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Quantum Leap an American AAR

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By mid February 1838, the first division was loaded on transports and move south toward Florida. General Taylor was in western Pennsylvania organizing regiments as quickly as possible, and General Harrison was already moving half way to San Antonio. By the beginning of March General Scott had loaded the second division onto transports and was moving around Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. General Taylor was dispatching regiments as quickly as he could assembly them and expected to have all fifteen National Guard regiments assembled and near the Mexican border by mid May. General Harrison arrived in San Antonio to discover a small force of 1200 men and some artillery. The Texas cavalry was currently engaged with a Mexican division near El Paso. General Harrison considered moving west to help, but scouts reported that a full strength Mexican division was heading for San Antonio and would arrive with ten days. The Texas division was outnumbered 10-1, but determined to hold out, the started to dig in and prepare of the attack. On March 23, 1838 the Mexican’s attacked General Harrison small force at the rebuilt Alamo.

April did not start well for the United States, Mexican forces were attacking in Roswell, El Paso and San Antonio with superior numbers. There was still four to six weeks before the National Guard units started to arrive. Then on April 5, good news started to arrive, the Texas cavalry, which had been harassing the Mexican division in El Paso for weeks, lured them into a trap and routed them. The next day, the three divisions under General Scott arrived in Matamoros. But the greatest victory went to General Harrision, who held out for three weeks, losing only 200 men while inflicting over 5000 causalities to the attacking Mexican division. On the morning of April 14th, General Harrison personally led the surprise dawn raid out of the Alamo into the Mexican division. [note: when the combat started, I was convince that the little Texas division was doomed, they were really outnumbered 10-1, I just hoped that they lasted long enough for the cavalry from El Paso to arrive. I was completely stunned with their victory] He would have preferred to pursue and destroy the Mexican division, but alas, he was forced to dispatch the Texas cavalry, who arrived in San Antonio the following day to Roswell to expel the Mexican attackers there. He then led the Texas division north to Amarillo to put down a Republican rebellion. Even if General Harrison never stepped foot on Mexican soil, he victory in San Antonio made him a national hero.

But not all of the news in April was good, agitators in Binghamton New York attacked and captured the government’s armory, David was forced to call out the Dragoons to suppress the rebellion in New York. Then the worst possible news arrived, with the US budget at a breaking point and with just enough funds to pay moderate education, moderate criminal enterprises and still fund the war, Congress orders the construction of a series of harbor forts. They allocates the funds for the construction with loans that will hamstring the economy for years. David is livid, but unfortunately, the bill passed with a veto proof majority.

May is when the United States shifts completely to the offense. Matamoros is conquered on May 8 and although the Texas cavalry is repulsed on May 18th in Roswell, they were able to buy enough time for the National Guard units to attack on May 25th. General Harrison recalls the Texas cavalry and Texas division back to San Antonio to act as strategic reserves. General Taylor orders the National Guard to attack all along the border, and General Scott starts his drive for Mexico City.

Throughout the summer the Secretary of War delivered report after report: June 19th New York revolts (Dragoons are still days away from getting to Binghamton), June 28th Santillana captured, July 20th Moab captured, July 21st Tuba City captured, July 24th Salt Lake City captured, July 24th forces in Revilla forced to retreat, Aug 12th forces in Chihuahua forced to retreat, Aug 13th Tucson captured, Aug 16th St Louis revolting, Aug 23 Tampico captured, Aug 25th Concord revolting, Aug 30th we have lost control of New York.

The loss of New York shocked David, ‘We are winning the war’, he thought, but alas, the economy is still in the midst of a depression. He orders General Harrison to dispatch the Texas reserves north to suppress the St. Louis rebellion and to reinforce the retreating National Guard division that are in San Antonio. General Harrison dispatches the Texas reserves north, but he himself stays and takes command of the two defeated National Guard divisions, reinforces them and moves south into Revilla with the intend of meeting General Scott in Mexico City, with Scott arriving from the southeast and Harrison arriving from the north.

