The Pig War: A TL

[Veranius]

Hello people! I've been a fan of AH.com for a while now, and I felt I should contribute with some ideas of my own. I am a junior in high school about to go into AP testing while simultaneously working towards Eagle in Boy Scouts. I am interested in history, so alternate history seems like a fun challenge. Hopefully, this timeline can go to the present day. I guess I've rambled on too much, so here it goes.

The Pig War

1- Of a Pig and Potatoes
The Pig War was one of the strangest wars ever fought. It began over the disagreement between the United States and the British Empire over their border in the Northwest, specifically the San Juan Islands near Vancouver Island. Both nations claimed the islands, and each sent settlers to the islands to stake their claim. Both nations, however, did not wish to fight a third war in less than a hundred years, so they tried to make Boundary Committees to settle the disagreement. And yet, tensions reached a boiling point, all over a pig. An American farmer, Lyman Cutlar, shot and killed a pig that he found in his yard eating his potatoes. It turned out that the pig was owned by an Irishman, Charles Griffin, with whom Cutlar had lived peacefully with up to that point. While Cutlar offered $10 for compensation, Griffin wanted $100. Cutlar didn’t want to pay that much, as the pig had been transgressing on his land. However, Griffin claimed that it was Cutlar’s duty to keep his potatoes out of the pig. The situation escalated when British officers threatened Cutlar with arrest, after which Cutlar called for American military protection.

The commander of the Department of Oregon sent a force of American troops under Captain George Pickett to the islands. When the British reacted by sending a force of warships to the islands, Pickett said he’d turn the islands into another Bunker Hill. More American and British forces were sent to the island, but no shots were fired, as each force had been given orders to not fire the first shot. The British admiral in the area refused to attack the Americans, not wanting to start a war over a silly issue like a pig (1). However, a group of American settlers took matters into their own hands, and killed a British soldier they claimed had been trying to appropriate supplies from them. Recently, the validity of that story has been put into question, with several other potential causes to the conflict put forward. No matter the cause, by the time American General Winfield Scott arrived to defuse the situation, the San Juan Islands were a warzone. In the face of superior naval forces, the American troops were driven from the islands, losing most of their troops, including George Pickett, to naval gunfire.

The incident was soon resolved in the Vancouver Accords, in which the islands of San Juan and Orcas (and the surrounding isles of Shaw and Blakely) were awarded to the British, while Lopez Island (and the surrounding isles of Decatur and Cypress) were given to the Americans. This was only after a joint Anglo-American surveying team mapped out the islands, though the exact location of the border was still unknown until satellite imaging solved the issue permanently. The incident, while damaging to both nations prestige, showed clearly the resolve the two nations had to prevent another war between them. It also showed to Britain a potential worrying flaw. Britain relied primarily on imports to feed their country, and a major exporter of food was the United States, mainly in grain. In the event of war between the two nations, Britain could be faced with major starvation. France, using the somewhat friendly relations resulting from the Crimean War, offered to replace the United States in imports, even though France was in no way capable of supplying Britain entirely. This was one of the several attempts Napoleon III made to Britain, trying to form a strong alliance to offset the rising power of Prussia. This new alliance would be formalized in the Entente Cordiale in 1874.

One of the other ways Napoleon III cemented his alliance with Britain was in his interventions in Syria and China. Both times, Anglo-French troops fought side by side, furthering the comradeship between the two nations. Napoleon III maintained a very pro-British stance throughout his time as Emperor of the French, refusing to intervene in the American Civil War without British assistance, and constantly seeking British aid for their endeavors across the globe.

(1)- Up to this point, it actually happened.

 

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2- Dreaming of Poland

With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the Anglo-French bloc was in a quandary. While the aristocracy favored the insurgent Confederate States, the common people, especially in Britain, favored the Union. However, neither nation really cared that much about the war, instead switching their focus to the Continent once it was seen the Confederacy would never survive. In fact, Union victories in the beginning of the war even caused the French to reconsider a planned invasion of Mexico, as a resurgent Union could smash their possessions easily. Instead, France and Britain recognized the co-belligerency status of the Confederacy, and traded earnestly with them, until the Union blockade disrupted it. Although some in the Confederacy wished to halt cotton exports to bring France and Britain to their knees and force their hand, others understood the need for money, thus ensuring the cotton trade was kept open. With the relatively slow decline of Confederate cotton shipments reaching France and Britain, it allowed the two nations to easily search for other sources, namely Egypt and India.

France and Britain’s attention was finally diverted to the Continent in the beginning of 1863, when the oppressed Poles erupted into revolt. Prussia offered to Russia the use of Prussian railways to aid in the suppression of the revolt, which Russia gladly accepted, along with timely Prussian military assistance. Napoleon III, having secretly agreed with the Poles to help them out, found another reason to intervene, as he was wary of the power of Prussia. Austria, though beaten by France a few years earlier, joined with France to counter both Prussian dominance in Germany and Russian influence in the Balkans. Napoleon III was unable to get the Ottomans to join against Russia though, yet British diplomacy got Denmark and Sweden-Norway into the fray. Italy wisely refrained from fighting, as it needed time to consolidate its hold on the Italian Peninsula. The so-called “War of the Great Powers” began in earnest in the summer of 1863, during which Prussia scored several resounding victories over Austria. However. a combined Anglo-French-Swedish-Danish army that landed in Copenhagen smashed aside a Prussian army in the Battle of Hamburg, as the Prussians had deployed more towards the Rhine, the expected avenue of approach for France. This, coupled with a slight Austrian victory over the Russians in the Battle of Lemberg, allowed for the Great Powers to think about an invasion of Prussia.

