attack plan, much like Johnston's, was complex and needed his subordinates to work in tandem, but he knew he had no chance against McClellan in a siege. Developed in a meeting June 23rd, the plan was to cross the Chickahominy river with the bulk of the Army to attack the Union's northern flank, commanded by Brigadier General Fitz John Porter and held by the V Corps. This would mean two divisions (under Major Generals Benjamin Huger and Magruder) would be left to defend entrenchments against McClellan's Superior Strength. This plan would concentrate around 65,500 men against 30,000, leaving only 25,000 to hold off the other 60,000 and protect Richmond. The Confederate cavalry, under Brigadier General J. E. B. Stuart, observed Porter's right flank and reported to Lee that it was very much vulnerable. Lee intended to use Stonewall Jackson, who was returning from the Shenandoah Campaign, and his men to attack Porter's right flank early on the morning and Major General A. P. Hill would move from Meadow Bridge to Beaver Dam Creek to advance on federal trenches with the hope that Porter would leave the defenses when under pressure. Following this, Major Generals James Longstreet and D. H. Hill would go through Mechanicsville and join the battle. As this was going on, Huger and Magruder would provide diversions on their fronts to distract McClellan from Lee's true goals. Hoping that Porter would be overwhelmed from two sides by 65,000 men, Lee planned to have the two leading divisions would march on to Cold Harbor and cut off McClellan's communications from White House Landing. McClellan, due to a failure in intelligence reporting, was unaware of Jackson's arrival and thus continued to focus on besieging Richmond. [1]
Because of this, the Battle of the Chickahominy went off without a hitch between June 26th and 27th, with Lee's plan going almost flawlessly despite the poor coordination in the Confederate Army due to the mismatch of troops from across Virginia to defend Richmond. Porter's corps was overwhelmed relatively quickly and in the chaos of him trying to rally his men, he was killed, hit by friendly fire. [2] However, as the battle continued, McClellan was able to move south from Richmond and begin retreating in the direction of Harrison's landing and the two divisions that were meant to cut him off were unable to thanks to stiff Union resistance. Thus, most of the Army of the Potomac was able to escape, with command of the V Corps falling towards Brigadier General George Sykes. One of the men who really took initiative was Brigadier General Phillip Kearny of Heintzelman's III Corps, attacking Huger, Magruder, and Longstreet's forces and keeping them distracted for a long enough time for the V Corps to march with 3/4ths of their initial force. McClellan, realizing the initiative was lost, ordered the army to withdraw to to a secure base at Harrison's Landing on the James River. This was despite the fact that news had reached him that an Army of Virginia had been created and sent south to assist him, sending a telegram to the United States War Department, stating " If I save this Army now I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you or any other persons in Washington—you have done your best to sacrifice this Army." [3] though the last part was removed. Further battles at Savage's Station (June 28th) and Glendale (June 29th) would force the Union to withdraw even further, with Brigadier General Sumner being mortally wounded at Glendale and having to be replaced by Brigadier General Israel B. Richardson for command of the II Corps. [4] By July 1st, the Army of the Potomac had been pushed back to Malvern Hill. The Hill, a plateau-like elevation, provided an excellent military position just two miles north of the James River and had steep slants, meaning that while a defending army would have a clear, open field, an attacking one would be unable to find any cover. When the AotP arrived on the hill, they were just 54,000 strong, a far cry from how they were at the start of the campaign. On the Morning of June 30th, the IV Corps under Keyes amassed atop the Hill as the II Corps and V Corps were allowed to recover from the three prior battles while the III Corps was position in positions that wasn't held by the IV Corps. With Artillery Batteries placed and defensive works laid out, the Union Defense seemed strong and unassailable. On the morning of July 1st, McClellan inspected his line and became concerned at the lack of coverage at the Right Flank laying behind Western Run, an area necessary for the Army to relocate to Harrison's landing. Out of fear of an attack on that position, McClellan placed Brigadier General William Franklin's VI Corps and Kearny's Division of the III Corps as well as the strongest parts of the ruined II and V Corps to defend it. The rest of the army was held in a general reserve. McClellan believed his army was not ready for battle and hope Lee wouldn't give him one. Nonetheless, he left the hill and traveled downstream the ironclad USS Galena to inspect Harrison's Landing. Due to him not delegating an interim commander in his place, the Corps Commanders selected Heintzelman to be the general for their side. With 55,000 men, the Army of Northern Virginia just barely outnumbered the Federals by 1,000. Lee, believing this was his chance to deliver one decisive victory in the East that would match Albert Johnston's Shiloh in the West, planned for an aggressive, decisive strike to finally destroy the Army of the Potomac. His attempts to do so in the prior three battles had failed for one reason or another, but his belief was that the Union Army was demoralized and one strike would shatter them for good. In the morning leading up to the battle, he would meet with his Lieutenants, including Jackson, Longstreet, Magruder, and D.H. Hill. Hill, upon looking at the terrain and layout of the land, stated " If General McClellan is there in strength, we had better let him alone.", being cautious against such an obviously good military position. Longstreet simply laughed and said " Don't get so scared, now that we've got him [McClellan] whipped." [5]
Lee choose the commands of Jackson, D.H. Hill, and Magruder, all of which having been well rested due to their little participation at the two battles on June 28th and 29th while Longstreet and A. P. Hill's own commands were kept in reserve due to them being mauled. According to Lee's plan, the Army of Northern Virginia would envelope the Army of the Potomac on the Hill with a Semi-circle as D. H. Hill's five brigades would serve as the Confederate center with Jackson and Magruder serving as the left and right flanks respectfully. With most of the confederate army filled with inexperienced officers thanks to the three brutal battles. After monitoring the Hill, Lee met with Longstreet and the two agreed that two grand battery like positions would be placed on both sides of the hill and that hopefully, the crossfire would hopefully so the infantry could break them. However, Lee's orders were not at all well crafted due to his chief of staff being vague when writing them. At 1 PM, Union Artillery pounded the Confederate line first, focusing on the infantry in the woods before going for the artillery that was moving into position. Eventually, however, the Confederate Left Flank was able to open fire on the VI Corps that began a fierce firefight. One of the most key moments of the battle happened when, at 1:45 PM, the USS Galena was hit by a torpedo and capsized, sinking near Harrison's Landing. It would be a little over a day before Heintzelman would find out McClellan's fate and even longer before Washington itself learned. [6]
The rest of the battle eventually ended inconclusively with both sides claiming victory. Some parts of the Hill had been taken by the Confederates but Western Run remained in Union hands. Further more, two hours before the battle was ended, General Lee, who had been inspecting the assault on the Hill personally, was hit by friendly fire. Earlier in the day, Kearny's division had been able to push back a Confederate one at a steep cost and fear had spread amongst the camp that his division was nearby, even though it had actually retaken position back at Western Run. With gun smoke heavy in the air, it was difficult to make out friend or foe and so a few dozen rounds were peppered into General Lee on accident. Within minutes, Generals Jackson and Longstreet were alerted as to what had happened, forcing both to leave their positions and back to the encampment. At 8:45 PM, 15 minutes after the end of the battle, General Robert E. Lee passed away, leaving behind a disorganized and battered army. [7]Despite the strength of being upon Malvern Hill, Heintzelman feared that his forces would not be able to last another Confederate assault and wary of what they could've been planning if he chose to march towards Richmond, began moving the Army of the Potomac to Harrison's Landing. With morale low following the death of Lee, Longstreet prevailed and allowed the Army of Northern Virginia to rest despite Jackson pushing to advance on the Union as they withdrew. It was only on July 5th that the Army of Northern Virginia began to march to Harrison's Landing. While it didn't take long to reach, the AotP was almost completely aboard transports and thus, the AoNV was turned around and moved back to Richmond, ending the Peninsula Campaign.  The Battle of Malvern Hill ended the Peninsula Campaign with the Wounding of Confederate General Joe Johnston and the Deaths of Union General George B. McClellan and Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the impact of which would leave a lasting impact on the warFollowing the aftermath of the Peninsula Campaign, Confederate President Breckenridge placed James Longstreet in Command of the Army of Northern Virginia while Union President Abraham Lincoln granted Samuel Heintzelman command of the Army of the Potomac, with both giving up their respective division/corps to Brigadier General Richard H. Anderson (Longstreet) and Brigadier General Phillip Kearny (Heintzelman) upon the orders of their Presidents. Following the disaster that was the Peninsula Campaign, Lincoln ordered Major General John Pope, commander of the newly formed Army of Virginia, to devise a plan to march South and capture Richmond overland. As soon as the Army of the Potomac arrived back in friendly territory, Heintzelman was convinced to allow Pope to borrow the III, IV, and VI Corps for his eventual campaign. At the same time, Breckenridge ordered Longstreet to turn Virginia into a fortress that would be difficult to attack overland. The newly promoted General Longstreet, a very defensively minded man, did as ordered and began construction of fortifications all across the State while Splitting 20,000 men to fall under the Command of General Jackson in his own Army. It would be the rivalry between these two men that would nearly cost the Confederacy Virginia in August 1862.
Meanwhile, the result of the Campaign was felt nationwide as Lincoln began to push for a draft, which was rather unpopular among the American populace and Breckenridge began to consider a draft for the Confederacy as well. One of most horrifying things for the Union happened when on July 11th, after becoming convinced of an eventual Confederate Victory, the government of Delaware, initially reluctant to support either side in the war, voted to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. Almost immediately Lincoln ordered a portion of McDowell's men to occupy the state as he had done to Maryland and Kentucky before. The state government, fearing of what would happen, fled to the Confederacy, which would recognize them as an official state in the Confederacy on July 26th. [8]
As this was going on, more plans were becoming realized. In the West, the Armies of the Ohio and of the Tennessee were merged with some new units into the Army of Indiana with the order to strike at Kentucky as soon as possible. At the same time, The Army of Iowa was formed to retake Missouri and a final army, the Army of the Gulf, was ordered to take Montgomery as quickly as possible from an advanced position in Mobile Bay, which had fallen to Union fleets on July 13th. Meanwhile, President Breckenridge had, at the request of Major General Jefferson Davis, promoted him to General and gave him command of the newly formed Army of Southern Alabama with his friend Patrick Cleburne taking over his corps after excellent service in the rather short Tennessee and Kentucky campaigns, with that corps becoming the first one in the new Army. [9] At the same time, General Joe Johnston, who had been wounded at Seven Pines, was placed in command of the Army of Missouri while the former Commander of the army, Richard Taylor, was transported and given command to the newly formed II Corps in the Army of Mississippi. It was clear that Early and Mid 1862 wasn't going to be the year the war would be decided, but it would be when the war truly turned in favor of one side or another. In a speech given to his cabinet on July 16th, President Breckenridge famously said "My fellow patriots, we must not get overconfident. Sure, we have secured Kentucky, Missouri, and Virginia, but only for the moment. The war is a long way from being over and I'm afraid many more will have to die before Lincoln sues for peace." This idea would become the reasoning behind the later Confederate mindset.
