Quantum Leap an American AAR

David, Harrison and General Scott waited in the Oval Office for the courier to return from the docks and report who was on the ship. While they waited, they wondered what the British were up to. ‘I expected them to land one hundred thousand men in New York’, General Scott explained as they looked over the map of North America. Harrison added, ‘Yes, I would suspect that they would want to start negotiations from a position of strength.’ David paced back and forth, ‘Damn, without a Navy we are blind to the world, we only here stories and rumors brought in by drunken sailors.’ ‘Mr. President Mr. President’, the courier cried as he rushed into the office, ‘it is the American Ambassador to Britain sir, and he brought a delegation from other countries with him.’ David looked puzzled, ‘Other countries? What other countries?’ The courier handed David a sealed case with the American Ambassador’s seal on it, ‘Here is a letter the Ambassador told be to bring you, he said that he would be arriving with the delegation in a short time, but wanted you to be aware of the situation.’ David was still puzzled, but more curious now as he opened the letter. The ambassador’s letter explained that our attack just happened to coincide with the arrival in Britain with a delegation from Ottawa and Quebec to negotiate their independence from Great Britain. Canadian Independance was a hotly debated issue in Parliament along with the growing anger of the British citizens regarding their long-standing war with Austria. Then word came of war with America and the series of defeats in Eastern Canada and Halifax. The British population started protesting the war and calling for peace. So, the ambassador along with the delegates from Ottawa and Quebec traveled to Paris and Berlin to persuade the French and Prussians to help facilitate a treaty to end the war. Eventually, the French and Prussians sponsored a peace conference in Paris with the British, Americans and Canadians, that resulted in the Treaty of Paris. The treaty was also enclosed in the case and explained that Britain would relinquish control of western Canada to the United States; in addition, they would relinquish control of the Caribbean Islands and African colonies under control of the United States as of Jan 1, 1848. In addition, the counties of Britain, France, Prussia and the United States hereby recognize the independence of Canada and the independence of Quebec. David was stunned, “It is over, we won, we won more than I every dreamed”. David paused, “Wait, the treaty said African colonies. So our cavalry division are still in Africa then?” The courier responded, “Yes sir, from what the ambassador told me, it appears that we now control most of the former British colonies in north western Africa.” David turned to Harrison and General Scott, “Gentlemen, let us throw one hell of a party.”

<side note> I did not know that the Liberation of Canada event even existed, so I was surprised when it occurred. Like General Scott in the story, I was preparing the East Coast for the expected British counter attack. Once the event occurred, all of western Canada joined the United States, Canada and Quebec became independent countries, but a state of war still existed between the US and Britain, which did not make since to me. So, I used ‘Neville’ an end to the war with only the occupied provinces going to the United States. This did mess up my Africa plans, as I had not completed the occupation of all of the British colonies, though I did manage to get most of the coastal provinces claims.

The celebration in Washington lasted for almost ten days and it took almost another week to recover from the celebration. But eventually, everyone had to go back to work. The first cabinet meeting was devoted to the growing problem of debt. The Treasury Secretary continued his explanation, ‘Yes Sir, but we cannot afford the interest payments, education funding, law enforcement and military expenditures at the current levels. If we continue with the lavish spending we will be bankrupt within ten years.’ David nodded his head, ‘Yes, Yes, you are correct, we need to cut spending across the board to pay off the debt.’ David ordered the increase of taxes, demobilization of the National Guard, minimization the Regular Army, drastic reduction in education and law enforcement spending and a concentration on paying of the National debt. The one exception will be the slow expansion of the industrial base, which will be the only expenditure with a higher priority than debt reduction. David explained to the cabinet, that if the next administration continues to be frugal, we should have the debt eliminated within four years.

Late in the spring of 1848, David started to prepare for another Presidential campaign, when a nagging cough started. After a few weeks, David finally summoned a doctor to check him out. ‘Consumption!” David yelled at the doctor, ‘What do you mean, I have consumption.’ The doctor looked David in the eyes, ‘I am sorry Mr. President, but you only have a year, maybe two to live. Longer if you move west.’ After the Doctor left, David went to the mirror and look at the reflection of President Polk, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same. Now there is no one that can beat the Hero of Hailifax in the next election.’ The November election had General Zachary Taylor becoming the twelfth President of the United States and the David’s sixth President.

