Science Fiction, sure. Old unrealistic AH, not so much. I don't think there is anything on the economics and troop commitment needed to keep the US down that is available in 2023 that wasn't available in 1953. By comparison, I figure that all of the information indicating that a Japanese landing/conquest of Hawaii in December of 1941 was unsustainable was probably available by 1950 *at the latest*.
Wrapped in Flames: The Great American War and Beyond
- Thread starter EnglishCanuck
- Start date
I've always felt it was good for story framing and not for realism.
I finally caught up to this and really enjoyed it. I'll admit to being more interested in the political aspects than the military, so looking forward to see how the election of 1864 goes!
Thank you very much! After a few years of writing nothing but epic battles/campaigns, believe me getting around to some good old fashioned politics is going to be refreshing! I have the 1864 election notes all done, and the two chapters in rough form already.
Then I am really looking forward to the 1868 and 1872 elections! There's some elections abroad that will be interesting too...
Yeah, I am looking towards politics too.
Don’t get me wrong but… I always loved the political wars more than the military wars.
Chapter 98: Two Victories, Two Defeats Part II
Chapter 98: Two Victories, Two Defeats Part II
Knox County, Kentucky
Knox County, Kentucky
“The two armies would meet again at Barbourville. Bragg, seeing it as the major crossroads, formed up his men outside the sleepy town of barely 300 souls. It was at one of the few good roads along the Mountain Pike which led to the Cumberland Gap. From there, Grant would be able to threaten the extreme end of Virginia, access pro-Union East Tennessee, and of course, drive much of the Confederate army from Kentucky. This could not be allowed to happen, and nor could Bragg let Grant come much closer to the major east-west railroad artery he protected.
Grant, for his part, was more than happy to force a battle. The need to drive the Confederate armies further south and liberate East Tennessee, while cutting the main east-west Confederate rail line, was the overriding goal for 1864…
When the two armies met again on August 3rd, Bragg had now been reinforced by two divisions from the West under Jackson. Charles Winder and D. H. Hill’s divisions had rapidly been shipped west in mid-July, much to Jackson’s distaste. His first meeting with Bragg as a commander was equally distasteful, and Bragg found Jackson to be “queer, belligerent, and full of fire and brimstone” which put the ever prideful commander of the Army of the Tennessee on edge. Jackson found Bragg to be, if not incompetent, at least too eager to withdraw.
The positions that the Army of Tennessee found itself in at Barbourville were, at least, securable. The two was a natural crossroads connecting the Cumberland Turnpike and the Manchester Pike. Bragg’s position was made secure by the headwaters of the Cumberland River, and the Ford Creek at the head of his encampment meant he had a secure left flank, only leaving the route from Manchester open to attack.
Bragg positioned Jackson at the most secure location, but only after Jackson objected that his 9,000 men were better placed on the more dubious left. Predictably, Bragg ignored this, instead placing Hardee in the center, with Hindman and Cleburne’s corps holding the right and Smith’s battered Army of Kentucky in reserve. Bragg was, for now, confident that he held an edge as with reinforcement his army numbered 70,000 men.
Grant had, by nature of the terrain, been forced into a slow pursuit. The overland nature meant long supply trains and fitful stops and starts for his army. Not wanting to end up in a position which had cost him the advance up the Mississippi the year before, he was fastidious about not living off the land. The rugged country could hardly have supported such a venture, and he instead wanted to show the people of Kentucky the United States was there not as conquerors, but the imposition of proper government. Any goods requisitioned were scrupulously paid for, and Grant spent at least an hour a day with his quartermasters ensuring that every item needed was available. “The Army’s business was war, but war began to look like a business,” one colonel would later wryly note.
However, even with casualties suffered at Raccoon Spring, Grant brought his 63,000 men to battle on August 3rd. That day he brought Schofield’s VIII, Thomas’s IX and MacPherson’s XIX Corps, with John Logan’s XI Corps trickling in as a reserve. Grant was happy to observe that, poor terrain aside, Bragg had not fortified the region well, with only rudimentary earthworks present.
