I love the details. In OTL Alger fecks over Mosby when he seeks a government appointment when Alger is Secretary of War because Mosby lynched Michiganers. In this timeline Alger gets his revenge in a more immediate fashion.
A Glorious Union or America: the New Sparta
- Thread starter TheKnightIrish
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I love the details. In OTL Alger fecks over Mosby when he seeks a government appointment when Alger is Secretary of War because Mosby lynched Michiganers. In this timeline Alger gets his revenge in a more immediate fashion.
Alger was a strategist apparently. Like I said, ya don't mess with Michiganders. It'll be interesting though to see if whether or not there are consequences for Alger. I'd imagine that this incident will only make the irregular warfare in Northern Virginia worse. I also wonder though, is there someone who can replace Mosby? Seems like quite a blow.
But will it make it worse? if the partisans get it in their heads that union executes all bushwhackers uniforms or not, will that be enough to stop the attacks? There will probably also be personal attacks against Alger though and yeah Mosby has some hard shoes to fill.
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I could see it go either way I suppose. If I had to guess though, I would say with the death of Mosby that the resistance becomes more decentralized. It becomes more chaotic as people think "them damnyankees" killed my cousin so I'm gonna kill some of them. I could be wrong though, but I think it's going to get more bitter before it gets better. I guess we'll see what TheKnightIrish has in store.
Possibly.....one nightmarish possibility would be that both Virginia and Tennessee might descend to the level of chaos currently in Missouri at this time (where the war was decidedly uncivil). Keep in mind that both states have significant unionist sections so I can see intra-state bushwacking going on.
I cans see that happening in Tennessee where the Union has a much smaller troop presence. Less so in Virginia if just because of the troops that are being sent out of Richmond. On a related note can we hear more about the war in Missouri and Arkansas and everywhere else out west.
While there may be some die-hards who will snipe at the Yankees, absent an organized movement like Mosby's, they will be few in number. While "bubba" may want to "git" some Yankees, when the result will not just be his death but at a minimum the destruction of his home and his family destitute and starving with no roof over their head (and no "system" to help them), his ardor will cool. If this does not happen, hostages WILL be taken and that will be a deterrent. Remember that even ITTL those locals who keep their nose clean & go about their business will be pretty much left alone. Sure their will be some foraging, and forced purchase of supplies, but the local store owner, farmer, miller, etc can carry on fairly well IF they just get along to go along.
Emancipation will be less of a hassle for most than many believe, only 25% of Southern households owned slaves, and most of those owned a handful at most so the "cost" of emancipation for an individual household will be small to zero.
Don't forget that in Tennessee that the eastern party of the state was heavily pro-Union, and the local Unionists will be able to suppress any CSA guerrillas with minimal assistance. The western part of the state will have a heavy Union presence (both army and navy) so brigandage there can be contained pretty well.
OTL "resistance/guerrilla" movements only gain adherents willing to risk all when there is visible outside support against the invader/occupier or a reasonably "popular" revolutionary movement AND there is hope of victory. In spite of popular mythology resistance movements in WW2 (like France, Philippines) took off once there was faith in victory, relatively small numbers until then. ITTL it should be clear to the southerners in Union "occupied" territory that the tide is against them big time.
Finally, remember that the "Yankees" may not be liked or always polite but they are not Nazis.....
Emancipation will be less of a hassle for most than many believe, only 25% of Southern households owned slaves, and most of those owned a handful at most so the "cost" of emancipation for an individual household will be small to zero.
Don't forget that in Tennessee that the eastern party of the state was heavily pro-Union, and the local Unionists will be able to suppress any CSA guerrillas with minimal assistance. The western part of the state will have a heavy Union presence (both army and navy) so brigandage there can be contained pretty well.
OTL "resistance/guerrilla" movements only gain adherents willing to risk all when there is visible outside support against the invader/occupier or a reasonably "popular" revolutionary movement AND there is hope of victory. In spite of popular mythology resistance movements in WW2 (like France, Philippines) took off once there was faith in victory, relatively small numbers until then. ITTL it should be clear to the southerners in Union "occupied" territory that the tide is against them big time.
Finally, remember that the "Yankees" may not be liked or always polite but they are not Nazis.....
You bring up some good points. So in some ways its contingent on whether or not there are good leaders to replace Mosby. As for outside help, the Confederacy in TTL have become a pariah state internationally, so I don't see too much hope of help for any would be resistance. I imagine that there will be a couple years though where things are pretty tense, then gradually, things will cool down. I still think there will be a lot of bitterness, heck, we seems to still fight about the Civil War to this very day it seems like. Regardless, I'm interested to see how this timeline continues to unfold.
