Until Every Drop of Blood Is Paid: A More Radical American Civil War

So something I can't remember but has anything like the Great Locomotive Chase happened? Because if it hasn't something like that does need to happen.
 
That is interesting. Well, your Civil War timeline is very good and unique in my opinion.
Oooh, those are both pretty good. I'm currently working my way through both.

Thanks! I think it's because I spend a good amount of time in Civil War, reading books about it or writing the TL, so I would be overwhelmed if I also read TLs about it here.


I feel your "reading material for years," though with me it's more a list of books I'd like to buy and read. I'm curious, though - how do you know where to research if you haven't read the books first?

Because each chapter is focused on one aspect of the war and the books or articles I use are also focused on one aspect usually, I know where to check if I want additional information in a given topic. Like, if I'm talking about slavery I use Freedom National by Oakes, in updates about the Peninsula I used Rafuse's McClellan's War, for the West I check Chernow's Grant, and so on...

So something I can't remember but has anything like the Great Locomotive Chase happened? Because if it hasn't something like that does need to happen.

I actually haven't heard of that event. What is it about?
 
I haven't read that TL, because I'm not very knowledgeable about African history and also because it seems like a daunting task. But after skimming through, it seems the Sea Islands were an independent republic, albeit briefly?
To elaborate on what the other poster was hinting at towards the Sea Islands in Male Rising, it's not really that they're independent, so much as it has a genuine slave rising in the early portion of the Civil War. The president of the US cuts a deal with the Sea Islands' partisans and their representatives, making a deal where the Gullah-Geechee are treated somewhere between a co-belligerent Native nation and happening to occupy the only remaining territory of a "legitimate and loyal state government" of Georgia, so as to take advantage of the territory and black soldiers without provoking the white supremacist political factions too much.

While the lead-up to that was more detailed in the TL, involving a lot of ripples and butterflies from the original POD in Brazil and West Africa, the part that might be more interesting to you is the rising on the Sea Islands leads to a a source of inspiration for the Great Rising among the slaves as well as doing some internal state-building to secure their own freedom on the Islands. This visible and well-known faction founded by rebellious slaves leads to a greater united identity and "cultural myth", which both leads to Gullah becoming an enduring and more widespread language among Freedmen and leads to a lot more Freedmen-founded self-defense organizations which manage to preserve their rights against Jim Crow in some of the states of the former Confederacy as well as provide destabilizing influence to the neighboring states where Jim Crow did take root.
 
I haven't read that TL, because I'm not very knowledgeable about African history and also because it seems like a daunting task. But after skimming through, it seems the Sea Islands were an independent republic, albeit briefly?
Daunting indeed, though just getting up to the point of the American Civil War isn't that bad. And I wasn't knowledgeable about African history myself before I started readying (no more than you get from playing that region in EU4 at any rate), but I sure did learn a lot about it while reading.
While the lead-up to that was more detailed in the TL, involving a lot of ripples and butterflies from the original POD in Brazil and West Africa, the part that might be more interesting to you is the rising on the Sea Islands leads to a a source of inspiration for the Great Rising among the slaves as well as doing some internal state-building to secure their own freedom on the Islands. This visible and well-known faction founded by rebellious slaves leads to a greater united identity and "cultural myth", which both leads to Gullah becoming an enduring and more widespread language among Freedmen and leads to a lot more Freedmen-founded self-defense organizations which manage to preserve their rights against Jim Crow in some of the states of the former Confederacy as well as provide destabilizing influence to the neighboring states where Jim Crow did take root.
IIRC The Sea Island Republics were also instrumental in smuggling weapons into South Carolina, which contributed to the rising's success.

Now I wonder if it's possible we'll see a truly large-scale slave uprising behind CSA lines in TTL.
 
For anybody interested, I was listening to this lecture on the history of Protestantism on the issue of Slavery, with a section focusing on the slavery conflict in the United States starting at around the 35 minute mark. If @Red_Galiray hasn't seen it yet, it might be a useful source for the issues faced by the religious opponents and defenders of slavery.

 
Here's the link to the wiki page

Seems like a crazy but fun event. Since neither Johnston nor Thomas are likely to jump into action any time soon, I could put it in a future update when we return to East Tennessee.

Freedmen-founded self-defense organizations which manage to preserve their rights against Jim Crow in some of the states of the former Confederacy as well as provide destabilizing influence to the neighboring states where Jim Crow did take root

I think greater use of Black Union soldiers in the war and the occupation should account for that, especially now that fighting terror with terror has become normalized.

Daunting indeed, though just getting up to the point of the American Civil War isn't that bad. And I wasn't knowledgeable about African history myself before I started readying (no more than you get from playing that region in EU4 at any rate), but I sure did learn a lot about it while reading.

Is there anything interesting about Latin America there?

Now I wonder if it's possible we'll see a truly large-scale slave uprising behind CSA lines in TTL.

I think some insurrections are inevitable as the war draws to a close, since freedmen will need to defend themselves against the Confederates and assert their independence.

For anybody interested, I was listening to this lecture on the history of Protestantism on the issue of Slavery, with a section focusing on the slavery conflict in the United States starting at around the 35 minute mark. If @Red_Galiray hasn't seen it yet, it might be a useful source for the issues faced by the religious opponents and defenders of slavery.


