american civil war 1861 - 1865 · american civil war 1861 - 1865 an after action report prelude to...

AMERICAN CIVIL W AR1 8 6 1 - 1 8 6 5

AN AFTER ACTION REPORT

BY ROBERT W IDELL

F O R T H E A G E O D & M A T R I X G A M E S C O M M U N I T Y F O R U M S , 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 8

A M E R I C A N C I V I L W A R 1 8 6 1 - 1 8 6 5AN AFTER ACTION REPORT

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................1

PRELUDE TO WAR..................................................................................................2

THE CSA ON THE BRINK OF WAR.....................................................................5

THE WAR PLAN.....................................................................................................10

1861............................................................................................................................15

1862............................................................................................................................41

STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS..............................................................................42

APPENDICES...........................................................................................................46

Robert Widell Indexes - Page I


I N D E X O F I L L U S T R A T I O N S

Illustration 1: Benjamin Morgan Palmer......................................................................2

Illustration 2: Jefferson Davis inaugurated as the first President of the Confederate States of America on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol on February 18, 1861.. .3

Illustration 3: Alexander Hamilton Stephens - Vice President of the Confederate States of America..........................................................................................................4

Illustration 4: The original Confederate Cabinet. L-R: Judah P. Benjamin, Stephen Mallory, Christopher Memminger, Alexander Stephens, LeRoy Pope Walker, Jefferson Davis, John H. Reagan and Robert Toombs..................................................5

Illustration 5: Fort Sumter before the bombardment in April 1861............................10

Illustration 6: LeRoy Pope Walker - CSA Secretary of War, April 1861..................11

Illustration 7: The USS Merrimack burning during the US evacuation of the Norfolk Navy Yards.................................................................................................................15

Illustration 8: Francis Stebbins Bartow - Commander of the CSA force attacking Fort Sumter, SC on April 11, 1861....................................................................................16

Illustration 9: Cartoon Map of the Anaconda Plan, 1861...........................................17

Illustration 10: Order of Battle for the Army of the Potomac - April 1861...............18

Illustration 11: Order of Battle for the Shenandoah Force - April 1861....................19

Illustration 12: Order of Battle for Magruder's Command - May 1861......................19

Illustration 13: Order of Battle for Huger's Command - May 1861............................19

Illustration 14: Plan for Operation Lion's Den - May 1861........................................21

Illustration 15: New OOB for the Army of the Potomac after the Battle at Manassas – July 1861....................................................................................................................23

Illustration 16: Situation Overview in the East - End of August, 1861......................24

Illustration 17: Picture of Camp Dick Robinson - July, 1861....................................31

Illustration 18: Samuel Houston. Unionist governor of Texas....................................34

Illustration 19: Monthly combat losses - 1861...........................................................35

Illustration 20: James Murray Mason. Confederate commissioner on his way to Great Britain in August 1861...............................................................................................38

Illustration 21: John Slidell. Confederate commissioner on his way to France in August 1861................................................................................................................38

Illustration 22: Captain Charles Wilkes. Commander of the USS San Jacinto..........39

Robert Widell Indexes - Page II


Illustration 23: Yearly combat losses..........................................................................44

Illustration 24: Accumulated Combat Losses.............................................................44

Illustration 25: Tonnes of War Supply and value of goods in thousands of dollars brought into the CSA quarterly by blockade runners..................................................44

Illustration 26: Tonnes of War Supply and value of goods in thousands of $ sunk quarterly by CSA raiders............................................................................................44

Illustration 27: Map of Fort Moultrie as it was on June 28, 1776..............................65

Robert Widell Indexes - Page III


I N D E X O F T A B L E S

Table 1: Significant events in 1861............................................................................43Table 2: The 1861 battles, and known details about them.........................................69

Robert Widell Indexes - Page IV


I N T R O D U C T I O N

This document is a work of fiction based on playing the computer game AGEOD's American Civil War 1861 – 1865. The game was started in November 2007 as a PBEM between the author, Robert Widell, representing the Confederate States of America and his opponent, Marcus, representing the United States of America.

The After Action Report (AAR) is mainly written from the perspective of the Confed-erate States of America (CSA).

DISCLAIMER

This document does not claim to be accurate, or historically correct as it is simply created to add some flavor to the game mentioned above. Neither does the document claim any political or other position related to the atrocities committed during the real American Civil War or the slavery, or other issues leading to the war.

GAME SETTINGS

The game has been played with the following settings:

● AGEOD's ACW patched to 1.07f before start of game. Patched to 1.08a in late October 1861. Patched to 1.09 in late December 1861

● No modifications applied

● Random Generals on the Strong setting

● Leaders must be active to move armies

● Fog of War is On

● Naval Boxes with Standard Rules

● No Redeployment of leaders allowed

● Small commitment delay

● Normal Foreign Entry

● No additional house rules

● Robert Widell is hosting the game

Robert Widell Introduction - Page 1


P R E L U D E T O W A R

This AAR starts at the outbreak of the Civil War, but it is worthwhile spending a few words on the background of the conflict1.

Some southern religious leaders preached the cause of secession already in 1860, and Benjamin M. Palmer, a presbyterian pastor from New Orleans thundered support for secession in a Thanksgiving sermon, arguing that white Southerners had the right and duty to maintain slavery out of and social self-preservation, in order to act as "guardians" to the "affectionate and loyal" but "helpless" blacks, to safeguard global economic interests, and to defend religion against "atheistic" abolitionism. His sermon was widely distributed across the region2.

In the so called Cornerstone Speech3, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens declared that the "cornerstone of the new government "rest[ed] upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery - subordina-tion to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth”.

Four of the seceding states, the Deep South states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas, issued formal declarations of causes, each of which identified the threat to slaveholders’ rights as the cause of, or a major cause of, secession; Georgia also claimed a general Federal policy of favoring Northern over Southern economic interests.

By contrast, C.S. President Jefferson Davis made no explicit reference to slavery in his inaugural address, instead emphasizing states' rights as the reason for secession.

Stephens also expected the swift evacuation of Fort Sumter, a Union stronghold in South Carolina, but what "course will be pursued toward Fort Pickens, and the other forts on the gulf, is not so well understood." Since the new republic had been born bloodless, he wanted that to continue and to make peace "not only with the North, but with the world."4

1 For a much more detailed and accurate description of the events leading to the Civil War, 2 Causes for secession on Wikipedia3 Cornerstone Speech on Wikipedia4 Full text of Alexander Stephen's Cornerstone Speech at TeachingAmericanHistory.org

Robert Widell Prelude to war - Page 2

Illustration 1: Benjamin Morgan Palmer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America#Causes_for_secession

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?documentprint=76

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerstone_Speech


JEFFERSON DAVIES

Davies had delivered anti-secessionist speeches as late as 1858, but believed that each State was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union. He counseled delay among his fellow Southerners, however, because he did not think that the North would permit the peaceable exercise of the right to secession5.

With Abraham Lincoln being elected President in 1860, events accelerated. South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860, and Mississippi on January 9, 1861. Jefferson Davies delivered a farewell address to the United States Senate, resigned and returned to Mississippi.

On February 9, 1861, a Constitutional convention at Montgomery, Alabama named him provisional President of the Confederate States of America and he was inaugurated on February 18. In meetings of his own Mississippi legis-lature, Davis had argued against secession; but when a majority of the dele-gates opposed him, he gave in. Davis was not opposed to secession in prin-ciple; he counseled delay because he did not believe the North would agree to the peaceable exercise of the claimed right, and he knew that the South was not prepared for war6.

ALEXANDER STEPHENS

In 1861, Stephens served as a delegate to the Georgia convention that voted to secede from the United States. During the state convention, as well as during the 1860 presi-dential campaign, Stephens called for the South to remain loyal to the Union, likening it to a leaking but fixable boat. During the convention he reminded his fellow delegates that Republicans were a minority in Congress (especially in the Senate) and, even with a Republican president, would be forced to compromise just as the two sections had for decades. He voted against secession in the Georgia convention but asserted the right to secede if the federal government continued allowing northern states to effectively nullify the Constitutionally empowered Fugi-tive Slave Law with so-called "personal liberty laws" that made recapture go through trial. He was elected to the Confederate Congress, and was chosen by the Congress as

5 Jefferson Davies on Wikipedia6 ibid


Illustration 2: Jefferson Davis inaugurated as the first President of the Confederate States of America on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol on February 18, 1861.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis


vice president of the provisional government. He was then elected vice president of the Confederacy. He took the oath of office on February 11, 18617.

On the brink of the Civil War, on March 21, 1861, Stephens gave his famous Corner-stone Speech in Savannah, Georgia. In it he reaffirmed that "African Slavery … was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution." He went on to assert that the then-prevailing "assumption of the equality of races" was "fundamen-tally wrong." "Our new [Confederate] government is founded … upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition," and, furthermore, "With us, all of the white race, however high or low, rich or poor, are equal in the eye of the law. Not so with the Negro. Subordination is his place. He, by nature, or by the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system."8

7 Alexander Stephens on Wikipedia8 ibid


Illustration 3: Alexander Hamilton Stephens - Vice President of the Confederate States of America

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Stephens


T H E C S A O N T H E B R I N K O F W A R

The Confederates were not by all means ready to go to war with the Union. Most wanted a peaceful solution, but the combination of secessionists and Abraham Lincoln being elected president lead inevitably to war. The CSA needed to reinforce both their finances, their industrial structure, their military manpower as well as the leadership in the field. There was also hope that the CSA orientation in Europe would bring in at least some much needed supplies and in best case an intervention against the USA.

POLITICS

The CSA Cabinet as of April 1861, consisted of the following persons9:

● President: Jefferson Davies

● Vice President: Alexander Stephens

● Secretary of State: Robert A. Toombs

● Secretary of the Treasury: Christopher G. Memminger

● Secretary of War: Leroy P. Walker

● Secretary of the Navy: Stephen R. Mallory

● Postmaster General: John H. Reagan

● Attorney General: Judah P. Benjamin

Not all of the members of the administration were positive to the development versus war against the Unionists, or in some cases they were also skeptics of President Davies himself. Secretary of State Robert Toombs was one of the most outspoken critics of the Confederate government and its policies, but still supported the seces-sion from the Union, even if he was not in favor of Davies as President. The situation for Toombs did not improve and he resigned already in July, 1861 and was replaced by Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter as the Secretary of State.

Judah Benjamin had been appointed Secretary of War in September replacing Leroy Walker that had issued the order to open fire on Fort Sumter, ultimately leading to the Civil War. Benjamin had stated that “all of the blood shed in the Civil War

9 CSA Administration and Cabinet from Wikipedia

Robert Widell The CSA on the brink of war - Page 5

Illustration 4: The original Confederate Cabinet. L-R: Judah P. Benjamin, Stephen Mallory, Christopher Memminger, Alexander Stephens, LeRoy Pope Walker, Jefferson Davis, John H. Reagan and Robert Toombs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis#Administration_and_Cabinet


could be wiped up with a pocket handkerchief”. At the same time Judah Benjamin had been replaced by Thomas Bragg as the Attorney General.

MILITARY

The Military was at large lacking both trained troops as well as leaders as the war approached. Basically, the military field commanders consisted of Major General Leonidas Polk in Tennessee and Brigadier Generals in Richmond:

● Leonidas Polk10 was the senior ranking field commander located in Memphis , Tennessee. Polk was a leader with good strategic skills and held the rank of Major General.

● Benjamin McCulloch – A cavalry man with experience from the Indian territories.

● Charles S. Winder – As with many of the fresh CSA generals, not a very decisive person, but still with good theoretical skills related to defensive warfare.

● Daniel Ruggles – Potential Division Commander, if only there was a divi-sion for him to command. Quick to react, but lacking in seniority compared to his fellow generals.

● Gustavus W. Smith – A general noted to be less than interested in combat.

● William Henry Chase Whiting – Another general reluctant to get the troops moving, and mostly focused on defensive aspects of warfare.

● John B. Floyd – Destined to be handling training of new recruits and staying out of combat. Will remain in Richmond for now.

● Bushrod Johnson – Offensive minded, but lacking the drive to get his units out on the field and fight the battles.

● Felix K. Zollicoffer – Known to be a hothead that was prone and quick to react, Zollicoffer was still considered one of the more promising commanders available.

The only units to actually be ready for offensive operations was the Suffolk Militia, the Winchester Militia and the 2nd CSA Detachment. This meant the initial military options were very much limited to operations against Norfolk, Fort Sumter and Harper's Ferry.

10 See also Leonidas Polk at Wikipedia from which the historical content in the facts frame was compiled.


Leonidas Polk

Born 1806 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Gradu-ated from West Point in 1827, but resigned his commission to become a deacon. At the outbreak of the war, his friend and former room-mate at West Point, Jefferson Davis, prevailed upon Polk to accept a commission in the Confederate States Army. Polk agreed and was commissioned major general commanding the CSA Forces in Memphis, Tennessee. Polk was nicknamed The Fighting Bishop by his troops.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_Polk


Should the war start, and keep in mind that both the President and the Vice President was not seeing this as an option until events at Fort Sumter escalated.

FORTIFICATIONS

The final trigger of the war was the dispute over Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and at the outbreak of the conflict, the CSA controlled several fortified locations across the territory it controlled. Each of the locations were garrisoned, but these garrisons was not judged to be useful for anything else than defending against direct assaults. See the CSA Fortifications Appendix for further details. At the outbreak of the war, the main bulk of the CSA ground forces was tied up garrisoning the fortifications that had so far been the main military task.

INFANTRY

Except for the troops on garrison duty, the available regular infantry units on the field was consisting of five infantry brigades, out of which three (Bartow's Brigade, 1st and 2nd South Carolina Brigades. The 2nd Carolina was more of a militia unit but was treated as a regular light infantry brigade for planning purposes) had been committed to the capture of Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The remaining two were the 1st

Reserve Brigade located in the CSA capitol, Richmond, and the 1st Tennessee Brigade located with Leonidas Polk in Memphis, TN.

Furthermore, approximately fifteen battalions of local militia was available and spread over the CSA controlled states. These units was judged to be able to perform initial raids to prevent US movements in their immediate neighborhoods or to prepare defensive position where US attacks could be expected.

