Wrapped in Flames: The Great American War and Beyond
- Thread starter EnglishCanuck
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Even in most IRL mindsets, the fights in the west never dominated headlines the way Gettysburg, Antietam, Bull Run, Seven Days, and all the rest did. ITL it’s probably a result of the massive eastern battles as well, with the Battle of Mine Run being the largest, with the Siege of Washington, Frederick, Ticonderoga and Saratoga dominating the minds of scholars
I do have to say, I sadly expected Bragg to receive the promotion. Which unfortunately bodes ill for the South, while I understand Bragg isn’t a terrible General, he is an unpopular and quarrelsome one. I rate Lee much higher than Bragg and if Lee couldn't hold Grant back during the OTL Overland Campaign I certainly doubt Bragg’s ability to do this. Unless the South gets lucky with a Copperhead Victory, I see a Union victory after a much longer and bloodier war.
Yeah, that is true.
So, I won’t be shocked if the Confederate officers, or at least ones with common sense (aka probably one or two of them), advocate for the strategy of dragging the war until the Presidential Election, with damaging the Union to a point of people giving up and electing a Copperhead. Of course, it is a tricky strategy because if they damage it too much, people may want complete revenge.
However, if Copperheads can not win the election, Confederacy is pretty much doomed. I expect much more radical reconstruction, with a much more radical reaction by the Southerners against it.
An independent confedaracy and all of the butterflies that would create would be fun .
Unless Britain crippled the Union Navy (shy of the Great Lakes, inland rivers and the Pacific, something that wasn't likely to happen) the Confederacy was always going to face the specter of a renewed drive to blockade their coasts and ruin their trade. How well they've prepared for that is an open question...
But the Union can once again bring its numbers to bear in a way that will be extremely uncomfortable. Unfortunately for Lee, unlike the situation in 1862 where Joseph Johnston and McClellan faced off against one another with armies over 100,000 strong each (the combined totals being in excess of 250,000 men on both sides) Lee now has an army that is roughly only 75,000 strong, even with Whiting's troops detached at Annapolis. The Army of the Potomac has taken its worst beating ever, but they can call on probably 30,000 replacements coming from New England and Canada. If Lee gets 10,000 men he's lucky, and with Farragut's plan to go for the throat, Lee isn't going to get lucky.
These last months of 1864 are where he has to make the most with less, because after that he's facing an army that might finally get its act together.
And its all based on true events. OTL Davis did go out West to settle the animosity in the high command of the Army of Tennessee during the Chattanooga Campaign, here thanks to A. S. Johnston being alive and the man with Davis's unquestioned ear until early 1864, he hasn't had to intercede in events so much because everyone accorded Johnston for running some rather clever campaigns. However, with him resigning and no clear successor the toxic attitudes that were always just under the surface in the Confederate Western command get to rear their ugly heads again. OTL Davis never sorted it out to anyone's satisfaction, so we'll see whether Bragg makes himself any more lovable than he did historically.
Unfortunately I can rarely find detailed maps of the regions I'm writing battles in. The gall of historians to make only extremely detailed depictions of areas just beyond where I'm looking for! The number of times historical source maps have stopped just short of where I'm plotting a major battle is incredibly frustrating.
Writing the Battle of Savage's Factory was a mild nightmare for instance because the battle took place across two counties and the maps did not line up precisely! The current topography of Kentucky Grant and Bragg are fighting over has similarly poorly detailed maps for me to fill in enough gaps. Let's hope they go somewhere familiar...
Also an astute observation. There's a solid line of reasoning you've developed
Though with fights that stir the American psyche like the Second Battle of Ticonderoga and Saratoga alongside the Siege of Washington, which very well could have ended the war in 1863, the Western theater has thus far had rather mixed results and generalship which has ranged from the inspired to the idiotic...
I'm so happy to see this tl back, it's maybe my favorite of all time. Poor southern soldiers having to deal with that idiot Brag though.
