The Bull Run Timeline (Tales of Glory)

For those of you who can remember back to last may this is based off the book 'Tales of Glory' which I began to write and still plan on continuing once I hammer our the timeline featured here.

1861

- As the retreat signal sounds among union forces at the end of the battle of bull run (July 21, 1861), commander of the Confederate forces in the battle, Brig. Gen. Joseph Eggleston Johnston, rushes forward to get a closer look. As he does so he is fatally struck in the stomach by a stray bullet and dies soon after. P.G.T Beauregard takes command.

- Beauregard (unlike Johnston in OTL) orders the Confederate forces to push towards Washington, which lay only approximately 25 miles away. They arrive on July 23rd and easily take the virtually undefended city. Lincoln and the US government flee to Philadelphia where they temporarily set up the government.

- As Confederate troops march through Washington in victory, though, an unknown civilian throws a bomb into their ranks. In response the Confederates fire upon the crowd of civilian onlookers, causing dozens of casualties. The event is reported throughout the north as the 'Washington Massacre.' Lincoln uses the 'massacre' as a rallying call throughout the union and enlistment quickly increases along with public morale.

- In St. Louis the pro-north Wide Awakes seem to epitomize this rise of anti-south feeling with their 'rally' the night after the massacre. They march through the city burning Confederate flags and pro-south propaganda. In response several southern sympathizers fire on the group and soon St. Louis falls into a state of anarchy. When order if finally restored both pro-north and pro-south groups are banned. Harley Dodd, the mayor of nearby Carondelet, then makes national headlines by welcoming the Wide Awakes into his city and is praised by many newspapers as a 'hero of the union.'

- McClellan, under Scott's suggestion, gathers a large force in the north and begins a counter attack before the end of the month. Their plan is to begin in Pennsylvania then march south then east, with the goal of cutting of the confederate force in Washington from reinforcements. McClellan hoped that, by striking further south then expected, he could succeed in his plan. On August 5th, however, they are ambushed by Confederate forces outside of Stanardsville. The disorganized Union force collapses under the heavy pressure from the Confederates under Albert Sidney Johnston. The Union force orders a retreat while McClellan orders a rear guard into essentially a suicide mission to slow down the Confederates in order to minimize loses. The move is successful and the majority of McClellan's men make it back into Pennsylvania.

Standerdsville-1.jpg

Map of Virginia with Stanardsville circled.

- Again the nationwide situation quickly takes a toll on the St. Louis area. On August 6th pro-south groups hold a rally in St. Louis, despite their technical illegality, and are attacked by several armed members of the Wide Awakes. In response nearly 200 southern sympathizers gather the morning of August 7th, planning to march on, and sack, Carondelet. Before they can make a move, however, union troops are sent in to break up the crowd, fighting soon breaks out and several dozen people are killed. The 'Battle of St. Louis' quickly becomes a rally point for pro-succession Missourians.

- In the east the war hits a temporary lull as both sides build up, waiting for the other to make the first move. The Confederates expect the Union to make the first move, considering their capital is under CSA control, and Lincoln believes the same thing is necessary. McClellan, who is essentially serving as the primary field commander in the Union effort, on the other hand, engages in many arguments with Lincoln. Finally, in late September, Winfield Scott, still technically the general-in-chief of Union forces, comes to Lincoln with a plan to retake Washington and offers his service as battlefield commander despite his old age.

- Scott's plan is to take advantage of the South's essentially non-existent navy. On October 14th he sets sail, along with 50,000 men and several warships, at first North. He then swings around well into the Atlantic before taking a beeline for the Potomac. As such he is not spotted until he is a day from the river. His troops then sail up the river before exiting their ships just south of Washington, effectively cutting it off from supplies. This begins the siege of Washington.