[1] - First Change from OTL. In our history, he did notice it.
[2] - As you'll see, this'll be a common occurrence as to what happens in battles when everything goes to hell
[3] - Burton, Extraordinary Circumstances, p. 151; Rafuse, p. 225; Burton, Peninsula & Seven Days, p. 88; Esposito, map 46; Time-Life, pp. 47–48.
[4] - Keeps the stubborn Sumner out of command for a while without full on death for a time.
[5] - Burton 2010, p. 314
[6] - I got this idea from a TL I read on Alt History.com, though I've already changed some things about it to make it more interesting.
[7] - I did this mainly to have Longstreet, Jackson drama cause iirc, they couldn't stand each other and Lee was the only one who was able to stop them fighting.
[8] - Delaware is doing this mainly because it looks like the South will win and they're afraid of what might come of them should that happen and they remain in the North.
[9] - Again, more Cleburne love, though if anyone wants to correct me on these things, feel free too.
I'll probably start writing the next post tomorrow because this one took me all day. As you can tell, I'm only covering the really big battles in this TL at least until we get into the later dates of late 1862 and beyond as that's when things get interesting. Anyways, feel free to give thoughts. Ciao for now!
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genyodectes
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I'm just a Ceratosaur trying to make his way in Alternate History
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 5, 2020 0:54:17 GMT
Would anyone want to make a Map for the War as of right now and place of major battles?
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genyodectes
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I'm just a Ceratosaur trying to make his way in Alternate History
Posts: 226
Likes: 119
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 5, 2020 13:50:22 GMT
Post #5 is going to be worked on and later posted and it'll detail the first part of the campaign in Alabama. Post #6 will detrail the Missouri Campaign, Post #7 will detail the Northern Kentucky Campaign, Posts #8 and #9 will deal with alternate North VA and Maryland Campaigns, Post #10 will detail the second part of the Alabama Campaign, Post #11 will detail the Alternate Fredericksburg Campaign, Post #12 will detail another Kentucky Campaign while Post #13 will detail another Missouri Campaign, Post #14 will detail the alternate Chancellorsville campaign, Post #15 will detail an Alternate Gettysburg Campaign, Post #16 will detail what has been going on in New Orleans, the Coasts, and the New Mexico and Indian Territories since the start of the war, and Post #17 will detail the last part of the Alabama Campaign.
Anyways, remember to vote in the poll.
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genyodectes
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I'm just a Ceratosaur trying to make his way in Alternate History
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Likes: 119
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 5, 2020 21:05:21 GMT
Post #5, detailing the March to Montgomery Campaign
The aftermath of the Peninsula Campaign had left a bad feeling for many in Washington. Just half of the once mighty Army of the Potomac returned, battered and unfit for much action, as well as the death of it's commander. However, hope could not be allowed to end at the moment, as at the time, Union Generals were making new plans to once again advance into the Confederacy. While they had been beaten back twice now, first in the West and now in the East, Union President Abraham Lincoln was still determined to see the war to its end. The 1862 Union Midterms were coming up and the threat of the Republicans losing control of Congress could mean a forced peace and recognition of the Confederate States as a sovereign nation, something he was unwilling to witness. One way or another, he believed, the Union would remain as one. His first plan was to create three new Armies for the late 1862 campaigns. The first army, the Army of Indiana, was a merger of the remnants of Grant's Army of the Tennessee (25,213 strong by the time they returned into Illinois) and Buell's Army of the Ohio (10,015 strong by the time they returned into Ohio) with a newly formed Army of Indiana under the command of Major General William Rosecrans. The second army was the Army of Iowa, placed under the command of Major General John C. Fremont, and the final army, the Army of the Gulf, was placed under the command of Major General Benjamin Butler. The armies consisted of 90,000 Men (Army of Indiana), 60,000 Men (Army of the Gulf), and 42,000 Men (Army of Iowa) with there being 4 corps in each army, each consisting of 22,500 Men each (Army of Indiana), 15,000 Men Each (Army of the Gulf), and 10,500 men each (Army of Iowa). With the new armies were formed, plans were drawn up for the campaign season. As General Pope planned to march his Army of Virginia overland to Richmond with the 3 Corps of the Army of the Potomac gifted to him by Major General Heintzelman, the Army of Indiana led by Rosecrans would strike Louisville, Kentucky and attempt to retake the state from there, the Army of Iowa would march into Missouri and hopefully take the state capital of Jefferson City before securing St. Louis. While these two offensives would hopefully bring back three of the seceded states back into the Union by late 1862, the most important task would be left to the Army of the Gulf. Their orders were to set sail from Alexandria, swing around the Confederate coast, and seize the Capital of Montgomery before moving east towards Atlanta. Many hoped that if the two cities fell, then the South would surrender and the war would finally be over. On July 18th, the day before the planned Northern Virginia Campaign would begin, two days before the Kentucky campaign began, and a week before the Missouri campaign, the Army of the Gulf set sail from Alexandria, Virginia. First, the armada that carried the army and it's supplies and equipment left the immediate coastline and went into the open ocean, where the confederate ironclads could not follow. Then, they continued southwards before reaching Mobile, Alabama on August 2nd. Mobile had actually fallen to Union Ships on June 26th falling a prolonged bombardment and blockade when it was deemed less risky than New Orleans and it had been under Federal Control ever since. Butler's hope was that Alabama would be only be defended by the state's local militia, no major force, and he could quickly advance and capture Montgomery by the end of the Month. For the next three days, he allowed his men to rest and prepare to advance. Unbeknownst to the Union, the Confederates had anticipated this maneuver and placed the newly promoted Jefferson Davis and his II Corps of the Army of Mississippi into the newly formed Army of Southern Alabama. The Army was the newest of the main Confederate Army and consisted of three Corps under the commands of Major Generals Cleburne, McCown, and Withers along with a Reserve Corps under the command of Brigadier General Alfred Mouton and a Cavalry Brigade under the command of Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke. Combined, the army amounted to 36,000 Men when the three major corps were combined (12,000 men each) while the Reserve Corps had 3,500 men and the Cavalry brigade had 500 men. In full, the Army of Southern Alabama had a strength of 40,000 men. Though outnumbered by the Union Army by 20,000 men (1.5:1), General Davis was determined to keep his nation's capital safe. Ever since his arrival to Alabama in Mid July, he had began constructing a vast series of fortifications and defensive and had gotten an effective layout of the land and thus, was ready for any Union offensive. On the night of August 5th, despite receiving information of the Army of Southern Alabama being in the state, peeled off the III Corps under Brigadier General Quincy A. Gillmore to flank to the East, into the Florida panhandle, as his army marched Northeast to Montgomery from Mobile. In response, General Davis, convinced by his staff, peeled off his I Corps under Major General Cleburne and sent it to engage Gillmore's men as the rest of the Army would attempt to halt the Union's advance. The Gulf Theatre had officially opened and the first campaign, the March to Montgomery, had begun.   Confederate and Union structure for the Gulf Theatre of August 5th, 1862-July 5th, 1863. Note : The March to Montgomery Campaign would see Cleburne's I Corps and Gillmore's III Corps be split from their armies, though Gillmore would eventually meet up with the Army of the Gulf outside Montgomery
By August 9th, the Army of the Gulf had arrived at their first destination of Jackson, 134 miles southwest of Montgomery. Initially, the army planned to arrive to the city by August 7th but poor roads and heavy rains led to slow progress on the Union's part. They arrived at Jackson by 9:24 PM after non-stop marching and so, Butler had to allow his army to get some rest. At the same time, however, the Army of Southern Alabama's Cavalry brigade reported to Jefferson Davis at Fulton 24 miles northeast of the Union Army's position. The Confederate General that a frontal assault on the Union's line would lead to disaster and that if they met on the battlefield, the Army of Southern Alabama would be destroyed yet again. Instead, he decided to march 7 miles southwest to Grove Hill and entrench his forces there. Grove Hill was 17 miles northeast of Jackson and due to bad weather continuing for the next few days and even more bad roads and worse, woodlands, the Army of the Gulf had great difficulty getting there.
In Fact, on August 11th, Canby's II Corps got lost in the Alabama forest and retreated back to Jackson until word arrived from Butler that the Army of the Gulf had reached Thomasville, the next designated location for the Campaign so he could properly link up with the Union Army. What was initially planned to be a 6-7 hour march instead turned into a day and a half long march due to all the setbacks previously mentioned as well as the Union Supply Line having a hard time keeping up. By the time Butler's men reached Grove Hill, the Army of the Gulf was exhausted and several hundred men were either sick with disease or had gone missing, likely deserting. In total, He had at least 29,430 combat effective men compared to the 45,000 he had when he first began marching (though this was in large part due to the II Corps pulling back towards Jackson). Only the I Corps of the Union Army was at full strength and could carry out an effective assault.
By August 12th, Butler's forces had arrived to find a well entrenched and well rested enemy of 28,000 compared to his own fighting force. Initially, his officers told him to send messages to Jackson and await Canby's arrival to do a proper assault but General Butler was steadfast. "Even if we outnumber them very slightly," He began when speaking to Brigadier General Christopher C. Augur, the commander of the 1st Division of General Bank's I Corps, who addressed concern at attacking such a fortified position with only a small numerical advantage, "We need to destroy Davis' Army here and now to reach Montgomery quickly!" thus by 1:15 PM on that day, the Battle of Grove Hill took place. The battlefield was mostly open, with it being flat woodland stretching 5 square miles. However, the woods would be a distinct disadvantage to Union Forces as when they marched, their united would split up into squadrons to maneuver through them, ruining Unit Cohesion. Meanwhile, the Confederates had successfully entrenched themselves and set up three lines, one behind the other. The first line consisted of some of the best riflemen and sharpshooters in the army and was designed to inflict as many causalities on the advancing federals before the enemy was within half a mile of the first trench. When that happened, the first line would quickly withdraw and meet with General McCown's II Corps that was to hold the second line of trenches that had artillery laid out in a crossfire pattern. Once Union forces were within half a mile of the second lined, the II Corps was to withdraw back and meet up with General Withers' III Corps, that had much the same layout as the second line of trenches. If needed, General Mouton's Divisions left in reserve would be sent forward to assist in the defense of the third line, as General Davis that if it fell, then the battle would be lost.
