Canada Wank (YACW)
- Thread starter Dathi THorfinnsson
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Mississippi theatre (part 1)
And now the ASBs appear.
Mississippi theatre (part 1)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]St. Louis gets word of the ultimatum on 14 December, the day before the US actually declares war, and plunges into a hive of activity. The armed and 'armoured' river boats[1] that were tested out in the fall up by St. Anthony [Minneapolis/St.Paul], have been stood down for the winter, and their armour removed (so spies can't see it). Getting the boats back into operation takes all day, and the first ones don't get off until the morning of the 15th, followed by others as they are readied over the course of the day.[2][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Of course, meantime, post riders are sent south along the Mississippi to warn the settlements there.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, the US forces at Memphis load up on barges and riverboats and most anything that will float, and start drifting down the river. Because there aren't nearly enough riverboats to carry the 30k men who are embarking at Memphis, many of them are travelling in flatboats and barges that can do little more than float with the current. With various boats running onto mudshoals and sand bars, the riverboats that ARE with the expedition spend as much time pulling stuck barges off sandbars and towing them up to the body of the expedition as they do pulling strings of barges down river faster. There's no point in the faster riverboats running much ahead, as they want the whole weight of the expedition to descend in a mass on Louisiana.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Because the US force is constantly struggling to keep stragglers up to the rest of the pack, they don't travel, on average, any faster than the river current. And that, only during full daylight, as there are not enough riverboat pilots to keep all the barges safe at twilight.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]While the US force is drifting down river, the British armoured boats are steaming down as fast as they can. They catch up to the US force at Greenville[3], where the flotilla has paused to pick up the forces assembled there. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The first British boat to arrive (the ASB Mink)[4] fires shells and grapeshot at the packed mass of assembled shipping destroying multiple boats and killing and wounding many US soldiers before being sunk in turn by a well placed round shot from a US boat.[5][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The next British boat (the Weasel) is some distance behind, hears the fighting, and decides to wait for the third one (the Ermine), so they can go in together and support each other.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, 2 armed US riverboats head north to ward off any further attacks. When the US boats come into contact with the British ones, they are toast. By now, messengers have arrived on the Louisiana side of the river, carrying news north (south, too, but these boats don't see that). One British boat pulls over and finds out what the news is. Based on that news, the two boats decide to split. The Ermine will race THROUGH the American flotilla, hoping to catch the flatboats and barges already launched from Greenville. The Weasel will wait for the other British boats, so it's not outnumbered so badly (as you can imagine, this is the guy who hung back in the first place). [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The British armour and better cannon (and having more and better swivel guns) mean that they are a match for about 3 US steamboats, and almost any number of flatboats. OTOH, they are more expensive, and take more work. The Brits only built a dozen of the armoured boats (although they were planning on having more ready for the spring), and the US has far more (armed but unarmoured) than that. OT3H, both sides are taking their armed boats out of their regular river fleet, and the two fleets are about the same size. (While the US has more river to cover, going up the Ohio, the British advantage of controlling the exit port of New Orleans means that it is financially advantageous for goods to arrive on British owned boats. These two factors mean the British fleet is larger, but only marginally so.)[6][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Ermine steams through the confused mess of shipping, firing its swivel guns continuously, and the cannon when it gets a chance, but not actively trying to engage other steamboats. While losing a handful of crewmembers (three when a cannonball smashed through the superstructure, and one rifleman who exposed himself too much trying to get a good shot, she comes through the press in good order and heads down river. As several of the US steamboats had abandoned their groups of flatboats and headed back up river when the fighting started, the Ermine was able to wreak havoc on abandoned poorly escorted and defended flatboats. She suffered more damage from the small cannon in some of the flatboats, and took another major hit from one of the steamboats that stayed, but sunk that boat and several flatboats and barges. Needing repairs, she continued on to New Orleans. When she arrived, she claimed, to have killed over 150 US troops. This number was actually more accurate than it had reason to be – while the captain and crew overestimated the number of men/barge and the number of barges destroyed, they also assumed that most of the swimmers in the water would make it to land. Given the cold water temperatures, few did, succumbing to hypothermia before being saved. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After she was repaired, the Ermine set out again, back up river to take on the descending US forces, and was never seen again (by her own side). Still, the information she was able to give the New Orleans defenders was helpful, both in terms of the US flotilla and what worked and didn't work with the armoured steam boat concept. While there weren't any appropriate naval Paixhans guns of a size that would fit on a riverboat, there were a few army artillery pieces that could throw shells, and various cannon that could at least throw grapeshot. Also, the swivel guns were more effective (being aimable, and heavier than muskets), so as many naval swivel guns as could be found and anything that could be used as one was put aboard the requisitioned civilian boats. Again, the specialized armour plates used on the Mustelid class boats couldn't be recreated in New Orleans in a few days – but iron plates (of various thicknesses) could be used to provide shelter for riflemen and the cannon crew, and wooden beams and sacks of sand or grain could also provide some protection. So when the US flotilla came south, a rag-tag jury-rigged flotilla of converted commercial boats was ready to meet them and gave better than they got.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, of course, the remaining 10 ASBs were harrying the US flotilla, smashing US steamboats, barges and flatboats, and dying one by one. The final surviving ASBs, the Sable and the Wolverine, pulled out and limped back up river to St. Louis.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The US attack, while mauled was not yet stopped. 30 of its 60 steamboats were destroyed, as were dozens of barges and flatboats, and well over a thousand men dead, and more wounded. But their force was still largely intact, and continued down the river, straggling over miles. The straggling actually did more damage to the expedition than the British ASBs – a barge that hung up too close to the British side of the river might be ambushed by hostile locals (especially freed slaves) before they could get free, or an isolated flatboat camping for the night might be attacked. Or, an isolated barge or flatboat, seeing the destruction around it, might simply put into shore and desert. The biggest effect, however, was on morale. What was supposed to be a triumphal progress, 'a riverboat cruise' turned out to be a disaster – before they even landed and came to grips with their (land) foes. The fact that the men in the barges couldn't fight back effectively and had to essentially sit there helplessly only added to the morale problem.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]If the British had twice the number of armoured boats, they could probably have smashed the invasion on the river, and sent the survivors fleeing home miserably. As it was, the attack limped on.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]When the US flotilla approached Louisiana proper, they started encountering the jury-rigged fleet of civilian steam boats. These, while not well armoured, outnumbered the surviving US boats and were slightly better armed and protected, and they wreaked further havoc among the US steamboats and the barges and flatboats. Many of the US steamboats died trying to allow the soldiers to disembark, and once most of them had, the remaining ones fled back upstream. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]25k US soldiers landed in Louisiana, but scattered up and down miles of river bank, with units wildly scattered, and miles north of where they were supposed to be. Also, their supply line was largely cut, as the US armed steamboat force was practically wiped out, and the British one, even if it now consisted almost entirely of requisitioned civilian boats was at least 4 times the size. While some US boats did try to run the gauntlet to reprovision their army, it was pretty much a lost cause. Also, the Sable and Wolverine were able to join the river patrol after some weeks of repair, and they were later joined by the Badger and Glutton. [/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 these are nothing like Eads' river monitors of OTL. What they are is standard riverboats with some iron sheeting as shields to protect against rifle/musket fire. They do carry a small cannon that can fire either shells or shot or grapeshot.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 readying the riverboats is made harder because it froze over night, and people slipping on skims of ice on the dock make a few loads fall into the harbour. The ice on the harbour is just a thin skin that the first boats break through easily, and melts by noon. St. Louis was chosen as the winter store for the boats precisely because it was far enough south that the river rarely freezes (even if it's close enough to US territory that spies abound).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 the Mississippi flows at 3.5 mph below St. Louis. Assume that riverboats can do 7 mph (twice the current speed, which they'd almost have to be able to do to make it up river usefully). Then the British force is travelling some 3x the speed of the American one. It is ~400 miles from St. Louis (where the British boats start) and Memphis (where the US ones do). They start at about the same time, so they should meet 200 miles downstream from Memphis – which is right about where Greenville is, and Greenville is the first minor accumulation point for additional troops. Fudge factors can include how many hours of the day the respective forces are on the water, whether the armoured boats can actually go quite that fast, etc.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 ASB- Armed/Armoured Steam Boat. Hey, there have to be SOME ASBs involved in a proper wank, no? The 12 boats are the Weasel, Ermine, Stoat, Mink, Otter, Fisher, Marten, Pekan, Sable, Ferret, Wolverine, and Polecat.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 the US boats have cannon, but they are smaller and less versatile – they can't fire shells, for instance. The British armour stands up to grapeshot and musket balls, so it takes a direct hit from a round shot to kill one. The US boats can be killed by near misses with shells – and the packed masses of US shipping here means it's hard to miss completely.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 For instance, if you're an American planter and you're trying to avoid tariffs by having a Missourian/Louisianan partner relabel your bales (for a small fee), you ARE going to want to ship on British riverboats, or you're far more likely to get caught. Plus, of course, British planters don't want to be mistaken for American, so they ship on British boats, too. Of course, the last decades haven't been kind to US industry, so their boats are starting (slightly) to fall behind technically, too.[/FONT]
And now the ASBs appear.
