The Union Forever: A TL

[MacGregor]

The Union Forever: A TL

Hello everyone, the following is the start of a TL based on a different Peninsular Campaign in 1862. It is my intention to follow this TL if it proves popular enough past the Civil War and into the Twentieth Century. This TL hopefully will also demonstrate the powerful effect that small butterflies can have over time. Speculation and suggestions are more than welcome. Cheers.

Background

January-May 1862;

Union fortunes were looking up in the early months on 1862. After a largely lackluster performance for most of 1861 Federal troops had scored a series of impressive victories against the South. General Grant had captured the Confederate Forts Donnellson and Henry on February 6th and 16th respectively opening up the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Nashville, then the capital of Tennessee, fell by the end of the Month. The Union even managed a costly victory at the Battle of Shiloh on April 7th. General Pope captured Island Number 10 on the Mississippi River and over 7,000 prisoners on April 8th. Further south the largest port in the Confederacy fell to Admiral Farragut and General Butler on May 1st crippling the confederate’s use of the Mississippi River. Union forces were also making impressive headway by capturing points along the Confederate coastline.

Confederate reverses had severely dampened Confederate spirits. Indeed, when Jefferson Davis was formally installed as the President of the Confederate States of America (Previously he had just been provisional president) on a rainy day in Richmond when an onlooker asked one of Davis’s footmen why he and President Davis were dressed in black suites the footman responded with “Well Ma’am this is how we always have done in Richmond for funerals and such.”[1] And with the large Army of the Potomac hovering north of the city many in the Confederacy were wondering whether their secessionist experiment might soon unravel.

The Beginning of the Peninsular Campaign and General McClellan’s Accident

With these successes in the west, Lincoln naturally pressed for similar results in the east. However President Lincoln and his eastern generals differed as to the performed method. He personally wished for, what appeared to him to be the obvious choice for, an overland campaign from Washington to destroy Johnston’s Army. The President however eventually bowed to General McClellan’s plan to land the Army of the Potomac on the coast of Virginia and then move onto Richmond.

The Union had been making steady but painfully slow progress up the Peninsular between the James and York Rivers sense March 1863 captured Yorktown, the former colonial capital of Williamsburg, and the vital naval base of Norfolk (the Confederates destroyed the CSS Merrimack to prevent her from falling into Union hands).

May 12, 1862; General McClellan must have been feeling very pleased with himself after the resent capture of Norfolk against what he consistently believed to be “vastly superior rebel numbers.” Whether this sense of overconfidence helped McClellan not see the shard of metal in the road on that spring morning however is lost to history. Around 8:00am after a light breakfast with some of his lieutenants, McClellan mounted his horse Baldy to inspect the camp and make his rounds amongst his troops. Unfortunately for McClellan however Baldy while trotting at a good pace along a fence line near Headquarters picked up 6 inch sliver of metal that had been protruding from the road (whether this piece of metal was placed there intentionally has never been proven). Because of the speed at which Baldy had been traveling the shard went through the frog of the forward right hoof. McClellan, despite being a confident horseman was thrown when Baldy came to an abrupt and jerking stop. McClellan would in all probability have been fine if it was not for the fence that ran alongside the road. As McClellan fell the fence caught him in the lower back breaking his spine. Captain Jeremiah O’Connor, one of McClellan’s aids was the first to reach McClellan. McClellan’s first words to O’Connor after realizing that he could not move his legs were “Who will save the Union now?.”


General McClellan
Army of the Potomac
Commander: July 26, 1861-May 13, 1862


[1] McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom

[MacGregor]

General Sumner takes Command
and
the Death of Stonewall Jackson

Maj. Gen. Sumner
Commander
Army of the Potomac


After being examined, Army surgeon Charles A. Hoffmann stated what McClellan already knew, that he was paralyzed from the waist down. News quickly spread of General McClellan’s incapacitation. The soldiers of the Army of the Potomac were needless to say devastated by the news of their “Little Mac’s” fall especially in the middle of a campaign. When President Lincoln heard the news, Lincoln is reported to have sighed, hung his head, and muttered “the one time the General takes my advice to move quickly he breaks his back.” To many this seems to have come at the worst time while Confederate General Stonewall Jackson was making himself a profound nuisance in the Shenandoah Valley and the Army of the Potomac was tied up on the Peninsula. Although despite cables from McClellan that he could still command from his HQ, Lincoln and Halleck both agreed that he would need to be evacuated and a new commander appointed.