- Stonewall Jackson, a hero from the battle of bull run, was soon after put in charge, by President Davis, of some how holding Washington. Jackson quickly made the decision that direct aid was impossible. Instead he came up with a scheme to break the US siege by forcing them to focus elsewhere. He quickly gathered a force and on October 21st began marching, apparently towards Scott's force south of Washington. Then, on the 23rd, as he seemed only a few hours away from engaging them, Jackson's forces turned away from Scott's forces and suddenly north. They marched right past Washington into Maryland and then turned Northeast, clearly towards Philadelphia.

- Scott, in a panic, broke the siege on Washington and moved his troops, by boat, north to defend Philadelphia. As soon as he reached the temporary capital, however, he learned that Jackson's smaller force had turned off their advance back towards Virginia. They had essentially broken the siege without firing a shot.

- The remainder of the year passed without any additional offensives besides a few minor border wars. Both sides seemed to be priming their military minds for a way to break their opponent, or, in the case of the US, simply take back their capital.
 
It's a cool idea, but I'm afraid I do see some problems.

o Advancing quickly right after a battle like that's vastly harder than its looks, especially in that military era, when casualties were high. It grows to impossible, IMHO, when you consider that both sides were green.

o The Civil War was during an era of the defensive that reached to the invention of the tank in WWI, so lines were easy to stall. All it took was an evening's entrenching to call a big stall to things. It also meant high casualty rates to get anywhere; Lincoln and Grant had the extra men, and were willing to spend them if they had to.

o Beauregard's war record was OTL pretty undistinguished; it's likely to be similar in other timelines.

o Even if most of Washington, DC believed the war would soon be over, the Army's chief, Winfield Scott, had no such ideas, and almost certainly planned accordingly. I recommend looking up what DC actually had in reserve and built-up that day.

o IOTL, Davis chose generals by seniority rather than wins. Lincoln chose by wins, leading to increasing Union advantage by wars' end.

o I'm pretty dubious DC could've be taken, realistically. There was a period before Union militia arrived in DC that might work, but was that before VA left? Did the Confederates have enough mustered troops near enough/ soon enough to transport to take DC and make it stick?

o I am convinced the Confederacy could've stuck around, not too improbably, because of said (D)-side advantage, but with a different set of starting Presidents; OTL, Lincoln was too much smarter than the mediocre Davis. One promising way, think, is you swapped CSA President Davis and Veep Stephens.

Sorry!
 
I've been reading into this actually and apparently Davis pushed for his generals to invade Washington after Bull Run but Johnston essentially refused. Beauregard agreed with the president but was overruled by his Johnston who held senority. US troops fell into a rout (sp?) after the battle so getting then to entrench would be virtually impossible and, in addition, according to what I read Washington was essentially unguarded at this time.
 
I'm sorry, but a confederate occupation of Washington isnt going to happen. Why? because...

- The Confederate Army is in no shape to conduct this sort of pursuit. They are, in effect, a bunch of militia who just saw their first action. They are, if not shattered, bloodied and disorganized. It is going to take a lot of time to reform the Confederate Army of the Potomac, and to reorganize them for an advance on washington.

- Beauregard isn't exactly the right man for this task. First off, losing one of your principal commanders during your army's first engagement is going to create a number of issues, both morale and organizational. but secondly, Beauregard doesn't exactly seem the right man to reform the confederates for a counteroffensive. Sure, the man had a flair for the dramatic, and would have pushed onwards. But his career wasn't exactly marred by petty concerns such as logistics. He will try to drive on washington, but if he reachs it with an intact army i will be surprised.

- Washington DC is far from undefended. Between survivors of Bull Run, which will be substantial once they regroup, and fresh regiments in washington, the defending forces will probably outnumber the confederate attackers. By this point, they will be under the command of McClellan, who, though by no means the perfect general, was arguably made for this sort of fight. Holding a prepared defensive position with superior lines of supply against a generally disorganized confederate attack, McClellan will be able to beat off the confederates, and in all probability crush beauregard.



This essay by Amerigo Vespucci outlines the issues inherent in a confederate push on Washington.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=68277
 
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