Mississippi theatre (part 1)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]St. Louis gets word of the ultimatum on 14 December, the day before the US actually declares war, and plunges into a hive of activity. The armed and 'armoured' river boats[1] that were tested out in the fall up by St. Anthony [Minneapolis/St.Paul], have been stood down for the winter, and their armour removed (so spies can't see it). Getting the boats back into operation takes all day, and the first ones don't get off until the morning of the 15th, followed by others as they are readied over the course of the day.[2][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Of course, meantime, post riders are sent south along the Mississippi to warn the settlements there.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, the US forces at Memphis load up on barges and riverboats and most anything that will float, and start drifting down the river. Because there aren't nearly enough riverboats to carry the 30k men who are embarking at Memphis, many of them are travelling in flatboats and barges that can do little more than float with the current. With various boats running onto mudshoals and sand bars, the riverboats that ARE with the expedition spend as much time pulling stuck barges off sandbars and towing them up to the body of the expedition as they do pulling strings of barges down river faster. There's no point in the faster riverboats running much ahead, as they want the whole weight of the expedition to descend in a mass on Louisiana.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Because the US force is constantly struggling to keep stragglers up to the rest of the pack, they don't travel, on average, any faster than the river current. And that, only during full daylight, as there are not enough riverboat pilots to keep all the barges safe at twilight.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]While the US force is drifting down river, the British armoured boats are steaming down as fast as they can. They catch up to the US force at Greenville[3], where the flotilla has paused to pick up the forces assembled there. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The first British boat to arrive (the ASB Mink)[4] fires shells and grapeshot at the packed mass of assembled shipping destroying multiple boats and killing and wounding many US soldiers before being sunk in turn by a well placed round shot from a US boat.[5][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The next British boat (the Weasel) is some distance behind, hears the fighting, and decides to wait for the third one (the Ermine), so they can go in together and support each other.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, 2 armed US riverboats head north to ward off any further attacks. When the US boats come into contact with the British ones, they are toast. By now, messengers have arrived on the Louisiana side of the river, carrying news north (south, too, but these boats don't see that). One British boat pulls over and finds out what the news is. Based on that news, the two boats decide to split. The Ermine will race THROUGH the American flotilla, hoping to catch the flatboats and barges already launched from Greenville. The Weasel will wait for the other British boats, so it's not outnumbered so badly (as you can imagine, this is the guy who hung back in the first place). [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The British armour and better cannon (and having more and better swivel guns) mean that they are a match for about 3 US steamboats, and almost any number of flatboats. OTOH, they are more expensive, and take more work. The Brits only built a dozen of the armoured boats (although they were planning on having more ready for the spring), and the US has far more (armed but unarmoured) than that. OT3H, both sides are taking their armed boats out of their regular river fleet, and the two fleets are about the same size. (While the US has more river to cover, going up the Ohio, the British advantage of controlling the exit port of New Orleans means that it is financially advantageous for goods to arrive on British owned boats. These two factors mean the British fleet is larger, but only marginally so.)[6][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Ermine steams through the confused mess of shipping, firing its swivel guns continuously, and the cannon when it gets a chance, but not actively trying to engage other steamboats. While losing a handful of crewmembers (three when a cannonball smashed through the superstructure, and one rifleman who exposed himself too much trying to get a good shot, she comes through the press in good order and heads down river. As several of the US steamboats had abandoned their groups of flatboats and headed back up river when the fighting started, the Ermine was able to wreak havoc on abandoned poorly escorted and defended flatboats. She suffered more damage from the small cannon in some of the flatboats, and took another major hit from one of the steamboats that stayed, but sunk that boat and several flatboats and barges. Needing repairs, she continued on to New Orleans. When she arrived, she claimed, to have killed over 150 US troops. This number was actually more accurate than it had reason to be – while the captain and crew overestimated the number of men/barge and the number of barges destroyed, they also assumed that most of the swimmers in the water would make it to land. Given the cold water temperatures, few did, succumbing to hypothermia before being saved. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After she was repaired, the Ermine set out again, back up river to take on the descending US forces, and was never seen again (by her own side). Still, the information she was able to give the New Orleans defenders was helpful, both in terms of the US flotilla and what worked and didn't work with the armoured steam boat concept. While there weren't any appropriate naval Paixhans guns of a size that would fit on a riverboat, there were a few army artillery pieces that could throw shells, and various cannon that could at least throw grapeshot. Also, the swivel guns were more effective (being aimable, and heavier than muskets), so as many naval swivel guns as could be found and anything that could be used as one was put aboard the requisitioned civilian boats. Again, the specialized armour plates used on the Mustelid class boats couldn't be recreated in New Orleans in a few days – but iron plates (of various thicknesses) could be used to provide shelter for riflemen and the cannon crew, and wooden beams and sacks of sand or grain could also provide some protection. So when the US flotilla came south, a rag-tag jury-rigged flotilla of converted commercial boats was ready to meet them and gave better than they got.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, of course, the remaining 10 ASBs were harrying the US flotilla, smashing US steamboats, barges and flatboats, and dying one by one. The final surviving ASBs, the Sable and the Wolverine, pulled out and limped back up river to St. Louis.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The US attack, while mauled was not yet stopped. 30 of its 60 steamboats were destroyed, as were dozens of barges and flatboats, and well over a thousand men dead, and more wounded. But their force was still largely intact, and continued down the river, straggling over miles. The straggling actually did more damage to the expedition than the British ASBs – a barge that hung up too close to the British side of the river might be ambushed by hostile locals (especially freed slaves) before they could get free, or an isolated flatboat camping for the night might be attacked. Or, an isolated barge or flatboat, seeing the destruction around it, might simply put into shore and desert. The biggest effect, however, was on morale. What was supposed to be a triumphal progress, 'a riverboat cruise' turned out to be a disaster – before they even landed and came to grips with their (land) foes. The fact that the men in the barges couldn't fight back effectively and had to essentially sit there helplessly only added to the morale problem.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]If the British had twice the number of armoured boats, they could probably have smashed the invasion on the river, and sent the survivors fleeing home miserably. As it was, the attack limped on.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]When the US flotilla approached Louisiana proper, they started encountering the jury-rigged fleet of civilian steam boats. These, while not well armoured, outnumbered the surviving US boats and were slightly better armed and protected, and they wreaked further havoc among the US steamboats and the barges and flatboats. Many of the US steamboats died trying to allow the soldiers to disembark, and once most of them had, the remaining ones fled back upstream. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]25k US soldiers landed in Louisiana, but scattered up and down miles of river bank, with units wildly scattered, and miles north of where they were supposed to be. Also, their supply line was largely cut, as the US armed steamboat force was practically wiped out, and the British one, even if it now consisted almost entirely of requisitioned civilian boats was at least 4 times the size. While some US boats did try to run the gauntlet to reprovision their army, it was pretty much a lost cause. Also, the Sable and Wolverine were able to join the river patrol after some weeks of repair, and they were later joined by the Badger and Glutton. [/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 these are nothing like Eads' river monitors of OTL. What they are is standard riverboats with some iron sheeting as shields to protect against rifle/musket fire. They do carry a small cannon that can fire either shells or shot or grapeshot.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 readying the riverboats is made harder because it froze over night, and people slipping on skims of ice on the dock make a few loads fall into the harbour. The ice on the harbour is just a thin skin that the first boats break through easily, and melts by noon. St. Louis was chosen as the winter store for the boats precisely because it was far enough south that the river rarely freezes (even if it's close enough to US territory that spies abound).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 the Mississippi flows at 3.5 mph below St. Louis. Assume that riverboats can do 7 mph (twice the current speed, which they'd almost have to be able to do to make it up river usefully). Then the British force is travelling some 3x the speed of the American one. It is ~400 miles from St. Louis (where the British boats start) and Memphis (where the US ones do). They start at about the same time, so they should meet 200 miles downstream from Memphis – which is right about where Greenville is, and Greenville is the first minor accumulation point for additional troops. Fudge factors can include how many hours of the day the respective forces are on the water, whether the armoured boats can actually go quite that fast, etc.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 ASB- Armed/Armoured Steam Boat. Hey, there have to be SOME ASBs involved in a proper wank, no? The 12 boats are the Weasel, Ermine, Stoat, Mink, Otter, Fisher, Marten, Pekan, Sable, Ferret, Wolverine, and Polecat.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 the US boats have cannon, but they are smaller and less versatile – they can't fire shells, for instance. The British armour stands up to grapeshot and musket balls, so it takes a direct hit from a round shot to kill one. The US boats can be killed by near misses with shells – and the packed masses of US shipping here means it's hard to miss completely.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 For instance, if you're an American planter and you're trying to avoid tariffs by having a Missourian/Louisianan partner relabel your bales (for a small fee), you ARE going to want to ship on British riverboats, or you're far more likely to get caught. Plus, of course, British planters don't want to be mistaken for American, so they ship on British boats, too. Of course, the last decades haven't been kind to US industry, so their boats are starting (slightly) to fall behind technically, too.[/FONT]
Dathi
Fascinating battle and sounds like that could get pretty grim for the US forces. I would have thought they would have crossed fairly quickly, although presumably they wanted to head further south because that's where the bulk of the British population was and they didn't want to be stranded miles from any real settlement.
Given the size of the battlefield, i.e. much of the length of the Mississippi, several hundred miles I would have thought there would have been problems with break-downs and ships having to stop to pick up fuel, which could be awkward in a lot of places. Would the steamboats generally be using wood rather than coal because of its greater availability?
Mind you the flat-boats must have been pretty small if the Mink only killed about 150 men given the destruction it caused on the path south.
Losses on the British side were also pretty extreme. 10 out of 12 units, that's the sort of loss rate that breaks most units so a bit surprised they fought that long. Not to mention ammunition would probably have run out before the Americans sank that many of them I would have thought. So I rather suspect that more would have survived simply because they withdrew from the battle to get more ammo and fuel, and give the crew a break.
However the Americans are in quite a mess. Given the length of the river and difficulty of patrolling such a length the US will be able to get some supplies across but also suffer steady losses in the forces trying to do it. Also it means that at least some of the invading force would be required to stay at whatever point was decided on to actually receive any such supplies. Sounds like the force attacking from Tejas could be a greater threat. Especially if the Americans stay together and try and attack a big target like New Orleans. With British control of the river their going to face serious problems.
Steve
Fascinating battle and sounds like that could get pretty grim for the US forces. I would have thought they would have crossed fairly quickly, although presumably they wanted to head further south because that's where the bulk of the British population was and they didn't want to be stranded miles from any real settlement.
Given the size of the battlefield, i.e. much of the length of the Mississippi, several hundred miles I would have thought there would have been problems with break-downs and ships having to stop to pick up fuel, which could be awkward in a lot of places. Would the steamboats generally be using wood rather than coal because of its greater availability?
Mind you the flat-boats must have been pretty small if the Mink only killed about 150 men given the destruction it caused on the path south.
Losses on the British side were also pretty extreme. 10 out of 12 units, that's the sort of loss rate that breaks most units so a bit surprised they fought that long. Not to mention ammunition would probably have run out before the Americans sank that many of them I would have thought. So I rather suspect that more would have survived simply because they withdrew from the battle to get more ammo and fuel, and give the crew a break.
However the Americans are in quite a mess. Given the length of the river and difficulty of patrolling such a length the US will be able to get some supplies across but also suffer steady losses in the forces trying to do it. Also it means that at least some of the invading force would be required to stay at whatever point was decided on to actually receive any such supplies. Sounds like the force attacking from Tejas could be a greater threat. Especially if the Americans stay together and try and attack a big target like New Orleans. With British control of the river their going to face serious problems.
Steve
The theory is that they wanted to get all the way down to at least Baton Rouge. They can't win until they beat the British army, most of which is down in southern Louisiana, possibly even New Orleans.
Basically, they're coming ashore about 31° I think, about where Louisiana is now on both sides of the river.
Yes, I'm fairly sure they're using wood. The British boats had more problems than just engine breakdowns!
Several of the US boats now doubt had mechanical trouble, at some point in the process, but that happened off-screen.
I suspect that most landings would have wood for sale for the boats.
The impression I get is a flat boat might hold ?20? people. But I'm not sure. I don't remember what exactly I was thinking at the time, but I was trying to not make it a simple slaughter. The number would have gone up on her death-run north, too...
We've got 12 boats up against an invasion force of (in total) 40k men and 60 steamships. Those are huge odds, but if they don't stop them, Louisiana is toast, and then Missouri dries on the vine and then....
They know it's close to suicide, but they're the only thing standing between their country and its extinction (or so they see it).
"Never have so few done so much for so many"
It's not getting supplies ACROSS so much as down. Supplies will be collected in the same towns the men started from - Memphis, Greenville, Vicksburg, Natchez - supplies are coming down the rivers from Mississippi state to Mississippi river.
retcon and addenda to Mississippi part 1
The Ermine's death toll is 200+, not 150.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Addendum1[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The 150 dead number for the Ermine's run has been queried. Let's suppose she hits a steamboat with a shell (destroying the boat, killing 30 men, wounding another 30, leaving, 40 to be rescued (mostly on broken bits of the boat, they stay out of water))[1]. Lets say she hits 10 flatboats with a swivel gun (killing 5, wounding 10, leaving 5 healthy), and hits 5 with shells (killing everybody) and 5 breaking boats (either solid shot or swivel gun grapeshot smashes a hole in the bottom). Here 15 men per boat die, mostly from hypothermia. So.... 30+15*5 +5*5 +5*20 =230 dead. Plus 30+50+25 wounded =105 wounded.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Each of the other 11 boats accounts for (on average) 3 steamboats @25 dead =825 dead 15 wounded = 495 wounded; also say 4 barges/flatboats mostly with swivel guns (44*(5 dead, 10 wounded) = 220 dead, 440 wounded) and one with a shell 220dead. So... 1265 dead, 935 wounded.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]So grand total 1495 dead, 1040 wounded. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Addendum2[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I didn't specifically say, but it is 424 miles from Memphis to the Red River mouth (which is about where the US forces came ashore. It is then 71 miles to Baton Rouge. Assuming the flotilla floated ~40 miles a day (3.5 mph*12 hours), that's 10.5 days just to get to the Red River, so Boxing Day/St.Stephen's Day/Dec 26. Take a day to reform/ reorganize units and gather what supplies you can from your boats, deciding what you can carry.... Then they trudge south towards Baton Rouge. I don't think they can possibly make more than 10 miles a day.[/FONT]
--
1 assuming ~100 men on a US river boat. This would be a light load, but after the first day, if not before, it's going to be obvious that the steamboats are more useful for rescuing stuck barges and flatboats than actually carrying soldiers.
