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Part #2: The Dogs of War
Part #2: The Dogs of War
“War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”
“Elizabethtown had been Sherman’s first real victory. And with his so-called ‘outlaws’ harassing Confederate supply lines between Columbus and Bowling Green, he had effectively paralyzed the growth of Southern hold in Kentucky, if only momentarily.[1] But his loses prevented him from making use of this advantage, and it frustrated Sherman to no end. Worse, the rumors concerning Elizabethtown had made many in Kentucky far more sympathetic to the Confederate cause, allowing the growth of a network of spies that made local recruitment dangerous. Naturally, Sherman was on edge, but determined to win. It struck him that his first taste of victory had come through surprise and ruthless attack on a weakened and disoriented foe.
Some decry Sherman, particularly here in the South, as a savage man, prone to violence. But Sherman did not enjoy war. Much like Lee, he often found it a horrid affair. Kentucky birthed in him not a taste for war, but a viewpoint; that wars end quickest when you are without mercy. Honor and restraint only lengthened the battle, saw more lives lost, businesses ruined, spouses separated, children fatherless. ‘If one man’s honor,’ he wrote, ‘or even a hundred, is enough to see this war ended faster, then that is a fair price. If one man need become the Devil, need damn his soul, to bring salvation to thousands, then I gladly give myself to the fire. I will be judged a monster, by God and country, but not by posterity…’[2]
...McClellan had thankfully turned some attention West, funneling men in pursuit of vainglory, hoping as well to try and draw the South towards that Theatre. The West was far less strategically important in McClellan’s mind, and he was more willing to abandon it entirely once the South made it a focus. Whatever his reason, Burnside and Sherman were just thankful that he had given them supplies.
Missouri was an odd place between the two. While the Confederates did occupy territory along the river, the state had technically been neutral, but the sustaining Confederate presence had emboldened secessionists who formally declared their joining of the Confederacy in the Summer of 1861, a fact that given Burnside a considerable headache. Like in Kentucky, the Confederates had a declared another city their capital, occupying Joplin and commanding from it before eventually making Springfield their capital after several attempts to take the city.
While some lay the blame on Burnside, the fact was that he was focused on holding the Mississippi, and spent more time trying to crack Columbus that anything else after he took Belmont.[3] When he finally turned West to deal with Joplin, he found himself bogged into battle at Mountain Grove, twice at Gainesville, losing the second time, and thrice at Springfield. This was in large part due to his opponents, General John B. Hood and PGT Beauregard. Beauregard has often been called the Sherman of the South in regards to his unrelenting tactics, but Hood was perhaps one of the most reckless commanders in the Confederacy, and maybe one of the luckiest as well. He wanted to take all of Missouri, and pushed at Burnside again and again until he took Springfield.
Then it was a chase to Belmont and the Mississippi. Burnside held, but Beauregard was now free to reinforce Kentucky, which resulted in enough pressure on Burnside that retreat seemed inevitable. And yet he did not. He held his ground, dug in his heels, had every marksman he could grab fire across the water, picking off some of Beauregard’s best men. It was at this point that Sherman’s Outlaws came in to assist Burnside. While not a large force, the arrival of a sudden cavalry charge from the rear threw the Confederates into disarray. They had to quit the field of battle, and so Burnside was able to push at Hood. Regardless, while word of Burnside’s heroism spread to the media,[4] many saw the overall situation as just more of the same on the Mississippi.
McClellan thus tasked his up-and-coming right hand man, General Pope, to assist Sherman in Kentucky as Spring came in full force in 1863. His hope was that giving the cautious Pope command of a ‘mad dog’ like Sherman would be a winning play. From the start, the two men came to hate each other. Sherman in particular loathed how hesitant Pope was to commit men to offensive movements. Certainly, spies were an issue, but to Sherman that only meant an incentive to keep active and unpredictable, let their information become useless or unintelligible when it reached Confederate ears.[5]
By April, they had made little progress, and Sherman, growing restless, left Pope’s operational base in Louisville, and marched straight to the peace-time capital of the State of Kentucky; Frankfort, which had been in Confederate hands for several weeks, the second occupation of the city, thanks to Pope’s inactivity. It is telling of how little Beauregard had wanted to commit to the city that the small garrison fled after hearing that ‘Redskin Tecumseh’ was on his way.[6] Sherman took the city peacefully, though the populace was less pleased. They were Unionists, but Sherman was a startling man, by reputation and in person. Now on his own, and writing rather coarse letters informing Pope that his ‘slug of a spine’ was free to ‘kiss a cannon,’ Sherman began making preparation for a strong-armed campaign. His target: Bowling Green…”
“[Enter SICKLES, holding a comically large bundle of papers. He drops them on MEADE’s desk, who looks up unamused. When SICKLES speaks, it is without a hint of respect.]
SICKLES: Here you are, sir! Fresh reports and proposals for how to respond to the ongoing situation in the Shenandoah.
[MEADE slowing caps his pen and inkwell, looking at SICKLES, visibly annoyed]
MEADE: We both know that half of these are nonsense. Another third are set to get me killed. And all of them are merely a means of wasting my time.[7]
SICKLES: Waste your time? Meade, you’re wasting all of our time. What we both know is that YOU will NEVER be able to beat Lee.
MEADE: That is Major General Meade to you, Sickles!
SICKLES: Don’t make me laugh. Your rank and your command are only because Hooker, rest his soul, died by Lee’s hand.
MEADE: I ought to have you thrown in irons and shot for your tone.
SICKLES: But you aren’t. The other commanders are on my side, they’d turn on you.[8]
MEADE: You’re going to threaten me with treason? Those men are only ‘on your side’ because you lie through your teeth so often I’m shocked they haven’t all rotted out.
SICKLE: It isn’t treason to save the Union!
[MEADE stands]
MEADE: Save the Union? You are damn lucky I am need of strong morale, Sickles, or else you would be under arrest for insubordination. But once we beat Lee, I’m going to have you court-martialed. Unlike the cowardly shit you spit, that is no threat, Sickles. It’s a promise, unless you reign in your cowardice and greed and act like a proper soldier!
[SICKLES steps back, looking somewhat frightened]
SICKLES: I… sir, I apologize. I crossed the line. I… I have not slept well, Mea- Er, Major General. And this campaign… it seems doomed to fail.
[MEADE seems suspicious]
MEADE: You have been trying to be rid of me for some time now Sickles, and before that you criticized Hooker, and you have repeatedly been branded a schemer. I do not trust you, and do not think you can remove that with a pitiful lie like that.
SICKLES: No, sir, it is true! Ask Chamberlain, I toss, I turn, I even shout most nights. It isn’t just me, many of us are uncertain. It… it has begun to affect our work, and I apologize. I will go to the men tonight, sir, and I will tell them to have hope. That Major General Meade knows what he’s doing and that you and I have a clear understanding.
[MEADE scoffs]
MEADE: You do that, Sickles.
[MEADE returns to his work, tossing the papers SICKLES brought in to the floor. SICKLES departs, but turns and gives MEADE one last hateful glare.]
…
[The chaos increases. SICKLES looks around from horseback, seeing men running about, the sound of gun and cannonfire mixing with screams and horses to become cacophonous. The sparse trees between the ruined farmland cast sinister shadows. CHAMBERLAIN is seen in the distance leading a forward charge.]
SICKLES: God in Heaven…
UNION SOLDIER: Sir! Sir! General!
[SICKLES snaps from his trance]
SICKLES: What?!
UNION SOLDIER: Sir, what do we do?! The other men need our help, but our orders were to flank.
[SICKLES looks left, and there’s a zoom on MEADE, a horde of grey uniforms pressing on him. He falls from his horse into the Mud Run, rising to fight, clearly in need of help. SICKLES smiles. It is slow and sinister.]
SICKLES: We’re proper soldiers. We follow the Major General’s orders. Move to flank, men!
[SICKLES and his men move forward. Cut to MEADE, watching them leaving. He locks eyes with SICKLES across the battlefield. Sound fades. A singular gunshot as MEADE cries in pain.]”