CAVALRY

A key part of the CSA strategy to disturb US supply lines and aggressively raid depots and railway junctions was the availability of cavalry. However, only four battalions of cavalry was available at the start of the war. The Brewer Battalion with Leonidas Polk in Memphis, the 1st Georgia Cavalry in Charleston that was to be named for the high risk operation against the US rear supply lines in the state of New York, the 10th Texas Cavalry in Houston and the 1st Tennessee Cavalry in Knoxville.



In addition, the 3rd Texas Rangers had been formed in Houston commanded by Captain H. McClure, but this was a small cavalry troop of about 250 men, and was expected to support the 10th Texas Cavalry battalion.

ARTILLERY

The main part of the artillery was tied to the different fortifications and was not possible to convert into field artillery, so the CSA was limited to the 1st CSA Battery and the Georgia Artillery, both committed at Fort Sumter.

NAVY

Much the same as the ground forces, the CSA navy was not looking to be well prepared to go to war. A total of 40 ships was reported to be available for operations by the Secretary of the Navy, Stephen R. Mallory. Out of this number, the Plymouth Squadron commanded by Captain I. Cairns and operating out of Richmond was the most powerful unit with the two light warships CSS Plymouth and Germantown attached to it. Also stationed in Richmond were the gunboats CSS Pickens and Duane, and they were not capable of anything beyond river and coastal operations. Mallory reported he would most likely send the Plymouth Squadron to sea together with its small raider ships CSS Patrick Henry and Harriet Lane as soon as possible.

There was also a squadron of paddlers named the Lewis Cass Squadron stationed in New Orleans and consisting of six gunboats and four transport ships.

Along the main rivers, Memphis had the 3rd Fleet with two gunboats and four trans-port ships, Vicksburg had the 6th Fleet consisting of four gunboats and two transport ships. Island 10 had the 5th Gunboat Squadron with two gunboats. The 4th Fleet with two gunboats and two transport ships was in Nashville.

All in all, it looked as if the fleet would be able to sustain some kind of operations and support along the Mississippi and Cumberland rivers, but was very much limited when it came to operations at sea.

FINANCES AND INDUSTRY

Right before the outbreak of the war, the CSA possessed $183,000, a close to non-existent industrial structure, a railroad system that was in desperate need to be expanded as was the requirements for at least a basic structure to use the main rivers



to transport troops and supply, something Postmaster General John H. Reagan was arguing for. Christopher Memminger, the Secretary of the Treasury, was also under pressure from Pope to allow the build up the replacement pools to support the expected losses.

Memminger approved some spending for replacements as well as some investments in the rail and river transportation infrastructure, and the government decided to keep industrialization to a minimum with only light investments in rear areas away from the expected front lines, mainly focusing on the state of Georgia.

Stephen Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, also warned that given the limitations in naval vessels suitable for operations at high sea, the Union would most likely attempt to initiate blockades to prevent much needed supply from being shipped to CSA harbors in return for cotton.



T H E W A R P L A N

The Civil War was not what President Davies and his administration wanted, specially not at this particular time. The CSA was not prepared to go to war, and Davies was more into a strategy of delay and negotiation to find a solution. However, this was not to happen as the situation at Fort Sumter became critical following the secession of South Carolina which was a result of Abraham Lincoln winning the 1860 presidential election.

Confederate forces seized all but three Federal forts within their bound-aries (they did not take Fort Sumter); President Buchanan protested but made no military response aside from a failed attempt to resupply Fort Sumter via the ship Star of the West (the ship was fired upon by Citadel cadets), and no serious military preparations11.

On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President. In his inaugural address, he argued that the Constitution was a binding contract, and called any secession "legally void". He stated he had no intent to invade Southern states, nor did he intend to end slavery where it existed, but that he would use force to maintain possession of federal property. His speech closed with a plea for restoration of the bonds of union.

The CSA Administration sent delegations to Washington and offered to pay for the federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. Lincoln rejected any negotiations with Confederate agents on the grounds that the Confed-eracy was not a legitimate government, and that making any treaty with it would be tantamount to recognition of it as a sovereign government. However, Union Secretary of State William Seward engaged in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed.

Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina and Fort Pickens in Florida was the remaining Union held forts in the Confederacy, and Lincoln seemed determined to hold Fort Sumter. President Davis was as determined to not let the Northerners stay at the fort and ordered the 2. CSA Detachment to attack from the neighboring Fort Johnston. The attack commenced in the morning of April 12, 1861 under the command of Colonel L. Stafford. The CSA and USA was formally in a state of war.

11 The Battle of Fort Sumter from Wikipedia

Robert Widell The War Plan - Page 10

Illustration 5: Fort Sumter before the bombardment in April 1861.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Sumter


STRATEGIC GOALS

Given that war had come upon the young CSA quickly and rather unexpectedly, the strategic goal of the war was not obvious. The south wanted to preserve their life style and maintain their right to decide on the slavery issue, but that was obviously not enough to guide a war effort. Leroy Pope Walker, the Secretary of War in Davis's government, was one of the prominent secessionists of Alabama, and had authorized the orders to attack Fort Sumter. In his position, he was responsible for the organiza-tion and recruitment of troops and had, by his position, a strong impact on the CSA strategy at the time.

Pope was a hawk, and was looking to deal the maximum amount of damage to the Union. He also new that CSA military resources was limited, and that President Davies believed that the CSA could not sustain a prolonged war against the Union. Based on this, Pope defined a set of strategic goals that the government approved at the same time the orders to attack Fort Sumter was signed.

TENNESSEE – KENTUCKY – INDIANA

This specific, and very key part of the strategy called for a move northeast from Tennessee into Kentucky and from there launching a thrust into southern Indiana while securing a defensive line along the Kentucky and Kanawha Rivers. Threatening the cities of Cincinatti and Indianapolis would force the Union to deplete its forces in the east opening up for a decisive attack into Virginia and Maryland.

The build up of the forces to launch this campaign was to take place in Nashville and Lexington, and the initial targets was to be the city of Evansville on the Ohio River. Control of this point was essential as it would prevent the Union from moving troops along the east to west axle using the river, while Vincennes was an important railroad junction allowing both east to west as well as north to southbound traffic.

From Lexington, the CSA would be able to threat Cincinatti and Louisville as well as launch raids into both Indiana and Ohio.

With Kentucky being a border state, it was crucial that no aggression was to take place in the state as Davies did not want Kentucky to join the Union. Nevertheless, the ever aggressive Pope advocated raids to destroy the railway lines around the strategically important Bowling Greene as well as around Louisville to limit the amount of troops and supplies that could be shipped to these locations by the Union.


Illustration 6: LeRoy Pope Walker - CSA Secretary of War, April 1861


THE EAST

The Eastern theater was of utmost importance as the whole region contained essential industrial and other raw material needed for to sustain the war effort. Furthermore, the East also would see the rapid build up of the Union forces. This build up had to be countered by an equally rapid build up of Confederate forces. Davies and his govern-ment was foreseeing that some decisive battles was to be expected in the area north of Richmond and even as far north as Harrisburg.

In order to slow down the Union force build up, Pope proposed to use the Suffolk Militia to seize control over Norfolk in Virginia which, if left in Union hands, would possibly act as a staging area for a Union offensive deep into Virginia.

Furthermore, Pope proposed that the 1st Georgia Cavalry was detached from the 2nd

CSA Detachment and sent on an amphibious mission as far north as Troy in the state of New York. Davies argued that this would be a one way mission for the 1000 men preparing to participate in the attack on Fort Sumter. Pope argued that “all of the blood shed in the [Civil] War could be wiped up with a pocket handkerchief” and that a raid along the Oneida River as far west as Syracuse and Auburn followed by a turn to the south toward Carbondale and from there exploit further west for a rendez vouz with cavalry units to be assembled in Lexington would be a risk worth taking as it would most likely force the Union to commit large forces in the hunt for the 1 st

Georgia and its commander, Colonel Talafiero. Davies reluctantly agreed to the plan.

While the strategy in the East relied upon success in Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana together with the daunting cavalry raid in New York, it was believed that the overall target in the theater at large was the destruction of the Union morale and troops through decisive battle followed by aggressive moves north from the Richmond area that was designated as the main staging area in the East.

THE WEST

The West was harder to grasp given the vast areas to cover, but the main goal was to maintain control over the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardieu, build up forces to attack Charleston (unless it could be held), and move into Illionis from Charleston and Cairo to cut the supply lines to St. Louis.



OPERATIONAL MEANS

The means by which the strategies was to be executed operationally was quite simple, at least in theory:

● Light Industrialization. Only in locations that was not expected to be in direct threat of being occupied or raided by the USA

● When the CSA would be able to push north into Kentucky and Illinois, the construction of appropriate supply depots would be crucial to the success of the campaign.

● Construction of Blockade Runners to bring supply from Europe into the CSA.

● Establishment of three potent armies: Potomac, Tennessee and Transmissis-sippi.

● Conscription was to be used to muster as many units as possible.

● Aggressive Raiding to destroy the US supply lines and means of transporta-tion. Small Cavalry units is to be used extensively to destroy depots and demolish railroads.

TACTICAL EXECUTION

The tactical execution contained the following elements as a starting point:

● Secure the staging areas for the Army of the Potomac in the Richmond area.

● The capture of Norfolk, Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens.

● Preparations for raids into Illinois, striking Salem, Toledo, Quincy and Peoria simultaneously.

● Cutting of railroads in Missouri. Specifically to the west and south of St.Louis.

● Once units become available in Missouri, secure Charleston, hit Cairo and isolate St. Louis by cutting its supply lines.

● Finally, there was a bold plan from Polk to land a cavalry raiding party in the state of New York and cause havoc behind the Union lines. The unit would use evasive tactics, while destroying as much supplies as possible before attempting to return to Louisville, Kentucky.



It was the firm belief of the CSA administration that war was to be short and symbolic, and that a show of arms and the capture of the disputed locations along the CSA coast would lead Lincoln to the negotiation table.



1 8 6 1

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APRIL 1861

While Davies and the government believed that Fort Sumter was to be the starting point of the conflict, it was actually Confederate Captain M.A Lacher and his Suffolk Militia that walked into Norfolk already on April 6 and claimed the city for the Confederates without opposition while capturing supply and ammunition. This forced a rapid Union evacua-tion of the Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk, and it provided the CSA with a surprise capture of some 2000 artillery pieces, plus tons of gun powder and other supplies. Another finding was that the dock facilities had not been completely destroyed by the Union before leaving, and also that the hull of an unfinished war ship, the USS Merrimac12. The Merrimac had been partially destroyed and the hull and engines was quickly decided to come in handy in the creation of the CSS Virginia, and Ironclad Ram13 14. Command of the new ship was given to Admiral Franklin Buchanan.

Captain Tibot and the Winchester Militia moved into Harper's Ferry and arrived on April 8 just to find it defended by the Harper's Ferry Guard. The two forces clashed, and about 200 militia men were killed on each side between April 8 and April 15. The outcome was a stalemate in which Tibot decided to retreat to Winchester, after attempting to destroy the rail line running through Harper's Ferry. Even the destruction of the rail lines was going to be a hard mission for the militia men as they were very much in shock over the loss of almost half their force in just a few days in what had started as a reconnaissance patrol and had ended up in what was at that 12 The Norfolk's Civil War Phase at The Norfolk Historical Society13 USS Merrimack on Wikipedia14 USS Merrimack on the Naval Historical Center

Robert Widell 1861 - Page 15

Illustration 7: The USS Merrimack burning during the US evacuation of the Norfolk Navy Yards.

The Burning of the Norfolk Navy Yard

At 3:20 a.m. on April 21, 1861, the Gosport Navy Yard containing millions of dollars of naval stores and arms, together with several naval vessels moored in the Elizabeth River, were put to the torch by the evacu-ating Federal forces. According to one contemporary account, "The scene was grand and terrific beyond description. The roar of the conflagration was loud enough to be heard at three or four miles distance, and to this were added occasional discharges from the heavy guns of the old Pennsylvania."

One of the vessels that was partially burned was the new steam frigate, the USS Merrimack, then regarded as the "Queen of the Navy."

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-m/merimak2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Merrimack_(1855)

http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/44.html


point seen as a bloodbath. However, Tibot managed to both evade the Union forces and deal substantial damage to the railroad tracks around Harper's Ferry. He returned to Winchester on April 26 with 300 of his initial 700 men still in fighting condition.

The bombardment of Fort Sumter and the formal start of the war took place on April 12, a date which marked the formal outbreak of the war. The situation in Harper's Ferry together with the bombardment at Fort Sumter was too much for Lincoln and the government in Washington. President Davies expected a swift capture of the fort as the 2nd CSA Detachment commanded by F.S Bartow marched from Charleston arriving at the gates of Fort Sumter on April 24. However, upon arrival, Bartow's force avoided battle when they found that the initial bombardment had not forced the garrison in the fort to surrender. Davies was of understandably furious with Bartow.

In Texas, the 3rd Texas Rangers and 10th Texas Cavalry reported ready for action in Galveston under the command of Colonel J. Walker, and CSA patriots rose up in Laredo, West Texas to claim the city for the Confederate cause. The Rangers and the Cavalry was ordered to depart for Dallas using rail and river transportation whenever possible.

With the outbreak of war, the Confederates and President Davies realized they were lacking both troops and leaders to achieve any significant results compared to the strategic goals established during the time of the crisis leading up to the war. The generals in place in Richmond was ordered to join units scattered across the states of the young nation:

● Benjamin McCulloch was sent to Knoxville, TN and assume command over the 1st Tennessee Cavalry and prepare to move into Kentucky while observing the utmost care not engage in offensive operations except cutting of Union supply lines leading to Bowling Greene.

● W.H.C Whiting was sent to the recently captured Norfolk to assume command of the Suffolk Militia and prepare the defenses for an expected US attempt to retake the city.

● Daniel Ruggles was ordered to Charleston to take command of the assault on Fort Sumter, and with the clear expectations of the President himself that the fort was not to stay in Union hands for long. It was, after all, the ultimate reason the war had started.

● Felix Zolicoffer, had argued already during the planning phase that he'd be given command of the high risk cavalry raid into deep Union Territory, and eventually, he was sent to South Carolina to start preparations to depart on his potential one way mission! Before he had finished the journey to Charleston


Illustration 8: Francis Stebbins Bartow - Commander of the CSA force attacking Fort Sumter, SC on April 11, 1861


to take command of the mission, the news of the US blockade had reached the CSA, the Army of the Potomac and the Shenandoah Force was created which meant Zolicoffer was needed to command units in these forces. Need-less to say, Zolicoffer was not happy about having to turn back to Richmond with less than two days of his journey to Charleston remaining. The mission to Troy, NY left in early May with Colonel Talafiero commanding the brave cavalrymen and Navy Captain L. Charles commanding the two small trans-port ships CSS Aitkin and CSS Huntress.

