Look Away, Look Away [VicII POD/DB0 AAR]

Oberon · 05-03-15, 10:21 AM

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Preface:
What the hell? A Brit doing a US Civil War AAR...and playing as the Confederacy? This can only lead to disaster!
Probably...yes...but I figure it will be an interesting disaster to play through, as well as trying to broaden my knowledge of the events of the civil war in the meantime. How much this AAR will be updated is open to question, but I'll do what I can.
I'm using Victoria II: Heart of Darkness with the Pops Demand Mod and Divide By Zero sub-mod. I'm using the 'A House Divided' start date of 1861, so events up until this point are as history played out...beyond this point...who can say?

Oberon · 05-03-15, 11:12 AM

The events which would lead to the succession of the six states and the beginning of the American Civil War took place long before the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, or the adoption of the "Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union", in fact, one could argue that it was set in place from the moment the Thirteen Colonies broke free from their British tyrants.
Long has been debated the blame for the war, and long shall it continued to be debated. This is not a history of the causes, or of the moral justification of the actors involved in the Civil war, but an examination of the events therein.

1st July 1861

The ratio of land is not stacked in the favour of the Confederacy, however much of the land in the west of the Union is undeveloped farm land, the key industrial centers of the Union lie in the east, and it is expected that this is where the most Union resistance will lie. To attain our goals we must prevent the Union from shattering our armies and from taking our territories.
This will not be easy, and will require superhuman effort from all involved.

Our three generals, J.E.B. Stuart, Robert. E. Lee, and Thomas Jackson, lead their forces in the east, with Lee holding with Army of North Virginia near Manassas, facing the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James River across the state border, lead by Generals Grant and Sherman respectively.
Our armies are formed of regular soldiers, dragoons and artillery, and our technology is equal to that of the Union.

Our biggest problem is our economy, with General Scotts blockade snaking its way around the east coast and no access to the west coast, there is no way to export our main industry of cotton to Europe. This is a problem that will need to be solved, however our navy consists of the CSS Sumter, Alabama and Florida, small commerce raiding vessels.

The CSS Florida, prior to the outbreak of war.

So, the first actions of the Confederate government is to send diplomats to the nation with the largest navy in the world, Great Britain, to improve our relations with an eventual goal to bring them into the war on our side. Great Britain and Europe depend heavily on our cotton, so a subtle diplomatic indication of the effect the war will have on cotton supplies should help bring them to our side and away from the aggressors in the Union. At the same time, our army will require reorganisation and improvements to match the Union forces, and our navy will require...creation.

The decision is made not to challenge Sherman and Grant in Northern Virginia, but to pull back to Southern Virginia and form a defensive line with reinforcements from the west. At the same time, a call will go out for citizens to join up to the army of the Confederacy and receive training in order to face the Union forces.

Aktungbby · 05-03-15, 11:36 AM

Quote:

What the hell? A Brit doing a US Civil War AAR...and playing as the Confederacy? This can only lead to disaster!
Probably...yes...but I figure it will be an interesting disaster to play through, as well as trying to broaden my knowledge of the events of the civil war in the meantime

A Brit should play a Civil War game; Required reading is A World on Fire the best book on Britain's crucial role in the American Civil War. The smoldering matchlock-fuse got lit at the very beginning as the Forefathers left this to the next generation: Only the Southern states had large numbers of slaves. Counting them as part of the population would greatly increase the South’s political power, but it would also mean paying higher taxes. This was a price the Southern states were willing to pay. They argued in favor of counting slaves. Northern states disagreed. The delegates compromised. Each slave would count as three-fifths of a person.
Following this compromise, another controversy erupted: What should be done about the slave trade, the importing of new slaves into the United States? Ten states had already outlawed it. Many delegates heatedly denounced it. But the three states that allowed it — Georgia and the two Carolinas — threatened to leave the convention if the trade were banned. A special committee worked out another compromise: Congress would have the power to ban the slave trade, but not until 1800. The convention voted to extend the date to 1808.
A final major issue involving slavery confronted the delegates. Southern states wanted other states to return escaped slaves. The Articles of Confederation had not guaranteed this. But when Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance, it a clause promising that slaves who escaped to the Northwest Territories would be returned to their owners. The delegates placed a similar fugitive slave clause in the Constitution. This was part of a deal with New England states. In exchange for the fugitive slave clause, the New England states got concessions on shipping and trade." Time bomb ticking...