Before an invasion could happen, Britain and France called for a conference. Both were afraid of what may happen in the ensuing power vacuum if Prussia was crushed, as well as the fear of an Austrian collapse if they were defeated again. So, in the palace of Versaille, the War of the Great Powers drew to a close with the Treaty of Paris. An independent Poland was created, formed from Congress Poland along with Krakow, with its capital at Warsaw. As many of the Polish leadership for the uprising had been killed by the Russians, the Great Powers settled on the relatively unknown Cyryl Skala, a Polish nobleman living in exile in London, as Poland’s new leader. Many in Poland were dismayed at having a foreign leader, but Cyryl proved to be quite capable, laying the groundwork for his great-grandson Bernard to proclaim the Polish Empire. Also, the German Confederation was dissolved, replaced by the United Federation of Germany, containing all the German states except for Austria and Prussia. The Russian territory of Alyeska was handed over to the British, receiving the new name of Alaska. Finally, Denmark retained control over Schleswig, losing Holstein to the United Federation of Germany. The war helped drive Prussia and Russia into an alliance, an alliance offset by one between Austria and the Ottomans and another between Britain and France.

 

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3- Centreville

The American Civil War was one of the most transformative events in American history. However, in retrospect, the secessionist Confederate States of America never stood a chance. The defining moment for the Confederacy's demise was not long after their secession. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, had put out a call for volunteers to reestablish control over the Confederacy. These volunteers were formed as the Army of Northeastern Virginia, led by Irvin McDowell. McDowell led his army into Virginia in late August of 1861, after a Confederate spy named Rose O’Neal Greenhow was caught in Washington trying to send McDowell’s battle plans to the Confederates. McDowell spent the time organizing his six division army and preparing for his plan, which was to swing around the left side of the Confederate force at Manassas Junction and cut them off from Fredricksburg, all the while maintaining communications with Washington. Opposing McDowell was the Confederate Army of the Potomac, led by Gustave Toutant Beauregard and consisting of eight brigades, about three quarters the size of McDowell’s army. Beauregard was unable to count on another Confederate force, the Army of the Shenandoah led by Joseph E. Johnston, as it was preoccupied with holding down Robert Patterson in the Shenandoah Valley, who had just begun to advance towards Winchester when McDowell made his move.

Amid mounting public pressure McDowell’s force marched slowly to Centreville, reaching it by September 1st. As McDowell’s force was filing in, Beauregard arrived. Beauregard had also been prompted by mounting pressure to attack, and he settled on Centreville as a rendezvous point for his army, splitting his force in half for better mobility. Thus began the Battle of Centreville, a battle neither side wanted to happen. The US Second and Third Divisions blundered into the Confederate Fifth and Seventh Brigades, a fight which rapidly degenerated into hand to hand combat after commanding officers couldn’t restrain soldiers long enough for them to load their guns. With the arrival of more US troops in the area, Confederates were forced to fall back and lick their wounds. McDowell seized on the opportunity he had been given and sent two more divisions after the retreating Confederates, which led them to the main Confederate force. Finally, commanding officers were able to unleash massed volleys, which shredded the front ranks of both sides. But just as McDowell was going to send in his remaining two divisions, the rest of the Confederate army appeared. They had heard sounds of battle and rushed to Centreville, leaving them tired but in high spirits. However, that was about to change when they slammed into McDowell’s reserves. A ferocious defense by William T. Sherman halted the Confederate advance, which contributed to Sherman’s nickname of Stonewall after Erasmus Keyes told his men to “rally with Sherman, standing there like a stone wall.” Eventually, Beauregard relented, and retreated to Bristoe Station in good order, before falling back first to Warrenton Junction then Rappahannock Station when false reports claimed McDowell was hot on their tails. McDowell was unable to capitalize on his victory due to general inexperience of his soldiers, but he contented himself to the capture of most of the Confederate baggage train. Confederate President Jefferson Davis narrowly avoided capture himself, as he arrived on the battlefield to observe his generals. The battle cost each side nearly three thousand casualties (killed, wounded, missing, and captured), the bloodiest battle in North America to that point.

The response to the battle was intense jubilation across the entire North. In the South, the response was frustration, which Davis used as justification for sacking Beauregard as commander of the Army of the Potomac. He then reorganized the army as the Army of the Rappahannock, led by former US engineer Robert E. Lee, and tasked it with defending Richmond from the Union. Meanwhile, Lincoln renamed the Army of Northeastern Virginia into the Army of Northern Virginia, giving McDowell command of the entire Eastern Theater. Other commanders were proposed, such as George McClellan, fresh off his victory at Rich Mountain, but he was rejected and put in charge of the Army of Appalachia, formed from Robert Patterson’s command.

The international ramifications from this battle were immense. As Britain and France saw the Confederates lose one of the first battles of the war, they were less inclined to treat their diplomats, and soon their attention was totally wrested away due to the War of the Great Powers.