UNION BLOCKADE!

It also became evident that the Union had begun taking the path of attempting a total blockade of CSA exports. The Union tried to prevent goods from arriving and being shipped out from the Confed-erate ports by inspecting all ships entering and leaving.

This was believed to part of what was referred to as the Anaconda Plan, and the blockade was proclaimed by President Lincoln himself on April 19, 1861.

Under the Declaration of Paris (1856) international law required that a blockade must be (1) formally proclaimed, (2) promptly established, (3) enforced, and (4) effective, in order to be legal. However, by effectively declaring the Confederate States of America to be belliger-ents - rather than insurrectionists, who under international law would not be legally eligible for recognition by foreign powers - Lincoln opened the way for European powers such as Britain and France to recognize the Confederacy. Britain's proclama-tion of neutrality was consistent with the position of the Lincoln Administration under international law - the Confederates were belligerents - giving them the right to obtain loans and buy arms from neutral powers, and giving the British the formal right to discuss openly which side, if any, to support15.

CSA RESPONSE: PREPARATIONS FOR DECISIVE BATTLE

Given the situation at Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens, and the increased severity of the situation caused by the US blockade, President Davies decided to quickly set up the Army of the Potomac and the Shenandoah Force. The former was created in Rich-mond and commanded by Lieutenant General P.G.T Beauregard, and the latter was

15 Union Blockade on Wikipedia.


Illustration 9: Cartoon Map of the Anaconda Plan, 1861

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_blockade


set up in Warren, Virginia, just south of Harper's Ferry and Winchester, where Captain Tibot had suffered the first losses, and dealt the first damage, of the war. The Shenandoah Force was commanded by Lieutenant General Joseph E. Johnston.

At the end of the month, Leonidas Polk reported that his command in Memphis was ready to move out, and Benjamin McCulloch was also reported to be arrived, and in command, of the cavalry in Knoxville.

T HE ARMY O F TH E PO T O MAC

Stationed in the capitol, Richmond, VA, the Army of the Potomac had almost 9,000 soldiers at arms at the end of April. The target was to reach a total force of almost 40,000 to field over 50,000 CSA soldiers together with the Shenandoah Force in Virginia and Maryland only.

T HE SHENAND OAH FO R CE

The Shenandoah Force was planned to contain close to 11,000 men, but in late April it only contained about 3,600.


Illustration 10: Order of Battle for the Army of the Potomac - April 1861

Army of the PotomacLt. General

P.G.T. Beauregard

Holmes’ BdeMj. General T.H Holmes

Bonham’s BdeMj. General M. Bonham

Cooke’s BdeBr. General St.G Cooke

1st Arkansas Inf Reg2nd Tennessee Inf RegPurcell Art. Bat.

2nd South Carolina Inf Reg3rd South Carolina Inf Reg7th & 8th South Carolina Inf Bn’s11th South Carolina Inf RegCamden Light Art. Battery

8th Virginia Inf Reg18th Virginia Inf Reg19th Virginia Inf Reg28th & 49th Virginia Inf Bn’sCavalry SquadronLynchburg Light Art. Bat.Loudon Art. Bat.

Beauregard’s Staff4 Supply Companies

Early’s BdeColonel J.H Early

13th Louisiana Inf. Reg.7th Virginia Inf. Reg.24th Virginia Inf. Reg.7th Mississippi Inf. Reg.4th Lt. Washington Art. Bat.

Evans’ BdeColonel N. Evans

1st Louisiana Inf. Reg.4th South Carolina Inf. Reg.Campbell Rangers

Jones’ BdeBr. General D.R Jones

5th South Carolina Inf Reg17th & 18th Mississippi Inf Bn’s2nd Lt. Washington Art. Bat.

Ewell’s BdeBr. General R.S. Ewell

5th & 6th Alabama Inf Bn’s6th Louisiana Inf RegJenifer’s Cavalry Squadron1st Lt. CO Washington Art. Bat.

Longstreet’s BdeBr. General Longstreet

5th North Carolina Inf. Reg.1st Virginia Inf. Reg.11th Virginia Inf. Reg.17th Virginia Inf. Reg.Cavalry Squadron3rd Lt. Washington Art. Bat.

Hampton’s SCColonel Hampton

Infantry RegimentHampton’s SC Legion (Regiment)Cavalry Squadron


MAY - AUGUST 1861

Although there was lots of expectations on a conflict that would reach a quick resolu-tion through negotiations, this was not what Lincoln had in mind. May turned out to be a fairly calm month, with more troops being called to arms, and continued attrition battles at Fort Sumter. CSA Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles had assumed command, and led the fighting during May 17 and 18, the toughest so far in the war with almost 800 men lost in the Confederate units while the Union defenders sustained an estimated 1600 men lost. However, the Fort was still in Union hands, and as March ended, Ruggles was ordered to attack once again.

The amphibious cavalry raid had unloaded in Albany, and the ships turned back south along the Upper Hudson River to make the dangerous trip back to Norfolk. Colonel Talafiero and his men were now alone in the middle of enemy controlled land and they prepared to do as much damage as possible before attempting to return to Kentucky.

All possible smaller units was ordered to move into areas controlled by the Union and destroy rails and depots while avoiding battle. They were also to report back any troops they saw in order to prepare for any Union offensive activities. Gunboats from the 2nd and 3rd Fleets were ordered north along the Missis-sippi to reinforce Memphis, Columbus and Island 10. The 4th Fleet moved out from Nashville to Evans Ford where Union Cavalry had been reported. The orders were to prevent the enemy from crossing


Illustration 11: Order of Battle for the Shenandoah Force - April 1861

Shenandoah ForceLt. General J. Johnston

Smith’s BdeBr. General E.K Smith

Bee’s BdeBr. General B.E Bee

Stonewall BdeBr. General T.J Jackson

1st VA Cavalry Sq.Col. J.E.B Stuart

Artillery2 Field Artillery Batteries1 Light Artillery Battery

10th Virginia Inf Reg3rd Tennessee Inf Reg

2nd & 11th Mississippi Inf Reg4th Alabama Inf RegStaunton Light Artillery Battery

2nd Virginia Inf Reg4th Virginia Inf Reg5th Virginia Inf Reg27th Virginia Inf Reg33rd Virginia Inf Reg

Culpepper Art. Bat.Roxbridge Art. Bat.Thomas Lt. Art. Bat.

Johnston’s Staff4 Supply Companies

Illustration 12: Order of Battle for Magruder's Command - May 1861

Magruder’s CommandBr. General J.B Magruder

15th Virginia Reg.Colonel W. Stuart

Virginia BattalionMajor E. Montague

Virginia DragoonsCapt. R. Doutat

Whyte Rifles (Light Inf. Bn.)Virginia Rifles (Militia Bn.)Virginia Guards (Militia Bn.)

Halifax Light (Sharpshooter Co.)

Magruder’s Staff4 Supply Companies

Cavalry Squadron

Illustration 13: Order of Battle for Huger's Command - May 1861

Huger’s CommandBr. General J.B Magruder

Virginia VolunteersColonel E. Thomas

4th Virginia Cav. Sq.Captain R. Casters

36th Virginia Bn. (Militia)24th North Carolina Bn. (Militia) Jones Rifles (Light Inf. Bn.)

Virginia Chargers (Cavalry Sq.)

Huger’s Staff4 Supply Companies


the Ohio River. This operation was also to be supported by the 1st Tennessee Cavalry, also known as “Carter's Cavalry” that was to arrive a few days after the gunboats.

Several units now started setting up and recruiting soldiers in response to the Union aggression. The most prominent one was the J. Magruder's Command in Richmond which numbered more than 4300 men in May 1861. Another commander to round up volunteers was Benjamin Huger that was in command of more than 3000 soldiers in Petersburg, VA in late May.

THE 1 S T GEORGIA CAVALRY

As described previously, the 1st Georgia Cavalry under the command of Colonel Talafiero. The cavalrymen unloaded from the small transport ships in early June, and saw the ships sail south on the Hudson River. They had managed to avoid enemy contact on the long journey along the coast from Charleston, South Carolina, but the men knew the ships would most likely be detected on the way back.

Talafiero started by taking his men northwest toward Ballston in the state of New York, where his goal was to tear up the railroad tracks running through the area. In Ballston, the cavalrymen became involved in skirmish actions with US Cavalry and lost about 100 men in late June. Already now, their supplies were running danger-ously low, and they were not ready for more fights. The time had already come to attempt to leave the area and return to relative safety in Kentucky. But, they were far from home.

In early July, Talafiero and his men, now without ammunition, lost another 130 men as they were being hunted by several US cavalry units. Talafiero now decided to move south in the direction of Broome, NY where a large railway junction provided a nice target, and was also in the general direction of safety.

Talafiero and his shrinking unit reached Broome, and destroyed as much of the rail-road as possible. At this point they were down to approximately 50 men, but they did the damage they could after which Talafiero gathered the men and announced his decision to dissolve the unit rather than see the last 50 men hunted down by the US cavalrymen that was closing in on them.

The unit was reformed immediately as an honorary show of respect, and the new unit served in Kentucky.

THE EAST: OPERATION LION'S DEN



The plan for the operation to deal a decisive blow to the Union moral and hamper their force build up to the point where the CSA could hope for maintained control of the events until peace could be negotiated was labeled Operation Lion's Den and developed by Lt. General Beauregard and approved by President Davies and Secre-tary of War Leroy Walker in late May.

The plan called for the Shenandoah Force force to gain control of Harper's Ferry and if possible draw union forces in the area into a battle for the strategic rail and river junction. The major attack on Harper's Ferry was to signal the start of the Operation, and would be followed by the Army of the Potomac moving north from Rich-mond to Fredricksburg where Huger's Command was to stay in reserve while Magruder's Command secured the Rappahanock railway junction. The main body of the Army was to continue north to Manassas and the Bull Run Creek. From there Beuregard planned to launch operations aimed at getting the Union Forces in the area to commit to one or more decisive battles along the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. Cavalry units was to be used aggressively to gain intelligence on enemy move-ments as well as tear up railroads and, if possible, destroy union supply depots.

It was also believed that the cavalry raid in the northern areas deep in union territories, would force Lincoln to divert forces there, or at least prevent him from deploying them in the eastern theater at the time of Operation Lion's Den.

The time frame for the operation was to initiate the major part of the operation in early July and to have achieved the goal of defeating the Union in decisive battle before the winter of 1861.

However, several events happened that would hamper Operation Lion's Den, and would force the plan to be reconsidered.

F IR ST B A TT LE AT M ANA SSA S

The prelude to Lion's Den took place at Manassas as Brigadier General Felix Zolli-coffer clashed with US Major General R. Milroy on June 20. Zollicoffer lost more


Illustration 14: Plan for Operation Lion's Den - May 1861

CavalryRaids

OperationLion’s DenOperationLion’s Den

Army of thePotomac

ShenandoahForce

Huger’sCommand

Magruder’sCommand

CavalryRaids


than 3200 men and was himself injured during the first day of the battle. Theophilius Holmes arrived on the scene on June 21 and assumed command just to be forced to retreat on June 23 after suffering another 1200 losses, as US reinforcements commanded by General McDowell arrived in Manassas.

Zollicoffer was blamed by the Confederate public for the loss of men and equipment, but maybe even more importantly, Operation Lion's Den was off to a bad start, even before it had started.

Shortly after the initial hostilities came to an end, US President Abraham Lincoln, called for the states in the Union to raise volunteers to fight the rebellion.

Following the first clash of arma, Benjamin Huger moved against the city of Manassas that was now besieged by the Union. His target was to reinforce the Manassas Guards that was holding the city. He also managed to get his unit of more than 3700 men into the city before the Federate soldiers attacked the city. The result was a massacre as the poorly prepared confederates were killed by US soldiers on a rampage. The men that was not killed, was taken prisoners while Huger managed to get himself and his staff out of Manassas and south into Culpepper.

As Manassas had cost the CSA more than 8000 men in exchange for less than 1500 US losses, which a ratio of worse than 5 to 1, the decision was to abandon Manassas until a significant enough force could be raised to return and throw the unionists out.

AFTER M ANA SSA S

In order to prevent another disastrous uncoordinated defeat like the one at Manassas, it was decided to reorganize the forces in the east. The goals for Operation Lion's Den were still valid, even if the means of how to achieve them had to be re planned.



Three Corps were created under the command of Johnston, Bonham and Jackson. Of these Corps, Bonham's was the one to be ready to see combat action. The other two were waiting for reinforcements, either to fill up their already established regiments, or to receive other regiments on their way to the area. Once the Army was getting close to its estimated strength of almost 42000 men, it was believed it could chal-lenge the federal units along the Manassas to Harper's Ferry line.

T HE FEDERAL FORCE S IN TH E E AS T

Based on the intelligence available in early July, the federal forces in the east was believed to be made up of the following units:

● Mj. General R. Milroy's Corps in Manassas. The Corps was believed to be made up of the 9th Division commanded, by Br. Gen. Joseph B. Hooker, the 1st Division commanded by Br. Gen. D. Tyler and the 5th Division commanded by Br. General D. Miles. Also in Manassas was the 2nd

Wisconsin Bde which reportedly had suffered most of the Union losses in the battle of Manassas. All in all, this force was believed to consist of between 12000 and 15000 soldiers.

● Mj. General C. Hamilton's Corps in Leesburg. This was believed to be a smaller corps consisting of the 2nd Division commanded by Br. General D. Hunter. Also at Leesburg was the 20 th Union Detachment. The size of this force was estimated to somewhere between 5000 and 8000 soldiers

● Lt. General Robert Patterson's Corps in Harper's Ferry in which the 10 th Divi-sion commanded by Br. General Lewis L. Wallace was organized. However, also reportedly in Harper's Ferry was the N. Banks Corps with 7 units as well


Illustration 15: New OOB for the Army of the Potomac after the Battle at Manassas – July 1861

Army of the PotomacLt. General

P.G.T. Beauregard

Beauregard’s Staff4 Supply Companies

Early’s BdeColonel J.H Early

13th Louisiana Inf. Reg.7th Virginia Inf. Reg.24th Virginia Inf. Reg.7th Mississippi Inf. Reg.4th Lt. Washington Art. Bat.

