Wrapped in Flames: The Great American War and Beyond
- Thread starter EnglishCanuck
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This is a really great game of cat and mouse! Rosecrans knows something is afoot, but without breaking the Confederate cavalry screen he's going to have to play it more cautious, and Lee doesn't have the numbers for something gruelling so he's got to hope for a big knockout punch. The Union know that Jackson's in the valley but can't discern the purpose... honestly it's a great chapter and I can't wait for its conclusion.
[shrugs] But it was fun - in a MST3000 sense - and I far preferred it to the relentless grimderp of Turtledove’s series that came out around the same time.
marktaha
Banned
I'd like to thank the critic - I recognised the book as rubbish but he knows a lot more than I do!
Have you read Robert Conroy's 1862? The man had a lot of fun AH novels, but that one was just terrible
Thank you! On Saturday we'll be getting more from the Valley, and the week after I intend to finish off the Rapidan Campaign proper. Then we'll play catch up out west before I settle on the big moments of July 1864.
I enjoyed How Few Remain and the Great War arc of the story in TL-191. There was a lot to like about the parallelism of the Second Great War arc, but it did hit a little too hard on the nose in some cases. The interwar years were interesting, but in some cases not well fleshed out,
My biggest complaint with TL-191 focuses mainly on the Second Great War Arc as I just felt like it was not as well done as the Great War Arc. The Great War had similarities and differences and felt new and interesting, and the Second Great War just seems kinda rinse and repeat of the Eastern Front
A little bit, with the worst of the interior of Nazi Germany thrown in. I liked some of the naval aspects, and the general European exchange at the end was rather an interesting subversion.
I’m still very curious as to who will take over the Western Confederate Army at this point
I've actually gotten that all written out now! As soon as I finish my current Valley campaign writing it's off to one more big fight for June 1864, then we turn our attention west again.
oh come don't be naive
it's roger its always roger
but for real I am betting on Bragg or Beauregard
Lmao, I unfortunately think that Bragg will get it due to his relationship to Davis, but you never know with Breckinridge as Secretary of War maybe we’ll see a major shake up in the west. Just so long as Patrick Cleburne gets himself a Corps Command I’ll be happy
Wait, am I forgetting/missing something? What happened to A. S. Johnston? Isn't he still in command out west?
Really? Huh. I either completely missed that or erased it from my mind. Anyway, thanks. That's a real shame for the CSA though, he's been a pretty good general in this TL.
I agree I’ve loved having him alive and he’s been very effective in preventing crippling defeats in the west. I am very curious as to who replaces him
I've always felt A. S. Johnston was one of those commanders who had the ability to lead well, but needed more time to learn his role like Grant and Sherman did. He was probably the only one to ever get the drop on Grant effectively, fighting him to a standstill, and his efforts at misdirection drove Sherman to a nervous breakdown. Had he been given more time to learn fix his command team, overcome his weaknesses, and train his army up to his own standards, I do think he could have become, if not the Lee of the West, then something close.
Sadly, the stress of command and a nasty bout with disease back during the Siege of Corinth in 1863 has seen him retire from active duty, much to Davis's chagrin.
Chapter 88: Under a Black Flag
Chapter 88: Under a Black Flag
"I myself see in this war, if the North triumph, a dissolution of the bonds of all society. It is not alone the destruction of our property (which both the nation and the States are bound to protect), but it is the prelude to anarchy, infidelity, and the ultimate loss of free responsible government on this continent. With these convictions, I always thought we ought to meet the Federal invaders on the outer verge of just right and defence, and raise at once the black flag, and fight as Joshua did against the Canaanites. We shall proclaim, "No quarter to the violators of our homes and firesides!” - Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, 1863
“The initial movements up the Shenandoah Valley in the spring of 1864 after the fall of Harper’s Ferry had been relatively unopposed. The strength of the new “Army of the Shenandoah” was such that the detached Confederate forces there could only harass the advancing Union forces…
Pope had been effectively promoted to command the whole force, leaving the XX Corps under the day to day management of David Hunter. Pope’s instructions from Rosecrans had been clear, to advance up the Valley and restore control for the Union, with his eventual objective being Lynchburg…
By May 20th his forces had reached Newmarket and were establishing headquarters. Almost unopposed his army had hammered its way through the limited defenders, burning rebel homesteads and farms in their wake.
Pope, learning from the scorched earth tactics of Grant in the West ordered that “every field, every barn, and every animal which may give comfort to the traitors of this land should be burned. The people must be made to feel the weight of their treason and the heavy hand of war should at last reveal to them the error of their ways.” As such, his troops, especially amongst the XII Corps, enacted a brutal vengeance upon the denizens of the Valley, leaving devastation in their wake. He was determined no rebel army should use it to threaten the northern capital again.
