alternatehistory.com

30 April

Ulysses S. Grant (Brigadier General) runs into Gen. George B. McClellan during the general administrative chaos at the Department of War - currently set up in a Philadelphia hotel as a temporary measure.
McClellan is surprised at Grant's appearance (his letters to his wife reveal he is particularly surprised not to smell whiskey) and the two men have a fairly amicable discussion about the failings of the late war.
The two men differ in their opinions of the correct course of action (Grant feels that the foreign policy decisions of the Lincoln administration have been flawed, McClellan that his army should never have been expected to fight in the first place with the equipment it has) but both agree that the principal problem facing the Union Army in the late war has been a dearth of suitable weapons.
What they would do with those weapons, however, becomes a point of contention that the two generals are both considerably interested in (and their opinions certainly differ on how to use what weapons the Dept. of War has already contracted for).

4 May

A report to the Confederate Congress on the State Militias of the Confederacy. It makes interesting reading, as the states are starting to diverge already in what they are aiming for.
The border states (MD VA KY AR CO and Indian Territory, as well as Texas and the Arizona and New Mexico Territories) are all trying to put together solid and fairly well funded militias, with Virginia in particular putting together an army along the lines of a small but wealthy German state (well provided with the most modern artillery and with skilled rifle-trained troops) and vulnerable Maryland focusing mainly on fortifications, having taken over the Fort Circle around Washington. They are interested in Beauregard's 'hidden forts', for example.
Kentucky is trading off their excellent horses to put together a cavalry-heavy army, one which plans to use cold steel as the decisive tactic for that section of the militia and which is supplemented by rifle skirmishers (along the 'Kentucky Rifleman' tradition.)
Arkansas and the Indian Territory are both focused on what can best be described as mounted infantry, skirmishers on horseback, and on the west coast the Colorado Militia is largely irregular but has a hard core of well-drilled infantry.
For the most part, however, the rest of the States do not have nearly so effective a force. Texas has plenty of men but no real unified doctrine (beyond a high, macho morale) and Louisiana's Native Guard is busily embarassing everyone else in the State with their dedication to military quality - barely a day goes by when at least a company of the NG is not practicing - but everyone else is largely focusing on slave-catching rather than actual effective military force.

The lack of quality of the militias of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, both Carolinas, white Louisiana and Tennessee is concerning to the Confederate Army, but as this is essentially half the country there are not the votes to do more than incentivize a well-drilled militia - and not well enough to get people actually doing anything about it.


5 May
A booklet starts to take shape by the name of "A Treatise on Attacks by Infantry with a Variety of Weapons", a collaborative work between Grant and McClellan. The drafting process is somewhat fraught - McClellan is sensitive to any sign that Grant may be drinking instead of holding up his side of the bargain, and the tension this generates causes Grant to take offense in turn - but matters do not get bad enough to actually stall the booklet.