If they will not meet us on the open sea (a Trent TL)
- Thread starter Saphroneth
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28 June 1862
Saphroneth
Banned
28 June
J.E.B. Stuart sets off from Leesville. In order to fool any Union spies, the formation had been undergoing preparations for a strategic move west - Stuart did not know his own instructions until he opened them yesterday. Fortunately, as the move was to involve travel off the railroads, the Cavalry Division is well prepared for their planned operations - a move north to threaten McClellan's eastern flank.
The Cavalry Division crosses the Potomac at Point of Rocks at 10:30 AM. Riding at a fast trot (possible because there are very few Union infantry in the way) they pass through Frederick and continue north. At one point Stuart encounters a (depleted) Federal regiment, which delays him for half an hour before he can set up a rifle base of fire and charge home with the rest (causing him about two hundred casualties counting wounded, but scattering the Federal regiment and causing them to flee north).
The news flashes ahead of Stuart on the telegraph, reaching McClellan around 1 PM - whose first response is shock, then relief he has not expended his reserve, then a kind of fatalism as he begins planning how he will react.
The first priority is to send his reserve north to Chambersburg - the loss of his supply depot would inevitably lead to the loss of the whole army, and McClellan considers preventing this unmitigated disaster to be a matter of overriding importance. Once this is done, however, he will need to disengage his entire army and send it north - five thousand (ten thousand? Fifteen?) Confederate cavalry on his line of communication, cutting the railroad from Pittsburgh (his only remaining rail supply line) and all the good roads would be almost as big a problem, and to keep his supply lines open he needs to relocate to where he can operate against Confederate attackers.
By 3 PM, the reserve division is marching north. McClellan hopes they can reach Chambersburg while there is still daylight, though worries about the ability of tired troops to defend the supply depot, and turns his attention to the matter of moving the rest of the army.
Before his plans are well advanced, however, Lee begins an attack - his rifles working forwards to deliver covering fire, and a division under Holmes launching an assault with the bayonet. They are turned back, the volleys of that wing of the Army of the Potomac sufficing to prevent the assaulting division from reaching their goal, but McClellan finds himself with a difficult problem indeed to solve - if he pulls out, Lee will pursue him closely, and only by abandoning his artillery can he move too fast to pursue (but replacement artillery is simply not available) whereas if he holds in position then the cavalry force (already seeming to loom larger and larger in his assessments, as scattered reports come in of the Confederate cavalry overwhelming all before them - mainly because most of the troops which should be in their way are in the embrasures here, in reality) will cut him off and force his surrender.
As such, McClellan makes the difficult decision to leave a rearguard. He has the drovers (who are not armed, as he has insufficient rifles or muskets) help to set up hasty fallback positions, and at 5 PM issues a series of orders - the upshot of which is that the wings under McDowell and Keyes will march north, followed by Heintzelman's III Corps, and that Sumner's II Corps will cover their retreat.
There is logistical chaos, and McClellan decides to leave the execution of his orders to the following day - attempting to pull out of defensive positions and march by night seems to be asking for trouble.
The reserve division reaches Chambersburg as the sun goes down, and Porter (in charge of the reserves) belatedly realizes that the real danger is further north still, in Carlisle - the northern end of this section of the valley. He sends riders back to McClellan and continues marching north, his force diminished by a brigade left in Chambersburg to protect the supply depot.
Things in the Valley are quickly falling under the fog-of-war, with nobody (including Stuart) entirely sure what all the parts of their armies are doing. One thing that is clear, however, is that the campaign has taken on something of the character of a race towards Harrisburg.
J.E.B. Stuart sets off from Leesville. In order to fool any Union spies, the formation had been undergoing preparations for a strategic move west - Stuart did not know his own instructions until he opened them yesterday. Fortunately, as the move was to involve travel off the railroads, the Cavalry Division is well prepared for their planned operations - a move north to threaten McClellan's eastern flank.
The Cavalry Division crosses the Potomac at Point of Rocks at 10:30 AM. Riding at a fast trot (possible because there are very few Union infantry in the way) they pass through Frederick and continue north. At one point Stuart encounters a (depleted) Federal regiment, which delays him for half an hour before he can set up a rifle base of fire and charge home with the rest (causing him about two hundred casualties counting wounded, but scattering the Federal regiment and causing them to flee north).
The news flashes ahead of Stuart on the telegraph, reaching McClellan around 1 PM - whose first response is shock, then relief he has not expended his reserve, then a kind of fatalism as he begins planning how he will react.
The first priority is to send his reserve north to Chambersburg - the loss of his supply depot would inevitably lead to the loss of the whole army, and McClellan considers preventing this unmitigated disaster to be a matter of overriding importance. Once this is done, however, he will need to disengage his entire army and send it north - five thousand (ten thousand? Fifteen?) Confederate cavalry on his line of communication, cutting the railroad from Pittsburgh (his only remaining rail supply line) and all the good roads would be almost as big a problem, and to keep his supply lines open he needs to relocate to where he can operate against Confederate attackers.
By 3 PM, the reserve division is marching north. McClellan hopes they can reach Chambersburg while there is still daylight, though worries about the ability of tired troops to defend the supply depot, and turns his attention to the matter of moving the rest of the army.
