alternatehistory.com

29 April

Capricorn transits the Welland canal, Aetna being left on Lake Ontario to keep it under Imperial control. More Zodiacs are on the way, but the (now once burned) Yelverton is of the opinion he should wait until he has them at his disposal to attack Presque Isle again.
Meanwhile, some way to the south, the battles around the Turnpike continue. The Confederacy has taken the daring step of sailing eight 9" smoothbores from the Colorado up the Potomac past Washington, with Virginia engaging Fort Washington to cover the transit, and while one of the barges is sunk four 9" guns are unloaded at the pontoon bridge now constructed upriver of Washington. These guns are intended to provide heavy support as the Confederate Army tries to roll up the fort ring, though in the afternoon they are diverted to the site of McClellan's slow-motion attack attempting to cut off the Confederate path along the turnpike.

A.S Johnston attacks Grant's Army of the Tennessee around Nashville, TN. The engagement is fought in bad weather and confused, with several regiments from both sides getting lost at different times, and the decisive moment of the battle comes when an assault by Confederate infantry comes at the same time as a flanking attack by Confederate cavalry. The combination proves too much for Grant's left wing, which breaks, and the able general is forced to conduct a retreat on his right flank.

Johnston's army loses about 2,000 troops dead or crippled, with around twice as many wounded, and Grant takes fewer fatal casualties (1,500 dead or seriously injured) but has many more captured from the collapse of his wing. He is now effectively bottled up in Nashville with ~ 35,000 troops left (counting wounded) and an unfortunate problem - only 25,000 small arms. (Many of those lost were cast away during the retreat.)

With Grant essentially contained for now, Johnston begins planning an offensive against the Army of the Ohio. Since so many Union troops are to the north and east, he has some numerical superiority - his aim is to concentrate it for crushing blows.