Cross-posting in reply to your question, though it's plausible ideas as well.
TL-191: Filling the Gaps
- Thread starter Craigo
- Start date
There's a chance Anne Sullivan still comes down from Massachusetts to help her as Keller's parents were desperate to help their daughter. Maybe later when she's an adult, she's under watch by the CSA government during GW1 for her socialist leanings. Then maybe during the rise of Featherston or beforehand, she flees to the US and becomes a prominent Socialist Party activist and champion for equality before, during, and after the Second Great War. My ideas on her life in TL-191.
Spoiler/Preview for tonight
Armed-Freedom Party Guard Units
Armed-Freedom Party Guard Units
- 1st FPG Barrel Division President Jake Featherson's Personal Guard
- 2nd FPG Barrel Division Washington's Raiders
- 3rd FPG Barrel Division Stonewall Jackson
- 4th FPG Interal Security Division
- 5th FPG Barrel Division General Sumter
- 6th FPG Mountain Division Big Lick
- 7th FPG Division Tennessee Volunteers
- 8th FPG Panzer Division Albert Sydney Johnston
- 9th FPG Barrel Division Nathan Bedford Forrest
- 10th FPG National Assault Division Geronimo
- 11th FPG Barrel Division Freedom Youth
- 12th FPG National Assault Division Attorney General Ferdinand Koenig
- 13th FPG Volunteer Division American Patriots
- 14th FPG National Assault Emperor Maxmillian
Armed-Freedom Party Guards
History
The history of the elite Armed Freedom Party Guard units of Featherson's Freedomite Confederate States of America both highlighted the desperate military situation of the Confederacy after the Battle of Pittsburgh and as 1942 lead into 1943. With the constant advance of the US Eleventh Army under US Major General Abner Dowling, Group Leader Jefferson Pinkard brought to Confederate Attorney General Ferdinand Koenig about the thought of using Freedom Party Guard units to reinforce the lagging Confederate Army of West Texas. Hastily brought together, the elite Freedom Party Guard unit, which entered into the fight at Brigade strength, was able to stall and even stagger the Eleventh Army's advance. This singular event persuaded the Attorney General, and Confederate President Jake Featherston to massively expand the Freedom Party Guards field units known from here out as the Armed-Freedom Party Guards to supplement the Confederate Army.
Prior to their initial introduction to field combat, the Armed-Freedom Party Guards already had a relatively intact command structure throughout the Confederacy; every state had numerous Freedom Party Guard "Standard" or Regiment from which to draw units. These were expanded into a full combat Divisions, though they in reality were rarely larger then full combat Brigades, with 14 ultimately used in the final two years of the war. President Featherston tasked Major General Ira C. Eaker, with building up the Armed-Freedom Party Guards, and promoted him to Senior Group Leader of the Freedom Party Guards as it's initial commanding officer, answerable only to Jake Featherston and Attorney General Koenig, much to the chagrin of Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest III.
Senior Group Leader Eaker, organized numerous "Divisions" to be immediately deployed to the front, organized from Freedom Party "Standards" or Regiments, including pulling from President Featherston's personal Freedom Party Guard unit. and giving the lagging Confederate war effort an injection of fresh troops. Lieutenant General Forrest was exceptionally irritated by the creation of these Guards units; not only were they keeping men from conventional Army units, but Senior Group Leader Eaker, with the President's tacit approval, drew tens of thousands of Tredegar Automatic Rifles, Anti-Barrel Rockets and other weapons that were desperately needed. Indeed the Armed-Freedom Party Guards, got priority of supply which drew private rebuke even from Lieutenant General George Patton, the Army of Kentucky's Commander, though he welcome the Armed-FPG reinforcements.
As the war progressed and the Freedom Party Guard's numbers were stretched to the limit, further and further Camp Guard formations were pressed into service, in addition elements of the National Assault Force, Freedom Youth Corps, American POWs and Mexican units brought into from the Empire of Mexico were pressed into Armed Freedom Party Guard units and put to plug the gaps, though it ultimately failed.
Armed Freedom Party Guard units were the last to surrender and in many cases refused the surrender order sent out by President Partridge after the Confederacy as a whole surrendered and made up the hardcore of the post war resistance to the US occupation.
Organization
Drawn from the already existing network of Freedom Party Chapters across the Confederate States, each Division of the Armed Freedom Party Guards was officially a Division, though in practice they were with few exceptions larger then a standard Confederate Army Brigade. As a matter of counter intelligence and subterfuge to hide the size and strength of their units, Eaker shied away from standard Army terms at lower unit sizes. Each Division would be made up of a number of "Standards" rather then Regiments with each Standard made up of a number of Assault Bands, which were Company sized units. While Senior Group Leader Eaker considered the term Squadron, Featherston's continued mistrust of the Freedom Party Stalwarts and their history made him shy away from the term and Assault Band become the standard.
Unlike regular Confederate army units, most Armed-Freedom Party Guard units were given named designations, rather then numbered ones, with the exception being the Divisions themselves. One of the most infamous units of the Armed-Freedom Party Guards was the War Legion Sanders, the Corps level formation commanded by Senior Group Leader Donald Sanders, which was attached to Patton's Army of Kentucky, and fought the hardest rearguard engagements by General Morrel's pursuing Army Group.
Armed-Freedom Party Guard Units
History
The history of the elite Armed Freedom Party Guard units of Featherson's Freedomite Confederate States of America both highlighted the desperate military situation of the Confederacy after the Battle of Pittsburgh and as 1942 lead into 1943. With the constant advance of the US Eleventh Army under US Major General Abner Dowling, Group Leader Jefferson Pinkard brought to Confederate Attorney General Ferdinand Koenig about the thought of using Freedom Party Guard units to reinforce the lagging Confederate Army of West Texas. Hastily brought together, the elite Freedom Party Guard unit, which entered into the fight at Brigade strength, was able to stall and even stagger the Eleventh Army's advance. This singular event persuaded the Attorney General, and Confederate President Jake Featherston to massively expand the Freedom Party Guards field units known from here out as the Armed-Freedom Party Guards to supplement the Confederate Army.
