Part Thirty: Choosing Sides
Huh, after complaining about writer's block, an amazing thing happened. I actually wrote something! 
Here it is. This will probably be another update-as-I-write-it parts, so keep watching this post.
Part Thirty: Choosing Sides
Choosing Sides: Andrew Johnson was sworn into office on March 4th, 1862. Over the next week votes were held in many southern states on leaving the Union to join the Confederate States, but only Calhoun voted to secede. The initial military movements of both sides in the months following Johnson's accession to the presidency were primarily consolidation efforts. The United States moved troops into southern Missouri to discourage any local secessionist sentiment in the region, and reinforced the Union position in Washington DC.
Meanwhile, the Confederacy was organizing itself both militarily and politically. On March 17, representatives from the states making up the CSA met in Augusta, Georgia and elected Howell Cobb as the first president of the Confederate States of America. The Confederate constitution outline terms of two years for the president as opposed to four years in the Union, and delegated more explicit powers to the states, but in most other respects it was similar to the United States constitution. The main military movements of the Confederacy in these initial months of the war were the integration of Alexandria into Virginia which began the fighting, and the advancement of troops to secure the state of Jackson, which had not held a vote on secession and was nominally still a part of the Union.
Throughout March and April, not much fighting occurred on the borders of the United States and the Confederacy. There were a few minor advances on either side, such as the capture of Carthage, Missouri by a local pro-Confederate militia led by Claiborne Fox Jackson, but the majority of the fighting was smaller. However, on other fronts the war started quickly. Confederate troops massed and advanced into Jackson in an effort to capture the port at Pensacola before the Union could reach it and resupply the forts surrounding the bay.
The first major battle of the war was the main result of this campaign, the Siege of Pensacola. In mid March, Confederate general Braxton Bragg led 800 men to the outskirts of Pensacola. For three weeks, the siege of the city went on, with Confederate ships occasionally bombarding Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. While the fort still stood, the city did not fare well. On April 2th, a regiment was sent to the other side of Santa Rosa island, and during a bombardment of Fort Pickens by supporting Confederate ships, the regiment attacked the fort and surprised the Union regiment. The Union force was defeated and the fort was taken[1]. After the fort was taken, Pensacola surrendered and the state of Jackson was officially admitted to the Confederacy on April 11th.
Opening Moves:
The summer of 1862 saw many developments in the war. In May, a diplomatic expedition led by Judah P. Benjamin to Veracruz brought the city into the Confederacy. Veracruz gave the Confederates another naval base in the Gulf of Mexico. This, along with the secession of Cuba in August, would put down all plans by the United States to trap the Confederate States through a naval blockade.
Also in the early months of the war, various shadow governments were set up either in the disputed regions or in a nearby city. In southern Missouri, Claiborne Jackson set up a Confederate shadow government based in Neosho. The Confederates also had sympathy in western Tennessee and Kentucky west of the Tennessee River, and a government was declared in Memphis claiming the area as its jurisdiction. A vote was held in towns cities over whether to secede after the other two governments stayed with the Union but few towns ever issued proclamations of secession. The Union also had a number of shadow governments sympathetic to them. The most notable are the Wheeling Legislature in what was then western Virginia and exiles from Jackson, who set up a base in Corpus Christi.
That summer also saw the beginning of battle in many theaters. The Confederacy attacked important border towns such as Kansas City and Memphis. An uprising by Confederate sympathizers was put down in the small town of Dallas in northeastern Houston. But the main fighting during the summer was the Tennessee Valley campaign launched by the Army of Georgia in July 1862. The first main battle of the campaign was the taking of Chattanooga. The Army of Georgia divided into two groups and positioned them on Lookout Mountain and Moccasin Point in the west and along the Missionary Range in the east. After the artillery regiment led by John Pemberton[2] bombarded the Union works, the army advanced on the city from both sides. The Confederacy won the battle with upwards of 600 casualties, and gave the army an auspicious beginning to the campaign. Over the next week, the Army of Georgia trekked north along the Tennessee River aimed for Knoxville. They reached as far as Fort Loudoun before being rebuked and having to turn back. Despite this defeat, however, the capture of Chattanooga and Cleveland secured a vital rail link for future campaigns in Tennessee.
