40. Birth of the Red Army
…The Battle of Manhattan was the first major clash between Red and White forces, but Leon Bronstein was not the only one who had responded to Wilson’s orders by raising an army. Twelve states in total had SLP governors. In every single one of them, they prepared to resist an imminent federal attack…
…In Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, the SLP had been in power for two years, long enough that their respective National Guards were firmly under SLP control. The Western governors, particularly Moyer in Colorado and St. Johns in Nevada, immediately moved against the mine bosses, hoping to eliminate them before their security forces joined the federal military. In a delicious irony, the Colorado National Guard employed the “Death Special” armored car against the very company that had commissioned it when they stormed the Colorado Fuel and Iron headquarters in Pueblo. Governor Trautmann ordered the Pennsylvania National Guard to seize the Philadelphia warehouses holding arms and set up defensive positions at York and Gettysburg, guarding the approaches to Harrisburg…
…The situation in Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Washington, and West Virginia was more complex. Governor Stedman of Illinois had only recently arrived in Springfield and opted to flee to Chicago before federal troops arrived. Governor Haywood, on the other hand, had been organizing the recruitment of socialists into the Washington National Guard even before he was elected. His response to Executive Order 2605 was to order a purge of the Washington National Guard. Governor London of New York faced a largely hostile New York National Guard, but Red Guards managed to secure Albany. And even where they did not have local political control, workers rose up across the nation, establishing numerous communes, many of them sadly short-lived…
…In Chicago, Debs threw himself into organizing the war effort. At first, his focus was solely on the day-to-day fight. Adolph Germer, head of the General Defense Committee[1], was placed in charge of the military operations, and his position was made an explicitly military one, with the rank of General. Despite his lack of military experience, Germer’s organizational talents came through. Within days, he had a rough table of organization, formalizing the disparate Red forces into a cohesive military force. The Red Army would soon have proper uniforms and rank insignia…
…The Red Army was generally inexperienced, but their leaders were able to understand the basic strategic position. Debs quickly identified two immediate objectives. First, securing control of Indiana and Ohio, while holding on to Pennsylvania, giving the Reds control of the Steel Belt. Second, the capture or destruction of as much military industry as possible. At this point, America’s arms industry was concentrated in a few locations. One of Germer’s first orders was to Leon Bronstein, now formally a Lieutenant General in command of the Army of Manhattan. Aware of the sheer size of the army Bronstein had assembled, Germer had Bronstein detach two brigades. The first, under Colonel Samuel Orr (formerly chief of the NYPD) would support Governor London in Albany and then move on Rochester. The second, under Brigadier Charles Whittlesley[2], would link up with Brigadier Arthur Reimer[3] in Springfield, then take Boston, Hartford, and Providence. If New England could be brought under Red control, the IWW would control the majority of the nation’s arms industry. The rest of the Army of Manhattan was to take New Jersey and secure Philadelphia’s eastern flank…
- From Red Star Rising: A History of the Second American Revolution by Tom Clancy
[1] IOTL, Germer was a prominent member of the SPA and UMWA. ITTL, he joins the IWW after the UMWA merged with the WFM in 1914.
[2] IOTL, Whittlesley was a member of the SPA for a time but left the party due to its extremism. He went on to command the Lost Battalion in World War I. ITTL, the more moderate electoralism leads him to stay in the party and become radicalized.
[3] Reimer was a member of the IWW and the SLP’s presidential candidate in 1912.
…In Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, the SLP had been in power for two years, long enough that their respective National Guards were firmly under SLP control. The Western governors, particularly Moyer in Colorado and St. Johns in Nevada, immediately moved against the mine bosses, hoping to eliminate them before their security forces joined the federal military. In a delicious irony, the Colorado National Guard employed the “Death Special” armored car against the very company that had commissioned it when they stormed the Colorado Fuel and Iron headquarters in Pueblo. Governor Trautmann ordered the Pennsylvania National Guard to seize the Philadelphia warehouses holding arms and set up defensive positions at York and Gettysburg, guarding the approaches to Harrisburg…
…The situation in Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Washington, and West Virginia was more complex. Governor Stedman of Illinois had only recently arrived in Springfield and opted to flee to Chicago before federal troops arrived. Governor Haywood, on the other hand, had been organizing the recruitment of socialists into the Washington National Guard even before he was elected. His response to Executive Order 2605 was to order a purge of the Washington National Guard. Governor London of New York faced a largely hostile New York National Guard, but Red Guards managed to secure Albany. And even where they did not have local political control, workers rose up across the nation, establishing numerous communes, many of them sadly short-lived…
…In Chicago, Debs threw himself into organizing the war effort. At first, his focus was solely on the day-to-day fight. Adolph Germer, head of the General Defense Committee[1], was placed in charge of the military operations, and his position was made an explicitly military one, with the rank of General. Despite his lack of military experience, Germer’s organizational talents came through. Within days, he had a rough table of organization, formalizing the disparate Red forces into a cohesive military force. The Red Army would soon have proper uniforms and rank insignia…
…The Red Army was generally inexperienced, but their leaders were able to understand the basic strategic position. Debs quickly identified two immediate objectives. First, securing control of Indiana and Ohio, while holding on to Pennsylvania, giving the Reds control of the Steel Belt. Second, the capture or destruction of as much military industry as possible. At this point, America’s arms industry was concentrated in a few locations. One of Germer’s first orders was to Leon Bronstein, now formally a Lieutenant General in command of the Army of Manhattan. Aware of the sheer size of the army Bronstein had assembled, Germer had Bronstein detach two brigades. The first, under Colonel Samuel Orr (formerly chief of the NYPD) would support Governor London in Albany and then move on Rochester. The second, under Brigadier Charles Whittlesley[2], would link up with Brigadier Arthur Reimer[3] in Springfield, then take Boston, Hartford, and Providence. If New England could be brought under Red control, the IWW would control the majority of the nation’s arms industry. The rest of the Army of Manhattan was to take New Jersey and secure Philadelphia’s eastern flank…
- From Red Star Rising: A History of the Second American Revolution by Tom Clancy
[1] IOTL, Germer was a prominent member of the SPA and UMWA. ITTL, he joins the IWW after the UMWA merged with the WFM in 1914.
[2] IOTL, Whittlesley was a member of the SPA for a time but left the party due to its extremism. He went on to command the Lost Battalion in World War I. ITTL, the more moderate electoralism leads him to stay in the party and become radicalized.
[3] Reimer was a member of the IWW and the SLP’s presidential candidate in 1912.