Prior to their initial introduction to field combat, the Armed-Freedom Party Guards already had a relatively intact command structure throughout the Confederacy; every state had numerous Freedom Party Guard "Standard" or Regiment from which to draw units. These were expanded into a full combat Divisions, though they in reality were rarely larger then full combat Brigades, with 14 ultimately used in the final two years of the war. President Featherston tasked Major General Ira C. Eaker, with building up the Armed-Freedom Party Guards, and promoted him to Senior Group Leader of the Freedom Party Guards as it's initial commanding officer, answerable only to Jake Featherston and Attorney General Koenig, much to the chagrin of Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest III.
Senior Group Leader Eaker, organized numerous "Divisions" to be immediately deployed to the front, organized from Freedom Party "Standards" or Regiments, including pulling from President Featherston's personal Freedom Party Guard unit. and giving the lagging Confederate war effort an injection of fresh troops. Lieutenant General Forrest was exceptionally irritated by the creation of these Guards units; not only were they keeping men from conventional Army units, but Senior Group Leader Eaker, with the President's tacit approval, drew tens of thousands of Tredegar Automatic Rifles, Anti-Barrel Rockets and other weapons that were desperately needed. Indeed the Armed-Freedom Party Guards, got priority of supply which drew private rebuke even from Lieutenant General George Patton, the Army of Kentucky's Commander, though he welcome the Armed-FPG reinforcements.
As the war progressed and the Freedom Party Guard's numbers were stretched to the limit, further and further Camp Guard formations were pressed into service, in addition elements of the National Assault Force, Freedom Youth Corps, American POWs and Mexican units brought into from the Empire of Mexico were pressed into Armed Freedom Party Guard units and put to plug the gaps, though it ultimately failed.
Armed Freedom Party Guard units were the last to surrender and in many cases refused the surrender order sent out by President Partridge after the Confederacy as a whole surrendered and made up the hardcore of the post war resistance to the US occupation.
Organization
Drawn from the already existing network of Freedom Party Chapters across the Confederate States, each Division of the Armed Freedom Party Guards was officially a Division, though in practice they were with few exceptions larger then a standard Confederate Army Brigade. As a matter of counter intelligence and subterfuge to hide the size and strength of their units, Eaker shied away from standard Army terms at lower unit sizes. Each Division would be made up of a number of "Standards" rather then Regiments with each Standard made up of a number of Assault Bands, which were Company sized units. While Senior Group Leader Eaker considered the term Squadron, Featherston's continued mistrust of the Freedom Party Stalwarts and their history made him shy away from the term and Assault Band become the standard.
Unlike regular Confederate army units, most Armed-Freedom Party Guard units were given named designations, rather then numbered ones, with the exception being the Divisions themselves. One of the most infamous units of the Armed-Freedom Party Guards was the War Legion Sanders, the Corps level formation commanded by Senior Group Leader Donald Sanders, which was attached to Patton's Army of Kentucky, and fought the hardest rearguard engagements by General Morrel's pursuing Army Group.
Armed-Freedom Party Guard Units
- 1st FPG Barrel Division Jake Featherson's Presidential Guard
- 2nd FPG Internal Security Division
- 3rd FPG Barrel Division Washington's Minutemen
- 4th FPG Barrel Division Stonewall Jackson
- 5th FPG Barrel Division PGT Beauregard
- 6th FPG Mountain Division Big Lick
- 7th FPG Division Tennessee Volunteers
- 8th FPG Panzer Division Albert Sydney Johnston
- 9th FPG Barrel Division Edward Clark
- 10th FPG National Assault Division Geronimo
- 11th FPG Barrel Division Freedom Youth
- 12th FPG National Assault Division Attorney General Ferdinand Koenig
- 13th FPG National Assault Emperor Maxmillian
- 14th FPG Volunteer Division American Patriots
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By the way, on the issue of the Second Republic of Texas: What did the Union forces do to give them a pass? Surely they'd have to check everyone who's part of the new provisional government and the soldiers who defected from the CS Army.
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It was probably a part of the deal to get peace with the United States; the new Acting President gets immunity from prosecution, he agrees to hand over essentially all Freedom Party Officials who don't join his administration and any CS Army troops that didn't withdraw to Louisiana and Chihuahua.
The Second Texan Republic exists because the United States allows it though they aren't totally screwed like Deseret would have been; they have a major and substantial port at Galveston and can perform independent international trade and even with the lost land still has huge reserves of oil to keep their economy going
1st FPG Barrel Division Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard
The unit that would go down in history as the most fanatical unit of the falling Confederacy started off as the personal bodyguard of Jake Featherston, pulled from the most loyal and best trained Party Stalwarts eventually grew to a full division sized unit and was ultimately one of the very last units to surrender and ultimately not all of it did.
Early History
Following the assassination of President Wade Hampton V, Jake Featherston and Ferdinand Koenig jointly decided that Jake Featherston's security was the most important part to the future of the Party and ultimately decided to pull together a new bodyguard unit charged solely with Jake Featherson's security. With such a large amount of out of work veterans in Richmond, there was no shortage of volunteers for the new unit, and thus the Freedom Party Guard was born.
The initial unit was placed under the command of Hiram McCullough, an infantryman and Great War recipient of the Confederate Cross. Originally a Sergeant, like Jake Featherson, despite him being a Commanding Officer of the unit, Featherson's continued dislike of the Officer Corps made him create a new ranking system specifically for the Freedom Party Guards, based on the ad-hoc system that Freedom Party Stalwarts already used when they were attacking opposing political parties and rallies. Hiram McCullough was appointed as a Standard Leader, the equal of a Colonel of the regular Army and making him higher ranking then any other Stalwart or Guard so he could have direct command over Featherston's security regardless of where he was.