Jones’ BdeBr. General D.R Jones

5th South Carolina Inf Reg17th & 18th Mississippi Inf Bn’s2nd Lt. Washington Art. Bat.

Hampton’s SCColonel Hampton

Infantry RegimentHampton’s SC Legion (Regiment)Cavalry Squadron

Mahone’s BdeColonel Hampton

1 Zouaves Regiment3 Infantry Regiments1 Cavalry Squadron1 Lt. Artillery Battery1 Field Artillery Battery

5039299220634105

III. CorpsLt. General J. Johnston

Smith’s BdeBr. General E.K Smith

Bee’s BdeBr. General B.E Bee

Artillery2 Field Artillery Batteries1 Light Artillery Battery

10th Virginia Inf Reg3rd Tennessee Inf Reg

2nd & 11th Mississippi Inf Reg4th Alabama Inf RegStaunton Light Artillery Battery

Culpepper Art. Bat.Roxbridge Art. Bat.Thomas Lt. Art. Bat.

Johnston’s Staff4 Supply Companies

IV. CorpsMj. General M. BonhamBr. General C.S. Winder

Bonham’s BdeMj. General M. Bonham

2nd South Carolina Inf Reg3rd South Carolina Inf Reg7th & 8th South Carolina Inf Bn’s11th South Carolina Inf RegCamden Light Art. Battery

Bonham’s StaffWinder’s Staff

Longstreet’s BdeBr. General Longstreet

5th North Carolina Inf. Reg.1st Virginia Inf. Reg.11th Virginia Inf. Reg.17th Virginia Inf. Reg.Cavalry Squadron3rd Lt. Washington Art. Bat.

Cooke’s BdeBr. General St.G Cooke

8th Virginia Inf Reg18th Virginia Inf Reg19th Virginia Inf Reg28th & 49th Virginia Inf Bn’sCavalry SquadronLynchburg Light Art. Bat.Loudon Art. Bat.

Stonewall BdeMj. General T.J Jackson

2nd Virginia Inf Reg4th Virginia Inf Reg5th Virginia Inf Reg27th Virginia Inf Reg33rd Virginia Inf Reg

V. CorpsMj. General T.J Jackson

Jackson’s Staff

1800 of 5000

1800 of 7000

41125180 5225

14527

1100 of 2000 1100 of 2200

150 of 360

2800 of 4800

33579 of 42000


as the J. Shield's Command with 4 units. The size of the Union force at Harper's Ferry was an estimated 18000 to 24000 soldiers

The overall command of the theater was provided from Northeastern Virginia Armt Commander Lt. General Irvin McDowell operating out of his Army Headquarters in Alexandria. All in all, McDowell seemed to field between 35000 and 47000 men along the Manassas to Harper's Ferry line. These concentration of forces could only be met when the CSA Army of the Potomac had reached it planned strength, and even then, the operation would have to be planned very carefully in order to engage as large portion of the US forces at the same time along the whole front line as possible, in order to achieve local superiority and thereby a decisive victory.

B UILDIN G TE NSIO N IN T HE EA ST

As the CSA consolidated their forces and commanders after the disaster at the first battle of Manassas, it seemed as if there was indeed to be a decisive battle before the autumn and winter of 1861. There was large troop concentrations on both sides of the front line that had been formed after the Battle at Manassas and the following Battle at Winchester some weeks later in which the CSA routed the US troops from the field.


Illustration 16: Situation Overview in the East - End of August, 1861

J. Johnston’Corps

NortheasternVirginiaArmy

Milroy’sCorps

Hamilton’sCorps

Army ofthe Potomac

B. Johnson’sCommand

Banks’Corps

Wallaces’Command

Jacksons’Corps

Bonhams’Corps


The Winchester Militia had been operating behind the enemy lines for several weeks and had been cutting the railway tracks west of Harper's Ferry, outside Fredrick, and at the end of August, they were outside Leesburg destroying railway tracks there. Out of the close to 700 men that had left, only about 200 were still in the unit that had clashed with US Marines after destroying railway tracks outside Fredrick.

Lt. General Johnston and his Corps of 7200 men was besieged in Winchester by Lt. General Nathaniel Banks together with Br. General T. Runyon and the 4th Division, the Birney's Brigade, the 1st NY Brigade and some artillery and supply units. The brigades and artillery had suffered between 25 and 50% losses in the previous battle at Winchester, but the division seemed to be operating at full strength. Johnston's esti-mation was that Banks had about 6000 men at Winchester. He decided to order Bushrod Johnson and the 3rd Reserve Brigade into Winchester from Warren to rein-force the besieged Corps and prepare to strike Banks hard with a total number of 9,000 soldiers.

However, the plan built on preventing Banks from bringing in reinforcements from nearby, much more powerful units, and this meant that “Stonewall” Jackson was to move from Culpeper to Page in order to engage the US Mj. General Hamilton and his Corps of about 12,000 men. “Stonewall's” Corps was at close to full strength and numbered almost 16,000 men in five brigades.

At the same time, the Army of the Potomac and Lt. General P.G.T. Beauregard was to move out of Falmouth and move on Fauquier where US Mj. General Milroy and his Corps of an estimated 20,000 men were located. Beauregard was to arrive together with the attached units from Mj. General Bonham and his Corps, so the plan was to bring some 32,000 men to the field outside Manassas for another battle at the site where the CSA had suffered their humiliating loss only a few weeks ago.

This meant that as August ended, close to 60,000 Confederate soldiers was on the march against an estimated 40,000 Union soldiers. However, intelligence regarding the US soldiers was not 100% and the number could be anything between 30,000 and as high as 60,000. It was still felt that a massive operation was in order to prevent the US from exploiting their strategic positions at Harper's Ferry, Manassas and poten-tially at Winchester.

North of the intended battlefields, the mud of the coming autumn had started to become an issue, but at the sites where the CSA commanders intended to meet their enemy, the land was still dry.

In the winter of 1861, three major events proved that this area was to see much of attrition warfare and that appalling losses was to be expected to break the stalemate.



The first was the siege of Winchester, the second was the Second Battle of Manassas and the third was the Battle of Stafford.

T HE S IE G E O F W INCHESTER

The first attempt by the USA to force the CSA to retreat from strategically important position at Winchester was initiated in early September as US General Banks attacked Joseph E. Johnston that had been digging in carefully to prepare for the attack. The US lost almost 5000 men between September 2 and 4 without being close to threatening Johnston's position.

On September 19, as Felix Zollicoffer was leading his cavalry unit out of the besieged Winchester, he was trapped in the hills of Clarke, VA and his entire force of 2000 men was destroyed by superior US units. This was the second time Zollicoffer had been involved in loosing large units by acting strange to say the least. Zollicoffer himself was injured for the second time of the war and was publicly blamed for the embarrassing and needless loss. He was relieved of command and sent to the far west as soon as he recovered from his injuries.

On October 11, another example of Confederate catastrophic planning provided the US with the opportunity to destroy a complete Army HQ on its way to Winchester where it was planned to have Johnston's unit become the base for the second army in the west. Needless to say, President Davies was furious over such pointless and disas-trous losses!

On October 30, “Stonewall” Jackson had moved into the mountainous Page, VA in order to prevent Winchester from being cut off and the whole force in the town lost. Jackson clashed with US Major General Erasmus D. Keyes and defeated him just as the first snow started falling in the hills of Virginia. The CSA lost 500 men compared to the 2000 lost by the US. The snowfall and harsh weather conditions made it easy for Jackson to dig in and keep the supply lines to Winchester open with very little opportunities for the US troops commanded by Keyes and Hamilton.

In early November, Lieutenant General Johnston was ordered to leave Winchester and hand over command to Major General Bonham that created the XXVIII Corps. Johnston was to return to Richmond and assume command of the Army of Northern Virginia that was being formed there. Johnston was not happy about leaving his besieged men, but this was a direct order by President Davies, and the new army was considered another of the many CSA top priorities at the time.

On November 27, McDowell had arrived to Page to command the next US attack on Jackson. Again, Jackson used the terrain the harsh weather conditions to fight the US attack off. Jackson lost 300 men in exchange for 1400 US losses.



On December 18, US General Burnside launched another attack on Winchester, lost 2000 men and was routed with a reported 12(!) men lost to Bonham.

Other events had now most likely forced the US to focus their strengths elsewhere in Virginia and by the end of 1861, the siege of Winchester was lifted even if intelli-gence still suggested that US forces commanded by McDowell was preparing for an offensive in Clarke.

The US had lost approximately 10000 men in the siege, while the CSA lost about 5000, out of which half was the Zollicoffer cavalry.

SE C ON D B A TT LE O F M ANA SSA S

The Second Battle of Manassas turned out to be even more of a disaster to the CSA than the first attempt to force the US out of the strategic railway junction. Lieutenant General Beauregard supported by Major General Bonham and Brigadier Generals Magruder and Winder attacked in force on September 2nd. However, US Lieutenant General McDowell had used his time wisely and was securely dug in together with a massive force of defenders. The CSA lost a stunning 13000 men to less than 4000 lost for the USA before retreating on September 4. As with the first battle at Manassas, failure to coordinate the operation and the arrival of the forces made the losses worse, but the main reason was the head on charge on well prepared defensive positions. After the battle, it was Bonham and Winder that was blamed for the loss.

The CSA had learned its lesson at Manassas, and from this point on it was decided that operations against this type of defensive positions needed much more planning and preparations as well as flanking operations to cut supply and reduce the possi-bility for the defenders to bring in reinforcements.

B AT TLE O F ST AFFORD

The Army of the Potomac commanded by Lieutenant General Beauregard had taken up a blocking position in the region of Stafford to prevent the US from crossing the Rappahannock River and attacking Fredricksburg. Given the winter conditions which alternated between mud and freezing temperatures and snow, no one expected any significant operations, and Beauregard was spending his time trying to figure out how to deploy his Army and its three Corps (Jackson, Holmes and Bonham) as soon as spring arrived and the weather would allow for larger scale offensive operations.

However, on December 10, the US launched a major attack on the well defended positions of the Army of the Potomac. The attack was lead by Nathaniel Banks supported by Thomas Meager and James Shields. T. Runyon arrived on December 12 as the attack had more or less already failed badly. The US lost 16000 men to a CSA



loss of less than 2000. Furthermore, 2000 prisoners where taken together with 4000 rifles. Beauregard was of course satisfied with being able to deal a severe blow to the US in such a critical area of the eastern theater, and given that it was even more unexpected to see the US return on December 27, this time commanded by Erasmus Keyes together with Brigadier General Joseph Mansfield.

The result of this second attack was a total and utter disaster to Keyes. His complete force was lost, which meant close to 12000 men lost. Joseph Mansfield was killed in the fighting and thus became the first general to be killed in the war. Another 4000 prisoners was taken and a stunning 13000 rifles was captured from the field.

CSA Major General Holmes, Brigadier Generals Magruder, Hindman and Winder where all presented as heroes, and the assessment of the new situation in the theater indicated the USA had suffered a terrible loss, but that the winter conditions made it hazardous to attempt an aggressive exploitation of the new situation.

NA VAL AC TIO N

The US navy along the east coast was considered too strong for the CSA to take on, so the action was mostly taking place as the US navy passed by the coastal defenses:

● In October, the US commander John A. Dahlgren passed Fort Morgan, NC and the batteries at the fort bombarded the US ships that returned fire.

● F.H.C Whiting in Norfolk, VA bombarded the US 5th Fleet in early November and recorded between 20 and 30 hits mainly on the transport ships passing his guns.

● Later in November, the US 9th Fleet bombarded Fort Morgan, NC but received at least 35 hits in return.

● The CSA 3rd Fleet that was badly damaged earlier in the war, but escaped to Richmond, VA and had spent close to two months undergoing repairs was ready for action again by the end of November. The fleet contained the frigate Plymouth, the Virginia Gunboat Squadron consisting of two gunboats and the ironclad CSS Virginia. How to breach the blockade of Norfolk was not clear and the ships stayed in safety in Richmond for the time being.

KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE

The Union was acting aggressively in Kentucky during the early months of the war. A siege was laid on Lexington by US General Howe and the Lauman's Bde. The CSA responded by cutting the railway east of Bowling Greene, and moving Polk's



command all the way up to Paducah as demonstration of force. Polk pulled back to Hickman in late June as he wanted to avoid confrontation at this stage.

Several naval skirmishes took place along the Great Confluent, and US Admiral Foote and his fleet forced the CSA gunboats to retreat both on June 7 and June 21 as they met at the junction of the rivers Cumberland, Wabash and Tennessee. Most likely, the US fleet was there to prevent Polk from crossing the river at Paducah, but this was not in Polk's plan at this stage.

Meanwhile, Benjamin McCulloch and his 1st Tennessee Cavalry had been tearing up the railroad to the east of Bowling Greene and now moved north toward Louisville, in an attempt to lure the federal troops there to move out in the open and distract US General Howe in the siege of Lexington.

In Boyd, on the eastern border of the state, local militia named the 3 rd Kentucky State Guards, reported US cavalry as well as the presence of the 1st Michigan Bde in Ashland, OH on the opposite side of the Kentucky River. At the opposite end of the state, the 1st Tennessee Cavalry, or Carter's Cavalry, reported that the 44 th Union Detachment was present Posey, IN. This was a significant unit with both infantry and artillery, and they were in a position to cross the Ohio River as the lonely cavalry unit would not be in a position to prevent this. These two observations could be signs of a more developed US operation into Kentucky, which was something the CSA was not well prepared to face at this stage of the war.

In early July the siege of Lexington paid off for US Brigadier General Howe as the defenders surrendered to him on July 5. This triggered a reaction throughout Kentucky as militia started to get ready to fight against the US invasion of the state. The CSA intelligence in early July talked about the presence of the 11th Division and the Michigan Brigade under Brigadier General Howe. All in all an estimated force to 3,000 to 6,000 soldiers that would require a significant effort to evict from Lexington.

Later in July, Major General Polk defeated the US troops in Paducah, a fight for which Polk received recognition by many people in the South. The victory was not decisive, in fact it was more or less only a way to show the US that the CSA did not intend to give Kentucky up easily. Losses in the fight was very small compared to the eastern theater: Approximately 300 of Polk's command was lost, while the USA lost almost 600 men. After the “battle” was over, Polk returned south, to avoid violating the Kentucky neutrality.

