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3. War, Blood, & Shoes
Brigadier General James H. Carleton, commander of the California Column
After the battles that the 1st San Francisco Regiment fought, they garrisoned southern California, assuring no California uprising. With men losing morale, Emperor Norton assured that he was here with them through thick and thin. He provided the rations to his troops, said to have run up the tents holding dry bread. In addition, his great speeches of his majesty and grandeur, talking of the evil of slavery, even captivated the non-San Franciscans. All was dull for a few months. The Royal Guard was to join the California Column, a force of California volunteers to be sent to the New Mexico territory. They would begin their march on the 13th of April, many days after the victorious Battle of Glorieta Pass. They were to be the main part of the vanguard, with Captain William P. Calloway leading it and Emperor Norton accompanying. However, they would meet a confederate force. A mighty number of eleven men.
The "Battle" of Stanwix Station would be a short conflict, with the Confederates fleeing. However, the San Francisco Regiment would have a few men give pursuit, an order that had been urged by Norton and the men and was quickly agreed to, eventually killing five, injuring three, and capturing three of the Confederates. The four prisoners of war, with two injured men eventually dying from infections, would give some information on Confederate Arizona. From that interaction, their march would continue all the way to Tucson, the territorial capital of Confederate Arizona. Captain Sherod Hunter, the Confederate officer holding Tucson, was caught off-guard from the massed Union force that seemed to have suddenly appeared marching towards them. He had 54 men, but instead of turn himself in to meet the Union forces or attempt retreat to meet the Apache warriors, he would make Tucson a fortress. Temporary barricades, small trench positions, foxholes, even sniping positions littered Tucson to give the men a chance.
Confederate scouts had already spotted the Union troops hours before any real contact, with a raid done to the camps to ensure some sort of resistance, even with men like Captain Calloway killed in his tent. However, James Henry Carleton remained calm, or as calm as he could be. George W. Bowie, a Colonel under the command of Carleton, would lead a majority of the 5th California Regiment to demand Tucson to surrender. However, when he arrived, he was instantly met with gunfire. On the 20th of May, the Siege of Tucson would begin. The Confederates hid in their defenses, while the Union troops stood like sitting ducks, firing upon a hard-to-hit enemy while trying to march in. Cavalry was soon spotted flanking the regiment, and Bowie would quickly ready his men for the presumed cavalry flank. However, as the Union men against Tucson were dropping every moment, a soldier made the discovery that their horses were released to disorient the Union and presume it was a flanking force of cavalry. Bowie would pull back from casualties, with nearly thirty men killed on the Union side and no recorded casualties on the Confederate side.
This failure enraged Carleton, and to ensure no humiliation of the Union, Carleton would ready his entire force to Tucson on the next day. Carleton ordered Hunter to surrender. When he refused, he surrounded Tucson with his men, and led a charge within Tucson, knowing that steel in numbers would be the winning factor, not gunpowder. Although casualties were sustained, including the Royal Guard, men would storm the defensive positions within the town. The Confederates would eventually surrender, including Sherod Hunter, all becoming prisoners of war. The Siege of Tucson was done. However, the war was not done for the Royal Guard yet. Carleton planned to pass through Apache Pass to lead his men towards eastern Confederate Arizona. He sent a vanguard led by Captain Thomas L. Roberts with Company E of the 1st Infantry, a 22-man cavalry escort headed by Captain John C. Cremony, and the proven San Francisco Regiment accompanied by Emperor Norton.
Apache Pass
They would approach the pass, but their stop to the nearby spring, but would be met by Apache warriors led by Mangas Caloradas, an Apache chief, and presumably the legendary Cochise. The Apache had around 200 more men that the Union troops had. A journey back to Tucson would lead to a loss of men, so Roberts decided to fight instead. However, the Apache had already built up defenses and even ambushed the Union troops behind local flora. Thomas L. Roberts had to think quick if his men were to survive. The infantry quickly took the hills above the pass, as Roberts ordered a small unit of howitzers that came with the vanguard into position.