All true, but it assumes a pretty high level of knowledge of current affairs and international affairs for bubba, doesn't it? Why should he believe he's part of a pariah state when the newspapers have been telling him differently for four years?
Not sure about hostage taking, honestly; it was accepted practice in the day, but my impression is that Kearny wants to get moving and resume offensive operations. Anything that ties him up sitting on Virginia he'll balk at.
Good stuff, Irish.
Not sure about hostage taking, honestly; it was accepted practice in the day, but my impression is that Kearny wants to get moving and resume offensive operations. Anything that ties him up sitting on Virginia he'll balk at.
Good stuff, Irish.
Chapter Fifty-Eight The Mexican Adventure
Chapter Fifty-Eight
The Mexican Adventure
From "The Mexican Adventure through American Eyes" by David Hofstedder
LUS 1996
LUS 1996
"Then, on 16 March, General Forey and the French Army began the siege of Puebla…
On 30 April, the French Foreign Legion earned its legendary status in the Battle of Camarón when the small infantry patrol unit led by Captain Jean Danjou numbering 62 soldiers and three officers was attacked and besieged by Mexican infantry and cavalry units numbering three battalions, and was forced to make a defense in Hacienda Camarón. Danjou was mortally wounded in the defense of the hacienda, and the last of his men mounted a desperate bayonet attack. The legend is, and the story reported in the Northern Press was that they fought to nearly the last man, with three survivors. However the truth, though no less valient, is that many of the Legionnaires were injured and captured, not slain. To this day, “Camerone Day” is still the most important day of celebration for Legionnaires...
When news of this gallant action reached the United States in June, General Philip Kearny took the time in mid-campaign to write to a number of friends in the French service, including General Forey, praising this gallant corps. Few remember that Kearny himself had been offered a commission in the Legion during his time in Algiers and a senior command in it during his time with the French in Italy…
The Battle of Camerone
The French army of General François Achille Bazaine defeated the Mexican army led by General Comonfort in their attempt to relieve the siege of Puebla, at San Lorenzo, to the south of Puebla. Puebla surrendered to the French shortly afterward, on 17 May. On 31 May, President Juárez fled with his cabinet, retreating northwards to Paso del Norte and later to Chihuahua, where the government-in-exile was formed...
French troops under Bazaine entered Mexico City on 7 June 1863. The main army entered the city three days later led by General Forey. General Almonte was appointed the provisional President of Mexico on 16 June, by the Superior Junta (which had been appointed by Forey) The Superior Junta with its 35 members met on 21 June, and proclaimed a Catholic Empire on 10 July. The crown was offered to Maximilian, due to Napoleon's efforts. Maximilian accepted the crown on 3 October, at his castle Miramar near Trieste, having been offered it by the Comisión Mexicana, sent by the Superior Junta…
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico
“I consider the Constitutional Monarchy now proposed to be better suited to that Catholic nation than our American system of Government, that it has sought to copy to such ill effect..." Kearny to his close friend French General Louis-Michel Morris...
"I know well from our own time in Mexico what a superstitious and ignorant peasantry inhabits that nation. We cannot expect such a people to rise directly from desperate absolutism to an active and informed electorate overnight...
If we are not prepared to give the Mexican people stable, honest government, why should we stop the French from doing so. It may be a breach of the Monroe policy but it may do the country much good...
However I know my views are not popular, and while I am no panderer to what is politic it would not do to publish views which are so at odds with those of the current administration…” Letter from Kearny to his cousin John Watts de Peyster..."
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I was wondering about the Trans-Mississippi. I can honestly say my knowledge of the Civil War stops on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, but I will have a crack at it for 1863 shortly (I have some unread biographies of Blunt, Sibley and Schofield which I must scan for relevant info). However first its September 1863 and Lee is stirring south of the Appomattox River...
Just curious, but upon rereading the chapter where Kearny is appointed Commanding General, his rank is still "Major General"...so is the rank of Lieutenant General going to be revived at all in this ATL?
At the minute he is in the same position as McClellan and Halleck have been. He's commanding general, and gets to wear the third star but is still a major-general.
I believed that Veracruz was under French occupation since early 1862. Is it another Veracruz?
There were 3 men left standing at Camerone, but nearly 1/3 of the Foreign Legion troops were wounded, but survived.
I have left out the name of the town/port in the province of Veracruz. This is the tailend of the French counterattack following the brief setback at Puebla the previous year. I will have to check which it is when I get home later.
You can see that while "The Hand of Captain Danjou" is in my Amazon wishlist I have yet to purchase/read it. I will fix this post.
Here's a couple of links I found on the Trans-Mississippi theater: I also suggest the book "One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End" a history of the 1864 Red River campaign; while set later in the timeline it has some excellent info on the armies and leaders in the area.