On August 20, the first major battle between gunships on the Mississippi outside Cape Girardieu, as a Confederate fleet consisting of 14 gunships clashed with 4 US



gunships and sunk one of them before returning to Memphis as they had run out of ammunition during the fighting. The CSS St. Mary and the CSS Resolute was damaged lightly but this was the only damage to the CSS fleet.

The theater was rather calm until late September when the US 13 th Division commanded by Brigadier General Stephen Hurlburt besieged Polk in Columbus. Polk outnumbered Hurlburt 2 to 1 and it was decided to attempt to set a trap. The II/2 Bde was ordered to move from Scott, MO through Columbus to McCracken, KY. The 1 st

Alabama was ordered to depart from Forts Henry and Donelson to McCracken, while Polk was to move out to phase Hurlburt outside Columbus. The goal was to defeat the US outside Columbus, and then hit them again as they retreated towards Paducah. However, the plan turned out to be unsuccessful in the sense Polk was attacked inside Columbus and Hurlburt retreated before Polk could deal the decisive blow. This meant Hurlburt arrived to Paducah earlier than anticipated and engaged and defeated the CSA cavalry that was scouting the area in preparation for the intended second battle. The siege of Columbus was stopped, but at the cost of nearly 1000 CSA caval-rymen lost and the US 13th Division still operating at strength.

Following this battle, Polk returned to Columbus and started constructing a depot that stood ready in late October.

In October, the Army of the Tennessee was formed in Nashville under the command of Lieutenant General Albert S. Johnston. Johnston arrived at Bowling Greene late in October to start the siege of the town. Prior to the siege, all railroad lines going north from Bowling Greene had been cut, and CSA cavalry was patrolling north of the town to ensure that the USA would not be able to bring in reinforcements.

In early November, the defenses at Bowling Greene had been breached and Johnston prepared to assault the town, and later in November, the town fell in the hands of the Confederates. As the weather was getting increasingly worse, Johnston decided to stay in Bowling Greene and wait for the spring before trying to exploit further into Kentucky.

In parallel with the achievements at Bowling Greene, the US where pushing south into Kentucky and by the end of 1861 had captured Louisville, Lexington and Clarksburg and where approaching Barren at the village of Munford on the Green creek. The US forces in Kentucky seemed to be heavily dispersed and consisted of Lieutenant General J. Freemont that was approaching the CSA army in Bowling Greene despite the harsh weather. Just south of the Ohio River at the village of Bran-denburg was Major General Ulysses S. Grant and in the Lexington area was Brigadier Generals Howe and McClernand. There was also significant US forces on the border to Ohio and Indiana at Jefferson, Clermont and Ashland. Further west, strong US



presence was reported at Posey, IN and McCracken, KY as well as at Alexander. However, the weather conditions was a mixture between mud and freezing cold, and any major operations was most likely not possible to launch until the conditions improved.

F IG HTIN G FOR CO N TR O L O F TH E M IS SISSIPPI

Starting with the sinking of the US gunboat in the battle at Cape Girardieu, the CSA decided to strengthen its naval presence along the Mississippi River and seek out the US gun boats on the river in an attempt to gain control over the river and the supply lines.

Given this decision and the conclusion that the US navy along the east coast was currently too strong for the CSA to take on in decisive battle, it was decided that Admiral Buchanan was to transfer to Memphis and sail the new ironclad being constructed there north to Island 10 and rendez vouz with the rest of the CSA Missis-sippi fleet. In early November, Buchanan and his fleet was sailing north toward the Mississippi Confluent with 14 gunboats and the ironclad CSS Arkansas.

In late November, the Mississippi was frozen all the way from Port Hudson in the south to Island 10 in the north. This meant that the CSS Vicksburg and two gunboats at Fort Henry would not be able to join Buchanan until the ice situation along the river improved.

However, Buchanan made it to the Mississippi Confluent and on December 16 met US Admiral Andrew Foote with 8 Transports and 6 Gunboats. Buchanan's ships scored an easy victory and a US gunboat was sunk at no cost to Buchanan.

CAMP D ICK RO B IN S ON1 6

Camp Dick Robinson was the first recruiting and training camp established in the State of Kentucky, as well as south of the Ohio river .

In the summer of 1861, following the US occupation of Lexington, Federal authorities gave William "Bull" Nelson, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, the authority to establish a recruitment and training camp in order to recruit loyal men for the United States Army inside the state of Kentucky.

Against the wishes and protests of Beriah Magoffin, Governor of the State of Kentucky, secessionists, and those in favor of neutrality, Camp Dick Robinson was

16 Based on the Kentucky in the Civil War website.


Illustration 17: Picture of Camp Dick Robinson - July, 1861

http://www.geocities.com/civil_war_in_ky/camp-dick-robinson.html


established on August 6, 1861. The camp was located near Lancaster, just south of Lexington, in Garrard County, Kentucky on the 3,200 acre estate of Dick Robinson, Esq. Prior to the establishment of Camp Dick Robinson, the estate was being utilized by a small body of Home Guards that were assembled to protect the Military stores that were located in a nearby building.

EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI

The situation was developing in a quite confusing way with the depot in Cairo being destroyed by the CSA Brewer Cavalry, which then returned across the river to Charleston, MO from where they planned a move north along the Mississippi up to Perry, where they would cross the river into Illinois and either attempt to cut the rail between Salem and St.Louis or the line between Salem and Cairo.

In Union, MO, CSA militia had cut the railroad leading east to St. Louis, but was immediately hit by superior federal forces and on June 21, the unit seized to exist after taking more than 600 losses in killed, wounded or captured soldiers. Meanwhile , other US troops tried to capture Jefferson City west of Union, but the 1st Missouri Defenders managed to keep the city in confederate control as US militia threw them-selves at the gates.

The CSA units in Missouri was very thinly spread and not prepared for even minor US operations, specially if these operations was coming out of St.Louis which was most likely a staging area for larger federal units. This was one of the reasons to send cavalry on raiding missions along the Mississippi River and into Illinois south of St. Louis as that was targeted at forcing the USA to disperse their forces in the area to protect their supply lines rather than projecting force against Missouri.

The situation in the far west escalated for the worse, and the depot in Fayetteville, AR was ordered to be destroyed in the beginning of November after reports of the US 12th Division commanded by Brigadier General T. Wood moving east from the Indian Territory and the US Fort Gibson. Newly arrived Brigadier General Zollicoffer and his small infantry unit executed the order. In order to strengthen the CSA defenses in Arkansas, reinforcements were sent to Fort Smith. Theses units started arriving in late November and by the end of 1861, Braxton Bragg commanded approximately 3000 men in the Fort, but the situation in Arkansas and Missouri was still bad enough to threaten the Mississippi in case of a strong US offense along the Arkansas River.

Meanwhile, Stand Watie moved north into Springfield, MO with the orders to seize control of the town and raid the depot there. However, he was surprised by US



cavalry and was forced to return to Fort Smith and join Bragg there after suffering quite bad losses without achieving his mission target at Springfield.

DEEP SOUTH AND TEXAS

Further south, the situation was still focused on the capture of Fort Sumter, where Ruggles was planning an outright assault rather than the siege he had initiated. After two weeks he had not achieved anything, and he was loosing his patience, eager to deliver the success to President Davies.

With Fort Sumter being of more political significance, the development around Fort Pickens in Florida was more worrying. Reports were coming in that talked about US fleet movement, namely the US 9th Fleet consisting of at least the USS Saint Louis and USS Brooklyn. There was also reported presence of a US infantry force including artillery support in the fort. The question was if this force had been landed by the US 9th Fleet and if that was the case, what was the target of the landing? Needless to say, a US presence in force at land in Florida was not a wanted development, and A.R. Wright's Bde was dispatched from Nash, Georgia to Escambia, Florida to where they were expected to arrive in mid July. It was also planned that Br. General Ruggles was to transfer from Fort Sumter to the operations around Fort Pickens once he had thrown out the US defenders in the first fort. This also turned out to happen sooner rather than later, as Ruggles men stormed Fort Sumter and finally captured it on July 2 after which Ruggles departed for Fort Pickens.

Once Ruggles had assessed the situation at Fort Pickens, he requested reinforcements in order to attack the fort. The problem was that the layout of the fort prevented a siege, and the US navy was also blockading the entrances to the Confederate harbors. Ruggles assessment was that he could assault the fort in November after gathering a sufficient force to breach the defenses without a preparatory siege.

In order to investigate the US naval presence outside Fort Pickens, CSA ships were sent to Pensacola Bay in late December to investigate and if possible prevent the blockade and secure CSA control over the bay.

SAM HO U S T O N1 7

Samuel Houston was the governor of Texas at the start of the war, but was not a friend of the secession or the war.

17 Inspired by Sam Houston on Wikipedia.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Houston


Despite Houston's being a slave owner and against abolition, he opposed the secession of Texas from the Union. In June 1861, he offered the following prediction: "Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives you may win Southern independence, but I doubt it. The North is determined to preserve this Union."

The secession was branded illegal by Houston, but the Texas legislature nevertheless upheld the legitimacy of secession. The political forces that brought about Texas's secession also were powerful enough to replace her Unionist governor. Houston chose not to resist, stating that, "I love Texas too well to bring civil strife and bloodshed upon her. To avert this calamity, I shall make no endeavor to maintain my authority as Chief Executive of this State, except by the peaceful exercise of my functions...." He was evicted from his office on June 16, 1861, for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy, writing

"Fellow-Citizens, in the name of your rights and liberties, which I believe have been trampled upon, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of the nationality of Texas, which has been betrayed by the Convention, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of the Constitution of Texas, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of my own conscience and manhood, which this Convention would degrade by dragging me before it, to pander to the malice of my enemies....I refuse to take this oath."

LOSSES

Initial losses in April and May were small, while the disastrous fighting during the battle of Manassas saw heavy losses for the Confederacy in exchange for very small US losses. The combined US losses at Manassas was actually comparable to the losses at the first attempt by the CSA to storm Fort Sumter in May.


Illustration 18: Samuel Houston. Unionist governor of Texas.


The trend changed in August when the US forces lost the battle at Winchester as well as the gunboat battle at Cape Girardieu and the unionists lost close to 4,000 men in that month. However, the Confederate night-mare at Manassas continued with the second battle in September where more than 11,000 CSA soldier met their faith. These losses were only balanced with the US defeat at Winchester not far from Manassas.

October and November saw losses going down to very low numbers due to weather. However, the disastrous operations in Virginia from the US in December gener-ated losses above 30000 soldiers in that month which was close to the total losses in the whole year for the CSA so far and an operation that almost double the US losses in the war with nothing gained at all.

As can be seen in the statistics, the CSA before December had lost about 43000 men while the USA had losses accounting for 28000 men. The month of December changed the whole picture as the Union lost more than 30000 men compared to less than 5000 for the Confederates.

POLITICS AND FINANCES

The only state where investments was being made to increase the industrial output was Georgia. A small armory was built in Jacksonville in May, and in June, and an ironworks in Bainbridge became operational. The industrialization was temporarily halted after Manassas, but was restarted again in November leading to a small armory becoming operational in Nashville in late December.

However, the limiting factor was not men or supply, but money. President Davies ordered the issuing of a 5% war bond in May, raising $119,000, but these funds where all but exhausted in late June, and the President was already now contem-plating the issue of another set of war bonds, or even going to the more dramatic reso-lution of printing paper money in order to raise funds to pay for the war effort.

Jefferson Davies signed the resolutions to issue the war bonds as well as printing the paper money after the heavy losses in the First Battle of Manassas became know, and the bonds were issued in late June, about at the same time as the new money was


Illustration 19: Monthly combat losses - 1861

AprilMay

JuneJuly

Aug.Sept.

Oct.Nov.

Dec.

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

CSAUSA


started to print. The bonds and the printing of the paper money raised just above $500,000 and at the same time 145 new conscript companies were formed.

This solved the issue with the availability of money and men, but created a new bottleneck: War Supply. The US Anaconda Plan prevented much of the needed supply to reach land, and blockade runners as well as raider ships were directed to sea in order to disturb the US naval activities. During August and September, some minor successes could be celebrated, but neither the destroyed US tonnage nor the captured supply and money was making any significant difference to the war effort. It was obvious that a huge naval program would be needed to significantly alter the balance at sea.

In early August, James Dunwoody Bulloch had traveled to England and arranged for the construction of two state of the art cruisers in Liverpool; the CSS Florida and Alabama. Delivery of these two ships was planned for May or July of 1862.

It was also decided that the the CSA navy could hardly compete with the US enemy on the open seas, while the Mississippi River was possible to gain the upper hand at given the right priorities. Several Iron Clads where ordered to be designed for use along the Mississippi, and Admiral Buchanan was sent west from his current assign-ment on the east coast.

With the different initiatives and the losses sustained in battle during 1861, manpower became an issue again near the end of the year and 180 new conscript companies were raised in another call for volunteers in December, in order to create the base for a spring offensive in 1862.

When it came to political support for the southern cause in the different areas of the Confederacy, it was mainly in Texas and Kentucky that there was a widespread oppo-sition. During October, Habeas Corpus18 was declared in Texas and in early December, Jefferson Davies was forced to declare Martial Laws19 in Kentucky. Following the Confederate victories in the battle of Stafford, VA, the support increased dramatically for Jefferson Davies and the Confederacy not only in Texas and Kentucky but in the CSA in general.

THE CONFISCATION ACT 2 0

The Confiscation Act of 1861 was an act permitting seizure of any slave being used by confederate military during the American Civil War. It was passed on July 24,

18 More about Habeas Corpus on Wikipedia.19 More about Martial Law on Wikipedia.20 Loosely based on Wikipedia, and adapted to fit the situation in the ongoing game.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confiscation_Act_of_1861

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus#Suspension_during_the_Civil_War_and_Reconstruction


1861. The Confiscation Act allowed any property used by the Confederates to be confiscated, and included freeing any slaves who were forced to participate in the war by the Confederacy. Benjamin Butler had been the first Union general to declare slaves as contraband; some other Northern commanders followed this precedent, while officers from the border states were more likely to return escaped slaves to their masters. The Confiscation Act was an attempt to set a uniform policy throughout the army.