“Lee’s Invasion of the North, also known as the Harrisburg Campaign, was a rapid push into the now poorly defended Shenandoah Valley. With two strong armies in the region, Lee left Virginia is good hands with JEB Stuart trouncing Rosecrans in Tennessee and Stonewall Jackson’s Army of Northern Virginia keeping Richmond safe. With word of Lee’s mobilization, Lincoln, fearing an attack towards Washington, ordered that the Army of the Potomac march into Virginia to weaken Lee. Lincoln had previously granted command of the army to John C. Frémont in hopes of a more aggressive doctrine, hoping to use Frémont’s habit of acting on his own to Lincoln’s advantage. His insubordinance had seen Frémont removed from command of the West in favor of Pope by McClellan, but now the President had hoped Frémont might again defy McClellan’s orders. But, he didn’t. Frémont had begun to tire of Lincoln who, given the war’s lacking progress, had refused to aid the passage of laws against slavery, not wanting to damage North-South relations any further.[10] Frémont toed McClellan’s line, if only to get back at Lincoln, once writing to the President that he agreed it to be a shame when in a position to act fail to take a bold and daring stance.[11]
Lincoln had Frémont promptly removed, not caring for McClellan’s recommendations, and handed command of the army to General Joseph Hooker, who agreed to go for Lee, who was at this point already making his way to the Shenandoah. Hooker moved to engage Lee, but would not succeed. After a decisive victory at Chancellorsville that injured Hooker, Lee began his march. Hooker would succumb to infection and McClellan put General George G. Meade in command of the Army of the Potomac, who pursued Lee. Many believe McClellan preferred not to restore Frémont’s command as it stood, using the President’s anger as a chance to rid himself of a less than helpful commander...
...The Army of Appalachia was simply too tough a foe to defeat in any one stroke. Meade began a campaign of harassment, hoping to score a few smaller victories that would see Lee forced to retreat, at which time the Union could send someone further South to finish him off. Many have called this a smart strategy that was set to work rather well, and one that showed Meade to be a general not seeking glory but victory regardless of fame.[12]
Most examination of Lee’s notes at the time support Meade’s assessment of tactics. Lee’s army was able to move rapidly, and battles, victory or loss, were quick affairs that always bloodied the enemy a fair deal. However, despite the ability to march quickly and orderly and fight with efficiency, such a large and high-quality force had a great deal of resource consumption. This made Lee’s goal one of speed, not triumph. He intended to hit Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a move that he believed would startle the North into pressing for peace.[13] Meade’s constant small assault intensified Lee’s lack of resources, and he faltered on more than occasion, allowing Meade to inflict more casualties in his raids that he should have been able to...
...The Battle of Harrisburg is improperly named. The Union name is more appropriate, as the Confederate name derives more on the original goal of the battle, which was a final crushing of Meade’s army before an assault on Harrisburg itself. The Union calls it the Battle of Mud Run, for the small creek that was the site of the battle. The farms flanking the creek had the most fighting, first as Lee dug in, forcing Meade to cross the river, then after the Union was pushed back, the other side became where the Union would make an attempted stand under Sickles before retreating.
But while a Confederate victory, it was a pyrrhic one. Confederate losses were high, and every dead Union soldier was more ammunition lost, and almost all their medical supplies and food had been lost too. Lee had to retreat, so close to his prize.[14] He did so with a good amount of hesitation but reasoned that the Union would be demoralized enough. He failed, of course, to account for how much of a schemer General Sickles would prove to be.
As Lee turned South, Sickles had taken command of the Potomac after Meade’s death. Seeing that the Confederate general was heading South and not North to Harrisburg, he accurately surmised that Lee didn’t have the manpower. A runner had already gone to inform Harrisburg of the oncoming Confederates, but nothing ever came. Instead, Sickles chased Lee, keeping close to him. One a few occasions, he mimicked Meade and had a small detachment harass the Army of Appalachia. Word of this circulated and combined with how the ‘impending attack’ on Harrisburg had vanished. Some wondered if Sickles had somehow bested Lee, and the General was quite pleased to hear such rumors.
Sickles would go on to encourage them and even took credit for how his flanking attack on Lee, combined with his ‘quick thinking’ to harass Lee’s army even after a ‘strategic fallback’ at Mud Run ultimately ‘broke’ the Confederates. Sickles, as he casually pursued an enemy that had already decided to return home, was becoming known as the Man Who Beat Lee, the General who ran Uncle Bobby back home to Virginia and, as the story evolved, singlehandedly saved Harrisburg and indeed all of Pennsylvania from demise at the hands of vicious Southerners…”
“So, who knows what’s special about the Battle of Bowling Green? James?”
“Well, uh, I know it’s also called something else.”
“Ha, alright, and can you give me that name? The name kind of gives away what's special about it.”
“It’s the Burning of Bowling Green.”
“Very good, James. The Burning of Bowling Green. Robby, you haven’t talked all day. Can you take a guess what that name means for the significance?”
“Er, Master Percival, I-i-i don’t really know much about th--”
“Aw, nonsense, Robby. You are probably one of the most informed people on history I know. Now c’mon, speak up. I know you know this. You’ve been quiet all day, no chance of looking like a know-all if you say this one thing.”
“Alright… It was the destruction of the city of Bowling Green by William Sherman. He attacked quickly, mostly moving at night to prevent word of his attack reaching the town, and he struck early in the morning.”
“There’s the Robby I know. With some extra information, too! Yes, Sherman struck in a surprise attack that he had been planning for some time. The city wasn’t prepared for that kind of assault. Now while Sherman had intended to hit the city hard, he had also been hoping for an easy win. Instead, he got a whole city that picked up arms, and a militia was fighting him in the streets as he tried to enter.[15] Sherman would ultimately succeed, but he wanted to make a blow against the Confederacy, and also wanted to round up the town to arrest any remaining Confederates. Now, the fire probably wasn’t intentional. It had been very dry and even a knocked over lantern could have sparked a good deal of issue.[16]
“But, you see, this was Sherman’s second sight of a fire breaking out while he was assaulting a town. At Elizabethtown, he had put out the flames. At Bowling Green, the city seemingly full of Confederate sympathizers and traitors in his eyes, he just let the fire grow as he pulled his men out. And it grew and grew, consuming much of the town as Sherman watched. The story goes that one of Sherman’s men asked what they were going to do. He replied, ‘We’re going to let this place be wiped away. And the ash will make the land fertile, and one day loyal Americans will come here to settle it anew.’ I don’t know if this part is true or just a story made up to jive with what Sherman would go on to say in his political career. Saul, why wasn’t there a large army defending the town?”
“Oh! Uh… Uh… Uh… … I don’t know.”
“Robby?”
“Beauregard was in the middle of battling General Pope at the Second Battle of Elizabethtown.”
“Yes, PGT was in the middle of an engagement when Sherman hit Bowling Green. He received word not long after winning that battle, which ironically was supposed to be the start General Pope’s meticulously planned conquest of Kentucky. Instead, Beauregard won, and Pope ended up with a leg amputated. The response to Bowling Green was incredibly negative, some even think that it could have gotten much of Kentucky to flip grey. But, as luck would have it, which I admit may be a poor phrase here, Beauregard was furious. He went after Sherman, who retreated to Frankfort. There these two titans did battle. Two unrelenting forces smashed into each other. Beaugard broke through Frankfort’s defensive, determined to win at all costs, but he miscalculated Sherman’s strength. By the time the Confederates were entering the city, they were too small a force to hold the city. Fighting spread throughout, and though Sherman retreated, Beauregard lost control of his men. They loot and ransacked, screaming for revenge for Bowling Green, and before he could stop them, they started a fire and spread it.
“Beauregard would have to flee the city, and it was destroyed, with untold civilian casualties, more than Bowling Green ever had. He had also lost so many men in the chaos, that he was a sitting duck for Sherman, who had regrouped his men. He’d intended a counter-attack to retake the city, but with it up in flames he used the advantage to ensure Beauregard couldn’t escape. PGT Beauregard died there, and so ended the Burning of Frankfort, the city in ruins by the time the battle was over and the flames were being put out. Ironically, while Kentucky hated him, the Union gained a positive view of Sherman. Harsh as he had been, he’d had the chance to explain for Elizabethtown and Bowling Green as being accidents. He claimed the hostile militia had made evacuating the latter city impossible, and so the fire grew too fast. Officially, this is the stance the United States takes on the incidents. In addition to what happened, numerous stories came of how the Confederate attack on Frankfort had seen looting and rioting and violence against the civilian populace that Sherman had never done. To the North, one small, contained fire and one accidental blaze worsened by foolishly hostile townsfolk had been responded to with a brutal sacking and intentional burning. That Beauregard, then seen as the mastermind behind this, and one of the South’s notable generals, had been killed by Sherman was hailed as settling the score.[17]
“But like I said, not in Kentucky. This sequence of events meant that both the Confederate and the Union capitals of Kentucky were gone. And to Kentucks of the time,[18] everyone was to blame. Famously, not long after these events, the Union Army of Kentucky saw mass desertion and refusal to fight, and the same thing occurred amongst the First Kentucky Brigade of the Confederacy. These soldiers went home, to a ruined state. Governor James F. Robinson had died at Frankfort, not evacuating in time due to a belief that Sherman would hold the city. He’d been captured by Confederate soldiers who executed him. Thankfully, much of the General Assembly had evacuated, and convened an emergency meeting. Former Governor Beriah Magoffin was named acting Governor. His first action was to remind President Lincoln, as well as President Davis, as his attempt to ensure Kentucky’s neutrality. This here is his letter. I want you to look at that line there, found in both letters: ‘I warned you, Mr. President, that Kentucky ought be a place of Neutrality. I warned everyone, but they did not listen, and now the mothers of Bowling Green and Frankfort both weep for their children.’[19]
“Kentucky’s General Assembly would again confirm its status as a place of neutrality. The defecting troops that arrived from both sides were deputized as part of the Kentucky State Militia; Sherman and every Confederate commander in the State were promptly told to leave…”[20]
“As 1863 came to a close, there was still no clear victor in the Civil War. Lee had nearly reached the capital of Pennsylvania, yes, but most saw his retreat as the work of General Daniel Edgar Sickles, leading the Union to believe it now had an answer to Lee.[21] Tennessee had been a disaster for the Union, but the Confederacy had lost some of its best commanders outside of the big three. Missouri was still split between Hood and Burnside, and Kentucky was now pursuing a position of armed neutrality.