Congress was surprised when President Taylor continued President Polk’s frugal spending methods to combat the National Debt, occasionally expanding the industrial base. The summer of 1849 saw the end to the long war between Austria and Great Britain with Austria surrender Karlovar, Fiume and Venezia. The only major initiative that Taylor administration executed in 1849 and 1850 was the monthly delivery of roses to Queen Victoria in hopes of improving relations. On July 4, 1850, President Taylor presided over the dedication of the foundation of the Washington monument. David spent most of the 100-degree day standing on a platform in a hot uncomfortable suit. Even though, Zachary Taylor was in good shape for a man his age, he was still overcome with a heat stroke and died on July 9, 1850. Even though David had studied history and remembered the fates of the Presidents elected in years ending with a zero, he had forgotten that Zachary Taylor was the ‘other’ President who died in office.

President Fillmore continued the frugal spending, but was forced to play referee with Congress regarding the growing problem of slavery and the admission of slave and free states. David worked closely with Daniel Webster and Henry Clay to guide the Compromise of 1850 through Congress. David knew that the country was not yet ready for a Civil War and he did not know if he would be able to avoid it. In fact, David was beginning to realize that the Civil War if executed quickly, might actually prevent more death in the long run. But he would need to start preparing and planning. David spent the next two years working with the Secretary of War in expanding the National Guard, with the intent of eventually reaching the strength of ninety divisions. In addition, the regular army was being expanding with some additional infantry division.

January of 1852 was a critical month, first the other leaders of the Whig Party informed David that because of his support for the Compromise of 1850, that they would not be re-nominating him for President. David laughed at them, ‘you think you can get rid of me that easily? It does not matter who is elected, destiny will always find a way.’ In addition, the January 12th cabinet meeting had two important reports: the Secretary of State reported that Mexico had allowed our peace treaty to expire and the Secretary of War reported an increased Mexican military presence along the border. David looked around, ‘so be it, I may be President for only one more year, but it will be remembered. Call out the National Guard.’

The Third Mexican American War is best described as a blitz, the National Guard was mobilized and in position by March 16. As in all wars, they were promised that they would be home by Christmas; however, this was one of the rare cases that the promise was actually fulfilled. A declaration of war was delivered to Mexico on March 16th and American troops started hitting Mexican position in April. Mexican resistance was minimal, province after province fell, and the Mexican forces were isolated and eliminated. In fact, the American forces did not lose a single battle or province to Mexico during this war. On December 16th, Mexico sued for peace surrendering Nombre de Dios, Matamoras, Buena Vista, Castaneula, Sonora, Jose del Parral, Santiago, Monterrey, Mariposa, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Red Bluff. Manifest Destiny is fulfilled, the continental United States is complete. The National Guard was demobilized and home for Christmas; however, David did have ask for volunteers to help form nine regular army divisions to increase the size of the regular army. The war was a success, twelve new provinces and over quick enough to avoid any long-term debt from the National Guard.

David hoped that January 1853 was the start of good year for the United States. The economy looked good, debt should be gone by the end of the year, expansion of resources, railroads and industry continued. In addition to all of the infrastructure expansion, David knew that the key to long-term success included attracting immigrants and growing the population. So, to make North America attractive, David decided to strengthen the bonds between the United States, Canada and Quebec to form a strong tri-lateral alliance to promote stability and growth in North America.

But all of these plans had to wait for the March inauguration of Franklin Pierce. Pierce was known as a capable ambassador and skilled negotiator, so David hoped to use people’s expectations of President Pierce to push the United States into a new direction.

On the morning of the inauguration, Great Britain informed the new incoming President that all existing peace treaties were null and void. As David prepared for Franklin Pierce’s inauguration, David thought back to the previous war with Britain and how through fate and luck they won. David now realized that the foolish war could have resulted in a stunning lose for the United State and vowed to protect that United States from foreign attack. President Pierce’s inauguration address talked about growing friendship with our ‘Mother’ Great Britain, the new North American Union and of Manifest Destiny expanded.

David first weeks with Pierce’s new cabinet were interesting as they always were with a new administration. David did shock the American population when he fired the new Secretary of War that Franklin Pierce had selected before the inauguration and replace him with the previous Secretary of War and his former Presidential opponent: Winfield Scott. David used these meetings to explain his three fundamental goals: improve relations with Great Britain, avoid any wars in North America and expand our colonies in the South Pacific and Africa. Since Great Britain is the only country that can project sufficient Navel strength to land forces in North America, we will do our best to make them our allies. We will form the North American Union with Canada and Quebec, to avoid any foreign power from possesses or influencing any North American country. And finally, we will expand our colonies either through diplomacy or quick surgical wars. But, we must insure that we fight all of these wars in the ‘other guys’ back yard and not on American soil. The cabinet gathered around the world map discussing various places to establish colonies and what resources are needed for the United States industry. But slowly, the discussion shifted to the one part of North America that was still not under the control of the North American Union: Alaska.