Thank you for the video. It's truly disgusting to me how some "Men of God" tried to justify slavery. This might be especially useful in the aftermath when the Church became one of the pillars of the Black community.
 
"My very large and racially superior brain cannot process why these people that I dehumanise, traumatise, and undernourish, are so stupid and lazy."

The same people who built their mansions and cleared and cultivated their fields.

Where lazy = "won't work harder than necessary for my profit".

Foner raises a good point regarding this double standard. In the aftermath of emancipation, when a White man worked just to maintain himself and his family he was a self sufficient yeoman, a Jeffersonian hero and a great and honest worker. When a Black man sought only self sufficiency he was lazy, worthless and indolent - Black men weren't lazy only when they worked in White plantations.
 
By the way, I have created a new and updated cover! What do you think? Is it better than the other?

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This is an incredible cover. Bravo!
 
If you're interested in the Pipe Creek line, I strongly recommend the Gettysburg alternate history trilogy by Newt Gingrich (yes, that Newt Gingrich.) He has Lee follow Longstreet's plan after the first day of Gettysburg, flank Meade, capture the Union supply base at Westminster, and destroy the Army of the Potomac on the Pipe Creek line. Gingrich has the good sense to keep modern politics out of his novel, and it's well-written and very well researched.

Gingrich might agree with you - he names the battle after the small village of Union Mills.
The Gingrich books are incredible, my only issue is that the last book feels like he intended the CSA to lose but wrote himself into a corner.
 
I have never read them but that is the danger of trying to increase the drama. Sometimes you can write yourself into a corner because you want to make it seem like an even bigger fall when the bad guy is loose. There is something to be said for simply going about things in a normal manner without having too much drama.
 
The Gingrich books are incredible, my only issue is that the last book feels like he intended the CSA to lose but wrote himself into a corner.
What makes you say that? There's definitely a dramatic change in Lee's fortunes, but looking back over the trilogy, it seems to me like the natural culmination of trends from the previous books - Lee's shortage of men and logistics train - combined with his suddenly facing Grant's fresh army for the first time.
 
What makes you say that? There's definitely a dramatic change in Lee's fortunes, but looking back over the trilogy, it seems to me like the natural culmination of trends from the previous books - Lee's shortage of men and logistics train - combined with his suddenly facing Grant's fresh army for the first time.
SPOILER ALERT!


Probably has to do with during the main battle of the last book where Lee's army is literally about to overrun Grant himself. However due to Henry Hunt having found some cannon and canister shells which he sets up on the intersections surrounding Grant they get red misted out of existence. Even then they start to over run one of the batteries until one of the union soldiers fires it off the cannon with the ramrod literally still in it. The way it's written in the book is really rushed and feels like Gingrich realized just before writing it that he had written it to where Lee would win without some miracle for the union..
 
The update is ready. I wanted to take this space to thank @Arnold d.c for his vital help in this update. He lent me his military knowledge in order to craft this battle, and many of the tactical ideas written here come from him.
 
Chapter 37: Tried by War, and Decided by Victory
Yes we'll rally round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!
Yes we'll rally from the hillside, we'll gather from the plain
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!

(Chorus)
The Union Forever, hurrah boy, hurrah!
Down with the Traitors, Up with the Stars!
While we rally round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom

We are springing to the call of our brothers gone before,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!
And we'll fill our vacant ranks with a million freemen more,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!

(Chorus)

We will welcome to our numbers the loyal, true and brave,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!
And although they may be poor, not a man shall be a slave,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!

(Chorus)

We're marching to the field boys, we're going to the fight
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!
And we bear the glorious stars, for the Union and the right
Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!

(Chorus)

-The Battle Cry of Freedom

In April, 1863, Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia crossed into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Lee thought of this new campaign as his masterstroke, the final coup against the Union that would secure Confederate independence once and for all. Previous to this, there had been some debate in the Confederate cabinet. Late victories had been sullied by the disaster in Kentucky, which almost destroyed Bragg’s army and led to the liberation of nearly the entire state of Tennessee. Thomas’ victory had been enough to barely rescue sagging Northern morale, and the Lincoln administration trumpeted it. They had reason for celebration, since now they were poised to strike at the vitals of the Confederacy, including Georgia, a state vital for the Southern war effort.

Some members of the cabinet argued for sending troops to stop Thomas’ advance. Longstreet said that it would be possible to push Thomas back to the Ohio that way. This could even force Grant to abandon Vicksburg and go to Thomas’ aid. But General Lee was opposed to the idea, and instead proposed a bold plan for invading the North. Such an invasion, Lee insisted, would embolden Northern Copperheads and give the coup de grace to the Lincoln Administration. It would also convince Britain and France to recognize the Confederacy, which would be enough to force Lincoln’s hand if he did not surrender first. Lee also hoped to feed his soldiers on the enemy’s country, showing both the weakness of the Yankees and relieving Virginia’s tired farms.