The Union plan was to simply launch a wave attack with most of the I and IV Corps with the hopes to quickly drive Davis from the battlefield. As this was going on, General Marmaduke's Cavalry brigade was sent to record the layout of the land at several key points and attack Butler's supply line from Jackson and Mobile. The Battle of Grove Hill was a bloody disaster for the Union with the only success of the battle for them being the capture of the First Line of trenches by 3:09 PM, at a cost of 178 killed and 329 wounded. The battle would continue for another 7 hours, ending at 10:30 PM. The final cost for the Union was 956 killed, 2,043 wounded, and 256 missing/captured compared to the Confederacy's 86 killed, 104 wounded, and 79 missing/captured. By all measures of the word, the Army of the Gulf had been defeated and was now slightly outnumbered by Davis. Butler, realizing his position was now untenable, withdrew southwest towards Jackson in defeat, being harassed by anti-union guerrillas along the way. By the time the force arrived back there, the Army of the Gulf that began Grove Hill at 29,430 had reached 23,674. Butler linked up with the II Corps of his army once again and allowed the army to rest in Jackson for three days from August 16th-19th. The battle had made it clear to him that Montgomery wouldn't fall by the end of the month and he was even concerned that Montgomery, much less Atlanta, wouldn't fall by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, for the Army of Southern Alabama, the victory had brought great joy to General Davis as his relatively low causalities ensured the army could continue fighting for another day. With Cleburne's Corps distracting Gillmore's Corps in the east, both his army and Butler's had somewhat fewer men, but he was also aware that Butler still had the II Corps that he could command in his stead and knew that when Butler returned to Grove Hill, the battle would likely end in a Union Victory and the crushing of the Army. On August 14th, Davis ordered the army to withdraw towards Camden, 73 miles southwest of Montgomery, and would have that be his new base of operations. The reason for this is because he saw that the closer he could bring in Butler, the thinner his supply lines would become and the thinner they were, the easier it would be to demoralize his army. On August 20th, Butler began marching towards Thomasville, a position he wouldn't reach until September 2nd. News had yet to reach Butler of the other theaters of the War, where the Union had done anywhere between poorly and excellent and because of this, the General was unaware of what was happening outside of his campaign.
With I, II, and IV Corps under his command, the army numbered around 39,000 and he had failed to receive any word of the III Corps' progress in its march Eastward thanks to Cleburne's harassment. However, Butler did send out reconnaissance missions to investigate the area between him and his next destination, Furman. Meanwhile, Davis' own reconnaissance reported to him that the towns of Pine Hill and Yellow Bluff would provide excellent positions for defensive battles. He could only choose one, however, as he knew that two battles would be disastrous for his army when they're in a short time frame, and he choose the town of Yellow Bluff near the Alabama River. The local area was incredibly swampy, filled with several ponds and creeks that made it difficult to maneuver. However, Davis was not concerned with being on the offensive and instead set out his line in a defensive style much like Grove Hill. His plan would to simply allow the union forces to exhaust themselves whilst marching through the swamps, though cannon fire would rain upon them from the Confederate position.
Davis was given plenty of time to rest up his forces and entrench them at Yellow Bluff as Butler didn't Thomasville until September 6th and wouldn't arrive on the battlefield until September 12th. An 18 mile march that shouldn't have taken so long was weighed down by an unstable supply line and the woods and swamps of Alabama, though the weather had indeed cleared up enough to allow for a proper Union advance that didn't get stuck in mud or lost in the rain. The Battle of Yellow Bluff ended inconclusively with both sides claiming victory. Yet again, General Butler had ordered his men to attack in a wave while the Confederate orders were to simply hold the line. The II Corps achieved a breakthrough on the Confederate Right, routing half of the II Corps, and was about to move until the IV Corps was repelled by the Confederate III Corps and the Confederate Reserve Corps was sent to retake the Right Flank as the battle in the Center stalemated. At the end, the Union suffered 1,763 dead, 3,085 wounded, and 752 captured/missing while the confederates suffered 1,015 dead, 1,899 wounded, and 216 captured/missing. After the long 8 hour battle that lasted from Noon to 8 PM on September 12th, both sides went back to their camps. After suffering moderate losses, Davis believed it best to withdraw Northeast towards Hayneville, 23 miles southwest of Montgomery, to set up as his newest base of operations. It was unknown to him that Hayneville was also Butler's final destination before Montgomery.
From September 13th-September 21st, both forces marched until they arrived at the destination and gave one last battle at Hayneville on September 22nd that lead to a Union Victory, inflicting 2,115 dead, 4,080 wounded, and 954 captured/missing for the confederates while suffering 1,287 killed, 3,304 wounded, and 254 captured/missing. What made victory even better for Butler was the arrival of the battered but still in tact III Corps on September 23rd while Cleburne's own corps was nowhere to be found. Fearing of what would come next, Davis pulled his forces back to Montgomery, ordering the Confederate Government to flee to Atlanta, though President Breckenridge refused to leave. "If the Confederacy is to lose it's capital, then I will go down with it." And, carefully, the Confederate president would form a quickly made force of 10,500 men and placed them under his direct command. Known as the Presidential Guard, they would assist the Army of Southern Alabama in the defense of the Confederacy's Capital. On October 10th, the Army of the Gulf arrived at Montgomery and planned for battle with the enemy. Just before engaging, however, a problem arose, concerning General Cleburne and the Union Headquarters of Mobile. The Battle of Yellow Bluff, while Inconclusive, was the first sign that the Army of Southern Alabama would be defeatedShortly after Cleburne's corps had been peeled off from the Army of Southern Alabama at Fulton on August 8th, he began to track down the Union's II Corps with the goal of trapping it and destroying it. General Gillmore, meanwhile, advanced east into the Florida Panhandle and received extra supplies and men from the recently captures city of Pensacola. Now leading a corps of 24,000 men, he began marching north, hoping to attack Montgomery from the South undetected. Upon reaching the town of Falco on August 14th, unburdened by the troubles that his superior officer was suffering, a cavalry regiment placed in Cleburne's second division that was commanded by Brigadier General Patton Anderson reported to the general of Gillmore's advance and he moved from his position at the town of Monroeville to the town of River Falls on August 16th as Gillmore's II Corps rested at Falco. On August 18th, the Union forces began marching North and reached River Falls by the 20th. Without the troubles of his commanding officer, General Gillmore's force arrived in relatively good condition but he had arrived by the Conecuh River without any pontoon boats. This presented a problem to the union corps, as they saw well entrenched Confederate soldiers on the west bank and the ruins of the bridge connecting both banks, destroyed by Cleburne to slow down the Union advance. It wasn't until proper rafts were constructed by mid September that the II Corps was able to row across the river and take the town. On the morning of August 29th, the II Corps of the Union Army began rowing across the river only to be met with volley after volley of Confederate rifle and cannon fire. Despite the heavy defense and bombardment, the II Corps' third division under Lieutenant Colonel James B. McPherson and assaulted the Confederate positions. Upon reaching them, however, the confederate forces gave little to no resistance and a few minutes before they actually arrived on the west bank, the artillery fire had ceased. It did not occur to the Union that Major General Cleburne had actually set up a better defensive position near the town and had ordered the 2nd brigade under his 1st division, under the command of his personal confidant Colonel Samuel Clemmens, or as his friend would later call him, Mark Twain, to defend the western bank until the Union Force was nigh upon them. And so, Colonel Clemmens forced the Union into a bloody battle that costed the Union several hundred lives while his own brigade suffered only a couple dozen. By 1 PM, the entire II Corps had arrived on the West Bank while Cleburne had consolidated his I Corps within the town and was determined to hold it. His men, trained in the same fashion as the British, was considered to be some of the best in the Confederacy and that would be a key advantage coming into this battle and future ones. By 2:45 PM, General Gillmore ordered an assault on the town, believing that the outnumbered Confederates would simply be overwhelmed and surrender. Instead, however, for the next 6 hours and 15 minutes, the Union Corps was consistently sent back as the Confederate Corps held their line. By 9 PM, as the sun was setting, Gillmore ordered his men to retreat across the river and instead march east to Heath. The Battle of River Falls was yet another bloody defeat for the Union, something they were seeing all too often early in the war, with 1,852 dead, 2,705 wounded, and 762 captured/missing compared to Cleburne's 95 dead, 134 wounded, and 25 captured/missing. While it wasn't a total defeat, it did give Gillmore a bloody nose and made him concerned enough that he wouldn't reach Butler in time to assist in the Siege of Montgomery. From August 30th-September 10th, Cleburne and Gillmore would face off in several more battles (Gantt (August 31st), Patsiliga Creek (September 2nd), Red Level (September 4th), Poplar Creek (September 7th), and McKenzie (September 9th)), all of which were decisive Confederate victories that forced General Gillmore to march in jagged lines, which would disrupt his supply train to Pensacola. On September 11th, however, Cleburne decided it was time to change his strategy and marched south, directly to Pensacola. General Gillmore, hearing of the Confederate movements, quickly followed after him in a desperate attempt to stop the cut off of his supplies. However, this was exactly what Cleburne had planned for, as his forces encamped itself at Escambia Farms, 47 miles south of the Union position at Clearview and 90 miles northeast of Cleburne's main target, Pensacola. The two forces engaged one another on September 15th, with it being clear neither side would leave with a decisive victory. By 11 PM, the Confederates had won a close victory, suffering 1,852 dead, 2,872 wounded, and 311 captured/missing to the Union's 2,009 dead, 3,208 wounded, and 817 captured/missing. While a bloody battle and a costly defeat for the Union, it kept Gillmore's supply lines opened for just a bit longer as Cleburne was forced to pull back his corps or risk encirclement. On September 17th and 20th, he would win two more decisive victories, however, at Wallace and Beatrice before he disengaged the battered Union II Corps. When it started engaging Cleburne, it had 24,000 men, but by the time it would join Butler's forces at Hayneville on September 23rd, it was a mess of 7,421 men, with only 5,211 combat able. Meanwhile, for the Confederates, due to his diversionary campaign, Cleburne had become somewhat of a hero and was able to gain men and supplies because of that. What once was a corps of 12,000 soon swelled to 19,000 by September 24th. Three days later, Pensacola would fall to his units and by October 2nd, he would begin to besiege Mobile, cutting off Butler from his supply lines. Once news of this reached the Major General on October 12th, he didn't know how to react and he and his staff were locked in a stalemate, unsure of whether to continue to siege Montgomery and then move on to Atlanta or if they should re secure Mobile. While the first option would continue the campaign, it was likely to destroy their army and be a pyrrhic victory at best, whereas the second option would effectively end the campaign for the time being by would ensure the army could live on to fight another day. For 4 days, the Union army was locked in stalemate about what to do when the Confederates decided for them. From October 16th-17th, the Battle of Hope Hull occured with the Confederate Army of Southern Alabama and President Breckenridge's personal force combating the Army of the Gulf. The battle would end at 3:25 PM on October 17th when the Confederate Army drove the last Union Brigade off the field. A bloody affair, there were around 9,843 causalities combined for both sides, with the Union taking the brunt of the damage. Two days later, as Butler marched back to Mobile with his tattered and devastated army, Davis sent a telegram to Cleburne and his crops, which had swelled to 21,000 during the siege of Mobile, to withdraw, fearful of a possible envelopment and destruction of the I Corps. Cleburne relented and on October 20th, a week and a half before Butler returned to Mobile, lifted the First Siege of Mobile. Though the I Corps would briefly engage with the Union Army on October 29th, in which both sides only suffered a few dozen causalities, there would be no further engagements. On November 2nd, Cleburne would arrive at Montgomery to rejoin the Army of Southern Alabama. Cleburne had become somewhat of a regional hero in Alabama and when news of his diversion of the much larger Union II Corps was spread across the Confederacy, he became a National Hero, with many dubbing him the Stonewall of the West. Day later, on November 6th, Butler would return to Mobile and camp there until early 1863. The March to Montgomery Campaign had ended in defeat for the Union and never again would a federal force get to besiege Montgomery.  A modern view of the March to Montgomery Campaign Area. A disaster for the Union, this would pave the way for future Confederate Victories in the warThe aftermath of the March to Montgomery Campaign was immediate. Though it occurred after most of the 1862 midterm elections, there was still the 1863 elections that also was a knife in the back of the Union Cause. While they had seen victories at specific points in the West and East, their defeats in the Gulf was becoming unbearable. As the Confederacy celebrated and President Breckenridge considered the promotion of Major General Cleburne to a full on General for his actions, Major General Butler pleaded with lincoln for just some more time, stating in a message sent on November 12th "Mr. President, all I need is some more men and supplies and I can definitively take Montgomery. By March of Next Year, you'll be walking through the Confederate Capital as we discuss the South's surrender." Despite warriness on the Union President's part, he allowed Butler to continue his operations in the Gulf Theatre and sent around 16-20,000 men to reinforce him at Mobile. As the Army of the Gulf settled in with the reinforcements in Late December, tragedy arrived that shook many of the Officers and wavered morale in the army.