The Ermine's death toll is 200+, not 150.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Addendum1[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The 150 dead number for the Ermine's run has been queried. Let's suppose she hits a steamboat with a shell (destroying the boat, killing 30 men, wounding another 30, leaving, 40 to be rescued (mostly on broken bits of the boat, they stay out of water))[1]. Lets say she hits 10 flatboats with a swivel gun (killing 5, wounding 10, leaving 5 healthy), and hits 5 with shells (killing everybody) and 5 breaking boats (either solid shot or swivel gun grapeshot smashes a hole in the bottom). Here 15 men per boat die, mostly from hypothermia. So.... 30+15*5 +5*5 +5*20 =230 dead. Plus 30+50+25 wounded =105 wounded.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Each of the other 11 boats accounts for (on average) 3 steamboats @25 dead =825 dead 15 wounded = 495 wounded; also say 4 barges/flatboats mostly with swivel guns (44*(5 dead, 10 wounded) = 220 dead, 440 wounded) and one with a shell 220dead. So... 1265 dead, 935 wounded.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]So grand total 1495 dead, 1040 wounded. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Addendum2[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I didn't specifically say, but it is 424 miles from Memphis to the Red River mouth (which is about where the US forces came ashore. It is then 71 miles to Baton Rouge. Assuming the flotilla floated ~40 miles a day (3.5 mph*12 hours), that's 10.5 days just to get to the Red River, so Boxing Day/St.Stephen's Day/Dec 26. Take a day to reform/ reorganize units and gather what supplies you can from your boats, deciding what you can carry.... Then they trudge south towards Baton Rouge. I don't think they can possibly make more than 10 miles a day.[/FONT]
--
1 assuming ~100 men on a US river boat. This would be a light load, but after the first day, if not before, it's going to be obvious that the steamboats are more useful for rescuing stuck barges and flatboats than actually carrying soldiers.
upcoming updates
I'm having to revisit some of my assumptions in the Tejas theatre, and that's taking a bit longer than I'd hoped. [I'm really regretting making that force that large, but I'm trying to make things work out without retconning that. Trying]
Also, the Atlantic coast theatre is partly done.
Don't know which will get done first.
But it may be a day or two, we'll see.
I'm having to revisit some of my assumptions in the Tejas theatre, and that's taking a bit longer than I'd hoped. [I'm really regretting making that force that large, but I'm trying to make things work out without retconning that. Trying
]Also, the Atlantic coast theatre is partly done.
Don't know which will get done first.
But it may be a day or two, we'll see.
Agreed. Take your time Dathi and make sure your confident and comfortable with what happens. [As long as we have the next 6 chapter in 30 minutes!
]Steve
Like stevep says, take your time. We'll wait to read your TL.I'm having to revisit some of my assumptions in the Tejas theatre, and that's taking a bit longer than I'd hoped. [I'm really regretting making that force that large, but I'm trying to make things work out without retconning that. Trying
Also, the Atlantic coast theatre is partly done.
Don't know which will get done first.
But it may be a day or two, we'll see.
Let us rejoice! Turtledove Winner!!!
Vote in the Superlative. I have no chance of winning, but still
Update coming soon...
What he said.
(mutatis mutandis - with appropriate changes)Tejas theatre, part 1
Bleaahh! Finally
Tejas theatre, part 1
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The US/Mexico invasion of Tejas also occurs on December 15, along with all the other attacks. The 40k strong army (10k US troops, mostly cavalry, with some field artillery, led by General James Armstrong[1]; 30k Mexican troops, mostly cavalry led by General Antonio Gonzales [atl character]). They cross the Nueces [TTL border] and head for San Antonio. They get there shortly after word of the invasion, so the residents have to defend the town instead of just fleeing. The battle there is short, as the defenders were so massively outnumbered. San Antonio is the last (and only) major battle in this phase of the war – as the invading force so outnumbers any possible defenders[2] that the only real options are to surrender or flee. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Now Gonzales reorganizes his forces. Before the battle, he had already sent some emptied supply wagons southeast to San Antonio Bay to meet with supply ships. Now he leaves a small garrison in San Antonio, to hold it for Mexico, he splits off about 5k soldiers to sweep through the rest of Tejas, on a more northerly route, to take and hold the rest of Tejas. Then, the main force continues east nearer the coast, on a direct line to Louisiana.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, fleeing civilians scatter ahead of the advancing troops with little more than the clothes on their backs, spreading word of the invasion – and also panic – across the length and breadth of Tejas. Many civilians flee east. Women and children to find safety, men (largely) to live to fight another day.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The (by now) 34k US/Mexican troops in the main body roll east across Tejas and meet with little serious resistance. However, when they reach the Guadalupe River, where they are supposed to meet their resupply wagons, the wagons aren't there. Gonzales sends messengers down river to discover what the problem is. It turns out that the resupply ships haven't arrived, and there's no immediate visible reason why. The suspicion is that the resupply may have been intercepted at sea, probably by the British, but they have no certainty there[3]. There could have been foul-ups at the Mexican end, the ships might have sunk in a storm, almost anything could have happened. The vanishing of their resupply line is a very unpleasant surprise, of course. However, the force had worked out some contingency plans ahead of time, in case something like this happened.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Firstly, some of the wagons are sent on to the next supply rendezvous at the mouth of the Brazos, in case the problem was only with the first shipment. Secondly, word sent back to Mexico, to warn of the problem and to gather more supplies, if possible. And thirdly, the force now has to live off the land. This possibility had been considered in planning, although they had hoped to avoid it. Occasional supplies will make it overland by wagon train from Mexico, but for now they have to catch up to the moving army, which means that only one actually arrives before they hit the Sabine river. Wagon train resupply is also very inefficient, and vulnerable to hit-and-run raids.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As with 'Illinois', the size of the invading force vs. the size of the population means that supporting this sized force indefinitely is unsustainable, but for a quick run across the duchy before hitting Louisiana, it is doable. It does mean that the army is now required to requisition food, any stores they find, and, particularly cattle on the hoof, as they can transport themselves. One major disadvantage of this strategy is that individual soldiers are now officially authorized to l/o/o/t/ requisition supplies and it's impossible to keep the depredations to officially needed supplies. Individual soldiers seize any valuables they find and whatever strikes their fancy. The private who tried to take a piano and have the supply wagons carry it for him was roundly disciplined. But loot that can be carried on individual troopers' pack horses and remounts (up to and including things like a spinning wheel) is, not allowed, but winked at as unavoidable. Unfortunately, this slows the invasion. Of course, since the bulk of their supplies is now a large and growing herd of cattle, and the army resembles a cattle drive as much as an army, now, they were going to be slowed anyway.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As it happens, General Gonzales isn't completely unhappy about the slow pace. If the US forces coming down the Mississippi can take Louisiana by themselves, then all his troops will have to do is act as garrison troops, and they won't actively have to fight the British. On the other hand, General Armstrong is fuming. He is very annoyed at the Mexicans 'getting distracted' (by loot, by taking individual towns, etc.) As far as the US was concerned, taking Tejas was more getting a playing piece off the board before the real job of taking back Louisiana. The Mexican troops considered the real job to be taking Tejas, and they'd help out some with Louisiana in return later. So there is some conflict in goals.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Also, Armstrong (and the other US officers) are upset at the 'moral decay' that associating with the Mexicans is causing in the US forces[4]. While the Mexicans (of all ranks) are upset with the US assumptions of moral (also racial and religious) superiority. US troops, especially officers, tended to treat Mexican troops (especially the browner common soldiers) as servants and with some disrespect. Tensions between the two forces, while not unmanageable yet, are reaching irritating levels, and still building.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As the army/cattle drive/junk collection slowly moves across Tejas, individual columns swing out to find supplies (especially more cattle) over a wider area. (An army this size can eat up to 200 cattle a day[5]). But because Tejanos manage occasional raids to stampede the already collected cattle, the army has to keep rounding up strays and finding more, which gets harder and harder. Eventually, Gonzales splits off 10k men and sends them north to forage over a much wider area.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Thus, instead of crossing from San Antonio to the Sabine river in 2 weeks[6], arriving with 40k men and opening a second front on the Battle of Louisiana at the beginning of January (as Armstrong thought the plan was), they actually arrive at the Sabine a month after the initial invasion, in mid January (the 18th), when the US forces coming down the Mississippi have already been defeated[7], even if the US/Mexican force doesn't know that yet. (And even if the British haven't been able to redeploy those troops yet.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]When the US/Mexican force does arrive at the Sabine river [OTL's eastern border] at Millard [OTL Beaumont] they face a motley assortment of soldiers, Tejan remnants and black Louisiana militia being the bulk of the force, but in front is a thin red line of British soldiers. 1K British troops and 5k militia (mostly black) are arrayed in front of the bridge over the Sabine[8], with the militia already pulling out and crossing the bridge. Across the river Armstrong sees the fleeing infantry, a couple of buildings, a handful of light cavalry, and that's about it. He thinks 'aha, we've got them now!'. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The defenders have 'obviously' realized how out matched they are, and retreating in the face of overwhelming force. (Presumably, they had some estimate of the size of the force from the size of the dust cloud kicked up, but had no idea what they faced until the invaders got close enough to see the dust.) The US cavalry paused for a moment, to decide on strategy and order of attack. If the US can take the bridge and hold the far side, then all the invading force can cross, and the invaders will outnumber the defenders. And it will avoid the difficulty of crossing a defended river. But that requires the US take and hold the bridge. So, after a quick conference to decide what order the units should attack, they head in. General Gonzales 'offers the place of honour' to the US troops, saying 'be my guest, we'll be right behind you'. While Armstrong isn't sure whether this is 'honour' or 'faintheartedness', he doesn't have time to argue. The US cavalry charges the bridge, hoping to take it intact. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]A small group of British redcoats played Horatius, holding the Cavalry off just long enough for everyone else to get across, then retreated themselves, pursued by the US cavalry. The cavalry streamed across the bridge. Once about 2/3 of them were across, and had set up a bridgehead, they sent over their artillery. But as the artillery was crossing, the British blew the bridge. At that point, the 'fleeing' infantry turn and form square, the fronts of the buildings fall down, exposing a dozen naval cannon which then fire case shot into the packed mass of cavalry. Moreover, 5k more militia and 1k Redcoats, slightly further behind, get up from their hiding places, and form square. And more light cavalry (Texians) appear.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Without a bridge, and with their artillery at the bottom of the river, there is little the main body on the far side can do at the moment to help the isolated, surrounded mass of American cavalry. The ranking US officer on the far side tries to convince the Mexicans to swim the river and overwhelm the British, but the Mexicans refuse – claiming that such a crossing would be next door to suicidal[9].[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Outnumbered, facing (sufficiently) trained infantry in defensive squares, and being blasted by artillery, the US cavalry tries to break off to the north, where they hope to find a ford or another bridge and rejoin the rest of the company. However, there are enough infantry well enough placed that it is difficult for the Americans to escape. Even if many of the militia are hardly sharpshooters, and are armed with old muskets, a horse is a big target. Of the 7k US soldiers that made it across the river, 5k are killed or captured, leaving only 2k who break through the array of infantry, and those are shadowed by 2k Texian light cavalry on lighter, faster, fresher horses. Moreover, the Texians haven't fired their weapons yet. If the US cavalry was able to conduct a stand-up fight against the Texians, it would be no contest. As is, they're fleeing and the Texians are able to pick off about a third of the survivors before they escape. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Far from having caught a bunch of n****r militia unprepared and panicking as Armstrong had thought/assumed when he saw the scene, the US forces had fallen into a trap. Obviously, rather than having discovered them only when the dust clouds came in sight, they must have had the army under observation for some time. To have set up a trap like that meant that they must have been very sure that the US was coming this way. (In retrospect, General Armstrong wondered if the local who told them about the bridge was in British employ.)[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Note that General Gonzales has secret orders, which he was not at liberty to share with the Americans, that he is to avoid attacking British regular units, if at all possible. At the time he was given those orders, Mexico was hoping that they might avoid war with Britain entirely. Once the supply ships were attacked, the government knew that that wasn't possible, but they would LIKE to keep the intensity down. If they avoid attacking the British – if they just supply occupation troops after the US takes Louisiana, they are much less likely to face the wrath of the entire British Empire. Moreover, Mexico wouldn't put it past the gringos to set the British against Mexico, and then themselves make a separate peace. (Leaving Mexico to face the British alone.