OK, so here it is. Now, go easy on me if this is completely nonsensical; I know vastly more about the 1850s than the actual war, and I suck at writing campaign descriptions.
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Story of a Party - Chapter IV
"…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
- Abraham Lincoln
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From "To Live and Die in Dixie" by Willie Pearson
Duke University Press, 1946
"As now-General Lee was establishing himself in Chattanooga, General P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding the Confederate Army of Georgia, stationed in the important railway hub of Atlanta, was making plans of his own to attack the city and rout Lee. The plan called for nearly the whole army to move out and across the state border, and to pursue Lee should he abandon position and seek a strategic retreat. The plan was put into effect on May 19, as Beauregard led 21,000 men, nearly all infantry, out of Atlanta.
On May 21, a firefight broke out between one of Lee's scouting patrols and the Confederate vanguard, and soon both armies found themselves in pitched battle. Lee decided to use the hilly terrain to his advantage by blocking off mountain passes and enclosing Beauregard in one area, cutting the Confederates off from both retreat and supply, and utilising his superior numbers to beat Beauregard in battle. This strategy failed, as Beauregard foresaw it and decided to attack one of the guarded mountain passes, which was only lightly defended. This forced Lee to pursue, and led to battle erupting again just north of the city, by the Tennessee River.
The Battle of Chattanooga ended up a Confederate victory, to the surprise of everyone. Lee was forced to retreat northwest, in the direction of Nashville…"
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From "The Great Pathfinder" by Abraham Richardson
Yale University Press, 1954
"Chapter 8: The War Leader
As the Confederates occupied Chattanooga and the surrounding hills, President Fremont found himself fighting a losing war. House Majority Leader Nathanael Banks resigned his position on June 3, offering his services to the Union Army. He was given command of the Army of the Potomac, which was to invade and occupy Northern Virginia, and later strike for Richmond.
Banks was sent away from Washington, commanding a force of 16,000 fresh recruits. He initially met with success, crossing the Potomac on June 3, and occupying Woodbridge within a week, almost unopposed. This, however, was only due to the late arrival of Confederate forces, led by Joseph Johnston. Johnston attacked Banks when he attempted to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, on June 11. Since Banks' forces were unprepared for open battle (this was, more than anything, due to his own, and Lieutenant-General Scott's, belief that the area could be quickly secured before the Confederates counterattacked, at which time reinforcements could be sent over), even the cautious Johnston managed to successfully rout the Army of the Potomac, sending them retreating back north.
Banks returned to the capital on June 25, and was met with coldness bordering on hatred by Federal officials. President Fremont was particularly displeased by Banks' defeat, and offered him his House seat (not the majority leadership, however) back, in what was in practice an honourable discharge from the Army. Banks reluctantly accepted, knowing that refusing would mean that the President would force his hand, and was replaced as commander of the Army of the Potomac by Fremont's old ally, Henry Wager Halleck.
Halleck was a scholarly type of man, and a renowned strategic expert, but was not the most skilled battlefield commander. He did, however, have a great skill for organisation, and he was, in the words of one of his contemporaries, "not the type of man who inspired love, confidence or respect".
After being installed, Halleck set tirelessly to work bringing order out of the chaos that Banks' retreat had caused. 7,000 new recruits arrived, making a grand total of 23,000 men in the army. With this force, Halleck crossed the Potomac once again on July 29. Johnston moved to oppose him, and on August 3, battle broke out near Chantilly. This battle was a close victory for Halleck, with around 3,000 dead on either side. He advanced to the Rappahannock; he did not move further afield, due to his own belief in defensive strategy, to defend and consolidate the already considerable gains made."
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From "The Marble Man: The Life of Robert E. Lee" by Henry Custis Lee
Ingersoll Press, New York City, 1971
"After his defeat at Chattanooga, Lee spent several disgraceful weeks retreating across the rolling hills of Tennessee, reaching as far as Manchester by Independence Day. There, he decided to counterattack, prompting what is known in history as the First Battle of Normandy Field. His army had almost recovered its organisation by then, despite the constant movements, and he was confident that he could beat Beauregard to a retreat, perhaps even sending him in flight back across the Tennessee. Beauregard, however, was prepared for the notion of Lee counterattacking, and the terrain was in his favour. When the armies met, Lee suffered yet another defeat, and was forced to retreat even further.
Opinion in Washington was now firmly against Lee, and several suggestions were made by newspapers to remove him from his command. President Fremont, and especially Lieutenant-General Scott, were firmly against this, with Scott stating "Major-General Lee is the finest soldier I have ever seen in action, and the day he is removed is the day I resign." Scott is generally credited as the only thing that stood between Lee and a dishonourable discharge at the time."