It's gonna be really fun too to see how southern politics devolves as the war gets worse and worse for them. Especially Georgia and my beloved North Carolina, they both hated Davis and were led by somewhat anti war governors who by the end of war wanted a seperate peace, it'll be interesting to see what they do.
It's gonna be really fun too to see how southern politics devolves as the war gets worse and worse for them. Especially Georgia and my beloved North Carolina, they both hated Davis and were led by somewhat anti war governors who by the end of war wanted a seperate peace, it'll be interesting to see what they do.
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Beauregard was just that unpopular with Davis really. I'm sad to say that there's just such a lack of inspiring persons (besides perhaps Hardee) in command out West that striking fighters are difficult to come by.
Though in some fairness to Bragg, he's got way better terrain to try and hold off Grant than Lee did. Mountains, constricted valleys, rivers. Beautiful stuff to slow an army down.
On a fundamental level, post Siege of Washington, this is now Lee's strategy. He wants to hammer one big blow after another to the Union, and time will tell if he can do it with the resources he has to hand.
Thank you!
Oh both states will have their moments, don't you worry! There's lots to cover as I barrel towards Chapter 100! Really gonna be cramming in some chapters (so much so I may have to split one or two!). I'm really aiming to make Chapter 100 a big one and then Chapter 101 something of a light breather. Time will tell.
Can’t think of any inspiring Confederate Naval Commanders, If the Union can field a comparable naval force in a battle I’d give the edge to Farragut who by now has probably sealed his legacy as the greatest admiral in Union history to this point.
Looking forward to seeing if he can force an engagement with this new confederate fleet of ironclads and how he’ll approach it if he does; seems like something that would have to wait for the construction of the new ironclads though. I don’t know if the Union can wait for nine months to implement the new blockade strategy.
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Another good update with both sides looking desperately for some kind of blow to finally end the other, although both are probably still more resilient than the other side will give credit for. Have we seen the Confederate reaction to the peace treaty between Britain and the US? I can't recall so and I imagine there was quite some level of... huffiness over it.
Unfortunately for the Confederacy they had few admirals of quality. About the only one who ever showed more than passing competency was George Hollins who managed to get his fleet together to inflict one of the few losses on the Union navy. There were many competent individual ships commanders like Raphael Semmes and Isaac Brown, but not too many good admirals. Farragut being back in the picture is a big deal, as now the South has a bit of a nightmare to deal with!
As he's said, he definitely doesn't want to tangle with these rams. They're very dangerous to his ships and his losses at Sandy Hook were, despite the victory, pretty severe in terms of ships and manpower. If he has time though, you can guarantee he will attack as smartly as possible...
Chapter 84 covers the Confederate reaction and they are indeed quite huffy! No matter what you can expect a cool level of irked towards the UK following the war from the South!
The Union has more manpower and seemingly better or equal materiel on land. The confederates winning on the Mississippi is not really that valuable if the Union sweeps down through Kentucky. Even if whatever reinforcements Lee sends check Grant's advance, that would make Lee vulnerable in turn. Barring an important general dieing an unlucky death or getting assassinated at a crucial moment, I don't see how the Union's momentum is stopped. Of course, the union's finances are still in terrible shape after the war with Britain, but at this point most of the populace and leadership is patriotic enough to stave off a total economic collapse via treating the dollar as valuable war bonds even if the rest of the world regards it as joke currency.
On the material aspect, you're absolutely right that now that the Union is able to turn its attention around to the Confederacy they do have the options of marshalling their forces and, given time, steamrolling the Confederacy in overland campaigns through Kentucky to the sea or from Virginia eventually on to Richmond. The Union, despite many painful setbacks recently, still has that numerical edge. The Confederacy is now firmly in the territory where they are starting to lose men that they can't replace. Worse, many of their forces only got so large because they could afford to leave only skeleton garrisons at the coasts, now they have to see if those are enough to protect their coastal entrepots against Union assaults.
They are not.