The Freedom Party Guards, which initially began as a small platoon of soldiers that surrounded Featherston, was expanded over the next ten years, with Guards being pulled from Stalwarts from every Freedom Party chapter in the country, generally from the best disciplined Stalwarts, and Great War Veterans with the best service records. Many others were pulled from returning veterans from the Mexican Civil War that had no job to return to. The best of these were brought directly to Richmond to serve under McCullough until the Guard unit surrounding Featherston was expanded from the size of a platoon to a full Battalion.
President Featherston First Term
Following the inauguration of Jake Featherston as President of the Confederate States, the Featherston's personal guard unit was expanded again, by absorbing the Confederate Secret Service, the government service originally designated for protecting the Confederate President into itself, bulking Featherston's guard unit up to the size of a full Regiment. The unit was renamed into the Freedom Party Guard Standard Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard. Being tasked to the FPG Regiment JFPG, was considered the single greatest honour that a Freedom Party Guard could achieve, and its strict combat structure was passed on to other "Standards" across the Confederacy eventually with every State in the Confederacy having their own Standard. This would ensure that President Featherston would be protected wherever he went, and Richmond would be protected by the most elite Freedom Party Guards in the country, which was joined with the local Richmond Standard, Washington's Minutemen.
Following Willy Knight's attempted coup, the Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard was brought to the forefront, with it's equipment being matched to the Confederate Army, so that it could better protect the President.
During the occupation and de-facto invasion of Louisiana Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard was one of the spearhead units that went into the state to restore order, along with two other Standards of Freedom Party Guards. Hiram McCullough was promoted to Brigade Leader as the commander of the three Standards, with this being the first time the Freedom Party Guards were used in any combat capacity.
Second Great War
Just prior to the outbreak of the Second Great War in North America, Stalwarts and Confederate men across the country had joined the Confederate Army in droves, however President Featherston exempted the Freedom Party Guards from conscription, laying an Presidential Order that designated them as crucial to Confederate internal security. While the Confederate General Staff had reservation, having wanted to pull men from the three Freedom Party Guard Standards that were now in Virginia, to join the Army of Northern Virginia, the President refused to yield and ultimately the subject was dropped, though after President Featherston started making trips to the frontline to observe the fighting, Brigade Leader McCullough allowed rotating Assault Bands (Battalions) to serve with the Army of Northern Virginia to garner actual combat experience, and be able to better defend the President when he made his trips to the frontline in case of possible Yankee attack.
The largest expansion of Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard occured in early 1943 when the first Armed-Freedom Party Guard unit had seen action in West Texas. Following it's relative success, newly minted Senior Group Leader Ira C. Eaker sought to massively expand the combat capabilities of the Freedom Party Guard across the Confederacy. Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard was the very first unit that got the attention. Thanks to McCullough's foresight of sending rotating units to the frontline in Virginia, the Presidential Guard was already filled with combat veterans and it took little time to bring together three other Standards of Freedom Party Guards and upgrade the Presidential Guard into a full combat Division. President Featherston insisted that the 1st FPG Division be given the best equipment the Confederacy had, and it was upgraded to a full Barrel Division, with some of the most experienced tank crews the Confederacy had left that weren't attached to Patton's Army of Kentucky brought together into it. McCullough was promoted to Group Leader, now commanding a full Division, though a small number of the Division was held back to remain as President Featherston's personal bodyguard.
The 1st FPG Barrel Division was sent north to reinforce the Army of Northern Virginia, and held back the line even as General Daniel MacArthur had begun a new offensive. The defensive fighting favoured the defenders, as it always did, and they were able to beat back several US assaults, though the 1st FPG Barrel Division suffered when it's commanders insisted on performing needless counter attacks.
It was later redeployed to Tennessee and Georgia and joined War Legion Sanders as part of a Corps level attachment to the Army of Kentucky that driving into the Confederacy. Attached with the newest barrels that had rolled off the line, 1st FPG Barrel Division served as the spearhead of General Patton's attempted counter attack, though US Air Supremacy and Counter Intelligence stalled the assault before it could barely begin. With much of it's combat strength expanded from US Air Pressure and the eventual US counter attacks, the 1st FPG was withdrawn from the line and brought back to Atlanta for refit.
It didn't remain in Atlanta long; following the failed assassination of President Featherston the 1st FPG Barrel Division was recalled to Richmond to remain in defense of President Featherston for the remainder of the war, though a full Standard of the 1st FPG would be apart of the Battle of Richmond, fighting out of the ruins of the Gray House and the Confederate Capitol. Following the fall of Richmond, and President Featherston's flee south, the 1st FPG Barrel Division was mostly a paper unit, having never recovered the lost barrels or Barrel Busters with the bulk of it's veterans and combat capable units having been wiped out, leaving it's a shell of it's former south, barely at Regimental strength.
During the twilight months of the war, the 1st FPG Barrel Division fought as apart of the nascent and mostly paper Army of the Carolinas as apart of some of the final units of the Confederate States being squeezed between Morrel's pincer in the west and south and MacArthur's thrust from the north. Group Leader McCullough was made commander of the Army of the Carolinas and ordered to fight onto the end, though McCollough knew the end was already in sight.
When President Don Partridge finally surrendered, the Army of the Carolinas was the last field Army to surrender, with Group Leader McCullough surrendering personally to General Daniel MacArthur when his headquarters in North Carolina was finally overrun. While the bulk of the 1st FPG Barrel Division surrendered with McCullough, so of the most hardcore units continued to fight out of the Congaree swamps for months and years afterwards, ironically like the Red Rebellion did many years earlier.