no "freedom for all" political theory ever works with 3/5 of a person IMHO

A revisit of the Haitian overthrow of Napoleon and our acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase is practically a blueprint of the coming conflagration.

Oberon · 05-03-15, 12:36 PM

First Blood

September 1861

Having declined to challenge Sherman and Grant at Staunton and Fredericksburg, the first clash between the North and the South since the shots that were fired at Fort Sumter came at the beginning of September when Grants forces marched on the port city of Norfolk, Virginia. Having been drawn west by Shermans feint towards Roanoke, Lee and Stuart found themselves out of position and forced to march quickly back east to challenge Grant. Meanwhile Jackson pushed north to occupy the gap left by Grant and Sherman who had occupied Staunton, in a hope to retake it before the Union forces reorganised and moved to exploit the gap in the Confederacies lines.

The Battle of Norfolk

The battle commenced on the morning of September 7th 1861 with Lee's artillery firing across the James river at Grants infantry who had taken up positions in defence of Newport News.
Whilst Lee had the advantage in manpower, Grant had the advantage of terrain, and the Confederate forces would have to ford the James river before they could close on Grants positions and by then Grant would have his cavalry waiting.
Confident at first, Lees forces pushed forward across the James river, and created a beach-head on the other side, supported by their artillery.

Lees infantry and artillery crossing the James river

However, at this point Grants cavalry struck, small in number though they were, they were quick to harrass the small and fragile beach-head, and by the 20th September the tide was turning in favour of Grant. Lee sent a messanger across to Staunton to request Jacksons attendence at the battle, but it would take eight days before Jacksons 23,000 men and 8,000 cavalry could march through Richmond and into Newport News.
Could Lee maintain the offensive that long?

As we now know, the answer is Yes.
On the 23rd September in the late afternoon, Grants cavalry came again but this time Lees artillery was waiting for them. In a scene that reminded some of the British Charge of the Light Brigade, Grants cavalry ran straight into a hail of fire, General Pleasonton, leader of the cavalry was killed outright and the cavalry scattered in disarray. Seeing the opportunity and even with his right flank collapsing, Lee pushed his infantry forward under artillery cover and routed Grants infantry from its defensive positions around Newport News.

A message was immediately dispatched to Jackson to change course to Fredericksburg, to attempt to cut off Grants retreat and reduce the Union Army of the Potomac even further.

Meanwhile Lee and his forces regrouped, it was a stunning victory and a display of Lees tactical acumen to bring a victory out of a near defeat. The news of the defeat of Union forces sent a mild shockwave around the world as national leaders suddenly sat up and realised that the Confederacy was no rabble milita and was in fact a force to be reckoned with. Confederate newspapers heralded the triumph as a sign of Gods backing in their war against the tyranny of the North, however both Generals Lee and Stuart looked at the dead and dying on the battlefield of Newport News and knew that this victory was a near pyrrhic one. The sheer number of men lost, on both sides, gave the first indication that this was going to be a long and bloody war, and the South did not necessarily have the manpower to sustain these kinds of losses for long.

The aftermath of the battle of Norfolk

Torplexed · 05-03-15, 12:46 PM

Quote:

What the hell? A Brit doing a US Civil War AAR...and playing as the Confederacy? This can only lead to disaster!

Noooo. Look away, look away, Oberon and Perfidious Albion had thrown in their lot with the dastardly rebels. There is something rotten in the Land of Cotton. You'll be receiving a strongly worded letter from Secretary of War Stanton about all this.