The final event of the summer of 1862 was the Chesapeake Offensive and the First Potomac Offensive by the Union Army. The Chesapeake Offensive secured the portion of the Delmarva Peninsula in Virginia. The First Potomac Offensive attempted to reach Richmond with the thought that Virginia could be taken out of the war with a quick capture of the capital. General McClellan's plan was for the army to sail to Fort Monroe which was still Union-controlled and drive up the peninsula between the James and York rivers to Richmond, bypassing much of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's defenses. The Army of the Potomac was sent to Fort Monroe and began operations on July 4th. While McClellan did have some early success in the campaign, the majority of the Army of Northern Virginia led by Joseph Johnston were at Bowling Green, not further northward as expected. After a month, the forces under McClellan had established a line at the eastern bank of the Chickahominy River. This would be as far as the campaign would reach, as within two weeks later Johnston had forced the Army of the Potomac back to a line following Queen Creek and College Creek near Williamsburg.
With the campaign on the Virginia Peninsula stalled, McClelland launched one last summer offensive in mid-August. A few brigades of the Army of the Potomac landed at Currioman's Landing on the Virginia Neck with the intent of moving west to cut Fredericksburg off from the rest of Virginia. The brigades managed to secure the area but did not advance very far before they were stalled by Confederate forces on the north bank of the Rappahannock River. Whille the Union soldiers won the short battle, they could not continue the offensive. By the end of August, however, the Army of the Potomac had gotten control of much of eastern Westmoreland County including the county seat of Montross. This had a larger than expected effect on the proceedings of the war, because not only did this victory assist with Union control of the Potomac, but the news of it also caused former Chief Engineer Robert E. Lee to decide to stay loyal to hte United States. In explaining his decision, Lee commented that "with my boyhood home and my greatest ahievement under the control of the United States of America, I will protect the things most important to me and remain loyal to this government"[3]. By now Lee had become a popular figure in Virginia, and influenced the popular opinion of the war and the Confederate cause. Lee's decision also encouraged Union loyalist movements in the far western and northern portions of Virginia.
[1] This battle is loosely based on the Battle of Santa Rosa Island which took place in OTL in October of 1861. Except this time, the CSA had the naval advantage and won.
[2] Yes, this is the John Pemberton who invented Coca-Cola in OTL.
[3] Lee lived at the Stratford Hill Plantation on the Potomac north of Montross until he was eleven, and ITTL he designed and oversaw the construction of Fort Monroe, which is how he quickly rose in his army engineering career.
Here it is. This will probably be another update-as-I-write-it parts, so keep watching this post.Part Thirty: Choosing Sides
Choosing Sides: Andrew Johnson was sworn into office on March 4th, 1862. Over the next week votes were held in many southern states on leaving the Union to join the Confederate States, but only Calhoun voted to secede. The initial military movements of both sides in the months following Johnson's accession to the presidency were primarily consolidation efforts. The United States moved troops into southern Missouri to discourage any local secessionist sentiment in the region, and reinforced the Union position in Washington DC.
Meanwhile, the Confederacy was organizing itself both militarily and politically. On March 17, representatives from the states making up the CSA met in Augusta, Georgia and elected Howell Cobb as the first president of the Confederate States of America. The Confederate constitution outline terms of two years for the president as opposed to four years in the Union, and delegated more explicit powers to the states, but in most other respects it was similar to the United States constitution. The main military movements of the Confederacy in these initial months of the war were the integration of Alexandria into Virginia which began the fighting, and the advancement of troops to secure the state of Jackson, which had not held a vote on secession and was nominally still a part of the Union.
Throughout March and April, not much fighting occurred on the borders of the United States and the Confederacy. There were a few minor advances on either side, such as the capture of Carthage, Missouri by a local pro-Confederate militia led by Claiborne Fox Jackson, but the majority of the fighting was smaller. However, on other fronts the war started quickly. Confederate troops massed and advanced into Jackson in an effort to capture the port at Pensacola before the Union could reach it and resupply the forts surrounding the bay.
The first major battle of the war was the main result of this campaign, the Siege of Pensacola. In mid March, Confederate general Braxton Bragg led 800 men to the outskirts of Pensacola. For three weeks, the siege of the city went on, with Confederate ships occasionally bombarding Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. While the fort still stood, the city did not fare well. On April 2th, a regiment was sent to the other side of Santa Rosa island, and during a bombardment of Fort Pickens by supporting Confederate ships, the regiment attacked the fort and surprised the Union regiment. The Union force was defeated and the fort was taken[1]. After the fort was taken, Pensacola surrendered and the state of Jackson was officially admitted to the Confederacy on April 11th.