With only limited discussion they both decided that Brig. General Edwin Vose Sumner, then the commander of the Army of the Potomac’s II Corps, would take command, Sumner the logical choice being the senior General officer on the Peninsular. When word reached General Sumner of his appointed as commander along with his pending promotion to Major General he remarked “Leave it to General McClellan to hand me a situation like this.” Sumner however was, as events would soon prove, more than up to the task.


Meanwhile, the Union was suffering some staggering reverses in the Shenandoah Valley. Confederate Maj. General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had, with his few thousand troops, been scoring a series of victories against the north in the Shenandoah Valley since March in an effective effort to divert Union reinforcements from reaching McClellan on the Peninsula. Union forces had been largely unsuccessful in stopping Jackson despite their superior numbers.

However, Jackson’ impressive skill and luck did eventually run out. Confederate Maj. General Richard S. Ewell’s troops had been ordered to be withdrawn from the Valley in an effort to reinforce Richmond on May 20th, 1862 (Despite pleas for Robert E. Lee to leave Ewell in the Valley to assist Jackson, Jefferson Davis ordered Ewell’s redeployment because he believed that with the removal of McClellan a move against the supposedly weekend Army of the Potomac should take priority.)Jackson and the few remaining thousands of his foot cavalry were engaged by General Banks’ forces near the city of Strasbourg, Virginia on May 22nd. The battle seemed to be going well for the Confederates until Jackson, who was standing as did “Like a stone wall”, was struck from his horse by a Union bullet to the neck. Jackson bleed out within minutes and the sorrow and confusion surrounding his death led to the Union emerging victorious capturing the bulk of the late Stonewall’s men.


Gen. Stonewall Jackson moments before he was shot and killed.
May 22nd, 1862

[The Doctor]

Subscribed. An interesting Idea, I never would of thought of.

[Darth_Kiryan]

Interesting. A good twist on the normal civil war timelines, and already diverged from OTL. Good.

Subscribed.

[MacGregor]

Originally Posted by The Doctor

Subscribed. An interesting Idea, I never would of thought of.

Originally Posted by JamesPhoenix

Interesting. A good twist on the normal civil war timelines, and already diverged from OTL. Good.

Subscribed.

Glad ya'll like it. I plan on posting the next installments in a day or two. Thanks for the support.

[The Doctor]

Day or two? Can I wait that long?

[modelcitizen]

oh. my. gosh.

William Tecumseh Sherman, head of the US Army, versus the Spanish Empire.


AY CARAMBA!


(back to reading.)


edit: epic bonus points for Custer and Longstreet, former Confederate officer redeeming himself in battle under the US flag, sweeet.

edit2: the illustrations are marvelous. it probably took a LOT of time to amass and select and post these images. they are way cool.

[Mac Gregor]

Originally Posted by modelcitizen

just started reading your TL in the finished TL area for the first time. (I'm up to the end of the Civil War so far.)

this is good!

will resume reading now

oh yes, I'll subscribe to this thread too for any updates, developments, etc.

Originally Posted by modelcitizen

oh. my. gosh.

William Tecumseh Sherman, head of the US Army, versus the Spanish Empire.


AY CARAMBA!


(back to reading.)


edit: epic bonus points for Custer and Longstreet, former Confederate officer redeeming himself in battle under the US flag, sweeet.

edit2: the illustrations are marvelous. it probably took a LOT of time to amass and select and post these images. they are way cool.

Very glad you like it. Cheers!

[Mac Gregor]

The Union Forever

Filling in the Gaps

Hey everyone, as ya'll know this TL pretty much leaves out everything from the end of the Great War till the present day. I have been thinking about restarting this timeline and filling in the missing decades as well as fleshing out other details about the TL such as popular culture. If people seem to enjoy this I think I might even start writing some installments about this TL's future in the 21st Century.

Two questions I have for this thread are

1) Is anybody interested in reading this, or is it best to just let this TL lay dead?
2) Also is anybody willing to help me with some ATL areas such as sports and music?

Thanks for the help and cheers!

[manofsteelwool]

I want you to do it!

[kevvy2010]

Originally Posted by Mac Gregor

The Union Forever

Filling in the Gaps

Hey everyone, as ya'll know this TL pretty much leaves out everything from the end of the Great War till the present day. I have been thinking about restarting this timeline and filling in the missing decades as well as fleshing out other details about the TL such as popular culture. If people seem to enjoy this I think I might even start writing some installments about this TL's future in the 21st Century.

Two questions I have for this thread are

1) Is anybody interested in reading this, or is it best to just let this TL lay dead?
2) Also is anybody willing to help me with some ATL areas such as sports and music?

Thanks for the help and cheers!

This sounds like a great idea! I'd be happy to help if you need it.

[Shadow Knight]

Do it! This is one of my favorite TLs.