Post #5 is finally finished and is my first fully original work. Credit goes to @john wolf smith on civilwartalk.com for helping me construct the command structure of the Armies of the Gulf and of Southern Alabama. Thank you everyone for reading and remember to leave a review about what you've seen so far. TTYL!
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Feb 6, 2020 14:01:43 GMT
genyodectes , Interesting and a lot of battles in this short campaign. I think you have the 1st line withdrawing too soon at Grove Hill as half a mile is 880 yards, which is very long range for rifle shooting so their not likely to do much damage by that point. IIRC the British regulars trained in such shooting would only start firing at a shorter distance than that. If the men, and again at the 2nd line had stay put until within say 400 yards or even 300 or less they would have done far more damage and still be well outside range of OTL trained American troops of this time period. Especially since after their earlier losses and with a lot of new recruits the north is probably still facing shortages of rifles and would have had to rush men into the fronts with less training than OTL. As such Davis would likely bloody Butler's forces so badly that even with the delayed 2nd corp rejoining him Davis could have enough strength to fight him again at Grove Hill, especially since the forces who had attacked into such a storm of fire would be suffering some problems with moral.
Also with fighting in Alabama in summer and especially drawing both armies into low lying marshy areas I suspect the battle losses on both sides could well be exceeded by casualties from illness with malaria and yellow fever especially being problems.
However some stunning victories, especially for Cleburne which does give a basis for rapid promotion and also the job your got planned for him, although such a rank would upset a lot of more senior ranked officers. He would have a good core to his forces, especially if he's had the time and resources to train them as he would have wanted. However the additional volunteers and the Presidental Guard are unlikely to have much if any of that sort of training and many might have pretty poor firearms, probably many with muskets rather than rifles as the union blockade would be having an impact by this time.
I take it that Samuel Clemmens's involvement in this campaign is going to have an impact in his dramatic change in personality such that he's standing for election in the CSA in future times?
Steve
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genyodectes
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 6, 2020 14:29:25 GMT
genyodectes , Interesting and a lot of battles in this short campaign. I think you have the 1st line withdrawing too soon at Grove Hill as half a mile is 880 yards, which is very long range for rifle shooting so their not likely to do much damage by that point. IIRC the British regulars trained in such shooting would only start firing at a shorter distance than that. If the men, and again at the 2nd line had stay put until within say 400 yards or even 300 or less they would have done far more damage and still be well outside range of OTL trained American troops of this time period. Especially since after their earlier losses and with a lot of new recruits the north is probably still facing shortages of rifles and would have had to rush men into the fronts with less training than OTL. As such Davis would likely bloody Butler's forces so badly that even with the delayed 2nd corp rejoining him Davis could have enough strength to fight him again at Grove Hill, especially since the forces who had attacked into such a storm of fire would be suffering some problems with moral.
Also with fighting in Alabama in summer and especially drawing both armies into low lying marshy areas I suspect the battle losses on both sides could well be exceeded by casualties from illness with malaria and yellow fever especially being problems.
However some stunning victories, especially for Cleburne which does give a basis for rapid promotion and also the job your got planned for him, although such a rank would upset a lot of more senior ranked officers. He would have a good core to his forces, especially if he's had the time and resources to train them as he would have wanted. However the additional volunteers and the Presidental Guard are unlikely to have much if any of that sort of training and many might have pretty poor firearms, probably many with muskets rather than rifles as the union blockade would be having an impact by this time.
I take it that Samuel Clemmens's involvement in this campaign is going to have an impact in his dramatic change in personality such that he's standing for election in the CSA in future times?
Steve
All true, though Davis wanted to minimize causalities on his side as he knew the more prolonged in battle he was, the less men he would have to defend Montgomery. His strategy was more or less give Butler light engagements when it was felt necessary but let the environment and anti-union guerillas do the work for him. Also, yes the Presidential Guard is relatively weak in training and supplies but they make up for it in fighting spirit since ITTL, the Confederacy does seem to be on the Winning side of the war. As for Cleburne's rise as well as Twain's, Breckenridge is more or less promoting most people based on merit. If you prove good in the field in two or three campaigns, you get promoted whereas if you fail to live up to expectations, you get demoted. Since Cleburne did a really good job delaying the III Corps and was able to retake Pensacola and force the AotG's withdraw from Montgomery by besieging Mobile, he is on Breckenridge's list of possible promotions while Cleburne will want Twain to be a BG and have command of at least a division, due to their close friendship. Next post coming in a few will be about the Missouri Campaign. Honestly, mid 1863 is when things get really interesting, especially with JBH becoming Commander of the AoNV and Kearny being commander of the AotP. |
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genyodectes
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 6, 2020 21:46:46 GMT
While the March to Montgomery Campaign was taking place, the Union was still focused on bringing the offensive to the Confederacy and one way to do that was to invade Missouri. The state was one of the last states to secede the Union in 1861 and had quickly been secured by Confederate forces as Kentucky was occupied by the Union. Ever since, there had been growing agitation in the Union President's circle about a push into Missouri, as it bordered the Nebraska Territory and the States of Kansas from the East, Iowa from the South, and Lincoln's home state of Illinois to the west. To the Union, the capture of Missouri and more importantly, the capture of St. Louis, could greatly assist Union forces in the capture of the Mississippi River and the full success of the Anaconda Plan. With that task in mind, Lincoln created the Army of Iowa in Mid May of 1862 and placed it under the command of Major General John C. Fremont. When it was first formed, the Army consisted of 42,000 men and had 4 corps but as Fremont planned for his offensive, it swelled to 75,000 and had developed a Reserve and Cavalry Corps as well. Of the 75,000 men in the army, 60,0000 were placed in the first four corps, 20,000 each, while 10,000 was placed in the reserve and the remaining 5,000 was placed in the Cavalry. To effectively minister command, General Fremont organized each Corps with a commander, with Major General Jefferson C. Davis (Not to be confused with Confederate General of the Army of Southern Alabama, Jefferson Davis) commanding the I Corps, Major General Franz Sigel commanding the II, Brigadier General John Schofield, Brigadier General Samuel R. Curtis commanding the IV, Brigadier General Grenville M. Dodge commanding the reserves, and Brigadier General Gordon Granger commanding the Cavalry. However, to counteract this, President Breckenridge had earlier organized the Army of Missouri and originally placed it under the command of Lieutenant General Richard Taylor before replacing him with former commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, General Joseph E. Johnston. Formed in late 1861 following the liberation of Missouri to protect it from Union Incursion, by mid 1862, the Army consisted of 37,500 men divided into 3 full corps and 2 cavalry corps. Each main Corps consisted of 10,500 men while the Cavalry Corps consisted of the remaining men. Major General Sterling Price commanded the I Corps, Major General Theophilus H. Holmes commanded the II Corps, Major General Martin L. Smith commanded the III Corps, Major General Earl Van Dorn commanded the I Cavalry Corps, and Brigadier General Thomas Green commanded the II Cavalry Corps. The Army of Missouri under Johnston was well organized and trained regularly, with constant surveillance of the borders to alert him as to any Union advance. Johnston, having learned from the mistakes done by him during the Peninsula Campaign decided for a more solidly defensive route to any Union advance into the state, with his main defensive lines being built on the banks of rivers and fortifications and entrenchments on the outskirts of certain cities. John C. Fremont was ordered by President Lincoln to formulate a plan to quickly retake Missouri and he did. Considering that the Confederates were outnumbered two to one and that they would not be able to stand against his Army in a prolonged engagement, he developed a full force aggression against the Army of Missouri. His army would first march south from Des Moines into Missouri and would live off the land should their supply lines be cut. His main goal was to capture the capital city of Jefferson City and the largest cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield. This would hopefully demoralize any pro-confederate sympathies in the state and allow him to occupy it. He would then gave a blanket abolition of Slavery across the state and hope that enough freedmen joined his ranks to continue south into Arkansas and hopefully, Louisiana. By February of 1863, he believed, the Union would have control of 3 of the Confederacies 4 trans Mississippi states and the river itself. The plan was overly ambitious but at this point in time, President Lincoln was ready for any kind of victory, no matter the cost. Thus, on July 25th, the Army of Iowa begin to march south. Thanks to good roads having been worked on in the years leading up to the war, the march didn't have the same issue that the Army of the Gulf would later go through. Upon reaching Mercer, Missouri by July 27th, Fremont ordered a full day of rest for the Army. Unbeknownst to them, however, Dorn's I Cavalry Corps caught sight of the massive Union Army marching south and reported to General Johnston, who was encamped at Brunswick, 93 miles south of Mercer. Realizing that the campaign had begun, the General ordered his Cavalry Corps to continue their reconnaissance and harass the Union supply line whenever they could. Whatever the cost, he was determined to push the Union back.   Army of Missouri (Confederacy) and Army of Iowa (Union) organization for the Missouri campaign
