A Glorious Union or America: the New Sparta

[TheKnightIrish]

Those are breechloaders, not repeaters.
And the Chassepot came almost a decade later than the Needle-Gun and didn't have the issues of leakage.

I'm referring to repeating arms like the Sharps or the Henry. The problem with those weapons is that they suffer from weak power and range. Not something you want on the open plains of the Mid-West.

Also, guncotton has already been invented.

Technology is where I am weak but I have researched firearms a bit. In 1863 at least two brigades in the Army of the Cumberland were armed with repeaters. John Wilder's with Spencer. Another brigade was created from the men armed with the Colt Repeating rifle by Rosecrans. That became Anson George McCook's brigade in TTL.

Both brigades performed extremely well and these two brigades of the XIV Corps became an elite unto themselves in the army and would earn both Wilder and McCook promotion to divisional command. General Hooker was also interested in the efficacy of repeaters and widened their use in the Army of the Cumberland to an extent not seen in the other armies.

However based on battlefield performance the Spencer was better than the Colt. The Colt could throw out more firepower but reloading was complicated and long. Furthermore there were more than a few instances of "chain fire" involving all the rounds going off at once killing or maiming the soldier using it.

By mid 1864 Anson G. McCook's I Division of Lovell Rousseau's XIV Corps is armed as follows: Brigadier John H. King's Brigade - Spencers; Colonel Josiah Given's Brigade - Spencers; Brigadier John C. Starkweather's Brigade - Colts.

John T. Wilder's II Division of Rousseau's XIV Corps: Brigadier John Beatty's Brigade - Spencers, Brigadier William L. Stoughton's Brigade - mostly Enfields (non-repeater) with three companies trying out Henry repeaters (comparing unfavorably to Spencers), Brigadier Ferdinand Van Deever's Brigade - mixed Enfields and Spencers.

Anyone interested in the Sharps single shot rifle/carbine need look to the Army of the Potomac or the Mississippi were they are being used. Burnside's Carbine is used by elements of the Army of the Ohio (prior to Thomas, Stoneman commanded and prior to Stoneman, Burnside organised the force. Perhaps he pushed some business his own way). However repeaters are not being used by infantry to the extent they are in Amy of the Cumberland. All armies feel more comfortable experimenting with arming their cavalry regiments with 'experimental' weaponry.

 

[RosoMC]

I'm referring to repeating arms like the Sharps or the Henry. The problem with those weapons is that they suffer from weak power and range. Not something you want on the open plains of the Mid-West.

Actually, Sharps was a breechloader, which was a cap and ball rifle at first and later converted to brass cartridges. Henry and Spencer rifles had tubular magasines which created problem with more powerful center-fire cartridges and were difficult to reload. It was a fine weapon for short engagements, not for continuous fight.

Also, guncotton has already been invented.

But still a long way to go to smokeless powder cartridges. And using black powder with repeaters leaves shooters in clouds of smoke. It's alright for fast-moving cavalry or skirmishers, but smoke created by high rate of fire is a problem for infantry in a pitched battle.

 

[Seraph]

Anyone interested in the Sharps single shot rifle/carbine need look to the Army of the Potomac or the Mississippi were they are being used. Burnside's Carbine is used by elements of the Army of the Ohio (prior to Thomas, Stoneman commanded and prior to Stoneman, Burnside organised the force. Perhaps he pushed some business his own way). However repeaters are not being used by infantry to the extent they are in Amy of the Cumberland. All armies feel more comfortable experimenting with arming their cavalry regiments with 'experimental' weaponry.

Speaking of Sharps, you may want to look at Hiram Berdan who led some regiments of sharpshooters. But he is more famous as an inventor and would also help design the Berdan rifle that would be standard for the Russian military.

May also want to consider this battle here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Pleven
Repeating rifles, despite being the shorter range rimfired ones, had caused a large number of Russian losses and would provoke a increase in purchase and development of repeating rifles.