With the Union troops firing above the Apaches, their defenses were way less effective. When the fire ending, as nightfall came, the Apaches began retreating in the darkness, when suddenly, Union troops fired volleys down the hills, a few yards away from the Apache warriors, and soon the Native American numbers just helped the Union hit their mark [1]. Emperor Norton had brought some of his militiamen down the hill to wait for an attempted retreat in the dark, and that move paid off, as the Apaches scrambled away from the fire. When morning came, the Apache casualties counted 142, including the chief Mangas Coloradas, who died from a shot to the head. The Battle of Apache Pass would be a Union victory.
This would be where the Royal Guard's story would end during the Civil War. With the multiple casualties made during battle, many militiamen either had to be absorbed by other militias or be disbanded. Most chose to disband, and the men would be given an escort back to San Francisco by a unit led by Colonel John Chivington, who had commanded during the Battle of Glorieta Pass. Emperor Norton and Chivington would quickly become friends, as they talked often on their way back to San Francisco. Chivington revealed about the issues he had been going through, including him being supposedly cruel to Confederate prisoners, the bitter retirement of being a Methodist pastor, and his suspension from the Freemasons, Chivington was facing issue after issue, and Emperor Norton stated that Chivington could "come to San Francisco anytime".
"Charge of the Emperor"
When Norton and the volunteers of the Royal Guard returned, they were hailed as heroes. The Mayor of San Francisco, Henry F. Teschemacher, even organized a small parade for the valiance of the Royal Guard on Montgomery Street, calling it the "Norton Parade". The press ate this story up for nearly a week, as they talked about the heroism of Emperor Norton to make buck, even saying how he led a cavalry charge, which inspired the painting, "Charge of the Emperor". At that point, the rumors even seemed into other cities, telling about the story of the Emperor who had commanded during the Civil War. When the year 1863 came around the corner, Emperor Norton published a memoir about his experience during the Civil War titled, "An Emperor & His Men", having an iconic quote of Emperor Norton talking about sand getting in his shoes. The book was bought in huge numbers by the San Franciscan masses, as well as other cities situated in northern California. Overall literature of Emperor Norton blew up. Emperor Norton became a celebrity of not just San Francisco, but much of California.
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[1] The Apache forces slipped at the cover of darkness in OTL, during the Battle of Apache Pass.
3. War, Blood, & Shoes
"I loved being with my sons-in-arms, as I saw and felt their victories and hardships, but hell, the sand kept getting in my shoes!" - 'An Emperor & His Men' by Emperor Norton
Brigadier General James H. Carleton, commander of the California Column
After the battles that the 1st San Francisco Regiment fought, they garrisoned southern California, assuring no California uprising. With men losing morale, Emperor Norton assured that he was here with them through thick and thin. He provided the rations to his troops, said to have run up the tents holding dry bread. In addition, his great speeches of his majesty and grandeur, talking of the evil of slavery, even captivated the non-San Franciscans. All was dull for a few months. The Royal Guard was to join the California Column, a force of California volunteers to be sent to the New Mexico territory. They would begin their march on the 13th of April, many days after the victorious Battle of Glorieta Pass. They were to be the main part of the vanguard, with Captain William P. Calloway leading it and Emperor Norton accompanying. However, they would meet a confederate force. A mighty number of eleven men.
The "Battle" of Stanwix Station would be a short conflict, with the Confederates fleeing. However, the San Francisco Regiment would have a few men give pursuit, an order that had been urged by Norton and the men and was quickly agreed to, eventually killing five, injuring three, and capturing three of the Confederates. The four prisoners of war, with two injured men eventually dying from infections, would give some information on Confederate Arizona. From that interaction, their march would continue all the way to Tucson, the territorial capital of Confederate Arizona. Captain Sherod Hunter, the Confederate officer holding Tucson, was caught off-guard from the massed Union force that seemed to have suddenly appeared marching towards them. He had 54 men, but instead of turn himself in to meet the Union forces or attempt retreat to meet the Apache warriors, he would make Tucson a fortress. Temporary barricades, small trench positions, foxholes, even sniping positions littered Tucson to give the men a chance.