 

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4- Situation in the East

Confederate Order of Battle in the East by February 1862:

Army of the Rappahannock- Robert E. Lee (approx. 75,000), based in Rappahannock Station
First Corps- James Longstreet
Second Corps- John Magruder
Third Corps- Richard Ewell
Fourth Corps- D.H. Hill
Cavalry Corps- Wade Hampton
Artillery Corps- William N. Pendleton

Army of the Shenandoah- Joseph E. Johnston (approx. 25,000), based in Front Royal
First Corps- Thomas J. Jackson
Second Corps- Barnard Bee
Third Corps- Edward Johnson
Cavalry Corps- JEB Stuart
Artillery Corps- Edward Porter Alexander


Union Order of Battle in the East by February 1862:

Army of Northern Virginia- Irvin McDowell (approx. 110,000), based in Centreville (I Corps: Joseph Hooker, II Corps: Fitz John Porter, III Corps: Samuel Heintzelman, IV Corps: Edwin Sumner)
1st Division- Daniel Tyler (I Corps)
2nd Division- David Hunter (I Corps)
3rd Division- Ambrose Burnside (II Corps)
4th Division- William T. “Stonewall” Sherman (II Corps)
5th Division- Darius Couch (III Corps)
6th Division- William B. Franklin (III Corps)
7th Division- George Sykes (IV Corps)
8th Division- John Sedgewick (IV Corps)

Army of Appalachia (former Departments of Pennsylvania and Ohio)- George B. McClellan (approx. 30,000), based in Winchester (V Corps: William Rosecrans, VI Corps: Nathaniel Banks)
1st Division- Alpheus Williams (V Corps)
2nd Division- George Cadwallader (V Corps)
3rd Division- Charles Sandford (VI Corps)
4th Division- William H. Keim (VI Corps)

 

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5- Border Blues

When the Southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States, Kentucky was divided as to which side to join. Kentucky was in a strategic location for both sides, as the Confederates could use the Ohio River as a natural defense, while the Union could use Kentucky as a staging point to take back Tennessee and the Deep South. Therefore, the state followed neutrality, vowing to join either country when the situation was most favorable. Both sides respected that decision, as seen when Jefferson Davis denied Leonidas Polk’s proposal for seizing Columbus Kentucky. Instead, Polk fortified Island Number Ten at New Madrid Missouri, which proved to be a major thorn in the Union’s side. Kentucky eventually declares the “Central Commonwealth”, their pseudo state that they align with. When it became clear that the Union is winning, Kentucky declared for the Union.

However, the Central Commonwealth held one of the more bizarre events in the American Civil War. As the war dragged on, citizens in western Virginia wished to secede from Virginia, as they felt they weren’t getting represented equally and the fact that Union leadership wished to preserve Virginia in one state. So, at the Wheeling Convention, they declared the State of Kanawha and joined Kentucky in neutrality. Later, when political pressure mounted, Kanawha seceded again from the Central Commonwealth and joined the Union as West Virginia, after the names of Vandalia, Sylvania, and Appalachia were rejected.

With the neutrality of Kentucky, focus in the west turned to Missouri. While some in Missouri called for neutrality on the same scale as Kentucky, events caused that to be impossible. For one, Missouri held a strategic location in the center of the United States, and also controlled the junction of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers. Confederate forces swiftly occupied the southern portion of the state, with their defensive line anchored on the Mississippi at New Madrid. Following Nathaniel Lyon’s capture of St. Louis and Jefferson City, Union forces controlled the northern part of Missouri. This led to the formation of the “two Missouris”, two governments claiming to represent the real Missouri. The Southern Missouri lost significant traction after the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, in which Lyon’s outnumbered command resisted several attacks by a Confederate force led by Sterling Price. Wilson’s Creek was also the first time the Rebel Yell was uttered, purportedly when Price urged his troops to “yell like furies” when they charged. Despite attempts later in the war, Southern Missouri is known for being the only state in the Confederate States to have never controlled any of its claimed territory.

 

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6- Situation in the West

Confederate Order of Battle in the West, February 1862

Army of the Mississippi- Albert Sidney Johnston, (approx. 70,000), based in Corinth, Mississippi
First Corps- Leonidas Polk
Second Corps- William J. Hardee
Third Corps- Sterling Price
Fourth Corps- John C. Breckenridge
Fifth Corps- Braxton Bragg
Sixth Corps- Patrick Cleburne
Cavalry Corps- Nathan Bedford Forrest
Artillery Corps- John C. Pemberton


Union Order of Battle in the West, February 1862

Army of Illinois- Don Carlos Buell, (approx. 50,000), based in Cairo, Illinois (VII Corps: Ulysses S. Grant, VIII Corps: John McClernand)
1st Division- George Thomas (VII Corps)
2nd Division- James McPherson (VII Corps)
3rd Division- Alexander McCook (VIII Corps)
4th Division- Thomas J. Wood (VIII Corps)

Army of Missouri- Henry Halleck, (approx. 40,000), based in Jefferson City, Missouri (IX Corps: Lew Wallace)
1st Division- James A. Garfield (IX Corps)
2nd Division- Thomas Crittenden (IX Corps)

Army of the Frontier- John C. Fremont, (approx. 30,000), based in Topeka, Kansas (X Corps: John Pope)
1st Division- Samuel Curtis (X Corps)
2nd Division- James G. Blunt (X Corps)