However, is the Union completely rallied around the destruction of the Confederacy? I think I've done enough in the political updates to show that there is now a large and somewhat more vocal peace party TTL than there was OTL. There's also a lot of discontent with Lincoln's handling of the war thus far. He has most of the Republicans behind him, but the Democrats are definitely not behind him to any extent. More on that in Chapter 100, but suffice to say they think its Lincoln's fault the economy is suffering and the dollar is barely worth the paper its printed on while the Confederate greyback is trading at better value in Europe.
Chapter 97: Lee’s Left Hook
Chapter 97: Lee’s Left Hook
We're the boys that rode around McClellan(ian),
Rode around McClellan(ian), Rode around McClellan(ian)!
We're the boys that rode around McClellan(ian),
Bully boys, hey! Bully boys, ho!
If you want to have a good time, jine the cavalry!
Jine the cavalry! Jine the cavalry!
If you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun,
If you want to smell Hell, jine the cavalry!
Ol' Rosey, won't you come out of The Wilderness?
Come out of The Wilderness, come out of The Wilderness?
Ol' Rosey, won't you come out of The Wilderness?
Bully boys, hey! Bully boys, ho!
If you want to have a good time, jine the cavalry!
Jine the cavalry! Jine the cavalry!
If you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun,
If you want to smell Hell, jine the cavalry!” - Jine the Cavalry, original composition 1864
“By the first week of August the Army of Northern Virginia had recovered from the wounds it had suffered at Mine Run. Though they had taken losses less galling than those inflicted on the Army of the Potomac, Lee’s troops had fought hard, but the Union had inflicted much damage in return. Lee’s troops now numbered a mere 67,000 men, minus the men still detached at Annapolis[1]. However, the emergency emerging out West would force him to detach men to fight.
In mid July, Davis demanded Lee to send a force to “relieve the crisis in Kentucky, lest such stalwart sons of our new nation be driven from their homes as they have been in Missouri.” Lee was reluctant to do so, but with Breckinridge and Davis reminding him that they had little choice. Lee thus decided to part with one of his corps, or at least most of it.
Jackson’s First Corps was still Lee’s strongest remaining single corps. However, in the fighting in the Valley that spring, one of its four divisions had been so badly savaged that Heth’s men had been reduced to guarding Lee’s supply lines. Trimble had been replaced by William D. Pender after the latter had taken ill in the month following Mine Run, leaving D. H. Hill as the most seasoned commander remaining in Jackson’s corps. Jackson’s men, described as “fiery eyed fanatics, forged in the heat of war into grim veterans” were supremely loyal to their eccentric commander. Where he went, so did they.
Lee however, did not wish to move them all west. His vision was for them to leave Heth’s troops to support his rear, while detaching Pender’s men to Fifth Corps to season the relatively fresh troops with a veteran division. Jackson, upon receiving these orders, protested that he could not take so few men West. Lee said that this was necessary to staunch the wound out West while he needed just enough to keep his momentum in the East. Reluctantly, Jackson agreed, and began organizing his men to move through Virginia to support Bragg’s floundering army.
It was imperative, Lee believed, that such movements to weaken his army be masked by an offensive. He believed that it was necessary to continue to harass and embarrass the Army of the Potomac, especially as he learned of the shakeup in command following Rosecrans disastrous loss the month prior. Therefore, he alighted on a strategy which was “less than an invasion and more than a raid” to continue to harass the Federal government and leave them in fear for Washington’s safety.
Therefore, as Jackson was moving West, Lee left his own defensive lines south of Fredericksburg and began to move the army west, with only a thin line of men as a screen. This was at first unnoticed by the Army of the Potomac thanks to bad weather grounding balloon reconnaissance and Stuart’s cavalry remaining ahead of their sluggish Union counterparts. However, none were able to infer where Lee was headed…
In Philadelphia there was considerable consternation in the aftermath of Mine Run, with blame being hurled around at every angle. Rosecrans blamed the response of Hooker for the disaster, while Hooker bristled at such accusations, and Hancock was raked over the coals for inactivity. Rosecrans though, did not emerge unscathed and found himself dragged before the Joint Senate Committee on the Conduct of the War, under the threat of charges, and Lincoln had to gently relieve him of command with the promise of some leniency.