Ironically, both nations saw themselves as being in a position of strength. The Confederacy certainly ended things on a high note; North Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida had all repelled naval occupation driving the last Union troops from the shores and poking holes in Union’s blockade. They still had no true trade partners, but their own resupply lines could now transit along their coastline. Furthermore, Senator Robert M. T. Hunter had succeeded in getting the Famine Relief and Prevention Act passed through the Confederate Congress.[22] It stipulated subsidized farming of food crops at various plantations, with a renewal of said subsidy for all plantations that maintained a certain production of food in ratio to the amount of land on that plantation. Each state also mobilized a small force of militia men tasked with inspecting plantations to ensure their compliance if they claimed to be growing food. As an added side effect, these ‘Agricultural Inspection Units’ also worked to see if plantations with absent owners were being properly run, and they suppressed a handful of slave riots,[23] as well as imprisoning several men in each state as failing to maintain the land entrusted to them.
While it would take time, the passage of this act soothed many people about the ongoing shortages, and soon enough, with crops able to be transported along much of the coast from any state to places in most need, relief was somewhat given. Food shortages remained even after the war, but a system had been created to try and solve it. Where it failed, people directed their anger not at the Confederate Congress, but at the Union, both during the war and after it…
...The Spring of 1864 was another period of paralysis. Lee was still attempting to rebuild his army, while JEB Stuart was holding Virginia as Stonewall Jackson was shifted over to holding Tennessee. Hood and Burnside remained locked in the same stalemate as before, both declining offers to leave the region after almost two years dancing around each other.[24] The South saw no need to press the war too radically as food shortages were being eased and their armies recovering. Supplies were low, yes, but a raid led by Jackson had secured a train of munitions, and it’s contents were being distributed.
McClellan once again held back, trying to devise a new plan of attack. But conscious in his mind was the fact that 1864 was an election year, and his bid had been accepted as the Democrat ticket for the election. The Copperheads, the faction of Democrats who wanted to sue for peace, believed the general would recognize the hopeless situation and agree to negotiations, especially with Pendleton as Vice President. Meanwhile, the War Democrats felt that having the most successful general in the Union in full command would aid the country in a time of war, removing Lincoln’s meddling and giving McClellan greater authority over generals known to be too reckless.[25]
Lincoln’s popularity at this time was sinking, largely due to the lack of progress in the war. It certainly felt winnable, especially after General Sickles supposedly chased Lee out of the North, but many put blame on Lincoln. It had been on his command that the Army of the Potomac under Hooker left their defensive positions, which some blamed for how Lee was able to move on towards Harrisburg in the first place.[26] Others pointed to Henry Halleck’s less than impressive run as general-in-chief, and word had gotten out that Lincoln had made that decision to spite McClellan. Combined with his controversial actions during the war as President, including the packing of the Supreme Court to approve his decisions, and Lincoln was struggling in the polls. Even those who disliked McClellan were unsure of Lincoln as a President, as it was he who continued to put the man in command while also attempting to work around him.
This, ironically, meant that it was Lincoln who needed military glory. As Spring came and passed, McClellan still had done little beyond assign Sherman to Tennessee, where he gave Stonewall Jackson a good run, but failed to secure a strong decisive victory. McClellan also finally pulled Burnside away from Missouri in April, replacing him with William Rosecrans, who had both Thomas Chamberlain and John C. Frémont under him, the latter thoroughly humiliated to find himself there. As Summer came, the only good news was on the Anaconda Plan blockade, where Generals Henry W. Slocum and Winfield Hancock succeeded in conquering ports in both North Carolina and Georgia, allowing the Union to begin halting Confederate ships along the Atlantic Coast...
...At this point, Lincoln had had it. It was nearly July, and the best McClellan had offered him were a few minor victories in Tennessee and Missouri, all while Confederates were now making inroads into both Arizona and Colorado thanks largely to the efforts of Oklahoma natives under Confederate banners,[27] with Kansas now supposedly having rumbling secession as Confederate sympathizers from other states moved there. This latter point is mostly hearsay, but it was being heard and said by the press, and that was enough for Lincoln. The nation needed more than thinking they had a man to beat Lee. They needed Lee beaten.
Lincoln went directly over McClellan’s head and gave orders to General Sickles, who had thus far been content to sit on his laurels in Maryland and West Virginia. He was given explicit instructions to march towards Virginia proper, aiming right for the heart of the beast: Richmond. He’d be expected to battle Stuart and Lee, two of the Confederacy’s best. Burnside was to aid him, striking towards Stuart to leave Lee to Sickles.
Some say Sickles truly believed he could take on Lee, while others feel he was terrified. Regardless, Sickles went from a bold talker to a cautious commander, his ‘March to Richmond’ slow and hesitant. Whatever his plans were, they were thrown a wrench by the more courageous Burnside, who made right for JEB Stuart’s last known position. They were locked in battle in the West of Virginia, and so that meant it was Sickles and Lee in the East. Sickles was able to actually get in sight of Richmond, which leads many to wonder just what Lee was doing to arrive so late. The fact of the matter was politics. Lee had grown attached to his Army of Appalachia and was trying to train up new recruits, all while bickering with President Davis over what to do in the Eastern and Western Theatres.
It had gotten so bad that Davis at one point told Lee promptly that if he wanted to control the war in its entirety, he was free to do so if he won the election of 1867.[28] Lee retorted that Davis’ increasingly meddling would ensure the war lasted that long. However, Davis was soon preoccupied by growing political criticism amongst the Confederate Congress who, thanks to breathing room they generally had, were focusing on matters beyond the war.
Regardless, Lee did finally engage Sickles directly. It ought to have become a defensive victory, but Sickles called for a retreat as soon as seemed feasible. Apologists of Sickles believe he was trying to be strategic, in fact learning from Lee in beginning a move back towards Union territory before he lost too many men and supplies. Lee was likely to follow, the Army of the Potomac being bait. Others are less forgiving of Sickles, and believe he acted with cowardice.[29]
The pair began a slow back and forth, Sickles always giving ground and Lee determined to stamp him out after seeing time and time again that he had the ability to do so if Sickles would just stay still. For almost two months, Sickles was in the Confederacy, the early weeks crawling to Richmond, but the rest was evading Lee’s desired final battle. In September, Sickles finally got word that Stuart had been subdued, if not beaten, and that Burnside was currently carving east to support him. Sickles decided to begin moving towards Washington, planning to pin Lee between his army and Burnside’s. Lee, however, broke off and went for Burnside, tired of Sickles, who arrogantly stayed on the march to the capital.
Burnside would fail to take on Lee alone and had to retreat only to face a recuperated Stuart. Lee then, spent late September and early October going back towards Sickles, who had actually made use of his time to reclaim the Peninsulas he had once helped win. With Lee on his heels, however, he made for D.C. once again. Finally, at Arlington, Lee had Sickles in his jaws. It was a massacre, Sickles failed to competently command his men, and while several units showed valor and ability on their own, they were unable to coordinate. Lee captured Sickles, who was executed; while officially it was part retaliation for Joseph Johnston, and part Sickles’ own escape attempt where he killed a man, Lee’s diaries report that Sickles had alternated between insulting him and his men and trying to offer a deal for his release, including details on fortifications in DC and West Virginia. This makes some believe that this lead to Lee having Sickles killed in a combination of anger and disgust. Arlington had taken a hard toll on Lee’s psyche and morale, so it is a very likely possibility this is true, as is the escape explanation…”
“Okay, okay, okay, okay. I’m good. Really. I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I just got up too fast.”
“Why were you getting up?”
“To, *hic*, refill my glass!”
“What, hahaha? We, we have more over here.”
“Huh? Oh. Okay.”
“There you… drink up. So, you were saying about the Arlington?”
“Right! That was it. Arlington. Beautiful place.”
“The Battle of Arlington.”
“Oh, yes. Well it was bad. Really bad. Lee won, sure, but he lost a lot of guys, again. And he’d lost a bunch up in Pennsylvania too. So he was like, ‘Nah, man. I’m NOT gonna let any more of my boys die. Imma, imma, imma win this war. Fuck yeah, I am. I’m gonna win it right fucking now.’”[31]
“And that’s verbatim, huh?”