 

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7- Lightning Jackson

The campaigning season for 1862 got off to a start in a big way. Johnston, under orders from Davis to clear the Shenandoah Valley, made a drive to recapture Winchester from the Union. He thus sent Thomas Jackson’s corps on a diversionary mission towards Moorefield to draw Union attention away from Winchester. Yet when Jackson arrived at Moorfield, he found no Union forces, as they had been drawn towards Winchester per McClellan’s orders. So Jackson continued on and ambushed a Union supply train in Romney. There, he learned of Johnston’s defeat at Kernstown, where McClellan had halted his advance in bloody battle. Jackson took it upon himself and his troops to avenge Johnston’s defeat and rapidly crossed the Allegheny Mountains, crashing into McClellan’s rear at Middletown as McClellan slowly pursued Johnston’s army. McClellan freaked out when he heard of Confederate reinforcements, yet kept his cool and ordered his forces to turn and give battle to Jackson. By then, Jackson was gone.

His force then showed up at Harper’s Ferry, capturing the arsenal, then he made a mad dash for Leesburg on the Potomac before swinging around the Blue Ridge Mountains back to Front Royal. McClellan frantically detached three of his four divisions in pursuit of Jackson, who were supplemented by another two scrambled from around Maryland and Pennsylvania to prevent Jackson from possibly taking Washington. Jackson surprised them all when his force, joined once again with Johnston, smashed Nathaniel Banks’s force at Winchester, attacking from the south. McClellan ordered a hasty retreat to Martinsburg, especially when wrong intelligence reports said Lee was heading to reinforce Johnston. Jackson received his famous nickname of Lightning Jackson during the Battle of Winchester, when a reporter reported that upon hearing Jackson was there Banks said, “Why that man’s like lightning!”.

 

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Thanks for all your support!

8- Fredericksburg

With Johnston and Jackson occupying Union attention in the Valley, Davis made it clear to Lee that he had to push Union forces out of Virginia. So, Lee left his base in Fredericksburg and swung around to Culpeper, intent on striking McDowell’s flank. However, as he did this, McDowell also moved. Due to mounting pressure from both Lincoln and the public, McDowell marched towards Fredericksburg. When Lee arrived at Warrenton, McDowell had crossed the Rappahannock and taken Fredericksburg after token resistance from a small force Lee had left behind. McDowell now had a clear shot to Richmond. Despite Davis practically screaming in his ear to get between McDowell and Richmond, Lee decided to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia from where McDowell didn’t expect, then capitalize on the opportunity to threaten Washington, hopefully causing an end to the war. McDowell was having the same problems, with Lincoln both overjoyed and frightened. McDowell spent some much needed time preparing defenses around Fredericksburg, focused on Marye’s Heights. When Lee arrived by mid-April, McDowell found himself in a unique predicament, with the South attacking from the north. Against the better judgement of his commanders, especially James Longstreet, Lee decided to attack. Crossing the Rappahannock on pontoons brought by the Union, Lee launched a massive frontal assault on Union lines.

What happened can only be described as one of the most one-sided battles of the entire American Civil War, with Lee suffering nearly 25% casualties, a total of 20,000 men of his almost 80,000 man army. McDowell, on the other hand, lost only 5,000 casualties, mostly from trying to hold Fredericksburg. Concentrated cannon fire and massed volleys from trenches signalled then end of the infantry charge in a single bold stroke. Fredericksburg was forever known as the bloodiest day in American military history.

Following the defeat, Davis accepted Lee’s resignation and appointed Longstreet as leader of the Army of the Rappahannock. Longstreet expertly maneuvered his army to Culpeper, yet slammed into the Army of Northern Virginia as McDowell marched through the Wilderness at Spotsylvania, intent on keeping Longstreet from Richmond. The battered and demoralized Army of the Rappahannock rapidly dissolved, with Longstreet ordering his corps commanders to split. About 20,000 men under John Magruder’s leadership returned to Culpeper, while the remaining 30,000 under Longstreet snuck around McDowell in the middle of the night and arrived at Richmond. The Confederate Eastern front was shattered.

 

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9- The Battle of Pig Run

One of the more bizarre stories of the American Civil War is the “Battle of Pig Run”. After the Battle of the Wilderness, McDowell sent Andrew Humphreys out to reconnaissance the area around Culpeper. There, he encountered a Confederate scouting force under Richard Anderson, and he prepared his men to fight. However, before the fighting could begin, a large group of pigs broke loose from a nearby farm and ran across the battlefield. The farmer, James Thompson, asked both sides to help retrieve his pigs. Humphreys and Anderson both agreed, and the two sides launched a friendly competition to see who could gather the most pigs. In the end, the Confederates clinched a victory, reclaiming 59 of the 100 pigs, while the Union gathered only 32. The farmer himself caught the remaining 9. Both Humphreys and Anderson then agreed to return to their armies, with neither of the military objectives complete.

