Chapter 11: Are We Prepared?
Chapter 11: Are We Prepared?
The White House, Washington, the District of Columbia, February 1862
“I still raise my earlier objections to the evacuations of our coastal enclaves.” Stanton said angrily as the subject of the reorganization of the Army came up yet again. Seward took a deep puff from his cigar as the ever angry looking Secretary of War scowled around the table. His nickname of Mars was almost too on the nose in Seward’s opinion. Welles wearily raised the old counter point.
“May I remind you Edwin that as the president pointed out to me earlier in the month, we simply could not have maintained those large forces off the Carolina coasts if the Royal Navy were to make a sudden descent upon our shores?”
“In turn this frees up thousands of rebels who can be concentrated here against the capital with nothing to hem them in!” Stanton said angrily. “McClellan already complains of having too few troops, and I’m almost inclined to agree with him! Even ten-thousand new troops put ashore here in Washington can only give us parity with the same number which the rebels could push north! And now we find ourselves having to put more men forward to the coasts and the border with British North America! I tell you we need every advantage to keep the rebels off balance, and this is not providing it.”
“I believe we have been over this ground well enough for one day.” Lincoln said quietly seeking to defuse the coming quarrel with two equally opinionated members of his cabinet. “I’m afraid that for now the decision stands and I will not be moved by it.”
Stanton clearly seemed to want to further object but he swallowed the issue for now, instead he moved on to the next subject he was intent to speak on. “Thus far with the men withdrawn from Virginia and the Carolinas we have added three further divisions to McClellan’s forces on the Potomac, but those would not be enough to replace the men who would be moved in case of a sudden outbreak of war.”
“How many men are you assuming would need to be shifted?” Lincoln asked, relieved to be moving on to a more productive topic.
“My discussions with the Defence Board lead me to believe that at minimum we would have to move six divisions to the border with British North America, while a further five would need to be moved to cover the most likely places of assault a British army could conceivably land.” Stanton stood and smoothed out a map of little quality pinned to the wall of Lincoln’s office. He frowned at it as though the piece of paper itself were disappointing him. Seward imagined it did in some ways. Good maps of any area were hard to come by, and they didn’t even possess detailed maps of the South, let alone those of Britain’s possessions to the North. The current one was a railroad map from 1860 showing the important railroads and cities, but nothing in the way of terrain. Stanton went on, still scowling though.
“Just as a holding measure on the border Burnside’s Division at Albany is sufficient to counter any thrust the British might offer in the next two months, but to push back a more significant force, or to even launch an offensive operation of our own would require five further divisions to both tie down the British along the frontier, and to provide a force significant enough to put points like Kingston and Montreal under siege. And those gentlemen are the two most important points besides Quebec which we must capture.”
“Where will the men come from to invade the western portion of Canada?” The Secretary of the Interior asked.
“The men will have to be detached from the armies fighting out on the Mississippi and in Tennessee, not that they have done much to be praised for in the past few months.” Stanton’s mouth grimaced sourly and Seward noticed Lincoln frowned slightly as well. They’d been attempting to push the commanders out west for some sort of decisive action for months, and so far none had shown any real inclination for action.
“What about the defence of the coasts? I confess that even though the navy has grown in the last few months since our troubles began, we cannot hope to provide a vessel for every port and town at present.” Welles said.
“We will have to rely on state troops and militias for that, if we were to spare a division for every single point on the coast which was important we would have few men left to hold the line against the secesh forces gathering south of the Potomac.” Stanton replied.
“All of which will be expensive.” Seward said matter of factly. All eyes shifted to the haggard looking Chase who seemed to wilt slightly under their gaze.
“It is one thing to talk of raising new men for the field; it is another thing entirely to pay them.” Chase said somewhat sullenly. “The state of our finances at present is…well uncomfortable is not the right word and it’s certainly short of disastrous, but the banks have suspended specie payments since December. We have for the last month been unable to make payment to the contractors working with the government and have been issuing more promises than payments. The foreign banking houses won’t extend credit and we are dangerously short of hard money to hand in the treasury. Bond sales have dropped precipitously and the little word I’ve had from abroad shows few willing to finance our efforts against England.”
“It cannot be that bad-” Stanton began to say, but Chase cut him off angrily.