The first attacks came on the evening of the 3rd, with flanking maneuvers around Bragg’s exposed flanks. Though Thomas would maneuver, he would not find Bragg’s flank and the fighting on the first day would peter out by sundown…
Bragg felt his lines secure and proudly told his commanders that “At last, we have found ourselves the ground where we will bury Grant.”
Grant, blissfully unaware of his intended funeral, that he was outnumbered, or that the enemy should have had the better position, bulled on anyways.
The morning of the 14th dawned overcast, hot, and muggy. Soldiers in their rifle pits and those advancing against them were irritable, and most Union men were driven on by the smell of coffee in the Confederate lines rather than the promise of victory. However, that morning, Thomas would execute his finest attack of the war. He had stolen a march that night, and was only two hundred yards from the Confederate works as the sun rose. With Robert McCook’s division leading the charge, Thomas found the exposed flanks of Stewart’s division in Cleburne’s corps. The wily Irish general wheeled his men about, but found the whole weight of IX Corps crashing into his lines.
On his flank, MacPherson’s XIX Corps was pounding into Hindman’s center. Much to the shock of the rebel defenders, their works did not deter the Union men in the first wave, and sleepy pickets were scooped up and it was ironically another McCook, Robert McCook, whose brigade led the charge into the rebel lines, aping the success of his relative…” - On the Bleeding Edge: The Overland Campaign of 1864, Micheal Burgess, Lexington University, 1992
“Hindman and Cleburne fought hard, but the extremely aggressive attacks by the Bastard of Bardstown and the rejuvenated Union troops in the center pressed the Confederate line inwards. Jackson seemed to be the only commander to sense the trap that threatened to spring upon them. If Thomas took command of the Cumberland Pike, the whole army might be squeezed against the foothills feeding the Cumberland River.
Making Bragg aware of this fact, Bragg would demure for a crucial hour until the committal of Grant’s own reserve began to bow in the center of the line. Belatedly, Bragg would realize Jackson was right, and sent orders for him to remove his troops to the rear to “hold open the Pike for our forces against all enemies” which Jackson, used to the fast movement of men, promptly did.
Smith’s men maneuvered into line, and Jackson’s troops fell back through Barbourville, smoothly filing in as they had at Mine Run. It was here Bragg finally had to acknowledge Jackson’s value as his hard fighting men, at the cost of a quarter of his command killed or wounded, fought Thomas to a bloody standstill. Even better from Bragg’s perspective, as Thomas moved to rally the troops, he was struck by a stray shell, wounding him severely enough he had to be removed from the field…
In a hard fought rear action, Bragg’s army would retreat from Barbourville to fight another day. Though he had lost another 6,000 men, a quarter of them from Jackson’s command, he would move himself to protect the last entrance to Tennessee…” - The Cannon and the Lash: Braxton Bragg and the Confederacy, William Hozier, New York University Press, 1999
“Even in the aftermath of Grant’s victory at Barbourville, the difficulties facing his overland campaign were not over. The morning after such a victory, he was greeted by news that another wagon train carrying much needed supplies had been burned and looted by Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest. Something would have to be done…” - On the Bleeding Edge: The Overland Campaign of 1864, Micheal Burgess, Lexington University, 1992
September 10th, 1864
Headquarters in the Field,
Barbourville, Kentucky
The scars of the battle nearly a month ago were still present under the warm September sky. Houses burned to their foundations, ruts in the ground, and the churned earth where the dead had been buried in their mass graves. The field hospitals had discharged many of the wounded, but dozens more were still recuperating, complaining endlessly that indeed their wounds were sufficient to get them sent back to hospitals in Louisville. However, if they had known of the rough, bumpy, and agonizing wagon ride which awaited them, infested with rebel partisans, they might have stayed quiet.
The army itself had not been completely idle. Even now he was testing Bragg’s defenses in the mountains, but he had not found Bragg idle either. In defeat Bragg had still proved capable of delivering a sting to the Union army. He had withdrawn rapidly through the Cumberland Gap, but fortified it equally as rapidly, bloodying the nose of the first Union probe on August 15th. A long probing maneuver by Macpherson had also found the passes securely locked against any infiltration. It seemed Bragg meant to wait Grant out through the winter. Grant could not allow that.