“Might as well be! So he sends a message to Richmond, and Davis, y’know he and Lee didn’t get along. But Davis had this bill he wanted passed, something about expanding the duration of war taxes, and people didn’t like it. Lee knew that, and in his letter, he said, “Ahoy, Davis, my bruv. Look, I need some fucking cannons to shoot at DC. You need someone to help your bill pass. You send me a bunch of cannons, I’ll write to Congress that I think your bill is Bonnie’s tits, yeah?’
“And Davis, he agrees. He’s all, ‘Fuck yeah man. Here’s some cannons.’ And Lee, he goes, ‘Thanks, bruv. Your bill is so awesome, Congress you should pass it.’ And it passes! Lee gets those cannons, and he’s in Arlington, man, in sight of DC, and he just starts hammering. He’s not even trying to really kill anybody. He wants t’ spook ‘em. And that’s… that’s some fucking glacial shit right there. Making everybody scurry. Sometimes he’d fire cannons, but he’d pack ‘em with paper and leaves and cloth n’ stuff so it only made a bang and didn’t do anything, just made people scared of the cannons.”
“How long was he there for?”
“He got there in early October, but he didn’t start shelling until mid-October. But he kept it up. Even when Burnside tried to get him, he kept it going. And Burnside, he actually did win. On like, November 2, he got Lee to retreat, but, y’know word can take a bit to travel and people didn’t know if he was just gonna comeback. So there’s a fucking election going on while all this is happening. People in and around DC are voting still afraid Lee’s about to come shell them again, and the rest of the country still think Lee’s at it!”
“So how did that hurt Lincoln?”
“Oh, c’mon, weren’t you listening? Actually, one second…”
“...Uhm, haha, okay? What… where are you? Hahahahahaha…”
“...Aaaaaand back. Sorry, y’know when a man’s gotta piss, he’s gotta piss. So Lincoln in the election. Look, Lincoln told Sickles to go for it, just go all Jupiter G. Douglas on Lee’s ass. Told McClellan to go suck one, and then just sent Sickles off to go FLB the guy.[32] And everyone knew that. Lincoln wanted that as a win, so people had heard that he wanted results so he sent Sickles to go get them. Instead, Sickles gets his ass stomped into the dirt, and Lee is trying to blow up the capital.
“Way I see it, Lincoln was already probably maybe gonna a lose. But after Arlington, there’s no way in a thousand years he wins that race. At all. Cause everyone was voting. Kentucky voted. West Virginia, only just a state, voted. Missouri, where Jefferson City, the capital, was an active warzone, and damn near everything south of the Missouri River was in Confederate hands? Everything north of the river, plus St. Louis, they voted.[33] Tennessee, where Sherman only had like, half of it? They voted. And they almost all voted McClellan.”
“So McClellan wins the presidency.”[34]
“Yep.”
“And do you think he was a better president for handling the war?”
“As my dad would say: Hell. Fucking. No. Because by the time he was President, McClellan was a nervous wreck. He wanted to win, needed to win, but was starting to think he couldn’t. Best thing he ever did was make Sherman general-in-chief. And then one of the worst things he did was just set Sherman loose on Virginia. Because, yknow, they repaired Frankfort. They even repaired Bowling Green. But there wasn’t nothing left in Richmond to repair after Sherman was done with it…”[35]
“War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”
- William T. Sherman
“Elizabethtown had been Sherman’s first real victory. And with his so-called ‘outlaws’ harassing Confederate supply lines between Columbus and Bowling Green, he had effectively paralyzed the growth of Southern hold in Kentucky, if only momentarily.[1] But his loses prevented him from making use of this advantage, and it frustrated Sherman to no end. Worse, the rumors concerning Elizabethtown had made many in Kentucky far more sympathetic to the Confederate cause, allowing the growth of a network of spies that made local recruitment dangerous. Naturally, Sherman was on edge, but determined to win. It struck him that his first taste of victory had come through surprise and ruthless attack on a weakened and disoriented foe.
Some decry Sherman, particularly here in the South, as a savage man, prone to violence. But Sherman did not enjoy war. Much like Lee, he often found it a horrid affair. Kentucky birthed in him not a taste for war, but a viewpoint; that wars end quickest when you are without mercy. Honor and restraint only lengthened the battle, saw more lives lost, businesses ruined, spouses separated, children fatherless. ‘If one man’s honor,’ he wrote, ‘or even a hundred, is enough to see this war ended faster, then that is a fair price. If one man need become the Devil, need damn his soul, to bring salvation to thousands, then I gladly give myself to the fire. I will be judged a monster, by God and country, but not by posterity…’[2]
...McClellan had thankfully turned some attention West, funneling men in pursuit of vainglory, hoping as well to try and draw the South towards that Theatre. The West was far less strategically important in McClellan’s mind, and he was more willing to abandon it entirely once the South made it a focus. Whatever his reason, Burnside and Sherman were just thankful that he had given them supplies.
Missouri was an odd place between the two. While the Confederates did occupy territory along the river, the state had technically been neutral, but the sustaining Confederate presence had emboldened secessionists who formally declared their joining of the Confederacy in the Summer of 1861, a fact that given Burnside a considerable headache. Like in Kentucky, the Confederates had a declared another city their capital, occupying Joplin and commanding from it before eventually making Springfield their capital after several attempts to take the city.
While some lay the blame on Burnside, the fact was that he was focused on holding the Mississippi, and spent more time trying to crack Columbus that anything else after he took Belmont.[3] When he finally turned West to deal with Joplin, he found himself bogged into battle at Mountain Grove, twice at Gainesville, losing the second time, and thrice at Springfield. This was in large part due to his opponents, General John B. Hood and PGT Beauregard. Beauregard has often been called the Sherman of the South in regards to his unrelenting tactics, but Hood was perhaps one of the most reckless commanders in the Confederacy, and maybe one of the luckiest as well. He wanted to take all of Missouri, and pushed at Burnside again and again until he took Springfield.
Then it was a chase to Belmont and the Mississippi. Burnside held, but Beauregard was now free to reinforce Kentucky, which resulted in enough pressure on Burnside that retreat seemed inevitable. And yet he did not. He held his ground, dug in his heels, had every marksman he could grab fire across the water, picking off some of Beauregard’s best men. It was at this point that Sherman’s Outlaws came in to assist Burnside. While not a large force, the arrival of a sudden cavalry charge from the rear threw the Confederates into disarray. They had to quit the field of battle, and so Burnside was able to push at Hood. Regardless, while word of Burnside’s heroism spread to the media,[4] many saw the overall situation as just more of the same on the Mississippi.
McClellan thus tasked his up-and-coming right hand man, General Pope, to assist Sherman in Kentucky as Spring came in full force in 1863. His hope was that giving the cautious Pope command of a ‘mad dog’ like Sherman would be a winning play. From the start, the two men came to hate each other. Sherman in particular loathed how hesitant Pope was to commit men to offensive movements. Certainly, spies were an issue, but to Sherman that only meant an incentive to keep active and unpredictable, let their information become useless or unintelligible when it reached Confederate ears.[5]
By April, they had made little progress, and Sherman, growing restless, left Pope’s operational base in Louisville, and marched straight to the peace-time capital of the State of Kentucky; Frankfort, which had been in Confederate hands for several weeks, the second occupation of the city, thanks to Pope’s inactivity. It is telling of how little Beauregard had wanted to commit to the city that the small garrison fled after hearing that ‘Redskin Tecumseh’ was on his way.[6] Sherman took the city peacefully, though the populace was less pleased. They were Unionists, but Sherman was a startling man, by reputation and in person. Now on his own, and writing rather coarse letters informing Pope that his ‘slug of a spine’ was free to ‘kiss a cannon,’ Sherman began making preparation for a strong-armed campaign. His target: Bowling Green…”
- The Darkest Days of the Civil War by Jeremy G. Blythe
[1] This actually makes Sherman technically more successful in Kentucky than the Union was OTL by this point, but they still hold the Mississippi and he doesn’t have the manpower to really kick them out.
[2] I’m absolutely certain nothing bad could come from this mindset at all.
[3] Burnside was a decent commander, but just not good enough to tackle the issue he’s being sent up against. However, he’s too aggressive and too poorly connected for McClellan to want him elsewhere.
[4] This is to say that people think Burnside is a hero, but think his superiors are bungling the war.
[5] Sherman’s still paranoid, but in a ‘act quick and get em before they get you’ kind of way, while Pope is paranoid in a ‘if I stay in my room nothing can hurt me’ kind of way.
[6] A new nickname not from OTL. Basically just taking his native-inspired middle name and calling him a savage.
[2] I’m absolutely certain nothing bad could come from this mindset at all.
