ACW roundrobin

In the dying days of OTL, I posted an AH that started with some run away slaves warning Grant that the Confederate Army was approaching his camp at Pittsburgh Landing. So the general orders his troops to dig in and prepare for the attack. The Confederate forces are destroyed at the Battle of Shiloh. Unfortunately that TL never saw the light of day. Now my RL is much busier, so I thought I would delegate the rest of the war to all of y´ all. So what happens next?
 
I dont' know much about the intriccies of the Civil War, as far as what other genreals were what, but I recall the major ones, and I remember this was a very pyrrhic victory, if that, for the Union as it was; probably more like a bloody draw.

A bigger victory makes Grant more celebrated, and he probably advances the army further south after this. Lincoln later said of him, "I cannot spare that man; he fights." I don't think they can get as far as Vicksburg till late summer, but it will definitely embolden the U.S., to the point where the Emancipation Proclamation comes a few months early.

However, McClellan is going to be seen as the anti-Grant even more this time, as he loses the momentum he had going toward Richmond a couple months later. I foresee Lincoln dumping McLellan in favor of Grant in early July, letting someone else take over the Western army (Pope may be kept out West). That gives them the chance to have a Vicksburg siege by September or so, as the CSA focuses on the East more.

However, would they then send Jackson, who has proven himself to be very effective, to the West? I'm nto sure.

I'll leave that for the next one. Right nwo, I'll just say that Grant's aggressiveness will cause him to try andregain the advance against Lee's army. Now blunted, the invasion of Maryland is probably put off, and instead, there is a period sort of like the mid-1864 period of the ACW, only this being in July and August of 1862.

And, the Emancipation Proclamation is issued and takes effect the day the Constution was signed 75 years earlier, as a symbolic date.

Now, those who are much better versed can go into the intracacies and decide whether this even works.
 
I dont' know much about the intriccies of the Civil War, as far as what other genreals were what, but I recall the major ones, and I remember this was a very pyrrhic victory, if that, for the Union as it was; probably more like a bloody draw.

Grant got some of the credit for the victory at Shiloh, but more of the credit went to his superior, General Henry Halleck. Halleck ended up replacing McClellan as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Later in the war Grant replaced Halleck in that position.

With a bigger victory at Shiloh, the difference between a prepared, tough, victorious Western Theater and the total lack of offensive effort from McClellan will be even more striking.
 
I can't really see Shiloh going totally for the Union. No one liked digging trenches at this stage of the war (we didn't even have Granny "King of Spades" Lee yet), so I doubt Grant's orders will be carried out in their fullest. Neither is the technology the best yet. Recall also that most of the troops on both sides are still quite green, the main exceptions being Grant's force from Fort Donelson and one of Johnson's corps. It is not a guarentee that prepared entrenchments will help green troops significantly.

Also, A. S. Johnson was a very good commander. If the Union army did entrench to any great degree he would know before the attack started. There is not overly-much he could do about it, except have his relatively few cannons going before the assault. Timed right, the Confederates would still have the element of surprise.

Due to these factors probably the battle will proceed similarly to OTL. There will be a few less Union casualties although not necessarily more Confederate. Also, the ensuing butterflies may leave Johnson alive at the end. That would be amusing - have him lose Shiloh more than in OTL but win the war by what follows.
 
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