Interesting idea. If I could write the event, I would have Canada and/or Quebec 'apply for statehood' after a certain number of years. So, if Canada remained allied to the United States for 20 years (Quebec would be 30 years), then I would have them apply for statehood just like Texas. I do not have the experience to write a complex event like that, but I agree that would be an good suggestion for the VIP group.

1853 was a peaceful year for the United States; David concentrated on the economy and continued its ‘Roses for Victoria’ foreign policy in an effort to improve relations with Great Britain. Though the United States avoided war in 1853, the rest of the world was not so lucky. The Crimean Crisis in the summer of 1853 started as a war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, but quickly spread to include Russia, Greece and China versus the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, Austria, France, Spain, Sweden and Sardinia-Piedmont. David realized that this was the opportunity that the United States needed. David immediately commissioned an increase in the regular army, deployment of additional cavalry division to Africa and the deployment of the Atlantic squadron to the Pacific Ocean. The Secretary of War informed the President that it would take months, possible a year before the deployment was complete. David accepted the timetable as everyone realized that the Crimean War would be a long war and that the United State had time to prepare.

1854 opened with the United States deploying troops along the Alaskan border and California coast. The Atlantic Squadron, recently renamed to the Pacific Squadron was still in route to the west coast of the United States. In an effort to distract the population from the military build up, David dispatched the Secretary of State to Spain in a very public effort to buy the island of Cuba. The mission was not expected to succeed, but instead simply distract the public from the troop deployments. By the end of February, the Secretary of State had returned with the Spanish rejection. David was not concerned, the mission had done it job by filling the headlines with the diplomatic mission instead of troop deployments. Later that spring, David felt that the time was ripe for the United States to formally offer military support to the United Kingdom in the Crimean War. Orders were issued and troops started to move, but then the unthinkable happened. The United Kingdom refused the alliance request. “WHAT!”, David yelled, “they do not want our help!” David was stunned; he could not fathom why the United Kingdom refused our aid. The Secretary of War warned, ‘the Pacific Squadron is already in route to the Russian Pacific colonies, so we only have a few days.’ David mulled over it, “ok, alliance or no alliance, we have already committed troops and resources.” So, on June 4th of 1854, the United State declared war on the Russian Empire. Within days, Greece, China and Montenegro declared war on the United States.

The following day, the Secretary of State rushed into the Oval Office, “Mr. President, Mr. President.” David sighed and looked up, “Oh great, what bad news do you bring now.” The Secretary of State responded, “No, Mr. President, wonderful news, the message was delayed, but last week the Spanish government accepted our offer for Cuba. We now own the island of Cuba.” David thought to himself, “This is a good sign.”

Because of the drain on manpower to support the war in the Crimean, Russia did not have any troops defending is Alaskan or South pacific. Throughout the summer, the United States took control of the trading post on New Ireland, New Caledonia, New Britain in the South Pacific, the trading post in Luebo and Gooty in Africa and started the siege of both North and South New Guinea. Meanwhile, the conquest of Alaska continued, Wrangel and Fr. Yukon fell in July, Sitka in August , Selawk in September, until finally in late November of 1854, the United States had occupied all of Alaska and both North and South Guinea. David was surprised when the final report arrived that the US forces had yet to encounter a single Russia soldier. However, David started to get concerned when word came that Prussia had refused to join in the war, then word came that France had pulled out of the war in October of 1854. Prussia was sponsoring a peace conference in Berlin trying to broker an end to the Crimean War. David knew that Russia was losing badly in the war and quickly dispatched the Secretary of State to Berlin to try and complete the treaty before any other countries pull out of the war. David repeatedly stressed to the Secretary that we must be out of the war before Russia can turn her attention toward us. A few weeks after Secretary of State had left, dispatches started to arrive from Europe: Russia had rejected the initial United States offer, but time was on our side, no other country appeared ready to sign a peace treaty and in fact The Two Sicilies had just signed a alliance with Spain and declared war on Russia. Russia was losing badly all along the Crimean front. The Secretary of State insisted that with their growing loses; Russia will eventually accept our offer. Negotiations continued throughout the winter of 1854 and into 1855 until finally on February 1st 1855, Russia ceded control of Alaska and New Guinea to the United States. However, the Crimean War continued. In May of 1855, Greece was forced out of the war and surrendered five provinces to the Ottoman Empire. This was quickly followed by Russia successfully negotiating a status quo peace with Austria, Sweden, Wallachia and Serbia; thus leaving just Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire versus Russia. The Crimean War dragged on through 1855 and into the fall of 1856. The population in Great Britain was growing frustrated with the war in Russia, British soldiers were dying by the thousands so that the Ottoman Empire could expand. The British government turned to the United States, offering an alliance in exchange for help with Russia. So on August 10, the United States and the United Kingdom signed the Pan-Atlantic treaty and the United States entered the Crimean War with Russia. So, with the added weight of the threat of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire returned to the negotiation table to hammer out a final peace with Russia. However, during the negotiations that Fall, events in the Far East ignited a different war: the Arrow incident pulled the United Kingdom into the Second Opium War with China. So, with added diplomatic pressure, the Ottoman Empire was forced to accept the latest Russian offer of 16 provinces. This allowed the United Kingdom to pull troops out of Russia and rush them to China. David was overjoyed; he had succeeded in securing all of North American under the Union and enlisted the only possible threat to the United States as a sworn ally.