[3] Burnside was a decent commander, but just not good enough to tackle the issue he’s being sent up against. However, he’s too aggressive and too poorly connected for McClellan to want him elsewhere.
[4] This is to say that people think Burnside is a hero, but think his superiors are bungling the war.
[5] Sherman’s still paranoid, but in a ‘act quick and get em before they get you’ kind of way, while Pope is paranoid in a ‘if I stay in my room nothing can hurt me’ kind of way.
[6] A new nickname not from OTL. Basically just taking his native-inspired middle name and calling him a savage.
“[Enter SICKLES, holding a comically large bundle of papers. He drops them on MEADE’s desk, who looks up unamused. When SICKLES speaks, it is without a hint of respect.]
SICKLES: Here you are, sir! Fresh reports and proposals for how to respond to the ongoing situation in the Shenandoah.
[MEADE slowing caps his pen and inkwell, looking at SICKLES, visibly annoyed]
MEADE: We both know that half of these are nonsense. Another third are set to get me killed. And all of them are merely a means of wasting my time.[7]
SICKLES: Waste your time? Meade, you’re wasting all of our time. What we both know is that YOU will NEVER be able to beat Lee.
MEADE: That is Major General Meade to you, Sickles!
SICKLES: Don’t make me laugh. Your rank and your command are only because Hooker, rest his soul, died by Lee’s hand.
MEADE: I ought to have you thrown in irons and shot for your tone.
SICKLES: But you aren’t. The other commanders are on my side, they’d turn on you.[8]
MEADE: You’re going to threaten me with treason? Those men are only ‘on your side’ because you lie through your teeth so often I’m shocked they haven’t all rotted out.
SICKLE: It isn’t treason to save the Union!
[MEADE stands]
MEADE: Save the Union? You are damn lucky I am need of strong morale, Sickles, or else you would be under arrest for insubordination. But once we beat Lee, I’m going to have you court-martialed. Unlike the cowardly shit you spit, that is no threat, Sickles. It’s a promise, unless you reign in your cowardice and greed and act like a proper soldier!
[SICKLES steps back, looking somewhat frightened]
SICKLES: I… sir, I apologize. I crossed the line. I… I have not slept well, Mea- Er, Major General. And this campaign… it seems doomed to fail.
[MEADE seems suspicious]
MEADE: You have been trying to be rid of me for some time now Sickles, and before that you criticized Hooker, and you have repeatedly been branded a schemer. I do not trust you, and do not think you can remove that with a pitiful lie like that.
SICKLES: No, sir, it is true! Ask Chamberlain, I toss, I turn, I even shout most nights. It isn’t just me, many of us are uncertain. It… it has begun to affect our work, and I apologize. I will go to the men tonight, sir, and I will tell them to have hope. That Major General Meade knows what he’s doing and that you and I have a clear understanding.
[MEADE scoffs]
MEADE: You do that, Sickles.
[MEADE returns to his work, tossing the papers SICKLES brought in to the floor. SICKLES departs, but turns and gives MEADE one last hateful glare.]
…
[The chaos increases. SICKLES looks around from horseback, seeing men running about, the sound of gun and cannonfire mixing with screams and horses to become cacophonous. The sparse trees between the ruined farmland cast sinister shadows. CHAMBERLAIN is seen in the distance leading a forward charge.]
SICKLES: God in Heaven…
UNION SOLDIER: Sir! Sir! General!
[SICKLES snaps from his trance]
SICKLES: What?!
UNION SOLDIER: Sir, what do we do?! The other men need our help, but our orders were to flank.
[SICKLES looks left, and there’s a zoom on MEADE, a horde of grey uniforms pressing on him. He falls from his horse into the Mud Run, rising to fight, clearly in need of help. SICKLES smiles. It is slow and sinister.]
SICKLES: We’re proper soldiers. We follow the Major General’s orders. Move to flank, men!
[SICKLES and his men move forward. Cut to MEADE, watching them leaving. He locks eyes with SICKLES across the battlefield. Sound fades. A singular gunshot as MEADE cries in pain.]”
- Excerpt, Brother Against Brother, dramatic anthology SA collection[9]
[7] This is an exaggeration for the sake of drama and dry humor, of course. As is most of this scene.
[8] The real reason Meade isn’t having Sickles court-martialed is because this is a movie and likely never happened at all, but makes for good conflict.
[9] “Scar, brother! Help me!” “Long live the King.” Also, SA is basically film or movie. Collection is season or series. So this is an anthology film/tv series about the Civil War
[8] The real reason Meade isn’t having Sickles court-martialed is because this is a movie and likely never happened at all, but makes for good conflict.
[9] “Scar, brother! Help me!” “Long live the King.” Also, SA is basically film or movie. Collection is season or series. So this is an anthology film/tv series about the Civil War
“Lee’s Invasion of the North, also known as the Harrisburg Campaign, was a rapid push into the now poorly defended Shenandoah Valley. With two strong armies in the region, Lee left Virginia is good hands with JEB Stuart trouncing Rosecrans in Tennessee and Stonewall Jackson’s Army of Northern Virginia keeping Richmond safe. With word of Lee’s mobilization, Lincoln, fearing an attack towards Washington, ordered that the Army of the Potomac march into Virginia to weaken Lee. Lincoln had previously granted command of the army to John C. Frémont in hopes of a more aggressive doctrine, hoping to use Frémont’s habit of acting on his own to Lincoln’s advantage. His insubordinance had seen Frémont removed from command of the West in favor of Pope by McClellan, but now the President had hoped Frémont might again defy McClellan’s orders. But, he didn’t. Frémont had begun to tire of Lincoln who, given the war’s lacking progress, had refused to aid the passage of laws against slavery, not wanting to damage North-South relations any further.[10] Frémont toed McClellan’s line, if only to get back at Lincoln, once writing to the President that he agreed it to be a shame when in a position to act fail to take a bold and daring stance.[11]
Lincoln had Frémont promptly removed, not caring for McClellan’s recommendations, and handed command of the army to General Joseph Hooker, who agreed to go for Lee, who was at this point already making his way to the Shenandoah. Hooker moved to engage Lee, but would not succeed. After a decisive victory at Chancellorsville that injured Hooker, Lee began his march. Hooker would succumb to infection and McClellan put General George G. Meade in command of the Army of the Potomac, who pursued Lee. Many believe McClellan preferred not to restore Frémont’s command as it stood, using the President’s anger as a chance to rid himself of a less than helpful commander...
...The Army of Appalachia was simply too tough a foe to defeat in any one stroke. Meade began a campaign of harassment, hoping to score a few smaller victories that would see Lee forced to retreat, at which time the Union could send someone further South to finish him off. Many have called this a smart strategy that was set to work rather well, and one that showed Meade to be a general not seeking glory but victory regardless of fame.[12]
Most examination of Lee’s notes at the time support Meade’s assessment of tactics. Lee’s army was able to move rapidly, and battles, victory or loss, were quick affairs that always bloodied the enemy a fair deal. However, despite the ability to march quickly and orderly and fight with efficiency, such a large and high-quality force had a great deal of resource consumption. This made Lee’s goal one of speed, not triumph. He intended to hit Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a move that he believed would startle the North into pressing for peace.[13] Meade’s constant small assault intensified Lee’s lack of resources, and he faltered on more than occasion, allowing Meade to inflict more casualties in his raids that he should have been able to...
...The Battle of Harrisburg is improperly named. The Union name is more appropriate, as the Confederate name derives more on the original goal of the battle, which was a final crushing of Meade’s army before an assault on Harrisburg itself. The Union calls it the Battle of Mud Run, for the small creek that was the site of the battle. The farms flanking the creek had the most fighting, first as Lee dug in, forcing Meade to cross the river, then after the Union was pushed back, the other side became where the Union would make an attempted stand under Sickles before retreating.
But while a Confederate victory, it was a pyrrhic one. Confederate losses were high, and every dead Union soldier was more ammunition lost, and almost all their medical supplies and food had been lost too. Lee had to retreat, so close to his prize.[14] He did so with a good amount of hesitation but reasoned that the Union would be demoralized enough. He failed, of course, to account for how much of a schemer General Sickles would prove to be.
As Lee turned South, Sickles had taken command of the Potomac after Meade’s death. Seeing that the Confederate general was heading South and not North to Harrisburg, he accurately surmised that Lee didn’t have the manpower. A runner had already gone to inform Harrisburg of the oncoming Confederates, but nothing ever came. Instead, Sickles chased Lee, keeping close to him. One a few occasions, he mimicked Meade and had a small detachment harass the Army of Appalachia. Word of this circulated and combined with how the ‘impending attack’ on Harrisburg had vanished. Some wondered if Sickles had somehow bested Lee, and the General was quite pleased to hear such rumors.