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]So Gonzales is encouraged not to start anything. If fired at, he can defend; if he has to attack militia units, well, OK. However, he should only engage British regulars if he simply can't avoid it. Since the bridge is blown before any Mexican troops get on it, Gonzales doesn't have to explain why he didn't cross it. For which he is very glad. <g> If the British had NOT mined the bridge, he would have crossed, tried to only target militia, and the US/Mexican forces would almost certainly have carried the day. As is, he has a lovely excuse, and doesn't even need to admit what his orders are.[10] At the moment, he HAS Tejas (by arguable definitions), he has preserved the lives of his men, and the US hasn't got anything they can actually accuse him of. So he's pretty happy at having succeeded at steering between Scylla and Charybdis so far.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 may or may not be the same as the man of that name who was promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to Captain of a company of Kentucky Mounted Volunteers iOTL. ITTL, the US Cavalry grew out the Kentucky Mounted Militia, and Armstrong moved from the Militia to the Regular army. He basically fills Stephen W. Kearney's role as 'father of the United States Cavalry'. Given a choice between the Illinois sweep and Mexico, he chose the Mexico job as it would be an almost completely independent command, with little or no contact with any military superiors, and requiring the highest possible rank of officer.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 remember that we've got 40k invading soldiers. The TOTAL population of Tejas is just under that. This is not to say that there aren't small groups hiding in the countryside able and ready to pick of isolated units. There are. But the major battles US-Mexico/Tejas are over. The next phase is US-Mexico/UK-Tejas.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 the missing supply ship was, indeed, caught by the British. But the army won't find that out for some time. The fact that there is no resupply at the Brazos does firm their suspicions, though.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 The US troops are looting and pillaging, as well, of course. Armstrong tried to put a stop to it, but with 'the Mexican troops setting an example', he has to give in. Of course, even if there weren't any Mexicans to 'set a bad example', the fact that the men have to loot for food means they WILL loot for valuables. Armstrong hasn't figured that out, though, and blames it all on the 'bad moral influence of the D/a/g/o/ Mexican troops.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 40k men at 2lb beef/man/day =80k lb. Assuming 400 lbs/animal, that's 200 animals/per day. (http://ars.sdstate.edu/MeatSci/May99-1.htm has all sorts of values for amount of meat from a cow, but it assumes a 1200lb, presumably grain fed, animal. A scrawny longhorn on the hoof should be on the lower end which is ~400lb/animal.) At that rate, a herd of 3000 head would last 15 days. Two pounds of meat/person/day may sound like a lot – but they don't have any (well, many) carbs with that, so almost all their calories are coming from meat. Of the grain they do find, much of it will have to go to their horses, to help supplement grazing, and keep them in shape. So, that gives them some 2500 calories from meat. Given that they are out, actively working, they will need more than that. However, the force is down from 40k to about 34k, so that probably balances out. (~1kg beef/man, ~180kg beef/animal in 'real' units, for non-American readers)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 San Antonio to Orange (on the Sabine) is 306 miles. A cattle drive can apparently move 15 miles a day, which would mean 20 days or so. Given that they had GET to San Antonio, fight a (short) battle, cross more rivers than the usual cattle drive, stop to raid occasionally, it's over a month from the time that they cross the Tejan border to the time they reach the Sabine river.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]7 more on that in a coming episode.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8 I have no clue whether there was a bridge there at that time in OTL. If necessary, it may have been a pontoon bridge recently constructed to support the defence. (And, as it happens, to encourage an attack.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]9 I THINK that the Mexicans could have crossed had they needed to, but crossing a river when the opposite bank is well defended IS very expensive, and there would have been a lot of Mexican blood in the water at the end. It may not have been actually suicidal, but they were certainly not guaranteed victory. The tactical situation is nasty enough that Gonzales can legitimately refuse, without being considered a coward. Although the phrase “excessively cautious” does appear in the US report of the battle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]10 One of Gonzales' problems is that he has several 'clear' orders. Some are verbal, some are written, and many contradict each other (in actual practise). He's beginning to realize that if things go pear-shaped that he's going be a fine scapegoat, as his superiors can point to the orders that he DIDN'T carry out, and ignore the ones he did. [/FONT]
Bleaahh! Finally
Tejas theatre, part 1
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The US/Mexico invasion of Tejas also occurs on December 15, along with all the other attacks. The 40k strong army (10k US troops, mostly cavalry, with some field artillery, led by General James Armstrong[1]; 30k Mexican troops, mostly cavalry led by General Antonio Gonzales [atl character]). They cross the Nueces [TTL border] and head for San Antonio. They get there shortly after word of the invasion, so the residents have to defend the town instead of just fleeing. The battle there is short, as the defenders were so massively outnumbered. San Antonio is the last (and only) major battle in this phase of the war – as the invading force so outnumbers any possible defenders[2] that the only real options are to surrender or flee. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Now Gonzales reorganizes his forces. Before the battle, he had already sent some emptied supply wagons southeast to San Antonio Bay to meet with supply ships. Now he leaves a small garrison in San Antonio, to hold it for Mexico, he splits off about 5k soldiers to sweep through the rest of Tejas, on a more northerly route, to take and hold the rest of Tejas. Then, the main force continues east nearer the coast, on a direct line to Louisiana.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, fleeing civilians scatter ahead of the advancing troops with little more than the clothes on their backs, spreading word of the invasion – and also panic – across the length and breadth of Tejas. Many civilians flee east. Women and children to find safety, men (largely) to live to fight another day.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The (by now) 34k US/Mexican troops in the main body roll east across Tejas and meet with little serious resistance. However, when they reach the Guadalupe River, where they are supposed to meet their resupply wagons, the wagons aren't there. Gonzales sends messengers down river to discover what the problem is. It turns out that the resupply ships haven't arrived, and there's no immediate visible reason why. The suspicion is that the resupply may have been intercepted at sea, probably by the British, but they have no certainty there[3]. There could have been foul-ups at the Mexican end, the ships might have sunk in a storm, almost anything could have happened. The vanishing of their resupply line is a very unpleasant surprise, of course. However, the force had worked out some contingency plans ahead of time, in case something like this happened.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Firstly, some of the wagons are sent on to the next supply rendezvous at the mouth of the Brazos, in case the problem was only with the first shipment. Secondly, word sent back to Mexico, to warn of the problem and to gather more supplies, if possible. And thirdly, the force now has to live off the land. This possibility had been considered in planning, although they had hoped to avoid it. Occasional supplies will make it overland by wagon train from Mexico, but for now they have to catch up to the moving army, which means that only one actually arrives before they hit the Sabine river. Wagon train resupply is also very inefficient, and vulnerable to hit-and-run raids.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As with 'Illinois', the size of the invading force vs. the size of the population means that supporting this sized force indefinitely is unsustainable, but for a quick run across the duchy before hitting Louisiana, it is doable. It does mean that the army is now required to requisition food, any stores they find, and, particularly cattle on the hoof, as they can transport themselves. One major disadvantage of this strategy is that individual soldiers are now officially authorized to l/o/o/t/ requisition supplies and it's impossible to keep the depredations to officially needed supplies. Individual soldiers seize any valuables they find and whatever strikes their fancy. The private who tried to take a piano and have the supply wagons carry it for him was roundly disciplined. But loot that can be carried on individual troopers' pack horses and remounts (up to and including things like a spinning wheel) is, not allowed, but winked at as unavoidable. Unfortunately, this slows the invasion. Of course, since the bulk of their supplies is now a large and growing herd of cattle, and the army resembles a cattle drive as much as an army, now, they were going to be slowed anyway.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As it happens, General Gonzales isn't completely unhappy about the slow pace. If the US forces coming down the Mississippi can take Louisiana by themselves, then all his troops will have to do is act as garrison troops, and they won't actively have to fight the British. On the other hand, General Armstrong is fuming. He is very annoyed at the Mexicans 'getting distracted' (by loot, by taking individual towns, etc.) As far as the US was concerned, taking Tejas was more getting a playing piece off the board before the real job of taking back Louisiana. The Mexican troops considered the real job to be taking Tejas, and they'd help out some with Louisiana in return later. So there is some conflict in goals.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Also, Armstrong (and the other US officers) are upset at the 'moral decay' that associating with the Mexicans is causing in the US forces[4]. While the Mexicans (of all ranks) are upset with the US assumptions of moral (also racial and religious) superiority. US troops, especially officers, tended to treat Mexican troops (especially the browner common soldiers) as servants and with some disrespect. Tensions between the two forces, while not unmanageable yet, are reaching irritating levels, and still building.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As the army/cattle drive/junk collection slowly moves across Tejas, individual columns swing out to find supplies (especially more cattle) over a wider area. (An army this size can eat up to 200 cattle a day[5]). But because Tejanos manage occasional raids to stampede the already collected cattle, the army has to keep rounding up strays and finding more, which gets harder and harder. Eventually, Gonzales splits off 10k men and sends them north to forage over a much wider area.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Thus, instead of crossing from San Antonio to the Sabine river in 2 weeks[6], arriving with 40k men and opening a second front on the Battle of Louisiana at the beginning of January (as Armstrong thought the plan was), they actually arrive at the Sabine a month after the initial invasion, in mid January (the 18th), when the US forces coming down the Mississippi have already been defeated[7], even if the US/Mexican force doesn't know that yet. (And even if the British haven't been able to redeploy those troops yet.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]When the US/Mexican force does arrive at the Sabine river [OTL's eastern border] at Millard [OTL Beaumont] they face a motley assortment of soldiers, Tejan remnants and black Louisiana militia being the bulk of the force, but in front is a thin red line of British soldiers. 1K British troops and 5k militia (mostly black) are arrayed in front of the bridge over the Sabine[8], with the militia already pulling out and crossing the bridge. Across the river Armstrong sees the fleeing infantry, a couple of buildings, a handful of light cavalry, and that's about it. He thinks 'aha, we've got them now!'. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The defenders have 'obviously' realized how out matched they are, and retreating in the face of overwhelming force. (Presumably, they had some estimate of the size of the force from the size of the dust cloud kicked up, but had no idea what they faced until the invaders got close enough to see the dust.) The US cavalry paused for a moment, to decide on strategy and order of attack. If the US can take the bridge and hold the far side, then all the invading force can cross, and the invaders will outnumber the defenders. And it will avoid the difficulty of crossing a defended river. But that requires the US take and hold the bridge. So, after a quick conference to decide what order the units should attack, they head in. General Gonzales 'offers the place of honour' to the US troops, saying 'be my guest, we'll be right behind you'. While Armstrong isn't sure whether this is 'honour' or 'faintheartedness', he doesn't have time to argue. The US cavalry charges the bridge, hoping to take it intact. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]A small group of British redcoats played Horatius, holding the Cavalry off just long enough for everyone else to get across, then retreated themselves, pursued by the US cavalry. The cavalry streamed across the bridge. Once about 2/3 of them were across, and had set up a bridgehead, they sent over their artillery. But as the artillery was crossing, the British blew the bridge. At that point, the 'fleeing' infantry turn and form square, the fronts of the buildings fall down, exposing a dozen naval cannon which then fire case shot into the packed mass of cavalry. Moreover, 5k more militia and 1k Redcoats, slightly further behind, get up from their hiding places, and form square. And more light cavalry (Texians) appear.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Without a bridge, and with their artillery at the bottom of the river, there is little the main body on the far side can do at the moment to help the isolated, surrounded mass of American cavalry. The ranking US officer on the far side tries to convince the Mexicans to swim the river and overwhelm the British, but the Mexicans refuse – claiming that such a crossing would be next door to suicidal[9].[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Outnumbered, facing (sufficiently) trained infantry in defensive squares, and being blasted by artillery, the US cavalry tries to break off to the north, where they hope to find a ford or another bridge and rejoin the rest of the company. However, there are enough infantry well enough placed that it is difficult for the Americans to escape. Even if many of the militia are hardly sharpshooters, and are armed with old muskets, a horse is a big target. Of the 7k US soldiers that made it across the river, 5k are killed or captured, leaving only 2k who break through the array of infantry, and those are shadowed by 2k Texian light cavalry on lighter, faster, fresher horses. Moreover, the Texians haven't fired their weapons yet. If the US cavalry was able to conduct a stand-up fight against the Texians, it would be no contest. As is, they're fleeing and the Texians are able to pick off about a third of the survivors before they escape. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Far from having caught a bunch of n****r militia unprepared and panicking as Armstrong had thought/assumed when he saw the scene, the US forces had fallen into a trap. Obviously, rather than having discovered them only when the dust clouds came in sight, they must have had the army under observation for some time. To have set up a trap like that meant that they must have been very sure that the US was coming this way. (In retrospect, General Armstrong wondered if the local who told them about the bridge was in British employ.)[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Note that General Gonzales has secret orders, which he was not at liberty to share with the Americans, that he is to avoid attacking British regular units, if at all possible. At the time he was given those orders, Mexico was hoping that they might avoid war with Britain entirely. Once the supply ships were attacked, the government knew that that wasn't possible, but they would LIKE to keep the intensity down. If they avoid attacking the British – if they just supply occupation troops after the US takes Louisiana, they are much less likely to face the wrath of the entire British Empire. Moreover, Mexico wouldn't put it past the gringos to set the British against Mexico, and then themselves make a separate peace. (Leaving Mexico to face the British alone.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]So Gonzales is encouraged not to start anything. If fired at, he can defend; if he has to attack militia units, well, OK. However, he should only engage British regulars if he simply can't avoid it. Since the bridge is blown before any Mexican troops get on it, Gonzales doesn't have to explain why he didn't cross it. For which he is very glad. <g> If the British had NOT mined the bridge, he would have crossed, tried to only target militia, and the US/Mexican forces would almost certainly have carried the day. As is, he has a lovely excuse, and doesn't even need to admit what his orders are.[10] At the moment, he HAS Tejas (by arguable definitions), he has preserved the lives of his men, and the US hasn't got anything they can actually accuse him of. So he's pretty happy at having succeeded at steering between Scylla and Charybdis so far.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 may or may not be the same as the man of that name who was promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to Captain of a company of Kentucky Mounted Volunteers iOTL. ITTL, the US Cavalry grew out the Kentucky Mounted Militia, and Armstrong moved from the Militia to the Regular army. He basically fills Stephen W. Kearney's role as 'father of the United States Cavalry'. Given a choice between the Illinois sweep and Mexico, he chose the Mexico job as it would be an almost completely independent command, with little or no contact with any military superiors, and requiring the highest possible rank of officer.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 remember that we've got 40k invading soldiers. The TOTAL population of Tejas is just under that. This is not to say that there aren't small groups hiding in the countryside able and ready to pick of isolated units. There are. But the major battles US-Mexico/Tejas are over. The next phase is US-Mexico/UK-Tejas.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 the missing supply ship was, indeed, caught by the British. But the army won't find that out for some time. The fact that there is no resupply at the Brazos does firm their suspicions, though.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 The US troops are looting and pillaging, as well, of course. Armstrong tried to put a stop to it, but with 'the Mexican troops setting an example', he has to give in. Of course, even if there weren't any Mexicans to 'set a bad example', the fact that the men have to loot for food means they WILL loot for valuables. Armstrong hasn't figured that out, though, and blames it all on the 'bad moral influence of the D/a/g/o/ Mexican troops.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 40k men at 2lb beef/man/day =80k lb. Assuming 400 lbs/animal, that's 200 animals/per day. (http://ars.sdstate.edu/MeatSci/May99-1.htm has all sorts of values for amount of meat from a cow, but it assumes a 1200lb, presumably grain fed, animal. A scrawny longhorn on the hoof should be on the lower end which is ~400lb/animal.) At that rate, a herd of 3000 head would last 15 days. Two pounds of meat/person/day may sound like a lot – but they don't have any (well, many) carbs with that, so almost all their calories are coming from meat. Of the grain they do find, much of it will have to go to their horses, to help supplement grazing, and keep them in shape. So, that gives them some 2500 calories from meat. Given that they are out, actively working, they will need more than that. However, the force is down from 40k to about 34k, so that probably balances out. (~1kg beef/man, ~180kg beef/animal in 'real' units, for non-American readers)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]6 San Antonio to Orange (on the Sabine) is 306 miles. A cattle drive can apparently move 15 miles a day, which would mean 20 days or so. Given that they had GET to San Antonio, fight a (short) battle, cross more rivers than the usual cattle drive, stop to raid occasionally, it's over a month from the time that they cross the Tejan border to the time they reach the Sabine river.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]7 more on that in a coming episode.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8 I have no clue whether there was a bridge there at that time in OTL. If necessary, it may have been a pontoon bridge recently constructed to support the defence. (And, as it happens, to encourage an attack.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]9 I THINK that the Mexicans could have crossed had they needed to, but crossing a river when the opposite bank is well defended IS very expensive, and there would have been a lot of Mexican blood in the water at the end. It may not have been actually suicidal, but they were certainly not guaranteed victory. The tactical situation is nasty enough that Gonzales can legitimately refuse, without being considered a coward. Although the phrase “excessively cautious” does appear in the US report of the battle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]10 One of Gonzales' problems is that he has several 'clear' orders. Some are verbal, some are written, and many contradict each other (in actual practise). He's beginning to realize that if things go pear-shaped that he's going be a fine scapegoat, as his superiors can point to the orders that he DIDN'T carry out, and ignore the ones he did. [/FONT]
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Tejas nomenclature
Just in case anyone was wondering, the alternation between 'Texian' and 'Tejano' is deliberate. Both are used iTTL. If the person referred to is Hispanic the adjective is more likely Tejano, if Anglo, then Texian. If other (German, whatever), either is used. Any references to 'Texan', if they exist, are in error.
Whether my alteration is quite consistent, I'm not sure, actually, but the above gives me lots of wiggle room...
The Duchy is named 'Tejas'. (Occasional references to 'Texas', which I know have slipped through, are in error.)
(The Germans are likely to pronounce 'Tejas' and 'Tejano' in the German manner - i.e. the 'j' is like an English 'i' or 'y', just to add to the different sounds the place can be called.)
Just in case anyone was wondering, the alternation between 'Texian' and 'Tejano' is deliberate. Both are used iTTL. If the person referred to is Hispanic the adjective is more likely Tejano, if Anglo, then Texian. If other (German, whatever), either is used. Any references to 'Texan', if they exist, are in error.
Whether my alteration is quite consistent, I'm not sure, actually, but the above gives me lots of wiggle room...
The Duchy is named 'Tejas'. (Occasional references to 'Texas', which I know have slipped through, are in error.)
(The Germans are likely to pronounce 'Tejas' and 'Tejano' in the German manner - i.e. the 'j' is like an English 'i' or 'y', just to add to the different sounds the place can be called.)
Dathi
Excellent update. I was worried about that force. Think Gonzales is going to have serious problems later on. While his superiors will be happy with him avoiding open conflict with Britain that is going to be impossible when Britain moves to liberate Tejas - which I'm pretty certain they will. At that point he either has to fight and probably see his dispersed and probably demoralised forces defeated or give up Tejas.
I wonder if the Germans have any big breweries in the area. That would really make for some fun times.
Although I'm rather surprised that Britain could organise a fuses operating from such a long distance.
Rather surprised that Gonzales's orders discriminated between British regulars and militia, which are after all British citizens. Pretty certain that the British won't be making that distinction. I think he's still very much between a rock and a hard place.
Steve
Excellent update.
I was worried about that force. Think Gonzales is going to have serious problems later on. While his superiors will be happy with him avoiding open conflict with Britain that is going to be impossible when Britain moves to liberate Tejas - which I'm pretty certain they will. At that point he either has to fight and probably see his dispersed and probably demoralised forces defeated or give up Tejas.Apart from any else this will also cause clashes between groups in the army as they squabble over the best loot. Along with possibly some distrust meaning their more busy watching each other than looking out for opponents.
I wonder if the Germans have any big breweries in the area. That would really make for some fun times.
Excellent display of the problems in a loose coalition with no clear planning/considering of the problems the force might face. Diverging aims meaning less than sterling overall performance.
That would probably have caused serious problems if there were many Americans left in the force after the Sabine river fiasco. Might cause more tension at a higher level as going to be a lot of finger-pointing between Washington and Mexico city over who's to blame.
Love that line.
Given the speed of the advance I think it would be a seriously incompetent commander who didn't have a good idea of the size of the invading force. Especially since the force have been raided numerous times by defending forces. Mind you, given military history that's not impossible. Also by this time Armstrong especially is probably glad of the chance of a chance of battle to end the demoralising crawl and win some glory.
Opps!
Although I'm rather surprised that Britain could organise a fuses operating from such a long distance.Whatever gives him that idea.
Rather surprised that Gonzales's orders discriminated between British regulars and militia, which are after all British citizens. Pretty certain that the British won't be making that distinction.
I think he's still very much between a rock and a hard place.Steve
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Most of the raiders that have been nibbling at the edges have no contact with British high command. ATM they're doing this on their own. Gradually, there will likely be a system in place to connect the various locals, and send more, better armed guerrillas in.
Yes, it's tricky. It may be a guy with a cord on the bank, well hidden, who pulls on the cord and it sets off a detonator (of some sort). The guy is probably either a heroic volunteer - or expiating some serious crime...Opps!
I suspect other tech would be possible to do the same thing. I do know it's not trivial, before electricity...
1) the Mexicans are grasping at straws. 2) the Red Coats may well be Great British (i.e. insular British). The militia are locals. The Mexicans have a serious hope that Parliament in London (and more to the point, Joe on the streets of Liverpool) will be more concerned with English/British than with colonials. They would be right iOTL, and they're partly right iTTL.Rather surprised that Gonzales's orders discriminated between British regulars and militia, which are after all British citizens. Pretty certain that the British won't be making that distinction.
Steve
But, as is, Gonzales has managed to avoid killing ANY British of any description. One of the reasons he's happy.
Mexico keeps hoping that Britain will be occupied enough with the US that, as long as they keep their heads down, and are only reoccupying their own land (Tejas), that the Brits will be distracted enough to leave them alone. Or failing that, that the Brits will at least avoid punitive damages due to anger.
The land Mexico will lose will be more out of ... convenience than anger. I believe I've mentioned California.... Also, if any rebels manage to take over a state or two and petition for admission into the Magnificent Glory of the British Empire, why, it would be churlish to say no, wouldn't it....
Britain is going to take chunks of Mexico, but they are not going to be angry. There will be no expedition that lands and seizes Mexico city, e.g., unlike the Mexican-American war. There will be no indemnities paid to Britain (possibly to Tejas....)
The Mexicans ARE trying to finesse things, and it isn't going to work very well, but it is working some.
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Stevep convinced me that there were a few problems with the battle of the Sabine.
So I went and looked closely at the Google maps picture of the area, and redid (OK, am redoing) the battle scene entirely. Instead of it being some generic battle of a river crossing, it will actually match the landscape (good grief, who ever heard of that!?). Then I have to include (at least one of) his suggestions and make sure the existing faults aren't propagated.
This involved rather more rewriting than I intended
Anyway. Coming soon to a computer near you.... A somewhat more authentic Battle of the Sabine.
PS. The existing battle in the existing post has now been marked with red for deletion.
So I went and looked closely at the Google maps picture of the area, and redid (OK, am redoing) the battle scene entirely. Instead of it being some generic battle of a river crossing, it will actually match the landscape (good grief, who ever heard of that!?). Then I have to include (at least one of) his suggestions and make sure the existing faults aren't propagated.
This involved rather more rewriting than I intended
Anyway. Coming soon to a computer near you.... A somewhat more authentic Battle of the Sabine.
PS. The existing battle in the existing post has now been marked with red for deletion.
Dathi
Sorry to put a spanner into the works. Looking forward to seeing how things develop.
Congratulations on your commitment. I'm far too lazy nowadays to spend that amount of time on researching the facts.
Thanks
Steve
Sorry to put a spanner into the works.
Looking forward to seeing how things develop.Congratulations on your commitment. I'm far too lazy nowadays to spend that amount of time on researching the facts.
Thanks
Steve
Stevep convinced me that there were a few problems with the battle of the Sabine.
So I went and looked closely at the Google maps picture of the area, and redid (OK, am redoing) the battle scene entirely. Instead of it being some generic battle of a river crossing, it will actually match the landscape (good grief, who ever heard of that!?). Then I have to include (at least one of) his suggestions and make sure the existing faults aren't propagated.
This involved rather more rewriting than I intended
Anyway. Coming soon to a computer near you.... A somewhat more authentic Battle of the Sabine.
PS. The existing battle in the existing post has now been marked with red for deletion.