With 1856 coming to a close and another election cycle past that David did not participate in, David settled down to enjoy the few months of vacation he gets by being a lame duck every four years. It seems no one want to deal with a soon to be ex-President, so David and Harrison settle in to catch up on their reading in the library.

I will try to get a screenshot. I know how to get a screenshot from the game, but I am not sure how to post it within the forums. I will look through the FAQ in the forums to try and learn what needs to be done. So if I can figure it out, I will post some later.

The Fourth Mexican American War

President Buchanan was inaugurated on March 1st, 1857. For David, the international situation was fairly stable, most counties were peaceful, trade was brisk and with the exception of the Netherlands mobilizing troops every other month the world looked promising (Note: during 1857 and 1858, the Netherlands mobilized twelve times). However, domestically, the situation was growing darker, early in the Buchanan Presidency, the Supreme Court handed down the Dred Scott decision that infuriated the North, resulting in a split in the Democratic Party, the virtual disappearance of the Whig Party and emergence of the new Republican Party. David and his cabinet were so consumed with trying to calm the New England population that they did not notice the growing unrest south of the border. Then the Mexican Civil War started in September of 1857, the United States was forced to move a majority of the Army to the southern border to prevent renegade Mexican forces from cross-border supply raids into US towns. But even with American troops patrolling the border, some raiders still got through. On a cold and rainy Thanksgiving Day in Washington, the Presidential was interrupted by a message from the War Department. It appears that a large Mexican force crossed the border in Matamoros, raiding a coastal town and killing over 200 townspeople. David was livid; he summoned the Secretary of War and Secretary of State to inform them of the attack. David addressed the Secretary of State, ‘I realized that we do not know for sure which side of the civil war attacked, but it does not matter. An unstable Mexico will only spread unrest and trouble along our southern border.’ The Secretary of State responded, ‘But, we have a peace treaty with Mexico for another three weeks, Sir. The European powers will react badly if we violate the treaty by even one day.’ David felt as if he was going to explode, ‘FINE, FINE, we will not VIOLATE the treaty. HOWEVER, WE WILL be pursuing bandits and criminals wherever they flee. I want a document delivered to Mexico ONE DAY after that DAMN TREATY expires that informs Mexico that the United States will be moving a stabilization force into Mexico to end their destructive civil war.’ David then turned to the Secretary of War, ‘No matter what we call it, a state of war will exists between the United States and Mexico within a few weeks. You will not wait, I want our troops moving tomorrow and I want those bastards punished.’

On December 17, the Mexican American peace treaty expired. On December 18th, the Mexican Stabilization Document was delivered to the current Mexican government. By January 19, Sombrerete, EL Orite, Santillana, Charcas and Guaymas were all under American control. The most immediate result of the American involvement was the end of the civil war as the two factions joined forces to expel the foreign invaders. The first major engagement of the Fourth Mexican American War aka The Mexican Police Action took place in Nombre de Dios. A majority of the Mexican regular army under the command of a very old Santa Anna had moved north from Mexico City to occupy a high Mesa overlooking the main valley through the province. Two American Corps or roughly sixty thousand troops quickly surrounded Santa Anna’s twenty thousand soldiers. The American’s were able to attack the Mesa from three directions and after a vicious two-day battle; Santa Anna was forced to surrender. For the Americans, this was a great victory, but the last major battle in the war. Unlike the regular army, the rebel forces did not mobilize and defend. For as soon as the Americans crossed the border, the rebels disbanded their divisions and regiments. They scattered the various companies of soldiers throughout the county with orders to harass and ambush American forces.