Sickles would go on to encourage them and even took credit for how his flanking attack on Lee, combined with his ‘quick thinking’ to harass Lee’s army even after a ‘strategic fallback’ at Mud Run ultimately ‘broke’ the Confederates. Sickles, as he casually pursued an enemy that had already decided to return home, was becoming known as the Man Who Beat Lee, the General who ran Uncle Bobby back home to Virginia and, as the story evolved, singlehandedly saved Harrisburg and indeed all of Pennsylvania from demise at the hands of vicious Southerners…”
- On the Eastern Theatre by Benjamin J. L. Parker
[10] So, basically with the war a near stalemate, Lincoln is holding out on trying a diplomatic solution. That means illegalizing slavery is out of the question. But the same circumstances are also breeding resentment between North and South that the Radical Republicans are capitalizing on.
[11] Frémont was notorious for being passive-aggressive as all hell, and prone to letting his own pettiness and emotions stand in the way of tactical victory. Thus, I feel this is in character for him as one of the leaders of the aforementioned empowered Radical Republicans.
[12] The accuracy of this is up for debate. However, given Meade’s fate, this is mostly aggrandizement of someone a lot of people think would have been very helpful in the war. Meade’s survival will be a common trope in TTL’s “Northern victory” alternate history.
[13] This was Lee’s goal OTL. TTL he’s moving faster than he did before.
[14] As in OTL, Lee’s eyes are bigger than his stomach, metaphorically speaking.
[11] Frémont was notorious for being passive-aggressive as all hell, and prone to letting his own pettiness and emotions stand in the way of tactical victory. Thus, I feel this is in character for him as one of the leaders of the aforementioned empowered Radical Republicans.
[12] The accuracy of this is up for debate. However, given Meade’s fate, this is mostly aggrandizement of someone a lot of people think would have been very helpful in the war. Meade’s survival will be a common trope in TTL’s “Northern victory” alternate history.
[13] This was Lee’s goal OTL. TTL he’s moving faster than he did before.
[14] As in OTL, Lee’s eyes are bigger than his stomach, metaphorically speaking.
“So, who knows what’s special about the Battle of Bowling Green? James?”
“Well, uh, I know it’s also called something else.”
“Ha, alright, and can you give me that name? The name kind of gives away what's special about it.”
“It’s the Burning of Bowling Green.”
“Very good, James. The Burning of Bowling Green. Robby, you haven’t talked all day. Can you take a guess what that name means for the significance?”
“Er, Master Percival, I-i-i don’t really know much about th--”
“Aw, nonsense, Robby. You are probably one of the most informed people on history I know. Now c’mon, speak up. I know you know this. You’ve been quiet all day, no chance of looking like a know-all if you say this one thing.”
“Alright… It was the destruction of the city of Bowling Green by William Sherman. He attacked quickly, mostly moving at night to prevent word of his attack reaching the town, and he struck early in the morning.”
“There’s the Robby I know. With some extra information, too! Yes, Sherman struck in a surprise attack that he had been planning for some time. The city wasn’t prepared for that kind of assault. Now while Sherman had intended to hit the city hard, he had also been hoping for an easy win. Instead, he got a whole city that picked up arms, and a militia was fighting him in the streets as he tried to enter.[15] Sherman would ultimately succeed, but he wanted to make a blow against the Confederacy, and also wanted to round up the town to arrest any remaining Confederates. Now, the fire probably wasn’t intentional. It had been very dry and even a knocked over lantern could have sparked a good deal of issue.[16]
“But, you see, this was Sherman’s second sight of a fire breaking out while he was assaulting a town. At Elizabethtown, he had put out the flames. At Bowling Green, the city seemingly full of Confederate sympathizers and traitors in his eyes, he just let the fire grow as he pulled his men out. And it grew and grew, consuming much of the town as Sherman watched. The story goes that one of Sherman’s men asked what they were going to do. He replied, ‘We’re going to let this place be wiped away. And the ash will make the land fertile, and one day loyal Americans will come here to settle it anew.’ I don’t know if this part is true or just a story made up to jive with what Sherman would go on to say in his political career. Saul, why wasn’t there a large army defending the town?”
“Oh! Uh… Uh… Uh… … I don’t know.”
“Robby?”
“Beauregard was in the middle of battling General Pope at the Second Battle of Elizabethtown.”
“Yes, PGT was in the middle of an engagement when Sherman hit Bowling Green. He received word not long after winning that battle, which ironically was supposed to be the start General Pope’s meticulously planned conquest of Kentucky. Instead, Beauregard won, and Pope ended up with a leg amputated. The response to Bowling Green was incredibly negative, some even think that it could have gotten much of Kentucky to flip grey. But, as luck would have it, which I admit may be a poor phrase here, Beauregard was furious. He went after Sherman, who retreated to Frankfort. There these two titans did battle. Two unrelenting forces smashed into each other. Beaugard broke through Frankfort’s defensive, determined to win at all costs, but he miscalculated Sherman’s strength. By the time the Confederates were entering the city, they were too small a force to hold the city. Fighting spread throughout, and though Sherman retreated, Beauregard lost control of his men. They loot and ransacked, screaming for revenge for Bowling Green, and before he could stop them, they started a fire and spread it.
“Beauregard would have to flee the city, and it was destroyed, with untold civilian casualties, more than Bowling Green ever had. He had also lost so many men in the chaos, that he was a sitting duck for Sherman, who had regrouped his men. He’d intended a counter-attack to retake the city, but with it up in flames he used the advantage to ensure Beauregard couldn’t escape. PGT Beauregard died there, and so ended the Burning of Frankfort, the city in ruins by the time the battle was over and the flames were being put out. Ironically, while Kentucky hated him, the Union gained a positive view of Sherman. Harsh as he had been, he’d had the chance to explain for Elizabethtown and Bowling Green as being accidents. He claimed the hostile militia had made evacuating the latter city impossible, and so the fire grew too fast. Officially, this is the stance the United States takes on the incidents. In addition to what happened, numerous stories came of how the Confederate attack on Frankfort had seen looting and rioting and violence against the civilian populace that Sherman had never done. To the North, one small, contained fire and one accidental blaze worsened by foolishly hostile townsfolk had been responded to with a brutal sacking and intentional burning. That Beauregard, then seen as the mastermind behind this, and one of the South’s notable generals, had been killed by Sherman was hailed as settling the score.[17]
“But like I said, not in Kentucky. This sequence of events meant that both the Confederate and the Union capitals of Kentucky were gone. And to Kentucks of the time,[18] everyone was to blame. Famously, not long after these events, the Union Army of Kentucky saw mass desertion and refusal to fight, and the same thing occurred amongst the First Kentucky Brigade of the Confederacy. These soldiers went home, to a ruined state. Governor James F. Robinson had died at Frankfort, not evacuating in time due to a belief that Sherman would hold the city. He’d been captured by Confederate soldiers who executed him. Thankfully, much of the General Assembly had evacuated, and convened an emergency meeting. Former Governor Beriah Magoffin was named acting Governor. His first action was to remind President Lincoln, as well as President Davis, as his attempt to ensure Kentucky’s neutrality. This here is his letter. I want you to look at that line there, found in both letters: ‘I warned you, Mr. President, that Kentucky ought be a place of Neutrality. I warned everyone, but they did not listen, and now the mothers of Bowling Green and Frankfort both weep for their children.’[19]
“Kentucky’s General Assembly would again confirm its status as a place of neutrality. The defecting troops that arrived from both sides were deputized as part of the Kentucky State Militia; Sherman and every Confederate commander in the State were promptly told to leave…”[20]
- Master Luke Percival’s History Class, Washington Masonic Academy for Young Men
[15] Not only is Confederate hold in the state stronger, its been going on continuously in this city for longer without much incident than OTL. Sherman is aslo a man with a terrifying reputation, hence the militia.
[16] Is Sherman burning cities becoming a trope? A little. It’s for a greater and more exciting narrative, I promise, and still feasible.
[17] North-South relations are growing increasingly abysmal if you can’t tell.
[18] ‘Kentuck’ becomes the demonym of Kentucky by the time period this man is speaking, over Kentuckian. They didn’t call themselves Kentucks at that point, but they will.
[19] OTL Kentucky had tried to be a neutral state, and Magoffin had issued statements to that effect, and wanted Kentucky to act as a state to mediate between North and South. Also, a note on the Brigades; it wasn’t uncommon for some soldiers to try and leave when word came of an attack on their homes if they were close by, and the brigades from Kentucky had a pretty strong state identity compared to other units.
[20] Given the chaos, everyone does leave. Both the Union and the Confederacy recognize Kentucky as a state of their federation, with Senators in both Congresses. And with all that's happened, whoever stays looks like an aggressor and monster, flipping the state to join the other side. So everyone clears out, hoping to convince Kentucky to join the ‘winning side’ later.
[16] Is Sherman burning cities becoming a trope? A little. It’s for a greater and more exciting narrative, I promise, and still feasible.