Lee’s proposal was born out of these objectives and the fear that the Army of the Susquehanna, which despite the losses at Bull Run still outnumbered him, would grow even larger. It reflected too his single-minded focus on Virginia, and a lack of consideration for overall strategy that made him disregard the importance of the West. But it was also a result of a confident belief he and his Army were “almost invincible, certainly capable of inflicting a devastating defeat on any opponent.” The élan and high morale the Army of Northern Virginia would carry into the battle was unprecedented, their reputation and prestige so great that they believed themselves capable of even the impossible. So Lee practically affirmed, saying his soldiers “will go anywhere and do anything if properly led. " This “overconfidence in their own prowess and a contempt for the enemy” would soon enough led the Army of Northern Virginia to disaster.

Lee’s soldiers were not the only ones dazzled by these Napoleonic dreams of conquest. The cabinet, too, came around to Lee’s point of view. Even Longstreet, who proposed the alternate plan, turned around and supported Lee because “the prospect of an advance changes the aspect of affairs”. Davis too supported the plan. President Breckinridge, finally, approved the offensive, and he even stripped the coastal defenses to have more troops for Lee. These new troops would bolster the Army to 95,000 men, which allowed for a partial reorganization of it into four corps. A.P. Hill was promoted to corps commander, while General Beauregard was recalled to Richmond to command the other, as a political gesture that Breckinridge hoped might soothe his bitterness.

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George Bayard, the new head of the Union Cavalry

Facing the rebels would be John F. Reynolds’ Army of the Susquehanna. Some, in their haste to condemn Hooker, have forgotten that the Battle of Bull Run was not a complete rebel success. Lee lost some 20,000 men, almost 4,000 more than Hooker. Thanks to conscription, the Army of the Susquehanna grew to 130,000 men, 30,000 of them Black recruits, including the 54th Massachusetts. The Army also had undergone some soul-searching, and reforms in strategy and training ensured higher quality soldiers. The most important reform was that new men were added to existing regiments, allowing for the transfer of experience from veterans to green troops. An emphasis on skirmishing also would improve the tactics of the infantry. The cavalry, consolidated into one corps under Hooker, would now be able to give the rebels a fair fight, being competently led, better equipped and fed than their rebel counterparts.

More important than anything, was how most Yankee soldiers, now convinced that they were fighting for the very soul and future of their country, were far from whipped, but instead imbued with a determination to triumph. The men, an officer commented, “have something of the English bull-dog in them. You can whip them time and again, but the next fight they go into, they are . . . as full of pluck as ever. . . . Some day or other we shall have our turn." Virginia and Maryland Confederates had attacked them continuously, but “their morale rose with the latitude” as Pennsylvania people instead cheered them openly. "The idea that Pennsylvania is invaded and that we are fighting on our own soil proper, influences them strongly”, concluded a commander. “They are more determined than I have ever before seen them."

The campaign started on April 17th. Lee decided to send Jackson to the Valley, while he would go forward and confront Reynolds. They would reunite later in Pennsylvania. Jackson and his men were eager to confront Pope, who, decided to bring hard war to the East, had inaugurated a new ruthless policy. Assigned to the Shenandoah Valley, Pope had done his best to lay waste to it and prevent its supplies and men from aiding the Confederate cause. Consequently, farms were plundered for food and then torched, hundreds of rebel marauders were hung without trial, and property was wantonly destroyed. Pope was not the only man who wanted to bring the terrible consequences of war to the Dixie boys. Alongside him, thousands of Maryland partisans engaged in warfare similar to the one seen in Missouri and Kansas. Named “Jayhawkers” in honor of their western counterparts, these partisans felt abandoned by inept Union commanders, and thus answered to no orders from Pope or Philadelphia. Consequently, heads appeared in pikes and corpses in ditches with appalling regularity. Whether someone was secesh or Unionist, man or woman, civilian or fighter, did not matter. As in Kansas, this pushed men to take sides and only increased the bloodshed.

A year ago, the Maryland Jayhawkers would have probably been prosecuted as criminals; now, the Union turned a blind eye to their atrocities because the rebels too were engaging in gory terror. Colonel Imboden of Virginia’s Partisan Cavalry had ordered his men "to wage the most active war against our brutal invaders . . . to hang about their camps and shoot down every sentinel, picket, courier, and wagon driver we can find . . . to expulse or kill every man who aids them in their war of extermination”. They carried these orders to their terrible consequences – Pope reported that scores of officers and soldiers had had their throats slit, and that a regiment that surrendered to a rebel attack was butchered to the last man.

It’s important to stress that guerrilla bands, whether Union or Confederate, acted usually without knowledge or approval from Richmond or Philadelphia, and that both Lincoln and Breckenridge were powerless to stop them. Still, Southern civilians believed the Jayhawkers to be backed by the Lincoln Administration. Even if they were not, Pope’s own actions were still enough to earn the condemnation of the Southern public and press. These lamentable acts informed Jackson’s resolve to not only defeat Pope, but humiliate him. With 20,000 men he advanced to the Valley in April 2nd, intending to defeat Pope’s 25,000 bluecoats. Some did express worry about how Lee divided his force, but he waved them off. “Those people”, he said, “are in a very demoralized and chaotic condition, and will not undertake offensive operations for three or four weeks. Before that time I hope to be on the Susquehanna.”