Before his plans are well advanced, however, Lee begins an attack - his rifles working forwards to deliver covering fire, and a division under Holmes launching an assault with the bayonet. They are turned back, the volleys of that wing of the Army of the Potomac sufficing to prevent the assaulting division from reaching their goal, but McClellan finds himself with a difficult problem indeed to solve - if he pulls out, Lee will pursue him closely, and only by abandoning his artillery can he move too fast to pursue (but replacement artillery is simply not available) whereas if he holds in position then the cavalry force (already seeming to loom larger and larger in his assessments, as scattered reports come in of the Confederate cavalry overwhelming all before them - mainly because most of the troops which should be in their way are in the embrasures here, in reality) will cut him off and force his surrender.
As such, McClellan makes the difficult decision to leave a rearguard. He has the drovers (who are not armed, as he has insufficient rifles or muskets) help to set up hasty fallback positions, and at 5 PM issues a series of orders - the upshot of which is that the wings under McDowell and Keyes will march north, followed by Heintzelman's III Corps, and that Sumner's II Corps will cover their retreat.
There is logistical chaos, and McClellan decides to leave the execution of his orders to the following day - attempting to pull out of defensive positions and march by night seems to be asking for trouble.
The reserve division reaches Chambersburg as the sun goes down, and Porter (in charge of the reserves) belatedly realizes that the real danger is further north still, in Carlisle - the northern end of this section of the valley. He sends riders back to McClellan and continues marching north, his force diminished by a brigade left in Chambersburg to protect the supply depot.
Things in the Valley are quickly falling under the fog-of-war, with nobody (including Stuart) entirely sure what all the parts of their armies are doing. One thing that is clear, however, is that the campaign has taken on something of the character of a race towards Harrisburg.
Saphroneth
Banned
Something I'm going for here is basically that Lee is being Lee (brilliant, eccentric flanking move) and McClellan is being McClellan (going "oh f*ck" and then reacting according to the worst case scenario).
And that everything is going completely banana-shaped for everyone.
And that everything is going completely banana-shaped for everyone.
???
US production had to have been high enough that that's a drop in the bucket. Yes, trying to make the millions of rifles they needed was beyond their capability, but single digit thousands? That's the kind of rate Eli Whitney was getting in about 1810.
Saphroneth
Banned
All their OTL rifles from Springfield were made with British imported iron, and many non government ones used British barrels. 4,000 in one go is very roughly three months of non Government production, and is pretty significant.
Better numbers to follow when not on train.
To be fair, 4 thousand rifles is several regiments equipped now that weren't before. Whichever state they landed in can now arm 4,000 more men to send to the front.
Even if the Union had enough production that they would have all those men armed within months, having them in the field *now* is a real help.
Even if the Union had enough production that they would have all those men armed within months, having them in the field *now* is a real help.
Saphroneth
Banned
http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c...rameset;view=image;seq=867;page=root;size=100
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/1860s-army-comparison.394227/page-17#post-13008545
In the long first year, OTL (fifteen months), the Federal government obtained 30,800 long arms from non-foreign sources (and 107,000 from government sources). The 30,800 figure includes muskets and "sportsman's rifles", as well as 3,000 Colt rifles made with British barrels.
Springfield's manufacturing process used British iron, so it would be possible for me to argue that none of those would be produced; however, even if half are (thus making the average production rate about 8,000 or so a month, of which maybe 6,000 were rifles) two weeks of total production is still a very significant single windfall for the overstretched Ordnance department - especially as they, unlike Springfields produced without British iron, would be high in quality.
As such I don't see a need to change the post, especially as the Ordnance department report is written by someone focusing on their problems and the speech is by someone inclined to exaggerate them!
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/1860s-army-comparison.394227/page-17#post-13008545
In the long first year, OTL (fifteen months), the Federal government obtained 30,800 long arms from non-foreign sources (and 107,000 from government sources). The 30,800 figure includes muskets and "sportsman's rifles", as well as 3,000 Colt rifles made with British barrels.
Springfield's manufacturing process used British iron, so it would be possible for me to argue that none of those would be produced; however, even if half are (thus making the average production rate about 8,000 or so a month, of which maybe 6,000 were rifles) two weeks of total production is still a very significant single windfall for the overstretched Ordnance department - especially as they, unlike Springfields produced without British iron, would be high in quality.
As such I don't see a need to change the post, especially as the Ordnance department report is written by someone focusing on their problems and the speech is by someone inclined to exaggerate them!
Modern Belgian rifles are very considerably better than smoothbore muskets. Also, Eli Whitney took nine years (at least - contract obtained in 1798, due date 1801, delivery 1809!) to produce his first 10,000 muskets.
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OK.
Yes, but his second batch of 15k was produced much faster (although still over multiple years) - which is why I said 1810, not anything earlier.
OK. I thought production was higher. Still, 'half a month's production' is in that grey borderline between 'windfall' and 'not strategically important overall'. (
) Edit: However, it very definitely is not the 'drop in a bucket' that I thought it might be.
Edit2: and that's half a month of total long arm, not rifles, and assuming they can do half rate with inferior local iron. So... Ya. OK. That does get to be significant by any reasonable definition.