It had unfortunately, also given he and his men a somewhat undeserved sense of safety. With only rebel cavalry harassing his advance, and the occasional gang of partisans, nothing like firm resistance he had seen out West had materialized. So it was when Jackson’s leading division under D. H. Hill encountered the leading force of Schenck at Piedmont on June 11th, the two sides were equally surprised.
Garnett shook his division out for battle, but Schenck’s Germans quickly took up the superior position. In the ensuing firefight, Garnett was mortally wounded, the command of his division devolving to Charles Winder, and his men withdrawing in confusion. Upon the interrogation of prisoners, Schenck would proudly report to Pope “We have driven off that villain Jackson, and the Valley stands before us unguarded for conquest.”
While the Battle of Piedmont was a Union victory, it also alerted Jackson, roughly, to the position of his enemy. Even though he had brought his men on a forced march, he gave them only 24 hours rest before once again striking northwards.
He managed to bring Winder’s, Trimble’s and Heth’s divisions up to the crossroads at New Market, surprising Sigel on the 15th, who only had his divisions under Steinwehr and Schimmelfennig immediately to hand. Forming a hasty battleline, the two sides faced off along the banks of Shenandoah Fork and the Massanutten Mountains protecting each flank, leaving little room for skillful maneuver. Jackson’s men pitched in, but the Germans gave no ground, but under the superior numbers, were slowly driven back. When a portion of Heth’s division managed to work around their flank, Sigel realized he would be trapped if he did not withdraw. A heroic last stand of the 45th New York on Rude’s Hill allowed for Sigel to extricate himself from the trap Jackson nearly placed him in, but it came at the cost of 1,600 men killed wounded or captured, for only 1,200 of Jackson’s men…” - At the Sign of Triumph: The Rapidan Campaign, Dylan Gordon, Boston University Press, 1982
A staged, but accurate reflection of the actions XX Corps participated in, in early May 1864
“The men of XX Corps had been largely relegated to rearguard actions by Pope, assuming an easy conquest he hoped to ‘drive the fear of God’ into the secesh by their use. Their presence was suitably outrageous to the people of the Valley and as the ‘black janissaries’ as the Richmond rags called them advanced, the enslaved peoples of the Valley soon left their farms and stately homes in droves and attached themselves to this force, creating a sprawling encampment of contrabands which followed in the army’s wake.
“It was as though we watched Moses lead his people from Egypt,” Colonel Shaw would write with awe to his sister. “The negro soldier, with a blue coat and a musket on his shoulder, elicited considerable excitement whenever he was seen. The slavers would flee in terror, while the slaves themselves turned out to cheer, many with tears in their eyes, and soon I daresay not a man, woman or child remained in bondage in our line of advance. One poor negro came to me saying ‘De brack sojers so presumptious !’ This he repeated three times, slowly shaking his head in a ecstasy of admiration. It flashed upon me that the apparition of a black soldier must amaze those still in bondage, much as a butterfly just from the chrysalis might astound his fellow-grubs.I inwardly vowed that my soldiers, at least, should be as ‘presumptuous’ as I could make them!”
XX Corps would also be on the receiving end of the worst outrages of the Confederate partisans of the Valley. Pickets would be hauled off in the night, murdered, and hung from trees just outside the encampments, any black men captured by Confederate cavalry or partisans were summarily executed. It was to the great credit of the XX Corps that they did not return such outrages in kind, burning no farms and only killing those who would not surrender, and very few white men surrendered to black men…
With Sigel’s men in swift retreat from New Market, Jackson was determined to ‘run Pope from the Valley like a common criminal’ and his own forces advanced swiftly on Sigel’s heels. Pope had no choice but to deploy the XX Corps into his line of battle, and the scant 11,000 men of that corps would be supported only by Schenk’s relatively fresh division, as the remnants of Sigel’s forces regrouped.
Pope drew his forces up at Strasburg, placing Shenck’s division in and around the town itself, covering the ford across the North Fork, while Saxton’s division was placed on Kendrick’s Ridge just to the right, overlooking the main road to town, Ferrero’s division was drawn up on their flank, the artillery massed behind, and on a hillock just overlooking Strasburg itself. The reserve was Steinwehr’s men, recuperated but not fresh.
Jackson would make his first reconnaissance on the 31st of May, the leading brigades of Trimble’s division finding the Union planted firmly in their front. To their astonishment, they were met by black skirmishers, who fought firmly. Jackson’s orders were simple: “We will destroy this rabble.”
At 11am, he set out to do just that. His artillery opened up a murderous fire on the Union right, while he maneuvered Trimble and and D. H. Hill’s divisions to overcome and envelop the Union on Kendrick’s Ridge, Heth’s division would strike Schenk’s men directly at Strasburg over the North Fork, and Winder would act as his reserve…
By 12:09 Jackson judged he had sufficiently softened the ‘janissaries’ on Kendrick’s Ridge enough that they would break. He ordered Hill’s men in. Led by Stephen D. Ramseur’s brigade of North Carolinians, they expected a walkover. Instead, they were seen off by murderous rifle fire, with many Confederate troops shocked that the black soldiers had not run. Ordering his men in with the bayonet, the North Carolinians charged, but were handily seen off by their opponents, Ramseur himself being badly wounded by a black soldier.