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Franz Siegel

Jackson rode forward with the dazzling speed that characterized his Stonewall Brigade. Despite how feared Jackson was, Lincoln saw an opportunity. By splitting his army, Lincoln reasoned, Lee had given them an opportunity to destroy each isolated part. Unfortunately for the Union, Pope was not up to the task. Stonewall was too fast and too slippery for the Union General. Pope’s cavalry, weakened due to rebel partisans, thus reported Jackson to be in several places at once, and Pope issued a stream of order and counter-orders that gave his campaign an erratic air. When he finally localized Jackson at Winchester, he sent in Franz Siegel and his “Dutch Corps” to bag him. Mostly formed out of Germans, the Dutch Corps had performed poorly at the Peninsula and Bull Run; now, it failed even more miserably. Jackson easily threw back their assault and Siegel immediately retreated.

Jackson pursued, and caught not only Siegel but Pope just below Harpers Ferry, going through passes that Pope had neglected to defend. Pope’s attempt to defeat Stonewall himself ended in grief when Jackson surged from an unexpected angle, and the Army of Virginia fled in disgrace. Partially to blame was Pope’s decision not to use several Black regiments he had at his disposal. Though a Radical Republican, Pope had not believed them ready for battle and apparently feared that Jackson and his rebels would slaughter them if defeated. When Pope abandoned Harpers Ferry, several of the Black regiments there decided to defend it to the last man. The rebels made sure this grim pledge would be fulfilled, butchering almost 200 surrendering soldiers. Jackson regretted the event, but did nothing to punish his men and simply continued north, arriving at Sharpsburg in May 4th.

Meanwhile, Lee and the main part of the Army of Northern Virginia advanced North. Reynolds did not propose to merely see them invade the North, and instead set off in a hot pursuit. A couple of weeks before the start of the campaign, Lincoln had visited the Army camps and been received with enthusiasm. “Long and hearty was the applause and welcome which greeted him,” commented a soldier, “His presence after the late disasters . . . seemed to infuse new ardor into the dispirited army.” Lincoln visited the wounded, mourned the dead, and fraternized with the living. “Father Abraham”, no matter the bleakness of the Union cause, was evidently a popular figure with the soldiers, which gratified the embattled President. Lincoln had invited reporters along, which frankly disgusted Reynolds, because he intended to give a speech to bolster the morale of not just the troops, but the whole North.

This war was started two years ago. An organized and powerful rebellion sought to destroy the Union, but the loyal North would accept war rather than let the nation perish. . . . We did not want war. We were forced into this contest for the supremacy of the Union by an enemy that will not surrender until we are conquered . . . and will take actions that have shocked the civilized world to assure the outcome . . . Such a foe . . . demands from us greater devotion to the nation, to preserve it, not only for our descendants, but for many generations to come . . .​
The insurgent leader will accept nothing short of severance of the Union, precisely what we will not and can not give . . . He does not attempt to deceive us. He affords us no excuse to deceive ourselves. He can not voluntarily reaccept the Union; we can not voluntarily yield it. Between him and us the issue is distinct, simple, and inflexible. It is an issue which can only be tried by war and decided by victory. Thousands of brave men have nobly advanced this cause, by laying down their lives so that the nation might live. Let us take increased devotion from these men, and resolve that they shall not have died in vain. Let us here highly resolve that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.​

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Lincoln reviewing the troops

Inspired by these words, the Army set forward in their campaign against the rebels, which started scarcely two weeks later. The first major engagement took place near Frederick, along the Monocacy, a tributary of the Potomac. Lee knew that he could not simply ignore Reynolds, and, confident of victory, decided to make a stand there, the Monocacy dividing both armies. Reynolds, on April 25th, tried to turn the rebel flank by sending in a couple of corps. However, the cavalry under Stuart was able to stall the advance long enough for Longstreet to arrive and attack the flanking column. This is where Reynolds committed a fatal mistake, owed to his tendency for micromanagement. Riding to the front personally, the Union commander led a counterattack that slowly pushed Longstreet back. This left the rest of his army without an overall commander at a critical time. Lee, meanwhile, shifted his troops to the left to meet Reynolds’ assault.

This movement created a gap in the rebel line, as the new corps commanders, Beauregard and A.P. Hill, could not coordinate well enough to move at the same time. General Meade saw his chance to establish a bridge on the other side of the river, but among the corps commanders only Hancock was willing to take this risk. General Sedgwick, a man who was said to dread responsibility, refused to move without a direct order from Reynolds. In this he was joined by General Abner Doubleday. A New York Yankee and one of the few unabashed Republicans in the Union Army, Doubleday had been posted at Fort Moultrie when secession occurred. They had moved to Fort Sumter, but had been ordered back by a fearful Buchanan. There, a rebel shelling forced them to surrender, though the event was little noted for the attention of the country was focused on the besieged Washington. Still, Doubleday would go on to obnoxiously claim that the Civil War had in truth started in Fort Moultrie, and because he fired the first shot in defense, he claimed the moniker “The Hero of Moultrie” for himself.

Doubleday commanded a corps of United States Colored Troops that day. That opened him to some ridicule, as many men still doubted the capacity of the Black soldiers, even though they had already proven they were able to die just as bravely as whites in the Battle of Canton. Still, Doubleday was the only one willing to command them – even Reynolds showed reluctance and had only accepted out of extreme need. Doubleday, like Sedgwick, refused to move without an express order, starting a bitter feud with Meade. Tall and slim, Meade was from a rich merchant family and as a result well-versed in military literature and fluent in French. Thin-skinned and jealous of his reputation, he was called an Old Snapping Turtle by troops and subordinates who had been on the receiving end of his wrath. It was almost a given that he would feud with someone like Doubleday, and when he refused to head Meade and move forward, the feud intensified.