 

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10- The Last Gamble Begins

With the double victories at the Wilderness and Fredericksburg significantly outweighing the losses in the Shenandoah Valley, Lincoln thought the end of the war was in sight, However, he had McDowell hold at Chancellorsville instead of pressing on to Richmond. Lincoln wanted to be sure he crushed the Southern Rebellion once and for all, and authorized the creation of two more armies in the east, one based at Centreville and the other at Fort Monroe. Lincoln wanted McDowell’s army focused against Richmond while the army at Fort Monroe would simultaneously advance up the James River, and the army at Centreville would take down Magruder. McDowell’s command was soon renamed as the Army of Central Virginia, while the Army of Northern Virginia’s name went to the force at Centreville. The force at Fort Monroe was called the Army of Southern Virginia. McClellan’s force was renamed as the Army of Western Virginia, and received reinforcements from Pennsylvania under John F. Reynolds.

The view from the South was much different. Davis had been persuaded not to sack Longstreet, but only on the condition that Longstreet would give Davis a victory by the time the year was out in six months. Davis was clinging to the shred of hope that Britain or France would swoop in and secure Confederate independence, but that ship had sailed away long ago. Longstreet knew time was running out for the Confederacy, so he launched a desperate gamble. Magruder was ordered to leave Culpeper and join with Johnston and Lightning Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, then bypass McClellan at Martinsburg and invade the North. Longstreet would make a series of demonstrations near Spotsylvania to convince Lincoln and McDowell that the threat he posed was the larger danger. Johnston was ordered to fight a defensive battle in the North, giving Davis his victory, before turning on Washington.

 

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Shifting to the west...

11- Jonesboro

Back in the West, Confederate hopes were rapidly fading. The Union Army of the Frontier brushed aside a Confederate attack led by Sterling Price at Pea Ridge, halting any chance the Confederates had at retaking Missouri. The Union Armies of Illinois and Missouri then began a two pronged thrust into Arkansas, seeking to restore control of the Mississippi River to Union hands, and also to drive Kentucky into the Union camp. Albert Sidney Johnston understood the significance of the Mississippi, and resolved to prevent its loss from happening. With 50,000 men in tow, he marched to Memphis and on to Jonesboro. There, he met the Union. With 90,000 men on the Union side, the Battle of Jonesboro was the largest battle in the West. And it was a Confederate disaster.

The week long slog in mid April, the same week as Fredericksburg, produced the bloodiest battle in the American Civil War. At the center of it all was the Ryefield (1). The Ryefield changed hands no less than twenty four times throughout the entire battle, eleven times on a single day. Johnston’s army was crippled, with the Army of the Mississippi suffering nearly 50% casualties, including Major General Braxton Bragg, the highest ranking casualty in the entire war. The Union suffered no less, with an equivalent amount lost. Johnston quickly retreated back to Corinth, begging Davis for reinforcements. Grant, first nicknamed “Unconditional Surrender” Grant after his capture of Island Number Ten in February, became known as the Butcher due to his brute force assault on the Confederate center. Though it did break Confederate lines and lead to Johnston’s withdrawal, one Union regiment suffered 85% casualties. Halleck and Buell seized upon the opportunity granted by the Confederate retreat and secured Little Rock, guaranteeing Union control over Arkansas. Coupled with a victory at New Orleans, in which Admiral David Farragut swept into the city, the Mississippi River was almost in Union hands. Only one thing contested that: Vicksburg.

(1)- Antietam has the Cornfield, Gettysburg has the Wheatfield, Jonesboro has the Ryefield.

 

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12- The Invasion of the North

Following Davis’s approval, the armies of the Confederacy began to move. Magruder vanished across the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Longstreet moved out from Richmond. Longstreet met McDowell at the North Anna River, and in the month that followed Longstreet was outmaneuvered and outnumbered, forced to inch back to Richmond. Yet McDowell stayed the killing blow when scouts reported to him that Magruder’s force was gone. He had no idea if Magruder had joined with Longstreet or if he had joined Johnston in the Valley. Instead of the ANV joining McDowell’s ACV as planned, the ANV remained at Centreville.

Magruder had led his army on a night march across the mountains to Front Royal, confusing Union spies when his rearguard marched in circles around the same area, giving the impression he was still near Culpeper and possibly being reinforced. That gave Magruder only two weeks, until the spies realized it was a ruse. Johnston and Lightning Jackson made a quick feint towards Harpers Ferry, drawing McClellan there, then linked up with Magruder and crossed the Potomac at Williamsport. Chambersburg was reached by the beginning of August, and the Confederates enjoyed an early harvest in the untouched North. Johnston maintained the momentum and within a week was at the Susquehanna River at Camp Hill. McClellan launched his pursuit, yet was cautionary, as it was reported to him that the enemy outnumbered him. McClellan arrived at Gettysburg just days after hearing about the sacking of York.

At this point, there was disagreement in the Confederate leadership. Johnston wanted to fight the defensive battle and get out of the North while they still could. Magruder wanted to go further, possibly sacking Baltimore, Harrisburg, Lancaster, or even Philadelphia, maximising the value of the invasion. Lightning Jackson wanted to smash McClellan’s army, to prevent him from linking up with other Union forces. With McClellan slowly closing in, what would the Confederates choose to do?