The bill passed by a vote of sixty to forty-eight. Abraham Lincoln was initially reluc-tant to sign the act. Only personal lobbying by several powerful Senators caused him to sign it. Lincoln felt that, in light of the Confederacy's recent battlefield losses, the bill would have no practical effect and would be seen as a move that would only further alienate the south. He was also worried that it might be struck down as uncon-stitutional, which might set a precedent that could derail future attempts at emancipa-tion. Lincoln gave Attorney General Edward Bates no instructions on enforcing the bill; as a result, local attorneys were rarely able to confiscate Confederate property.

“BE DRIVEN AWAY FROM THE SOUTH FOREVER” 2 1

As a new nation carved from an older one, the Confederacy was composed of a citi-zenry of untested patriotism. Its native-born citizens had not been born upon its sovereign soil but upon that of the United States. Immigrants were even more suspect. They had not made the Confederacy their destination. Many had entered the United States via Northern ports and had lived for years in the North before migrating to the South.

To purify its citizenry so that only those who professed loyalty to it remained, the Confederate Congress resolved that all males fourteen years or older who were citi-zens or residents of the United States and did not become citizens of the Confederate States would be subject to arrest, imprisonment, and deportation. Those who wished to shed their alien status could take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, and those who did not wish to do so were guaranteed a period of safety to leave.

Mandatory deportations were slated to begin within a few weeks. If those who chose not to become citizens did not depart within this time span, they would be treated as “alien enemies” and would be subject to arrest, imprisonment, and forced deporta-tion. If they returned after their deportations, they would again be treated as alien enemies and dealt with harshly. Judges were empowered to order their arrests and dispose of them via imprisonment or deportation.

21 Based on a thesis by Eric W. Bright.


http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-041999-151726/unrestricted/BRIGHT.PDF


On August 14, 1861, President Davis issued the required proclamation, officially initiating a campaign against foreigners in the Confederacy. Officers of the Confed-eracy were directed, starting in forty days, to round up aliens for interrogation and, if they were found to be alien enemies, to imprison or deport them. With this act, the Confederacy mobilized to rid itself of its Unionists and many of its foreign-born.

COMMISSIONERS SENT TO EUROPE 2 2

Near the end of August, President Davies and his government decided to send three commissioner to Europe in order to press the Great Britain, France and Spain into recognizing the Confederacy. The issue of diplomatic recognition had been ongoing since the beginning of 1861 and built on the belief of the Confederate administration that the European dependency on cotton from the south would lead to diplomatic recognition and eventually intervention, either by mediation or by force.

The Confederacy already had diplomats in Europe, but the lack of military success had left them more or less outside of the negotiation process. President Davies decided that he needed diplomats in England and France better suited to serve as Confederate ministers once diplomatic recognition was granted. His choices were John Slidell of Louisiana and James Mason of Virginia. Both men were widely respected throughout the South and had some background in foreign affairs. Slidell had been appointed as a negotiator by President Polk at the end of the Mexican War, and Mason had been chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1847 to 1860.

The three commissioners were John Slidell that was to go to France, James Mason with destination Great Britain and Pierre Rost that was to travel to Spain. The new Confederate Secretary of State, R. M. T Hunter instructed the commissioners to emphasize the stronger position of the Confederacy as it had expanded during 1861. An independent Confederacy would restrict the industrial and maritime ambitions of the North and lead to a mutually beneficial commercial alliance between Great Britain, France, and the Confederate States. A balance of power would be restored in the Western Hemisphere as the North’s territorial ambitions would be restricted.

T HE T R ENT AFFAIR

The intended departure of the diplomats was no secret, and the Union government received daily intelligence on their movements. By October 1 Slidell and Mason were in Charleston. Their original plan was to attempt to run the blockade in the CSS

22 Based on the Trent Affair on Wikipedia.


Illustration 20: James Murray Mason. Confederate commissioner on his way to Great Britain in August 1861.

Illustration 21: John Slidell. Confederate commissioner on his way to France in August 1861.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Affair


Nashville, a fast steamer, but the main channel into Charleston was guarded by five Union ships and the Nashville’s draft was too deep for any side channels. A night escape was considered, but tides and strong night winds prevented this. An overland route through Mexico and departure from Matamoros was also considered, but the delay of several months was unacceptable.

The steamer Gordon was suggested as an alternative. It had a shallow enough draught to use the back channels and was capable of speeds exceeding twelve knots, more than enough to elude Union pursuit. The Gordon was offered to the Confederate government for either as a purchase for $62,000 or as a charter for $10,000. The Confederate Treasury could not afford this, but a local cotton broker, George Tren-holm, paid the $10,000 in return for half the cargo space on the return trip. Renamed the Theodora, the ship left Charleston at one in the morning on October 12. On the 14th they arrived at Nassau but had missed connections with the British steamer going to St. Thomas, the main point of departure for British ships from the Caribbean to Great Britain. They moved on towards Cuba and arrived in Cardenas on October 16. They learned that the next British mail packet would leave Havana on November 7 for St. Thomas.

On the Union side, the USS San Jacinto, commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes, arrived in St. Thomas on October 13, fresh off its duty on the African coast. Wilkes’ orders were to join a US Naval force preparing for an assault of Port Royal, South Carolina. However in St. Thomas Wilkes learned that the Sumter, a Confederate raider, had captured three merchant ships near Cinfuegos in July. Wilkes headed there, despite the unlikelihood that it would have remained in the area. In Cinfuegos he learned from a newspaper that Mason and Slidell were scheduled to leave Havana on November 7 in the RMS Trent. He realized that the ship would need to use the “narrow Bahama Channel, the only deep water route between Cuba and the shallow Grand Bahama Bank.” Wilkes discussed legal options with his second in command, Lt. D. M. Fairfax, before making plans to intercept and also reviewed law books on the subject. Wilkes adopted the position that Mason and Slidell would qualify as “contraband”, subject to seizure by a United States ship.

This aggressive decision making was typical of Wilkes command style. On one hand, he was recognized as “a distinguished explorer, author, and naval officer”. On the other, he “had a reputation as a stubborn, overzealous, impulsive, and sometimes insubordinate officer.” Treasury officer George Harrington had warned Seward about Wilkes, “He will give us trouble. He has a superabundance of self-esteem and a defi-ciency of judgment. When he commanded his great exploring mission he court-martialed nearly all his officers; he alone was right, everybody else was wrong.


Illustration 22: Captain Charles Wilkes. Commander of the USS San Jacinto.


Great Britain reacted by sending 8000 troops to Canada and placing the Royal Navy on alert. The US government responded with strong diplomacy and managed to reduce the risk of British intervention even as many British citizens supported going to war against the US.

ALLIANCE WITH NATIVE AMERICANS

In September, CSA representatives in the Indian Territories signed an alliance with the Cherokee leading to some ten companies of mounted Cherokee warriors being recruited, and Stand Watie being appointed Brigadier General and leader of the unit.

Born 1806 in Rome, Georgia, Watie took part in the dispute over the Georgia state anti-Indian laws. Watie stood in favor of the Removal of the Cherokee to Oklahoma Treaty. The anti-Removalists refused to ratify it. Those who remained in the East were removed by the Govern-ment in a journey during which thousands died.



1 8 6 2

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vivamus erat. Donec sodales. Pellentesque quis arcu. Sed vulputate dolor et ligula. Nunc eu leo a quam.

POLITICAL AND ECONOMICAL SITUATION

With the Confederate merchant raiders sinking an increasing volume of goods intended for the US Army, Abraham Lincoln announced significantly increased taxes in November 1861, and in an attempt to prepare for a spring offensive, a call for volunteers was also issued at the same time. Jefferson Davies choose to interpret this as signs that the Confederate merchant raiders together with the tremendous losses suffered by the Union at Stafford was creating a huge strain on the potential of the northerners to sustain the war effort, and that a decisive blow once the weather improved could be enough to put the US in a situation from which they would have a hard time to recover.

CSA Politics: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean interdum. Vivamus ultrices.

MILITARY SITUATION

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Quisque a tortor. Nulla ullamcorper diam in.

MILITARY OBJECTIVES

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vivamus non sem ac libero fringilla dictum.

ORDER OF BATTLE AND FIELD COMMANDERS

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Etiam nonummy rutrum diam. Donec in tortor.



S T A T I S T I C S A N D A N A L Y S I S

The following section contain statistics and analysis of the war efforts, the battles and the key events during the war.

TIME LINE AND SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

This section provide a summary of key events by year. The details of the events are covered in previous chapters while the intent of this chapter is to put the events into a more holistic scope of events.

1861

Date Event CSA Losses USA Losses OutcomeApril 6 Norfolk , VA captured by

CSA troops in a pre-war raid.Norfolk under CSA control.

April 8 to 15 The first hostilities occur as CSA Militia clash with the Harper's Ferry Guard in Harpers's Ferry, MD.

236 195 Stalemate. CSA withdraw to Winchester.

April 12 Fort Sumter, SC bombarded. War is officially declared.

The CSA and USA are at a state of war.

April 13 Laredo, West Texas, taken over by mustered CSA Militia

Laredo under CSA control.

May 4 CSA fails to storm Ft. Sumter.

295 393 Fort Sumter still under US control.

May 17 to 18 CSA attack Ft. Sumter again as Br. Gen. Ruggles take command of CSA forces.

788 1670 Even with heavy losses to the US defenders, control of the fort is maintained by the US

June 21 to 23July 1 to 7

Battle of Manassas. 8237 1321 CSA loose the battle, and generals Zollicoffer and Holmes are injured. Most of Operation Lion's Den are rendered useless due to the uncoordinated CSA fighting at Manassas.

July 2 Fort Sumter captured 152 5 Fort Sumter captured by Br. General Ruggles.

Robert Widell Statistics and Analysis - Page 42


July 4 Dallas, TX captured by the USA

971 419 After a short siege, Br. General Sibley's cavalry units are disintegrated. The city is captured by the USA, Sibley is injured but escape to Laredo, TX.

July 5 Lexington, KY captured by the USA.

570 330 The Lexington defenders surrender after three weeks of US siege. Kentucky Militia rise to fight US invasion.

August 6-8 Battle of Winchester 2015 3571 Generals Johnston and Shields clash at Winchester, and the CSA win their first major battle of the war.

August 20 Gunboat battle at Cape Girardieu

32 234 CSA victory. One US Gunboat sunk.

Table 1: Significant events in 1861

STATISTICS

This section contain statistics regarding losses sustained by both sides during the course of the war as well as information about the efficiency of the CSA merchant raiders and blockade runners.

COMBAT LOSSES

For more detailed statistics about battles and combat losses, please refer to the appen-dices where monthly losses as well as additional detail about all battles as provided.



MERCHANT RAIDERS AND BLOCKADE RUNNERS

In late August 1861, the CSA Merchant Raiders and Blockade Runners begun having a measurable effect on the money and war supply either brought into the Confederate harbors or denied the US.

The high number for sunk war supply as well as supplied goods into the CSA in the third quarter of 1861 is related to the capture of a US supply ship in the Pamlico


Illustration 23: Yearly combat losses.

1861 1862 1863 1864 18650

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

CSAUSA

Illustration 24: Accumulated Combat Losses.

1861 1862 1863 1864 18650

10000

20000

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70000

USACSA

Illustration 26: Tonnes of War Supply and value of goods in thousands of $ sunk quarterly by CSA raiders.

Q3 - 1861Q4 - 1861

Q1 - 1862Q2 - 1862

0

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10

15

20

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30

35

40

45

50

War Supply (Tonnes)Money ($1000)

Illustration 25: Tonnes of War Supply and value of goods in thousands of dollars brought into the CSA quarterly by blockade runners.

Q3 - 1861Q4 - 1861

Q1 - 1862Q2 - 1862

0

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Sound. The CSA captured 12 tonnes of supply and took 31 US sailors prisoners. While this was technically not sunk goods, it was still denied the US and hence counted in both categories.



A P P E N D I C E S

CSA COMMANDERS

This appendix will provide details of significant events for the CSA field comman-ders. Background such as birthplace and pre-war history is provided in the fact frames in the main chapters of the document for certain generals and characters while this appendix provide additional details of the achievements of the generals.

BEAUREGARD, PIERRE GUSTAVE TOUTAIN

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 5-4-5

● Deceiver, Level 1

● Fort Defender, Level 1

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Lieutenant General. In command of the Army of the Potomac in Rich-mond, Virgina.

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Led the poorly coordinated attack against well prepared US defenses in Manassas together with Mj. General Bonham and Br. Generals Winder and Magruder. The Army of the Potomac lost a gruesome 11,000 men while the US lost about 4,000. Beuregard withdrew to Stafford, VA and started rebuilding his battered army.

DE CEMBER, 1861

Beauregard was unexpectedly attacked in his winter camp in Stafford, VA by US forces led by Nathaniel Banks. Banks attacked on December 10 but was repulsed by Beauregard and fellow generals Winder, Hindman and Magruder. On December 27, US troops attacked once more, this time commanded by Erasmus Keyes and Joseph Mansfield. The two US attacks were complete disasters and Beauregard and his Army caused almost 23000 losses to the US including Brigadier General Mansfield that was killed on the 27th. Some 6000 prisoners where taken and 17000 rifles captured. Beauregard's honor had been restored!

Robert Widell Appendices - Page 46


BEE, BARNARD ELLIOT

CO MMAND RAT ING

1-5-2

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General in command of Bee's Bde in Warren, VA.

AU G US T, 1861

Commanded Bee's Brigade in the battle of Winchester as the CSA forces commanded of Lt. General Joseph E. Johnston defeated US General J. Shields.

DE CEMBER, 1861

Led his brigade in the second battle of Winchester as the new Corps commander Bonham defeated the US force led by Ambrose Burnside.

BONHAM, MILLEDGE LUKE

CO MMAND RAT ING

6-3-3

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Major General in command of the Bonham Bde in Richmond, VA.

J ULY, 1861

Bonham's Bde was used as the basis for the creation of Bonham's Corps, which also incorporated Brigadier General Charles S. Winder and his command.

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Led his Corp in the poorly coordinate attack against well defended Union positions at Manassas between September 2 and 4 in an operation led by Army Commander P.G.T. Beauregard.

NO VEMBER, 1861

Sent to besieged Winchester, VA to replace Joseph E. Johnston who was ordered back to Richmond to set up the Army of Northern Virginia. The XXVIII Corp was subsequently renamed Bonhams' Corps.

