January 4, 1862
"Wake up, John. Captain McCaskill wants to see all the officers and sergeants."
John rolled over. It took him a moment to remember where he was and why he was lying on the cold ground wrapped in his cloak. The company had ridden in to camp late in the evening. Everyone was exhausted from the long march on horseback. After taking care of the horses they had all collapsed onto the ground in their uniforms to get some needed sleep.
John looked up at his brother Augustus in the dim pre-dawn light.
"What is it, Gus?"
"Meeting in 15 minutes. Here. Have a sip of coffee. The captain has orders. We'll be on the move again soon."
"Where's Isaac?" John asked.
"Still asleep," Augustus replied, pointing to the dim shape of their brother curled up on the ground nearby. "I'm about to get him moving, and once you officers are all up then I'll wake the men, so get up and get moving, sir," Gus said, smiling. "The men need to see you officers up and about when I wake them."
John sat up, took the coffee from Augustus, drank a couple of sips, and thought back on the events of the last year. Was he really in Tennessee? Was he really on the eve of going into combat with the army of the Confederacy? Just ten days ago he had said goodbye to his wife and children. Christmas Day, 1861. The world had gone mad. Yet he had to do his duty. How had it come to this?
The year 1861 had begun under a dark cloud with the election of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's election had been followed by the secession of most of the slave-holding states and the formation of the Confederate States of America. The first capital had been Montgomery, Alabama, before it was moved to Richmond, Virginia. Alabama had been full of hotheads calling for secession and war. In the hill country of north Alabama, sentiment for war and secession had not been so great. In fact, there had been a rebellion against secession in Winston County, not far from John's home. Some had gone so far as to meet and to declare that Winston County had seceded from Alabama and had proclaimed the Winston Republic. Some had been jailed.
John understood their view, and he knew some of his own neighbors held that view. But John saw a duty to support his state of Alabama. God could sort out who was right and who was wrong later. John had joined a home guard unit upon secession along with his brothers Augustus and Isaac and had been elected as an officer in the unit.
The war had started in May with fighting at several of the coastal forts held by Union forces including Ft. Sumter and Ft. Gaines. The first real battle had occurred in Missouri, with Union forces defeating a small Confederate army at what was now called the battle of Jefferson.
Two Union armies had then moved out from their base in southern Illinois, captured Ft. Donelson and moved on both Memphis and Nashville. General Halleck led an army against Nashville and had defeated a Confederate army in the battle of Nashville in July. Nashville had fallen. Meanwhile another Union army had taken Memphis.
As 1861 ended those Union armies were still there, reinforcing, building up supplies, while the Confederates maneuvered and organized.
Meanwhile in the east things were even worse. Gen. McClellan had chased Gen. Jackson out of the Shenandoah Valley without a fight. And Gen. Jesup had led a huge Union army straight at Richmond. President Jefferson Davis himself had led the main Confederate army into battle before Richmond. The result had been another Confederate defeat, and now Jefferson's army was besieged in Richmond and starving. Reports were that the defenses had been breached and that Richmond might fall any day.
At the same time McClellan had swung south of Richmond, captured Petersburg, and was waiting for any Confederate attempt to relieve the city.
So it was that in December the call had come out to enroll the home guard units into the active Confederate Army. And on Dec. 25, 1861, Captain McCaskill had come to town. Thirty-five men had answered the call and had become part of Captain McCaskill's Company, Alabama Mounted Volunteers. John was appointed 1st Lieutenant of the company, Isaac 2nd Lieutenant, and Augustus 1st Sergeant. John and all the men who enrolled that day brought their own horses. John's was valued at $160.
They immediately began the move to Tullahoma, gathering other men as they went, falling in with other units, infantry, cavalry, artillery, moving north, answering the call of Alabama and the Confederacy.
On Jan. 4 they were mustered in at Tullahoma.
At the meeting of officers and sergeants Captain McCaskill informed them that they were now Company D, 3rd Confederate Cavalry, under the command of Colonel J. R. Howard. They would be part of General Wheeler's cavalry division of the Army of Tennessee. The generals were making plans for the next move, and the cavalry would be out scouting soon. McCaskill told them to make sure the men and horses were fed and provisioned. He said he would return after a meeting with Colonel Howard and tell them more.
The war had been going on since May. John's war was just beginning.