13- Situation as of September 1st, 1862

Confederate Order of Battle:
Army of the Shenandoah- Joseph E. Johnston (approx. 40,000), based in York Pennsylvania
Army of the James- James Longstreet (approx. 40,000), based in Ashland, Virginia
Army of the Mississippi- Albert S. Johnston (approx. 30,000), based in Corinth, Mississippi
Army of the Cumberland- John C. Breckinridge (approx. 10,000), based in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Army of the Red- Sterling Price (approx. 10,000), based in Monroe, Louisiana

Union Order of Battle:
Army of Central Virginia- Irvin McDowell (approx. 100,000), based at Lake Caroline, Virginia
Army of Southern Virginia- John E. Wool (approx. 25,000), based in Yorktown, Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia- Joseph Hooker (approx. 35,000), based in Centreville, Virginia
Army of Western Virginia- George B. McClellan (approx. 35,000), based in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Army of Pennsylvania- John F. Reynolds (approx. 15,000), based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Army of Arkansas- Henry Halleck (approx. 80,000), based in Little Rock, Arkansas
Army of the Frontier- John C. Fremont (approx. 25,000), based in Fayetteville, Arkansas

 

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Update time!

14- The Defiance of Fort McHenry

In the end, the Confederates chose to do everything. A small force under Edward Johnson made a quick feint to Hanover, Pennsylvania, forcing McClellan to consolidate his forces at Gettysburg or risk being outnumbered and defeated, even though Johnson was vastly outnumbered by McClellan alone. The Army of the Shenandoah then raced to Baltimore, hoping to gain supplies and support from the Maryland populace before turning on Washington. The maneuver went spectacularly in the Confederacy’s favor until they reached Baltimore. Johnston wanted to capture Fort McHenry, which had been used as a prison containing many Maryland political prisoners. However, the fort resisted capture when the Confederates arrived, and they were forced to besiege it. After four failed assaults and word of Union armies moving towards Baltimore, the Confederates were compelled to withdraw. The Union garrison, when they saw the retreating Confederates, launched into a resounding chorus of the Star Spangled Banner, which eventually was made into the national anthem, as Fort McHenry had seen two turning points of two great American wars.

When Union forces arrived at Baltimore the day after the Confederate withdrawal, they found a city in ruins. The Confederate rearguard had set fire to some warehouses containing many supplies they had taken from Baltimore, to deny them to the Union. However, that fire soon raged out of control, and much of Baltimore was destroyed. This incident served to convince many of the Marylanders who sympathized with the Southern Cause that the South was on a collision course with destruction.

Johnston had originally wanted to retreat back to the Shenandoah Valley the same way he had entered the North, via Carlisle. However, he deemed McClellan at Gettysburg as too close. So, Johnston decided to thread the needle and follow the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad back to Harper’s Ferry. At this point, the Confederates had achieved none of their goals for the invasion.

It is speculated that had Robert Rhodes’s division continued to Fort McHenry the day the Confederates arrived at Baltimore instead of securing the city, Fort McHenry would have fallen and the Confederates would have had a powerful defensive position in Maryland. However, most historians agree that had this happened, the Civil War would have still not ended in the South’s favor, only dragging out the war for a few more years.

 

[Veranius]

Update time!

15- The Thunder Battle

The Battle of Frederick is known by many as simply the Thunder Battle. It was a major turning point in the American Civil War, as it signaled the true defeat of the Confederate’s Invasion of the North. It also holds a piece of trivia as the only major Civil War battle fought during a thunderstorm. The Army of the Shenandoah had been withdrawing from Maryland at a quick pace, reaching Frederick only two days after leaving Baltimore. Yet finally, McClellan sprang into action. Some think that was due to Lincoln basically threatening to sack McClellan if he didn’t move. And so, McClellan reached Frederick the same day as Johnston. In the midst of a massive thunderstorm.

To say the battle was chaos would be an understatement. Under the dark, overcast skies, light briefly by lightning strikes and the flashes of guns and cannons, thunder mixed with the sounds of battle into a deafening roar, driving rain coating everything into a slick, it is easy to see how the battle became one of the bloodiest in the war. For ten hours, both armies endured ferocious hand to hand combat when the gunpowder fouled. Trees around the battlefield were shorn to waist height as a result of the hail of bullets in the air. Lightning Jackson himself was nearly struck by lightning, which caused serious confusion when soldiers on both sides thought he had fallen. To simplify things, it was a slaughter. Confederate forces suffered nearly 75% casualties, 30,000 men, while McClellan lost 15,000. It was the bloodiest battle in the east. Fredericksburg remains the bloodiest day in the American Civil War only because the Thunder Battle went well past midnight. John F. Reynolds was catapulted to fame after the timely arrival of the Army of Pennsylvania broke the already low Confederate morale.

The Army of the Shenandoah was shattered, limping back to Winchester, losing hundreds of men from desertions. McClellan remained at Frederick, licking his wounds. However, McClellan’s reluctance to pursue the Confederates was the last straw for Lincoln, who sacked McClellan and replaced him with Reynolds, merging the Army of Western Virginia with the Army of Pennsylvania.

