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Part Forty-Five: The Bell Tolls for Benjamin
The update is finished. 
It turned out to be much longer than I expected.
Part Forty-Five: The Bell Tolls for Benjamin
The Walls Close In:
The turn of the new year brought a new vigor into the offensives by the Union against the remnants of the Confederacy. Joseph Hooker led the Army of the Wabash out of Chattanooga and into Georgia on January 10th. Almost constantly fighting roadside raids by local militias, the Army of the Wabash was only able to move ten miles a day in the march. Several bands of untrained militiamen loyal to the Confederacy had set up camps in the mountains on both sides of the path the army was traveling on. On the 22nd of January, the Army of the Wabash neared Atlanta. Not wanting to allow the Union to capture Atlanta, Forrest and the Army of Georgia stood their ground in the hill near Cartersville northwest of Atlanta. Luring the army in between two sets of hills just east of Cartersville, Forrest and his men fought for five days in a last stand agaubst the Union army, using the hills to support artillery positions and the area in between to block Hooker from advancing. While Forrest ultimately lost the Battle of Cartersville, the battle took a large toll on the Army of the Wabash and forced Hooker to delay in the final capture of Atlanta.
Seguin and Hancock advancing from the Mississippi River had much better luck in their movements in the autumn of 1865 than Hooker did. Seguin and the First Texas Corps began marching east from Memphis along the border of Chickasaw and Mississippi in mid-December. Seguin reached Corinth, Mississippi on December 30th and stayed in the town for a week while sending out scouting parties to search for bands of Confederate militiamen. Having cleared much of the surrounding area by January 9th, the First Texas Corps headed north to Savannah on the Tennessee River. Reaching the river on the 14th of January, the First Texas Corps split into smaller divisions and patrolled the line Seguin had carved for the next month to cut Chickasaw off from the rest of the Confederacy.
Hancock, meanwhile, began to move in on southern Mississippi. One by one during the remainder of December and the beginning days of January, Hancock and the Army of Missouri captured the Confederate forts along the east bank of the Mississippi River. Notable among these was the capture of the fort and city of Natchez, Mississippi. The Roman Catholic bishop of Natchez, George Aloysius Carrell[1], convinced the citizens of Natchez as well as the soldiers at the fort to lay down their arms and surrender to Hancock. The town of Natchez was spared from fighting and the fort commander was not imprisoned by the Union. Hancock continued on in Mississippi and entered the capital of Jackson on January 20th, 1866.
"Last Chance" Jackson and the Miracle of Montgomery:
Further east along the Gulf of Mexico, Francis Lubbock and the Second Texas Corps went on an offensive in Alabama. Satisfied with the ability of the Jackson militia to defend itself on the eastern border of the state, Lubbock struck northward into Alabama in early January. Lubbock had not received any information on the whereabouts of the Confederate Army of Mississippi in a month, and assumed that it had been disbanded or that many of the soldiers had deserted after the loss at New Orleans. Charging the army north, Lubbock and the Second Texas Corps reached Fort Deposit in two weeks. After setting up camp in Fort Deposit for three days to ensure the capture of the fort, the Second Texas Corps resumed its path north toward Montgomery.
Shortly after leaving the fort, the Second Texas Corps found the Army of Mississippi, now led by Thomas "Last Chance" Jackson[2], who was quick to assume leadership of the Army of Mississippi after Forrest left for the Army of Georgia. Jackson turned out to be a very gifted commander and under his lead, the Army of Mississippi managed to continually hold off the Second Texas Corps in the hills near Fort Deposit for the remainder of the war. At one point, Jackson was even able to coordinate a sneak attack around the Corps and captured Fort Deposit for a few days. Because of "Last Chance" Jackson, the city of Montgomery was never captured during the war and remained one of the few cities in the former Confederacy untouched by fighting.