Saphroneth
Banned
15,000 over two years is about 600 smoothbore muskets a month - on that scale, 4,000 modern rifles is huge!
It would be possible to argue that Federal small arms production TTL from 1 Jan to 30 June 1862 was anything between 60,000 (i.e. 10,000 per month) and 12,000 (i.e. 2,000 per month), depending on how badly the lack of British iron harmed things (with the former case being "not a problem at all" and the latter case being "they can't do anything at Springfield without it") - their rifle production could be as low as 1,500 a month, so 4,000 rifles could be "ten days" or "two and a half months".Still, 'half a month's production' is in that grey borderline between 'windfall' and 'not strategically important overall'. (
To put this in perspective, the equivalent for the Battle of Britain and Spitfires would be anything up to 1,000 machines, or could be as low as merely discovering an extra 200 in a shed. Either way it's quite a lot.
I know, it's surprising - but the Union simply did not have the production capacity in the early American Civil War to churn out rifles in the way that it would later in the war (or in the 20th century). In 1862 the rifle-musket was still more or less the state of the art, and even that production figure for the Union hides everything from P.S.Justice's incredibly poorly made rifles to several thousand rerifled smoothbores which didn't have their sights readjusted! It also means they're using about half a dozen calibres, if not more.
Quite apart from anything else the Belgian rifles are actually good quality and uniform.
But the primary reason for my saying that was different - it was to show that the British blockade was mostly working.
I think there was an incident during the Second Mysore War where a French Privateer tried to board an East India Company Troopship.
The Union is sure that the Confederates and the United Kingdom are in cahoots. They'll be requesting a peace, and a joint confrence, because, from their perspective, it's the most expedient.
Saphroneth
Banned
In the event of a separate peace... I think it would be a pretty amazing comeback for the Union to come out with a win like that. Quite apart from anything else, by this point the South has actually soaked up most of the weapons that the North got OTL - so the North has to wait for more weapons to be manufactured overseas before it can really build up to their OTL summer 1862 armed forces size.(At the moment their deficit compared to OTL is over two hundred thousand armed men, with the men they do have less well armed to boot... though a lot of that is simply that the armies have no second lines and no militia - if an army needs troops, they have to take them from another front line army. Even if they got the troops who were sent north back into play, about the most this would do is let them get to a point they could actually have a strategic reserve.)
This is not a good thing when the South is by this point actually able to segregate out the second class rifles and give their front line forces a very good equipment suite.
Worse than that, there's the more general course of the war. The South has advanced to within a few miles of the Capitol, and the Union hasn't been able to evict them; the Confederacy effectively has control of most of the Mississippi; the Union Navy effectively barely exists. (The United States ironclads are seaworthy, sort of, but there's only four of them.) And then there's the economic issue - the Union's economy is seriously unhealthy at this point. (Literally everything they're trying to export from the Midwest has to go down a single rail line through Pittsburgh, and that's something which changes back and forth.) Basically, at this point the Confederacy is in the stronger position for this war, though they could still theoretically bungle it.
But something I'd also like to point out is this - I'm actually being quite generous to the Union in this TL. It doesn't look it, but consider this as a thought experiment - take the OTL Union army from 30 June 1862, then remove 350,000 men (200,000 impossible to arm, 150,000 facing Canada) and give most of the remainder smoothbore muskets instead of the weapons they had OTL.
This is the Union's situation in June 1862 here facing the Confederacy.
Now, here's the number of enlistments in the Union Army by date. (via Livermore)
April 1861 there were 92,000 90-day enlistments, all long since expired.
May to July 1861 there were about 11,000 short term enlistments (expired before 30 June 1862) and 690,000 two or three year enlistments.
And May to June 1862 there were 15,000 short term enlistments.
So, before desertion and casualties, the Union army in 30 June 1862 was 700,000 nominal strength. Of these, a little over 100,000 deserted OTL, leaving the Union strength present at about 600,000 OTL.
Now chop off 350,000 from that.
Now consider that, by a different metric to that used to produce that 700,000 figure (which is total enlistments), the Confederacy had 425,000 men in the army in April 1862 (this is total men present, hence allows for desertions and casualties).
You'll probably notice that the result is that the Confederacy has a substantial numerical advantage.
The bottom line - OTL, over the course of 1862 the Union effectively drew upon the armouries of Europe to allow them to expand their army, getting ahead of the Confederates on the growth curve and staying there for the rest of the war.
TTL, the Trent War has choked off the expansion of the Union army, and the Confederacy has actually gotten more men under arms than the Union by a fairly substantial degree. In order to overcome this, the Union would have to do one of the virtuoso defensive performances of history - and TTL I've had them doing pretty well all things considered! - and effectively surmount this disparity (something which would mean importing hundreds of thousands of rifles from Europe, which in turn means waiting for Europe to manufacture those rifles) before starting with actually beating the Confederacy back and defeating them.
Saphro - I think your numbers for the union are a bit off... Starting at 700.000 you deduct 100.000 OTL "desertions" (14% rate) - I think you should rather apply a percentage based reduction. Reason is that from the 100k that went away OTL eome never showed up because they were in the 200.000K not armed TTL.
That is the Union OTL has 700.000 OTL, then deduct the 200.000 you could not arm - leaving with 500.000. The basic "division" is 150.000 men against Canada and 350.000 against the Rebs. I would then apply the 14% "desertion" rate leaving you with 130.000 against Canada and 300.000 against the Rebs - thats better than your numbers, but still not really good news.
You can also twiddle the dersertion percentage. Maybe the ones that showed up are more loyal (only the best volunteer) thus reducing the percentage (a bit) or on the other hand the worse situation leads to lower morale and higher desertion...
That is the Union OTL has 700.000 OTL, then deduct the 200.000 you could not arm - leaving with 500.000. The basic "division" is 150.000 men against Canada and 350.000 against the Rebs. I would then apply the 14% "desertion" rate leaving you with 130.000 against Canada and 300.000 against the Rebs - thats better than your numbers, but still not really good news.
You can also twiddle the dersertion percentage. Maybe the ones that showed up are more loyal (only the best volunteer) thus reducing the percentage (a bit) or on the other hand the worse situation leads to lower morale and higher desertion...
Saphroneth
Banned
My assumption is that the extra deserting Canadians and British would make up for any difference. (And, of course, my strength estimate for the Confederacy is based on those after absent OTL.)
Also, 130,000 PFD against Canada and on the US coast is insanely risky.
Not a huge amount, less than OTL really.
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29-30 June 1862
Saphroneth
Banned
29 June
McClellan recieves the messages from Porter informing the general of his change in plans. McClellan is initially angry, but after checking the map concurs that Porter had to shut off the possibility of Confederate troops taking Mechanicsburg and cutting off his army. However, this makes it all the more important to leave a rearguard - his men will desperately need time to entrench at Chambersburg.
As McClellan activates the orders for McDowell's corps to fall back, Lee's artillery fires off a sudden sharp cannonade on the western flank (which is Keyes' command). This is not followed up with a full assault, but causes disruption as men man the embrasures to defend against a potential Confederate attack - something made worse by the probing rifle fire of Cleburne's skirmishers.
Lee hears about the withdrawal of McDowell's corps, and has the relevent Confederate commanders prepare for an attack. He also orders troops readied to advance along the rest of the line, in sequence. This preparation takes an hour or two, and by the time it is ready to execute Keyes is also vacating his position.
For most of the afternoon of the 29th, Lee's echelon attack takes place. The assault is very similar in some ways to those that took place fifty years ago in Europe, with Cleburne's skirmishers taking the part of the voltigeurs in clearing the way and the Confederate assault rolling forwards behind the covering rifle fire. (One of the key differences is that Lee's men do not use the column - instead they advance in line, a probable miscalcuation but one which does not have any real effect on the outcome of the battle.)
Sumner's II Corps are hard pressed to hold their positions, and McClellan detaches some of III Corps (Heintzelman) to reinforce this rearguard - it will mean the extra division of troops is lost, but the rearguard collapsing early would probably lead to the loss of his whole command.
He also leaves all of III Corps' artillery for Sumner to use, as Heintzelman's men will need to move fastest and the extra artillery will hopefully make all the difference.
In the end, by the time the Confederate assault peters out, Lee has been frustrated. Pickett's men on the far eastern flank have managed to work around and cut the road north - behind III Corps - but Sumner is still holding out, having drawn back his men into a 'hedgehog' astride the main road and covered by liberal use of artillery.
Unable to pursue McClellan closely, Lee intends to crush Sumner as quickly as possible and then follow up to Chambersburg.
30 June
At Mechanicsburg, Porter wins the race to the town. His men are tired, having route marched about fifty miles since Chambersburg, but take interim positions and begin fortifying them - relying heavily on choke points through the hilly terrain to the south of the town itself, and also on the labour of much of the nearby population (who are quite panicked by the thought of Confederate cavalry arriving.)
Fortunately for Porter, the Confederate cavalry who indeed arrive a few hours later are also tired - they have cut a wide swath, but many of their horses are in desperate need of rest and the men themselves are sometimes close to falling asleep in the saddle. As such, Stuart does not launch an attack today, wanting his men to be in good shape.
An unexpected bonus arrives for Porter in the middle of the afternoon - several trains of infantry, coming from all over the country. These are about three thousand taken from the east coast (small numbers from each garrison, in general) and another few thousand from the men defending the southern shore of Lake Erie. While small, this nearly doubles Porter's front line strength - and the new troops are fresh.
Further south and west, McClellan has sent I Corps north to Mechanicsburg to shore up the line there. The rest of his men are resting after their march north, and some fortification of Chambersburg is taking place, but McClellan worries about their morale - being so outmanoeuvred by Lee has done a lot of damage to his hard-won esprit d' corps, and not only is rescuing Sumner's men unlikely in the extreme but defending Chambersburg against Lee's army seems a dicey prospect.
And there is that Confederate division well out on his western flank, as well.
At noon, McClellan makes his decision - fall back up the valley. This leads to a loud argument with Heintzelman and Keyes, in which McClellan makes the point that he would rather sacrifice a few hundred square miles than have his army ripped to shreds by Lee. In particular, he asks the two corps commanders which of them plans on leading the next rearguard.
After hours of debate, a compromise is reached - the defensive positions outside Chambersburg are set up, in case it is possible to hold, but they are also made as hard to pass as possible and food is withdrawn to Shippensburg. The intent here is that a Confederate attack on Chambersburg would be fought, but if it began to look like it would succeed then the Union would withdraw (and leave nothing that would make the Confederate pursuit easier).
Sumner's pocket contracts hourly as Confederate sharpshooter fire and artillery picks away at his strength. The general himself is wounded early in the process, but stays active - having his broken arm splinted against the pain.
Lee offers terms near sundown, and Sumner refuses - he will delay as long as possible.
(This turned out huge, so I'm going to do another one for the naval side of things.)
McClellan recieves the messages from Porter informing the general of his change in plans. McClellan is initially angry, but after checking the map concurs that Porter had to shut off the possibility of Confederate troops taking Mechanicsburg and cutting off his army. However, this makes it all the more important to leave a rearguard - his men will desperately need time to entrench at Chambersburg.
As McClellan activates the orders for McDowell's corps to fall back, Lee's artillery fires off a sudden sharp cannonade on the western flank (which is Keyes' command). This is not followed up with a full assault, but causes disruption as men man the embrasures to defend against a potential Confederate attack - something made worse by the probing rifle fire of Cleburne's skirmishers.
Lee hears about the withdrawal of McDowell's corps, and has the relevent Confederate commanders prepare for an attack. He also orders troops readied to advance along the rest of the line, in sequence. This preparation takes an hour or two, and by the time it is ready to execute Keyes is also vacating his position.
For most of the afternoon of the 29th, Lee's echelon attack takes place. The assault is very similar in some ways to those that took place fifty years ago in Europe, with Cleburne's skirmishers taking the part of the voltigeurs in clearing the way and the Confederate assault rolling forwards behind the covering rifle fire. (One of the key differences is that Lee's men do not use the column - instead they advance in line, a probable miscalcuation but one which does not have any real effect on the outcome of the battle.)
Sumner's II Corps are hard pressed to hold their positions, and McClellan detaches some of III Corps (Heintzelman) to reinforce this rearguard - it will mean the extra division of troops is lost, but the rearguard collapsing early would probably lead to the loss of his whole command.
He also leaves all of III Corps' artillery for Sumner to use, as Heintzelman's men will need to move fastest and the extra artillery will hopefully make all the difference.
In the end, by the time the Confederate assault peters out, Lee has been frustrated. Pickett's men on the far eastern flank have managed to work around and cut the road north - behind III Corps - but Sumner is still holding out, having drawn back his men into a 'hedgehog' astride the main road and covered by liberal use of artillery.
Unable to pursue McClellan closely, Lee intends to crush Sumner as quickly as possible and then follow up to Chambersburg.
30 June
At Mechanicsburg, Porter wins the race to the town. His men are tired, having route marched about fifty miles since Chambersburg, but take interim positions and begin fortifying them - relying heavily on choke points through the hilly terrain to the south of the town itself, and also on the labour of much of the nearby population (who are quite panicked by the thought of Confederate cavalry arriving.)
Fortunately for Porter, the Confederate cavalry who indeed arrive a few hours later are also tired - they have cut a wide swath, but many of their horses are in desperate need of rest and the men themselves are sometimes close to falling asleep in the saddle. As such, Stuart does not launch an attack today, wanting his men to be in good shape.
An unexpected bonus arrives for Porter in the middle of the afternoon - several trains of infantry, coming from all over the country. These are about three thousand taken from the east coast (small numbers from each garrison, in general) and another few thousand from the men defending the southern shore of Lake Erie. While small, this nearly doubles Porter's front line strength - and the new troops are fresh.
Further south and west, McClellan has sent I Corps north to Mechanicsburg to shore up the line there. The rest of his men are resting after their march north, and some fortification of Chambersburg is taking place, but McClellan worries about their morale - being so outmanoeuvred by Lee has done a lot of damage to his hard-won esprit d' corps, and not only is rescuing Sumner's men unlikely in the extreme but defending Chambersburg against Lee's army seems a dicey prospect.
And there is that Confederate division well out on his western flank, as well.
At noon, McClellan makes his decision - fall back up the valley. This leads to a loud argument with Heintzelman and Keyes, in which McClellan makes the point that he would rather sacrifice a few hundred square miles than have his army ripped to shreds by Lee. In particular, he asks the two corps commanders which of them plans on leading the next rearguard.
After hours of debate, a compromise is reached - the defensive positions outside Chambersburg are set up, in case it is possible to hold, but they are also made as hard to pass as possible and food is withdrawn to Shippensburg. The intent here is that a Confederate attack on Chambersburg would be fought, but if it began to look like it would succeed then the Union would withdraw (and leave nothing that would make the Confederate pursuit easier).
Sumner's pocket contracts hourly as Confederate sharpshooter fire and artillery picks away at his strength. The general himself is wounded early in the process, but stays active - having his broken arm splinted against the pain.
Lee offers terms near sundown, and Sumner refuses - he will delay as long as possible.
(This turned out huge, so I'm going to do another one for the naval side of things.)
30 June 1862
Saphroneth
Banned
30 June
At nine in the morning, DuPont (the most senior commander the US Navy has able to fight, after Farragut's crippling during the Virginia's destruction of his command) leads his flotilla towards Gosport.
He is in the Pennsylvania, with the other three ironclads (Massachusets, New York and Connecticut) in line and his gunboats (Chocura, Katahdin, Pinola, Cayuga and Oregon) forming a scouting screen ahead. The whole formation has a fleet speed of about seven knots, and begin coming under long range (and inaccurate) fire from Fort Monroe about two miles out.
In Gosport, Semmes readies his ships for battle. The news of four Yankee ironclads gives him pause, but he has the Charleston and the Old Dominion - the former still a wooden liner, but with some of her guns replaced by 7" rifles - and a collection of gunboats of varying levels of firepower to back them up, as well as the guns protecting Hampton Roads.
As such, Semmes - always daring - elects to sally out and fight, under the protection of the guns but not relying on them to do all the work.
Meanwhile, R.Adm. Michell, commanding the Chesapeake blockade squadron from HMS Resistance, takes note of the thunder of guns some miles to the north. He orders that his flotilla concentrate on him, and sail north - but makes clear that they are not to engage without further orders.
Over the course of the next few hours, the Confederate fleet gets up steam and makes way towards the mouth of Newport News. The American ironclads and gunboats are putting up a steady if slow bombardment of Fort Monroe, which still bears the scars of the damage from nearly five months prior, and at the long range in question (over a mile) the Confederate guns are doing little damage that is not superficial - though the exception is violent, as Oregon is struck by a large rifle shell and begins to sink. (Her captain orders the crew to take to the boats, and they are picked up by Katahdin.)
It is already starting to look like the Eads boats - with their two layers of 3" hammered armour - are significantly better protected than a ship with armour like that of the Monitor (as would be expected from Dahlgren's experiments), though a few cracks have developed where wrought iron shot has struck at a near-perpendicular angle on the casemate, as the iron is still more fragile than expected.
Semmes brings his ships into play around 1 PM, with Charleston leading the line at full speed and Yorktown and Jamestown following her - all three vessels can make 12 knots, which is very creditable (the only other ship able to make 12 knots in the whole area is the Immortalite, a British frigate). Leaving behind Old Dominion as too slow to follow the fleet, Semmes starts by angling for the pair of Union gunboats a little to the south of the main ironclad force - where they are out of the arc of the water battery.
The Union gunboats react by attempting a retreat, though they are too slow to avoid being brought to action - Charleston ripples off a broadside of 24 30-lber shells, 7 30-lber rifle shells and three 7" rifle rounds, the barrage striking Chocura four times and impairing her ability to maintain speed. As she falls back behind Pinola, the two large Confederate paddle gunboats also engage her - before long the Chocura is in a sinking condition.
As Semmes pursues, however, he comes under fire from the chase guns of Massachusets and New York. Pennsylvania opens her broadside as well, and the screw liner is soon under a sporadic fire from three of the four Union ironclads and is working both of her own broadsides as fast as possible. Her 7" rifles have a few precious cast-steel shot, and these are expended at close range to do significant damage to the port side of Pennsylvania - but a few solid bolts into the fighting space, while disabling one gun, cannot render the Union ironclad hors d'combat.
At about this time, Michell - discussing matters with his flag captain Chamberlain - comes to the conclusion that, since the Union ironclads seem to be resisting fire quite well, it would be detrimental to his ability to sustain the blockade for them to be able to attack him after repairing.
It is not clear how much of this argument is genuine, and how much is simply the desire to be involved in the battle. Nevertheless, he gives the order to engage the Union ships, and Resistance begins to close in - followed by Agamemnon, Octavia, Immortalite and Medea, at a little over ten knots. (The various British gunboats are quickly set up under tow from the faster ships, as their 68-lber smoothbores and 110-lber rifles may be useful.)
At 2:30, the Charleston has taken a hell of a battering. Her engine is below the waterline, so she has not taken any serious mobility damage, but the large shells hitting her as fast as the Union gunners can serve their guns are causing significant casualties and have rendered much of her broadside unusable. Jamestown has blown up, and Yorktown is retreating with most of her guns disabled.
Old Dominion has waded in, the slow Confederate ironclad using her own few steel shot to hit the Connecticut (and taking heavy damage in return) and the Union ironclad Massachusetts has been so battered by the repeated broadsides of Charleston that her upper layer is starting to crack apart under the impacts - even without the ability to pierce, the Charleston has such a large broadside of comparatively fast-firing weapons that she can cause substantial progressive damage.
The broadside of the Resistance comes as a surprise. At such a range - 800 yards - the angle of the armour means that the two hits from her 68-lber heavy guns do not penetrate, but the concussion is still considerable (Resistance is using 'far' charges, which mean the muzzle velocity is nearly twice the speed of sound, and she also has a large supply of steel shot which transfer more of their energy to the target.) Her 110-lber rifles do little damage, with a much lower muzzle velocity, but the two hits scored sound just as bad and add to the confusion.