So even though province after province fell to the American advance, constant unrest and rebellion forces the Americans to spread their force all over the Northern half of Mexico. During the week of February 10th, the Americans liberated Zacatecas, Tampico, San Luis Potosi and Sinaloa; however, the following week saw rebellions in El Orite, Sombrerete, Tampico, Durango and Sinaloa. The American advance was slowed to a crawl with a vast majority of the American forces chasing rebels behind the front lines. This pattern of war continued though 1858. Then on July 3rd, the Mexican rebels surprised the garrison in Charcas and captured the province. At this point, the American population was growing tired of the ‘police action’ and wanted peace. David was about to dispatch the Secretary of State to open negotiation with the Mexican government, when a delegation from the Mexican government in exile offered to surrender eleven provinces in exchange for peace. The US Government quickly agreed as they had long since captured and executed the raiders who had attack Matamoras, thus they had no reason for continuing the conflict.

For the past year, a majority of Americans focused on the Mexican conflict instead of the Dred Scott decision. However, once the war ended, the population quickly returned to the Slavery question. No matter what David tried during for the next two years, the slavery question divided the nation and with the election of 1860 just months away, David knew that the powder keg was going to blow in less then twelve months.

Early in 1860, David summoned the Secretary of War to the oval office and handed him a piece of paper. David simply said, ‘Your orders.’ The Secretary of War looked at the paper, “What? You want me to forcible retire six of our senior generals? Promote these twelve junior officers to the rank of Brigadier General. Hell, you want this Col. R. Lee to be a Lieutenant General. No wait, this one is better, you want me to convince this retired Captain U.S. Grant to come back into the army at the rank of Lieutenant General.” David responded calmly, “Yes, you have your orders and you WILL fulfill them.” David continued to explain, that once the Army shuffle was complete, General Lee was to take command of the new Africa Corp and with Generals Longstreet, Jackson and Johnson are to take naval transports and arrive in Africa no later than June of 1860. David walked over to the world map and started studying Africa and thinking to himself, ‘of course, to prevent those brave men from returning, I need to keep them busy.’

As the summer of 1860 started, David again summoned General Scott and issued orders to prepare for a colonial war with France. David walked over to the world map on the wall, “I intend to strip France of all of her Pacific possessions and all of her sub-Saharan possessions. But more importantly, we need to make sure that the best and brightest officers that may have southern sympathies are busy overseas.’

So, on June 23, 1860, the United States declared a Colonial War on France. When Gen. Lee had moved south toward Libreville, he had dispatched Col. J. Stuart northward to secure the French trading post west of Lagos, while the bulk of his forces moved south.
By July, the American forces under Gen. Lee had arrived in Libreville and by August Libreville was liberated. Gen. Jackson was ordered to improve the defense of the Libreville fortification, the only major fortification for hundreds of miles. Lee knew that this was the place that the French would counter attack. Lee ordered Gen. Longstreet to take a Corp south to secure that province, while Lee moved inward to secure the inland provinces. Their orders were to leave one division per province for defense and bring all remaining forces back to Libreville once the French provinces were liberated.

While the Africa Corp was securing Libreville, the Pacific fleet was shuttling its three-garrison divisions from island to island, securing any and all French outposts. Once or twice they encountered small French navel forces that were easily defeated. By October of that year, Palmyra, Gilberts, Fidjis, Ellices, Kiribati and the Wallis were all secured. The Pacific fleet rendezvoused near Hawaii for some rest and re-supply; however, the Hawaii government viewed the landing of three divisions of troops as an act of war. Before the naval commander and the local officials could discuss the situation a battle between local forces and the American division started. When it was all said and done, the Americans had occupied and claimed the Hawaiian Islands.

Back in Africa, the American forces were attempting to secure all of the port cities to force the French into amphibious landing. The rushing about resulted in the Americans being spread out with no chance of reinforcements when the French counter attacked at Benito and Saburo in September of 1860. Though the battle in Saburo was quickly won, it required the timely arrival of the first division in Benito turned the tide of battle that allowed the Americans to drive the French back by Sept. 21st; however, French reinforcements attacked again on Oct 3rd. The Second Battle of Benito lasted for two bloody weeks, before the French were beaten back again. During this battle, the first amphibious assault on Libreville started on Oct. 12th and that battle lasted until November 24th. The Americans were forced to pull seven divisions out of the nine in the Africa Corp from neighboring provinces to defend against the continuous stream of French divisions that were feed into the meat grinder. The second major attack on Libreville started on December 27th of 1860 and lasted for just two weeks as France feed another four divisions into the meat grinder. However, the American Atlantic fleet only consisted of naval transports that quickly were chased into port once the war began, so the American forces in Africa were effectively blockaded and unable to return.