The March on Augusta:
Buell and McClellan remained in North Carolina for the remainder of 1865, cleaning up the rebel fighters in the rural areas of the state. The Union navy blockaded further down the Atlantic coast making patrols all the way to Charleston and Savannah. After the new year, the Union armies in North Carolina began preparations to move south further into Confederate territory. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac went to Fayetteville and down to the coast at which point they entered South Carolina. McClellan reached Myrtle Beach on January 16th, 1866. As McClellan kept pushing toward Charleston, the Union Atlantic Squadron attempted to enter the port. They were rebuffed by the cannons at Fort Sumter, but the Army of the Potomac set up camp at Mount Pleasant across the harbor from Charleston on the 27th of January. McClellan set up a patrol and a palisade to try and cut the peninsula of Charleston off from supplies.
While McClellan was driving down the South Carolina coast, Buell was advancing further inland toward the Confederate capital. After leaving Charlotte, North Carolina in early January, the Army of the Ohio crossed the border into South Carolina near the eastern bank of Wylie Lake. On January 7th, the Army of the Ohio encountered the demoralized remnants of the Army of the Carolinas at the small town of Lancaster, South Carolina. The battle began in the valley to the north of the town with scattered Confederates in the hills causing minor casualties to the Union army. Over the next few days, the fighting moved south through the town and west toward the Catawba River. As Buell continued to drive back the Army of the Carolinas, Longstreet organized a silent retreat to the hills in the north on the night of January 8th, and inflicted more damage on the Army of the Ohio through raids and ambushes. By the 11th, Longstreet snuck the Army of the Carolinas across the Catawba and retreated as fast as they could toward Columbia, the capital of South Carolina.
Buell chased after the Army of the Carolinas as it crossed the Catawba River and advanced south. With Longstreet's forces diminished and able to move at a faster pace, the Confederate force made it to Columbia while the Army of the Ohio was two days away. Buell's army continued south after Longstreet and after a week of skirmishing around Columbia, the capital of South Carolina fell to the Union on January 24th. Up until now, the Confederate legislature had been obstructing any attempts by Benjamin to organize a peaceful surrender to the Union. As the Army of the Carolinas fled Columbia, Longstreet sent a messenger to ride to Augusta and warn the Confederate government that the Union army was closing in.
[1] OTL Bishop of Covington, Kentucky
[2] Ole' Stonewall's got a new nickname
It turned out to be much longer than I expected.Part Forty-Five: The Bell Tolls for Benjamin
The Walls Close In:
The turn of the new year brought a new vigor into the offensives by the Union against the remnants of the Confederacy. Joseph Hooker led the Army of the Wabash out of Chattanooga and into Georgia on January 10th. Almost constantly fighting roadside raids by local militias, the Army of the Wabash was only able to move ten miles a day in the march. Several bands of untrained militiamen loyal to the Confederacy had set up camps in the mountains on both sides of the path the army was traveling on. On the 22nd of January, the Army of the Wabash neared Atlanta. Not wanting to allow the Union to capture Atlanta, Forrest and the Army of Georgia stood their ground in the hill near Cartersville northwest of Atlanta. Luring the army in between two sets of hills just east of Cartersville, Forrest and his men fought for five days in a last stand agaubst the Union army, using the hills to support artillery positions and the area in between to block Hooker from advancing. While Forrest ultimately lost the Battle of Cartersville, the battle took a large toll on the Army of the Wabash and forced Hooker to delay in the final capture of Atlanta.
Seguin and Hancock advancing from the Mississippi River had much better luck in their movements in the autumn of 1865 than Hooker did. Seguin and the First Texas Corps began marching east from Memphis along the border of Chickasaw and Mississippi in mid-December. Seguin reached Corinth, Mississippi on December 30th and stayed in the town for a week while sending out scouting parties to search for bands of Confederate militiamen. Having cleared much of the surrounding area by January 9th, the First Texas Corps headed north to Savannah on the Tennessee River. Reaching the river on the 14th of January, the First Texas Corps split into smaller divisions and patrolled the line Seguin had carved for the next month to cut Chickasaw off from the rest of the Confederacy.