Meanwhile, east of Iowa and Missouri lay another battleground : Kentucky. Following the Battle of Fort Sumter in early 1861 in which the Union, rather unintentionally, opened with the first shots of the war, the state of Kentucky considered brief neutrality with the southern most portion of the state supporting the Confederacy. However, when the Army of the Ohio moved into the state in early 1862 under orders of Lincoln, it declared secession from the Union and sent delegates to Montgomery to join the Confederacy. As this was going on, however, the Union quickly overwhelmed the mediocre Confederate defenses in the State and by mid 1861 had it fully occupied. For the rest of the year and most of early 1862, the state was under strict Union occupation with strict punishments being used against any confederate sympathizers. Following the bloody battle of Shiloh on April 5-7th, however, the Union was forced to effectively leave the state open to General Albert Sidney Johnston's Army of Mississippi, which quickly recaptured control of the state by late May. In Early June, the government of Kentucky returned to the state and began to work with General A. Johnston on how to keep it secure from any further Union incursions and the General's advice was to simply build large fortifications on their side of the Ohio River and just hold it against Union assaults. By Mid June, these forts were constructed in full and General Johnston began to place his army to proper use. On the other side of the Ohio, however, the Union was a mess. The near destruction of Grant's Army of the Tennessee and Buell's Army of the Ohio made many fear that a Confederate invasion of the Midwest was likely. However, despite a few raids from Brigadier General Nathaniel Bedford Forest and his mighty cavalry division wreaking havoc in the southern most portions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, not much happened. On June 17th, Lincoln officially formed the Army of Indiana and placed it under the command of Major general William Rosecrans before merging Grant's and Buell's armies into it. The Army was perhaps one of the largest ever formed, consisting of 124,000 men and 7 corps and an cavalry corps. Each of the corps had 15,500 men in them. The I Corps was placed under the command of Grant, who Lincoln favored the most out of the other generals for his ability to continue to fight instead of the cautiousness of his other generals. The Commander of the II Corps was Major General George H. Thomas, the III Corps was lead by Major General Alexander M. McCook, the IV commanded by Thomas L. Crittenden, the V by Buell, the VI by Major General William Nelson, and the VII by Major General John A. McClernand as the Cavalry Corps was placed under Brigadier General Phillip H. Sheridan. It wasn't as well organized as the Armies of the Potomac, Iowa, or Virginia, but was deemed suitable enough to assault Kentucky and hopefully retake it. On the other side of the Ohio River, however, stood the mighty and so far undefeated Army of Mississippi, commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston. The mastermind behind the Union Massacre known as Shiloh, he was held to high regard throughout the Confederacy and was seen by many as the best general in the confederate army, especially in the aftermath of Lee's Death. Following the liberation of Kentucky by the Army of Mississippi, the original II Corps under the command of then Major General Jefferson Davis was detached from Johnston and turned into the Army of Southern Alabama to protect the capital against the Federal Army of the Gulf. However, the old II Corps was almost immediately replaced by a new one. By July of 1862, the Army of Mississippi had 72,000 men with 6 main corps, one reserve corps, and one stationed at Louisville while 4 Cavalry Divisions were allowed to roam free to conduct reconnaissance. Johnston placed the corps and divisions under several commanders in the following order : Major General Leonidas Polk (I Corps), the newly promoted Major General Richard Taylor (II Corps), Major General William J. Hardee (III Corps), Major General Braxton Bragg (IV Corps), Major General Edmund K. Smith (V Corps), Major General Simon B. Buckner Sr. (VI Corps), Major General Gideon J. Pillow (Reserve Corps), Major General Dabney H. Maury (Louisville Corps), Brigadier General John A. Wharton (I Cavalry Division), Brigadier General Joseph Wheeler (II Cavalry Division), Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest (III Cavalry Division), Brigadier General John H. Morgan (IV Cavalry Division). Johnston expertly deployed his six main corps along the Ohio River, flanking the Louisville Corps as the Reserve Corps kept men back to reinforce if need be. Meanwhile, he allowed the Cavalry under Wharton, Wheeler, and Morgan to roam the country side for supplies and equipment while the one under Forrest was allowed to continue raiding campaigns. Each of the main army corps had 9,500 men in them supplied with well made entrenchments and artillery along with the Louisville Corps, despite it holding only 6,000 men. The Cavalry divisions were relatively equal, with Forrest's getting 1,500 men while the remaining three got 500. With the army having existed since earlier in the year, it was well run, well maintained, and ready for battle. Rosecrans entire plan for the campaign was to attempt to push into Kentucky by capturing some or all of the forts along the Ohio as well as Louisville. From there, the Army of Indiana would advance south and capture Frankfort and Fort Knox. The hope here was to force Kentucky's ultimate surrender and then push onwards through Tennessee before assisting the Army of the Gulf in the capture of Montgomery. The Union Warplan outside of Virginia was to simply push south either to new Orleans or to Montgomery and capture those cities and hold them until Richmond fell, at which point, many would agree the war had been ended. On July 20th, Rosecrans announced the start of his campaign, though it didn't go off with a great start as the Army of Indiana needed to await pontoon boats to arrive, something that wouldn't happen until September 14th. With the arrival of the boats, General Rosecrans ordered a general advance and hoped that by nightfall, the southern bank of the Ohio would be under Union control. From September 14th-19th, fighting was intense in what became known as the First Battle of the Ohio River saw thousands perish in battle. By the end, the Union had only captured three forts, thanks to the efforts of Grant, Buell, and McClernard who sought to redeem themselves for the loss at Shiloh, but Louisville and the rest of the bank remained under Confederate control. By the night of September 21st, General Rosecrans ordered a general retreat and ended the campaign. The First Battle of the Ohio River is seen as Inconclusive by Historians and with good reasons. The Union had failed to take all of their objectives while the Confederates had failed to hold all their forts. While the Army of Indiana was successfully repelled, it came at a steep cost. On the Confederate side, 1,709 were dead, 3,453 wounded, and 943 captured/missing compared to the 6,325 dead, 9,457 wounded, and 1,082 captured/missing on the Union Side. In total, there were 22,969 causalities and was a marker to come of what would be the next two campaigns into Kentucky for the Union. It would also be the last Major Union offensive into Kentucky until late 1863.   Army of Mississippi (Confederacy) and Army of Indiana (Union) during the First Battle of the Ohio River. Note : None of the Cavalry participated in the battle, with Johnston's I, II, and IV Divisions scouting Kentucky while Sheridan chased Forrest in Ohio
Back in Missouri, General Fremont continued his march southwards, hoping to reach the town of Fayette by August 4th. His intentions was to first capture the capital of Jefferson City before splitting his army in tow and taking Kansas City and St. Louis before merging during the march into Arkansas. On August 1st, he sent to a telegram to President Lincoln that stated that the campaign was going quite well and that he believed he would face no substantial resistance against the smaller Confederate Army. He was wrong, however, as General Joe Johnston sent his Cavalry Corps to harrass the Union supply lines while leaving behind trained Confederate Guerillas to harass the Army of Iowa as it continued to march south. As these attacks increased in magnitude, morale began to waver in the Union Army and slowly men deserted. Eventually, they met the Army of Missouri for the first time in battle at a forest 19 miles north of Fayette. The Confederates had entrenched themselves deeply and set up barriers and obstructions to try and stop Union Advances. The Army of Iowa, by this point in time, had slightly shrunk. Of the 72,000 that started out the campaign, around 68,750 were at the Battle, of which, only 66,230 were combat effective. While they still outnumbered the Confederate Army, it wasn't by the 2:1 margin that Fremont had originally hoped to have.
The Battle of Bloody Forest, as it would be known, would take place from August 3rd-August 4th and saw continuous Union assaults on the Confederate position. While the Confederates mostly held their ground, there were some parts that saw the Union penetrate and by the late afternoon of August 4th, they looked to be ready to roll up the Confederacy's flank. During the night, while there was still a chance, General Johnston and his men slipped by the Army of Iowa and withdrew to Boonville on the Southern bank of the Missouri River where a better fortified position had been prepared. The Battle of Bloody Forest took around 1,023 dead, 2,843 wounded, and 519 captured/missing on both sides combined and Fremont, knowing how exhausted his men were, ordered a general rest until the 7th, when his army would march to Fayette and hopefully reach it by the 10th. This allowed time for Johnston to withdraw and prepare his defenses for the last major battle of the campaign.
After staying in Fayette from August 10th-August 13th, Fremont moved further south. His experience at Bloody Forrest had concerned him and he realized that if he were to engage in another battle like that, his campaign would be effectively over. However, his path was already drawn out and he couldn't change it halfway through. On August 14th, he marched his men towards Boonville, knowing full well what to expect. On August 21st, the Union would arrive and from the 22nd-26th, a fierce battle ensued that would see the Union be defeated and sent retreating as the Confederates waved the stars and bars proudly. The Battle of Boonville had given both sides extreme causalities, with 3,457 dead, 7,329 wounded, and 743 captured/missing combined. Following the Battle, Fremont would withdraw to Mercer and focus on rebuilding his army for the rest of the year. He, much like Generals Rosecrans in Indiana and Butler in Alabama, would not move for another offensive until the next year.
The Disaster of the three major western campaigns had caused distress for the Union President and great joy for the Confederate President. In Early 1862, it seemed as if the South was doomed to be pushed back and defeated, but following the Battle of Shiloh, the South seemed to have the Momentum fully in their court with three northern offensives stopped aimed at taking their capital and six of the 13 states. Lincoln famously said to friends "Ever since that foolish battle in Tennessee, it has seemed as if God himself is against us." Despite all the setbacks, Lincoln ordered the Armies of Iowa, Indiana, and the Gulf to pull back and await further instructions while he placed even more efforts in the East. It had born fruit, after all, even if it wasn't the exact kind of fruit he had been expecting. He just hoped that it would be enough.