David felt confident that he would be able to defeat the Confederacy before the southern Generals returned. David knew that South Carolina had promised to secede as soon as Lincoln was inaugurated and David intended for Lincoln to act quickly and decisively to suppress the rebellion. But fate still had some twists and turns in store for the United States. The first week of January 1861 saw the complete collapse of the Mexican government and though tempted, David knew the Congress would not let him intervene in Mexico so soon after the last Mexican War nor would it be wise to commit troops to Mexico with the impending crisis in South Carolina. But what David did not expect was that France would seize upon the opportunity to put troops on America’s border, so France and its ally Spain declared war on Mexico. The United Kingdom was immediately concerned about French troops adjacent to its Belize colony, also declared war on Mexico with the intent of establishing a buffer province. The stunning chain of events pulled American as Britain’s ally into another war with Mexico. David reacted quickly, and ordered the border troops across into Mexico to prevent French troops from occupying any Mexican provinces. David realized that the entire regular army was now in the field and that he did not have any available reserves. Therefore, on February 1, David called out the National Guard.

The Fifth Mexican American War was a race between France and the United States to see who could reach Mexico City first. The American’s had the advantage of 18 Divisions moving across the border versus the three divisions France landed in the province south of Mexico City. The American forces were ordered to occupy and secure every Mexican province to prevent France from gaining a foothold. So by the end of March 1861, the Americans had liberated seven Mexican provinces and France had gained control of two Mexican provinces. One of the French provinces was isolated in the Yucatan peninsula buffered behind two British Provinces: Belize and a British occupied Mexican province. The other French occupied province was south of Mexico City and American forces were rushing south through Mexico City to try and occupy the neighboring provinces before the French could. The American commanders wanted to attack the French and drive them into the sea, but according to the Swedish Paradox Accord of 1836, colonial wars can only be fought in colonies, so the American were not able to attack the French in Mexico.

March also saw another amphibious assault by the French on Libreville, that battle lasted from March 12th through March 30th and resulted in another four French divisions destroyed. March of 1861 was a successful month in the terms of military matters; however, March was the lighting of the fuse in regards to political matters. March 15, 1861 saw the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President. Within one week, South Carolina state legislature started debate on secession, so that on April 11th 1861, South Carolina officially seceded from the Union. The President immediately issued orders to forcible prevent South Carolina from dissolving the Union. Lincoln’s forceful action prompted Alabama, Tennessee, Arkanass, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana to join the new Confederacy.

The morning of April 25th, had David looking out the balcony window of one of the upstairs sitting rooms in the Whitehouse. Most of the cabinet arrived along with General Scott for the morning meeting. David turned to the cabinet, “Hopefully, everyone has had time to review General Scott’s proposal for Operation Anaconda.” David continued to explain that the plan is to move National Guard troops into all Confederate Provinces that border the Union. In addition, we will spearhead three Armies into the rebel States with the intention of isolating their forces. The Western Army will be under the command of General Sherman and will move down the Mississippi River to separate Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas from the rest of the Confederacy. The Central Army will be under the command of U.S. Grant and will attack out of Kentucky into North Carolina and then turn north to attack Richmond from the south, thus separating Virginia from The Confederacy. While the Eastern Army will be under the command of General Scott and attack out of Washington with the intention of engaging the bulk of the rebel forces while the other Armies capture provinces. The final element of the plan is amphibious landing all along the coast, we have a small fleet of transports that can move a few division, so we intend on attacking New Orleans, Florida and Charlestown by sea. They will become the dots for the other Armies to complete the ‘connect the dots game.’ Secretary of State Seward was the first to speak up, ‘Mr. President, we are currently in a colonial war with France, at war with Mexico and now we are fighting half of our own nation. We need to pursue negotiations.’ David nodded his head, “Yes, you are right, but the French still refuse to discuss terms, so we can either surrender or wait. Eventually, they will come to the table. The Mexican War is only two months old, but I do not believe that the Mexican army will be able to mount any substantial defense. And finally, though the Confederacy is the greatest threat, I have complete confidence in our National Guard to quickly suppress the revolt.’ Seward bowed his head, “Yes, Mr. President, I pray that you are right.’ At this point, General Scott stood up and addressed the cabinet, “I do appreciate the credit that the President gives me for the Anaconda plan, but I only suggested the initial outline of dividing the Confederacy and capturing it segment by segment. In fact it was the President who developed most of the details in the plan. In addition, I appreciate the offer to command the Eastern Army, but I must decline. I am seventy-five years old, with fifty years as a general. Though, I can still think, I am not physically fit for a field command so I must defer and suggest that the President choose another officer to lead the Eastern Army.” David lean back in his chair, “Thank you General Scott, I will accept your recommendation and talk with General Reynolds about commanding the Eastern Army; however, I do still need your service as head of the Union Army here in Washington.’ The cabinet meeting continued on for hours: discussing military deployments, logistics, supplies, foreign intervention, etc. Eventually, it was determined that the National Guard units would be in place with suffiecient supplies within four weeks and at that point Operation Anaconda would begin.