Finding a new commander proved difficult. Many generals were named, Hancock and Reynolds at the forefront, but even moderate Republicans bristled with outrage over the idea that “yet another Democrat” would lead the army. Lincoln had some difficulty disagreeing, and only knew that many of his options were limited. Though Burnside had been suggested, his task in reorganizing the XVI Corps and the new XXI Corps into the Army of the Severn was seen as critical. The most prominent generals in the army were Democrats. It was only through pressure from his political allies that he turned to one man, John Pope.
Pope’s command record was mixed. He had performed poorly out West, often bungling attacks through ambition. However, he had commanded successful actions against many of the premier Confederate commanders, and his independent command in the Valley had turned back Jackson’s thrust in June. Lincoln saw merit in that, and despite some misgivings, the Radicals lauded a man as committed to the Republican cause as Pope.
Pope’s elevation was not without irritation. The prominent men like Reynolds and Hooker were disappointed when not offered command of the army. Reynolds at least was mollified by being placed in command of the Army of the Valley, leaving V Corps in Meade’s capable hands. Hooker and Sickles both disliked Pope, while Hancock gave him outward respect. However, Pope’s newfound confidence from confounding Stonewall Jackson meant he approached the command with his usual hauteur and a great deal of arrogance. He then began changing the commands.
In response to the terrible performance of the cavalry leading to Mine Run, Stoneman and division commander Averell were summarily sacked at the start of July. Only the hard work of John C. Buford had kept the corps alive and well. In Stoneman’s place David M. Gregg was placed in command, while Pleasonton was promoted to command the 2nd Division and a new 3rd Division was created from forces moving from New England under Judson Kilpatrick. This larger cavalry corps had great things expected of it and Gregg, a classmate of Stuart's, aimed to finally bring the Knight of the Golden Spurs to heel.
In XIV Corps, he ‘promoted’ Daniel Sickles by reassigning him to Burnside’s emerging army. Sickles was at first enraged and threatened to resign before his friend Hooker talked him down and encouraged him to take the command, especially as he had not fully recovered from his wounds. In his place Darius Couch was given the command of XIV Corps, largely in spite of his performance at Locust Grove.
This last promotion came only a day before Lee’s absence was noted in the lines. Orders from Philadelphia were quickly dispatched, sending him north to shield Washington as Lee’s movements became more clear…” - Pipe Creek: The Bloody Days, William Westmorland, Philadelphia Press, 1989
“The early movements of Lee’s army were through the west of the Shenandoah Valley. That such a large force was maneuvering into his new area of operations caused extreme disquiet in Reynolds command. Unsure if it was Jackson coming in force again, or the whole rebel army, he drew his men back towards Harper’s Ferry and the rail terminus there, conscious of the need to shield Washington. Other than minor skirmishing, Lee was happy to move beyond the Valley, harassing the soldiers along his path. Stuart’s raiders were much in evidence, and local partisans gave the Confederates guides to aid them in their march.
Lee grouped his forces at Hagerstown and then crossed into Pennsylvania on August 19th. Stuart’s troopers, who had rode and raided across this region of Pennsylvania the year before, knew the region well. They found new forage and plenty of supplies to be requisitioned from the local population. Lee had his men pay in graybacks, which many locals had hoarded from the year before, much to the astonishment of more than a few Confederate quartermasters. One sullen Pennsylvanian clerk would grimly joke “Mr. Davis dollar is worth more than Mr. Lincoln’s now,” which gave Lee some thought on the war.