[17] North-South relations are growing increasingly abysmal if you can’t tell.
[18] ‘Kentuck’ becomes the demonym of Kentucky by the time period this man is speaking, over Kentuckian. They didn’t call themselves Kentucks at that point, but they will.
[19] OTL Kentucky had tried to be a neutral state, and Magoffin had issued statements to that effect, and wanted Kentucky to act as a state to mediate between North and South. Also, a note on the Brigades; it wasn’t uncommon for some soldiers to try and leave when word came of an attack on their homes if they were close by, and the brigades from Kentucky had a pretty strong state identity compared to other units.
[20] Given the chaos, everyone does leave. Both the Union and the Confederacy recognize Kentucky as a state of their federation, with Senators in both Congresses. And with all that's happened, whoever stays looks like an aggressor and monster, flipping the state to join the other side. So everyone clears out, hoping to convince Kentucky to join the ‘winning side’ later.
“As 1863 came to a close, there was still no clear victor in the Civil War. Lee had nearly reached the capital of Pennsylvania, yes, but most saw his retreat as the work of General Daniel Edgar Sickles, leading the Union to believe it now had an answer to Lee.[21] Tennessee had been a disaster for the Union, but the Confederacy had lost some of its best commanders outside of the big three. Missouri was still split between Hood and Burnside, and Kentucky was now pursuing a position of armed neutrality.
Ironically, both nations saw themselves as being in a position of strength. The Confederacy certainly ended things on a high note; North Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida had all repelled naval occupation driving the last Union troops from the shores and poking holes in Union’s blockade. They still had no true trade partners, but their own resupply lines could now transit along their coastline. Furthermore, Senator Robert M. T. Hunter had succeeded in getting the Famine Relief and Prevention Act passed through the Confederate Congress.[22] It stipulated subsidized farming of food crops at various plantations, with a renewal of said subsidy for all plantations that maintained a certain production of food in ratio to the amount of land on that plantation. Each state also mobilized a small force of militia men tasked with inspecting plantations to ensure their compliance if they claimed to be growing food. As an added side effect, these ‘Agricultural Inspection Units’ also worked to see if plantations with absent owners were being properly run, and they suppressed a handful of slave riots,[23] as well as imprisoning several men in each state as failing to maintain the land entrusted to them.
While it would take time, the passage of this act soothed many people about the ongoing shortages, and soon enough, with crops able to be transported along much of the coast from any state to places in most need, relief was somewhat given. Food shortages remained even after the war, but a system had been created to try and solve it. Where it failed, people directed their anger not at the Confederate Congress, but at the Union, both during the war and after it…
...The Spring of 1864 was another period of paralysis. Lee was still attempting to rebuild his army, while JEB Stuart was holding Virginia as Stonewall Jackson was shifted over to holding Tennessee. Hood and Burnside remained locked in the same stalemate as before, both declining offers to leave the region after almost two years dancing around each other.[24] The South saw no need to press the war too radically as food shortages were being eased and their armies recovering. Supplies were low, yes, but a raid led by Jackson had secured a train of munitions, and it’s contents were being distributed.
McClellan once again held back, trying to devise a new plan of attack. But conscious in his mind was the fact that 1864 was an election year, and his bid had been accepted as the Democrat ticket for the election. The Copperheads, the faction of Democrats who wanted to sue for peace, believed the general would recognize the hopeless situation and agree to negotiations, especially with Pendleton as Vice President. Meanwhile, the War Democrats felt that having the most successful general in the Union in full command would aid the country in a time of war, removing Lincoln’s meddling and giving McClellan greater authority over generals known to be too reckless.[25]
Lincoln’s popularity at this time was sinking, largely due to the lack of progress in the war. It certainly felt winnable, especially after General Sickles supposedly chased Lee out of the North, but many put blame on Lincoln. It had been on his command that the Army of the Potomac under Hooker left their defensive positions, which some blamed for how Lee was able to move on towards Harrisburg in the first place.[26] Others pointed to Henry Halleck’s less than impressive run as general-in-chief, and word had gotten out that Lincoln had made that decision to spite McClellan. Combined with his controversial actions during the war as President, including the packing of the Supreme Court to approve his decisions, and Lincoln was struggling in the polls. Even those who disliked McClellan were unsure of Lincoln as a President, as it was he who continued to put the man in command while also attempting to work around him.
This, ironically, meant that it was Lincoln who needed military glory. As Spring came and passed, McClellan still had done little beyond assign Sherman to Tennessee, where he gave Stonewall Jackson a good run, but failed to secure a strong decisive victory. McClellan also finally pulled Burnside away from Missouri in April, replacing him with William Rosecrans, who had both Thomas Chamberlain and John C. Frémont under him, the latter thoroughly humiliated to find himself there. As Summer came, the only good news was on the Anaconda Plan blockade, where Generals Henry W. Slocum and Winfield Hancock succeeded in conquering ports in both North Carolina and Georgia, allowing the Union to begin halting Confederate ships along the Atlantic Coast...
...At this point, Lincoln had had it. It was nearly July, and the best McClellan had offered him were a few minor victories in Tennessee and Missouri, all while Confederates were now making inroads into both Arizona and Colorado thanks largely to the efforts of Oklahoma natives under Confederate banners,[27] with Kansas now supposedly having rumbling secession as Confederate sympathizers from other states moved there. This latter point is mostly hearsay, but it was being heard and said by the press, and that was enough for Lincoln. The nation needed more than thinking they had a man to beat Lee. They needed Lee beaten.
Lincoln went directly over McClellan’s head and gave orders to General Sickles, who had thus far been content to sit on his laurels in Maryland and West Virginia. He was given explicit instructions to march towards Virginia proper, aiming right for the heart of the beast: Richmond. He’d be expected to battle Stuart and Lee, two of the Confederacy’s best. Burnside was to aid him, striking towards Stuart to leave Lee to Sickles.
Some say Sickles truly believed he could take on Lee, while others feel he was terrified. Regardless, Sickles went from a bold talker to a cautious commander, his ‘March to Richmond’ slow and hesitant. Whatever his plans were, they were thrown a wrench by the more courageous Burnside, who made right for JEB Stuart’s last known position. They were locked in battle in the West of Virginia, and so that meant it was Sickles and Lee in the East. Sickles was able to actually get in sight of Richmond, which leads many to wonder just what Lee was doing to arrive so late. The fact of the matter was politics. Lee had grown attached to his Army of Appalachia and was trying to train up new recruits, all while bickering with President Davis over what to do in the Eastern and Western Theatres.
It had gotten so bad that Davis at one point told Lee promptly that if he wanted to control the war in its entirety, he was free to do so if he won the election of 1867.[28] Lee retorted that Davis’ increasingly meddling would ensure the war lasted that long. However, Davis was soon preoccupied by growing political criticism amongst the Confederate Congress who, thanks to breathing room they generally had, were focusing on matters beyond the war.
Regardless, Lee did finally engage Sickles directly. It ought to have become a defensive victory, but Sickles called for a retreat as soon as seemed feasible. Apologists of Sickles believe he was trying to be strategic, in fact learning from Lee in beginning a move back towards Union territory before he lost too many men and supplies. Lee was likely to follow, the Army of the Potomac being bait. Others are less forgiving of Sickles, and believe he acted with cowardice.[29]
The pair began a slow back and forth, Sickles always giving ground and Lee determined to stamp him out after seeing time and time again that he had the ability to do so if Sickles would just stay still. For almost two months, Sickles was in the Confederacy, the early weeks crawling to Richmond, but the rest was evading Lee’s desired final battle. In September, Sickles finally got word that Stuart had been subdued, if not beaten, and that Burnside was currently carving east to support him. Sickles decided to begin moving towards Washington, planning to pin Lee between his army and Burnside’s. Lee, however, broke off and went for Burnside, tired of Sickles, who arrogantly stayed on the march to the capital.
Burnside would fail to take on Lee alone and had to retreat only to face a recuperated Stuart. Lee then, spent late September and early October going back towards Sickles, who had actually made use of his time to reclaim the Peninsulas he had once helped win. With Lee on his heels, however, he made for D.C. once again. Finally, at Arlington, Lee had Sickles in his jaws. It was a massacre, Sickles failed to competently command his men, and while several units showed valor and ability on their own, they were unable to coordinate. Lee captured Sickles, who was executed; while officially it was part retaliation for Joseph Johnston, and part Sickles’ own escape attempt where he killed a man, Lee’s diaries report that Sickles had alternated between insulting him and his men and trying to offer a deal for his release, including details on fortifications in DC and West Virginia. This makes some believe that this lead to Lee having Sickles killed in a combination of anger and disgust. Arlington had taken a hard toll on Lee’s psyche and morale, so it is a very likely possibility this is true, as is the escape explanation…”
- The Civil Discourse, free EMT talk show[30]
[21] Keyword here is that they think they have a solution, not that they have one.