Actually within the game, I did not activate any of the southern generals, it was simply an element of the story to explain the Unions (human) advantage over the Confederacy (AI). However, I think I may reload a pre-civil war game and test out the theory.

As for the micromanagement, it is not too bad. The battles in the pacific are over and the troops are resting in Hawaii. The French colonies in Africa are liberated and the main US force is repealing occasional French attacks on Libreville. So I only really need to concentrate on North America.

Also, I hope to have screenshots with tomorrows update. I loaded a post-civil war game and created three shots: North American, Africa and the Pacific. I have already edited them down to JPG and loaded them into my new account on the photobucket website. So, once I have finished the Civil War part of the story, the screen shots will be posted.

May of 1862 opened will a flurry of messages from both the State Department and War Department. The State Department reported that the new Confederate Senate had passed a series of measures: they authorized the purchase of naval raiders to attack Union shipping, they appropriated funds to build an ironclad navy, the issued the ‘Right of Slavery’ document, but most interesting, the passed a measure authorizing state militias to seize all Federal property. Within days, most Federal property had been either seized or was under attack like Fort Sumter. That same week, Virginia and North Carolina seceded from the Union and Confederate Militia started to mobilize and attack Union positions in West Virginia and Maryland. David was somewhat concerned about the Confederate attacks, but he knew that once the ninety National Guard divisions were deployed, the Confederate militias would not be able to withstand the onslaught. Meanwhile in Mexico, American forces had liberated Tejupa, Cuitlan, Loreto, Zacatula and finally Mexico City.

June arrived and the National Guard still had not been fully mobilized or deployed. David was growing concerned, “The rebels have troops in Charlestown and Wheeling already, but we have not executed one offensive maneuver.’ Vice President Hamlin rushed into the office, ‘Mr. President, the rebels are just outside the city, we must leave immediately.’ David replied, “No, we have our three most veteran divisions defending this city, we will not flee like cowards.’ Throughout June, David would visit General Hancock’s command tent near the Potomac River. The three Union divisions were holding the line against four Confederate divisions, but just barely. It was looking to be a long costly battle that the Union appeared destined to lose. Hancock’s reports were short and straight to the point, the Union lines should hold until July 4th, but not much longer, reinforcements were needed immediately. The last week of June finally saw the deployment of the National Guard: ninety divisions deployed in thirty corps had been dispersed all along the Confederate border. Seventy-two of those divisions started moving with days, the remaining eighteen were stationed in New Jersey waiting to be loaded on the few Naval transports available. Since the navy only had a transport capacity of six, the amphibious assaulted were going to be done is three separate attacks by six division each.

On June 27, two Corp attack the two rebel divisions in Charlestown and another two Corps attacked the rebels in Wheeling. Two days later reports of rebel retreats in Charlestown and Wheeling arrived just as four additional Corps arrived to repeal the attack in Washington. After four days of fierce battles, the rebels had retreated back across the Potomac River. Even though the Civil War was slow to get started, the Mexican American war continued at a steady pace with the liberation of Huasacualco, Tamio, Acapulco.