NOTES
THE GAME
In the game, the USA forces have generally overwhelmed the CSA forces so far. As the USA I first took care of the CSA unit in Missouri. That was easily done. Then I formed two armies in southern Illinois. I took Ft. Donelson with little opposition. I then advanced Fremont's force into Memphis and Halleck's into Nashville. Both were met by what appeared to be larger forces, but there were no battles. I retreated both forces one region and reinforced them. I then advanced Fremont into Memphis again with 34,000 men, and he took it with no opposition.
Halleck's army advanced into Nashville again and fought the only battle of the war thusfar fought on fairly even terms, 40,000 against 30,000. Halleck defeated the CSA army which had no named commander and took Nashville.
Meanwhile Gen. Twiggs advanced from Missouri and took Little Rock with no opposition with a force of 40,000 men.
In the east I did just what I described in the narrative, moving Jackson out of the Shenandoah with McClellan, suprisingly without a fight, and advancing head on to Richmond with Jesup's huge army. The battle of Richmond resulted in very few casualties on either side, and the CSA army under Jefferson Davis himself retreated into Richmond. I laid siege to Richmond and used McClellan to cut Richmond off from the rest of the South via Petersburg. I don't think Jackson is in Richmond with Davis. I think he is somewhere to the south and am wary of a new CSA force forming.
I am wondering now where the main CSA force in the West is. I plan to advance Fremont down the Mississippi to Vicksburg and then I think New Orleans. I plan to try to find and defeat the main CSA force with Halleck and then advance toward Atlanta.
Dallas is also a CSA objective. I will divert some forces from Little Rock toward Dallas.
I was disappointed in the reaction of the CSA in the East and surprised at the size of my armies. But then I did a buildup before the war that was not historical. Maybe I should have role played it historically, but I also wanted to be able to put troops in regions with unrest. And I wanted to win the war I knew was coming.
The battles for Ft. Sumter and a couple of other coastal forts was interesting. Some coastal fort units were evicted and sent north where they showed up in my cities. But a couple were evicted from their forts and began the war outside their forts fighting to get back in, for example, Ft. Sumter. They were slowly defeated and I did nothing to try to help them since I didn't see what I could gain by it. I'm not sure that worked quite the way it should.
Of note, USA National Morale dropped to ONE upon secession. It is now up to 78 and climbing. Satisfaction has also climbed from the 50s to the 60s. I have had little trouble with the economy. It is humming right along. I have not bought any reinforcements or done any construction except a couple of depots, saving my money because I didn't know how the war would go or what would happen with the economy. I thought I would have much greater problems than I did.
We lost a lot of Prestige Points upon secession, maybe 1000. We are now back behind Russia in PP. In early January 1862 it is Britain 23,265, France 13,663, Russia 10,698, USA 10,380. We had dropped below 10,000 on secession.
JOHN'S STORY
The basics that I told you about John are mostly fact. I have a digital copy of the Dec. 25 muster roll showing John and his brothers enrolling in McCaskill's Company and other digital records. In fact I think the 35 men enrolled that day may have been the entirety of McCaskill's Company at the start. I also know that they mustered at Nashville, Tennessee on Jan. 4, 1862. Of course I couldn't put them there in the narrative since in the game Halleck holds Nashville. I know that in general members of McCaskill's company were a home guard before they were mustered into the army, though I don't specifically know John's role in the home guard.
I know that the company became Company D, 3rd Confederate Cavalry and that John served in Company D. I don't know exactly when that designation occurred, though it must have happened quickly. Most Confederate units were state units and part of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States. There were typically given designations like 8th Alabama Cavalry. Some were designated Army of the Confederate States units, such as the 3rd Confederate Cavalry. The intent was to create a permanent regular army for the Confederacy with the provisional units to augment the regular army in time of war. That was the intent, but in reality there was no real difference between the regular and provisional/volunteer units, as the war overtook those plans.
I know in general what the 3rd Confederate Cavalry did during the war and a few specific things John did. I will work them in or tell you about them in some form as the game goes on, though I will have to mix fact and fiction because of the course of the war. For example, I assume that McCaskill's Company would have been mustered into the CSA army much sooner if USA units had taken Nashville in the summer of 1861, though I chose to use the real dates.
Here is the situation in the West, Early January 1862
- the west Jan. 1862
- the west jan 62.jpg (289.65 KiB) Viewed 17426 times
And the East with Richmond besieged, Early January 1862
- the east Jan. 1862
- the east jan 62.jpg (320.36 KiB) Viewed 17426 times