[22] This is actually pretty major. The bill is fake, but the idea had been thought of. OTL the CSA Congress was focused entirely on the war, slapping on temporary fixes to shortages that always failed, until there was rioting in Richmond over food. The situation threatened the war, and even then that only meant they gave it some fixes while putting off long-term solutions. TTL, the war is going far better, so now the Congress is looking to other issues and thinking more long term.
[23] Could these units every become the basis for something authoritarian and dystopic? No, certainly not!
[24] Both of these men were known for getting rather emotional and being stubborn. They want to beat the other man, badly.
[25] This is pretty much the same as OTL.
[26] Thanks to McClellan, Halleck, and Pope, the slow and steady method is being believed as the best tactic even by the public.
[27] This is my way of telling you that Oklahoma is now in full Confederate hands. They’re in a stronger position, and more natives are convinced this could be a better deal than the Union, as well as the fact that they have plantations. This will have serious impacts on Confederate relations with these natives. Meanwhile, they’re supplementing the Texans in the West.
[28] The Confederacy has 6-year presidential terms without reelection.
[29] As is the case in OTL, men like Sickles are always going to be points of debate, especially where more than one viewpoint provides a good explanation for things.
[30] Not ambulance-style EMT. TTL this stands for Electromagnetic Telegraphy. It’s a radio show.
[22] This is actually pretty major. The bill is fake, but the idea had been thought of. OTL the CSA Congress was focused entirely on the war, slapping on temporary fixes to shortages that always failed, until there was rioting in Richmond over food. The situation threatened the war, and even then that only meant they gave it some fixes while putting off long-term solutions. TTL, the war is going far better, so now the Congress is looking to other issues and thinking more long term.
[23] Could these units every become the basis for something authoritarian and dystopic? No, certainly not!
[24] Both of these men were known for getting rather emotional and being stubborn. They want to beat the other man, badly.
[25] This is pretty much the same as OTL.
[26] Thanks to McClellan, Halleck, and Pope, the slow and steady method is being believed as the best tactic even by the public.
[27] This is my way of telling you that Oklahoma is now in full Confederate hands. They’re in a stronger position, and more natives are convinced this could be a better deal than the Union, as well as the fact that they have plantations. This will have serious impacts on Confederate relations with these natives. Meanwhile, they’re supplementing the Texans in the West.
[28] The Confederacy has 6-year presidential terms without reelection.
[29] As is the case in OTL, men like Sickles are always going to be points of debate, especially where more than one viewpoint provides a good explanation for things.
[30] Not ambulance-style EMT. TTL this stands for Electromagnetic Telegraphy. It’s a radio show.
“Okay, okay, okay, okay. I’m good. Really. I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I just got up too fast.”
“Why were you getting up?”
“To, *hic*, refill my glass!”
“What, hahaha? We, we have more over here.”
“Huh? Oh. Okay.”
“There you… drink up. So, you were saying about the Arlington?”
“Right! That was it. Arlington. Beautiful place.”
“The Battle of Arlington.”
“Oh, yes. Well it was bad. Really bad. Lee won, sure, but he lost a lot of guys, again. And he’d lost a bunch up in Pennsylvania too. So he was like, ‘Nah, man. I’m NOT gonna let any more of my boys die. Imma, imma, imma win this war. Fuck yeah, I am. I’m gonna win it right fucking now.’”[31]
“And that’s verbatim, huh?”
“Might as well be! So he sends a message to Richmond, and Davis, y’know he and Lee didn’t get along. But Davis had this bill he wanted passed, something about expanding the duration of war taxes, and people didn’t like it. Lee knew that, and in his letter, he said, “Ahoy, Davis, my bruv. Look, I need some fucking cannons to shoot at DC. You need someone to help your bill pass. You send me a bunch of cannons, I’ll write to Congress that I think your bill is Bonnie’s tits, yeah?’
“And Davis, he agrees. He’s all, ‘Fuck yeah man. Here’s some cannons.’ And Lee, he goes, ‘Thanks, bruv. Your bill is so awesome, Congress you should pass it.’ And it passes! Lee gets those cannons, and he’s in Arlington, man, in sight of DC, and he just starts hammering. He’s not even trying to really kill anybody. He wants t’ spook ‘em. And that’s… that’s some fucking glacial shit right there. Making everybody scurry. Sometimes he’d fire cannons, but he’d pack ‘em with paper and leaves and cloth n’ stuff so it only made a bang and didn’t do anything, just made people scared of the cannons.”
“How long was he there for?”
“He got there in early October, but he didn’t start shelling until mid-October. But he kept it up. Even when Burnside tried to get him, he kept it going. And Burnside, he actually did win. On like, November 2, he got Lee to retreat, but, y’know word can take a bit to travel and people didn’t know if he was just gonna comeback. So there’s a fucking election going on while all this is happening. People in and around DC are voting still afraid Lee’s about to come shell them again, and the rest of the country still think Lee’s at it!”
“So how did that hurt Lincoln?”
“Oh, c’mon, weren’t you listening? Actually, one second…”
“...Uhm, haha, okay? What… where are you? Hahahahahaha…”
“...Aaaaaand back. Sorry, y’know when a man’s gotta piss, he’s gotta piss. So Lincoln in the election. Look, Lincoln told Sickles to go for it, just go all Jupiter G. Douglas on Lee’s ass. Told McClellan to go suck one, and then just sent Sickles off to go FLB the guy.[32] And everyone knew that. Lincoln wanted that as a win, so people had heard that he wanted results so he sent Sickles to go get them. Instead, Sickles gets his ass stomped into the dirt, and Lee is trying to blow up the capital.
“Way I see it, Lincoln was already probably maybe gonna a lose. But after Arlington, there’s no way in a thousand years he wins that race. At all. Cause everyone was voting. Kentucky voted. West Virginia, only just a state, voted. Missouri, where Jefferson City, the capital, was an active warzone, and damn near everything south of the Missouri River was in Confederate hands? Everything north of the river, plus St. Louis, they voted.[33] Tennessee, where Sherman only had like, half of it? They voted. And they almost all voted McClellan.”
“So McClellan wins the presidency.”[34]
“Yep.”
“And do you think he was a better president for handling the war?”
“As my dad would say: Hell. Fucking. No. Because by the time he was President, McClellan was a nervous wreck. He wanted to win, needed to win, but was starting to think he couldn’t. Best thing he ever did was make Sherman general-in-chief. And then one of the worst things he did was just set Sherman loose on Virginia. Because, yknow, they repaired Frankfort. They even repaired Bowling Green. But there wasn’t nothing left in Richmond to repair after Sherman was done with it…”[35]
- Harassing Hammered Historians, Recording 7 Collection 1[36]
[31] Please feel free to picture this show as including scenes of actors in full period costume mouthing these lines.
[32] Jupiter G. Douglas is a famous fighter of TTL. FLB is military slang that caught on after a war, like FUBAR. FLB was similarly a description of how bad a situation was that got adapted by civilians to mean aggressively destroying something or completely messing something up. FLB = Fucked like-a Bitch.
[33] I’ll let you know now, big clue on Missouri’s future is found in this line.
[34] Now, OTL McClellan only won 8.93% of the Electoral votes. But he won 44.95% of the popular vote. In increasing his overall national popularity and decreasing Lincoln’s, that easily shifts a huge wave of Electoral votes in McClellan’s favor.
[35] And cue the ominous music!
[36] If you can’t tell, this TTL’s version of Drunk History. I also have a version of this show in my other TL, where it’s known as History at the Pub. I love the show, and also love what it lets me do for breaking up dry ‘textbook’ and ‘lecture’ entries in this TL by having some historian being absolutely hammered, cursing and using slang. Also, Recording 7 Collection 1 just mean Episode 7 Season 1.
[32] Jupiter G. Douglas is a famous fighter of TTL. FLB is military slang that caught on after a war, like FUBAR. FLB was similarly a description of how bad a situation was that got adapted by civilians to mean aggressively destroying something or completely messing something up. FLB = Fucked like-a Bitch.
[33] I’ll let you know now, big clue on Missouri’s future is found in this line.
[34] Now, OTL McClellan only won 8.93% of the Electoral votes. But he won 44.95% of the popular vote. In increasing his overall national popularity and decreasing Lincoln’s, that easily shifts a huge wave of Electoral votes in McClellan’s favor.
[35] And cue the ominous music!
[36] If you can’t tell, this TTL’s version of Drunk History. I also have a version of this show in my other TL, where it’s known as History at the Pub. I love the show, and also love what it lets me do for breaking up dry ‘textbook’ and ‘lecture’ entries in this TL by having some historian being absolutely hammered, cursing and using slang. Also, Recording 7 Collection 1 just mean Episode 7 Season 1.
- Xanthoc
- Word Count: 6.2k