alternatehistory.com

25 July

McClellan and Hooker get into an argument about rifle practice. Hooker emphasizes the Congressional ban on the use of gunpowder for practice, to which McClellan replies that an unpracticed army will be easily destroyed by the Confederates if a battle develops upon breakdown of the peace.

Both men have an excellent point; neither is wrong. The right answer is elusive. (The best course of action would probably be to employ a combination of range estimation classes - which can benefit troops without a shot being fired - with snapping practice using percussion caps. This solution is not discovered, and even this involves using part of a potentially limited supply of percussion caps.)



27 July
The Vanderbilt takes a British prize off Crete. She ducks into a small cove on Lesbos and endeavours to be as unnoticeable as possible while she recoals from the prize.


30 July
The request for a mediator arrives in Prussia.
The Prussian King - already embroiled in serious problems from a combination of parliamentary deadlock, elevated grain prices from the trade disruption of the Trent War and sheer bull-headedness - sends off the first experienced negotiator to meet his eye, the recently-returned ambassador to France.

1 August

Havana belatedly discovers it will be hosting a major peace conference. Much disruption occurs in the capital of Spanish Cuba, including the defences being made to look as impressive as possible and more than a few people being bumped out of the grandest hotels.

The Superb undocks, having completed conversion into the biggest bomb ship in the world. Her rigging is distinctly unusual, with chains rather than the normal lines and even an experimental iron-sheathed main mast - however, it is expected that her engine will provide most of her manoeuverability in theatre.
She also sports a few experimental tricks, notably four anchors (one on each quarter) and a steam engine dedicated to lifting the enormous one-ton mortar shells from the magazine.
She is also very lightly armed for a ship her size apart from the mammoth mortar - sporting primarily a dozen 40-lber Armstrong guns on her gundeck.