Actually, Sharps was a breechloader, which was a cap and ball rifle at first and later converted to brass cartridges. Henry and Spencer rifles had tubular magasines which created problem with more powerful center-fire cartridges and were difficult to reload. It was a fine weapon for short engagements, not for continuous fight.

Whoops. Got my names mixed up.

But still a long way to go to smokeless powder cartridges. And using black powder with repeaters leaves shooters in clouds of smoke. It's alright for fast-moving cavalry or skirmishers, but smoke created by high rate of fire is a problem for infantry in a pitched battle.

Why you mention guncotton then?
And smokeless powder is not a requirement for repeating arms. It can help, but isn't needed.

 

[awnman]

Yeah sure you don't need smokeless powder for a repeater but not having them leads to three main things. 1 as has been stated pre Napoleonic levels if smoke on the battle field obscuring any attempts to use them in mass combat. 2. Massive barrel fouling due to the high rate of fire. This turns formally reliable guns into needing almost constant cleaning. 3. As stated above it makes chain fire which essentially leads to the gun blowing up in your hand significantly more likely. Now all these are avoided if used in short engagements like how cavalry or skirmishers would but for full scale infantry engagements no way. Despite this the time line is excellent and I can't wait to see what's in store post war

 

[TheKnightIrish]

Yeah sure you don't need smokeless powder for a repeater but not having them leads to three main things. 1 as has been stated pre Napoleonic levels if smoke on the battle field obscuring any attempts to use them in mass combat. 2. Massive barrel fouling due to the high rate of fire. This turns formally reliable guns into needing almost constant cleaning. 3. As stated above it makes chain fire which essentially leads to the gun blowing up in your hand significantly more likely. Now all these are avoided if used in short engagements like how cavalry or skirmishers would but for full scale infantry engagements no way. Despite this the time line is excellent and I can't wait to see what's in store post war

The first major infantry battle with large scale repeater use by infantry in TTL is at Chickamauga. Both McCook's and Wilder's brigades are defending prepared works guarding fords over the river. The issue of smoke, while not negligible, was not serious. In positions like this repeaters act not a little like AA-guns of WWII. If you try to aim, its difficult and you miss, but if you just through enough fire into a predefined box you'll hit anything in it. The fords/crossings fired at from fixed works faced a lethal level of fire even though accuracy was limited by smoke.

Perhaps unsurprisingly it was off the back of Chickamauga that McCook and Wilder got promoted (albeit after the subsequent battle of Four Armies) and more repeaters were ordered.

Smoke was an issue during Thomas' XIV Corps attack on Richard Taylor's rear but it was only a brigade armed in that way supported by more traditionally armed brigades and the attack was successful.

I am more concerned about the division sized clash between McCook's recently repeater armed division and Dabney Maury's division at Second Utoy in the Atlanta campaign. Chain fire is an issue for the Colt - McCook's men have Spencers and Colts. One way to avoid the Chain fire was to have prepared reload cylinders (I should also note that Colt armed infantry played a vital role in the defense of Snodgrass Hill in OTL. I think it was the 21st Ohio).

However I agree at least to the extent that the Colts in particular are impractical for infantry (and generally for reasons to do with reload time, chain fire, heat/burning to the operator) and is not likely to be more widely adopted.

The main issue with the Spencer is lack of range. From what I have read it didn't foul any faster than a normal muzzle loader. THe smoke issue cuts both ways. The issue at Hoover's Gap in OTL was that Wilder (ok it was mounted infantry but they fought dismounted so how is smoke less of an issue for infantry) first drove off Wheeler's cavalry and then an attack by a full division under A.P. Stewart. Most of those rebels involved and indeed Hardee were all convinced from the level of fire power alone that a larger force had appeared on his flank.

In TTL at Second Utoy Maury sees a division advancing on him. This division closes for battle and suddenly a huge, unprecedented, amount of fire is directed at his division. In minutes the battle is obscured by smoke but the rate of fire does not decrease. At what point, as a rebel commander, do you decide you are in fact under attack by a much larger force (likely obscured by the smoke) and retreat.