The unit that would go down in history as the most fanatical unit of the falling Confederacy started off as the personal bodyguard of Jake Featherston, pulled from the most loyal and best trained Party Stalwarts eventually grew to a full division sized unit and was ultimately one of the very last units to surrender and ultimately not all of it did.
Early History
Following the assassination of President Wade Hampton V, Jake Featherston and Ferdinand Koenig jointly decided that Jake Featherston's security was the most important part to the future of the Party and ultimately decided to pull together a new bodyguard unit charged solely with Jake Featherson's security. With such a large amount of out of work veterans in Richmond, there was no shortage of volunteers for the new unit, and thus the Freedom Party Guard was born.
The initial unit was placed under the command of Hiram McCullough, an infantryman and Great War recipient of the Confederate Cross. Originally a Sergeant, like Jake Featherson, despite him being a Commanding Officer of the unit, Featherson's continued dislike of the Officer Corps made him create a new ranking system specifically for the Freedom Party Guards, based on the ad-hoc system that Freedom Party Stalwarts already used when they were attacking opposing political parties and rallies. Hiram McCullough was appointed as a Standard Leader, the equal of a Colonel of the regular Army and making him higher ranking then any other Stalwart or Guard so he could have direct command over Featherston's security regardless of where he was.
The Freedom Party Guards, which initially began as a small platoon of soldiers that surrounded Featherston, was expanded over the next ten years, with Guards being pulled from Stalwarts from every Freedom Party chapter in the country, generally from the best disciplined Stalwarts, and Great War Veterans with the best service records. Many others were pulled from returning veterans from the Mexican Civil War that had no job to return to. The best of these were brought directly to Richmond to serve under McCullough until the Guard unit surrounding Featherston was expanded from the size of a platoon to a full Battalion.
President Featherston First Term
Following the inauguration of Jake Featherston as President of the Confederate States, the Featherston's personal guard unit was expanded again, by absorbing the Confederate Secret Service, the government service originally designated for protecting the Confederate President into itself, bulking Featherston's guard unit up to the size of a full Regiment. The unit was renamed into the Freedom Party Guard Standard Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard. Being tasked to the FPG Regiment JFPG, was considered the single greatest honour that a Freedom Party Guard could achieve, and its strict combat structure was passed on to other "Standards" across the Confederacy eventually with every State in the Confederacy having their own Standard. This would ensure that President Featherston would be protected wherever he went, and Richmond would be protected by the most elite Freedom Party Guards in the country, which was joined with the local Richmond Standard, Washington's Minutemen.
Following Willy Knight's attempted coup, the Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard was brought to the forefront, with it's equipment being matched to the Confederate Army, so that it could better protect the President.
During the occupation and de-facto invasion of Louisiana Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard was one of the spearhead units that went into the state to restore order, along with two other Standards of Freedom Party Guards. Hiram McCullough was promoted to Brigade Leader as the commander of the three Standards, with this being the first time the Freedom Party Guards were used in any combat capacity.
Second Great War
Just prior to the outbreak of the Second Great War in North America, Stalwarts and Confederate men across the country had joined the Confederate Army in droves, however President Featherston exempted the Freedom Party Guards from conscription, laying an Presidential Order that designated them as crucial to Confederate internal security. While the Confederate General Staff had reservation, having wanted to pull men from the three Freedom Party Guard Standards that were now in Virginia, to join the Army of Northern Virginia, the President refused to yield and ultimately the subject was dropped, though after President Featherston started making trips to the frontline to observe the fighting, Brigade Leader McCullough allowed rotating Assault Bands (Battalions) to serve with the Army of Northern Virginia to garner actual combat experience, and be able to better defend the President when he made his trips to the frontline in case of possible Yankee attack.
The largest expansion of Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard occured in early 1943 when the first Armed-Freedom Party Guard unit had seen action in West Texas. Following it's relative success, newly minted Senior Group Leader Ira C. Eaker sought to massively expand the combat capabilities of the Freedom Party Guard across the Confederacy. Jake Featherston's Presidential Guard was the very first unit that got the attention. Thanks to McCullough's foresight of sending rotating units to the frontline in Virginia, the Presidential Guard was already filled with combat veterans and it took little time to bring together three other Standards of Freedom Party Guards and upgrade the Presidential Guard into a full combat Division. President Featherston insisted that the 1st FPG Division be given the best equipment the Confederacy had, and it was upgraded to a full Barrel Division, with some of the most experienced tank crews the Confederacy had left that weren't attached to Patton's Army of Kentucky brought together into it. McCullough was promoted to Group Leader, now commanding a full Division, though a small number of the Division was held back to remain as President Featherston's personal bodyguard.
The 1st FPG Barrel Division was sent north to reinforce the Army of Northern Virginia, and held back the line even as General Daniel MacArthur had begun a new offensive. The defensive fighting favoured the defenders, as it always did, and they were able to beat back several US assaults, though the 1st FPG Barrel Division suffered when it's commanders insisted on performing needless counter attacks.
It was later redeployed to Tennessee and Georgia and joined War Legion Sanders as part of a Corps level attachment to the Army of Kentucky that driving into the Confederacy. Attached with the newest barrels that had rolled off the line, 1st FPG Barrel Division served as the spearhead of General Patton's attempted counter attack, though US Air Supremacy and Counter Intelligence stalled the assault before it could barely begin. With much of it's combat strength expanded from US Air Pressure and the eventual US counter attacks, the 1st FPG was withdrawn from the line and brought back to Atlanta for refit.
It didn't remain in Atlanta long; following the failed assassination of President Featherston the 1st FPG Barrel Division was recalled to Richmond to remain in defense of President Featherston for the remainder of the war, though a full Standard of the 1st FPG would be apart of the Battle of Richmond, fighting out of the ruins of the Gray House and the Confederate Capitol. Following the fall of Richmond, and President Featherston's flee south, the 1st FPG Barrel Division was mostly a paper unit, having never recovered the lost barrels or Barrel Busters with the bulk of it's veterans and combat capable units having been wiped out, leaving it's a shell of it's former south, barely at Regimental strength.