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From "Sam Houston: The Man and the Legend" by Andrew Sanchez
University of Texas Press, 1962
"The state of Texas played a vital role to the Union's strategy in the Civil War. The newly formed Army of Texas, under Albert Sidney Johnston, was to strike east, into Louisiana, until reaching the Mississippi River, cutting off Confederate shipping and placing that river under Union control. From there, they were to move north, meeting up with the Army of the Ohio in Northern Mississippi.
This strategy, however, failed to work initially. Confederate general Wade Hampton III, a rich planter and landowner, and his Army of the Atchafalaya, were poised on the river of that name, waiting for the Union attack. As such, Johnston managed to advance fairly far into Louisiana, capturing most of the Acadiana region, but was beaten back at the Battle of Breaux Bridge. His army managed to prevent the Confederates from chasing them beyond Lafayette, however, and took up defensive positions around that city.
Further north, Union operations went with more success. The Indian Territory was divided by the war, with the Creeks and the Seminoles supporting the Union, but the other three civilised tribes (the Cherokees, the Chickasaws and the Choctaws) supporting the Confederacy. The tribes soon began waging wars on one another, supported by the sale of arms to both sides. It did not take long before the Union and the Confederacy both intervened directly, with both the Army of the Arkansas and the Army of Texas sending troops into the area. The Union army moved north from Fort Worth, entering Chickasaw-held territory in late June. On Independence Day, they met up with the Seminoles, and moved east with them, defeating the Chickasaws in battle near the Canadian River.
This defeat incited nearly all the principal Chickasaw chiefs to defect and join the Union, opening up a corridor of Union-aligned land separating most Cherokee lands from the rest of the Territory. This was taken advantage of, and both the Apaches and the western Cherokees were similarly routed before the end of summer. By then, the Confederate Army of Arkansas, under Braxton Bragg, had sent in a whole regiment of men to defeat the Creeks. The Union troops turned east to meet them, only to be defeated. At the second attempt, however, they had the aid of the Seminoles and the Creeks, and managed to win a narrow victory over the Confederates. Now, they marched further east, into Arkansas and the southern Ozarks, to meet up with Major-General Grant's Army of the Missouri coming south…"
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From "An Officer and Gentleman: The Life of Ulysses S. Grant" by Clifford Stevens
Jaguar Books, 1972
"After the secession of Missouri, Grant was appointed commander of the Army of the Missouri, stationed in Jacksonville, Illinois, with orders to cross the Mississippi as soon as possible, capture St. Louis and Jefferson City, and later to move south to meet up with Johnston's forces in Louisiana.
Grant decided to cross the Mississippi at a less conspicuous location than St. Louis, to avoid immediate confrontation with the Confederate troops across the river. He eventually settled on Hannibal, deciding to march from that city toward St. Louis. The crossing was carried out on June 6, and the Union Army was in occupation of Marion, Ralls and Pike counties within a week. The Army of the Missouri now moved south, reaching St. Charles by mid-July. There, the state militia, acting on orders from Governor Polk [1], engaged Grant in a battle, which he won. Now, the Army of the Missouri split in two, one, commanded by Ambrose Burnside, advancing up said river to capture Jefferson City and force a reversal of the Missouri Ordinance of Secession, and one, commanded by Grant personally, advancing with support of a few primitive gunboats of the Union Navy's Mississippi Squadron [2] down the Mississippi River to recapture Memphis from Samuel Cooper's Army of the Mississippi.
Burnside's task was the hardest, since the state militia retreated up the Missouri to defend Jefferson City. He reached the state capital on August 8, and immediately ordered his men to open fire on the Confederate positions. The Battle of Jefferson City lasted for two full days, but in the end Burnside's troops won out, largely because of the better equipment (the Liberty Arsenal, Missouri's principal arsenal, having been raided by Union forces as early as in April) they possessed. The State Capitol was stormed at noon on the 9th, and the state government was declared abolished for the duration of the war. Burnside installed himself as military governor, with the approval of General Scott.
Grant had a considerably easier time, his forces originally being largely unopposed. He had managed to reach Cape Girardeau by the time Burnside had defeated the state government, and he had reached Cairo, Illinois before the Confederates attacked. It was Bragg, and not Cooper, who first attacked Grant, in the Battle of Wickliffe, on September 3. There, Grant won a victory, despite heaving only 19,000 men to counter Bragg's 24,000. This enabled him to push Bragg further south, across the Kentucky-Tennessee state line, and then back across the Mississippi into Arkansas."
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From "Samuel Clemens: The Life of a True American Hero" by David Isaacs
Brown University Press, 1943
"When Generals Grant and Burnside entered Hannibal, Missouri, with their troops, Clemens was home on leave after the shipping company that had employed him as a pilot had gone out of business, as a result of he Civil War. He visited Grant's speech in the town, made just before leaving. That moment is largely accepted as the occasion on which Clemens finally decided to join the Union armed forces [3].