Meade and Hancock decided to disregard their comrades and crossed the river, arriving in the middle of Beauregard and A.P. Hill’s corps. Beauregard, to his credit, refused to panic, but something strange happened in Hill. Usually a brilliant division commander and a flamboyant man who often left himself be carried by emotion, Hill performed poorly at Frederick. Hill, in truth, suffered from health problems that often impaired his performance. He hadn't allowed them to hold him back before, bravely leading his men. A special quirk of his was putting on a red calico shirt before battle, making joyous shouts of "Little Powell's got his red shirt on!" go through the line. But now, despite his red shirt, he was all but paralyzed by a bout of illness. Whether it was owed to venereal disease he had contracted at West Point or some kind of psychosomatic disorder cannot be discerned, but the result was clear enough – Hill was unable to react quick enough, as his subordinates tried to resist the Union advance without any guidance.

The sudden appearance of the Yankees on the other side of the river started a rout, as Hill’s corps were unable to put up much of a fight. A bewildered Lee was suddenly thrust to the front lines, and the rebel General was ready to mount a horse and led a counterattack himself when the soldiers shouted for him to remain safely behind: “Lee to the rear!” Unfortunately for the Union, Beauregard remained able to attack, and so his rebels went forward with a powerful cry and shattered the Union advance. By that point, Sedgwick had decided to finally act and he sent in his corps to aid Meade. He almost ordered Doubleday to join him, but then fearful of the rebels suddenly turning their flank, he left him behind. The USCT, many of whom were eager to “show the White man what the coloreds can do”, found this outrageous, but obeyed. By the time Sedgwick crossed the river, all he could do is cover Meade and Hancock’s retreat.

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Doubleday is sometimes falsely credited with being the creator of baseball

Reynolds then returned at last, having failed to break Longstreet. That's when Lee, reasoning that Reynolds had to weaken his flanks to reinforce his center, started a flank attack that hit Sedgwick on the side. The Federals were taken by surprise and a rout began. Reynolds was only narrowly able to regain command and form a line that stopped the rebel slaught. In a meeting with his commanders, the appalled Union General showed regret at this micromanaging and promised not do it again. The Union prepared, then, for another attack. But just at that moment a courier arrived in a lathered horse. The young man was in almost complete panic as he relayed a terrible message: Baltimore had risen in rebellion.

Among those who sympathized with the South in Baltimore, passions still ran high. The policies of the Lincoln administration had alienated many, but the iron-fisted rule of Butler helped along too. The General enforced the government's’ policies with such ruthlessness than outraged Southerners took to calling him “Beast Butler”, for he had no qualms arresting the opponents of the Union and even hanged a youth who tore down the national flag. Butler’s actions stiffened the resolve of these Confederates, who saw in Lee’s invasion an opportunity to throw off the Yankee yoke. The Baltimore Uprising, it was discovered later, was not a spontaneous event, but rather the product of a conspiracy between the Confederates of the city and the Southern government. Breckinridge and Lee were well aware of this conspiracy before the campaign started, and thus Lee had crossed North with direct orders to hasten to Baltimore's aid as soon as the uprising occurred. But it took place way earlier than expected.

Indeed, Lee had hoped for it to start after he had taken Harrisburg, but exaggerated reports of a great victory at Frederick meant that many rebels could not wait any longer. On April 28th, a sudden explosion near the soldiers’ barracks resulted in the death of scores of people, including civilians, and unleashed a series of murderous and destructive riots. Baltimore had already blazed two years ago, but the slaughter that day was even worse. Black people and Unionists were targeted and murdered without remorse, public buildings were torched, and a direct attack at Butler’s headquarters was barely thrown back. Exposing the true nature of the riots, the ringleaders raised Confederate flags and proclaimed their independence from “the Beast of Baltimore and the Beast of Philadelphia.” Butler, with few troops because most were off chasing Lee, requested urgent reinforcements. Reynolds was forced to disengage by these news, allowing Lee to slip North.

The jubilant rebels believed they had repeated the Peninsula, and Lee himself was convinced that the Yankees' morale had collapsed and they had fled ingloriously. Lee continued north through Western Maryland after Frederick and fully observed the devastation the war had wrought. He had planned to live off the land, but it was clear that there was little food there. He was also running low on ammunition and did not know yet whether Jackson had been successful. Knowing that the Federals could not allow Washington to fall a second time, he sent Beauregard south to menace the city, hoping that Reynolds would take the bait and pursue him instead, or at least detach a large part of his army. Beauregard would take in supplies and then return to the main command through the Valley with the ammunition required, while Lee would reunite with Jackson and, hopefully, with a mountain of supplies.