In the meantime, enjoy your Southern Comfort women.

Subscribed.

Aktungbby · 05-03-15, 01:28 PM

<Those are dead at Gettysburg: Alexander Gardiner's Confederates at MacPherson Ridge killed on the first day at Gettysburg-gathered. http://www.civilwarphotos.net/files/gettysburg.htm #549 Some chicanery and 'staging was known to have occurred due to heaviness of camera equipment and swift glass-plate developing in the camera-wagon on field. As possibly shown (upper left) in the Wheatfield shot #550.

Aktungbby · 05-03-15, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torplexed

In the meantime, enjoy your Southern Comfort women.

@ Oberon: Never mind Torplexed

on Southern Comfort ...just enjoy your Mercedes Benz "Amends" while your friends are drivin' Porsche's

A little Texican Southern Comfort BBY

Oberon · 05-05-15, 08:01 PM

(Thanks for subbing Torplexed, and I love the pic.

Unfortunately, due to Union forces sabotaging my GPU the next update will be a little later than I initially planned, but hopefully I should be able to write one up whilst waiting for our own Union to disintegrate on Friday.

Depends on how quickly the thermal paste I've ordered arrives.

)

05-03-15, 10:21 AM	#1
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	Look Away, Look Away [VicII POD/DB0 AAR] THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Preface: What the hell? A Brit doing a US Civil War AAR...and playing as the Confederacy? This can only lead to disaster! Probably...yes...but I figure it will be an interesting disaster to play through, as well as trying to broaden my knowledge of the events of the civil war in the meantime. How much this AAR will be updated is open to question, but I'll do what I can. I'm using Victoria II: Heart of Darkness with the Pops Demand Mod and Divide By Zero sub-mod. I'm using the 'A House Divided' start date of 1861, so events up until this point are as history played out...beyond this point...who can say?

05-03-15, 01:28 PM	#6
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 30,017 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	WHOOPS not Norfolk <Those are dead at Gettysburg: Alexander Gardiner's Confederates at MacPherson Ridge killed on the first day at Gettysburg-gathered. http://www.civilwarphotos.net/files/gettysburg.htm #549 Some chicanery and 'staging was known to have occurred due to heaviness of camera equipment and swift glass-plate developing in the camera-wagon on field. As possibly shown (upper left) in the Wheatfield shot #550. __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!! Last edited by Aktungbby; 05-03-15 at 01:36 PM.

05-03-15, 11:12 AM	#2
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	The events which would lead to the succession of the six states and the beginning of the American Civil War took place long before the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, or the adoption of the "Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union", in fact, one could argue that it was set in place from the moment the Thirteen Colonies broke free from their British tyrants. Long has been debated the blame for the war, and long shall it continued to be debated. This is not a history of the causes, or of the moral justification of the actors involved in the Civil war, but an examination of the events therein. 1st July 1861 The ratio of land is not stacked in the favour of the Confederacy, however much of the land in the west of the Union is undeveloped farm land, the key industrial centers of the Union lie in the east, and it is expected that this is where the most Union resistance will lie. To attain our goals we must prevent the Union from shattering our armies and from taking our territories. This will not be easy, and will require superhuman effort from all involved. Our three generals, J.E.B. Stuart, Robert. E. Lee, and Thomas Jackson, lead their forces in the east, with Lee holding with Army of North Virginia near Manassas, facing the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James River across the state border, lead by Generals Grant and Sherman respectively. Our armies are formed of regular soldiers, dragoons and artillery, and our technology is equal to that of the Union. Our biggest problem is our economy, with General Scotts blockade snaking its way around the east coast and no access to the west coast, there is no way to export our main industry of cotton to Europe. This is a problem that will need to be solved, however our navy consists of the CSS Sumter, Alabama and Florida, small commerce raiding vessels. The CSS Florida, prior to the outbreak of war. So, the first actions of the Confederate government is to send diplomats to the nation with the largest navy in the world, Great Britain, to improve our relations with an eventual goal to bring them into the war on our side. Great Britain and Europe depend heavily on our cotton, so a subtle diplomatic indication of the effect the war will have on cotton supplies should help bring them to our side and away from the aggressors in the Union. At the same time, our army will require reorganisation and improvements to match the Union forces, and our navy will require...creation. The decision is made not to challenge Sherman and Grant in Northern Virginia, but to pull back to Southern Virginia and form a defensive line with reinforcements from the west. At the same time, a call will go out for citizens to join up to the army of the Confederacy and receive training in order to face the Union forces.