However, his men would not sit idle long, as over three weeks of rough marching, he had carried his men into Pennsylvania in another invasion of the North. His two forces split in that moment; the Fourth Corps under Hill heading towards Harrisburg to threaten the crossing of the Susquehanna while Second and Third Corps moved south towards the town of Gettysburg after marching through Carlisle.
Pope meanwhile was rushing north through Baltimore, hoping to reach Pennsylvania before Lee. However, he moved his forces through Frederick, wondering if Lee would repeat his drive on Washington like the year before. As Lee’s forces moved towards Harrisburg, the panicked cry of the Pennsylvania government went out, raising concerns in Philadelphia, and Pope immediately kicked his forces into action.
His men moved through Union Mills, through Hanover and Hanover Junction, and came just in time to see the backs of Hill’s men as they retreated from the crossing of Harrisburg. Pope, believing that this was Lee retreating before his army, sent his cavalry in pursuit and to lock Lee in place, leading to the largest cavalry action of the Great American War…” To Arms!: The Great American War, Sheldon Foote, University of Boston 1999.
General J. E. B. Stuart,
“Stuart’s men had been riding hard since the campaign had begun earlier in August. They had provided the screen which prevented the Union from divining Lee’s intentions. Riding up and down the Valley they had raided and captured Union outposts and signal stations, leaving Reynolds effectively blind, and kept Pope from launching any immediate pursuit.
His division and brigade leaders, familiar with the country, had broken up to search for fodder, forage and horses during harvest season. Farmers fleeing their homes had taken many livestock which had been hidden in 1863, but there was always more to be found, and Stuart’s captains did so with aplomb. In particular, the town of Gettysburg served as a rally point for Stuart’s raiders, where they gathered their plunder and prepared to return to Lee’s army.
On the 25th of August, Stuart was moving south with two of his divisions under Fitzhugh Lee and Wade Hampton. Moving south however, they soon ran into the merging divisions of John Buford and Judson Kilpatrick. The leading elements of Buford’s division under Wesley Merritt. They began skirmishing with elements of Stuart’s command, with the South Carolina cavalry taking the lead…
The two sides would assemble for the largest cavalry battle of the war. Between the two sides there were over 15,000 cavalrymen present on the field…
By 3pm the two sides had formed up, Stuart’s two divisions formed up on Cress Ridge, while Burford and Kilpatrick had formed on the lower ground. The Union men were flanked by Little’s Run, with Stallsmith’s Lane acting as a slight dividing line between the flanks. Buford, closer to the Run with Kilpatrick by the Lane, both were looking towards the Confederate cavalry on the high ground. Kilpatrick believed that he could use the ‘unhinged’ flank of Stuart’s cavalry to drive them back into the town. Buford cautioned him that the Confederates had the high ground, and so they should try and goad them into attacking. Kilpatrick wanted to attack head on.
Stuart ended up obliging at 3:30 by ordering both divisions downhill in a full charge. Kilpatrick ordered a countercharge, while Buford, against expectations, ordered his men to hold firm. Kilpatrick thundered towards the men of Hampton’s division. The resulting collision of horseflesh was the heaviest of the whole Great American War, driving eight thousand horsemen together in a contest of steel and shot.
Unfortunately for the men of Fitzhugh Lee’s division, Buford’s calculated maneuver to stay in a single location paid off. As the Confederate charge thundered within 100 paces, Buford’s men fired their carbines from the saddle, unsettling the whole of Lee’s charge. With some regiments armed with repeaters, the volley was devastating. As Lee’s men milled about and tried to reform, the carbines thundered again, and after a third volley, Burford at last ordered his men to attack with cold steel. The resulting counter charge routed Lee’s whole division, with Stuart himself barely escaping unscathed.