Opening Moves:
The summer of 1862 saw many developments in the war. In May, a diplomatic expedition led by Judah P. Benjamin to Veracruz brought the city into the Confederacy. Veracruz gave the Confederates another naval base in the Gulf of Mexico. This, along with the secession of Cuba in August, would put down all plans by the United States to trap the Confederate States through a naval blockade.
Also in the early months of the war, various shadow governments were set up either in the disputed regions or in a nearby city. In southern Missouri, Claiborne Jackson set up a Confederate shadow government based in Neosho. The Confederates also had sympathy in western Tennessee and Kentucky west of the Tennessee River, and a government was declared in Memphis claiming the area as its jurisdiction. A vote was held in towns cities over whether to secede after the other two governments stayed with the Union but few towns ever issued proclamations of secession. The Union also had a number of shadow governments sympathetic to them. The most notable are the Wheeling Legislature in what was then western Virginia and exiles from Jackson, who set up a base in Corpus Christi.
That summer also saw the beginning of battle in many theaters. The Confederacy attacked important border towns such as Kansas City and Memphis. An uprising by Confederate sympathizers was put down in the small town of Dallas in northeastern Houston. But the main fighting during the summer was the Tennessee Valley campaign launched by the Army of Georgia in July 1862. The first main battle of the campaign was the taking of Chattanooga. The Army of Georgia divided into two groups and positioned them on Lookout Mountain and Moccasin Point in the west and along the Missionary Range in the east. After the artillery regiment led by John Pemberton[2] bombarded the Union works, the army advanced on the city from both sides. The Confederacy won the battle with upwards of 600 casualties, and gave the army an auspicious beginning to the campaign. Over the next week, the Army of Georgia trekked north along the Tennessee River aimed for Knoxville. They reached as far as Fort Loudoun before being rebuked and having to turn back. Despite this defeat, however, the capture of Chattanooga and Cleveland secured a vital rail link for future campaigns in Tennessee.
The final event of the summer of 1862 was the Chesapeake Offensive and the First Potomac Offensive by the Union Army. The Chesapeake Offensive secured the portion of the Delmarva Peninsula in Virginia. The First Potomac Offensive attempted to reach Richmond with the thought that Virginia could be taken out of the war with a quick capture of the capital. General McClellan's plan was for the army to sail to Fort Monroe which was still Union-controlled and drive up the peninsula between the James and York rivers to Richmond, bypassing much of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's defenses. The Army of the Potomac was sent to Fort Monroe and began operations on July 4th. While McClellan did have some early success in the campaign, the majority of the Army of Northern Virginia led by Joseph Johnston were at Bowling Green, not further northward as expected. After a month, the forces under McClellan had established a line at the eastern bank of the Chickahominy River. This would be as far as the campaign would reach, as within two weeks later Johnston had forced the Army of the Potomac back to a line following Queen Creek and College Creek near Williamsburg.
With the campaign on the Virginia Peninsula stalled, McClelland launched one last summer offensive in mid-August. A few brigades of the Army of the Potomac landed at Currioman's Landing on the Virginia Neck with the intent of moving west to cut Fredericksburg off from the rest of Virginia. The brigades managed to secure the area but did not advance very far before they were stalled by Confederate forces on the north bank of the Rappahannock River. Whille the Union soldiers won the short battle, they could not continue the offensive. By the end of August, however, the Army of the Potomac had gotten control of much of eastern Westmoreland County including the county seat of Montross. This had a larger than expected effect on the proceedings of the war, because not only did this victory assist with Union control of the Potomac, but the news of it also caused former Chief Engineer Robert E. Lee to decide to stay loyal to hte United States. In explaining his decision, Lee commented that "with my boyhood home and my greatest ahievement under the control of the United States of America, I will protect the things most important to me and remain loyal to this government"[3]. By now Lee had become a popular figure in Virginia, and influenced the popular opinion of the war and the Confederate cause. Lee's decision also encouraged Union loyalist movements in the far western and northern portions of Virginia.
[1] This battle is loosely based on the Battle of Santa Rosa Island which took place in OTL in October of 1861. Except this time, the CSA had the naval advantage and won.
[2] Yes, this is the John Pemberton who invented Coca-Cola in OTL.
[3] Lee lived at the Stratford Hill Plantation on the Potomac north of Montross until he was eleven, and ITTL he designed and oversaw the construction of Fort Monroe, which is how he quickly rose in his army engineering career.
Last edited: