LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH

LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898
By James Anderson


The War that broke out in April of 1894 cost thousands if not millions of lives. The economy of Europe, North America, Asia, and practically the entire world was vastly altered in those four years of bloodshed. Some countries saw their economies ruined while others benfited from the war. It saw the introduction of drigables, the first widespread use of machine guns, not to mention modern rifles. Land and Naval warfare were forever changed. New state of the art warships, such as the battleship and the use of submarines became dominant at sea. It was the last war to see the use of cavarly. On the more sinister side, it also saw the use of chemical warfare(namely gas), the destruction of cities, widespread killing of civilians and unfortuantly, the first of what would latter be called 'death camps'.

The War that raged for four years saw the rise of world powers that would dominate the world for the next 50 years. Politics were also changed. In some countries monarchs gave way to democracy, while others gave way to anarchy and dictators. Nothing was quite the same after. Many people agree that although a world war was inevitable (at least for another 20+ years), the aftermath of this war would unleash 3 more wars like it. By the time a peace finally settled over the world in 2000, so many people had died that many wonder how the hell the world survived total destruction.

There were many causes that sparked this war, from alliances being formed and broken, an arms race that saw the development of weapons that would bring so much calamity upon the world, to politics, to the people in general, many agree that one event led to the war, although many did not see it at the time. This event altered the world in such a way that countries that became enemies would have ended up friends had the event went the other way. That event was the Union defeat during the American Civil War. Because of this, many generations of people suffered for the next 136 years.


LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898
By James Anderson


American Civil War 1861-1864

The American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861 with the firing on Ft. Sumter by the Confederate Forces under the command of Gen. PTG Beaurguard. This blood-less victory for the Confederates started a war that would consume the whole nation and cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Union President Abraham Lincoln put out a call for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion. This proclamation in turn led to the remaining states that would make up the Confederacy to seceed from the Union.

The months following the firing of Ft. Sumter saw hundreds of thousands of men flock to the recruting offices of both the north and south in order to raise troops in defense of their countries. The first major battle that was fought was on July 21st, 1861 at Manassas. The three armies that fought there were amateurs and losses were light compared to future battles. The result of this Confederate victory saw the south gain confidance while the north plunged into despair. The rest of the year saw two more Confederate successes, both in Missouri. Wilson's Creek, fought on August 10th, saw the defeat of then Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon's Army of the West to a combined southern force under Generals Sterling Price and Ben McCulloch. Lyon himself almost was killed in the fighting, but a last minute change of plans saved him. After the victory, Price wanted to march on the capital and gain Missouri for the Confederacy, but Ben McCulloch refused and Price marched north without him or his troops. In the end, Price won a stunning victory against a Union garrison at Springfield, Mo. At that point, it seemed to the Federal authorities that the south was going to gain its freedom. Had they know that the south would do just that 2 years latter, it might have shorten the war sooner. But in the spring of 1862, that would all change.

In 1862, Union forces under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant, a future president, opened the campaign in the west like a thunderbolt. First Ft. Henry fell to Union gunboats, then Grant marched overland, besieged Ft. Donelson, repelled a Rebel attack, and forced the surrender of 15,000 men under Simon Buckner. After these two victories, Federal forces under Don Carlos Buell threatened Nashville and after a few quick engagments with Albert Sidney Johnston's Army of Western Kentucky, occupied it in early march. To the west, Nathaniel Lyon's 20,000 man Army of the West came roaring down from Missouri. It chased Price out of Missouri, and kept going. In response, Rebel General Earl Van Dorn combined Price's army with that of Ben McCulloch's. These troops, along with some reinforcments, brought the rebel force to 18,000 men. The two forces clashed at Fayetteville on March 12th, 1862. In the ensuing fight, both sides fought well and suffered accordingly. Officer casualties were unusually high. On the federal side, Lyon lost two division commanders: Franz Sigel and Samuel Curtis. The Rebels lost Generals McCulloch, McIntosh, and the army commander, Earl Van Dorn, who were among the slain. Total casualties numbered 6,000 men. Although the federals won the battle, the rebels gained a tactical victory in the sense that Lyon had to withdraw his battered army to Bentonville, Ark in order to resupply his men and gain reinforcements. As bloody as Fayetteville had been, it failed in comparison to the huge battle that was taking place in Tennessee: Shiloh.


LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898
By James Anderson

After the fall of Nashville, TN in the wake of Grant's victories at Ft. Henry and Donelson, the ranking Confederate General in the west, Albert S. Johnston, decided to withdraw and concentrate his scattered troops at Cornith, Ms. One of the controversies that evolved out of this decision was the order to evacuate as many troops as possible from Island No. 10. As many as 5,000 men were withdrawn from the island, leaving only a force of 1500 men to defend it. Meanwhile. Union forces were moving down middle Tennessee.

Don Carlos Buell's troops occupied Nashville while Grant's army moved to Pittsburgh Landing. Grant established a forward base, complete with a supply depot to support operations in the area. The Army of Tennessee, as it was called, had seven divisions totaling some 35,000 men. Grant hopes to link up with Buell and with their combined armies, march on Cornith. Unfortuantly for him, A.S. Johnston had other ideas.

Johnston had been busy gathering troops for an all out attack on Grant's forces. Drawing reinforcments from around the area, Johnston gathered some 42,000 men. Also, in the wake of the federal victory in Arkansas, Price's army (Van Dorn was killed at Fayetteville) was dispached across the Misissippi River to Vicksburg. Then they were rushed to Cornith to join Johnston's forces. Because of this, Johnston had to delay his march by several days. On April 6th, Johnston advanced. With Price's men added, his army increased to some 54,000 men.

After a greuling 2 day march, Johnston struck on the morning of April 8th. He caught Grant by suprise. The bluecoats struggled to defend their encampments, only to have rebels soldiers overrun them. After about two hours of fighting, the federal line halted and dug in. Johnston realized that he needed to shift his forces and drive Grant away from the landing. Again, the rebel assault was fierce. The union line finally buckled and grant's right fled back to the landing. There, many of them were rallied and put back into the fight. Meanwhile, Grant's left and center, gradually gave ground and fell back to the landing. With the arrival of Lew Wallace's men and Buell's army, Grant's men reorganized and waited for the rebel assault.

Johnston, by this time, had been seriously wounded. The fact that he carried a tourniqut and that his personal doctor was with him, saved his life. Handing over command to PTG Beauguard, Johnston is evacuated to Cornith. Beauguard, aware of the approach of darkness, orders one final assault to take place. This would involve Price's army and the combined corps of Hardee and Polk. The result was that Grant's army was pushed back farther away from the landing, which prevented buell's army from joining. But, unfortunatly for the rebels, the two federal gunboats saved the day by lobbing shells into the tired rebel ranks, devastating them. By nightfall, the rebel army withdrew out of range of the gunboats. By the time the rebels reorganized, Buell's army had crossed the Tennessee farther up and had joined Grant's men. The following day they attacked the rebels and after an all day slug fest, finally drove them back to their starting point. A little latter, the rebels retreated back to Cornith. The Union had won, but at a terrible price. Some 16,000 federal troops were either killed, wounded, missing, or captured. Rebel losses were just as high. They lost 14,000 men killed, wounded, or missing. The affects of this battle would have far reaching results.


LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898

By James Anderson

Following the bloodbath at Shiloh, both sides rested their men and reorganized the armies. On the Federal side, Major General Henry Hallack took over command of Grant's and Buell's armies. Pulling some strings at a higher level, Halleck had Grant replaced as commander of the Army of Tennesee with George Thomas. Halleck poured men and supplies into Pittsburgh Landing. When Island No.10 fell to John Pope's Federal Army of Mississippi, Halleck brought him to Pittsburgh Landing as well. After a month of preparations, Halleck's forces had grown to 100,000 men.

The rebels also gathered more men and supplies. With Johnston being wounded, command fell to Beauguard. Beauguard reorganized the army into four corps under Hardee, Bragg, Breckinridge, and Price. Hardee and Bragg's corps contained men from Polk's corps which was broken up since their commander's death at Shiloh. With reinforcments coming from Mississipi, Alabama, Georgia, and other places, Bearegard managed to increase the army's strength to 60,000 men. He also ordered the construction of earthworks, fortifications, and forts to help defend Cornith from the attack he knew was coming.

On May 10th, nearly a month after Shiloh, Hallleck marched his huge army to Cornith. After a couple of days, they arrived before the town. Halleck, after looking over the situation, decided to besiege the town. The Siege of Cornith, as it was known, would last for a month, and several battles would erupt between the two forces. Out of these battles, only one would see carnage that could compare to Shiloh: The Battle of Farmville, fought on May 22nd, 1862. This battle was the result of Halleck trying to pry the rebels loose. On that day, the task of doing that fell to John Pope's Army of Mississippi, some 25,000men. Opposing Pope's army was Price's corps supported by Breckinridge's corps. Together, these two corps numbered about 30,000 men. Pope pushed forward his lead units and drove rebel pickets out of the town. Price brought up his corps and after arranging them into a battle line, attacked. The fighting raged for several hours untill Breckinridge brought up his corps and hit Pope from the side. Pope, seeing that his army was in danger of being routed, ordered a withdraw back to his original line. This victory gave the rebels a morale boost that they desperatly needed. Casualties on both sides were high: the federals had 4,000 men dead, wounded, missing, or captured. The rebels had 3,000 men killed, wounded, or captured.

A few days after Farmville, Halleck decided to assault cornith itself. Many of his officers told him that assaulting the works would only bring unecessary casualties, but Halleck did not listen. On May 25th, Thomas's Army of the Tennessee and Buell's Army of Ohio attacked. Facing them were Hardee's corps, Bragg's corps, and Breckinridge's corps, which had been moved from the left to the center. Thus, some 70,000 union soldiers faced off against 45,000 rebel soldiers. After a huge artillery bombardment, the federal soldiers charged across a field of fire that would only be surpassed by Fredericksburg. Rebel soldiers fired as fast as they could, yelling, 'shiloh! shiloh!' remembering the defeat there. After about 5 hours of unrelenting carnage, Halleck finally ordered the assault to stop, but the damage was done. Some 9,000 union soldiers littered the field. Rebel losses were around 1,000 men. The fallout from this failed assault was that Halleck was replaced and sent back north for reassignment. In his place was put U.S. Grant, who ordered the army to withdraw back to Shiloh to reorganize and replan. On June 2nd, 1862, the federal army marched back to Shiloh, leaving the field to the rebels. Beuregard sent a wired communication to Jeff Davis, informing him of his victory. Southerns rejoiced in the fact that the yankee invader had been turned back. Davis, who did not like Beauregard, had to swollow his pride and send his thanks. Davis also sent a communication which permantly made Beauregard the commanding general of the Army of Mississippi. Although the rebels had gained a sigh of relieve in the west, in the east, a powerful federal army was marching to Richmond's doorstep.


LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898

By James Anderson
While Federal forces recoiled after the setback at Cornith, in the east, they were on the move. After the Union defeat at Bull Run, the federal army stationed in and around Washington were given a new commander: George McClellan. Under McClellan's leadership, the Army of the Potomac, as it was known, began to drill and train. By October, that army was ready, but its commander was not. McClellan relied on his spies, who were operating under the Pinkerton Detective Agency, were giving him reports of a rebel host that far outnumbered him. Therefore, McClellan and his army lingered for several months until at last, in February of 1862, Lincoln issued a warning: either move your army to attack Richmond, or be replaced.

McClellan, who by this time loathed Lincoln and called him 'a gorilla', decided upon a bold plan. His army, some 100,000 men would board transports and protected by the navy, sail down the Potomac River and land at Ft. Monore on the Virginia Peninsula and march north west to take Richmond. Meanwhile, another force under Erwin McDowell, some 35,000 men, would march down from the north and take Fredricksburgh and threaten Richmond from the north. While this was going on, three smaller federal commands would operate in the Valley. The three commanders, Fremont, Banks, and Shields, were to coordinate their movements in the hope that they would be able to drive the Rebel force under Stonewall Jackson out of the Valley.

The first of these movements began in early march, with James Shield's division marching down the Valley. He had some 10,000 men with him and was heading toward Winchester. Stonewall Jackson, who had 5,000 men on had, decided to attack him. The resulting battle, which was fought on March 25th, at Kernstown, resulted in a Union victory. Jackson withdrew down the Valley, licking his wounds. He would not be heard from again for some time. Another unexcpected rebel strike was the emergance of the ironclad Merrimack, or Virginia, as the southerns labeled her. On March 8th, the rebel craft struck at the union blockade squadron and inflicted damage to them by sinking the Congress and Cumberland. Then she turned her guns on the Minnesota, which ran aground. The rebels realized that they could not get to the Minnesota, so they withdrew back to their home port and decided to come out and finish her the next day. When the Virginia did return, they found the Union ironclad Monitor waiting for them. The resulting fight was one for the ages. This single naval battle changed the course of naval warfare in a single day. By April 1st, McClellan had started to land his troops at Ft. Monroe. Soon he would be ready to advance toward Richmond.


LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898

By James Anderson
As McClellan was disembarking his men at Ft. Monroe, in the Valley, Federal forces were having a hard time locating, let alone confronting Jackson. Banks's army occupied Winchester, but failed to move further south. Other federal forces spread out so far that for any one of them to support each other would take several days march. By the time April was done, Fremont and his army was marching down the valley toward McDowell. There, they found Jackson waiting for them.

Stonewall had not been idle that April. He had withdrawn back into the Valley to recup. After recieving some reinforcements from Richmond, he decided to wait for the federals next move that came in early May with Fremont advancing down the valley toward McDowell. On May 8th, Jackson, with 10,000 men, layed a trap for the advance guard of Fremont's army. Fremont had 20,000 men under his command, but at mcdowell he only had 6,000.

Fremont himself was himself not at mcdowell, but the federal officers there, milroy and Schenck decided that being outnumbered, the best thing to do was attack. The resulting fight was fierce for its side, but in the end, Jackson was victorious. Losses one both sides were moderate. Jackson suffered less than 300 men, while the federals suffered 500. In the Aftermath, Jackson marched his men toward Winchester and a confrontation with Banks. Fremont, meanwhile, retreated back toward strasburg in order to link up with Banks. This he failed to do.

Jackson, meanwhile, linked up with General Ewell's division and advanced toward Winchester. In the way was a detachment of federal troops at front royal. They stood no chance. Jackson quickly surrounded them and after about a couple of hours of fighting, some 800 federals surrendered. Jackson pressed on toward Winchester and a meeting with Banks.
 
LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898



By James Anderson
The Battle of Winchester was the turing point of the Valley Campaign. It literally changed the direction of the war in the east from that moment on. Following his victory at Front Royal, Jackson merged his army with the division of Richard Ewell, bringing his total force to 18,000 men. Jackson headed toward Wichester, arriving on the night of May 5th, 1862. Jackson's plan was to attack at dawn and route the federals, thus clearing the way to Harper's Ferry. Banks, after learning of the defeat at McDowell and the disaster at Front Royal, decided to collect as many troops as he could in order to build up a decent force in which to confront Jackson.

By the time that Jackson arrived before Winchester, Banks had gathered some 12,000 men and had them fortify the surrounding areas outside of town. Unfortunatly for Banks, he had neglected gathering the one thing that might have made a difference: artillery. Jackson had some 45 guns against Banks 12. The result was predictable.

When the battle was launched on May 6th, it quickly turned into a feirce struggle. Ewell's division went in on the right, the Stonewall brigade along with General Johnson's brigade in the center, and finally, General Richard Taylor's brigade on the left. Supporting Taylor was Turner Ashby's cavalry.

At first, the yankees put up a good fight and delayed the rebel adavance by several hours. Sometimes the fighting was hand to hand. Casualties on both sides started to rise. Finally, Taylor's men and Ashby's cavalry flanked the federals on the left and came down behind them, shouting the rebel yell. From that point on, the federal line collapsed all along the front.

Streams of federal troops ran away in the direction of Harper's Ferry seeking saftey. Banks, to his credit, tried to rally his men, but was himself running toward Harper's Ferry. Jackson's victory was complete. Over the next few days, Jackson's men chased Banks's retreating army down the valley. By the time Banks reached Harper's Ferry, his command consisted of 4,500 men. The rest were either dead, wounded, or captured at Winchester.

Stonewall Jackson was pleased with his army's performance at Winchester. Now the question was: what to do next? Jackson knew that there were still federal troops in the valley, but seemed to be pulling out toward Maryland. Then an idea came to Jackson: why not advance on Harper's Ferry, take it, and cross the Potomac and take the war to the north? This was something that Jackson dreamed of since the begining of the campaign.

Jackson immediantly wired Richmond of his proposed pland and asked for more men and equipment. He told Richmond that his invasion would force the federal government to recall the AoP in order to protect Washington and that would free Johnston's army to march north and join Jackson's force. After much arguing and debating, President Davis, after hearing Lee's and Johnston's support of Jackson's plan, decides to grant Jackson's request.

On May 20th, two weeks after Winchester, Stonewall Jackson reorganized his army into three divisions: Ewell's, Johnson's, and Lee's. Davis had sent Lee to help Jackson and Jackson gave Lee command of the new division that had been formed. Lee gladly took the position, egar to get back to a fighting command, even though he would serve under Jackson and not the other way around. Along with the reforming of the Army of the Valley, as it was known, Turner Ashby found himself in command of 2,500 cavalry. Jackson offered Ashby the postion, as along as he maintained dicipline and a tight control over his new brigade. Finally, on May 25th, Jackson's army marched toward Harper's Ferry. It numbered some 32,500 men and contained some 75 artillery. The federal government would soon learn to have a new fear of the legendary Stonewall Jackson!
 
no posting today im afraid. im still trying to tink what direction im going to take. I would greatly like for you all to post comments and any suggestions that might help me. Thanks!
 
LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898

By James Anderson

The Peninsula Campaign of 1862 was George McClellan's baby. He had been planning this offensive for several months and had been very cautious in its planning and execution. He had planned on his army being at Ft. Monroe no latter than April 6th. From there, he would advance up the peninsula and take Yorktown on April 8th. With Yorktown captured, McClellan could steadly advance his army to capture Richmond, which he planned to take sometime in late April or early May, depending on the situation.
Alas for McClellan, Confederate activities in and around Richmond and the Valley did not help matters. First, when the AoP marched toward Yorktown, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston had moved much of his Army of Virginia, as he styled it, to Richmond and was shifting troops to Yorktown. Second, at Yorktown itself, McClellan found it to be occupied by troops under General John B. Magruder, who had only 5,000 men but by constanly marching them again and again, McClellan's intellegance calculated that Magruder had at least 15,000 men! And finally third, Stonewall Jackson's offensive in the Valley during March and latter May, forced Lincoln to recall McDowell's 35,000 man corps to sheild Washington instead of supporting McClellan.
This meant that McClellan had some 100,000 men in his command and that was it. McClellan started to develope what Lincoln latter described as having "the slows". McClellan stopped his army before Yorktown and decided to start seige works. Also, because McClellan didn't have enough seige guns to blast the rebels defenses, he had to order them to be shipped down to Ft. Monroe and finally hauled overland to Yorktown. This would take several days if not weeks to do and this delay would cause the federals to loose momentum.
Meanwhile General Joe Johnston arrived at Yorktown with the divisions of James Longstreet and D.H. Hill to asses the situation. When Johnston learned that McClellan was not going to attack, he decided to moved his entire army to Yorktown and surrounding area. Soon McLaws's and Smith's divisions soon arrived, thus bringing the total rebel strength to 45,000men. Johnston also wanted more troops, but it would take time to get them, espacialy when Jackson decided to advance and threaten Wahington.
By the end of April, McClellan's heavy seige guns arrived and was put in place. Johnston knew that his men could not hold off McClellan's massive force, so he decides to abandon Yorktown on the night of May 3rd, 1862. The plan of march was as follows: first, Smith's division would head toward Williamsburg, followed by D.H. Hill and McLaw's. James Longstreet's men would cover the retreat in case McClellan might attack to soon.
On the moring of May 4th, 1862, McClellan woke to a sunny day that promised in his veiw, to be a glorious victory for his men. Soon however, word was sent back that the rebel seige lines around Yorktown was quiet, perhaps to quiet. McClellan sent scouting parties to determine wether or not the rebels were truly there. This took most of the moring and early afternoon, but by 3:00pm, McClellan decided that the rebels had indeed fled. He then ordered Yorktown to be occupied. By late afternoon, McClellan had declared that a major bloodless (not bloodless, since nearly 1,000 men had been killed or wounded during the seige) victory had been acheived and that the enemy was retreating toward Richmond. Thus, victory was assured. Unfortunatly for McClellan, he would be given a rude awaking at a place called Williamsburg.

Hey guys! I will be posting another sometime latter today. The battle of Willamsburg is going to be a lot bigger than in OTL, so stick around!
 
Don't know. Im planning on going to 1900 for now, but i might just take it to 2000. A lot of things are going to change because of this tl. Alliances will not be what you expect and the technology will be more advance than what it actually was. just have to see. like i said before, im open to any suggestions that you and anyone else might have.
 
sorry about the delays. i'm going to updat this latter on today. I hope. meanwhile, please please post comments! Tell me if you like it, don't like it, suggestions, etc.
 
I like this timeline. Nice writing style, and an interesting premise. It seems similar to tl-191 on the outset, but with a world war in the late 19th century it wil be very different, especially since you've intimated that there will be unexpected alliance systems.
Scipio
 
LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898



By James Anderson


The Battle of Williamsburg was a battle that was inevitable for two reasons: first, General Joe Johnston, who really wasn’t planning on fighting the federals until he had more men, listened to several of his officers who wanted to turn and fight the federals before they retreated toward Richmond, and second, General George McClellan’s reluctance to allow a pursuit of the “supposed” rebel retreat by his officers, particularly Sumner. Following the federal “victory” at Yorktown, McClellan holds a council of war in which he outlines his following plan: once the army had rested for a couple of days, the army would advance up the Peninsular toward Richmond and then besiege it. His officers, on the other hand, wanted to go after the rebels now, before they had a chance to gather more forces. McClellan, after hearing several of his officers almost beg him to attack, agreed to send two divisions toward the rebels.

Meanwhile, rebel General Joe Johnston was having a similar experience with his officers. Johnston had origionally planned on leaving General James Longstreet’s division at Williamsburg to act as a rear guard while the army withdrew back toward Richmond. Now his officers were begging him to turn and face the federals with the entire force present. Johnston, after careful consideration, agreed. On May 5th, 1862 the rebels deployed two divisions, James Longstreet’s and Daniel Harvey Hill’s, in front of Williamsburg with orders to attack any federal force that appeared. Meanwhile, Johnston would gather two more divisions, those of John Magruder and G.W. Smith, and arrive in Williamsburg in support.

The advancing federals fell right into the trap. First, Joe Hooker’s division received a hug shock when James Longstreet unleashed his entire division and hit them hard. Next, General W.F. Smith’s division ran straight into Ft. Magruder and D.H. Hill’s men and was soon fighting for their lives. After about two hours of fierce fighting, federal reinforcements in the form of Phil Kearny’s division rushed to the sceneand pitched into Longstreet in order to help out Hooker. Longstreet continued to hold his ground against fierce opposition, hoping that reinforcements would soon arrive. Around 1:00 pm General Joe Johnston arrived with Magruder’s and Smith’s divisions and deployed them between Hill and Longstreet.

Johnston told the more senior of the two, Smith, to attack and drive the federals back and inflict as many casualties as they can on them. Johnston then rode back to Willamsburg to establish his headquarters for the remainder of the fighting. He would soon regret that decision. Smith awaited an hour before attacking, and when he did, he decided that once the breakthrough was done, his division would swing south while Magruder’s swung north. It was not what Johnston had inteneded his officers to do. The attack, when it went in, achevied success at first, pushing Phil Kearny’s back and creating a gap between W.F. Smith and Kearny’s men.

The result was that Hooker and Kearny were forced back several thousand yards before they could establish a fighting line. W.F. Smith also had to retreat before his entire division would be trapped between Hill’s and Magruder’s advancing troops. Linking up with Hooker and Kearny, Smith dug in and prayed that the line would hold until helped arrive. In all reality, two things did happen that helped the federals, one, General Darius Couch’s division, along with II corps commander “Bull” Sumner, arrived and strengthened the federal line. Second, General G.W. Smith had decided to take overall command of the battle and ordered a halt to the advance against the protest of the rest of the divisional commanders.

Sumner, after reviewing the days’ events, ordered a counterattack all along the line. It would start with Couch’s fresh division. Couch picked his best brigade commander, General Winfield Scott Hancock to kick off the attack. By the time G.W. Smith realized what was happening, it was too late. Hancock hit the center of Smith’s line and broke it into pieces. For this, Hancock earned the nickname “The Superb”. Although Smith’s line was broken, the battle could have been won if Smith shifted some troops to plug up Hancock’s attack. Unfortunatly for Smith, he lost his nerve and ordered a retreat all along his line, forcing Longstreet, Magruder, and Hill to do the same. By 6:00pm the fighting was over. The battle, begun as a rebel victory, had ended up as a draw. Casualties were heavy: On the rebel side, out of 30,000+ rebels engaged, some 3,500 men were either killed, wounded, or missing. Out of some 24,000 federals engaged, some 4,500 men were either killed, wounded, or captured. It was the shape of things to come in the following weeks.

Here's a map of the battle:

williamsburg.GIF
 
LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898

By James Anderson

In the aftermath of Williamsburg, both the federal and rebel forces broke contact with each other. Johnston, who was less impressed with the day's actions, decided to retreat toward Richmond and gather more forces in an effort to confront McClellan's army. Johnston also had a mind to reorganize his army once it reached the outskirts of Richmond. Johnston also communicated with Jefferson Davis and outlined his forthcoming plan. Davis did not like the fact that Johnston was bringing the federal army close to richmond, but he decided to await further developments before making a decision.

McClellan on the other hand, became more paranoid following the battle. His Pinkerton agents had informed him that Johnston had brought 55,000 men into the fight and had many more coming to his aide. McClellan decided to wait a few days before resuming the march, against the protest of his officers. McClellan also pleaded Lincoln to release McDowell's corps covering Washington to join him on the peninsular, but Lincoln refused. After several days, McClellan continued his march toward Richmond, arriving at Seven Pines on May 20th. After that, he ordered his army to dig in and rest.

Johnston meanwhile, had not been idle. When his army arrived several miles outside of Richmond, he went about reorganizing it. He brought in fresh troops from Southern Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and infused them into the divisions that were already formed. He also relpaced commanders and appointed new ones. The first person to go was G.W. Smith, mainly because of his bungling of the Williamsburg battle. A few others of lesser importance were next and then Johnston started to promote other leaders in their place. He then formed his army into seven divisions:

Army of Virginia:
Longstreet's Division
D.H.Hill's Division
Magruder's Division
Huger's Division
McLaws's Division
A.P.Hill's Light Division
Whiting's Division
Stuart's Cavalry

The combined total for the army, including the cavalry, came to 75,000 men avaliable. Against this, George McClellan could bring 95,000 men to bear against Johnston. Very soon, both armied would be in a death lock that only one could emerge as the winner.
 
LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898

By James Anderson

By late May of 1862, the war in the east was heating up. In the valley, General Stonewall Jackson's army of 32,000 men were marching down the valley toward Harper's Ferry and a possible invasion of the north while in front of Richmond, General Joe Johnston was making preparations to drive McClellan's Army of the Potomac from Richmond. Johnston had assembled some 75,000 men to oppose McClellan's 95,000 men. Everything seemed ready for a major battle to take place, but Johnston waited, much to the displeasment of Jefferson Davis. Johnston wanted to hit McClellan at the right time and at the right place.

By May 29th, Johnston had recieved intel that McClellan had foolishly placed his IV corps, under Keyes, near a place called Seven Pines. His other corps, V, VI, and II corps, he placed on the opposite bank of the Chickahominy River. His III corps, under Heintzelman, was postioned several miles behind IV corps. Johnston started to plan an attack on the federal IV corps. In his plan, he would use 4 divisions and position them to attack from three directions. Hopefully, if all went according to plan, the federals would loose a good number of their men, leaving the rebels in a good position to further attack the federals.

On May 30th, Johnston ordered the four divisions (Longstreet, D.H. Hill, McLaws, and Whiting), to assemble at their jump off positions. Johnston personally made sure that all four division commanders understood their assignments and he also made sure that the commands were in the right place (he did not want a screw up like at Williamsburg). That night heavy rain fell and continued into the next day. This made Johnston cancell the attack for 24 hours. The assault would begin at 6:00am on June 1st.
 
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