Battle of the Sabine (Tejas theatre, part 1a)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Battle of the Sabine (Tejas theatre, part 1a)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif](retcon of the battle described in part 1)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]When the US/Mexican force reach Millard [OTL Beaumont] just before the Sabine river [OTL's eastern border], they quiz locals for intelligence. It appears that the retreating Texians have decided to make a stand at the Sabine, and that they have been joined by some British troops from Louisiana, largely n****r militia. The Sabine here is also deep enough that fording isn't an option anywhere nearby, however, there IS a bridge at Orange (just ahead – on the Sabine), and if they can seize it before the British have a chance to destroy it, they should be able to cross easily.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]US and Mexican troops have to come through the town of Orange[8] to get to the bridge.[9] The view of the bridge, river and opposition is largely blocked until they get to the river's edge/port area. What they see there is an array of British troops in front of them holding this side of the bridge, groups of (mostly black) militia retreating down the road on the other side, and small number of light cavalry roaming the far side. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The troops holding the near (western) end of the bridge consist of 1k redcoats and some militia, with the militia pulling out of line and streaming across, joining the retreating militia on the other side (about 5k militia seem to be visible, total).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The British have 'obviously' made an error, because the far end of the bridge is not guarded at all. The defenders must have just realized how out matched they are, and are retreating in the face of overwhelming force. (Perhaps they had no idea what they faced until the invaders got to the other side of town, and then the militia panicked. Certainly, if the 5k militia and 1k redcoats had held this end of the bridge, they could have done some perceptible damage to the attacking force, and then they could have destroyed the bridge to prevent the attackers from getting across. Or they could make a stand on the bridge, and that would be an awful fight. Instead, they're just fleeing, which is horrible tactics. But what else could you expect from n****r militia.) [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Seeing the fleeing infantry, Armstrong thinks 'aha, we've got them now!'. If they can get across the bridge and into the 'panicking' infantry, it will be a slaughter. He calls for a brief pause, to consult with the other senior officers, to decide on strategy and order of attack. If the US can take the bridge and hold the far side, then all the invading force can cross and the invaders will outnumber the defenders massively. So, after a quick conference to decide what order the units should attack, they head in. General Gonzales 'offers the place of honour' to the US troops, saying 'be my guest, we'll be right behind you'. While Armstrong isn't sure whether this is 'honour' or 'faintheartedness', he doesn't have time to argue. The US cavalry charges the bridge, hoping to take it intact. They have decided there's no point in unlimbering their guns at the moment, as there are few good targets in sight yet, and there'd be too much danger of hitting the bridge if they tried shooting at infantry from this side. Getting the bridge intact is more important than what few infantry they could hit. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As the staff confers, the last of the militia clear the bridge, and the Redcoat line now contracts, unit by unit closing in and running down the bridge. However, at the far end they form a square, and as each new group of men makes it across the bridge, they join the square. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The final group of British redcoats played Horatius, slowly backing down the bridge, but holding it long enough for the rest of the regiment to get off the bridge and retire in good order – still in the square. The Cavalry charges them, cutting them down where they stand on the bridge. But several of the first wave of riders fall in the mêlée, shot or bayonetted by the retreating redcoats. It takes the others a couple of minutes to drag the wounded and corpses out of the way, by which time the rest of the redcoats have successfully made it off the bridge, and are retreating up the road in good order, so the sacrifice of the few was not in vain.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The US Cavalry now has its way clear. They rush across the bridge, wanting to prevent the British from changing their mind and blocking it. They reach the far side, and form a bridgehead, securing that side, as well. The rest of the US force pours across, and out over the land on the far side. Some of them chivvy along the Redcoat square, not getting suicidally close, but threatening them so they want to keep moving down the road.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Lay of the land[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]On the eastern side (far) side of the river is a large flat somewhat marshy area, with the road running inland. About 1/3 of a mile (~.5km) down the road, there is some wooded land on a bit of rise to the left of the road, and the road moves that way to get higher (and drier)[X]. To the right, at that point, is a lake. Off to the right (south), there is also land leading away from the bridge, with a bit to a wooded low hill at the river's edge starting some 300 yards/250m from the bridge. The road doesn't go that way and there are no British soldiers visible there, so it looks less interesting. While the Americans don't know it yet, they are effectively on a peninsula with the British sitting astride the neck.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Military movement.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The delay caused by the redcoat regiment – on the bridge, and then the square blocking the road (which the cavalry push, but don't get too close too) mean that the militia make it to the woods safely. The redcoats, protected in their square, make it that far, too.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As for the US cavalry, some riders stay near the bridgehead; making an expanding perimeter, while others move down the road, along and beside it, keeping pressure on the moving redcoat square; while a still others (a small group) head off to the south to scout the land there. As horsemen are still pouring across the bridge, and the artillery hasn't yet arrived, the Cavalry doesn't push the red coats too hard. They do ride past the redcoats, and as they approach the wooded rise to the left (north), get some volleys of fire from there, so they wait until the artillery is across and more of the cavalry, so they can take those skirmishers in force. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Once the Cavalry has about 2/3 of its numbers across, Armstrong signals to the far side to send the artillery[11] across – it's time to take on the British. They have more than enough men now to handle what they've seen, and the scouts that headed south report[12][13] back that the land gets very swampy past that wooded hill, and there doesn't seem to be any hostiles there, nor any good paths.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The artillery starts rolling across the bridge, followed by the remaining US Cavalry, with the Mexicans lined up behind waiting their turn. When all the guns are on the bridge, the British blow it[14], and the US artillery sinks to the bottom of the river. Almost immediately thereafter, a signal rocket fires from the top hill to the south.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The strategic situation has just changed completely. Up until the blowing of the bridge, Armstrong assumed that his job was dealing with a handful of skirmishers, a single redcoat regiment, and a bunch of panicked n****r militia. The destruction of the bridge means the British think they can take everything he has, and the signal rocket suggests that there are reinforcements coming – from somewhere. And that the US has fallen into a trap. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Without a bridge, and with their artillery at the bottom of the river, there is little the main body on the far side can do at the moment to help the isolated, surrounded mass of American cavalry. The ranking US officer on the far side tries to convince the Mexicans to swim the river and overwhelm the British, but the Mexicans refuse – claiming that the British obviously had a ace up their sleeves and that it would be better to wait and see what the best response would be[15].[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Armstrong gathers his men and prepares to charge. The British may THINK they've got the US trapped, but he leads the US CAVALRY and the jaws may not be strong enough to hold them. Meanwhile, on seeing the bridge destroyed and the signal rocket, lines of British infantry double time it from the woods to the edge of the lake, form a solid line and await the charge. Also, a thin column of smoke to the south, which the scouts had reported as a possible local village, suddenly thickens.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As the cavalry thunders down, some 'thickets' in the woods are moved, revealing a dozen naval cannon which start firing shrapnel, then cannister. Once the cavalry get in range, lines of riflemen open up. Then the militia open up with muskets, and Armstrong's hope of the militia breaking and running has been ruined. Faced with the murderous toll, he gives up and calls retreat. It would be next to suicidal to go down this road, maybe they can go around by the other hill or even retreat across the river and rejoin the Mexicans (and remnant US troops).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Cavalry turns around and retreats to the loud mocking cries of the British soldiers. They have to not only return to the river, but head south, as shrapnel carries all the way to the river. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]There they stop and take a breather, bandage the wounded, and consider their options. The scouts that had continued on found nothing but masses of swamp, no roads, few paths – and the few paths there were would disintegrate under hundreds of horsemen. Besides, they have no maps, the locals seem to have led them astray, and they have only what food and water are on their mounts – at most a day's worth. All their resupply and all the remounts are on the other side of the river. They COULD try to go on through the swamps – but they would get bogged down (literally), and they would have no clue where to go. Such paths as there are would need to be trodden by very small groups, inviting defeat in detail. So, Armstrong decides the best bet is to try swimming the river. But now the cause of the column of smoke to the south is revealed, as a RN steam frigate appears, beating up stream. A first rank of horsemen plunge into the river anyway, hoping to make it across before the warship arrives, but it fires a bow cannon with canister at them. This only wounds a few, but it scares the swimming horses, some of whom lose their riders and some change direction. Some make it back across the river, some return to the eastern bank, and some are destroyed in the water by the frigate's guns. Moreover, the frigate's broadsides make both banks very unhealthy places.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Armstrong is in a desperate quandary. He can flee to the south and then east, through the marshes, hoping somewhere to come out on the far side, which since they have no maps, little food, and horrible paths would be fraught with danger. He can brave the frigate and attempt to cross to the western bank and rejoin the Mexicans, at huge cost to his men's lives and nothing to show for it. He can hole up on the hill where he's at, and hopefully avoid both frigate's cannon and the land guns, and wait for the British to come for him. This option holds some attraction, as the British would be attacking, not defending, and they might well not have their cannon. Armstrong KNOWS the effort to move those cannon over this ground is huge, and it would take days or a week to get those cannon moved, especially with the ground torn up as it is by the cavalry charge and retreat. Still, if the British DID wait, his men would be reduced to shooting and eating their own horses, and unless they managed to destroy the British when they attacked, Armstrong and his men would still face the same options of trying to escape. The final option was to do a 'forlorn hope' style charge into the teeth of the British cannon. Maybe they're short on powder. Maybe the militia will give way at the very last minute, after all. In any case, he can't see any other way to win, or realistically, to escape. So he decides to do a 'banzai charge' (not that he would know to call it that). He does give his men the available choices, and allows those who want to try the swamp or the river to do so. They leave the wounded and the dying horses on the hill, for escape or surrender later, and the bulk of his army moves out back to the British lines between the eastern hill and the lake. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This time, the cannon started firing the moment they came within their angle of fire. (The first time they'd held off for a bit until the charge was committed.) With better gauge of the distances and angles, the cannon fire was even more murderous than last time, the horses were tired from the first effort and the ground was softer and chewed up, so the charge was slower. The cavalry came on. They came into the range of the riflemen, and the harrowing fire of riflemen winnowed the ranks further. The cavalry still came on. They came into range of the musketeers, who having practised in live fire now, and having seen the enemy flee, were steadier and faster. The brutal rain of death in lead and iron sleeted through the American ranks. And still they came on. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It didn't matter whether the horsemen aimed at the open space by the lake, down the road, at the cannon, or around the other side of the hill to the river, the relentless hail of bullets flailed them and flensed them. Finally, the cavalry wave broke and washed up against the infantry lines, where faced with bayonets, the gallant cavalry horses finally gave up and balked. Individual cavalrymen made it into the infantry lines and fought sabre to bayonet, but none made it through the British lines.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Of the almost 7000 riders who crossed the bridge, some hundreds made it back across the river, despite the frigate, and 50, no one quite knows how, pierced the swamps and bogs and circled north to cross the river where the British were not present, and rejoin the Mexicans. But the rest died or surrendered. The magnificent last ride of the 1st US Cavalry lived on in legend and in story, as a tribute to their unmatched bravery – and, as some put it, to their unmatched pigheadedness. Alfred Lord Tennyson composed his most famous poem on the subject[16], and the remark of a Louisiana colonel of militia “C'est magnifique, mais c'est pas la guerre.”[17] made it into the history books.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]General note on the composition of the US/Mexican forces. I've already commented on the artillery, and the fact that it was all US supplied. Technically, the fact that the artillery regiment was horse artillery (attached to a cavalry unit) means that it is cavalry, too, so the US force was 100% cavalry. When I wrote earlier that the US force was 'mostly' cavalry, I had in mind that the artillery wouldn't be considered cavalry, per se. The US has NO infantry in this expeditionary force.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Mexicans did have some infantry, but given the speed at which the force had been expected to move, there weren't many. And most of them were sent off to garrison the rest of Tejas (that 5k force that was split off early probably had 3-4k infantry, only 1-2k cavalry.) The intent was that dismounted cavalry could act as dragoons as necessary, and there wouldn't be any need for the fast moving spear front to contain foot-soldiers. The slower pace set by the speed their cattle can reasonably be expected travel has allowed some remaining infantry to keep up. But there was probably only 1k infantry or so in the Mexican force at the Sabine.