Such a ruse may have worked beforehand, but many factors had changed. For one, the improved Federal cavalry could detect that only one corps was going south while the main Army continued north. Furthermore, the rebels had beforehand had a large network of sympathizers who kept them informed of Union movements; now it was the reverse, with Maryland and Pennsylvania Unionists informing Reynolds of Jackson’s movements. Free from Lincoln's meddling, Reynolds decided to send Doubleday south to pursue and destroy Beauregard, managed to shave off some divisions to aid Butler, and continued with the great majority of his men north to face Lee once again. Lee could see that a part of the Army of the Susquehanna was moving south, but he did not know the number of men or the exact position and strength of the main body. In an attempt to gather accurate information, Lee sent in Stuart, but the rebel cavalryman got a nasty surprise when Bayard managed to defeat him at the Battle of Taneytown. Bayard then took advantage of his great numerical superiority, dividing his cavalry in two. One half set off to pursue Stuart, while the smaller half returned to Reynolds to serve as his eyes and ears. Stuart would not return to Lee for a couple of weeks, leaving the rebel commander practically blind. Nonetheless, he continued his advance.

As Lee and Jackson advanced through Pennsylvania, they took everything they needed to feed their hungry men. To try and bolster the Copperheads, Lee had prohibited the looting of property, but this was honored on the breach. McPherson affirms that “Lee's invasion became a gigantic raid for supplies that stripped clean a large area of south-central Pennsylvania”. Abuses where committed left and right, as Confederates stole everything they could, sometimes leaving Confederates I.O.U.s, sometimes not. The cities of Chambersburg and York were robbed of everything useful and then set in fire, the same with nearby farms. Confederates also took to destroying industry and railroads, and seized thousands of horses and cattle. In an unpardonable act, the Army kidnapped scores of Free Blacks and hauled them South as slaves. Longstreet’s troops outright broke into stores, the general’s justification being that “it's very sad— very sad; but this sort of thing has been going on in Virginia more than two years. Very sad.”

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The Baltimore Uprising

Lee and Jackson finally reunited at the small village of Gettysburg with their haul of supplies. While the men ate contently, the commanders met to decide their course. Distressing news had arrived: first, Reynolds had refused their bait and was moving north to confront them again; second, the Baltimore uprising had started far earlier than expected. Lee well knew that political factors demanded he go and aid the insurgents. Breckinridge so had told him, stressing how vital it was for the Confederacy to show that it would support its partisans if they wanted to one day retake Tennessee and Kentucky. Confident on his capacity to defeat the Federals again, Lee decided to abandon his plans to take Harrisburg (which would have been a symbolic gesture anyway); instead he would turn back and destroy Reynolds. Once that was accomplished, Confederate control over Maryland would be reestablished and Lee could return to Richmond with Lincoln’s surrender on his pocket. Reynolds was informed of Lee’s southward turn by his cavalry. After discussing it with his commanders, he decided to fight it out at the Pipe Creek line, near a village called Union Mills.

While the main parts of both armies prepared for battle, Beauregard and his corps prepared to assault Washington. He had crossed the Potomac, pursued by Doubleday’s corps. As soon as they realized that their enemy would be Black troops, the graybacks gave into racist contempt, some apparently feeling insulted that Reynolds hadn’t thought them worth White troops. That’s when news of Baltimore reached both Beauregard and Breckinridge. The anxious Confederate President knew almost nothing of how the campaign was developing. Beauregard could assure that they had achieved a victory at Frederick, but when asked of Lee’s current location, he only knew that he was heading towards Pennsylvania. The President fretted that this meant that Baltimore’s Confederates were left alone. Consequently, he ordered Beauregard to defeat Doubleday and liberate Baltimore, instead of going through the Valley like Lee had ordered. Beauregard resented being ordered directly by Breckinridge, but since he was commander in-chief he had no option but to obey. In any case, he was sure that the Black troops were no match for him.

The USCT were decided to prove him wrong. Aside from a numerical superiority of 30,000 to 20,000, they were behind well-fortified lines with exhaustive artillery support, while Beauregard would have to cross the Potomac and assault them head-on. The attack, a rebel soldier would say later, “was not war, but murder.” For many terrible and bloody hours, the rebels attacked the Union position at Fort Saratoga, while the desperate Black troops resisted admirably. The USCT knew they were fighting not only for their lives, but for the future of the Union and of emancipation. Moreover, in their shoulders was not only their reputation as a fighting unit, but the reputation of all Black Americans. Their heroism and ability made Beauregard’s attack came to a disastrous failure, and when Doubleday ordered a counterattack the entire rebel force was routed and scattered. It was a complete reversal of how two years ago Beauregard had attacked and burned the city; now, the “Conqueror of Washington” was retreating in shame while the victorious Black troops celebrated jubilantly.

Beauregard was barely able to flee with a handful of survivors, who trudged wearily to Richmond. In the capital, the news that he had been defeated so miserably, by Black men no less, spelled doom for many. Breckinridge, in particular, confided to a friend that he was sure that something had gone horribly wrong with the entire campaign. Doubleday wired the news to Reynolds, who was pleasantly surprised that the Black troops had performed so admirably. He recalled him to Union Mills, to take part in the developing battle. Through a series of forced marches, Doubleday arrived quickly. In the way, “a miraculous event” took place, as White Maryland Unionist cheered them. Previously, they had been cold when the USCT marched along; now, they shouted with joy. After their engagements, the troops were tired so Reynolds held them in reserve, as a kind of “secret weapon”, for Stuart, who hadn't returned to Lee yet, could not inform his leader of the defeat at Fort Saratoga or the fact that Reynolds had concentrated his entire force.