“While I respect your abilities in a house of law and those in managing your new office, I would respectfully request that you do not presume on the state of the nations’ affairs, sir.” Stanton clamped his mouth closed startlingly fast and Chase took in everyone around the room with a level look and a sudden new confidence. Sighing he straightened himself up in his chair. “Gentlemen the treasury at present has no specie to pay its bills, we are leaning on the banks to attempt to push new money into the markets but they are fearful of losing their own reserves. Bond sales are drying up as fears of war with Britain heighten, but not all is lost I will say.”
“I myself am no accountant Chase, I’ve known many and liked less, but I am glad to see you are not given to despair.” Lincoln said as Chase paused to take a breath. Chase shot the president a weary grin before pulling out a note from his pocket.
“In my many discussions with Senator Fessenden we have bandied about many possible solutions, mainly leaning on the banks, but in the past months we have received a new, if risky idea. An old associate, one Edmund Taylor, telegraphed me with a proposition to solve some of our money problems. He’s currently out seeking to establish an arms factory in Illinois to supply the Western war effort. His proposition is simple though, he suggests we issue some form of fiat currency, basically just to print money asking us to ‘just get Congress to pass a bill authorizing the printing of full legal tender treasury notes. Pay for goods with them and pay your soldiers with them and go ahead and win your war with them also. If you make them full legal tender they will have the full sanction of the government and be just as good as any money; as Congress is given the express right by the Constitution.’ And he is right there.”
“Would this money be redeemable in gold?” Lincoln asked curiously.
“Technically yes, but since banks have mostly voted to suspend specie payments, I have serious doubts whether we could actually authorize such a redeeming any time in the near future.”
“So what precisely would the basis of this currency be?” Seward asked furrowing his brow.
“The money would be in effect, backed purely by the power of the Federal Government; that will mean something to people.” Chase said “We don’t have an abundance of options however. We can’t lean on the banks continuously and it’s simply unprofitable to lean heavily on foreign investments, nor can we count purely on the strength of gold since the costs continue to climb. This may be our best option.”
“If you say so Chase.” Lincoln nodded. “Proceed at your discretion and if it works so much the better. Are there any other pressing issues for today?” Welles spoke up.
“Yes, I have here for the Cabinet’s convenience a report delivered by Henry du Pont, head of the Dupont Powder Company, and one of my own naval officers, Commodore John A. Dahlgren. They write regarding a grave issue facing the conduct of the war. You see gentlemen, it has been brought to my attention that the Union is facing a powder crisis.”
“Preposterous!” Stanton snapped “If that had been so I would have heard of it!”
“I’m afraid that the Army and the Ordnance Board are not aware of this problem, and it was only made clear to me in the past few weeks. I gave the men time to present their findings in full and we face quite a difficulty. At the start of the conflict with so few men in the field no one anticipated many problems, as we amply were provided for the in the Mexican War and our stocks and capabilities had expanded since then. Now though, the army expands at an unprecedented rate, growing into the hundreds of thousands. The Navy also continues to expand. Dahlgren only became aware of the matter in early November as we began equipping more ships, DuPont discovered the problem around roughly the same time when he discovered the demand for powder was eating into the stocks faster than the mills could fill them. It was with this in mind he set out for England in November the purchase of 2300 tons of nitre was negotiated. However, the British government passed a suspension on the supply of nitre to us after the when this whole crisis began. Though he attempted numerous times to organize the purchase of these stocks, he was rebuffed by the British authorities and he returned to our shores to attempt to seek a solution to the problem.”
“A question.” Lincoln said interrupting. “Why is it that you must look to England to procure such large amounts of nitre for powder?”
“As DuPont explained to me when I asked this very question: Britain rules India, which by quirk of fate is uniquely displaced for the mass consumption of nitre. The denizens of those far off kingdoms regard the cow as a sacred animal, and as such it is allowed to wander where it pleases. The manure is rich in nitre which when fermented can be made into the suitable base chemicals for the production of gunpowder. As such the continent swims with the basic raw materials, giving Britain an unprecedented advantage in its production. One which other nations can only dream of.” Welles replied with a shrug, indicating he could only take the powder magnate at his word.
“How much nitre do we have, roughly, on hand?” Lincoln asked with some concern. Welles consulted the report.
“Based on the rough estimation of the amount imported pre-December, and the stocks in Union hands provided by these men, we have roughly some 1700 tons of power on hand, with the stock of nitre in place to make up to 3300 tons. Or roughly 7,400,000 pounds of powder within our own stocks.”
“That number doesn’t seem so bad.” Lincoln said.