During the twilight months of the war, the 1st FPG Barrel Division fought as apart of the nascent and mostly paper Army of the Carolinas as apart of some of the final units of the Confederate States being squeezed between Morrel's pincer in the west and south and MacArthur's thrust from the north. Group Leader McCullough was made commander of the Army of the Carolinas and ordered to fight onto the end, though McCollough knew the end was already in sight.
When President Don Partridge finally surrendered, the Army of the Carolinas was the last field Army to surrender, with Group Leader McCullough surrendering personally to General Daniel MacArthur when his headquarters in North Carolina was finally overrun. While the bulk of the 1st FPG Barrel Division surrendered with McCullough, so of the most hardcore units continued to fight out of the Congaree swamps for months and years afterwards, ironically like the Red Rebellion did many years earlier.
Nice one. Any plans on making post on elite CS Military squads (e.g. like Großdeutschland Division, Brandenburgers, Fallschirmjäger from OTL)?
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Don't think this has been asked, but what becomes of Confederate veterans after the war?
Thanks a million! I do indeed, I want to get through the rest of the Armed-FPG Divisions.
After that I'll probably make a post on the Confederate 4th Barrel Division (Patton's favorite spearhead) the Tom Colleton's Regiment (ill make a new for it later) as it has the distinction of being in the harshest fighting, got closest to the River in Pittsburgh and was essentially the last Regiment standing.
Also a Virginia volunteer Mountain Brigade and Potter's Raiders
They were forcibly de-mobilized and told yo stand down. Most just went back to their civilian lives, some picked up arms and joined the Confederate Resistance.
I'm sure in the years after the war there would be a push by Confederate veterans to get their pensions and benefits respected by the Yankees as long as they had "honorable" service records and had nothing to do with the Freedom Party or the Population Reduction
Also a small project I'll be working on is the Confederate Army Order of Battle during the Second Great War
I've noted that the Confederacy mostly names their Armies based on geographic location, harkening back to the Civil War as a matter I assume of history and tradition. While Featherston was willing to shake a lot of apples loose, this was one he did to encourage Esprit de corps and morale.
Thus far I've got
Army of Kentucky - Primary assault force for the entire war, that eventually came under Lieutenant General Patton's command
Army of Northern Virginia - Defensive force responsible for the defense of the eastern Confederate frontier and Virginia itself. Under the command of Hank Coomer until it was forced to surrender in 1944.
Army of Tennessee - Initially a reserve army that was created fill in the gaps after the Army of Kentucky's explosive assault into Ohio and Pennsylvania. It's elements fought the grinding campaign back through Tennessee though it was ultimately sacrificed by Patton to allow his Army of Kentucky the ability to withdraw first to Georgia and then later Alabama.
Army of Georgia - A secondary reserve force that was supposed to be a paper unit to organize anti-partisan activities throughout the Cotton Belt during the war, was later thrown into combat after Morrel's Army Group West invaded into the Confederacy. Fought in the final days of the war after the Confederacy was cut in half. Later linked up with the Army of the Carolinas and jointly surrendered.
Army of the Carolinas - A paper reserve unit to organize the militia and reserves of the Confederacy's eastern States. After the fall of Richmond and most of Virginia was formally activated by President Featherston to protect North and South Carolina, though it was mostly a paper unit with little actual combat strength. Linked up with the Army of Georgia before both were forced to surrender.
Army of West Texas - A defensive force that had to handle all operations from Texas and onwards west. Initially only two Divisions strong, with half of it's strength dedicated to protecting against US Major General Abner Dowling's Eleventh Army, the rest of it's strength was split between the rest of the Confederacy's frontier. Most of it surrendered when Texas left the Confederacy, with some final elements fighting out of Chihuahua and some having retreated into Louisiana.
Army of Florida - Responsible for the defense of the Confederacy's southern coastline and all responsible for the defense of Cuba and later occupied Confederate island, with the Confederate Marine Corps ultimately coming under it's command.
Army of the Appalachans - A paper formation created purely to fool the Yankees intelligence to believe that the primary thrust from the Yankees would come out of Virginia rather then into Ohio. No combat units were ever attached though it had a Headquarters and a staff attached.
War Legion Sanders - The only Armed-Freedom Party Guard formation that fought above the Division level. As the war was falling apart and Featherston put more stock in the Armed-Freedom Party Guards, Senior Group Leader Sanders grew to command all Armed Freedom Party Guard units that fought initially with Patton's Army of Kentucky, was later split off into it's own command (Similar to the Sixth SS Panzer Army)
I've noted that the Confederacy mostly names their Armies based on geographic location, harkening back to the Civil War as a matter I assume of history and tradition. While Featherston was willing to shake a lot of apples loose, this was one he did to encourage Esprit de corps and morale.
Thus far I've got
Army of Kentucky - Primary assault force for the entire war, that eventually came under Lieutenant General Patton's command
Army of Northern Virginia - Defensive force responsible for the defense of the eastern Confederate frontier and Virginia itself. Under the command of Hank Coomer until it was forced to surrender in 1944.
Army of Tennessee - Initially a reserve army that was created fill in the gaps after the Army of Kentucky's explosive assault into Ohio and Pennsylvania. It's elements fought the grinding campaign back through Tennessee though it was ultimately sacrificed by Patton to allow his Army of Kentucky the ability to withdraw first to Georgia and then later Alabama.
Army of Georgia - A secondary reserve force that was supposed to be a paper unit to organize anti-partisan activities throughout the Cotton Belt during the war, was later thrown into combat after Morrel's Army Group West invaded into the Confederacy. Fought in the final days of the war after the Confederacy was cut in half. Later linked up with the Army of the Carolinas and jointly surrendered.