Even worse from his perspective, the army was now stalled due to chronic supply problems.
In the County Courthouse that was without major damage, Grant pondered those problems. Fragrant smoke curled from an ever present cigar that he puffed away on, curious over the future of his campaign. Despite the best efforts of his transportation chief, Joseph D. Webster, the supplies making their way south were getting burned, lost, or simply worn out well before he could make use of them. Much as he would have liked to live off the land, the fact that this little flyspeck town had served as the county seat before the battle gave lie to that possibility! Grimacing, he smoked away trying not to let his irritation show.
He was interrupted by his chief of staff. “General, the men have arrived,” Rawlins said.
“Thank you, send them in.”
With three more men tramping in, the room seemed claustrophobic as Rawlins moved to seat them and bawled at an orderly for refreshments. After the long ride two of them had taken, Grant did not doubt they’d need it. When some fortified coffee - honest to God coffee - had been poured, Grant formally welcomed his guests.
First came Colonel Webster, with the latest reports on his supplies. The second was a tall, broad chested man with a beard which was in need of combing and long hair under a Major Generals rank insignia on his hat which he dutifully doffed. The third was a short, long armed and barrel chested man with a well groomed mustache and an unruly shovel beard along his chin with a colonel's rank on his kepi. The first was the leader of the Cavalry Corps for Grant’s army, William P. Sanders. The second was the leader of what had become known as the “Special Brigade” under Phillip Sheridan. Grant offered each a cigar, and at last got down to business.
“Gentlemen, it is a pleasure to have you here, despite the small space,” Grant said wryly.
“I’ve camped in smaller, my stature permits it,” Sheridan replied, getting a chuckle from his fellows.
“You’ll get a chance to stretch your legs soon enough,” Grant said. He gestured to the map of their area of operations, a long highlighted series of paths leading back to Louisville. “As we are all unfortunately aware, without the Mississippi River to succor our forces, all our supplies and material must come from the Ohio River, primarily Louisville.”
Grant tapped the map unhappily. “The last semi-reliable railroad available runs from Louisville to Lexington. And it’s getting cut too often for my liking. That leaves long vulnerable wagon trains from Louisville here to Barbourville, all too open to attack.”
Rawlins and Sheridan nodded in understanding. The army’s supplies were tenuous, and with the rebel cavalry and partisans active in their rear, the whole expedition might end in disaster. Grant was too aware of how costly such a disaster could be.
“Bragg, seemingly, has gone into winter quarters. He believes he can stymie my efforts to break through the mountains and into East Tennessee, and I am chagrined to say, so far he has been right. He’s fortified all the passes leading through the mountains, and I can barely fit a division at a time through, let alone the whole army. So far my efforts to find a weak point have been for naught, but there is always a hole in any fence, as the weasel can attest.”
He continued on. “For me to find such a hole, I need to keep this army supplied. Doing so has proven difficult, all your valiant efforts notwithstanding General Sanders,” Grant nodded in recognition of work done as well as could be expected. “However, in combination with the work of local partisans, Nathan Bedford Forrest, that devil, has been raiding, burning, and butchering his way across Kentucky, and we haven’t been able to stop him. My blockhouses burn, patrols are scattered, and small forces ambushed and destroyed. Its maddening as he commands not only his own horsemen, but whatever rebel partisans he can scrounge to his cause by the day. With Wheelers command screening the rebel positions directly ahead of us, I’m hard pressed to detach any more men.”
“And, if I may presume, sir, this is where I come in?” Sheridan asked.
“Absolutely, Colonel, ah, I almost forgot,” fishing in his pocket for a moment he pulled out an envelope and passed it to the shorter man, who pulled out the single star tabs. “As of the end of August, you’re a brigadier general now. Wear ‘em with pride. For all your hard work in Canada and now Kentucky it's the least you deserve.”
“Thank you, General,” Sheridan said with a small look of pride.
“Don’t thank me just yet, General Sheridan. I’m asking a great task of you.” He looked to Sanders. “I don’t mean to step on your toes Will, but Sheridan is to be given all the support you can spare in this endeavor while keeping the army supported.”
“The Special Brigade will have everything I can give,” Sanders nodded.
“Good, because, Sheridan, I’m asking you to do all in your power to find and destroy Forrest. Burn half the state if you have to, but I’m demanding you run that rogue to ground.”
Sheridan nodded. “I think General, you’ll find I’m well suited to running down rogues. I won’t let you down. I'll burn Kentucky if I have to."
-x-x-x-x-
“In the aftermath of the Federal evacuation of its Port Royal lodgement in early 1862, the last official act of the South Carolina garrison had been accepting the surrender of the 1,400 men who manned the last redoubt after the British had driven the United States Navy from the seas, leaving them with no hope of rescue. From then on, all the men who could be spared had been sent north to fight with the army in Virginia, leaving only a reduced garrison of 8,000 men in South Carolina, primarily in Charleston and its environs.
The mainstay of the Charleston garrison was a rough division of South Carolina militia commanded by the influential planter Wilmot G. de Saussure, with two brigades of proud Palmetto State soldiers whose last combat had come at Fort Sumter in 1861, supported by the 5th South Carolina Cavalry and a legion of gunners. Their main duty, aside from protecting Charleston, was responding to reports of raids, runaways, and easing South Carolina’s ever present fears of a slave uprising…
Overall command for the whole of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida was Joseph E. Johnston, effectively sent south as an exile after the Second Battle of Centreville in 1862. Though he fumed at the posting, Johnston had not been idle. He had, however, been frustrated. The whole of the department, with the British entry into the war, had allowed its guard to relax. Florida only maintained a single overstrength brigade and cavalry regiment, while Georgia concentrated its primary forces in Savannah, with a brigade of troops acting as a reserve in Atlanta. Under his whole command Johnston could theoretically call on 22,000 men from the three states.
Joseph E. Johnston had the thankless task of trying to defend three states.
The state governors, however, were difficult. While Johnston and Georgia Governor Joseph Brown would bond over a shared distaste for President Davis, the two men did not see eye to eye on most military matters. Brown pledged any and all assets to defend Georgia, but declined to send men out of state, and sent many letters explaining why such a move would be “poor for morale and the people of this state” which vexed Johnson to no end. Florida Governor John Milton, whose small state had already put significant expenditure into taking over the coastal forts surrendered by the United States, was asking for more aid and more ships to protect Florida’s long and vulnerable coasts, and refused to part with a single soldier.
Johnston then found an unlikely ally in South Carolina Governor Milledge L. Bonham. At the outbreak of war, Bonham had enlisted, serving at the Battle of Bull Run, but in 1862 resigned his commission to take up his posting in the Confederate Congress before being elected by the South Carolina legislature as governor in a secret ballot. His loyalty to the South could not be doubted, but he found his time in office exasperated by a legislature that was more concerned with making money than defending themselves. With Britain in the war, so far as many South Carolinians were concerned, the fight was as good as won. Though they kept many men under arms for fear of slave uprisings with so many white men gone off to fight, they were broadly confident in their ability to defend the state. With a heavy heart Lt. Governor Plowden Weston would write “The people are overconfident in their arms, and the ironclad that bears the name of their great city. This belief has led to a fearful want of preparations.”
Bonham agreed, and tried everything to encourage the martial spirit. However, with money flowing in and cotton flowing out, few were inclined to listen. Bonham argued passionately with the legislature over not diverting funds from defence into building the new state capital at Columbia which had languished in 1862, but gotten a fitful start again as it seemed the war would pass the state by. He argued that forces were too dispersed, and the Federals were sure to once again come now that the British had left the war. His warnings fell on mostly deaf ears, save those of Johnston.
In a plea to Richmond, and personal letters to Lee, he reminded the leaders of the Confederacy that the state had been open to attack in 1861, and without a naval squadron proper, he could not hope to properly defend the whole state. While Lee did not object to a move to protect South Carolina, Davis, if merely on principle, desired to do nothing to support Johnston. He would, however, be convinced by Lee that some men could be spared, if only for political expediency.
Shaking loose six regiments, mostly South Carolinians and a pair of understrength Georgia regiments, Lee sent them south, but also used the excuse to pass off a number of less than desirable officers from his command. William B. Talliaferro, a well connected Virginia legislator who quarreled with every commander placed over him, was sent to command a new division in Johnston’s department. Lee had also transferred Nathan G. Evans, a man just as quarrelsome and irksome to Lee. Both men would find no favor under Johnston, but he would set them to some use…
The planned expedition to South Carolina had come together at the start of August, rapidly assembled from forces across New England and gathered at New York. Farragut had put together a respectable squadron which would follow the first blockading squadron moving in early September under Commodore Samuel P. Lee, a cousin of the infamous rebel general Robert E. Lee, which would bring war again to the city of Charleston.
Farragut had assembled a squadron for the invasion consisting of his old flagship Hartford, again serving as his floating command, and the vessels Monongahela, Pensacola, Richmond, and Ticonderoga, in the main gunline and as escorts. These were supported by the gunboats Aroostook, Cayuga, Chocura, Huron, Katahdin, Ottawa, Octorora, Port Royal and Seneca. These escorted a further 68 supply and transport ships with two divisions totalling 11,000 men under Nathaniel P. Banks, with the brigades under Godfrey Weitzel and Charles Paine. Weitzel’s brigade was much of what remained of the former Army of New England, while Charles Paine’s division was two brigades of colored troops sent to “promote palpitations in the heart of secession” Frederick Douglas’s words. It was these troops he intended to drive the fear of God into South Carolina…
…Despite having reconnoitered the coasts since late August, Farragut was surprised upon the appearance of his fleet to find the situation less intense than he feared. The Port Royal Sound, recaptured two years previous, had not been a serious concern for South Carolina. Though the two forts, the rebuilt Fort Walker and Fort Beauregard, had been refurbished with heavy guns, they were in an equally miserable condition as they had been two years prior.
That such complacency was possible can be directly laid on the feet of the government of South Carolina, whose priorities had been skewed for too many years to change. The overall command of the two forts was under Colonel Charles H. Simonton, a lawyer before the war, he had commanded a brigade of infantry through 1862-63 before being given the relative “light” posting to rest in 1864. His command included Companies B, I, and K of the 2nd South Carolina Artillery, 5th South Carolina State Troops, and three companies of local militia rotated in to serve their time of duty, in total the garrison did not mount more than 1,100 men, facing ten times their number of infantry and guns.
Rudely awakened by the sound of Federal guns on October 2nd, Simonton was horrified to see “every ship in the Union” off the coasts. He hurriedly sent messengers to Charleston pleading for help, but none could arrive in time.
An absurdly stylized painting of the Second Battle of Port Royal from 1885, in reality most defenders scored few hits.
The action was opened by Hartford, her guns ringing out at 7am, pounding Fort Beauregard. The Union gun line followed, hammering away for a full hour. Despite new guns, better embrasures, and a will to fight, the Confederate gunners could do little but stand and die at the hands of Farragut’s vengeful fleet…
The firing continued until 1pm, when the last Confederate guns fell silent, and the forts themselves were reduced to “rubble and ruin” as Farragut would write in his post-action report. The two divisions would then row ashore and begin landing on South Carolina’s soil for the first time in over two years. Paine’s division would be granted the honor of raising the Stars and Stripes over the heart of secession once again…
…The next day, soldiers were advancing on Beaufort and occupying it. For miles around the people fled, many taking their property and slaves with them. Farmers and plantation owners scattered as rumors of “black janissaries” were shouted by fleeing coastal folk. Soon, much of the county would be rushing away from the coast, and the government in Columbia would be struggling to respond. Things would become infinitely worse only a month later when a prophet and her Moses would step off the boats at Beaufort.” - Abortive Freedom: The Port Royal Campaign, 1864-65, Isaiah Devlin, University of Boston, 2007
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But maybe not for long given the presence of Confederate ironclads and the book's title is 'Abortive Freedom'.
I have been reading this story on and off and I have to say that it is pretty good. A lot better than Britannia's Fist I should say; that trilogy got strange later on. But given the dire straits of the Union here, from the Union Army problems to the better Confederate situation and the political homefront that seem to be closing in on Lincoln, I had considered an independent Confederacy a sure thing but also considered a Union victory which in my opinion would be more interesting as it could chronicle how the Union won despite the higher stakes and how it affects them in the long-term. Nice that you keep us guessing about the final outcome.
Speaking of which, how far would this go beyond the Great American War, as in as far as the 20th century?
I have been reading this story on and off and I have to say that it is pretty good. A lot better than Britannia's Fist I should say; that trilogy got strange later on. But given the dire straits of the Union here, from the Union Army problems to the better Confederate situation and the political homefront that seem to be closing in on Lincoln, I had considered an independent Confederacy a sure thing but also considered a Union victory which in my opinion would be more interesting as it could chronicle how the Union won despite the higher stakes and how it affects them in the long-term. Nice that you keep us guessing about the final outcome.
Speaking of which, how far would this go beyond the Great American War, as in as far as the 20th century?
Grant winning the battle but losing Thomas is a hard trade, hopefully it isn't a career ender. Likewise burning Kentucky to get Forrest could be a boon, but might also be sowing the seeds of his demise if it raises the ire of all of Kentucky. Though, if anyone can do it, it's Sheridan. As far as the Confederacy goes... maybe, just maybe, Bragg will start to learn from his mistakes.
Nice to see Johnston back in the saddle, but he'll have a hard go of it with the governors if it's anything like OTL.
Great piece of writing, dude. It's fun to try and parse if something is going to be foreshadowing or a red herring. Always fun.
Nice to see Johnston back in the saddle, but he'll have a hard go of it with the governors if it's anything like OTL.
Great piece of writing, dude. It's fun to try and parse if something is going to be foreshadowing or a red herring. Always fun.
Well, most of the high seas. Farragut's campaign against South Carolina is the opening gambit, with a blockading squadron around Charleston. The Union blockade for now is as such:
United States Naval Commands November 1864
Home Fleet (New York) Commodore David Dixon Porter - commanding all of New England and the limited extra-American presence the USN has in late 1864.
Chesapeake Squadron (Philadelphia) Commodore John A. Dahlgren - commanding the Chesapeake blockading squadron and responsible for protecting Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and stopping any infernal rebel raiders from running to sea to do to the Union what they did to the British!
North Carolina Squadron (Philadelphia based) Commodore James S. Palmer - commanding the coasts of North Carolina, the smallest squadron at present.
Charleston Division (Beaufort and Port Royal Sound) Samuel P. Lee - sealing up that most disloyal state of South Carolina and Charleston specifically.
South Atlantic Squadron (Beaufort and Port Royal Sound) Rear-Admiral Samuel F. Dupont - Operations against Savannah, Jacksonville and scouting Confederate defences around the Florida Keyes for operations in 1865 to expand the Federal blockade.
Atlantic Squadron (Beaufort and Port Royal Sound) Admiral David Farragut - operations against South Carolina and then operations unknown in 1865.
---
This, I note, does not include commands on the inland waters (the still functional Lake Erie and Lake Ontario Squadrons, demobilizing) and the much reduced Mississippi River Fleet.
There is no Pacific Squadron as it was destroyed in 1863 at the Battle of San Francisco Bay.
I'll give you Harriet Tubman as a point, but the "Moses" I've mentioned has already made a few appearances in TTL, the highest ranking Colored officer in the United States Army! Tubman has a long awaited appearance coming up!
Still keeping us guessing as masterfully as ever, I guess soon we will see how Farragut will fair against the CSN. My money for now will be on a USN victory, but Johnston possibly just barely eking out a victory on the ground. Whether or not Bragg can hold off Grant remains to be seen, but as posters above me stated the loss of Thomas and loosing Sheridan on Kentucky could very well cost Grant at a decisive moment, though hopefully Forrest dies.
Then in 1865 we'll see Napoleon III and Lincoln sword duel for the fate of the Union, just like Luke and Vader though I doubt Napoleon can shoot lightning out of his hand, but with EC you never know...
Then in 1865 we'll see Napoleon III and Lincoln sword duel for the fate of the Union, just like Luke and Vader though I doubt Napoleon can shoot lightning out of his hand, but with EC you never know...
I assume this lot (and any detached units) all have NAWIS minders, to ensure they stay on their best behaviour.
We shall have to wait and see
I am glad I beat Tsouras's...interesting trilogy! I'm hopeful you'll continue enjoying it! I do keep the outcome close to my chest on this one. But I've gone back and forth (ish) over the years, and didn't firmly decide on the actual outcome until roughly 2017. The future holds some interesting changes in North America, and many different visions of an American future are cropping up. Expect to hear more from the book "Staking Claims to a Continent: The North American Revolutions of the 1860s" by TTL's James Latimer!
So far I'm firmly committed to the outcome of the 1872 election and up to 1876. The notes and major future details are settled as far as 1895 at present (with some minor variations) but I do have enough rough material which could stretch the TL out to the mid 20th century, where I could probably go into the 1960s. There's some big stuff in the 1870s I want to get through first however!
Grant has some hard knocks, and he's arguably campaigning through some of the toughest terrain outside of Northern New York right now, with an army that's marching in a manner similar to those in Mexico, through worse terrain! Burning Kentucky to get Forrest may not be an overall savvy move to placate truculent Kentuckians, but strategically it is a necessity!
Sheridan has many roles left to play...
Yeah, this really is a TL where Johnston can catch even fewer breaks than OTL. He's got a unique situation with these governors here too. Joseph Brown is a staunch anti-Davis politician, so is friendly with him, but won't spare anything more than he absolutely has to for defending beyond Georgia. John Milton is a staunch Davis ally, and has the benefit that his state is sending a lot of foodstuffs north so he commands an outsized strategic/political capital compared to his states population, while also distrusting Johnston's judgement. Surprisingly, from my own research, Milledge L. Bonham of South Carolina might have been the most likely to support more military prepardness as he did quite a bit for it OTL. I have my doubts the South Carolina legislature would have as much fire for it however...
I aim to keep people surprised as to the future
Your comments are always great!At present, Milne's North American and West Indies Squadron is mere "monitoring" the new American blockade, usually also shadowed by French ships - who perhaps just coincidentally are very active at New Orleans.
American captains currently have standing orders to be scrupulously correct with foreign ships. There is absolutely no desire in Washington for a round two of this war, and Britain still has significant troop and ship commitments in North America going into 1865 that will be addressed in a few chapters!
The more I think about the after effects if this timeline I get more and more curious.
If the CSA survives, that would definitely change the local history of where I grew up. A small town in WA born out of a dozen confederate/southern families wanting to flee from any possible repercussions. I mean already having increased British influence would mean quite a lot to my state.
On a side not, what are your thoughts EnglishCanuck on the situation in Alaska ttl?
If the CSA survives, that would definitely change the local history of where I grew up. A small town in WA born out of a dozen confederate/southern families wanting to flee from any possible repercussions. I mean already having increased British influence would mean quite a lot to my state.
On a side not, what are your thoughts EnglishCanuck on the situation in Alaska ttl?
I'm so glad to hear that!
In Wrapped in Flames, the more research I've done, the more unexpected consequences I've stumbled across! The depth of the changes on the Pacific is going to be very interesting as I've hinted to one extent or another thus far. Don't expect everything from OTL to be similar, if at all,
Currently, as of 1864, Russian America remains under the indifferent control of the Tsar. This war however, has somewhat caused him to despair of the effort to sell it to the United States which now does not have any presence in Pacific waters. Its also driven home the point that the ground is totally indefensible from a British attempt to take it by force in any future conflict. There is a thinking the time may be right to simply cut their losses and try and make up for it elsewhere.
No one in London is paying any particular attention to it. Yet.
Oh I do have plans for Japan! Maybe not a Japanese Alaska, maybe not even Siberia and Manchuria, but they're gonna have a beef with Russia in the 1860s too.
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