Hancock, meanwhile, began to move in on southern Mississippi. One by one during the remainder of December and the beginning days of January, Hancock and the Army of Missouri captured the Confederate forts along the east bank of the Mississippi River. Notable among these was the capture of the fort and city of Natchez, Mississippi. The Roman Catholic bishop of Natchez, George Aloysius Carrell[1], convinced the citizens of Natchez as well as the soldiers at the fort to lay down their arms and surrender to Hancock. The town of Natchez was spared from fighting and the fort commander was not imprisoned by the Union. Hancock continued on in Mississippi and entered the capital of Jackson on January 20th, 1866.
"Last Chance" Jackson and the Miracle of Montgomery:
Further east along the Gulf of Mexico, Francis Lubbock and the Second Texas Corps went on an offensive in Alabama. Satisfied with the ability of the Jackson militia to defend itself on the eastern border of the state, Lubbock struck northward into Alabama in early January. Lubbock had not received any information on the whereabouts of the Confederate Army of Mississippi in a month, and assumed that it had been disbanded or that many of the soldiers had deserted after the loss at New Orleans. Charging the army north, Lubbock and the Second Texas Corps reached Fort Deposit in two weeks. After setting up camp in Fort Deposit for three days to ensure the capture of the fort, the Second Texas Corps resumed its path north toward Montgomery.
Shortly after leaving the fort, the Second Texas Corps found the Army of Mississippi, now led by Thomas "Last Chance" Jackson[2], who was quick to assume leadership of the Army of Mississippi after Forrest left for the Army of Georgia. Jackson turned out to be a very gifted commander and under his lead, the Army of Mississippi managed to continually hold off the Second Texas Corps in the hills near Fort Deposit for the remainder of the war. At one point, Jackson was even able to coordinate a sneak attack around the Corps and captured Fort Deposit for a few days. Because of "Last Chance" Jackson, the city of Montgomery was never captured during the war and remained one of the few cities in the former Confederacy untouched by fighting.
The March on Augusta:
Buell and McClellan remained in North Carolina for the remainder of 1865, cleaning up the rebel fighters in the rural areas of the state. The Union navy blockaded further down the Atlantic coast making patrols all the way to Charleston and Savannah. After the new year, the Union armies in North Carolina began preparations to move south further into Confederate territory. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac went to Fayetteville and down to the coast at which point they entered South Carolina. McClellan reached Myrtle Beach on January 16th, 1866. As McClellan kept pushing toward Charleston, the Union Atlantic Squadron attempted to enter the port. They were rebuffed by the cannons at Fort Sumter, but the Army of the Potomac set up camp at Mount Pleasant across the harbor from Charleston on the 27th of January. McClellan set up a patrol and a palisade to try and cut the peninsula of Charleston off from supplies.
While McClellan was driving down the South Carolina coast, Buell was advancing further inland toward the Confederate capital. After leaving Charlotte, North Carolina in early January, the Army of the Ohio crossed the border into South Carolina near the eastern bank of Wylie Lake. On January 7th, the Army of the Ohio encountered the demoralized remnants of the Army of the Carolinas at the small town of Lancaster, South Carolina. The battle began in the valley to the north of the town with scattered Confederates in the hills causing minor casualties to the Union army. Over the next few days, the fighting moved south through the town and west toward the Catawba River. As Buell continued to drive back the Army of the Carolinas, Longstreet organized a silent retreat to the hills in the north on the night of January 8th, and inflicted more damage on the Army of the Ohio through raids and ambushes. By the 11th, Longstreet snuck the Army of the Carolinas across the Catawba and retreated as fast as they could toward Columbia, the capital of South Carolina.
Buell chased after the Army of the Carolinas as it crossed the Catawba River and advanced south. With Longstreet's forces diminished and able to move at a faster pace, the Confederate force made it to Columbia while the Army of the Ohio was two days away. Buell's army continued south after Longstreet and after a week of skirmishing around Columbia, the capital of South Carolina fell to the Union on January 24th. Up until now, the Confederate legislature had been obstructing any attempts by Benjamin to organize a peaceful surrender to the Union. As the Army of the Carolinas fled Columbia, Longstreet sent a messenger to ride to Augusta and warn the Confederate government that the Union army was closing in.
[1] OTL Bishop of Covington, Kentucky
[2] Ole' Stonewall's got a new nickname
- wilcoxchar
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