DE CEMBER, 1861



Successfully defended Winchester against an attack led by Ambrose Burnside. This attack marked the end of the siege of Winchester as Burnside and federal troops left the area after being routed by Bonham.

BRAGG, BRAXTON

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 2-5-3

● Dispirited Leader, Level 1

● Training Master, Level 1

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General.

O CT O B ER, 1861

Sent to Memphis, TN to form a force intended to fight in the eastern theater.

NO VEMBER, 1861

Bragg was ordered, with the small force he had assembled in Memphis, to transfer to Fort Smith, AR which was under threat from the US 12 th division approaching from Fort Gibson in the Indian Territories. However, Bragg issued conflicting orders and stayed in Memphis which left a substantial force without proper command at Fort Smith where the main body for the defense of Arkansas and ultimately the Missis-sippi was forming.

DE CEMBER, 1861

Bragg and his unit finally arrived at Fort Smith by boat, and he assumed command over the troops in the area. Luckily, the federals had not been able to take advantage of Bragg's failure to consolidate the unit under his command.

BUCHANAN, FRANKLIN

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 6-4-2

● Seaman, Level 1

APR IL, 1861



Appointed Vice Admiral. Given command of the captured remains of USS Merri-mack that was to be converted to the CSS Virginia and the flagship of the Chesa-peake Squadron.

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Buchanan lead his naval units against what is believed to be a US transport fleet at Hampton Roads, but instead he is faced more that 35 union ships against his own 4. Against all odds, Buchanan manage to return to Richmond, VA without loosing a single ship! Following this defeat, Buchanan is sent to Memphis to assume command of the growing CSA fleet in the river.

NO VEMBER, 1861

As Mississippi becomes impossible to maneuver in by boat due to ice south of Island 10, Buchanan finds himself and his fleet of 15 ships chasing the US Admiral Foote in the river at Cape Girardieu and the Mississippi Confluent.

DE CEMBER, 1861

On December 16, Buchanan finally make contact with US Admiral Foote and his fleet. In the cold waters of the Mississippi Confluent, Buchanan leads his fleet to victory against the 8 transport ships and 6 gunboats commanded by Foote. One US gunboat is sunk.

COOPER, SAMUEL

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 2-2-1

● Training Officer, Level 1

AU G US T, 1861

Appointed General in command of the overall defense of Richmond, VA.

O CT O B ER, 1861

Samuel Cooper announce that he intend to retire effective immediately. He is replaced by Robert E. Lee as the commander of the Richmond defenses.

VAN DORN, EARL

CO MMAND RAT ING



● 7-1-2

● Cavalryman, Level 1

● Indian Fighting Skill, Level 1

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General in command of a force in Charleston, MO consisting of two infantry brigades and two cavalry brigades.

O CT O B ER, 1861

US Brigadier General A. Asboth attacks the van Dorn command in Charleston. Van Dorn defeat the US troops and makes sure Charleston stays under Confederate control.

FLOYD, JOHN BUCHANAN

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 3-0-0

● Dispirited Leader, Level 1

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General located at the staff in Richmond, VA.

J ULY, 1861

Sent to Fort Sumter to replace Daniel Ruggles following the capture of the fort. Ruggles had been sent to take command over the operations to seize control over Fort Pickens in Florida.

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Sent to Charlottesville, VA to command a newly created detachment intended to be protecting the Confederate flank.

HARDEE, WILLIAM JOSEPH

CO MMAND RAT ING



● 2-3-1

● Training Master, Level 1

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General in command of Lawton's Brigade.

O CT O B ER, 1861

Attached to the newly formed Army of the Tennessee and sent to Bowling Greene, KY.

NO VEMBER, 1861

Participated in the final assault on Bowling Greene, KY.

HINDMAN, THOMAS CARMICHAEL

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 5-0-1

● Patriot, Level 1

● Occupier, Level 1

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General and divisional commander over the Early and Ransom Brigades. Division was attached to the Army of the Potomac in Stafford, VA.

DE CEMBER, 1861

Hindman led his division in the defense against the disastrous US attacks on the 10 th

and 27th. Hindman received public recognition for his leadership in the significant CSA victory in this battle.

HOLMES, THEOPHILUS HUNTER

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 5-3-1

● Dispirited Leader, Level 1 (After the loss at Manassas in June 1861)

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Major General in command of the Holmes Bde in Richmond, VA.



J UN E, 1861

Following Felix Zollicoffer's injury on June 20, Holmes commanded the CSA forces during the reminder of the first battle of Manassas. Holmes was forced to retreat on June 23 after loosing some 1000 men and sustained an injury himself.

DE CEMBER, 1861

After recovering from his injuries, Holmes was attached to Beauregard's Army of the Potomac and successfully led his unit in the epic defense and complete victory against the US attacks on December 10 and 27. Holmes was praised as one of the heroes of the battle, and at least partially had his honor restored.

HUGER, BENJAMIN

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 3-1-0

● Artillerist, Level 1

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General in command of the CSA Detachment in Petersburg, VA.

M AY 1861

Given command of the Huger's Command. See OOB.

J ULY 1861

Defeated at Manassas by US General McDowell in the fighting that lasted between July 1 and 7. More than 3700 CSA soldiers were lost as Huger defended himself inside the town of Manassas. Huger was able to escape south to Culpepper with his staff, but his command had been completely destroyed in the battle. He assumed command of the so called Armistead's Bde that had recently arrived in Culpepper.

AU G US T, 1861

Huger was made division commander and his division was attached to “Stonewall” Jacksons' Corps.

O CT O B ER AND NO VE MBER, 1861,

Huger successfully lead his division as Union attacks tried to push the Corps out of Page, VA. See Jackson, Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” below for further details.



JACKSON, THOMAS JONATHAN “STONEWALL”

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 7-1-5

● Fast Mover, Level 1

● Strong Morale, Level 1

● Surpriser, Level 2

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Major General in command of the Stonewall Bde in Warren, VA.

J ULY, 1861

The Stonewall Bde was used as the base for the creation of the Jackson' Corps, but since it took a very long time to staff the brigade, Jackson was given command the Jackson' Corps consisting of more than 15,000 men, while the brigade was sent back to Richmond to complete the training of its men.

O CT O B ER, 1861

Jacksons' Corps under the command of Jackson together with Brigadier Generals Longstreet and Huger defeated US Major General Keyes and Brigadier General-Mansfield in Page, VA. Jackson was securing the supply lines and the contact with the besieged Winchester and used the hilly terrain to lure the US general into battle in the hard terrain.

NO VEMBER, 1861

Jacksons' Corps again defeated a Union force in the mountains of Page, VA. This time the Union force was commanded by Lt. General McDowell, Major Generals Hamilton and Milroy as well as Br. Generals Hooker, Wallace, Tyler and Hunter. The Union force was outnumbering Jackson's Corps by at least three times, but his use of surprise and well prepared defensive positions gave him the victory.

JOHNSON, BUSHROD RUST

CO MMAND RAT ING



0-4-2

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General located at the staff function in Richmond, VA.

J ULY, 1861

Johnson was ordered to march north in order to prevent the US attack on Manassas and to support the CSA units moving into the area. However, Johnson reversed the orders and remained in place, which helped the US secure the win at Manassas. Johnson was relieved of command, and replaced by “Stonewall” Jackson soon there-after. Johnson was then given command of the 3 rd Reserve Brigade that was forming in Warren, VA.

AU G US T T O DEC EMBER, 1861

The 3rd Reserve Brigade was attached to the Johnston's Corps at Winchester, VA where it was successfully lead by Johnson during the siege of the city. Johnson continued leading his brigade also as Bonham took over as Corps commander.

JOHNSTON, ALBERT SIDNEY

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 7-4-1


SE PT EMBER, 1861

Appointed Lieutenant General tasked with setting up a new army for service in the western theater.

O CT O B ER, 1861

Took command over the Army of the Tennessee in Nashville and immediately ordered his army north to support Brigadier General McCulloch in the siege of Bowling Greene, KY.

NO VEMBER, 1861

Led the Army of the Tennessee in the final assault of the breached defenses of Bowling Greene, KY together with Brigadier Generals Hardee, McCulloch and Stewart.



JOHNSTON, JOSEPH EGGLESTONE

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 6-3-2

● Skirmisher, Level 1

● Good Army Administrator, Level 1

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Lieutenant General in command of the Shenandoah Force in Warren, VA.

J ULY, 1861

The Shenandoah Force was renamed Johnstone's Corps and placed under the command of the Army of the Potomac and P.G.T. Beauregard.

AU G US T, 1861

Led the winning CSA force that defeated US general J. Shields at Winchester, VA between August 6 and 8.

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Again led his Corp's as US forces attacked his well defended positions at Winchester, VA between September 2 and 4. The US lost close to 5,000 men in exchange for less than 1,000 of Johnston's.

NO VEMBER, 1861

Relieved by Major General Bonham as Corp's Commander in the besieged Winch-ester. Johnston reluctantly returned to Richmond to become Army Commander of the newly formed Army of Northern Virginia.

LEE, ROBERT E.

CO MMAND RAT ING



● 7-4-2

● Fast Mover, Level 1

● Reckless, Level 1

● Engineer, Level 1

● Charismatic, Level 1

AU G US T, 1861

Appointed Lieutenant General.

NO VEMBER, 1861

Appointed commander over the forces defending Richmond following General Coop-er's retirement. Lee was under great pressure from President Davies to take on a field command, but refused as long as there was no direct threat from the USA towards the capitol.

LONGSTREET, JAMES

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 5-5-7

● Entrencher, Level 1

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General and made divisional commander in Jacksons' Corps in Page, VA.

O CT O B ER AND NO VE MBER, 1861

Led his division with great success as their well entrenched position where being attacked by Union forces in the hills and mountains of Page, VA.

MAGRUDER, JOHN BANKHEAD

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 4-2-4

● Deceiver, Level 1




APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General in command of the J. Magruder's Command in Rich-mond, VA.

J ULY, 1861

Magruder's Command was given divisional status and renamed Magruder's Division.

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Led his division in the ill-fated operation at Manassas under the command of P.G.T. Beauregard.

DE CEMBER, 1861

Continued serving in Beauregard's Army of the Potomac and successfully lead his division as the US attacks on December 10 and 27 was successfully beaten back. Magruder was seen as one of the heroes and great leaders of the defense, and to some extent had his reputation restored after the poor performance at Manassas.

MCCULLOCH, BENJAMIN

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 5-1-3



APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General in command of the 3rd CSA Detachment, including the 1st Tennessee Cavalry in Knoxville, Tennessee.

J UN E T O SE PTEMBER, 1861

Operating in the area around Bowling Greene, KY with approximately 5,500 men.

O CT O B ER, 1861

Started the siege of Bowling Greene, KY. Was joined by the newly created Army of the Tennessee later in the month and was attached to the Army.

NO VEMBER, 1861




POLK, LEONIDAS

CO MMAND RAT ING

5-0-1

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Major General in command of CSA forces in Memphis, Tennessee, and what was referred to as Department No. 2 which was roughly the area between the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers.

J ULY, 1861

Polk's Command was given divisional status and renamed Polk's Division. On July 21, Polk's Division clashed with US forces outside Paducah in McCracken, KY and defeated these forces, but rather than risking to push the neutral Kentucky over to the USA, Polk withdrew south to Columbus. He was officially praised for his actions in this battle.

SE PT EMBER, 1861

Defended and fought off an attack on Columbus, KY led by US Br. General Hurlburt. Polk had been digging in and the well prepared positions was easily defended against Hurlburt's division of comparable size.

O CT O B ER, 1861

With Cairo being held by the US, and the depot there having been destroyed by CSA cavalry early on in the war, Polk took the opportunity of the winter weather and the relative calm in his area to construct a new depot in Columbus to support future Confederate operations in the area.

RUGGLES, DANIEL

CO MMAND RAT ING

5-1-4

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General. Sent to Charleston, SC to command the faltering assault on Fort Sumter.

M AY, 1861



After leading a bloody assault on the fort, Ruggles withdraws to Charleston to plan for a siege. In the assault, 870 CSA soldiers are lost for 1670 US losses. The blood-iest fighting in the war so far.

J UN E, 1861

On June 13, Ruggles begin the siege of Fort Sumter.

J ULY, 1861

Ruggles lead the final assault on Fort Sumter, forcing the fort to surrender on July 2.

Following the surrender of Fort Sumter, Ruggles depart for Florida to take command over the operations around Fort Pickens where it was believed the US was landing reinforcements for a potential operation in the deep south.

AU G US T T O OCT O B ER, 1861

Ruggles spent this time to build up a huge force of more than 12,000 men and at the same time probing the defenses of Fort Pickens.

NO VEMBER, 1861

The assault of Fort Pickens begin with minor probing operations. It is not possible to besiege the fort due to the geographic situation and the fact that the US navy is blockading the entries to the Confederate harbors in the area.

DE CEMBER, 1861

Ruggles launch the first large scale assault on Fort Pickens, but the attempt fails and he is forced to retreat without achieving much.

SEMMES, RAPHAEL

CO MMAND RAT ING

4-4-0

● Seaman, Level 1

● Sea Raider, Level 1

● Blockade Runner, Level 1

J UN E, 1861

Promoted to Rear Admiral and given command of the raider ship CSS Sumter opera-tion in the Atlantic Ocean.



SIBLEY, HENRY HOPKINS

CO MMAND RAT ING

6-0-0

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General in command of the 3rd Texas Rangers and 10th Texas Cavalry in Dallas, TX.

J ULY, 1861

Lost his units in the battle of Dallas, was injured, but managed to escape to Laredo, Texas, where he assumed command over the 1st Texas Rangers, or Lane's Cavalry as they preferred to be called.

AU G US T, 1861

After his recovery in Laredo, Sibley traveled to Henderson, TX to rebuild a new force, this time consisting of Rangers and Militia from Texas.

O CT O B ER, 1861

While on a reconnaissance mission near Dallas, Sibley was surprised by a strong Union force and, for the second time in a short while, lost most of unit. Sibley retreated to Henderson, TX to rebuild a new cavalry unit for operations in Texas and the deep south.

SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 1-5-3

● Forager, Level 1

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General in command of Smith's Bde in Warren, VA.