“The army expends roughly 450,000 pounds of powder in a month sir.” Usher said speaking up. “That has been since the war began. I don’t think we have spent that much over the winter, but it seems as though when the campaigning season begins we will be expending just as much, if not more.” Stanton’s eyebrows shot up immediately and even Lincoln seemed to find a quick mental calculation sobering. Seward tallied the number up as well and thought it made for rather depressing reading.
“Despite this, DuPont has assured me there is a way to rectify these problems. It is somewhat unusual though sir.” Welles said hesitantly.
“Go on, it can’t be all that bad.” Lincoln replied.
“Well, since Britain holds a monopoly on the trade of vast quantities of nitre, most nations have adopted ways of developing their own small nitre manufacturing capabilities. The two most inexpensive and by far the most successful which have been advertised to me are the Swiss and Prussian methods. DuPont has assured me that of the two methods, the Prussian method is best tailored for the climate of the East Coast and Mid-West, which means that we could, with immediate work, establish beds for our own needs. The nitre beds are simply the collection of waste, preferably bovine or equine, into beds which are then allowed to ferment for a period of time. We would merely need to set aside land for the collection of said materials and men to process them.”
“Manure farming.” Lincoln said simply.
“Er yes sir.” Welles said somewhat sheepishly.
“Well that’s a job fit for a congressman if ever I have heard one.” Lincoln quipped. The Cabinet laughed good naturedly. Lincoln grinned and spoke up as the laughter subsided. “Well we must make the necessary preparations, it as I have said, I fear war is coming and I do not mean to be caught unawares. Draw up whatever plans you need and I’ll sign off on them.”
Welles and Usher exchanged looks and nodded in silent communication. Stanton seemed intent on grumbling about being uniformed and simply nodded as well.
“Our response must have arrived in London by now.” Seward said absently. There were murmurs from the other members of the cabinet and Seward was sure that they were all reflecting on the fact that the British minister had departed many weeks previously.
“The British will do what they will do, and as shall we.” Stanton said stoically.
“Well friend Mars, that reminds me of a story.” Lincoln said into the silence. “It was right after the Revolution, right after peace had been concluded. And Ethan Allen went to London to help our new country conduct its business with the king. The English sneered at how rough we are and rude and simple-minded and on like that, everywhere he went. ‘Til one day he was invited to the townhouse of a great English lord. Dinner was served, beverages imbibed, time passed as happens and Mr. Allen found he needed the privy. He was grateful to be directed thence. Relieved, you might say.” There were chuckles at the comment. “Allen discovered on entering the water closet that the only decoration therein was a portrait of George Washington. Ethan Allen done what he came to do and returned to the drawing room. His host and the others were disappointed when he didn't mention Washington's portrait. And finally his lordship couldn't resist and asked Mr. Allen had he noticed it - the picture of Washington - he had. Well what did he think of its placement? Did it seem appropriately located to Mr. Allen? And Mr. Allen said it did. The host was astounded.”
“‘Appropriate? George Washington's likeness in a water closet?’” Lincoln said in a mocking British accent,"‘Yes,’ said Mr. Allen, ‘where it will do good service. The whole world knows nothing will make an Englishman shit quicker than the sight of George Washington.’" There were peals of laughter from the assembled men and the tension bled out from the room almost immediately. Laughing riotously Lincoln wiped a tear form his eye as the laughter subsided.
“Oh I love that story. But gentlemen, we have a long and arduous road ahead of us. Let there be no doubt about that. Enemies foreign and domestic assail our Republic, but the spirit of liberty shall prevail as it has before. We humbled the British in the Revolution, and we humbled them again in 1812, we shall do so now if they come, we must do so. The very essence… no the very spirit, of our republican ideals demands it. Though we may fight them on the seas and in the fields we shall not be humbled until the nation has spent every last drop of blood and every pound of treasure it must, but we shall save our Republic.”
Whitehall, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, February 1862
The day was appropriately overcast, damp, and cold for London in February. The light fog served to hide the remainder of the long plaza of government buildings nestled in the heart of the capital of the British Empire. Built on the site of the old residence of the monarchs, it was now the beating heart of the administrative offices of the largest empire on earth housing the Admiralty and the Horse Guards alongside it. In the imposing hallways and boardrooms of Downing Street the offices were kept warm by coal furnaces and grand old fireplaces, and in a particular board room, the most powerful men in the Empire sat in conference.
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, sat at the head of the conference table, presiding over what was slowly becoming known as the War Cabinet for its composition of the men largely in office overseeing the maintenance of the fighting capabilities. There was Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, Lord President of the Council, Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset, First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Secretary of State for War, Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and finally His Royal Highness Prince George, the Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief of the forces.
