alternatehistory.com

13 March

Two Prussian 24-pounders engage Rolf Krake from close range with Hartgussteisen rounds, the standard round used to penetrate solid positions for the Krupp guns. These promptly shatter on impact with the armoured belt, leaving small dents.

One of the 24 pounders is pulled out of the advance position successfully, though the other loses part of the carriage to Rolf Krake's fire and is left where it is. Urgent requests are made for steel (or ideally palliser) bolts instead.


14 March

General McClellan determines that he will inspect the armouries of the various State militias, and the militias themselves, in order to determine their quality. His friend Grant (the two men are working on a book to counteract Butler's allegations, their third piece together) raises the concern that this will take many weeks of travelling around the country; McClellan agrees. (In fact this is in no small part his reason for the inspection tour, as he wishes to put his case to plenty of people both as a concerned General and as a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.)


16 March

Assault preparations are being finalized for the attack on Dybbol. This is still well before the assault can be executed - the forts are still in reasonable state and further damage needs to be done.
Among the notable elements of the plan is that the entire corps contingent of military bands will be a few hundred yards from the Danish positions, playing loud martial music from under cover!


17 March
Wilkes sends his first draft to Butler, who approves greatly - not being a naval man, he does not really have enough experience to fact-check it.
The document suggests the USN should have launched immediate first-strike naval attacks on Halifax, Rum Key and Bermuda, destroying the logistical base of the Royal Navy in American waters before they could react; that various navy men (from Farragut to McKean and Bailey) were incompetent; that the monitor program should have been vastly accelerated; and plenty of other things.
How a navy of about six frigates should have been expected to stand off one with ten times that many ships of the line is not really explored in any great detail, however.


19 March

The Skjold lurks menacingly outside Hamburg for several hours, attempting to provoke fear and a clamour for peace in the city. This is largely not successful in provoking such fear.


20 March

News arrives in Europe of the latest developments of the "Maximist" view on race.
Maxim preaches that the allele system of traits demonstrates racial superiority for the white race (which he calls 'manifestly dominant'), and that a single drop of 'negro blood' can cause a weakening in a strain of whites by introducing "recessive traits", while a single drop of white blood can strengthen a negro bloodline with "dominant traits".
When the news of this odd interpretation of inheritance reaches Charles Darwin, he just looks baffled.


21 March

After a night sleeping on the subject, Darwin writes a considered letter to Mendel about the possible variations on the theme of "dominant" versus "recessive" traits. He commends to Mendel the example of the common cow, and how a white bull mating with a red heifer produces spotted (red-white) offspring - but the mating of these offspring may produce red, white or spotted children in turn.
He also uses the term "pangenes" to refer to the traits, a reference to the concept of pangenesis.




22 March

After much delay, sixty steel bolts are delivered to the Prussian army for use against armoured ships.

Three of them are tested against a target made up to be like the Rolf Krake's side, using 4.5" armour (surplus from Britain) and 8" of backing. The results show that a penetration is possible, but only at quite close range (roughly 200 yards) and using the full charge.
Recommendation is made that the full charge should be used when engaging ironclads, and that in emergencies a "Grosse" charge may be authorized (with 2-4lb extra powder) even though this places the gun at severe risk.