I think the smoke issue is over done. Infantry fire from muzzle loaders was rarely aimed and had a notoriously low rate of hitting anything (i can't remeber the stat I once heard for how many bullets had to be fired before hitting someone in the civil war but it was a lot). Smoke adds a level of complexity and reduces accuracy but the rate of fire must compensate for that to a degree.

But I am no expert in the technical side so I don't hold my view up as the last word!

 

[awnman]

You being the writer and having clearly superior knowledge I acquiesce with only one last word. While per shot they did not foul any faster due to the high rate of fire they had issues. Other than that thanks for clearing up my issues. To repeat this is a great time line that supersedes such technical nitpicks

 

[Seraph]

2. Massive barrel fouling due to the high rate of fire. This turns formally reliable guns into needing almost constant cleaning.

The Minie ball as used by the US is self cleaning so this will likely be less of an issue.

 

[TheKnightIrish]

Heat allowing the end should come tomorrow (I find it difficult to get inspired in my oven of an apartment)...or is it a beginning?

Any queries you'd like to see dealt with during the Election/Reconstruction let me know.

 

[Admiral Matt]

Now can you run an election the way you run a campaign? I certainly am hoping so! I've learned more from this TL than almost any I've ever read. What makes it stand out, though, is that I'm not just learning interesting facts. I find I'm internalizing concepts about logistics, gerneralship, and early modern warfare.

Campaigns (both election and military) amount to personalities playing off each other wielding comprehensible forces, I suppose. Fingers crossed....

 

[DennisMSullivan]

Heat?

Birmingham, England?

You don't know what heat is.

 

[TheKnightIrish]

Heat?

Birmingham, England?

You don't know what heat is.

That's my problem! I really don't know what heat is. At the first sign of heat and humidity I'm prostrated. My "apartment building" (I speak a little American) might be new but heat is so rare there is no air-conditioning...

I'm more of a winter person: snow, whisky, open fires, whiskey, stews, bourbon, woolly scarfs, hot toddies etc

 

[DanMcCollum]

That's my problem! I really don't know what heat is. At the first sign of heat and humidity I'm prostrated. My "apartment building" (I speak a little American) might be new but heat is so rare there is no air-conditioning...

I'm more of a winter person: snow, whisky, open fires, whiskey, stews, bourbon, woolly scarfs, hot toddies etc

I'm with you, trust me. I can take -30(F) much easier than I can anything over 85 (hell, my electricity bill goes through the roof on the later days, and on the prior I may still have a window cracked to "get in some fresh air")

Good luck with surviving the heat wave!

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

Heat allowing the end should come tomorrow (I find it difficult to get inspired in my oven of an apartment)...or is it a beginning?

Any queries you'd like to see dealt with during the Election/Reconstruction let me know.

you damn British don't like the heat huh!.

 

[TheKnightIrish]

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Three

Endgame​

From “The Road to Hell and Atlanta” by Herbert Walter
Buffalo 2004

“The collapse of the Army of Tennessee had come quickly and to a degree unexpectedly to the population of Atlanta. Many government officials had behaved stoically remaining at their posts and offices through the climax of the crisis in order to reassure the city’s inhabitants…

When word arrived that Hardee had been defeated and that Union forces would soon cut off the city panic erupted. Some sought to flee the city by any means in any direction. There were, however, still a number of armed formations in the city who remained under orders. A proportion of these began to barricade streets, block up houses and hotels, and to generally prepare for street fighting. This was largely at the inspiration of President Davis who stoutly refused to flee the city…”

From “The Unyielding Office – the Presidency of Jefferson Davis” by James L. Caney
Buffalo

“Why did Davis remain in Atlanta? Vice President Stephens was with Hardee’s army; Secretary Breckinridge and General Johnson would find a way through the forces imperfectly surrounding the city to join Hardee; Secretary Mallory and Postmaster General Reagan would escape to the west. Escape was possible if difficult at this point. Secretary Memminger would be captured by James Wilson’s cavalry trying to sneak through Union lines. Yet President Davis remained in the city…

He later claimed it was his intention to fall fighting in defense of the “last city of the Confederacy”. Colonel William Preston in his memoirs however states that Davis’ decision to stay was “one part indecision; one part pique at the cowardice of his cabinet colleagues fleeing the city…The President still believed General Hardee would win through… somehow”…

From “The Road to Hell and Atlanta” by Herbert Walter
Buffalo 2004

“The troops tasked with the securing of the city were from Thomas’ Army of the Ohio. That meant that the leading troops were the negro troops of Chetlain’s division. At first they only had to endure occasional sniping. However as they neared the centre of the city they found government buildings barricaded. The self inspired terror of negro troops had caused the remaining Confederate diehards to fight to the last in defense of their womenfolk and children…

It was bloody work. Trout House; the Atheneum; the Masonic Hall and City Hall all had to be taken from their defenders. General Chetlain was sickened by the casualties sustained in taking the first three government buildings. Instead of storming City Hall, the last thus held, he had artillery brought up and shelled the building until its occupants surrendered…

To General Chetlain’s surprise the defenders included among their number some of the most distinguished members of the Confederate Government: Governor Thomas Watts of Alabama and former Attorney General, his left arm hanging useless, shattered by a shell fragment; Governor Richard Hawes of Kentucky who had not stepped foot in his home state in two years; the shrouded body of Attorney General Wade Keyes killed in the bombardment; and finally the last to emerge from the smoke ringed broken building, President Jefferson Davis…

“I am not sure who was most astonished, Mr. Davis by the courtesy shown him by my men who acted as though he really was a head of state, defeated yes, but still deserving of the respect of his office, or my men whom Mr. Davis complimented on their capture of the city, their good conduct and appearance” (August Louis Chetlain)…

The haul of prisoners would also go on to include Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin who was found hidden in the cellar of one his clerks’ homes…”

The damage to Atlanta's City Hall, the Seat of Government Government, was extensive​

From "U.S. Grant - Hero of Three Wars" by John W. Eisenhower
Edison 1953

“It was a great relief to General Grant that the “worst portion” (Salmon P. Chase) of the Confederate Government had been captured in the city. Had Davis been with Hardee and the Army of Tennessee they would have been no circumstances under which he could have offered the Chantilly Terms to Hardee…

Nonetheless there were several officers of the Confederate Government who had escaped to join Hardee’s force or had attached themselves to it some days earlier. Grant’s orders from Secretary Stanton were unequivocal. Alexander Stephens, John C. Breckinridge, Stephen Mallory, John Reagan, Isham G. Harris and Joseph E. Brown who were all believed to be with Hardee were to be surrendered unconditionally. Within 24 hours, after a disputatious cabinet meeting, that list was expanded to include any members or former members of the Confederate Congress...

It was clear to General Grant that his fighting might not yet be done…”

From “Kearny the Magnificent” by Roger Galton
NorthWestern

“General Kearny had given a great deal of thought to the terms he might offer General Longstreet. The surrender document seemed comprehensive. However one prisoner, a staff officer, taken with Longstreet’s army eventually presented General Kearny with an unexpected quandary when at last he was discovered. Governor Zebulon B. Vance had been in Charlotte and had surrendered himself with Longstreet’s general officers. Vance considered himself clearly governed by the Chantilly terms and General Longstreet had provided the Governor with written confirmation that, at the time of the surrender, Governor Vance was serving in the army as a volunteer staff officer…

Zebulon P. Vance, Governor of North Carolina​

For the moment General Kearny accepted this proposition and sent the former governor to Fort Delaware. The fate of a number of leading Confederate officials and politicians serving in such capacities would remain a headache for General Kearny and the Administration for some months…”

From “Isaac Peace Rodman - Soldier, Statesman, Quaker” by Leonard H.K. Wool
Empire 1918

“As soon as Elliott’s cavalry sweep down the South Carolina coast reached Charleston, General Rodman had them on the move again. Cavalry was all he needed before striking into the South Carolina hinterland. Elliott’s cavalry would lead a thrust towards Columbia, the main boy of which would be made up of the majority of William T.H. Brooks X Corps…

Brooks would have to fight only one battle, near Orangeburg. It was an overwhelming victory against militia and home guard units led by the Governor Milledge L. Bonham. An injured Bonham was among the prisoners taken…

Brooks’ health however was shattered by this stage and he was invalided back first to Charleston and later to the north. For the moment General Rodman took personal command of the column and pressed on…

Driven south by the recent raid on Columbia by John Buford’s cavalry based in the north western section of the state, it was as though Beauregard and his ragtag band had been beaten like game birds onto the guns of Rodman’s advancing force. There was no battle. Beauregard did not command sufficient numbers to merit a battle. After the briefest of skirmishes Elliott’s cavalry captured Beauregard’s little band…

General P.G.T. Beauregard​

Many stories of Beauregard’s capture have grown in the intervening years. He was dressed as a woman as he tried to escape. He was dressed as a French officer and trying to pass himself off as an observer. He tried to kill himself as he was taken but his gun misfired. However General Rodman’s own words give lie to all these stories: “When General Beauregard was brought before me he was dressed in the finest dress uniform I have ever seen. He presented his sword to me as a token of his surrender which I accepted and which I still have…To my great discomfort he asked if he was to be shot immediately or sent north to be hung for the satisfaction of my government. I told him unequivocally he would be treated respectfully while under my jurisdiction but that he would be sent north to face the consequences of his actions in this war"…

Colonel William True Bennett records the end of the exchange: “I take it, sir, you refer to Charleston. If you knew that city as I know it, as any southern gentleman knows it, you would understand. All I did in Charleston I did in the name of peace and sanity” “Nevertheless General you must answer for it, to the people of Charleston, to the nation and at the last to God the most high”…”

From “The Life of General William J. Hardee - Teach Them How To War” by Christopher L. Pike
Bison 1965

“By August 25 Hardee had gathered the remains of the Army of Tennessee at Macon. Joe Hooker was now leading the Union advance and was approaching the town of Forsyth. McClernand’s Army of the Alabama had finally retreated from Andersonville but only as far as Columbus, Alabama. To the north east Augusta was still in Confederate hands, but beyond that no word had been received from Beauregard or Governor Bonham in South Carolina for several days. To the south east Savannah was also still held but it was only a matter of time before an attack was made there. Already a Union fleet had begun to gather there…

General Hardee was seriously considering surrender if he could obtain acceptable terms. In this he was supported by General Joseph Johnson (who in theory at least could have assumed command as Chief of Staff but choose not to) and perhaps surprisingly by General Patrick Cleburne. Generals Churchill and Magruder were for fighting on. Secretary of War Breckinridge and Governor Brown of Georgia were also for fighting, perhaps because they expected to hang after any surrender…

However the final decision fell to an increasingly frail Vice President Stephens who, with the suspected loss of President Davis in Atlanta, was now the acting head of the Confederate Government…

Stephens decided that Hardee should send an emissary under flag of truce to seek terms, but that anyone who did not wish to surrender should be given 24 hours to leave camp. This compromise caused uproar in the army. Many officers wished to fight on having heard that their comrades in the Army of Northern Virginia had been shipped north to an unknown fate. Many, but not all, of the rank and file wished to surrender, to end the bloodshed…

In the end it was decided that General Magruder would lead all troops wishing to fight on southwards. Hardee would transfer all the ammunition and supplies they could carry to Magruder’s force. Magruder’s force would number between a fifth and a quarter of the army. The rank and file were, in the main, western troops looking to find a way home with a leavening of diehards from the eastern states. It would be one of the most heavily officered forces seen in the war as many more officers volunteered to join…

Vice President Stephens and Joseph Johnston decided to remain with Hardee while Secretary Breckinridge and Governor Brown would accompany Magruder. The hardest decision was perhaps General Churchill’s. He wished to remain fighting; had been one of the foremost spokesmen for it. However he had served and risen with Generals Hardee and Cleburne since the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky two years earlier. In the end he would not abandon them. He remained in Macon with his brothers in arms…”

Major General Joseph Hooker, Commander, Army of the Cumberland​

From “Fighting Joe Hooker” by Herbert Walter
Buffalo 1999

“General Hooker knew very well the nature of General Grant’s instructions on the surrender of the remaining Confederate field armies. With the arrival of General Hardee’s envoy General Hooker assumed responsibility for the surrender negotiations. They were brief: General Hooker would accept the surrender of General Hardee’s force on the Chantilly Terms but any official of the so called Confederate Government or any so called Confederate State Government must be excluded and surrender unconditionally…

Those terms were not unexpected and although the rebel leaders took a full three days to consider them ultimately they agreed and on August 31 General Hooker accepted the surrender of the Confederate Army of Tennessee to great acclaim…”

From "U.S. Grant - Hero of Three Wars" by John W. Eisenhower
Edison 1953

“General Grant was furious. Not only had General Hooker failed to make any report for four days, it then emerged he had assumed responsibility for negotiating the surrender of the Confederate Army. General Hooker presented General Grant with a fait accompli. Indeed his report to General Grant coincided with the news being released to the northern press. As the terms reflected Government policy General Hooker was untouchable in terms of public opinion. Nonetheless he had usurped General Grant’s authority and behaved in a grossly insubordinate manner. It took General Ord and the recently returned General Sherman (who was initially attached to Grant’s Headquarters until a post could be found) to dissuade General Grant from taking any further action…

It was several days before the “absence” of a portion of the Confederate Army was realized. No one in the Union army knew the exact size of the much reduced Army of Tennessee nor what supplies it might be carrying. In the end it was General Grant’s attempts to locate General Magruder that alerted him to the absence of a number of senior rebel officers. By that time General Magruder’s small force had a start of almost 9 days…”

Lieutenant General John Bankhead Magruder​

From “The War Between the States” by Otis R. Mayhew
Sword & Musket 1992

“The last great spectacle of the Slaveholder’s Rebellion had begun – Magruder’s March to the West…”

 

[WXL1815]

If Magruder thinks he can make Texas he's mad. He'll be lucky to make Alabama.

I like Rodman. You can hear his distaste for Beauregard even as he tries to be polite.

 

[xxmagex]

Now here's a question, will Hooker be held responsible for letting Magruder get away. After all, if he's taking credit for the surrender, it only seems fair to get the downside of the event.

 

[TheKnightIrish]

Now here's a question, will Hooker be held responsible for letting Magruder get away. After all, if he's taking credit for the surrender, it only seems fair to get the downside of the event.

I suspect Hooker may either evade blame or slip it on to McClernand who should be screening the rebel army to the west from Columbus. However its another item in Grant's 100 reasons why I hate Joe Hooker.

 

[highwayhoss]

Great chapter, TKI, worth the wait!

As for Magruder, don't count him out yet. He's got a small, well-supplied force and several days head start. If he moves smartly, he could get as far as the Mississippi River.

Btw TKI, how big is Magruder's force in terms of units? How much cavalry and artillery does he have?

 

[TheKnightIrish]

Great chapter, TKI, worth the wait!

As for Magruder, don't count him out yet. He's got a small, well-supplied force and several days head start. If he moves smartly, he could get as far as the Mississippi River.

Btw TKI, how big is Magruder's force in terms of units? How much cavalry and artillery does he have?

Only about 9,000 men. Only two batteries of horse artillery. 800 men are mounted though some of them are officers in the infantry and artillery. Organisation and cohesion are issues as none of these units are full units. Some are company sized but battalions with have to be organised on the march as this is an entirely "volunteer" outfit. The only advantage it has is an extremely high ratio of officers to enlisted men.

 

[xxmagex]

I suspect Hooker may either evade blame or slip it on to McClernand who should be screening the rebel army to the west from Columbus. However its another item in Grant's 100 reasons why I hate Joe Hooker.

What about Kearny. He is not exactly shy in sharing his opinions.