Few had gotten any real rest in the last number of days, and so far were in the same state of frantic activity which seemed to have gripped all of Britain since late November when the crisis had broken. Palmerston had even taken to sitting to do his work where normally he preferred to stand, and despite a chipper attitude he could see the strain of the last number of weeks frantic preparation etched into the faces of even his far younger colleagues. Orders and reports appeared hourly flowing in and out of the buildings that made up the government. Palmerston sincerely wished he could pry his eyes away from yet another request from some junior clerk in whatever office needed his permission for a few hours with a weekend approaching, but the honor of the nation came first. He shifted in his chair returning to the task at hand.
“And thus far,” Lewis continued on in his update on the despatch of forces from Britain to North America. “There have been thirty-three battalions of infantry dispatched or readied for dispatch to North America from the Home establishments and garrisons, seven regiments of cavalry and two batteries of Horse Artillery, and twelve batteries of artillery accompanying them. This does not include the staff and military train or engineers. Unfortunately, due to the severity of the storms on the Atlantic, two vessels, the Victoria and the Admiral Kannaris, have been forced to turn back after departing which has caused the delay in the dispatch of the 78th Regiment of Foot and the Coldstream Guards alongside a company of engineers and several hundred tons of munitions.”
“This is a poor season for shipping in the best of times; delays are only to be expected.” Somerset said.
“And perhaps,” Palmerston added mildly “we might have avoided some delays earlier had the concerns of many of the men here been addressed in fashion which would no doubt have greatly alleviated the present state of affairs.” Though he addressed no one in particular Somerset shifted uncomfortably in his seat, there was little doubt of who he could be offering the remark to. Lewis coughed slightly and continued.
“While the forces in North America are presently below the minimum we believe necessary to defend against any sudden descent by the Northern forces we do believe that those in place are currently sufficient to hold off all but the most determined assaults from across the border. With the numbers of men being prepared for duty it seems that once the campaigning season opens in spring we will be able to counter a thrust by the Americans towards Montreal or Quebec.”
“I believe it can be safely presumed now that the American forces are not able to mount any sort of decisive assault over the frontier until the campaigning season opens up in May.” The Duke of Cambridge said.
“This is agreed upon by our military planners Your Highness?” Palmerston asked. Cambridge nodded.
“Quite emphatically! All the horrors of Moscow would be repeated should the North be so foolish as to plan an assault on any of our possessions in British North America at any time in the winter months. General Winter will be no more forgiving an army encamped outside Montreal than he was the one Napoleon brought to bear on Moscow!”
“Though what is the state of our forces in the colonies should this perhaps unthinkable event happen?” Palmerston asked. Lewis pulled a file from the pile of papers in front of him on the table and began reading.
“As of Williams latest dispatch, some two weeks old I’m afraid, there were fourteen battalions of foot present in the Province of Canada, that does not include the Royal Canadian Rifles of course, and in the Maritime colonies there were seven other battalions present as well. Of course this does not include any of the other troops dispatched in the last few weeks who may or may not have made it to the North American stations yet. He also wrote that he had six field batteries available to him, and the one regiment of cavalry. No accurate numbers have yet been made available to me of our whole force currently on station.”
“This is all well and good, but what news of the Colonials has there been? I’ve had multiple assurances from Monck myself but all the military minds put to the task have agreed that the defence of the Province of Canada should be impossible without the firm support of the people there.” Cambridge said putting on an authoritative air.
“I’m afraid Your Highness that other than similar dispatches received from Monck about preparations and meetings we have not had any solid information on the disposition of the militia forces available to us in North America. The only new report across my own desk has been the muster of some six-thousand volunteers in Nova Scotia in January.”
There was some grumbling around the table about the lack of information available and Palmerston could not help but share the chagrin of the others. Unlike the late war with Russia where information could be couriered from the seat of war to ports on the continent where British consuls could cable the news to Britain in a few days news crossing the Atlantic was painfully slow. Unlike the flurry of activity in November and December where urgent messages seemed to arrive weekly from merchants and courier boats, now the whole series of unfortunate events leading up to the current crisis had led to an eerie quiet across the whole diplomatic front as the British demands were debated in Washington. The waiting time for news from the Americas made everyone nervous, and it was well known that events could easily spiral out of control as they had so clearly done from October to December. The simple fact was that even at the best of times it took two weeks for a fast steamer to cross the Atlantic and deliver news or orders to the British representatives who then had to act on those orders. Even then at best it still took two weeks for confirmation of the receipt of those orders to be carried back to Britain. Even with a steady stream of news crossing the Atlantic it was a month or more before those in Britain could be certain of any events in North America. Not as terrible a delay in information as had been the case in either earlier war, but it was vexing non-the-less for the men seated around the table. Palmerston sighed irritably and shifted in his seat.