A furious Hill would temporarily relieve Ramseur of command and order his men in again, this time supported by Dole’s Georgian brigade, with Edward O’Neal’s Alabaman’s supporting. Thirteen Confederate regiments in three brigades, over 7,000 men, charged against a scant 5,000 Colored Volunteers, and it became a general melee. Neither side would break, and it was twenty minutes of brutal fighting with one Colored soldier recalling “We just bayoneted, and bayoneted, and bayoneted.”
Shots were exchanged, but it soon became a vicious melee, soldiers with clubbed rifles, bayonets, knives, and teeth and fists. Officers in the Confederate ranks could not control their men, and all semblance of order was lost. By the time the Confederate soldiers retreated back down the ridge, over 2,500 of them were dead, killed or wounded, leaving 1,800 USCT casualties in their wake.
Jackson reorganized Hill’s men, allowing them to rest, and maneuvered them to the flank, while placing Trimble’s men in the front. He coordinated them with another assault across the river by Heth’s men. At 3pm, the order was given and up they went again, over 20,000 Confederates advancing against 17,000 Union men, most of the Colored Volunteers…
The most famous moment came when Dole’s Georgians came up against the line manned by the 52nd and 53rd Massachusetts Volunteers. Raised the previous year under the Emancipation Proclamation, these regiments were free African Americans fighting to free their enslaved brethren, and thus had a the temperament of men on a great and holy crusade. Their commanders, Robert Gould Shaw and Norwood P. Hallowell respectively, were ardent abolitionists, and had each volunteered to lead their men in battle. They were particularly motivated to fight, Hallowell’s elder brother Edward serving in Ferrero’s division, gave them common cause to drive the Confederates back…
Like a gray tide, the Confederates surged up the ridge, and once, twice, three times, they were driven back. On the fourth run, they managed to climb the lines and by sheer weight of numbers, begin forcing the Massachusetts men back. It was here Colonel Shaw was badly wounded, and next to him, the colors dropped, only to be picked up by William Henry Carney who planted the flag on the parapet, rallying the men. He was wounded in doing so, and suffered two further wounds keeping the flag held high. For this, he was awarded the Medal of Honor…
William Henry Carver, with the colors he saved, December 1864
Jackson’s assault on Strasburg themselves stalled from Schenk’s excellent defence of the ford, with Heth’s exhausted soldiers having to fall back after an hour’s heavy fighting. A frustrated Jackson, seeing the ridge still in Union hands, sent Winder’s division on a perilous march across the North Fork, underneath the ridge and into Ferrero’s positions between the ridge and the town. Unfortunately for the Union cause in the battle, Ferrero was drunk, and unable to coordinate with the men on either side of him, so when Winder’s fresh troops crashed into him, despite the valor of his Colored Volunteers, they were forced to give way without support.
Pope, seeing the potential bulge in his lines, committed his reserve, unsure of Ferrero’s dispositions, but on the ridge, the Confederates once again attacked, the sheer weight of numbers at last driving Saxton’s men back, though in good order. Without a ready reserve, Pope belatedly realized that his flank was in danger of collapsing. Reluctantly, he ordered a withdrawal up the Valley Pike towards Winchester…
Though Jackson had won the field, he had taken appalling casualties. Of the 27,000 men the First Corps had brought to battle that day, over 9,000 were dead or wounded, with Heth’s division almost wasted as a fighting force, having suffered 40% casualties, many unnecessarily when launching almost suicidal attacks against the colored troops.
Despite having won the Battle of Strasburg, Jackson’s corps was spent. This was proved a mere three days later when, despite attempting to assault Pope’s fortifications at Winchester, his forces were repulsed by the defenders on June 3rd. Reluctantly, Jackson withdrew up the Valley to regroup, and devise another path to victory.
The Colored Corps had stood its ground.” – The Colored Troops, Isaiah Devlin, University of Boston, 2003
To think that barely three years prior these men shared the same country and lived under the same flag is simple unbelievable.
The things war does...
Now that we are getting at the end of May, I wonder if we're about to have some news from Rotterdam? Last time we heard of the peace negociations, things were not going that bad, but not exactly good either.
Worse, this was basically Pope's attitude in 1862! He's now in overall command of the Valley though, and he get's to do as he pleases practically, so it is going to be a very bad time to really be any person in the Valley in 1864!
As soon as I finish the next few chapters, the updates from Rotterdam will come! Then of course, the issue of ratifying the treaty. Some events in June will have an effect on that, but I also have the whole treaty written out which will be shared in the appendix.