July was a month of contradictions, the Mexican War started to grind down with partisan uprisings as all of the American forces were forced to redeploy to suppress partisans. At the same time, the National Guard steamroller started moving with the first amphibious force leaving the Chesapeake Bay on July 2nd. Reports started to arrive from all over the Union. July 2nd: Rebels forced to retreat from Bowling Green, troops arrived in Corpus Christi, no resistance encountered. July 3rd: Rebels defeated in Rolla, troops arrived in Manassas, San Antonio, Lubbock, Amarillo, and Memphis, no resistance encountered. July 4th: Troops arrived in Fayatteville, no resistance encountered. The reports continued to arrive over the next few days: El Paso, Nashville, Little Rock, and amphibious landings successful in Tampa. The Confederates did counter attack in both Manassas and Nashville will the rebels being defeated in Nashville after three days. The battle for Manassas lasted for five bloody days and stretched out over sixty miles before the rebels were forced to retreat. By mid July, provinces were being liberated: Memphis on July 13th and quickly followed by Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Fayettewille, Little Rock, Masassas and Nashville all liberated by July 19th. The 24th Corp arrived in Staunton on July 19th and engaged the rebel troops defending the main road between Washington and Richmond. The Union troops expected to push the rebels back like that had in Manassas, but they did not know that they had just started one of the climatic battles of the Civil War. The battle of Staunton started with three division of Union troops attacking three division of Confederate troops, but would eventually include 18 Union division battling 15 Confederate division through July, August and September. It was not until October and the arrival of three additional Union Corps, that the Union was able to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia. The remainder of July saw Union forces moving forward and engaging the enemy as often and as decisively as possible, so that by the end of July most of Texas and Mississippi had been liberated. July also saw one of the few critical mistakes that the Union made during the war. General Sherman had dispersed most of his force throughout the west with orders for all of his forces to converge on Shreveport. Sherman assumed that the rebels had already moved either east to prevent Grant from attacking Richmond or had move south to repeal the amphibious landing in Charlestown. So Sherman led a small force of two divisions into Knoxville. The Confederates considered Knoxville critical in holding the railroad between Richmond, New Orleans and Texas open, so they had stationed four divisions in defense. Sherman threw his two divisions into the strong Confederate defenses and summoned the remainder of his forces back from around Tennessee to help in the assault. As the troops started to arrive, Sherman continued to throw them into frontal assault after frontal assault. The battle of Knoxville was similar to the battle of Libreville with the Union playing the role of the French. The Battle of Knoxville lasted throughout the remainder of the war, the Confederate still held the city against the Union attack when the Confederacy finally surrendered. During the battle, General Sherman completely destroyed three divisions and had over fifty percent casualties in another six divisions. Although, Knoxville and Staunton were long and bloody battles, they became an magnet for attracting rebel troops, thus freeing the more numerous Union divisions to sweep through the south and liberate provinces.

During August of 1861, Union forces started to surround the rebel islands of Knoxville and Staunton with the week of August 13th brings a string of good news: Nashville surrendered and Great Britain accepted Mexico’s surrender with seven provinces going to the United States and Campeche going to Britain. David looked over the world map, ‘One down, two to go. The Confederacy is crumbling and the French still will not talk.’ Though August did bring a bit of news that concerned David, it seems that the Alliance with Great Britain expired and they were not interested in renewing it.

September brought a fresh urgency in the Union forces to try and suppress the rebellion before winter. The third and final amphibious assault took place on New Orleans. Most of the forces from Texas had also reached Louisiana and once New Orleans and Shreveport were liberated, they planned to March across Mississippi and Alabama. Grants forces had moved into North Carolina during the previous month and split into two forces, one moving north into Richmond and the other moving south into Atlanta. Grant himself captured Richmond on September 22nd and Phil Sheridan lead the southern force and burned Atlanta on September 12th.

By the end of September, most of the Confederacy had been liberated with the exception of Staunton, Knoxville and New Berne. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was annihilated on October 3rd with the arrival of Grant’s forces from Richmond. New Berne was liberated on October 8th, so with the exception of Knoxville, the entire Confederacy was under Union control. Less then seven months after the Confederate States of America came into existence, President Jefferson Davis signed the unconditional surrender to General U.S. Grant on the steps of the Richmond Statehouse building.

The news quickly reached Washington of Davis’s unconditional surrender. The celebration was short lived as the next cabinet meeting was spent discussing the war with France. General Scott reported that the few blockade runners that get into Libreville report that the American forces are deployed well, but that they French have not attempted an amphibious landing for months. Just then, a courier rushed into the meeting and delivered a message to the Secretary of State. He stood and started to read the message. It appears that France has been collaborating with Sardinia for the past few months regarding the re-unification of Italy as a French satellite. So, as of a few weeks ago, Sardinia is at war with the Papal States, Two Sicilies and Tuscany. Though France was not official part of the war, they are supplying troops and resources. What France did not expect was the Spain would honor her alliance with the Two Sicilies and is now at war with Sardinia. Then Austria sent a series of threatening letters warning France about supporting Sardinia, the threats escalated and now France and Sardinia are at war with Austria.

David leaned back in his chair, “So that is why they stopped attacking Libreville, they had already committed their troops elsewhere.’ David instructed the Secretary of State to go to Paris now and negotiate a peace treaty while France is occupied with Austria. Within two months, the Secretary of State returned from Paris with a treaty that surrenders France’s sub-Saharan colonies to the United States.

By the end of the year, the National Guard had been demobilized, but the some of the experienced soldiers remain in the Army to force 10 new divisions, six infantry divisions: three artillery divisions and three guard divisions, plus two cavalry and two dragoon division were also formed. March of 1862 arrived with the trail of Jefferson Davis, but before the trail could even begin, President Lincoln delivered a speech titled ‘With Malice toward None’ and ended the speech with issuing a full pardon to Jefferson Davis and all confederate leaders.

North America



Pacific



Africa

I have the game up to the late 1880s. The Pacific is an American pond and I can assure you that Africa has a 'few' more American colonies.