Army of the Carolinas - A paper reserve unit to organize the militia and reserves of the Confederacy's eastern States. After the fall of Richmond and most of Virginia was formally activated by President Featherston to protect North and South Carolina, though it was mostly a paper unit with little actual combat strength. Linked up with the Army of Georgia before both were forced to surrender.
Army of West Texas - A defensive force that had to handle all operations from Texas and onwards west. Initially only two Divisions strong, with half of it's strength dedicated to protecting against US Major General Abner Dowling's Eleventh Army, the rest of it's strength was split between the rest of the Confederacy's frontier. Most of it surrendered when Texas left the Confederacy, with some final elements fighting out of Chihuahua and some having retreated into Louisiana.
Army of Florida - Responsible for the defense of the Confederacy's southern coastline and all responsible for the defense of Cuba and later occupied Confederate island, with the Confederate Marine Corps ultimately coming under it's command.
Army of the Appalachans - A paper formation created purely to fool the Yankees intelligence to believe that the primary thrust from the Yankees would come out of Virginia rather then into Ohio. No combat units were ever attached though it had a Headquarters and a staff attached.
War Legion Sanders - The only Armed-Freedom Party Guard formation that fought above the Division level. As the war was falling apart and Featherston put more stock in the Armed-Freedom Party Guards, Senior Group Leader Sanders grew to command all Armed Freedom Party Guard units that fought initially with Patton's Army of Kentucky, was later split off into it's own command (Similar to the Sixth SS Panzer Army)
Nice! Any plans on collaborator units from the US? I've had ideas on William Dudley Pelley and his Silver Legion, and others have as well on the Photos thread. I've also considered Gerald Burton Winrod as a potential collaborator. There's also this post by President Mahan on George Van Horn Moseley as one collaborator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Legion_of_America
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Burton_Winrod
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dudley_Pelley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Legion_of_America
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Burton_Winrod
Here's a similar but distinct post that Marlowski did a while back on the Photos thread. You can use it to build ideas from it but of course everyone's entitled to their own head canon ideas.
The Story of the 1st Honor Guards Motorized Divison of the President Jacob Featherston
A blurry photograph of three soldiers from the 1st Honor Guards Bridgade of the President Jacob Featherston on a military exercise outside of Richmond, circa December of 1935. Note that they are wearing brown overcoats on top of their grey uniforms.
During the days of when the Freedom Party was building up to it's final victory in 1933, Jacob Featherston would be guarded a special unit of Stalwarts called the Freedom Party Guards, which was led by a man named Joseph "Fitz" Locke. Following his rise to power, Featherston would reform a section of the Freedom Party Guards until a specialized unit that was to guard him and the Grey House, it was named the 1st Honor Guards Regiment of the President Jacob Featherston or the HGRJF.
A photograph of Brigade Leader Fitz Locke, circa 1938.
View attachment 520082
The emblem adopted by the 1st Honor Guards Regiment in 1934 was a white key on a blue shield, which was inspired by the surname their commander. Aside from being worn on the should sleeves as patches, this emblem would also be painted onto the unit's vehicles. The Union Army would often refer to the division as simply the Key Division.
The unit's uniform while guarding the Grey House was a grey uniform that was heavily influenced by the Confederate Army Uniforms of the War of Secession, and until 1937, would wear the Brodie Helmet in grey until being replaced by the Sydenham Helmet, which was also painted in grey.
An M-1937 Helmet from the 1st Honor Guards Dress Uniform from a private collection, circa 2017.
Throughout the 1930s, the Honor Guards would grow in size, from a regiment, to a brigade, and in November of 1940, would be made a full division and would be reformed as an motorized infantry division as well. By this time their combat uniform would change from Confederate Grey to camouflage uniforms (though many of the Division's officers would retain their grey uniforms. In 1937, the unit would take part in the invasion of Louisiana , in which the men would engage the State Police and the Longist Militia and would also imprison and execute many of the state officials. The Honor Guards would also be heavily involved of quashing Willy Knight's coup by arresting Knight and many of the associates and even executing some of them at Georgia State Prison.
Members of the 1st Honor Guard in Ohio during Operation Blackbeard, circa 1941.
When Operation Blackbeard was unleashed in August of 1941, the 1st Honor Guard Division would be deployed to the western sector of the operation, in which they would be involved in the fighting around Northern Cincinnati, Dayton, and even advancing as far as Prattville in southern Michigan. There, the unit would infamously commit the Prattville Massacre*, which they would execute 80 captured Union soldiers in a barn near the hamlet under the orders of Assault Band Leader William Morris**. After about a month around Prattville, the Division then attempted an advance towards Lansing (as part of a plan to encircle Detroit) alongside the Regular Army's 2nd and 21st Infantry and 7th Armored Division, but only advanced as far as the banks of the Grand River, which was situated between Lansing and the city of Jackson Michigan before being order to halt by none other than The Snake himself. Thus proving to be the furthest north that Operation Blackbeard ever got, and the Confederate forces were then ordered to fall to back to the city of Jackson to which they stayed there until November of 1941 when they were pulled off from the front for rest and refit in Dayton. In the Spring of 1942, the Honor Guards Division would be ordered to take part in Operation Jupiter, which was a Confederate attempt to encircle the city of Detroit, but they were stopped dead in their tracks in the Battle of Fowlerville on May 19th. Following a period of refitting following the Operation Jupiter debacle, the division would be committed to Operation Coalscuttle and would fight in the area south of Pittsburgh, getting involved in fierce fighting around the towns of Washington, Monongahela, and Donora, which was the fighting in Donora was considered a "Little Pittsburgh" due to the intensity of the fighting. Following the Battle of Donora, the badly depleted division would be transferred out of the Pittsburgh region and would spend five months in Tennessee for rest and refitting. During the Union Counter-Offensive known as Operation Rosebud, the Division would be deployed to try and halt the advance of the Yankees, but were forced back across the Ohio, where they would attempt to stop the Union Offensive, but were battered during the Union Army's drive through Kentucky and Tennessee, fighting around the regions of Lexington and London Kentucky and in the region of Knoxville Tennessee.