“Rather than reflecting on what we do not know for the moment, I would prefer to turn our attention to what we do know. What is the state of the preparations in the true striking force of the empire? How fares the navy?”
All eyes turned to Somerset who, with an irritating calm, picked up one of his notes and began reading.
“We have taken many steps to alleviate the concerns of this cabinet in preparing the navy for war. Since the 6th of December the men of the naval dockyards have been working double shifts to prepare us in case of war and we opened the steam reserve soon after and have been inspecting the gunboat reserve since the end of that month.”
“And what is the number of vessels made available to us by this effort?” Newcastle asked.
“Thus far from the reserve we have activated some three line of battle, five frigates, twelve corvettes and sloops and over a dozen steam gunboats for service. As well there are another three line of battle, five frigates, and seven sloops and corvettes fitting out for service in harbor as we speak here.”
“No further gunboats?” Palmerston asked with an edge of concern in his voice. Somerset nodded.
“The sheds hosting the fruits of the Great Armament put forward from the last war with Russia have been checked infrequently of late, and it has been discovered that at least thirty of the older gunboats have either rotted so as to require extensive repair, or have simply rotted out so much as to be completely unsuitable for service. We are seeing what can be salvaged and what must go to the breakers, but so far it seems that the expense of repairing many of the older boats would vastly outweigh the cost of simply building new ones.”
“A pity.” Gladstone said almost absently. He seemed to be tallying figures in his head as he listened. Palmerston for his part was merely eyeing his First Lord of the Admiralty with some appreciation, but more than mild disdain. Had the fool listened to my warnings months ago we might have known this much earlier! Now though it seems the least we can do is avoid public anger and inquiry by pointing to our preparations.
“While this is all well and good gentlemen,” Lewis said interrupting Palmerston’s thoughts “,who precisely will be manning these vessels? The Good Lord knows that we have enough seamen in the Empire to man a thousand warships should we so choose, but where are we going to find enough capable seamen for this force? I’m no admiral, but I remember well some of the earlier debacles in the Baltic from the last war.”
“I am glad you ask that.” Somerset said with a proud smile “For we have at present, some odd thirty-thousand men capable of being called into service in an emergency from the men on shore. These include the men of the recently created Royal Navy Reserve, some ten-thousand, the near ten-thousand marines on shore, some four-thousand coast guard on shore, forty-four hundred able bodied naval and marine pensioners, and several hundred riggers from the dockyards. However, were I to include the Coast Volunteers we would have a further eight-thousand men for service putting some forty-thousand men at our disposal for the manning of Her Majesties ships. It is from these reserves we have already the ships from the reserve, more men will be working up the ships as they are readied for service.”
Palmerston was about to make what he thought would sound like a congratulations when a knock on the door silenced him. A clerk entered and bowed to the assembled notables.
“My Lords.” He said straightening “I beg your pardon for the interruption, but the most recent despatch’s from North America have arrived.” He produced a case and acceded to Granville’s motion to enter and placed it on the table before leaving. The case sat there for a few moments before Palmerston reached over and opened it. With a calm he had not expected to experience in receiving this news, he read over once the letter from Lyons and placed it quietly on the table.
“I fear it is to be war after all gentlemen.” He said into the dead silence of the room.
“And how long can it last?” Granville asked into the silence. Suddenly Somerset seemed unable to contain his enthusiasm.
“This will be a great opportunity to once and for all demonstrate the superiority of British arms on the North American continent! With our navy on the waves and our armies checking their advance on land they cannot hope to overcome us!”
“Six months my lords!” Cambridge said exuberantly “In six months they shall be asking us for terms as their shores burn and their armies are broken on our bayonets!”
To Palmerston this all seemed a reasonable assumption. He had no doubt that the Northern armies could not hope to prosecute a war against both Britain and do their bloody work in subjugating the South at the same time. He knew that British valor was better than the nation of shopkeepers which resided across the sea. Their form of government was anarchy personified, without order or reason, certainly their devolvement into civil war proved that! Still though, a nagging thought tugged at his mind. Are we prepared for the storm?
Outside, a light rain began.
