January, 1854
10 miles north of Baton Rouge
With his home state nearly completely occupied, General P.T. Beauregard knew damned well that the loss of New Orleans, the 2nd city of the nation (after now lost Washington DC, of course. Beauregard would not deign to count any northern city), was a certainty if Baton Rouge were to fall. Beauregard had been livid at the poor record of the southern paladins (as he viewed them) in this war. Granted, the Union outnumbered the Federals four to one but...they were NORTHERNERS, for god's sake, not southern gentlemen. Even the dimmest country hick from the south represented a superior being to the haughtiest of northern industrialists.
For years, Beauregard had humiliated his northern students at West Point by forcing them to answer arithmetic questions akin to "three Indiana soldiers were running away from battle, based on the following speeds, when would they reach their mama's bosom?"
Now those same northerners were crushing the FSA under their boots.
Beauregard held his counterpart, Hooker, in contempt. There was little elegance in his assaults, so profligate with his men's lives. However, it was an effective tactic. Beauregard siphoned every conceivable soldier from the Army of Louisiana throughout what was left of the state, leaving New Orleans dangerously exposed. After a year of war, the other states finally determined that maybe, just maybe, it would do to send their own forces to help the border states. Given that Maryland was gone, Virginian, Tennessee and Louisiana looking likely to follow, the god-damned Mississippians, Alabamans, Georgians, etc may actually want to fight before the war reached their own borders. Still, the lightly populated states could only provide so many men. Hell, with so many slaves fleeing for the sanctuary of aggressive northern armies, the fields in some areas were barren of men. He wondered how many of those slaves would be given muskets and ordered to burn their fine plantations to the ground.
Someone should have put a bullet in Seward, Beauregard fumed. Now it was too late. Only victory would ensure southern freedom. Otherwise, the FSA's constituent states had committed suicide by secession. Beauregard was adamant this would not happen.
He ordered his reinforced army north to defend the reaches of Baton Rouge. By the sheerest happenstance, Beauregard's moves were unnoticed by any but a few slaves whom could not find a Union officer of rank to believe them. Beauregard smashed into the flank of the marching Union Army of the Mississippi and put a third of the army to flight, the rest retreating in confusion.
Memphis, Tennessee
General Joseph Taylor grinned in satisfaction as the city surrendered. The professional officer had been born but a few hundred miles north in Kentucky but Taylor had no affection for the south as did his late brother. Zackary sought to become part of the southern gentry, the aristocratic ideal gentleman farmer watching over his slaves. And the Virginians, his adopted home state, hanged him.
The surviving Taylor vowed to make the south pay for Zackary's murder. He decided to start when a group of Tennessee men attempted to defend Memphis despite their lack of numbers. After crossing the Mississippi with the Army of Arkansaw, the capture of the indefensible riverside city should have been guaranteed.
Joseph Taylor burned Memphis to the ground before setting his sights east on Nashville and what was left of rebel Tennessee.
Nashville
General James Fannin had been frustrated in his attempt to reconquer eastern Tennessee from Joseph Johnston. When Johnston had temporarily marched east into the Shenandoah to assist in the conquest of western Virginia, Fannin had gathered up his Army of the Cumberland and invaded the hills and mountains of eastern Tennessee hoping to drive out the interlopers. The Georgian was disappointed with his progress as the easily defensible hills proved impossible to conquer even with modest Union and Tennessee traitor troops on hand.
Now his Army of the Cumberland, some 30,000 men mainly situated in central Tennessee was facing enemies on three sides: east, north and west. With western Tennessee invaded by the Union as well, the Army of the Cumberland was cut off by the crucial river routes of the Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers. This would make it impossible to export any form of goods from Tennessee, destroying what was left of the economy, and, worse, hindering any form of reinforcement or supply from the Federal States of America. At the moment, only South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi had yet to face any form of invasion. That was coming to an end quickly if the war did not alter course.
Fannin left 10,000 troops to guard the Kentucky border, protect the eastern passes from Johnston's army, and marched west with the remaining 20,000 to face Joseph Taylor in the west, in a desperate attempt to relieve his supply lines.
Oddly, Fannin was one of the few southerners to make any profit in the past year. Though much of the war centered around the growing Union opposition to slavery, Fannin made a profit off of the institution in the oddest way. As the south's capacity to grow crops diminished, more and more southern gentlemen were ruined. Fannin's agents (he went to great efforts not to attach his name to the business, bought up slaves by the tens of thousands and marched them south in chains to the southern ports where they were shipped to Cuba or Mexico for hard currency. Fannin, a long time slave trader, made a killing and even managed to make more money on the return trip by shipping luxuries to the south which were purchased at low prices in Havana or Veracruz.
As many would find the export of slaves unpatriotic, Fannin kept his prosperity quiet even as he battled to extend the institution in the FSA. When (or if) the FSA emerged victorious, he could simply make a killing exporting them back into the FSA.
See? There was a silver lining in any situation.