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The Battle of Frederick

On May 13th, Union scouts reported that Lee was approaching the Pipe Creek. From west to east, the line could be divided into three sectors: Uniontown, Union Mills, and Manchester. This high terrain of ridges and hills would be easily defensible, not only protected by height but by the Pipe Creek itself. The only weak spot of the line was around Uniontown, where the terrain was planer and broader. Stuart still hadn't returned, so Lee could not know the exact disposition of the terrain or the positions of Reynolds' corps. Still, he ordered his men forward against the skirmish line Reynolds had created. The Yankees immediately fell backwards to their defenses. The first tragic mistake took place then. Hill, placed at Manchester, was too sick to properly command, so instead of stopping when the Yankees went behind the hills, his troops continued the attack. Suddenly, the roar of artillery broke through the skies, resulting in nothing less than a massacre as fire was hurled at the unprotected rebels. Hill was barely able to prevent a rout when General Sickles counterattacked.

At the same time, Longstreet was faced with the strong lines at Union Mills. A cautious commander, he warned Lee that Reynolds was baiting them into an attack against difficult positions, where prospects of success were dim and bloodshed was assured. He proposed instead to disengage and turn back, forcing Reynolds to pursue them and abandon his defenses. Lee refused. He was hoping to destroy the enemy, and thought this was an ideal chance. To retreat then, he believed, would destroy the morale of his men, who held the Yankees they had “beaten so constantly", a British officer said, "in profound contempt”. "The enemy is there, and I am going to attack him there," Lee asserted. Despite a “sad conviction of impending disaster”, Longstreet followed orders and attacked Meade with all his force. He was able to force him out of the hills, but a counterattack pushed him back; Longstreet then attacked again but was rebuffed when Meade committed his last reserves to the fight. A final charge by General Pickett was unable to carry the hills again.

While Hill faltered and Longstreet struggled, Jackson was moving towards Uniontown. But he did not know the exact disposition of the Union forces. Due to this, Jackson collided with the Union line. Instead of pulling back and organizing for a proper attack, he simply sent in his divisions, one at a time. Ultimately, a last rebel charge was able to capture the first Union line, perhaps due to the superiority of his veterans over the green Union conscripts. Night fell over a bloody battlefield, ending the battle for the day. Lee believed that only Hill had truly failed, and was convinced that another assault would be able to break the Union lines. However, both Longstreet and Jackson were reluctant to renew the attack when it had resulted in such high casualties. Instead, Jackson proposed to turn the Union flank, assuring Lee that his feared Stonewall Brigade would be able to break the Yankees completely at Manchester. Longstreet energetically backed the plan, and Lee finally approved it, adding that the demoralized Yankees would break in the face of a rebel assault just as they did in the Peninsula, Bull Run and Frederick.

The second day of Union Mills was filled only with artillery battles and inconclusive skirmishes, as most of the Army of Northern Virginia pulled back to regroup, rest, and prepare for a flank movement. That’s when Doubleday and the USCT arrived, and Reynolds quickly assigned them to the reserve. On May 14th, under the cover of the night, Jackson, who had once again only managed a few hours of sleep, marched to the Union flank. The same darkness that concealed them hid some Union scouts, who quietly but quickly returned to warn Reynolds of the advance. The rebels, for their part, lacked accurate knowledge of the terrain due to Stuart's absence, and could not know just how strong the Union positions were. Reynolds had learned that Lee would attack his flank, hoping to weaken his center and then attack it. By maintaining the strength of his center he could foil these attacks, provided the flank resisted. The USCT immediately offered to reinforce the position, and Reynolds, impressed by their performance at Fort Saratoga, ordered them thee. Concealed by the hills, the USCT got into position.

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USCT at the Battle of Fort Saratoga

At dawn-break, Jackson was surprised when he found the USCT opposed to him. But instead of being cowed, the rebels let out a contemptuous laugh. “We couldn’t believe that they put up niggers against us,” one would say later. “The boys were eager to go and show ‘em what we did with the Negroes of Harpers Ferry”. The attack went forward, Jackson and his men expecting an easy victory. With a chilling rebel yell, the entire line advanced with “parade ground precision”, in a spectacle of glory and valor. “Jackson's charge represented the Confederate war effort in microcosm”, comments James McPherson, “matchless valor, apparent initial success, and ultimate disaster.” When the rebels reached the line and assaulted it with all their might, they were expecting the Black troops to simply break and run way. The Yankees, after all, had always broken in the face of such assaults. But something unexpected happened: the Black troops resisted the charge. They did retreat to the second line of defense, but a rout had not taken place. Then a cry sounded forth, “Give ‘em hell 54!”

At the very front of the USCT was one of the first Black regiments raised in the North, the 54th Massachusetts. Their leader, Colonel Shaw, had been ordered to hold the line and counterattack if possible. He judged that it was possible now. The rebels were exhausted from many hours of fighting and had been massacred by artillery fire. The survivors were caught unprepared when the 54th swept forward with a powerful charge of bayonets that threw them back. The assault was a bloody one. The 54th, after the battle, would count upwards to 50% casualties, and Shaw himself lost his life in the battle. But it caused an “electric shock” to go through the Union lines, and soon enough the rest of Doubleday’s corps and many of Hancock’s divisions rushed into the fight, shouting “Chambersburg! Chambersburg!”, and “The Union Forever!” The bewildered rebels, who had not been expecting such a counterattack, fled back in panic. Their retreat soon turned into a rout, with the Yankees only advancing forward with greater force as they realized that they had defeated the feared Stonewall.