 

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16- The Fall of Richmond

While the Confederates were wreaking havoc in the North, so was McDowell in the South. He resisted calls from Lincoln to return to Washington, instead wishing to remain near Richmond to eventually force Johnston to go South, or at least trade one capital for another. Longstreet’s demonstrations gave McDowell his opening. Outmaneuvering Longstreet with superior numbers, he forced Longstreet into a defensive position around Old Cold Harbor, where McDowell then surrounded Longstreet. Following a ten day long artillery duel and with ammunition and provisions dwindling, Longstreet tried to break out. However, it was repulsed with heavy loss to the Confederates. With the odds now 5 to 1 against them and increasing, along with rising desertions and dwindling supplies, Longstreet asked for terms of surrender. McDowell’s terms were lenient: the soldiers had to swear an oath never to take up arms against the United States Government, and officers were allowed to keep their horses. McDowell summed it up as “an honorable end to an honorable foe”. However, due to concerns that some may break the oath, the Confederates were led to Fredericksburg to remain for the rest of the war. When they left Old Cold Harbor, McDowell had his troops salute them.

With the destruction of the Army of the James, Richmond was basically undefended. Only about 8,000 remained between Richmond and Petersburg, commanded by Gustavus Smith. On his advice, Jefferson Davis reluctantly agreed to abandon Richmond, falling back to Roanoke in the safety of the Shenandoah Valley. Before he could, John Buford had led his cavalry on a massed raid, breaking most of the railways leading away from Richmond. While the overall damage was minimal, this caused a general panic to unfold in Richmond, preventing Davis from escaping. On September 17, 1862, Richmond fell to the McDowell.

The Fall of Richmond did not mean the end of the Confederacy. Using the time bought by Longstreet’s last stand at Cold Harbor, Alexander Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederate States, escaped Richmond before it was cut off. He was sworn in as the new President at Greensboro, North Carolina, where he stayed for only a few weeks before moving farther south to Columbia, South Carolina. Most of Virginia aside from the Shenandoah Valley was cleared of Confederate troops by winter, paving the way for Virginia’s readmission to the Union. The North had seemingly won the war.

 

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17- Snowball Kimball

Joseph Johnston watched the Fall of Richmond with unease. His army had been gutted in the Thunder Battle, and his hold on the Shenandoah Valley was close to breaking. He thus led a slow retreat from Winchester to Lexington, being half-heartedly pursued by a Union army led by Nathan Kimball. Lincoln had sent Reynolds and his army to join with McDowell at Richmond, to tighten the noose on the Confederacy. Therefore, he didn’t give much thought about Johnston’s small remnant in the Valley. However, Lightning Jackson wasn’t done yet.

Taking nearly half of Johnston’s remaining 9,000 men, Jackson marched north from Harrisonburg, where Johnston had encamped, and met Kimball near New Market. A series of bloody and inconclusive skirmishes filled the better part of a month, until Kimball felt confident that he could steamroll through Jackson. Jackson’s men had decreased to less than 3,000, and were running low on ammunition. At this time, however, a great snowstorm swept through the Appalachians. Both sides were taken by surprise, as it was rather early in the season. Yet Kimball pressed on, and so began the Great Snowball Fight of Linville Creek.

Confederate troops under Robert Rhodes had fortified themselves on a nearby hill, overlooking the creek. A detachment of Union troops under Abner Doubleday arrived, and began to fight to secure the hill. When Rhodes’s troops ran out of ammunition, Rhodes said to “use anything you can to throw ‘em back!” So, some enterprising soldiers fashioned snowballs and threw them. Doubleday withdrew his men, confused, before redoubling the assault. By this point, no Confederates had any ammunition left, so they all resorted to using snowballs. When some Union troops also began using snowballs, it caused a chain reaction, in which over the span of a few minutes, everyone was throwing snowballs. Doubleday, instead of reprimanding his troops, used the conundrum to his advantage, eventually encircling all of Rhodes’s troops. He then called for Rhodes’s surrender, which Rhodes complied with, after Doubleday offered the same terms offered to Longstreet.

Jackson eventually regrouped with Johnston around Roanoke, at the far end of the Valley. While Jackson’s attack lessened the pressure on Johnston, the damage caused was worse, as far fewer experienced soldiers were left in the army. Johnston ultimately retreated to Danville, where he joined with the shattered remnants of Richmond’s defenders, bringing his strength up to barely 15,000. On Christmas Day, 1862, Johnston was surrounded by a Union army eight times larger, led by Stonewall Sherman. Faced with those odds, as well as a sheer lack of provisions, Johnston was forced to surrender. Lincoln was overjoyed at the news, calling it his “best Christmas gift I could have ever gotten” (1). The fighting in the East was all but over.

(1)- Sherman always gives the best Christmas gifts.

 

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18- Vicksburg

Following the capture of Little Rock, the Union commanders faced a difficult choice. They could continue with the Anaconda Plan and secure the Mississippi, but that meant they would have to attack Vicksburg, which was rapidly being strongly fortified. Or they could cross the Mississippi at Memphis and invade the heartland of the Confederacy. In the end, they did both. However, they delayed until the fall, waiting to secure total control over Arkansas as well as receiving reinforcements. A three pronged assault was eventually agreed upon. John Fremont and the Army of the Frontier would march into Louisiana, trying to coerce Texas into abandoning the Confederacy, while also distracting Sterling Price’s Army of the Red. Henry Halleck would take Memphis and march to Corinth, Mississippi, to distract Albert Sidney Johnston and John Breckinridge, as well as trying to coerce Tennessee to abandon the Confederacy. Meanwhile, Grant would march to Vicksburg and try to take it.