The Pennsylvania and the Connecticut, as the ships with the more powerful armour piercing rounds, break off to focus on the British ships. Pennsylvania's 15" smoothbore scores a hit with the first shot, though at a comparatively long range this does not penetrate either, and the crew begin reloading the unwieldy gun as fast as possible - covered by the three smoothbores on the same broadside, and the four 9" sleeved rifles the Connecticut can supply on her relatively undamaged broadside.
The battle from this point degenerates into a brawl. Fort Monroe's guns are largely silenced - in some cases simply out of solid shot that can harm ironclads at this range - and the Charleston continues stubbornly resisting, using her higher speed to try and steer for a good angle on the Union ironclads (though even this starts to go as her engine is overstrained). Meanwhile, the British line starts to unravel as ships open their broadsides, and Medea abruptly loses way when her port paddle is destroyed by 8" rifle fire from the damaged Massachusets - which is herself then battered by the forty-six projectiles thrown by a single broadside from Agamemnon and pierced once.
Resistance takes considerable damage over the course of the battle, with her being the obvious target for heavy fire, and her side is pierced at close range by Pennsylvania's 15" (once, knocking out an Armstrong rifle) and Connecticut's 9" (twice, though the powder load required also causes one of the guns to burst). Michell is killed in the fighting when an 8" shell cuts down some of the masthead, and she also takes on some water from hits afore her armoured belt (though this does not put her at risk of sinking). At such a close range, however, her steady thunder of 68-lbers repeatedly pierces the Union ironclads, both battering their armour into shattering and simply punching straight through.
When the smoke has cleared late in the afternoon, the only capital ship to escape almost unscathed is the Immortalite. Near the back of the British line, she was not targeted by any major concentration of fire, and indeed only took one hit - a 10" shell near the bows which killed five men and disabled two guns, but passed through the ship before exploding and as such acted like a round shot.
All the other ships are damaged, in some cases seriously - Charleston is a wreck above the water line, though Semmes has not even been injured, and the Medea burns before exploding - and of the four Union ironclads only the New York manages to escape by withdrawing into shoal water and limping upriver overnight.
All three nations involved (when they hear about this battle) react with a mix of emotions. In the Confederacy there is relief, and a little shame that their navy could not defeat the Union navy alone (even Confederate pride cannot ignore that Charleston is barely able to fight a gunboat and Old Dominion has lost three of her five guns); in the British Empire the whole engagement is viewed with suspicion (Bright asks the First Lord whether the actions of Michell have materially contributed to the independence of the Confederacy) - though also pride that the Resistance was so heavily involved - and the Union's reaction is essentially one of shock, as the results come in the middle of the news of the battles in the Shenandoah Valley.
At nine in the morning, DuPont (the most senior commander the US Navy has able to fight, after Farragut's crippling during the Virginia's destruction of his command) leads his flotilla towards Gosport.
He is in the Pennsylvania, with the other three ironclads (Massachusets, New York and Connecticut) in line and his gunboats (Chocura, Katahdin, Pinola, Cayuga and Oregon) forming a scouting screen ahead. The whole formation has a fleet speed of about seven knots, and begin coming under long range (and inaccurate) fire from Fort Monroe about two miles out.
In Gosport, Semmes readies his ships for battle. The news of four Yankee ironclads gives him pause, but he has the Charleston and the Old Dominion - the former still a wooden liner, but with some of her guns replaced by 7" rifles - and a collection of gunboats of varying levels of firepower to back them up, as well as the guns protecting Hampton Roads.
As such, Semmes - always daring - elects to sally out and fight, under the protection of the guns but not relying on them to do all the work.
Meanwhile, R.Adm. Michell, commanding the Chesapeake blockade squadron from HMS Resistance, takes note of the thunder of guns some miles to the north. He orders that his flotilla concentrate on him, and sail north - but makes clear that they are not to engage without further orders.
Over the course of the next few hours, the Confederate fleet gets up steam and makes way towards the mouth of Newport News. The American ironclads and gunboats are putting up a steady if slow bombardment of Fort Monroe, which still bears the scars of the damage from nearly five months prior, and at the long range in question (over a mile) the Confederate guns are doing little damage that is not superficial - though the exception is violent, as Oregon is struck by a large rifle shell and begins to sink. (Her captain orders the crew to take to the boats, and they are picked up by Katahdin.)
It is already starting to look like the Eads boats - with their two layers of 3" hammered armour - are significantly better protected than a ship with armour like that of the Monitor (as would be expected from Dahlgren's experiments), though a few cracks have developed where wrought iron shot has struck at a near-perpendicular angle on the casemate, as the iron is still more fragile than expected.
Semmes brings his ships into play around 1 PM, with Charleston leading the line at full speed and Yorktown and Jamestown following her - all three vessels can make 12 knots, which is very creditable (the only other ship able to make 12 knots in the whole area is the Immortalite, a British frigate). Leaving behind Old Dominion as too slow to follow the fleet, Semmes starts by angling for the pair of Union gunboats a little to the south of the main ironclad force - where they are out of the arc of the water battery.