He signed up for the Navy the day after, leaving Hannibal on the 13th, and arrived in Cairo, Illinois, the temporary base of the Mississippi Squadron, on the 29th. He was assigned to the gunboat USS
Abilene, named for the city at northern end of the Chisholm Trail, and got along well with Commander Jacobs, his commanding officer. He later said that these days were "the happiest of that horrible war", and of Jacobs that "he was the finest officer and the most distinguished leader I have ever served under".
His first combat role was in the Battle of Wickliffe, where the
Abilene was among the ships providing fire support to Grant's forces, which proved the decisive factor of that battle. Here, Clemens manned the rear gun with distinction, which earned him petty officer's rank on the 7th, by Jacobs' personal recommendation. He now began manning the bridge, as the gunboats started filling a more mobile support role, and here the skill with which Clemens had piloted steamers for a living paid off. He was promoted to the rank of chief petty officer in October, and in February of 1861 he would become an ensign, serving as the helmsman of the
Abilene."
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From "To Live and Die in Dixie" by Willie Pearson
Duke University Press, 1948
"By October of 1860, the Confederacy found itself in an exposed position, although not significantly weakened compared to its position upon secession. Indeed, Beauregard's and Cooper's efforts in Tennessee had probably saved the Confederacy from being split in two, and Hampton, for all his military inexperience, had done an admirable job at keeping Albert Sidney Johnston away from New Orleans, but in Virginia, Halleck was building up an impenetrable wall of Union troops and fortifications along the Rappahannock, which Joseph Johnston's Army of Northern Virginia would have difficulty breaking through.
William Sherman was also beginning to show his worth in these days, as his troops in the Army of Appalachia had seized Charleston, where a convention was being held to discuss the counter-secession of the western Virginian counties. Missouri was effectively lost to Burnside's army, and Grant was harassing General Cooper's position in Memphis.
In summary, secession had proved a harder thing than any "fire-eater" of the 1850s had ever imagined, and the Confederacy needed a victory in either Virginia or Tennessee to keep it from disintegrating. That came in November…"
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From "A History of the United States through its Presidents"
John Bachmann & Son, Bluefields, Nicaragua, 1948
"1860 presidential election
The 1860 presidential election was radically changed from all of the earlier elections. Ten states had seceded, and although Missouri had been recovered two months previously, that state was under military occupation, and hence did not vote.
Secession virtually destroyed the Democratic Party, who would probably have split as violently as the Whigs before them had the southern states waited longer with seceding. Instead, it quietly petered out as a political movement, the credibility of its policies on slavery (i. e. that the Union could still be saved through making suitable compromises) having been effectively destroyed first by secession, and then by the Republican campaign machinations. This was the last presidential election where a Democrat stood as a major candidate.
The Democratic convention chose Senator Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency, with Governor Andrew Johnson of Tennessee as his running mate.
The Republicans unanimously renominated Fremont for the presidency, but did not back Dayton for Vice President, instead successfully nominating Senator Abraham Lincoln of Illinois as Fremont's running mate.
A new addition to the electoral mix was the Constitutional Union Party, founded by Senator John Bell of Tennessee, and including most Southern Unionists. Bell was nominated for the presidency with little opposition, and Governor Samuel Houston of Texas was chosen as his running mate.
The election race proved more hard-fought than anyone would figure. Fremont, of course, ran on a platform based around the war effort, promising to put the war to an end before the end of his second term.
Douglas, and especially Bell, however, both opposed the war, believing that secession was a right under the Constitution, and that although keeping the Union together was of course preferable, it was a compact between free and sovereign states, and if a state felt its interests were not guarded properly, it had a right to leave.
To this, Fremont and Lincoln replied, in glowing sentences, that the secession of the Confederacy was illegal, since it took place without the consent of Congress, and was in defence of nothing except barbarism and uncivilised practice. They painted the war as a crusade against slavery, "this greatest of mankind's evils", and pledged to continue with this viewpoint for the rest of their terms.
The Republicans ended up winning the election, with all the free states, except New Jersey and Indiana (which both voted for Douglas) voting for Fremont. Both Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maryland, however, voted for Bell, and Delaware also voted for Douglas. In the congressional elections, the Republicans retained a safe majority in both houses.
Overall, the biggest losers of the election were the Democrats, who lost nine Senators and twenty-seven Representatives, mainly to the Constitutional Union Party, but also to the Republicans."
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[1] Yes, Trusten Polk. I put him in this position because it seemed most logical.
[2] Mainly old river steamships converted for wartime use by the removal of most upper decks and the instalment of outdated pieces of naval artillery.
[3] As IOTL, Clemens was quite an opportunistic youth, and without his stint as a silver miner in Nevada, I imagine he might have joined the military to make some use of his skills and interests. As to why he joined the Union, he believed staunchly IOTL that abolition was just and fair, and ITTL many Missourians are skeptic to their state's decision to secede.
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Thoughts?