The corpses of the colored soldiers of the Union Army in the snow near the town of Newport, Tennessee, circa January of 1944.
On January 14th, 1944, the unit from the Honor Guard led by John Piper**** would commit one of the most infamous war crimes of the war***. Following a skirmish in the town of Newport Tennessee, the Freedom Party Guards unit would capture about 100 black soldiers from the Union Army 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion. Piper would order them out on to an open field near the town and would order his machine-gunners to shoot them, killing 84 of the POWs. A few days later after the Confederates left the area, the graves would be discovered by the Union Army and after the war, a trial would be held where Piper was found guilty of the crime and would be sentenced for 30 years hard labor, but was released in 1962 and was eventually killed by the Black Panthers in 1977.
In the last months of the war, the 1st Honor Guards would be split up, with one detachment under Morris being involved in the fighting in and around Richmond, which they fought on until finally being defeated in July of 1944. The 2nd Group under Brigade Leader Howard D. Wilkes would fight against the Union Army in North Carolina, fighting within the vicinity of Charlotte, Albemarle, and Fayettesville before ultimately surrendering to the Union Army at Fort Bragg in July of 1944. After the war, Fitz Locke would be brought to trial at the Nashville War Crimes Tribunal and was charged with a life imprisonment sentence, and would eventually die in prison in 1962.
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Inspirations:
1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich
* = Wormhoudt Massacre
** = Wilhelm Mohnke
*** = Malmedy Massacre
**** = Joachim Peiper
Honestly entirely missed that, I'll probably use elements of that in another post. The FPG weren't known to be in front line combat until 1943 which is one of few reasons I didn't have the 1st FPG Barrel in Operation Blackbeard of Coalscuttle, but as noted we all have our own Head Canons.
I try to remain as close to other peoples work as I can, so I may remake my post into another FPG unit or simply take some elements to incorporate into another unit.
As for collaborators units I did indeed
The 14th FPG Volunteer National Assault Division American Patriots was going to be the most infamous. It was going to be comprised of collaborators, Union POWs and Freedom Party Guard units "recruited" from occupied states or Confederate sympathizers
I try to remain as close to other peoples work as I can, so I may remake my post into another FPG unit or simply take some elements to incorporate into another unit.
As for collaborators units I did indeed
The 14th FPG Volunteer National Assault Division American Patriots was going to be the most infamous. It was going to be comprised of collaborators, Union POWs and Freedom Party Guard units "recruited" from occupied states or Confederate sympathizers
Also note from your post that Ira C. Eaker was an Air Force general IOTL, but he could probably switch from there to the FPG or hold a dual command.
Honestly entirely missed that, I'll probably use elements of that in another post. The FPG weren't known to be in front line combat until 1943 which is one of few reasons I didn't have the 1st FPG Barrel in Operation Blackbeard of Coalscuttle, but as noted we all have our own Head Canons.
I try to remain as close to other peoples work as I can, so I may remake my post into another FPG unit or simply take some elements to incorporate into another unit.
As for collaborators units I did indeed
The 14th FPG Volunteer National Assault Division American Patriots was going to be the most infamous. It was going to be comprised of collaborators, Union POWs and Freedom Party Guard units "recruited" from occupied states or Confederate sympathizers
Indeed; I used Eaker as a Brigadier General and then FPG Officer with influence from Nathan Bedford Forrest III, in OTL he was also an Air Force General, but in TL-191 was the Confederate Chief of the General Staff. Part of the backstory is that he was a Fighter Pilot during the Great War, which when the Confederate Air Corps was forced to demobilise he was kept as part of the Black Staff (the secret Confederate General Staff Craigo and President Mahan went into detail about). Thus by the time the SGW broke out he was a competent officer with knowledge of both Air combat and ground combat.
Top Fighter Aces of the Second Great War
Quadruple Powers:
Erich Hartmann - Germany
Total Air Victories: 352
Unit(s): JG-52
Commands Held: I-JG-52
Aircraft Flown: He-100, D. 109
Walter Nowotny - Austria-Hungary
Total Air Victories: 232
Unit(s): KGO-27. KGO-11, KGO-64
Commands Held: KGO-11
Aircraft Flown: Avia B-135, L.W. 175, B. 75
Richard Bong - United States of America
Total Air Victories: 114
Unit(s): 49th Fighter Group
Aircraft Flown: P-38 Lightning
Witold Urbanowicz - Poland
Total Air Victories: 72
Unit(s): No. 114 Squadron
Aircraft Flown PZL. 50, FW-190
Ayaz Erkmen† - Ottoman Empire
Total Air Victories: 63
Unit(s): 10th Pursuit Squadron, 13th Fighter Squadron
Aircraft Flown: Curtiss Model 75, D. 109
Date of Death: September 27, 1943 near Cairo
Cause of Death: British Anti-Aircraft fire
Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen - Finland
Total Air Victories: 38.5
Unit(s): LeLv 24, LeLv 34
Aircraft Flown: Fokker D. XXI, D. 109
Paddy Finucane† - Ireland/USA
Total Air Victories: 21
Unit(s): 382nd Free Irish Fighter Squadron
Aircraft Flown: P-24 Hawk, P-27G Sky Shark
Date of Death: November of 1943 over Chattanooga
Cause of Death: Shot down by a Hound-Dog
Stoyan Stoyanov - Bulgaria
Total Air Victories: 15
Unit(s): No. 44 Squadron
Aircraft Flown: Avia B-35, Avia B-135
Svein Heglund - Norway
Total Air Victories: 14
Unit(s): JG-81(n)
Aircraft Flown: He-100
Liu Zhesheng - China
Total Air Victories: 11.3
Aircraft Flown: Curtiss Model 75
Radius Powers:
Ivan Kozhedub - Russian Empire
Total Air Victories: 171
Unit(s): 240th Fighter Regiment
Aircraft Flown: La-5FN
Jack Ifrey - Confederate States of America
Total Air Victories: 147
Unit(s): 20th and 44th Fighter Squadrons.