The Union gunboats react by attempting a retreat, though they are too slow to avoid being brought to action - Charleston ripples off a broadside of 24 30-lber shells, 7 30-lber rifle shells and three 7" rifle rounds, the barrage striking Chocura four times and impairing her ability to maintain speed. As she falls back behind Pinola, the two large Confederate paddle gunboats also engage her - before long the Chocura is in a sinking condition.
As Semmes pursues, however, he comes under fire from the chase guns of Massachusets and New York. Pennsylvania opens her broadside as well, and the screw liner is soon under a sporadic fire from three of the four Union ironclads and is working both of her own broadsides as fast as possible. Her 7" rifles have a few precious cast-steel shot, and these are expended at close range to do significant damage to the port side of Pennsylvania - but a few solid bolts into the fighting space, while disabling one gun, cannot render the Union ironclad hors d'combat.
At about this time, Michell - discussing matters with his flag captain Chamberlain - comes to the conclusion that, since the Union ironclads seem to be resisting fire quite well, it would be detrimental to his ability to sustain the blockade for them to be able to attack him after repairing.
It is not clear how much of this argument is genuine, and how much is simply the desire to be involved in the battle. Nevertheless, he gives the order to engage the Union ships, and Resistance begins to close in - followed by Agamemnon, Octavia, Immortalite and Medea, at a little over ten knots. (The various British gunboats are quickly set up under tow from the faster ships, as their 68-lber smoothbores and 110-lber rifles may be useful.)
At 2:30, the Charleston has taken a hell of a battering. Her engine is below the waterline, so she has not taken any serious mobility damage, but the large shells hitting her as fast as the Union gunners can serve their guns are causing significant casualties and have rendered much of her broadside unusable. Jamestown has blown up, and Yorktown is retreating with most of her guns disabled.
Old Dominion has waded in, the slow Confederate ironclad using her own few steel shot to hit the Connecticut (and taking heavy damage in return) and the Union ironclad Massachusetts has been so battered by the repeated broadsides of Charleston that her upper layer is starting to crack apart under the impacts - even without the ability to pierce, the Charleston has such a large broadside of comparatively fast-firing weapons that she can cause substantial progressive damage.
The broadside of the Resistance comes as a surprise. At such a range - 800 yards - the angle of the armour means that the two hits from her 68-lber heavy guns do not penetrate, but the concussion is still considerable (Resistance is using 'far' charges, which mean the muzzle velocity is nearly twice the speed of sound, and she also has a large supply of steel shot which transfer more of their energy to the target.) Her 110-lber rifles do little damage, with a much lower muzzle velocity, but the two hits scored sound just as bad and add to the confusion.
The Pennsylvania and the Connecticut, as the ships with the more powerful armour piercing rounds, break off to focus on the British ships. Pennsylvania's 15" smoothbore scores a hit with the first shot, though at a comparatively long range this does not penetrate either, and the crew begin reloading the unwieldy gun as fast as possible - covered by the three smoothbores on the same broadside, and the four 9" sleeved rifles the Connecticut can supply on her relatively undamaged broadside.
The battle from this point degenerates into a brawl. Fort Monroe's guns are largely silenced - in some cases simply out of solid shot that can harm ironclads at this range - and the Charleston continues stubbornly resisting, using her higher speed to try and steer for a good angle on the Union ironclads (though even this starts to go as her engine is overstrained). Meanwhile, the British line starts to unravel as ships open their broadsides, and Medea abruptly loses way when her port paddle is destroyed by 8" rifle fire from the damaged Massachusets - which is herself then battered by the forty-six projectiles thrown by a single broadside from Agamemnon and pierced once.
Resistance takes considerable damage over the course of the battle, with her being the obvious target for heavy fire, and her side is pierced at close range by Pennsylvania's 15" (once, knocking out an Armstrong rifle) and Connecticut's 9" (twice, though the powder load required also causes one of the guns to burst). Michell is killed in the fighting when an 8" shell cuts down some of the masthead, and she also takes on some water from hits afore her armoured belt (though this does not put her at risk of sinking). At such a close range, however, her steady thunder of 68-lbers repeatedly pierces the Union ironclads, both battering their armour into shattering and simply punching straight through.
When the smoke has cleared late in the afternoon, the only capital ship to escape almost unscathed is the Immortalite. Near the back of the British line, she was not targeted by any major concentration of fire, and indeed only took one hit - a 10" shell near the bows which killed five men and disabled two guns, but passed through the ship before exploding and as such acted like a round shot.
All the other ships are damaged, in some cases seriously - Charleston is a wreck above the water line, though Semmes has not even been injured, and the Medea burns before exploding - and of the four Union ironclads only the New York manages to escape by withdrawing into shoal water and limping upriver overnight.
All three nations involved (when they hear about this battle) react with a mix of emotions. In the Confederacy there is relief, and a little shame that their navy could not defeat the Union navy alone (even Confederate pride cannot ignore that Charleston is barely able to fight a gunboat and Old Dominion has lost three of her five guns); in the British Empire the whole engagement is viewed with suspicion (Bright asks the First Lord whether the actions of Michell have materially contributed to the independence of the Confederacy) - though also pride that the Resistance was so heavily involved - and the Union's reaction is essentially one of shock, as the results come in the middle of the news of the battles in the Shenandoah Valley.