10 miles north of Baton Rouge
With his home state nearly completely occupied, General P.T. Beauregard knew damned well that the loss of New Orleans, the 2nd city of the nation (after now lost Washington DC, of course. Beauregard would not deign to count any northern city), was a certainty if Baton Rouge were to fall. Beauregard had been livid at the poor record of the southern paladins (as he viewed them) in this war. Granted, the Union outnumbered the Federals four to one but...they were NORTHERNERS, for god's sake, not southern gentlemen. Even the dimmest country hick from the south represented a superior being to the haughtiest of northern industrialists.
For years, Beauregard had humiliated his northern students at West Point by forcing them to answer arithmetic questions akin to "three Indiana soldiers were running away from battle, based on the following speeds, when would they reach their mama's bosom?"
Now those same northerners were crushing the FSA under their boots.
Beauregard held his counterpart, Hooker, in contempt. There was little elegance in his assaults, so profligate with his men's lives. However, it was an effective tactic. Beauregard siphoned every conceivable soldier from the Army of Louisiana throughout what was left of the state, leaving New Orleans dangerously exposed. After a year of war, the other states finally determined that maybe, just maybe, it would do to send their own forces to help the border states. Given that Maryland was gone, Virginian, Tennessee and Louisiana looking likely to follow, the god-damned Mississippians, Alabamans, Georgians, etc may actually want to fight before the war reached their own borders. Still, the lightly populated states could only provide so many men. Hell, with so many slaves fleeing for the sanctuary of aggressive northern armies, the fields in some areas were barren of men. He wondered how many of those slaves would be given muskets and ordered to burn their fine plantations to the ground.
Someone should have put a bullet in Seward, Beauregard fumed. Now it was too late. Only victory would ensure southern freedom. Otherwise, the FSA's constituent states had committed suicide by secession. Beauregard was adamant this would not happen.
He ordered his reinforced army north to defend the reaches of Baton Rouge. By the sheerest happenstance, Beauregard's moves were unnoticed by any but a few slaves whom could not find a Union officer of rank to believe them. Beauregard smashed into the flank of the marching Union Army of the Mississippi and put a third of the army to flight, the rest retreating in confusion.
Memphis, Tennessee
General Joseph Taylor grinned in satisfaction as the city surrendered. The professional officer had been born but a few hundred miles north in Kentucky but Taylor had no affection for the south as did his late brother. Zackary sought to become part of the southern gentry, the aristocratic ideal gentleman farmer watching over his slaves. And the Virginians, his adopted home state, hanged him.
The surviving Taylor vowed to make the south pay for Zackary's murder. He decided to start when a group of Tennessee men attempted to defend Memphis despite their lack of numbers. After crossing the Mississippi with the Army of Arkansaw, the capture of the indefensible riverside city should have been guaranteed.
Joseph Taylor burned Memphis to the ground before setting his sights east on Nashville and what was left of rebel Tennessee.
Nashville
General James Fannin had been frustrated in his attempt to reconquer eastern Tennessee from Joseph Johnston. When Johnston had temporarily marched east into the Shenandoah to assist in the conquest of western Virginia, Fannin had gathered up his Army of the Cumberland and invaded the hills and mountains of eastern Tennessee hoping to drive out the interlopers. The Georgian was disappointed with his progress as the easily defensible hills proved impossible to conquer even with modest Union and Tennessee traitor troops on hand.
Now his Army of the Cumberland, some 30,000 men mainly situated in central Tennessee was facing enemies on three sides: east, north and west. With western Tennessee invaded by the Union as well, the Army of the Cumberland was cut off by the crucial river routes of the Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers. This would make it impossible to export any form of goods from Tennessee, destroying what was left of the economy, and, worse, hindering any form of reinforcement or supply from the Federal States of America. At the moment, only South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi had yet to face any form of invasion. That was coming to an end quickly if the war did not alter course.
Fannin left 10,000 troops to guard the Kentucky border, protect the eastern passes from Johnston's army, and marched west with the remaining 20,000 to face Joseph Taylor in the west, in a desperate attempt to relieve his supply lines.
Oddly, Fannin was one of the few southerners to make any profit in the past year. Though much of the war centered around the growing Union opposition to slavery, Fannin made a profit off of the institution in the oddest way. As the south's capacity to grow crops diminished, more and more southern gentlemen were ruined. Fannin's agents (he went to great efforts not to attach his name to the business, bought up slaves by the tens of thousands and marched them south in chains to the southern ports where they were shipped to Cuba or Mexico for hard currency. Fannin, a long time slave trader, made a killing and even managed to make more money on the return trip by shipping luxuries to the south which were purchased at low prices in Havana or Veracruz.
As many would find the export of slaves unpatriotic, Fannin kept his prosperity quiet even as he battled to extend the institution in the FSA. When (or if) the FSA emerged victorious, he could simply make a killing exporting them back into the FSA.
See? There was a silver lining in any situation.