Grant led his 35,000 man Army of Arkansas to Vicksburg, marching long and hard to try to surprise the Confederates. When they arrived, they found a huge supply train about to enter the city, which was promptly seized. Grant conducted psychological warfare on the Confederates, having a massive banquet just outside of cannon range, while the defenders were forced to ration. After that small victory, Grant got to work. It was at Vicksburg that Grant’s military genius was revealed. For the next three months, he built an elaborate series of trenches surrounding the city, while also attempting to dig a canal to divert the Mississippi and make Vicksburg useless. He fired his cannons randomly, and throughout the night, trying to deny the defenders any sleep. In an effort to sneak David Farragut’s warships past Vicksburg, Grant launched a massive bombardment, seemingly preluding an attack. However, all it did was drive the defenders from watching the river, and Farragut’s ships passed without any loss. Grant also sent three massed cavalry raids into Louisiana and Mississippi, paralyzing any Confederate force ready to help Vicksburg. Eventually, on Christmas Day, 1862, just as Grant was preparing to storm Vicksburg, John Pemberton surrendered. Since Port Hudson had been stormed a week prior, Union control over the Mississippi River was total.

 

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19- Corinth

Halleck’s first opposition after crossing into Tennessee came from Corinth. Johnston had made it his base of operations for the entire Western Theater, and it was there where he had most of his remaining troops after Jonesboro, about 45,000. Halleck’s Army of Tennessee was a similar number, but had higher moral and was better equipped. Halleck didn’t want to leave Johnston in Corinth, however he was under political pressure to take Nashville and secure Tennessee, especially from Senator Andrew Johnson. So, Halleck split his army, sending 10,000 under Don Carlos Buell to Nashville while taking his remaining force to besiege Johnston. Johnston was under pressure to relieve Pemberton at Vicksburg, however he thought that Halleck posed a greater threat. So, at Corinth, the two armies met. In a rare occasion in the Civil War, the Confederates outnumbered the Union, yet Johnston did not know. Due to faulty intelligence, he thought that Halleck had brought his full strength against him.

The Battle of Corinth was the last gasp of the Confederacy. Johnston’s entrenched positions were able to hold against repeated Union assaults. The Confederates only fell back when they ran out of ammunition. Halleck was unable to completely trap Johnston’s army, and the Confederates were thus able to escape. However, Johnston abandoned Mississippi, falling back to Montgomery Alabama, especially after several massed cavalry raids wrecked his supply lines and convinced him that the Union was right on his tail. Halleck let Johnston go, understanding that Johnston was in no condition able to be a threat. He instead occupied Jackson Mississippi, paving the way for total Union control over the land around the Mississippi River.

 

[Veranius]

20- The Rock of Chickamauga

While Grant was attacking Vicksburg and Halleck was attacking Corinth, Buell was busy taking Tennessee. He stuck out from Memphis towards Nashville, before marching to Knoxville. His slow consolidation of Tennessee proved bothersome to Andrew Johnson, who wanted Buell to take out John Breckinridge at Chattanooga as soon as possible. Therefore, Buell detached a division under George Thomas to deal with Breckinridge.

Thomas elected to move from Murfreesboro and bypass Chattanooga via Davie’s Cross Roads, and attack Breckinridge from the rear. Thomas reached the crossroads unopposed, yet felt his first opposition as he marched towards Lee and Gordon’s Mill along Chickamauga Creek. Breckinridge tried to halt Thomas’s advance, wanting to defeat Buell’s army separately. However, Thomas gained his nickname the Rock of Chickamauga when he resisted several bloody attacks from Breckinridge, forcing the Confederates back to Chattanooga.

Thomas then stormed Confederate positions on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge outside of Chattanooga in the so-called “Battle Above the Clouds”. With Buell advancing from Knoxville, Breckinridge surrendered. Buell and Thomas then advanced to Ringgold by late November, opening up Georgia to invasion.

 

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21- Down on the Bayou

Louisiana’s recapture began when David Farragut captured New Orleans in late April. Farragut then moved up the Mississippi, capturing Baton Rouge by mid-May. Farragut then assisted Grant’s effort to interdict and blockade Vicksburg, culminating in Vicksburg’s surrender. With that, the Mississippi River fell under total Union control. However, Confederates still held on in parts of the state. With that in mind, Halleck had sent John Fremont to deal with them.

Fremont occupied Shreveport, forcing Sterling Price to abandon Monroe. Price evaded Fremont until they reached Lake Charles, in the southwest corner of the state. There, Price gave battle, as it was either that or be pushed into the Gulf of Mexico. Fremont tore through Price’s exhausted troops, even capturing Price himself. The broken Army of the Red was soon mopped up by cavalry forces Fremont sent out. With that, effective resistance in Louisiana ended.

The occupation of New Orleans was an interesting debacle. After Farragut left, Benjamin Butler moved in. His rule was harsh and extreme, evident in his General Order 28, which made any women showing disrespect to a Union soldier liable to be treated as “a woman of the town plying her avocation”. However, when Lincoln got word of Butler’s actions, he quickly reprimanded him, as Lincoln saw that the war was ending. Lincoln wanted his plan of reunification to work, and didn’t want the South to be annoyed with him that much. Butler therefore redoubled his efforts to fix the city, focusing on a massive cleanup effort to turn New Orleans into one of the most healthy cities in the United States, a model for the rest of the country’s development.