Japhy
Banned
Following the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge in the fall of 1863, the Confederate Commander of the forces at those two battles, Braxton Bragg requested that he be relived of his command. The Confederate leadership agreed to this and temporarily handed command of the Army of Tennessee to William J Hardee who in turn refused to accept the command permanently.
In Virginia Confederate President Jefferson Davis consulted with Generals Samuel Cooper, and Robert E Lee, and his Cabinet over the options available. Bragg could not be returned to command and several prominant officers who could have been canidates were excluded due to other services (Such as Samuel Cooper, RE Lee and Edmund Kirby Smith) Thus, the two leading choices for the post were thus Generals Joseph Johnson and Pierre Beauregard.
Both men were disliked personally by President Davis, but were more-or-less available. Johnson was leading a scratch force "Army of the Mississippi" which had recently failed to break the siege at Vicksburg, and Beauregard was in command of the forces that had been defending Charleston Harbor from its blockade and various descents by Union Forces. Beauregard had the support initially of Secretary of War James Seddon and General Samuel Cooper, but Davis' intense dislike for "The Little Napoleon" would not allow him to approve the command, and after several days of deadlock would cause him to turn to his other option, General Joseph Johnson with whom he felt slightly less disdain for. Johnson would go on to command the Army of the Tennessee throughout the Atlanta campaign, slowly trading ground for time, and working to block Sherman's armys until he was replaced by General John Bell Hood due to his failure to stop the Union Armies and his disagreements with the President.
So... What happens if Davis is convinced to go with the other candidate he despised? Beauregard was prone to draw up grand plans and daring operations as well as work to have a flair of the dramatic about him, but against Sherman's mighty forces can these work? Or will he be bound to follow the same course of action that Johnson did, and face his own headbutting with his President?
In Virginia Confederate President Jefferson Davis consulted with Generals Samuel Cooper, and Robert E Lee, and his Cabinet over the options available. Bragg could not be returned to command and several prominant officers who could have been canidates were excluded due to other services (Such as Samuel Cooper, RE Lee and Edmund Kirby Smith) Thus, the two leading choices for the post were thus Generals Joseph Johnson and Pierre Beauregard.
Both men were disliked personally by President Davis, but were more-or-less available. Johnson was leading a scratch force "Army of the Mississippi" which had recently failed to break the siege at Vicksburg, and Beauregard was in command of the forces that had been defending Charleston Harbor from its blockade and various descents by Union Forces. Beauregard had the support initially of Secretary of War James Seddon and General Samuel Cooper, but Davis' intense dislike for "The Little Napoleon" would not allow him to approve the command, and after several days of deadlock would cause him to turn to his other option, General Joseph Johnson with whom he felt slightly less disdain for. Johnson would go on to command the Army of the Tennessee throughout the Atlanta campaign, slowly trading ground for time, and working to block Sherman's armys until he was replaced by General John Bell Hood due to his failure to stop the Union Armies and his disagreements with the President.
So... What happens if Davis is convinced to go with the other candidate he despised? Beauregard was prone to draw up grand plans and daring operations as well as work to have a flair of the dramatic about him, but against Sherman's mighty forces can these work? Or will he be bound to follow the same course of action that Johnson did, and face his own headbutting with his President?