From their position behind the lines Doubleday and Hancock observed the scene. “Who ordered that?”, Doubleday asked an awed courier. “Providence itself, sir”, the youth answered. The “Miracle of Manchester” has been justly remembered as one of the great moments in American history, not only for its importance as the decisive action of the Battle of Union Mills, but for its significance. Here was a Union Army corps formed out of Black recruits, many of them formed slaves, not only resisting the advance of the Confederates, but defeating them decisively. It was, to many abolitionists and African Americans, a material representation of the end of slavery and the death knell of rebellion. Even nowadays, it’s a point of pride in the Black community that the Black man saved the Republic at Union Mills.

Reynolds did not waste any time ordering a general counterattack all along the Union line. Simultaneous assaults by Longstreet and Hill had once again come to grief with high casualties. Lee had expected Reynolds to weaken his line to reinforce his flank; in actuality, the reverse was happening. That’s when news that Jackson’s corps had been broken arrived, followed quickly by a great battle cry as the Yankees swept forward. Hill’s corps was broken too. They had been badly bloodied already, and were rather demoralized. When the Yankees came forward, they barely put up any resistance and fled instead. Only Longstreet was capable of fighting still, and even he was forced back. The entire rebel army had been routed with appalling casualties. "It's all my fault," Lee said, as he desperately tried to form a new defensive line. "It is I who have lost this fight, and you must help me out of it the best way you can. All good men must rally.”

They rallied, but it was for naught. Jackson’s corps was still disorganized, affording Reynolds a unique opportunity to send in Bayard’s cavalry, which had just returned from its vicious race with Stuart. In one of the few grand cavalry charges of the war, Bayard went forward and bloodied Jackson some more. Lee was only barely able to withstand a second counterattack, and thanks to Bayard he was forced to flee not to the south, but north towards Gettysburg. The jubilant Yankees quickly broke into celebration. An officer wrote down yet another miracle, as he observed how men who had scoffed at the very idea of Black troops seemingly threw their prejudices aside and were now hugging their Black comrades, shouting and singing together. Similar euphoria was observed in Philadelphia, where Lincoln received a telegraph informing him that “the insurgent force has been ingloriously beaten and is now fleeing the field.” But what caused the President to almost jump with joy was Reynolds’ next line: “I propose to pursue the rebel army and destroy it.”

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The Battle of Union Mills

The men were just as glad to receive this news. After previous victories they had never actively pursued the enemy, letting him escape. Now, the Army of the Susquehanna would for the first time remain on the field and pursue their foe. "Our spirits rose," recalled one veteran years later, "we marched free. The men began to sing." For the rebels, the experience was decidedly less glorious. As they desperately fled northwards, the chorus of the Battle Cry of Freedom seemed to resonate from every corner. One soldier would after the war say that at that moment, he knew the Confederacy had died. Lee did attempt to make another stand at Gettysburg, but among his troops only Longstreet’s corps was in any condition to fight. Furthermore, since Beauregard had never returned he had practically no ammunition for his artillery. Rebel resistance was brushed aside at Cemetery Hill, and the rebels were routed again at the town itself. Finally, Lee was able to only narrowly stop Reynolds’ advance at Herr’s Hill. The Yankees, of course, were just as exhausted, and their jubilation could only carry them so far.

Lee was only barely able to reach the Cashtown passes, the way to the Valley through which he could return to Virginia. Several factors then prevented Reynolds from destroying him. Baltimore was still burning, and news came of similar riots at New York. Reynolds, also, gave into his instincts and personally managed the Army’s march through the passes instead of finding another route. In any case, the rebels managed to narrowly slip away, and Reynolds broke off pursuit and headed East to put down the riots. Still, the rebels had been completely defeated. In their chaotic retreat, they had been forced to throw away all the supplies they had collected and many cannons that the Confederacy could ill afford. More disastrously, the Army had lost scores of irreplaceable officers and dozens of thousands of men at Union Mills, which proved to be the bloodiest single battle of the war. Both armies suffered from 35,000 to 40,000 casualties, each. Lee would return to Virginia with less than half of the number of men who crossed into the North with him.

As the rebels fled, a band tried to lift their spirits by playing “Maryland, My Maryland!”. Hisses forced them to quiet down, and instead they played “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny.” Some 40,000 rebels returned to Richmond, not as victorious conquerors but defeated both materially and spiritually. Indeed, the Battle of Union Mills shattered forever the reputation of Lee and his army as invincible juggernauts, and shook many rebels to their very core, mostly because much of their defeat was owed to the bravery of Black troops. The war would continue, and the Army of Northern Virginia would earn more victories yet. But the Battle of Union Mills and the disastrous Pennsylvania Campaign sealed the fate of the Confederacy, and broke their legend forever. As the full dimensions of the Union victory set in, many Northerners, after months of darkness, finally saw light. The Union cause now marched forward, onto victory.

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