[Forum Game] - World in Revolution: 1861

The American Civil War, or the War of the Rebellion in the North, and the War of Southern Independence in the South, seemed to be finally gearing up in the Fall of 1861. With the assault on Washington, the political leadership in Montgomery, especially President Jefferson Davis, woke up to the severe consequences facing them. No longer could the Confederacy simply try and take over land, they adopted a new strategy. Mass Conscription, Mass Training of Regulars, as well as winning by not losing.

The problem for the South, going into September of 1861, was that General Ulysses Grant had marched into Memphis, Tennessee unopposed. This angered much of the Confederate leadership, as well as the populace. A massive call for volunteers went out, resounding like a war cry throughout the South. "100,000 for Dixie!" was a common cheer heard in all major cities, as bands of recruiters swept throughout the cities and the countryside. Overall, their efforts worked, and them some. Men ran to the call to defend their native state, rushing to their local recruiting offices and signing up. [+100,000 Conscripts to the CSA. +50,000 Regulars to the CSA.]

Upon seeing this massive mobilization of the South, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the legitimate convening in Wheeling, Virginia, called for a motion to secede from the United States of America, and join the Confederacy. The vote passed on a 212-62 Margin. On October 17th, 1861, the Commonwealth of Virginia became the 11th Confederate State. In jubilation of the most populated and powerful Southern state officially joining the Confederacy, President Davis responded in kind by moving the Confederate Capitol to Richmond, Virginia.


When Virginia left the Union, President Davis sent a pardon to Union General Robert E. Lee, and said that General Lee had two options; to return to his ruined plantation in Arlington, or to join the Confederacy as the General of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee, acting only in the interests of Virginia, accepted the President's offer. In return, he asked that any Union man who fought with him under the Union Army of Northern Virgina be allowed to join him and his new army. Most of them being from Virginia, they accepted. [+20,000 Conscripts to the CSA. CSA gains Robert E. Lee]

In Richmond, the Army of Northern Virginia was mustered into service with 75,000 well-armed, high spirited men. Their main goal was now to defend the city of Richmond while General Thomas Jackson's Army of Southern Virginia returned to be integrated into the Army of Northern Virginia as a new Corps. President Davis made sure that this new army would contain only the best Generals. Lee was the overall commander, with Generals Longstreet, Jackson, and Hill commanding corps, and the stalwart Union Cavalryman, J.E.B. Stuart, commanding the Cavalry.


President Davis' new problem was the West. General Grant was ruthlessly driving his men towards the former Capitol of Montgomery everyday. The new conscripts recently raised were organized as the Army of Trans-Mississippi under the command of General Braxton Bragg. President Davis was quite clear in his orders, take 75,000 men and defend the Confederacy's interior from the Union. General Bragg quickly set out from Montgomery, and in Late October, the Confederate Army of Trans-Mississippi met the Union Army of the Mississippi outside the town of Corinth, Mississippi.

General Grant's army had been reinforced with around 45,000 Conscripts, bolstering his numbers to around 60,000 men, marching towards the Confederate hinterland. Upon seeing a small detachment of Cavalry, and his men eager for a fight, General Grant threw his 60,000 strong Army of the Mississippi straight into the left flank of the Confederate Army of Trans-Mississippi. [+60,000 Conscripts for the USA.]

The fighting was fierce and brutal, but when the Confederates turned on their side and turned their flank, they enveloped the right flank of the Union Army, driving them back. As the sun sank below the horizon, fighting still went on sporadically. Grant, convinced this was a small force, stayed there, determined to finish the fight. General Bragg, knowing all to well they were in a perfect position to hold any defensive line, knew that Grant would throw his men into his centre.

The next day, Grant did just that. The Union Army slammed, full strength, into the Confederate centre. It began to waver, and it even looked like it was going to break, but out of nowhere, without officer's orders, the Confederates rose up in a huge yell, counter surging towards the Union Army. Breaking their centre, and causing the two defeated halves of the army to shrink away, with General Grant coordinating the retreat. [-17,000 Conscripts from the USA. -9,000 Conscripts from the CSA.]


Dazed and defeated, General Grant quickly moved his army back into the safety of Memphis, while the Confederate Army waited for further orders from Richmond. Before the official word of the victory went out, the whole South quickly knew of their amazing victory and stopping the Union advance straight into the Deep South. General Bragg was hailed as a national hero, and General Lee was accepted as the leader of the Eastern theater. For the first time in the War, the Confederacy had finally won a great victory - and finally had an Army and Leadership to continue their quest for Freedom.

Yes and Done.