Units Commanded: 44th Fighter Squadron and the Homeland Fighter Defense Command
Aircraft Flown: Hound-Dog and A44 Raptor
Tetsuzo Iwamoto
Total Air Victories: 80 (23 were British Aircraft) + 14 more victories in the Sino-Japanese War.
Unit(s): 12th Air Group, Zuikaku
Aircraft Flown: A6M Zero
Marcel Albert - France
Total Air Victories: 62.5
Unit(s): GdC I/3, GdC I/43
Aircraft Flown: Dewoitine D. 520
Pat Pattle† - South Africa
Total Air Victories: 53
Unit(s): No. 80 Squadron RAF
Aircraft Flown: Hawker Hurricane
Date of Death: April 20th, 1942 over Mittelafrika
Cause of Death: Shot down by Kaiserliche Luftwaffe Ju-22
James Edgar Johnson - Britain
Total Air Victories: 46
Unit Commanded: No. 610 Squadron, No. 144 and 127 Wings
Aircraft Flown: Spitfire
Clive Caldwell - Australia
Total Air Victories: 28.5
Unit Commanded: No. 112 Squadron RAF, No. 1 and 80 Wings RAAF
Aircraft Flown: Hurricane, Spitfire
Edgar Kain† - New Zealand
Total Air Victories: 16
Unit(s): No. 73 Squadron
Aircraft Flown: Hurricane
Date of Death: June 7th, 1942
Cause of Death: Shot down by a German FW-190
Carlos Faustinos - Mexico
Total Air Victories: 14
Aircraft Flown: Hound Dog
Quadruple Powers:
Erich Hartmann - Germany
Total Air Victories: 352
Unit(s): JG-52
Commands Held: I-JG-52
Aircraft Flown: He-100, D. 109
Walter Nowotny - Austria-Hungary
Total Air Victories: 232
Unit(s): KGO-27. KGO-11, KGO-64
Commands Held: KGO-11
Aircraft Flown: Avia B-135, L.W. 175, B. 75
Richard Bong - United States of America
Total Air Victories: 114
Unit(s): 49th Fighter Group
Aircraft Flown: P-38 Lightning
Witold Urbanowicz - Poland
Total Air Victories: 72
Unit(s): No. 114 Squadron
Aircraft Flown PZL. 50, FW-190
Ayaz Erkmen† - Ottoman Empire
Total Air Victories: 63
Unit(s): 10th Pursuit Squadron, 13th Fighter Squadron
Aircraft Flown: Curtiss Model 75, D. 109
Date of Death: September 27, 1943 near Cairo
Cause of Death: British Anti-Aircraft fire
Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen - Finland
Total Air Victories: 38.5
Unit(s): LeLv 24, LeLv 34
Aircraft Flown: Fokker D. XXI, D. 109
Paddy Finucane† - Ireland/USA
Total Air Victories: 21
Unit(s): 382nd Free Irish Fighter Squadron
Aircraft Flown: P-24 Hawk, P-27G Sky Shark
Date of Death: November of 1943 over Chattanooga
Cause of Death: Shot down by a Hound-Dog
Stoyan Stoyanov - Bulgaria
Total Air Victories: 15
Unit(s): No. 44 Squadron
Aircraft Flown: Avia B-35, Avia B-135
Svein Heglund - Norway
Total Air Victories: 14
Unit(s): JG-81(n)
Aircraft Flown: He-100
Liu Zhesheng - China
Total Air Victories: 11.3
Aircraft Flown: Curtiss Model 75
Radius Powers:
Ivan Kozhedub - Russian Empire
Total Air Victories: 171
Unit(s): 240th Fighter Regiment
Aircraft Flown: La-5FN
Jack Ifrey - Confederate States of America
Total Air Victories: 147
Unit(s): 20th and 44th Fighter Squadrons.
Units Commanded: 44th Fighter Squadron and the Homeland Fighter Defense Command
Aircraft Flown: Hound-Dog and A44 Raptor
Tetsuzo Iwamoto
Total Air Victories: 80 (23 were British Aircraft) + 14 more victories in the Sino-Japanese War.
Unit(s): 12th Air Group, Zuikaku
Aircraft Flown: A6M Zero
Marcel Albert - France
Total Air Victories: 62.5
Unit(s): GdC I/3, GdC I/43
Aircraft Flown: Dewoitine D. 520
Pat Pattle† - South Africa
Total Air Victories: 53
Unit(s): No. 80 Squadron RAF
Aircraft Flown: Hawker Hurricane
Date of Death: April 20th, 1942 over Mittelafrika
Cause of Death: Shot down by Kaiserliche Luftwaffe Ju-22
James Edgar Johnson - Britain
Total Air Victories: 46
Unit Commanded: No. 610 Squadron, No. 144 and 127 Wings
Aircraft Flown: Spitfire
Clive Caldwell - Australia
Total Air Victories: 28.5
Unit Commanded: No. 112 Squadron RAF, No. 1 and 80 Wings RAAF
Aircraft Flown: Hurricane, Spitfire
Edgar Kain† - New Zealand
Total Air Victories: 16
Unit(s): No. 73 Squadron
Aircraft Flown: Hurricane
Date of Death: June 7th, 1942
Cause of Death: Shot down by a German FW-190
Carlos Faustinos - Mexico
Total Air Victories: 14
Aircraft Flown: Hound Dog
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