"The Old Dragoon" John Buford in 1864
For all the brilliance of Burford’s attack, he was nearly killed himself as Kilpatrick’s men proved unequal with the saber compared to those of Wade Hampton. Kilpatrick led his men from the front in a reckless charge that did not have enough momentum to overcome the downslope charge from the South Carolinian general. The single highlight of Kilpatrick’s movement was the Michigan brigade under Brigadier General George Custer, whose men thundered into their opponents with carbines and then sabers, and the energy of their young general leading them through this proverbial valley of death…
Kilpatrick, at least, perished leading his command. Shot down by a Southern revolver, he died trying to rally his men. Only the fast thinking of Custer saved the division, and they performed a fighting retreat to cover Buford’s flank.
Buford realized that he was pursuing an enemy who intended to reform on the ridge, and at last seeing the coming wave of death promised by Hampton’s men, rolled back to join the now leaderless division. Instead, he led the retreat toward Pope’s army…
While the outcome of the Battle of Cress Ridge is still debated by modern historians for leadership, it showed that at long last the Army of the Potomac’s cavalry could meet the men of Virginia and the Carolinas on equal footing. Stuart had, by the custom of battle, driven the Union cavalrymen away, but he had failed to inflict the same level of defeat and embarrassment he had inflicted in 1862 and 1863, and much to his chagrin, he realized that the Union cavalry might prove more formidable than he had ever wanted to suspect. However, he had prevented the Union men from discovering Lee’s true plans.” – Cavalry in the Great American War, MG Amos Morrell (Retired), 1978, USMA
Cress Ridge would see the Union cavalry finally give as good as it got to their Confederate counterparts
“Hill’s withdrawal from Harrisburg was not the retreat Pope believed it to be. Lee had, cleverly in his opinion, believed Pope would be riding hard to chase him and gambled he would choose the most direct route of rail or march. This gamble had paid off well, and Pope turned to pursue Hill’s troops south again.
Lee had found suitable ground thanks to his foragers at Union Mills along the Pipe Creek. Longstreet had suggested the ground for a fight, and though Lee had wanted to inflict a defeat on a Northern force on unquestionably Northern soil, he calculated that an enormous defeat in Maryland might also drive that state into the Confederacy as well. So on August 27th the Army of Northern Virginia began moving to take up positions along Pipe Creek.” - Pipe Creek: The Bloody Day, William Westmorland, Philadelphia Press, 1989
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1] Whiting’s Corps, two divisions strong, remains there. Lee is losing about 10,000 men on this deal, while Davis gains a political bargaining chip and a base to shelter the Confederacy's most powerful naval squadron.
Great chapter , could we have another great victory from Lee on the horizon ?, i am on the edge of my seat .
Oh man, tensions are high in the east. The Union cavalry shows its improvement, but not quite enough to figure out Lee's movements.
This is going to be a nail biter of a battle and I'm stoked to see if a now undergunned Lee can beat the the Union army after a lengthy breather and a big command shuffle.
The tension is palpable. Great work, dude.
This is going to be a nail biter of a battle and I'm stoked to see if a now undergunned Lee can beat the the Union army after a lengthy breather and a big command shuffle.
The tension is palpable. Great work, dude.
It does seem that the Union leadership is really it's biggest weakness. Constantly shaking up their officer cadre, at least in the senior ranks, is going to only create confusion and loss of doctrinal knowledge, while the politically-charged appointments can only ever lead to more incompetent leaders while those who are passed over for nonsense reasons might grow disgruntled enough to consider that they might be on the wrong side.
Thank you! I'm aiming to drive you to distraction leading to Chapter 100! The only way to mark that chapter is with what might be one of the most pivotal elections in American history so far!
Truthfully I am being a little unfair to the Union cavalry here, as by 1863 they had improved a great deal with commanders like Averell, Burford and Custer to lead them against Stuart, and the ability of the South to provide good horses was getting exhausted. However, with McClellan still not getting the memo in 1863, the siege taking its toll, and Stuart's ability to get better mounts and care for his horses, alas it's taking until 1864!
And thank you! I had to resist writing "Gettysburg 1864" if only because I am 1) unwilling to fall into that trope and 2) people know that ground too well. The next battle will be a good capstone to August I hope!