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]General note on the British forces: The 1k redcoats and 5k militia that the invaders saw when they arrived at the bridge were only half of the available forces. There were another 5k militia already hiding in the trees down the road, together with 1k more redcoats, and about 50 seamen to handle the cannon. There were 2k Texian light horse available, but there was no need, as it happens, for light horse in the battle, and they either stayed out, available to chase any US rider who broke through the lines (not any did), or they dismounted and added to the rifle lines.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]There seems to be some confusion about the Louisiana – Tejas border, with some cause. The OTL border is the Sabine River. ITTL, the Mexicans negotiated a better deal in the equivalent of the Adams-Onis treaty, and the border is somewhat east of the Sabine, following the Red/Rojo further east before heading south. Tejas inherited that border at independence. Still, the area east of the Sabine isn't 'really' Tejas, in some people's views, and e.g. Gonzales figures that if he loses that territory, but keeps the rest of Tejas, he can spin that as (almost) total victory. Hence the comment about it being 'arguably' the border.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8 iOTLOrange was called various things. Green's Bluff, Huntley, Madison (during Madison's 2nd term, so war of 1812!?). “The city of Orange, Texas, officially came into existence in 1836, the year Texas won its independence from Mexico.” from http://www.orangetexas.net/getdoc/a1ad6768-a7ae-421d-add7-bc9aaa98a6fc/Orange-History.aspx . Also, “Because of the native orange groves that attracted the attention of boatmen as they navigated the Sabine River, the city was renamed to Orange.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Obviously, these aren't actually native, as oranges aren't native to North America, but presumably sowed by 'Juanito Semilla-de-Naranja'<g>. Still, I'd guess the trees date from before the PoD, and thus form a good name for the town. So it's still 'Orange' iTTL.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]9 if you want to look at Google maps, to see the location, use location “30.092848,-93.724176”. (That's actually in the middle of the river.) This is where old US Route 90 came and presumably crossed the river, although that bridge is now gone. Given that Route 90 came here, I assume that it is the best place for a road east anywhere in the vicinity. Not that ANY place near is GOOD. Looking at the Google images, it looks like the east bank of the Sabine is really wet and marshy for the entire area. On point in favour of this crossing point is that the river is perceptibly narrower here than some other points nearby.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I have no clue whether there was a bridge there at that time in OTL. If necessary, it may have been a pontoon bridge recently constructed by the British to support the defence. (And, as it happens, to encourage an attack.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]X we had a footnote 10 after the retconned section, which is still valid. So here the footnote between 9 and 11 is Roman numeral 'X'. The road iTTL moves left (north) to higher and drier ground. Old Route 90 stays straight, low and flat. So the fact that the description in the text here doesn't match what you may see on Google is a change in the road location, not an error.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]11 There was a question about Mexican artillery. The artillery in this expeditionary force entirely American. Because of the speed at which they were (supposed) to travel, there is no way that regular artillery can keep up, so it is all horse artillery. Now, the Mexicans disbanded their horse artillery around 1833 (as OTL)[18], and while they had started to try to reconstitute the unit, their horses were too light, their guns too heavy, and it was just easier to simply use the US force. Of course, some of the acerbic comments the Americans made didn't make the Mexicans any happier...[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]12 The report is brought back by a single scout. The rest continue on, some exploring the land beyond that hill to the south, others checking its slopes.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]13 my guesstimate is it takes about 20 minutes for the 7k cavalry to cross the bridge, this is enough time for some scouts to ride far enough south to see the lay of the land, return and report, but not anything like enough for an exhaustive exploration.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Ballpark calculations follow: Assume they trot across the bridge at 11 mph, which is 18km/h or 5 m/s. If the ranks of riders are 3 m (10 feet) apart that's 5/3 ranks/s. If bridge holds 3 riders abreast, that's 5 men/second, 300 men/minute, 3k in 10 minutes, 6k in 20. They could be moving faster, but it's going to be on the order of 20 minutes +/-.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]14 Timing of the blowing up of the bridge. [/FONT]Yes, it's tricky. [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]My initial thought, was that i[/FONT]t may be a guy with a cord on the bank, well hidden, who pulls on the cord and it sets off a detonator (of some sort). The guy is probably either a heroic volunteer - or expiating some serious crime... It's certainly non-trivial before electric ignition. However,[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] electrical detonation is (just) possible. OTL Colt (of Colt revolvers fame) invented a remotely activated mine using waterproofed wires in this time-frame. Obviously, we'd have to have a British inventor come up with it, or the idea be stolen from whoever invents it iTTL (which won't likely be Colt). [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In any case, whether it's electric or a guy pulling on a cord, the remote control is possible.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]15 Many of the Mexicans could have crossed, as the far side is currently controlled by the US forces. Whether it would have made any difference in the ultimate outcome can be argued, and has been by generations of historians. However, whether one wants to wants to use the words “foresighted” (as in his own report) or “excessively cautious” (as the US report) to describe Gonzales' (in)actions, they certainly ended up saving Mexican thousands of casualties that day.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]16 cf Charge of the Light Brigade[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]17 OTL this quote (with correct grammar) was said by [/FONT]French Marshal Pierre Bosquet, again concerning the Charge of the Light Brigade.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]--[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]18 http://books.google.com/books?id=YImnue0ORwAC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=horse+artillery+mexico&source=bl&ots=oAn4wtPY1u&sig=2V_hUtxQdM9D456zQCn1SqP7jHA&hl=en&ei=JHCeS8H1FML78Aby5-S7Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CBsQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=horse%20artillery%20mexico&f=false[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]for Mexican artillery. Disbanded OTL in 1833; reconstituted later, but not effective in Mexican-American war, as their horses were too light, the guns were pulled by contractors (not soldiers) with oxen.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_artillery[/FONT]
“By 1795 it had grown to eight regiments of six six-gun batteries each, making it the largest horse artillery force ever assembled.[1]” (referring to French revolutionary horse artillery).
“[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Horse artillery units generally used lighter pieces, pulled by six horses. 9-pounders were pulled by eight horses, and heavier artillery pieces needed a team of twelve. With the individual riding horses required for officers, surgeons and other support staff, as well as those pulling the artillery guns and supply wagons, an artillery battery of six guns could require 160 to 200 horses.[2] Horse artillery usually came under the command of cavalry divisions, but in some battles, such as Waterloo, horse artillery was used as a rapid response force, repulsing attacks and assisting the infantry.[3] Agility was important; the ideal artillery horse was 15 to 16 hands high, strongly built, but able to move quickly.[4] “[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Battle of the Sabine (Tejas theatre, part 1a)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif](retcon of the battle described in part 1)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]When the US/Mexican force reach Millard [OTL Beaumont] just before the Sabine river [OTL's eastern border], they quiz locals for intelligence. It appears that the retreating Texians have decided to make a stand at the Sabine, and that they have been joined by some British troops from Louisiana, largely n****r militia. The Sabine here is also deep enough that fording isn't an option anywhere nearby, however, there IS a bridge at Orange (just ahead – on the Sabine), and if they can seize it before the British have a chance to destroy it, they should be able to cross easily.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]US and Mexican troops have to come through the town of Orange[8] to get to the bridge.[9] The view of the bridge, river and opposition is largely blocked until they get to the river's edge/port area. What they see there is an array of British troops in front of them holding this side of the bridge, groups of (mostly black) militia retreating down the road on the other side, and small number of light cavalry roaming the far side. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The troops holding the near (western) end of the bridge consist of 1k redcoats and some militia, with the militia pulling out of line and streaming across, joining the retreating militia on the other side (about 5k militia seem to be visible, total).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The British have 'obviously' made an error, because the far end of the bridge is not guarded at all. The defenders must have just realized how out matched they are, and are retreating in the face of overwhelming force. (Perhaps they had no idea what they faced until the invaders got to the other side of town, and then the militia panicked. Certainly, if the 5k militia and 1k redcoats had held this end of the bridge, they could have done some perceptible damage to the attacking force, and then they could have destroyed the bridge to prevent the attackers from getting across. Or they could make a stand on the bridge, and that would be an awful fight. Instead, they're just fleeing, which is horrible tactics. But what else could you expect from n****r militia.) [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Seeing the fleeing infantry, Armstrong thinks 'aha, we've got them now!'. If they can get across the bridge and into the 'panicking' infantry, it will be a slaughter. He calls for a brief pause, to consult with the other senior officers, to decide on strategy and order of attack. If the US can take the bridge and hold the far side, then all the invading force can cross and the invaders will outnumber the defenders massively. So, after a quick conference to decide what order the units should attack, they head in. General Gonzales 'offers the place of honour' to the US troops, saying 'be my guest, we'll be right behind you'. While Armstrong isn't sure whether this is 'honour' or 'faintheartedness', he doesn't have time to argue. The US cavalry charges the bridge, hoping to take it intact. They have decided there's no point in unlimbering their guns at the moment, as there are few good targets in sight yet, and there'd be too much danger of hitting the bridge if they tried shooting at infantry from this side. Getting the bridge intact is more important than what few infantry they could hit. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As the staff confers, the last of the militia clear the bridge, and the Redcoat line now contracts, unit by unit closing in and running down the bridge. However, at the far end they form a square, and as each new group of men makes it across the bridge, they join the square. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The final group of British redcoats played Horatius, slowly backing down the bridge, but holding it long enough for the rest of the regiment to get off the bridge and retire in good order – still in the square. The Cavalry charges them, cutting them down where they stand on the bridge. But several of the first wave of riders fall in the mêlée, shot or bayonetted by the retreating redcoats. It takes the others a couple of minutes to drag the wounded and corpses out of the way, by which time the rest of the redcoats have successfully made it off the bridge, and are retreating up the road in good order, so the sacrifice of the few was not in vain.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The US Cavalry now has its way clear. They rush across the bridge, wanting to prevent the British from changing their mind and blocking it. They reach the far side, and form a bridgehead, securing that side, as well. The rest of the US force pours across, and out over the land on the far side. Some of them chivvy along the Redcoat square, not getting suicidally close, but threatening them so they want to keep moving down the road.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Lay of the land[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]On the eastern side (far) side of the river is a large flat somewhat marshy area, with the road running inland. About 1/3 of a mile (~.5km) down the road, there is some wooded land on a bit of rise to the left of the road, and the road moves that way to get higher (and drier)[X]. To the right, at that point, is a lake. Off to the right (south), there is also land leading away from the bridge, with a bit to a wooded low hill at the river's edge starting some 300 yards/250m from the bridge. The road doesn't go that way and there are no British soldiers visible there, so it looks less interesting. While the Americans don't know it yet, they are effectively on a peninsula with the British sitting astride the neck.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Military movement.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The delay caused by the redcoat regiment – on the bridge, and then the square blocking the road (which the cavalry push, but don't get too close too) mean that the militia make it to the woods safely. The redcoats, protected in their square, make it that far, too.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As for the US cavalry, some riders stay near the bridgehead; making an expanding perimeter, while others move down the road, along and beside it, keeping pressure on the moving redcoat square; while a still others (a small group) head off to the south to scout the land there. As horsemen are still pouring across the bridge, and the artillery hasn't yet arrived, the Cavalry doesn't push the red coats too hard. They do ride past the redcoats, and as they approach the wooded rise to the left (north), get some volleys of fire from there, so they wait until the artillery is across and more of the cavalry, so they can take those skirmishers in force. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Once the Cavalry has about 2/3 of its numbers across, Armstrong signals to the far side to send the artillery[11] across – it's time to take on the British. They have more than enough men now to handle what they've seen, and the scouts that headed south report[12][13] back that the land gets very swampy past that wooded hill, and there doesn't seem to be any hostiles there, nor any good paths.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The artillery starts rolling across the bridge, followed by the remaining US Cavalry, with the Mexicans lined up behind waiting their turn. When all the guns are on the bridge, the British blow it[14], and the US artillery sinks to the bottom of the river. Almost immediately thereafter, a signal rocket fires from the top hill to the south.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The strategic situation has just changed completely. Up until the blowing of the bridge, Armstrong assumed that his job was dealing with a handful of skirmishers, a single redcoat regiment, and a bunch of panicked n****r militia. The destruction of the bridge means the British think they can take everything he has, and the signal rocket suggests that there are reinforcements coming – from somewhere. And that the US has fallen into a trap. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Without a bridge, and with their artillery at the bottom of the river, there is little the main body on the far side can do at the moment to help the isolated, surrounded mass of American cavalry. The ranking US officer on the far side tries to convince the Mexicans to swim the river and overwhelm the British, but the Mexicans refuse – claiming that the British obviously had a ace up their sleeves and that it would be better to wait and see what the best response would be[15].[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Armstrong gathers his men and prepares to charge. The British may THINK they've got the US trapped, but he leads the US CAVALRY and the jaws may not be strong enough to hold them. Meanwhile, on seeing the bridge destroyed and the signal rocket, lines of British infantry double time it from the woods to the edge of the lake, form a solid line and await the charge. Also, a thin column of smoke to the south, which the scouts had reported as a possible local village, suddenly thickens.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As the cavalry thunders down, some 'thickets' in the woods are moved, revealing a dozen naval cannon which start firing shrapnel, then cannister. Once the cavalry get in range, lines of riflemen open up. Then the militia open up with muskets, and Armstrong's hope of the militia breaking and running has been ruined. Faced with the murderous toll, he gives up and calls retreat. It would be next to suicidal to go down this road, maybe they can go around by the other hill or even retreat across the river and rejoin the Mexicans (and remnant US troops).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Cavalry turns around and retreats to the loud mocking cries of the British soldiers. They have to not only return to the river, but head south, as shrapnel carries all the way to the river. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]There they stop and take a breather, bandage the wounded, and consider their options. The scouts that had continued on found nothing but masses of swamp, no roads, few paths – and the few paths there were would disintegrate under hundreds of horsemen. Besides, they have no maps, the locals seem to have led them astray, and they have only what food and water are on their mounts – at most a day's worth. All their resupply and all the remounts are on the other side of the river. They COULD try to go on through the swamps – but they would get bogged down (literally), and they would have no clue where to go. Such paths as there are would need to be trodden by very small groups, inviting defeat in detail. So, Armstrong decides the best bet is to try swimming the river. But now the cause of the column of smoke to the south is revealed, as a RN steam frigate appears, beating up stream. A first rank of horsemen plunge into the river anyway, hoping to make it across before the warship arrives, but it fires a bow cannon with canister at them. This only wounds a few, but it scares the swimming horses, some of whom lose their riders and some change direction. Some make it back across the river, some return to the eastern bank, and some are destroyed in the water by the frigate's guns. Moreover, the frigate's broadsides make both banks very unhealthy places.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Armstrong is in a desperate quandary. He can flee to the south and then east, through the marshes, hoping somewhere to come out on the far side, which since they have no maps, little food, and horrible paths would be fraught with danger. He can brave the frigate and attempt to cross to the western bank and rejoin the Mexicans, at huge cost to his men's lives and nothing to show for it. He can hole up on the hill where he's at, and hopefully avoid both frigate's cannon and the land guns, and wait for the British to come for him. This option holds some attraction, as the British would be attacking, not defending, and they might well not have their cannon. Armstrong KNOWS the effort to move those cannon over this ground is huge, and it would take days or a week to get those cannon moved, especially with the ground torn up as it is by the cavalry charge and retreat. Still, if the British DID wait, his men would be reduced to shooting and eating their own horses, and unless they managed to destroy the British when they attacked, Armstrong and his men would still face the same options of trying to escape. The final option was to do a 'forlorn hope' style charge into the teeth of the British cannon. Maybe they're short on powder. Maybe the militia will give way at the very last minute, after all. In any case, he can't see any other way to win, or realistically, to escape. So he decides to do a 'banzai charge' (not that he would know to call it that). He does give his men the available choices, and allows those who want to try the swamp or the river to do so. They leave the wounded and the dying horses on the hill, for escape or surrender later, and the bulk of his army moves out back to the British lines between the eastern hill and the lake. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This time, the cannon started firing the moment they came within their angle of fire. (The first time they'd held off for a bit until the charge was committed.) With better gauge of the distances and angles, the cannon fire was even more murderous than last time, the horses were tired from the first effort and the ground was softer and chewed up, so the charge was slower. The cavalry came on. They came into the range of the riflemen, and the harrowing fire of riflemen winnowed the ranks further. The cavalry still came on. They came into range of the musketeers, who having practised in live fire now, and having seen the enemy flee, were steadier and faster. The brutal rain of death in lead and iron sleeted through the American ranks. And still they came on. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It didn't matter whether the horsemen aimed at the open space by the lake, down the road, at the cannon, or around the other side of the hill to the river, the relentless hail of bullets flailed them and flensed them. Finally, the cavalry wave broke and washed up against the infantry lines, where faced with bayonets, the gallant cavalry horses finally gave up and balked. Individual cavalrymen made it into the infantry lines and fought sabre to bayonet, but none made it through the British lines.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Of the almost 7000 riders who crossed the bridge, some hundreds made it back across the river, despite the frigate, and 50, no one quite knows how, pierced the swamps and bogs and circled north to cross the river where the British were not present, and rejoin the Mexicans. But the rest died or surrendered. The magnificent last ride of the 1st US Cavalry lived on in legend and in story, as a tribute to their unmatched bravery – and, as some put it, to their unmatched pigheadedness. Alfred Lord Tennyson composed his most famous poem on the subject[16], and the remark of a Louisiana colonel of militia “C'est magnifique, mais c'est pas la guerre.”[17] made it into the history books.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]General note on the composition of the US/Mexican forces. I've already commented on the artillery, and the fact that it was all US supplied. Technically, the fact that the artillery regiment was horse artillery (attached to a cavalry unit) means that it is cavalry, too, so the US force was 100% cavalry. When I wrote earlier that the US force was 'mostly' cavalry, I had in mind that the artillery wouldn't be considered cavalry, per se. The US has NO infantry in this expeditionary force.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Mexicans did have some infantry, but given the speed at which the force had been expected to move, there weren't many. And most of them were sent off to garrison the rest of Tejas (that 5k force that was split off early probably had 3-4k infantry, only 1-2k cavalry.) The intent was that dismounted cavalry could act as dragoons as necessary, and there wouldn't be any need for the fast moving spear front to contain foot-soldiers. The slower pace set by the speed their cattle can reasonably be expected travel has allowed some remaining infantry to keep up. But there was probably only 1k infantry or so in the Mexican force at the Sabine.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]General note on the British forces: The 1k redcoats and 5k militia that the invaders saw when they arrived at the bridge were only half of the available forces. There were another 5k militia already hiding in the trees down the road, together with 1k more redcoats, and about 50 seamen to handle the cannon. There were 2k Texian light horse available, but there was no need, as it happens, for light horse in the battle, and they either stayed out, available to chase any US rider who broke through the lines (not any did), or they dismounted and added to the rifle lines.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]There seems to be some confusion about the Louisiana – Tejas border, with some cause. The OTL border is the Sabine River. ITTL, the Mexicans negotiated a better deal in the equivalent of the Adams-Onis treaty, and the border is somewhat east of the Sabine, following the Red/Rojo further east before heading south. Tejas inherited that border at independence. Still, the area east of the Sabine isn't 'really' Tejas, in some people's views, and e.g. Gonzales figures that if he loses that territory, but keeps the rest of Tejas, he can spin that as (almost) total victory. Hence the comment about it being 'arguably' the border.[/FONT]
–
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8 iOTLOrange was called various things. Green's Bluff, Huntley, Madison (during Madison's 2nd term, so war of 1812!?). “The city of Orange, Texas, officially came into existence in 1836, the year Texas won its independence from Mexico.” from http://www.orangetexas.net/getdoc/a1ad6768-a7ae-421d-add7-bc9aaa98a6fc/Orange-History.aspx . Also, “Because of the native orange groves that attracted the attention of boatmen as they navigated the Sabine River, the city was renamed to Orange.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Obviously, these aren't actually native, as oranges aren't native to North America, but presumably sowed by 'Juanito Semilla-de-Naranja'<g>. Still, I'd guess the trees date from before the PoD, and thus form a good name for the town. So it's still 'Orange' iTTL.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]9 if you want to look at Google maps, to see the location, use location “30.092848,-93.724176”. (That's actually in the middle of the river.) This is where old US Route 90 came and presumably crossed the river, although that bridge is now gone. Given that Route 90 came here, I assume that it is the best place for a road east anywhere in the vicinity. Not that ANY place near is GOOD. Looking at the Google images, it looks like the east bank of the Sabine is really wet and marshy for the entire area. On point in favour of this crossing point is that the river is perceptibly narrower here than some other points nearby.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I have no clue whether there was a bridge there at that time in OTL. If necessary, it may have been a pontoon bridge recently constructed by the British to support the defence. (And, as it happens, to encourage an attack.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]X we had a footnote 10 after the retconned section, which is still valid. So here the footnote between 9 and 11 is Roman numeral 'X'. The road iTTL moves left (north) to higher and drier ground. Old Route 90 stays straight, low and flat. So the fact that the description in the text here doesn't match what you may see on Google is a change in the road location, not an error.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]11 There was a question about Mexican artillery. The artillery in this expeditionary force entirely American. Because of the speed at which they were (supposed) to travel, there is no way that regular artillery can keep up, so it is all horse artillery. Now, the Mexicans disbanded their horse artillery around 1833 (as OTL)[18], and while they had started to try to reconstitute the unit, their horses were too light, their guns too heavy, and it was just easier to simply use the US force. Of course, some of the acerbic comments the Americans made didn't make the Mexicans any happier...[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]12 The report is brought back by a single scout. The rest continue on, some exploring the land beyond that hill to the south, others checking its slopes.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]13 my guesstimate is it takes about 20 minutes for the 7k cavalry to cross the bridge, this is enough time for some scouts to ride far enough south to see the lay of the land, return and report, but not anything like enough for an exhaustive exploration.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Ballpark calculations follow: Assume they trot across the bridge at 11 mph, which is 18km/h or 5 m/s. If the ranks of riders are 3 m (10 feet) apart that's 5/3 ranks/s. If bridge holds 3 riders abreast, that's 5 men/second, 300 men/minute, 3k in 10 minutes, 6k in 20. They could be moving faster, but it's going to be on the order of 20 minutes +/-.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]14 Timing of the blowing up of the bridge. [/FONT]Yes, it's tricky. [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]My initial thought, was that i[/FONT]t may be a guy with a cord on the bank, well hidden, who pulls on the cord and it sets off a detonator (of some sort). The guy is probably either a heroic volunteer - or expiating some serious crime... It's certainly non-trivial before electric ignition. However,[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] electrical detonation is (just) possible. OTL Colt (of Colt revolvers fame) invented a remotely activated mine using waterproofed wires in this time-frame. Obviously, we'd have to have a British inventor come up with it, or the idea be stolen from whoever invents it iTTL (which won't likely be Colt). [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In any case, whether it's electric or a guy pulling on a cord, the remote control is possible.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]15 Many of the Mexicans could have crossed, as the far side is currently controlled by the US forces. Whether it would have made any difference in the ultimate outcome can be argued, and has been by generations of historians. However, whether one wants to wants to use the words “foresighted” (as in his own report) or “excessively cautious” (as the US report) to describe Gonzales' (in)actions, they certainly ended up saving Mexican thousands of casualties that day.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]16 cf Charge of the Light Brigade[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]17 OTL this quote (with correct grammar) was said by [/FONT]French Marshal Pierre Bosquet, again concerning the Charge of the Light Brigade.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]--[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]18 http://books.google.com/books?id=YImnue0ORwAC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=horse+artillery+mexico&source=bl&ots=oAn4wtPY1u&sig=2V_hUtxQdM9D456zQCn1SqP7jHA&hl=en&ei=JHCeS8H1FML78Aby5-S7Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CBsQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=horse%20artillery%20mexico&f=false[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]for Mexican artillery. Disbanded OTL in 1833; reconstituted later, but not effective in Mexican-American war, as their horses were too light, the guns were pulled by contractors (not soldiers) with oxen.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_artillery[/FONT]
“By 1795 it had grown to eight regiments of six six-gun batteries each, making it the largest horse artillery force ever assembled.[1]” (referring to French revolutionary horse artillery).
“[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Horse artillery units generally used lighter pieces, pulled by six horses. 9-pounders were pulled by eight horses, and heavier artillery pieces needed a team of twelve. With the individual riding horses required for officers, surgeons and other support staff, as well as those pulling the artillery guns and supply wagons, an artillery battery of six guns could require 160 to 200 horses.[2] Horse artillery usually came under the command of cavalry divisions, but in some battles, such as Waterloo, horse artillery was used as a rapid response force, repulsing attacks and assisting the infantry.[3] Agility was important; the ideal artillery horse was 15 to 16 hands high, strongly built, but able to move quickly.[4] “[/FONT]
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