05-03-15, 12:36 PM	#4
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	First Blood September 1861 Having declined to challenge Sherman and Grant at Staunton and Fredericksburg, the first clash between the North and the South since the shots that were fired at Fort Sumter came at the beginning of September when Grants forces marched on the port city of Norfolk, Virginia. Having been drawn west by Shermans feint towards Roanoke, Lee and Stuart found themselves out of position and forced to march quickly back east to challenge Grant. Meanwhile Jackson pushed north to occupy the gap left by Grant and Sherman who had occupied Staunton, in a hope to retake it before the Union forces reorganised and moved to exploit the gap in the Confederacies lines. The Battle of Norfolk The battle commenced on the morning of September 7th 1861 with Lee's artillery firing across the James river at Grants infantry who had taken up positions in defence of Newport News. Whilst Lee had the advantage in manpower, Grant had the advantage of terrain, and the Confederate forces would have to ford the James river before they could close on Grants positions and by then Grant would have his cavalry waiting. Confident at first, Lees forces pushed forward across the James river, and created a beach-head on the other side, supported by their artillery. Lees infantry and artillery crossing the James river However, at this point Grants cavalry struck, small in number though they were, they were quick to harrass the small and fragile beach-head, and by the 20th September the tide was turning in favour of Grant. Lee sent a messanger across to Staunton to request Jacksons attendence at the battle, but it would take eight days before Jacksons 23,000 men and 8,000 cavalry could march through Richmond and into Newport News. Could Lee maintain the offensive that long? As we now know, the answer is Yes. On the 23rd September in the late afternoon, Grants cavalry came again but this time Lees artillery was waiting for them. In a scene that reminded some of the British Charge of the Light Brigade, Grants cavalry ran straight into a hail of fire, General Pleasonton, leader of the cavalry was killed outright and the cavalry scattered in disarray. Seeing the opportunity and even with his right flank collapsing, Lee pushed his infantry forward under artillery cover and routed Grants infantry from its defensive positions around Newport News. A message was immediately dispatched to Jackson to change course to Fredericksburg, to attempt to cut off Grants retreat and reduce the Union Army of the Potomac even further. Meanwhile Lee and his forces regrouped, it was a stunning victory and a display of Lees tactical acumen to bring a victory out of a near defeat. The news of the defeat of Union forces sent a mild shockwave around the world as national leaders suddenly sat up and realised that the Confederacy was no rabble milita and was in fact a force to be reckoned with. Confederate newspapers heralded the triumph as a sign of Gods backing in their war against the tyranny of the North, however both Generals Lee and Stuart looked at the dead and dying on the battlefield of Newport News and knew that this victory was a near pyrrhic one. The sheer number of men lost, on both sides, gave the first indication that this was going to be a long and bloody war, and the South did not necessarily have the manpower to sustain these kinds of losses for long. The aftermath of the battle of Norfolk

05-05-15, 08:01 PM	#8
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	(Thanks for subbing Torplexed, and I love the pic. Unfortunately, due to Union forces sabotaging my GPU the next update will be a little later than I initially planned, but hopefully I should be able to write one up whilst waiting for our own Union to disintegrate on Friday. Depends on how quickly the thermal paste I've ordered arrives. )