Post #6 is now finished, detailing the two other major campaigns in the Western Theatre of the war. These battles aren't as detailed and are mostly repeats because the geography of these battles are unknown to me and look to be relatively eh. Yet another thanks to John Wolf Smith on CivilWartalk.com for helping me make this. I can't wait to do the next post tomorrow. TTYT! |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Feb 6, 2020 21:57:59 GMT
While the March to Montgomery Campaign was taking place, the Union was still focused on bringing the offensive to the Confederacy and one way to do that was to invade Missouri. The state was one of the last states to secede the Union in 1861 and had quickly been secured by Confederate forces as Kentucky was occupied by the Union. Ever since, there had been growing agitation in the Union President's circle about a push into Missouri, as it bordered the Nebraska Territory and the States of Kansas from the East, Iowa from the South, and Lincoln's home state of Illinois to the west. To the Union, the capture of Missouri and more importantly, the capture of St. Louis, could greatly assist Union forces in the capture of the Mississippi River and the full success of the Anaconda Plan. With that task in mind, Lincoln created the Army of Iowa in Mid May of 1862 and placed it under the command of Major General John C. Fremont. When it was first formed, the Army consisted of 42,000 men and had 4 corps but as Fremont planned for his offensive, it swelled to 75,000 and had developed a Reserve and Cavalry Corps as well. Of the 75,000 men in the army, 60,0000 were placed in the first four corps, 20,000 each, while 10,000 was placed in the reserve and the remaining 5,000 was placed in the Cavalry. To effectively minister command, General Fremont organized each Corps with a commander, with Major General Jefferson C. Davis (Not to be confused with Confederate General of the Army of Southern Alabama, Jefferson Davis) commanding the I Corps, Major General Franz Sigel commanding the II, Brigadier General John Schofield, Brigadier General Samuel R. Curtis commanding the IV, Brigadier General Grenville M. Dodge commanding the reserves, and Brigadier General Gordon Granger commanding the Cavalry. However, to counteract this, President Breckenridge had earlier organized the Army of Missouri and originally placed it under the command of Lieutenant General Richard Taylor before replacing him with former commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, General Joseph E. Johnston. Formed in late 1861 following the liberation of Missouri to protect it from Union Incursion, by mid 1862, the Army consisted of 37,500 men divided into 3 full corps and 2 cavalry corps. Each main Corps consisted of 10,500 men while the Cavalry Corps consisted of the remaining men. Major General Sterling Price commanded the I Corps, Major General Theophilus H. Holmes commanded the II Corps, Major General Martin L. Smith commanded the III Corps, Major General Earl Van Dorn commanded the I Cavalry Corps, and Brigadier General Thomas Green commanded the II Cavalry Corps. The Army of Missouri under Johnston was well organized and trained regularly, with constant surveillance of the borders to alert him as to any Union advance. Johnston, having learned from the mistakes done by him during the Peninsula Campaign decided for a more solidly defensive route to any Union advance into the state, with his main defensive lines being built on the banks of rivers and fortifications and entrenchments on the outskirts of certain cities. John C. Fremont was ordered by President Lincoln to formulate a plan to quickly retake Missouri and he did. Considering that the Confederates were outnumbered two to one and that they would not be able to stand against his Army in a prolonged engagement, he developed a full force aggression against the Army of Missouri. His army would first march south from Des Moines into Missouri and would live off the land should their supply lines be cut. His main goal was to capture the capital city of Jefferson City and the largest cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield. This would hopefully demoralize any pro-confederate sympathies in the state and allow him to occupy it. He would then gave a blanket abolition of Slavery across the state and hope that enough freedmen joined his ranks to continue south into Arkansas and hopefully, Louisiana. By February of 1863, he believed, the Union would have control of 3 of the Confederacies 4 trans Mississippi states and the river itself. The plan was overly ambitious but at this point in time, President Lincoln was ready for any kind of victory, no matter the cost. Thus, on July 25th, the Army of Iowa begin to march south. Thanks to good roads having been worked on in the years leading up to the war, the march didn't have the same issue that the Army of the Gulf would later go through. Upon reaching Mercer, Missouri by July 27th, Fremont ordered a full day of rest for the Army. Unbeknownst to them, however, Dorn's I Cavalry Corps caught sight of the massive Union Army marching south and reported to General Johnston, who was encamped at Brunswick, 93 miles south of Mercer. Realizing that the campaign had begun, the General ordered his Cavalry Corps to continue their reconnaissance and harass the Union supply line whenever they could. Whatever the cost, he was determined to push the Union back. Army of Missouri (Confederacy) and Army of Iowa (Union) organization for the Missouri campaign
Meanwhile, east of Iowa and Missouri lay another battleground : Kentucky. Following the Battle of Fort Sumter in early 1861 in which the Union, rather unintentionally, opened with the first shots of the war, the state of Kentucky considered brief neutrality with the southern most portion of the state supporting the Confederacy. However, when the Army of the Ohio moved into the state in early 1862 under orders of Lincoln, it declared secession from the Union and sent delegates to Montgomery to join the Confederacy. As this was going on, however, the Union quickly overwhelmed the mediocre Confederate defenses in the State and by mid 1861 had it fully occupied. For the rest of the year and most of early 1862, the state was under strict Union occupation with strict punishments being used against any confederate sympathizers. Following the bloody battle of Shiloh on April 5-7th, however, the Union was forced to effectively leave the state open to General Albert Sidney Johnston's Army of Mississippi, which quickly recaptured control of the state by late May. In Early June, the government of Kentucky returned to the state and began to work with General A. Johnston on how to keep it secure from any further Union incursions and the General's advice was to simply build large fortifications on their side of the Ohio River and just hold it against Union assaults. By Mid June, these forts were constructed in full and General Johnston began to place his army to proper use. On the other side of the Ohio, however, the Union was a mess. The near destruction of Grant's Army of the Tennessee and Buell's Army of the Ohio made many fear that a Confederate invasion of the Midwest was likely. However, despite a few raids from Brigadier General Nathaniel Bedford Forest and his mighty cavalry division wreaking havoc in the southern most portions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, not much happened. On June 17th, Lincoln officially formed the Army of Indiana and placed it under the command of Major general William Rosecrans before merging Grant's and Buell's armies into it. The Army was perhaps one of the largest ever formed, consisting of 124,000 men and 7 corps and an cavalry corps. Each of the corps had 15,500 men in them. The I Corps was placed under the command of Grant, who Lincoln favored the most out of the other generals for his ability to continue to fight instead of the cautiousness of his other generals. The Commander of the II Corps was Major General George H. Thomas, the III Corps was lead by Major General Alexander M. McCook, the IV commanded by Thomas L. Crittenden, the V by Buell, the VI by Major General William Nelson, and the VII by Major General John A. McClernand as the Cavalry Corps was placed under Brigadier General Phillip H. Sheridan. It wasn't as well organized as the Armies of the Potomac, Iowa, or Virginia, but was deemed suitable enough to assault Kentucky and hopefully retake it. On the other side of the Ohio River, however, stood the mighty and so far undefeated Army of Mississippi, commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston. The mastermind behind the Union Massacre known as Shiloh, he was held to high regard throughout the Confederacy and was seen by many as the best general in the confederate army, especially in the aftermath of Lee's Death. Following the liberation of Kentucky by the Army of Mississippi, the original II Corps under the command of then Major General Jefferson Davis was detached from Johnston and turned into the Army of Southern Alabama to protect the capital against the Federal Army of the Gulf. However, the old II Corps was almost immediately replaced by a new one. By July of 1862, the Army of Mississippi had 72,000 men with 6 main corps, one reserve corps, and one stationed at Louisville while 4 Cavalry Divisions were allowed to roam free to conduct reconnaissance. Johnston placed the corps and divisions under several commanders in the following order : Major General Leonidas Polk (I Corps), the newly promoted Major General Richard Taylor (II Corps), Major General William J. Hardee (III Corps), Major General Braxton Bragg (IV Corps), Major General Edmund K. Smith (V Corps), Major General Simon B. Buckner Sr. (VI Corps), Major General Gideon J. Pillow (Reserve Corps), Major General Dabney H. Maury (Louisville Corps), Brigadier General John A. Wharton (I Cavalry Division), Brigadier General Joseph Wheeler (II Cavalry Division), Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest (III Cavalry Division), Brigadier General John H. Morgan (IV Cavalry Division). Johnston expertly deployed his six main corps along the Ohio River, flanking the Louisville Corps as the Reserve Corps kept men back to reinforce if need be. Meanwhile, he allowed the Cavalry under Wharton, Wheeler, and Morgan to roam the country side for supplies and equipment while the one under Forrest was allowed to continue raiding campaigns. Each of the main army corps had 9,500 men in them supplied with well made entrenchments and artillery along with the Louisville Corps, despite it holding only 6,000 men. The Cavalry divisions were relatively equal, with Forrest's getting 1,500 men while the remaining three got 500. With the army having existed since earlier in the year, it was well run, well maintained, and ready for battle. Rosecrans entire plan for the campaign was to attempt to push into Kentucky by capturing some or all of the forts along the Ohio as well as Louisville. From there, the Army of Indiana would advance south and capture Frankfort and Fort Knox. The hope here was to force Kentucky's ultimate surrender and then push onwards through Tennessee before assisting the Army of the Gulf in the capture of Montgomery. The Union Warplan outside of Virginia was to simply push south either to new Orleans or to Montgomery and capture those cities and hold them until Richmond fell, at which point, many would agree the war had been ended. On July 20th, Rosecrans announced the start of his campaign, though it didn't go off with a great start as the Army of Indiana needed to await pontoon boats to arrive, something that wouldn't happen until September 14th. With the arrival of the boats, General Rosecrans ordered a general advance and hoped that by nightfall, the southern bank of the Ohio would be under Union control. From September 14th-19th, fighting was intense in what became known as the First Battle of the Ohio River saw thousands perish in battle. By the end, the Union had only captured three forts, thanks to the efforts of Grant, Buell, and McClernard who sought to redeem themselves for the loss at Shiloh, but Louisville and the rest of the bank remained under Confederate control. By the night of September 21st, General Rosecrans ordered a general retreat and ended the campaign. The First Battle of the Ohio River is seen as Inconclusive by Historians and with good reasons. The Union had failed to take all of their objectives while the Confederates had failed to hold all their forts. While the Army of Indiana was successfully repelled, it came at a steep cost. On the Confederate side, 1,709 were dead, 3,453 wounded, and 943 captured/missing compared to the 6,325 dead, 9,457 wounded, and 1,082 captured/missing on the Union Side. In total, there were 22,969 causalities and was a marker to come of what would be the next two campaigns into Kentucky for the Union. It would also be the last Major Union offensive into Kentucky until late 1863. Army of Mississippi (Confederacy) and Army of Indiana (Union) during the First Battle of the Ohio River. Note : None of the Cavalry participated in the battle, with Johnston's I, II, and IV Divisions scouting Kentucky while Sheridan chased Forrest in Ohio
Back in Missouri, General Fremont continued his march southwards, hoping to reach the town of Fayette by August 4th. His intentions was to first capture the capital of Jefferson City before splitting his army in tow and taking Kansas City and St. Louis before merging during the march into Arkansas. On August 1st, he sent to a telegram to President Lincoln that stated that the campaign was going quite well and that he believed he would face no substantial resistance against the smaller Confederate Army. He was wrong, however, as General Joe Johnston sent his Cavalry Corps to harrass the Union supply lines while leaving behind trained Confederate Guerillas to harass the Army of Iowa as it continued to march south. As these attacks increased in magnitude, morale began to waver in the Union Army and slowly men deserted. Eventually, they met the Army of Missouri for the first time in battle at a forest 19 miles north of Fayette. The Confederates had entrenched themselves deeply and set up barriers and obstructions to try and stop Union Advances. The Army of Iowa, by this point in time, had slightly shrunk. Of the 72,000 that started out the campaign, around 68,750 were at the Battle, of which, only 66,230 were combat effective. While they still outnumbered the Confederate Army, it wasn't by the 2:1 margin that Fremont had originally hoped to have.
The Battle of Bloody Forest, as it would be known, would take place from August 3rd-August 4th and saw continuous Union assaults on the Confederate position. While the Confederates mostly held their ground, there were some parts that saw the Union penetrate and by the late afternoon of August 4th, they looked to be ready to roll up the Confederacy's flank. During the night, while there was still a chance, General Johnston and his men slipped by the Army of Iowa and withdrew to Boonville on the Southern bank of the Missouri River where a better fortified position had been prepared. The Battle of Bloody Forest took around 1,023 dead, 2,843 wounded, and 519 captured/missing on both sides combined and Fremont, knowing how exhausted his men were, ordered a general rest until the 7th, when his army would march to Fayette and hopefully reach it by the 10th. This allowed time for Johnston to withdraw and prepare his defenses for the last major battle of the campaign.
After staying in Fayette from August 10th-August 13th, Fremont moved further south. His experience at Bloody Forrest had concerned him and he realized that if he were to engage in another battle like that, his campaign would be effectively over. However, his path was already drawn out and he couldn't change it halfway through. On August 14th, he marched his men towards Boonville, knowing full well what to expect. On August 21st, the Union would arrive and from the 22nd-26th, a fierce battle ensued that would see the Union be defeated and sent retreating as the Confederates waved the stars and bars proudly. The Battle of Boonville had given both sides extreme causalities, with 3,457 dead, 7,329 wounded, and 743 captured/missing combined. Following the Battle, Fremont would withdraw to Mercer and focus on rebuilding his army for the rest of the year. He, much like Generals Rosecrans in Indiana and Butler in Alabama, would not move for another offensive until the next year.
The Disaster of the three major western campaigns had caused distress for the Union President and great joy for the Confederate President. In Early 1862, it seemed as if the South was doomed to be pushed back and defeated, but following the Battle of Shiloh, the South seemed to have the Momentum fully in their court with three northern offensives stopped aimed at taking their capital and six of the 13 states. Lincoln famously said to friends "Ever since that foolish battle in Tennessee, it has seemed as if God himself is against us." Despite all the setbacks, Lincoln ordered the Armies of Iowa, Indiana, and the Gulf to pull back and await further instructions while he placed even more efforts in the East. It had born fruit, after all, even if it wasn't the exact kind of fruit he had been expecting. He just hoped that it would be enough.
Post #6 is now finished, detailing the two other major campaigns in the Western Theatre of the war. These battles aren't as detailed and are mostly repeats because the geography of these battles are unknown to me and look to be relatively eh. Yet another thanks to John Wolf Smith on CivilWartalk.com for helping me make this. I can't wait to do the next post tomorrow. TTYT! Another good update genyodectes. |
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genyodectes
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I'm just a Ceratosaur trying to make his way in Alternate History
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 6, 2020 22:36:13 GMT
While the March to Montgomery Campaign was taking place, the Union was still focused on bringing the offensive to the Confederacy and one way to do that was to invade Missouri. The state was one of the last states to secede the Union in 1861 and had quickly been secured by Confederate forces as Kentucky was occupied by the Union. Ever since, there had been growing agitation in the Union President's circle about a push into Missouri, as it bordered the Nebraska Territory and the States of Kansas from the East, Iowa from the South, and Lincoln's home state of Illinois to the west. To the Union, the capture of Missouri and more importantly, the capture of St. Louis, could greatly assist Union forces in the capture of the Mississippi River and the full success of the Anaconda Plan. With that task in mind, Lincoln created the Army of Iowa in Mid May of 1862 and placed it under the command of Major General John C. Fremont. When it was first formed, the Army consisted of 42,000 men and had 4 corps but as Fremont planned for his offensive, it swelled to 75,000 and had developed a Reserve and Cavalry Corps as well. Of the 75,000 men in the army, 60,0000 were placed in the first four corps, 20,000 each, while 10,000 was placed in the reserve and the remaining 5,000 was placed in the Cavalry. To effectively minister command, General Fremont organized each Corps with a commander, with Major General Jefferson C. Davis (Not to be confused with Confederate General of the Army of Southern Alabama, Jefferson Davis) commanding the I Corps, Major General Franz Sigel commanding the II, Brigadier General John Schofield, Brigadier General Samuel R. Curtis commanding the IV, Brigadier General Grenville M. Dodge commanding the reserves, and Brigadier General Gordon Granger commanding the Cavalry. However, to counteract this, President Breckenridge had earlier organized the Army of Missouri and originally placed it under the command of Lieutenant General Richard Taylor before replacing him with former commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, General Joseph E. Johnston. Formed in late 1861 following the liberation of Missouri to protect it from Union Incursion, by mid 1862, the Army consisted of 37,500 men divided into 3 full corps and 2 cavalry corps. Each main Corps consisted of 10,500 men while the Cavalry Corps consisted of the remaining men. Major General Sterling Price commanded the I Corps, Major General Theophilus H. Holmes commanded the II Corps, Major General Martin L. Smith commanded the III Corps, Major General Earl Van Dorn commanded the I Cavalry Corps, and Brigadier General Thomas Green commanded the II Cavalry Corps. The Army of Missouri under Johnston was well organized and trained regularly, with constant surveillance of the borders to alert him as to any Union advance. Johnston, having learned from the mistakes done by him during the Peninsula Campaign decided for a more solidly defensive route to any Union advance into the state, with his main defensive lines being built on the banks of rivers and fortifications and entrenchments on the outskirts of certain cities. John C. Fremont was ordered by President Lincoln to formulate a plan to quickly retake Missouri and he did. Considering that the Confederates were outnumbered two to one and that they would not be able to stand against his Army in a prolonged engagement, he developed a full force aggression against the Army of Missouri. His army would first march south from Des Moines into Missouri and would live off the land should their supply lines be cut. His main goal was to capture the capital city of Jefferson City and the largest cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield. This would hopefully demoralize any pro-confederate sympathies in the state and allow him to occupy it. He would then gave a blanket abolition of Slavery across the state and hope that enough freedmen joined his ranks to continue south into Arkansas and hopefully, Louisiana. By February of 1863, he believed, the Union would have control of 3 of the Confederacies 4 trans Mississippi states and the river itself. The plan was overly ambitious but at this point in time, President Lincoln was ready for any kind of victory, no matter the cost. Thus, on July 25th, the Army of Iowa begin to march south. Thanks to good roads having been worked on in the years leading up to the war, the march didn't have the same issue that the Army of the Gulf would later go through. Upon reaching Mercer, Missouri by July 27th, Fremont ordered a full day of rest for the Army. Unbeknownst to them, however, Dorn's I Cavalry Corps caught sight of the massive Union Army marching south and reported to General Johnston, who was encamped at Brunswick, 93 miles south of Mercer. Realizing that the campaign had begun, the General ordered his Cavalry Corps to continue their reconnaissance and harass the Union supply line whenever they could. Whatever the cost, he was determined to push the Union back. Army of Missouri (Confederacy) and Army of Iowa (Union) organization for the Missouri campaign
Meanwhile, east of Iowa and Missouri lay another battleground : Kentucky. Following the Battle of Fort Sumter in early 1861 in which the Union, rather unintentionally, opened with the first shots of the war, the state of Kentucky considered brief neutrality with the southern most portion of the state supporting the Confederacy. However, when the Army of the Ohio moved into the state in early 1862 under orders of Lincoln, it declared secession from the Union and sent delegates to Montgomery to join the Confederacy. As this was going on, however, the Union quickly overwhelmed the mediocre Confederate defenses in the State and by mid 1861 had it fully occupied. For the rest of the year and most of early 1862, the state was under strict Union occupation with strict punishments being used against any confederate sympathizers. Following the bloody battle of Shiloh on April 5-7th, however, the Union was forced to effectively leave the state open to General Albert Sidney Johnston's Army of Mississippi, which quickly recaptured control of the state by late May. In Early June, the government of Kentucky returned to the state and began to work with General A. Johnston on how to keep it secure from any further Union incursions and the General's advice was to simply build large fortifications on their side of the Ohio River and just hold it against Union assaults. By Mid June, these forts were constructed in full and General Johnston began to place his army to proper use. On the other side of the Ohio, however, the Union was a mess. The near destruction of Grant's Army of the Tennessee and Buell's Army of the Ohio made many fear that a Confederate invasion of the Midwest was likely. However, despite a few raids from Brigadier General Nathaniel Bedford Forest and his mighty cavalry division wreaking havoc in the southern most portions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, not much happened. On June 17th, Lincoln officially formed the Army of Indiana and placed it under the command of Major general William Rosecrans before merging Grant's and Buell's armies into it. The Army was perhaps one of the largest ever formed, consisting of 124,000 men and 7 corps and an cavalry corps. Each of the corps had 15,500 men in them. The I Corps was placed under the command of Grant, who Lincoln favored the most out of the other generals for his ability to continue to fight instead of the cautiousness of his other generals. The Commander of the II Corps was Major General George H. Thomas, the III Corps was lead by Major General Alexander M. McCook, the IV commanded by Thomas L. Crittenden, the V by Buell, the VI by Major General William Nelson, and the VII by Major General John A. McClernand as the Cavalry Corps was placed under Brigadier General Phillip H. Sheridan. It wasn't as well organized as the Armies of the Potomac, Iowa, or Virginia, but was deemed suitable enough to assault Kentucky and hopefully retake it. On the other side of the Ohio River, however, stood the mighty and so far undefeated Army of Mississippi, commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston. The mastermind behind the Union Massacre known as Shiloh, he was held to high regard throughout the Confederacy and was seen by many as the best general in the confederate army, especially in the aftermath of Lee's Death. Following the liberation of Kentucky by the Army of Mississippi, the original II Corps under the command of then Major General Jefferson Davis was detached from Johnston and turned into the Army of Southern Alabama to protect the capital against the Federal Army of the Gulf. However, the old II Corps was almost immediately replaced by a new one. By July of 1862, the Army of Mississippi had 72,000 men with 6 main corps, one reserve corps, and one stationed at Louisville while 4 Cavalry Divisions were allowed to roam free to conduct reconnaissance. Johnston placed the corps and divisions under several commanders in the following order : Major General Leonidas Polk (I Corps), the newly promoted Major General Richard Taylor (II Corps), Major General William J. Hardee (III Corps), Major General Braxton Bragg (IV Corps), Major General Edmund K. Smith (V Corps), Major General Simon B. Buckner Sr. (VI Corps), Major General Gideon J. Pillow (Reserve Corps), Major General Dabney H. Maury (Louisville Corps), Brigadier General John A. Wharton (I Cavalry Division), Brigadier General Joseph Wheeler (II Cavalry Division), Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest (III Cavalry Division), Brigadier General John H. Morgan (IV Cavalry Division). Johnston expertly deployed his six main corps along the Ohio River, flanking the Louisville Corps as the Reserve Corps kept men back to reinforce if need be. Meanwhile, he allowed the Cavalry under Wharton, Wheeler, and Morgan to roam the country side for supplies and equipment while the one under Forrest was allowed to continue raiding campaigns. Each of the main army corps had 9,500 men in them supplied with well made entrenchments and artillery along with the Louisville Corps, despite it holding only 6,000 men. The Cavalry divisions