AU G US T A ND SE PT EMBER, 1861

Fought on the winning side in the battle at Winchester between August 6 and 8 and 2 and 4 under the command of Lt. General Joseph E. Johnston.



DE CEMBER, 1861

Smith participated in the successful defense against Ambrose Burnside's attack on Winchester. This time the Corps in which Smith's unit served was led by CSA Major General Bonham.

SMITH, GUSTAVUS WOODSON

CO MMAND RAT ING

0-1-1

APR IL, 1861


J ULY, 1861

Given command of the Richmond defenses including the Virginia State Militia, the Richmond Militia, the Richmond Artillery and the Shipyard Engineers.

AU G US T, 1861

With the appointment of Samuel Cooper as the overall commander of the Richmond defenses, Smith was assigned to the staff in Richmond.

NO VEMBER, 1861

As Samuel Cooper retired and Robert E. Lee took over the responsibility for the defense of Richmond and the staff there, Smith was attached to the Army of Northern Virginia as a staff officer supporting Army Commander Johnston.

STEWART, ALEXANDER PETER

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 5-3-2

O CT O B ER, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General and attached to the newly formed Army of the Tennesee.

NO VEMBER, 1861




WATIE, STAND

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 3-4-1



SE PT EMBER, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General following the Confederate alliance with the Cherokee. Watie commanded about 1,500 Cherokee warriors.

NO VEMBER, 1861

While leading his men on a combined raid and reconnaissance mission against Springfield, MO, Watie encountered a large Union force in the region of Cass, MO and suffered significant losses. He retreated back to Fort Smith, AR but was deter-mined to continue the fight against the Union.

WHITING, WILLIAM HENRY CHASE

CO MMAND RAT ING

1-1-4

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General and given command of the defense of the newly captured Nortfolk in Virginia.

SE PT EMBER T O NO VEMBER, 1861

Whiting ordered bombardment of careless Union blockade ships and transport ships passing Norfolk. Several hits where recorded.

WINDER, CHARLES SIDNEY



CO MMAND RAT ING

0-2-5

APR IL, 1861


J UN E, 1861

As the need for field commanders increased, Winder was assigned to lead the Bonham's Brigade which was part of Mj. General M. Bonham's Corps.

DE CEMBER, 1861

Bonham's Corps had now become the Army of the Potomac commanded by Beaure-gard, and Winder and his men was located with the army in Stafford when the surprising attack on December 10 and 27 hit them. Winder was praised for his leader-ship after the defeat of the US attackers.

ZOLLICOFFER, FELIX KIRK

CO MMAND RAT ING

● 6-2-0

● Hothead, Level 1

APR IL, 1861

Appointed Brigadier General and sent to Charleston to lead a high risk amphibious cavalry raid deep into Union territory. Recalled to participate in the campaign in the east before the raid set sail. Upon return, given command of the 1st Reserve Bde.

J UN E, 1861

Led the CSA forces in the first battle of Manassas on June 20 and lost more than 3200 men in a major defeat. Not only was he blamed for the loss of the battle and the men, but he was also injured in the battle.

AU G US T, 1861

Participated in the winning battle of Winchester, VA between August 6 and 8 as the CSA forces commanded by Lt. General Joseph E. Johnston.

SE PT EMBER, 1861



Zollicoffer was ordered to lead a large attachment of cavalry from Winchester to Richmond where the unit was planned to rest and recover and be used for reconnais-sance work north of Richmond. The mission ended up in a disaster as Zollicoffer managed to get his unit engaged with superior US forces in the hills of Clarke, VA. The entire force of about 2,000 cavalrymen was lost before Zollicoffer managed to escape to safety where he once again had to recover from injuries sustained in the battlefield. This was too much for the CSA high command, and after his recovery, Zollicoffer was ordered to transfer to Fayetteville in Arkansas where he was to command smaller units in the support of the defense of the very far east parts of the CSA.

CSA FORTS

This appendix describe the different forts controlled by the CSA during the war. Please note that not all fortifications have been described, but focus is on the ones where significant events took place during the course of the conflict.

FORTS MOULTRIE, JOHNSON AND SUMTER

Located in South Carolina, this is more of a series of forts rather than one single installation. It was built in the protection of the city of Charleston, SC in the late 18 th

century, but the more modern Fort Sumter became the main component of Charleston's defenses when it was completed. Of the three forts around Charleston harbor, Moultrie, Sumter, and Johnson, it was Moultrie's defenders who chose not to surrender to the Confederacy; they retreated to the stronger Fort Sumter when in December 1860 South Carolina declared its secession from the Union23 24.

Fort Moultrie was garrisoned by 1500 men plus fixed batteries of heavy artillery and was commanded by Colonel H. Kirkland. The neighboring Fort Johnson25 had a similar garrison under the command of Colonel P. Hewitt.

23 Fort Moultrie on Wikipedia24 More about Fort Moultrie and the defenses around Charleston, NC can be found on the NPS homepage25 History of Fort Johnson at MUSC


http://www.musc.edu/mbes/history.html

http://www.nps.gov/fosu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Moultrie_National_Monument


Fort Sumter was held by Union forces refusing to surrender it to the CSA, ultimately leading to the first shots and the outbreak of the war.

1861, APR IL 12

The first shots of the Civil War are fired as CSA troops move from Fort Johnson to attempt to seize control over the disputed Fort Sumter. Failing to force the surrender of the Union defenders, Fort Sumter is besieged by the CSA forces.

1861, M AY - J U LY

The CSA attempts to overrun the defenders in the Fort, but are forced to retreat after loosing several hundred of their men. The US defenders also suffered losses of the same magnitude, but were still able to maintain in possession of the fort. The attacks came at May 4, but this attack was a failure for the CSA attackers that routed from the walls of the Fort without achieving any of the goals.

Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles was sent to Charleston to assume command and revitalize the efforts. He ordered a new attack on May 17 that lasted until May 18 and was more successful than the previous attacks in the sense the US defenders sustained much more severe losses compared the previous attacks. Even so, Ruggles was forced to withdraw his forces and prepare for a new attack without being in control of the fort itself.

Ruggles now changed tactics, and on June 13, began a siege of the Fort. Ruggles did not have the patience to see the siege through, and after achieving nothing during two weeks, he ordered an all out assault based on intelligence saying the fort was only defended by the static artillery pieces and their crew. The guns was able to hit


Illustration 27: Map of Fort Moultrie as it was on June 28, 1776


Ruggles men during their approach, and killed or injured about 150 of them before the 5 US soldiers manning the guns surrendered and the Fort was finally flying the Confederate flag.

BATTLES

1861



Dates Location CSA Command

USA Command

CSA Forces

Union Forces

Victor Casualties

April 8-15 Harpers's Ferry, MD

Captain Tibot ??? Winchester Militia

Harper's Ferry Guard

Stalemate C: 236U: 195

May 4 Fort Sumter, NC

Br. Gen. F.S. Bartow

??? 2nd CSA Detachment

??? US Victory C: 295U: 393

May 17-18 Fort Sumter, NC

Br. Gen. D. Ruggles

??? 2nd CSA Detachment

??? Stalemate C: 788U: 1670

June 2 Lower Hudson River, NY

Captain L. Charles

??? Huntress Sq.CSS Aitken,CSS Huntress

???7 Light Warships,1 Heavy Warship,4 Transports

CSA withdrawC: 0U: 4

June 4 Cairo, IL Colonel J. Brewer

??? Brewer Cavalry Bn

10th Illinois Cavalry


June 7 Cumberland River, Great Confluent, KY

Captain J. Carter

Admiral Andrew H. Foote

TN Gunboat Sq.CSS Col. Lovell, CSS Little Rebel

IL Gunboat Sq.

CSA With-draw

C: 12U: 8

June 17 Lexington, KY CSA defeat C: 203U: 189

June 20 – 23July 1 to 7

Manassas, VA Zollicffer, Holmes, Huger

McDowell, Milroy, Tyler, Miles

CSA defeat C: 8237U: 1321

June 21 Union, MO W. Nelson CSA defeat C. 637U: 9

June 21 Cumberland River, Great Confluent, KY

Admiral Andrew H. Foote

IL Gunboat Sq.


June 21 James Estuary, VA


June 21 - 27 Ballston, NY Colonel Talafiero

??? 1st Georgia Cavalry


June 28 Jefferson City, KY

US defeat C: 0U: 102

July 1 – 4 Dallas, TX Br. Gen. Sibley

CSA defeat.Dallas lost

C: 971U: 419

July 2 Fort Sumter, NC

Br. Gen. Ruggles

CSA victory.Ft. Sumter captured

C: 152U: 5

July 3 – 5 Lexington, KY CSA defeat.Lexington lost

C: 364U: 141

July 8 Cape Charles, MD

Lt. T. Byrne Harriet Lane Squadron.CSS Patrick Henry,CSS Harriet Lane

???1 Steam Frigate,1 Brig

US retreat C: 39U: 28

July 9 – 11 Utica, NY Colonel Talafiero

??? 1st Georgia Cavalry


July 13 Rome, IN ??? ??? Carter's Cavalry

Militia US withdraw C: 9U: 55

July 21 Paducah, KY Mj. General L. Polk

??? CSA victory. Polk withdraw after driving the USA from the field.

C: 295U: 592

July 23 Clarksburg, KY

??? ??? Militia Cavalry USA fail to capture Clarksburg.

C: 12U: 96




USA Command

CSA Forces

Union Forces

Victor Casualties

August 1-2 Pinckney, IL ??? Cavalry. Cavalry USA C: 392U: 92

August 6-8 Winchester, VA

J.E. Johnston, Zollicoffer, Bee, Smith

J. Shields, L.E Wallace

J. Johnston's Corps

10th Division and possibly 1st Division.

CSA C: 2015U: 3571

August 11 Frederick, MDCapt. P. Tibot ??? Winchester Militia

Marines USA C: 197U: 0

August 16 Jefferson City, MO

??? Militia 3rd Division USA capture Jefferson City.

C: 737U: 92

August 20 Cape Girardieu

??? 14 Gunboats and 2 Trans-ports.

4 Gunboats, of which one reportedly sunk.

CSA C: 32U: 234

Sept. 1-6 Tappahan-nock, VA

??? Ransom's Bde.Cavalry. CSA. US unit destroyed.

C: 282U: 377

Sept. 2-4 Winchester, VA

J.E. Johnston, Zollicoffer, Bee, Smith.

Banks, Hamilton, Runyon, Hunter.

Johnstons' Corps.

Banks' Corps. CSA. USA withdraw to Harper's Ferry.

C: 1039U: 6907

Sept. 3-8 Orange, IN ??? Cavalry Cavalry USA. CSA force destroyed.

C: 570U: 0

Sept. 4 Harrison, KY ??? 1st Georgia Cavalry

Cavalry Stalemate. USA with-draw.

C: 13U: 98

Sept. 5 Manassas, VA P.G.T Beaure-gard, Winder, Magruder.

McDowell, Hooker, Hamilton, Milroy, Tyler, Hunter, Miles.

Army of the Potomac, Bonhams' Corps.

Northeastern Virginia Army, Milroy' Corps.

USA C: 11375U: 3777

Sept. 16 Clarke, VA Capt. P. Tibot ??? Winchester Militia

USA. Winch-ester Militia wiped out.

C: 203U: 4

Sept. 16 Columbus, KYLeonidas Polk Hurlburt Polk's Command

CSA. Union retreat north.

C: 104U: 744

Sept. 16 Clarksburg, KY

McClellan Stalemate. Union retreat.

C: 336U: 443

Sept. 18 Hampton Roads (Naval)

1 Ironclad, 2 Gunboats, 1 Frigate.

30 Blockade Ships, 6 Steam Frigates, 5 Frigates, 2 Transports and 1 Brig

USA C: 256 (No ships lost!)U: 5

Sept. 19 Clark, VA Zollicoffer Cavalry USA. Zollicof-fer's unit destroyed. Zollicoffer injured.

C: 2065U: 53

Sept. 27 Paducah, KY Cavalry USA. CSA cavalry force destroyed.

C: 936U: 57




USA Command

CSA Forces

Union Forces

Victor Casualties

Oct. 5 Charleston Earl van Dorn A. Asboth CSA. US troops retreat north.

C: 110U: 630

Oct. 10 Dallas, TX H.H Sibley Cavalry. USA. CSA force destroyed.

C: 1963U: 0

Oct. 11 Warren, VA Army HQ (!) USA destroys CSA Army HQ in transit!

C: 2392U: 337

Oct. 16 – 25 Rolla, MO Infantry and Militia.

USA capture Rolla and destroy CSA forces.

C: 1749U: 1253

Oct. 30 Page, VA T.J Jackson, Longstreet, Huger

E.D Keyes, Mansfield

Jackson's Corps

Keyes' Corps CSA. C: 532U: 2054

Nov. 2 Clarksburg, KY

35th Detach-ment

USA C: 829U: 201

Nov. 14 Cass, MO Watie E. Summer Cherokee's Infantry + Artillery

USA C: 297U: 50

Nov. 17 Clarksburg, KY

F. Porter 35th Detach-ment

USA C: 977U: 104

Nov. 27 Page, VA T.J Jackson, Longstreet, Huger

McDowell, Hamilton, Milroy, Hooker, Wallace, Tyler, Hunter

Jackson's Corps

Northeastern Virginia Army, Milroy' Corps.

CSA C: 338U: 1419

Dec. 1 Clarksburg, KY

F. Porter 35th Detach-ment

USA capture Clarksburg

C: 1321U: 301

Dec. 10 – 12 Stafford, VA Beauregard, Winder, Hindman, Magruder

Banks, Meager, Shields, Runyon

Army of the Potomac

Bank's Corps CSA C: 1893U: 16354

Dec. 15 Hard, KY 1st Georgia Cavalry

Cavalry CSA C: 0U: 264

Dec. 16 Mississippi Confluent

Buchanan Foote 14 GunboatsCSS Arkansas

8 Transports6 Gunboats

CSA C: 63U: 155 (1 US gunboat sunk)

Dec. 18 Winchester, VA

Bonham, Johnson, Bee, Smith

Burnside Bonham's Corps

CSA C: 12U: 1966

Dec. 27 Stafford, VA Beauregard, Winder, Hindman, Magruder

Keyes, Mans-field (KIA)

Army of the Potomac

Keyes' Corps CSA C: 384U: 11608

Table 2: The 1861 battles, and known details about them.


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