Confederate scouts had already spotted the Union troops hours before any real contact, with a raid done to the camps to ensure some sort of resistance, even with men like Captain Calloway killed in his tent. However, James Henry Carleton remained calm, or as calm as he could be. George W. Bowie, a Colonel under the command of Carleton, would lead a majority of the 5th California Regiment to demand Tucson to surrender. However, when he arrived, he was instantly met with gunfire. On the 20th of May, the Siege of Tucson would begin. The Confederates hid in their defenses, while the Union troops stood like sitting ducks, firing upon a hard-to-hit enemy while trying to march in. Cavalry was soon spotted flanking the regiment, and Bowie would quickly ready his men for the presumed cavalry flank. However, as the Union men against Tucson were dropping every moment, a soldier made the discovery that their horses were released to disorient the Union and presume it was a flanking force of cavalry. Bowie would pull back from casualties, with nearly thirty men killed on the Union side and no recorded casualties on the Confederate side.
This failure enraged Carleton, and to ensure no humiliation of the Union, Carleton would ready his entire force to Tucson on the next day. Carleton ordered Hunter to surrender. When he refused, he surrounded Tucson with his men, and led a charge within Tucson, knowing that steel in numbers would be the winning factor, not gunpowder. Although casualties were sustained, including the Royal Guard, men would storm the defensive positions within the town. The Confederates would eventually surrender, including Sherod Hunter, all becoming prisoners of war. The Siege of Tucson was done. However, the war was not done for the Royal Guard yet. Carleton planned to pass through Apache Pass to lead his men towards eastern Confederate Arizona. He sent a vanguard led by Captain Thomas L. Roberts with Company E of the 1st Infantry, a 22-man cavalry escort headed by Captain John C. Cremony, and the proven San Francisco Regiment accompanied by Emperor Norton.
Apache Pass
They would approach the pass, but their stop to the nearby spring, but would be met by Apache warriors led by Mangas Caloradas, an Apache chief, and presumably the legendary Cochise. The Apache had around 200 more men that the Union troops had. A journey back to Tucson would lead to a loss of men, so Roberts decided to fight instead. However, the Apache had already built up defenses and even ambushed the Union troops behind local flora. Thomas L. Roberts had to think quick if his men were to survive. The infantry quickly took the hills above the pass, as Roberts ordered a small unit of howitzers that came with the vanguard into position.
With the Union troops firing above the Apaches, their defenses were way less effective. When the fire ending, as nightfall came, the Apaches began retreating in the darkness, when suddenly, Union troops fired volleys down the hills, a few yards away from the Apache warriors, and soon the Native American numbers just helped the Union hit their mark [1]. Emperor Norton had brought some of his militiamen down the hill to wait for an attempted retreat in the dark, and that move paid off, as the Apaches scrambled away from the fire. When morning came, the Apache casualties counted 142, including the chief Mangas Coloradas, who died from a shot to the head. The Battle of Apache Pass would be a Union victory.
This would be where the Royal Guard's story would end during the Civil War. With the multiple casualties made during battle, many militiamen either had to be absorbed by other militias or be disbanded. Most chose to disband, and the men would be given an escort back to San Francisco by a unit led by Colonel John Chivington, who had commanded during the Battle of Glorieta Pass. Emperor Norton and Chivington would quickly become friends, as they talked often on their way back to San Francisco. Chivington revealed about the issues he had been going through, including him being supposedly cruel to Confederate prisoners, the bitter retirement of being a Methodist pastor, and his suspension from the Freemasons, Chivington was facing issue after issue, and Emperor Norton stated that Chivington could "come to San Francisco anytime".
"Charge of the Emperor"
When Norton and the volunteers of the Royal Guard returned, they were hailed as heroes. The Mayor of San Francisco, Henry F. Teschemacher, even organized a small parade for the valiance of the Royal Guard on Montgomery Street, calling it the "Norton Parade". The press ate this story up for nearly a week, as they talked about the heroism of Emperor Norton to make buck, even saying how he led a cavalry charge, which inspired the painting, "Charge of the Emperor". At that point, the rumors even seemed into other cities, telling about the story of the Emperor who had commanded during the Civil War. When the year 1863 came around the corner, Emperor Norton published a memoir about his experience during the Civil War titled, "An Emperor & His Men", having an iconic quote of Emperor Norton talking about sand getting in his shoes. The book was bought in huge numbers by the San Franciscan masses, as well as other cities situated in northern California. Overall literature of Emperor Norton blew up. Emperor Norton became a celebrity of not just San Francisco, but much of California.
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[1] The Apache forces slipped at the cover of darkness in OTL, during the Battle of Apache Pass.
- Alpha_North
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