were relatively equal, with Forrest's getting 1,500 men while the remaining three got 500. With the army having existed since earlier in the year, it was well run, well maintained, and ready for battle. Rosecrans entire plan for the campaign was to attempt to push into Kentucky by capturing some or all of the forts along the Ohio as well as Louisville. From there, the Army of Indiana would advance south and capture Frankfort and Fort Knox. The hope here was to force Kentucky's ultimate surrender and then push onwards through Tennessee before assisting the Army of the Gulf in the capture of Montgomery. The Union Warplan outside of Virginia was to simply push south either to new Orleans or to Montgomery and capture those cities and hold them until Richmond fell, at which point, many would agree the war had been ended. On July 20th, Rosecrans announced the start of his campaign, though it didn't go off with a great start as the Army of Indiana needed to await pontoon boats to arrive, something that wouldn't happen until September 14th. With the arrival of the boats, General Rosecrans ordered a general advance and hoped that by nightfall, the southern bank of the Ohio would be under Union control. From September 14th-19th, fighting was intense in what became known as the First Battle of the Ohio River saw thousands perish in battle. By the end, the Union had only captured three forts, thanks to the efforts of Grant, Buell, and McClernard who sought to redeem themselves for the loss at Shiloh, but Louisville and the rest of the bank remained under Confederate control. By the night of September 21st, General Rosecrans ordered a general retreat and ended the campaign. The First Battle of the Ohio River is seen as Inconclusive by Historians and with good reasons. The Union had failed to take all of their objectives while the Confederates had failed to hold all their forts. While the Army of Indiana was successfully repelled, it came at a steep cost. On the Confederate side, 1,709 were dead, 3,453 wounded, and 943 captured/missing compared to the 6,325 dead, 9,457 wounded, and 1,082 captured/missing on the Union Side. In total, there were 22,969 causalities and was a marker to come of what would be the next two campaigns into Kentucky for the Union. It would also be the last Major Union offensive into Kentucky until late 1863. Army of Mississippi (Confederacy) and Army of Indiana (Union) during the First Battle of the Ohio River. Note : None of the Cavalry participated in the battle, with Johnston's I, II, and IV Divisions scouting Kentucky while Sheridan chased Forrest in Ohio
Back in Missouri, General Fremont continued his march southwards, hoping to reach the town of Fayette by August 4th. His intentions was to first capture the capital of Jefferson City before splitting his army in tow and taking Kansas City and St. Louis before merging during the march into Arkansas. On August 1st, he sent to a telegram to President Lincoln that stated that the campaign was going quite well and that he believed he would face no substantial resistance against the smaller Confederate Army. He was wrong, however, as General Joe Johnston sent his Cavalry Corps to harrass the Union supply lines while leaving behind trained Confederate Guerillas to harass the Army of Iowa as it continued to march south. As these attacks increased in magnitude, morale began to waver in the Union Army and slowly men deserted. Eventually, they met the Army of Missouri for the first time in battle at a forest 19 miles north of Fayette. The Confederates had entrenched themselves deeply and set up barriers and obstructions to try and stop Union Advances. The Army of Iowa, by this point in time, had slightly shrunk. Of the 72,000 that started out the campaign, around 68,750 were at the Battle, of which, only 66,230 were combat effective. While they still outnumbered the Confederate Army, it wasn't by the 2:1 margin that Fremont had originally hoped to have.
The Battle of Bloody Forest, as it would be known, would take place from August 3rd-August 4th and saw continuous Union assaults on the Confederate position. While the Confederates mostly held their ground, there were some parts that saw the Union penetrate and by the late afternoon of August 4th, they looked to be ready to roll up the Confederacy's flank. During the night, while there was still a chance, General Johnston and his men slipped by the Army of Iowa and withdrew to Boonville on the Southern bank of the Missouri River where a better fortified position had been prepared. The Battle of Bloody Forest took around 1,023 dead, 2,843 wounded, and 519 captured/missing on both sides combined and Fremont, knowing how exhausted his men were, ordered a general rest until the 7th, when his army would march to Fayette and hopefully reach it by the 10th. This allowed time for Johnston to withdraw and prepare his defenses for the last major battle of the campaign.
After staying in Fayette from August 10th-August 13th, Fremont moved further south. His experience at Bloody Forrest had concerned him and he realized that if he were to engage in another battle like that, his campaign would be effectively over. However, his path was already drawn out and he couldn't change it halfway through. On August 14th, he marched his men towards Boonville, knowing full well what to expect. On August 21st, the Union would arrive and from the 22nd-26th, a fierce battle ensued that would see the Union be defeated and sent retreating as the Confederates waved the stars and bars proudly. The Battle of Boonville had given both sides extreme causalities, with 3,457 dead, 7,329 wounded, and 743 captured/missing combined. Following the Battle, Fremont would withdraw to Mercer and focus on rebuilding his army for the rest of the year. He, much like Generals Rosecrans in Indiana and Butler in Alabama, would not move for another offensive until the next year.
The Disaster of the three major western campaigns had caused distress for the Union President and great joy for the Confederate President. In Early 1862, it seemed as if the South was doomed to be pushed back and defeated, but following the Battle of Shiloh, the South seemed to have the Momentum fully in their court with three northern offensives stopped aimed at taking their capital and six of the 13 states. Lincoln famously said to friends "Ever since that foolish battle in Tennessee, it has seemed as if God himself is against us." Despite all the setbacks, Lincoln ordered the Armies of Iowa, Indiana, and the Gulf to pull back and await further instructions while he placed even more efforts in the East. It had born fruit, after all, even if it wasn't the exact kind of fruit he had been expecting. He just hoped that it would be enough.
Post #6 is now finished, detailing the two other major campaigns in the Western Theatre of the war. These battles aren't as detailed and are mostly repeats because the geography of these battles are unknown to me and look to be relatively eh. Yet another thanks to John Wolf Smith on CivilWartalk.com for helping me make this. I can't wait to do the next post tomorrow. TTYT! Another good update genyodectes . Thanks. Of the 6 main posts, which of them do you believe is your favorite so far? |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Feb 7, 2020 15:28:35 GMT
genyodectes , Given how outnumbered the army of Missouri was I'm surprised that Fremont made a frontal attack on a fortified position rather than sending some of his forces to turn either/both flanks? If Fremont does start releasing slaves then it will have less impact than OTL in Kentucky as here he's in territory that has declared for secession. Hence probably not going to be rapidly dismissed to avoid alienating a loyal state.
Confusing with two Jefferson Davis but then there were a lot of cases like that in the USCW OTL as well. Not to mention having two armies either side of the Mississippi with a commanding general called Johnston. 
I think you have a small typo in the heading for the final section where you call the Confederate force the Army of the Mississippi rather than the Missouri.
Steve
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genyodectes
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 7, 2020 15:49:42 GMT
genyodectes , Given how outnumbered the army of Missouri was I'm surprised that Fremont made a frontal attack on a fortified position rather than sending some of his forces to turn either/both flanks? If Fremont does start releasing slaves then it will have less impact than OTL in Kentucky as here he's in territory that has declared for secession. Hence probably not going to be rapidly dismissed to avoid alienating a loyal state.
Confusing with two Jefferson Davis but then there were a lot of cases like that in the USCW OTL as well. Not to mention having two armies either side of the Mississippi with a commanding general called Johnston.
I think you have a small typo in the heading for the final section where you call the Confederate force the Army of the Mississippi rather than the Missouri.
Steve
Usually in battles where one side outnumbers the other by a decent margin, the tactic is usually human wave attack, even if the enemy entrenched. Very rarely is the situation different. And yeah, Fremont wasn't completely forced out of Missouri unlike how Rosecrans basically had to give up his march into Kentucky, so he could enact emancipation and abolition of slavery here. Yeah, especially when the two johnstons are just a state away from each other and you have one chapter that features them both. The only silver lining for the Jeffersons is that they're in different theatres of the war, which makes it easier on me. Finally, as for the heading going into the final section, it was showing the military organization of the major armies for the Kentucky theatre. I'll make post #7 ASAP. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Feb 7, 2020 18:56:39 GMT
genyodectes , Given how outnumbered the army of Missouri was I'm surprised that Fremont made a frontal attack on a fortified position rather than sending some of his forces to turn either/both flanks? If Fremont does start releasing slaves then it will have less impact than OTL in Kentucky as here he's in territory that has declared for secession. Hence probably not going to be rapidly dismissed to avoid alienating a loyal state.
Confusing with two Jefferson Davis but then there were a lot of cases like that in the USCW OTL as well. Not to mention having two armies either side of the Mississippi with a commanding general called Johnston.
I think you have a small typo in the heading for the final section where you call the Confederate force the Army of the Mississippi rather than the Missouri.
Steve
Usually in battles where one side outnumbers the other by a decent margin, the tactic is usually human wave attack, even if the enemy entrenched. Very rarely is the situation different. And yeah, Fremont wasn't completely forced out of Missouri unlike how Rosecrans basically had to give up his march into Kentucky, so he could enact emancipation and abolition of slavery here. Yeah, especially when the two johnstons are just a state away from each other and you have one chapter that features them both. The only silver lining for the Jeffersons is that they're in different theatres of the war, which makes it easier on me. Finally, as for the heading going into the final section, it was showing the military organization of the major armies for the Kentucky theatre. I'll make post #7 ASAP.
Only if the attacking commander is a total idiot or has no alternative because the flanks can't be turned. Even then best to plan with artillery preparations and staged attacks to try and select key points where you might have a chance of breaking through.
OK sorry about the misunderstanding on the heading.
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genyodectes
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Post by genyodectes on Feb 7, 2020 19:04:43 GMT
Usually in battles where one side outnumbers the other by a decent margin, the tactic is usually human wave attack, even if the enemy entrenched. Very rarely is the situation different. And yeah, Fremont wasn't completely forced out of Missouri unlike how Rosecrans basically had to give up his march into Kentucky, so he could enact emancipation and abolition of slavery here. Yeah, especially when the two johnstons are just a state away from each other and you have one chapter that features them both. The only silver lining for the Jeffersons is that they're in different theatres of the war, which makes it easier on me. Finally, as for the heading going into the final section, it was showing the military organization of the major armies for the Kentucky theatre. I'll make post #7 ASAP.
Only if the attacking commander is a total idiot or has no alternative because the flanks can't be turned. Even then best to plan with artillery preparations and staged attacks to try and select key points where you might have a chance of breaking through.
OK sorry about the misunderstanding on the heading.
The misunderstanding is alright, it happens  Also from 1861-mid 1863, the Union military suffered from really bad incompetency (Though in some cases, like Fredericksburg OTL and Ohio River ITTL, there really is no good choice). It's after Gettysburg that the Union Army got its act together. Post 7 will combine the alternate Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Fredericksburg Campaigns all into one, so we can end the year of 1862 quickly and effectively with a bang. |
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