The war continues through 1838 and into 1839, the United States captures province after province. Eventually the US captures almost all of the western territories and most of Mexico’s eastern coast. Then with the capture of Santa Anna at the battle of Mexico City on February 8th, Mexico sued for peace by offering Tuba City, Phoenix, Tucson, Moab and Salt Lake City and even though the US could have pushed for more, the growing rebellions in New England forced David to accept that fastest deal. Unfortunately, the dragoons and Texas reserves could not respond quickly enough, so that by the time the war ended, Providence, Concord, Hartford, Binghamton and New York were all in rebel hands. The three regular divisions under General Scott were quickly recalled to help suppress the New England rebellion and the National Guard units were sent home to help ease the financial burden on the country. It took General Scott until May of 1840 to finally liberate the last rebel control provinces.

When word reached David that Binghamton had finally fallen and that the New England rebellion was over, he sighed to himself, ‘I had intended on being a President who builds, but instead I will be remembered as a President of depressions, wars and rebellions.’ But, even with all of the setbacks, there were small successes; both Harrison and James had excelled at learning to read. In fact, Harrison had become David’s unofficial advisor to whom David would discuss issues and ideas. David looked to November as an important month, he was up for reelection and Harrison’s wife was expecting their fourth child. As the sun set over Washington, David looked out his library window, ‘Yes, the wars are over, the next tern will be a term of building.’
 
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Hard fought that Mexican War was. Good peace offer and the land sale of New Mexico should be coming up soon as well. Are you going to go with only Northern industry in anticipation of the ACW or are you playing more realistically as if you don't know it's coming?
 
The Mexican War was actually easier to manage than the New England rebellions, they were rebelling faster than I could suppress them. As for the land sale, I never do receive that offer, but it will be resovled in the second Mexican American war. :rolleyes:

As for Industry, I initially placed the factories based on available population. So, the first set of factories are spread out evenly throughout the eastern half of the US: north and south. I did tend to place based on available resources, so the fabrics tend to be in the south, steel near coal (KY, Penn), etc. But after that initial wave of factories, I simply followed the populations, so by the 1850s, the only new factories had been added to Maryland, New York and Alaska (but Alaska is future story). In fact, by the late 1850s, both Maryland and New York have about 15 factories, with Maryland running at least a dozen factories as capacity. I should have enough craftsman converted to have all factories in Maryland full before 1860.

Questions
1. I have noticed that the computer tends to auto train employed laborers into unemployed clerks. Is there a way to prompt the training of craftsman, so they both can go to work in the factory?
2. As a general rule, have you found concentrating factories in one state better or spreading them out evenly and hoping that the populations will move.
3. When I review the population details, the quanities listed for various items required, needed or desired by the population are either displayed grey or red. I am assuming that red means that they are not being fulfilled. Some of the items are obvious, either I do not make them or they are not available on the world market, but some are confusing. For example, I produce huge amounts of tobacco, but for some of my populations, it is listed in red. Am I reading the screen wrong or is there some other reason for a product not reaching a populations? (crime? insufficient railroad?)
 
Not sure about your first two questions, truthfully. But I think the answer to your third has to do with how much momey they have to buy goods rather than how much your produce or availability on the WM. I'm sure others have some better answers.
 
Another good update Wienhusen! As for your questions, well I think for Number 2 you should generally just build your Factories really where you have at least a Craftsmen and Clerk. Don't build anywhere where there isn't unless you wish to train your Miners and Farmers into Clerks or Craftsmen. Really you would be wasting cash just waiting.
 
David spent the summer months campaigning by traveling around the country outlining the goals and plans for his next term as President. Harrison’s wife was a frail woman who had difficulties with earlier pregnancies, so Harrison was reluctant to travel any distance away until after the baby was born. In fact, James was the only child of four that had survived their first year of life. Even though, Harrison was unable to travel with David, James was now ten years old and was one of the two stable boys who traveled with the Presidents party and took care of the horses. The summer of 1840 was a summer of peace, the United States did not have any wars or rebellions, and the country was slowly moving forward to recovery. David’s traveling and speeches were slowly making a difference, and it looked as if David’s Martin Van Buren was heading for reelection.

Then the first blow fell in August, when the Whig Party nominated the war hero Henry Harrison to be President. As the ‘Hero of the Alamo’, Harrison was loved and respected by most voters regardless of Party and David knew that he would be hard pressed to defeat General Harrison in the election. However, losing to Harrison worried David greatly. David remembered his history lessons in that Harrison was destined to die in office, and David did not know what would happen to him if the President died.

The second blow came on September 30th, when a group of Texan’s stormed the statehouse in Austin and attempted to declare Texas an independent Republic. David quickly summoned the cavalry to suppress the rebellion but it took until October 30th for the rebellion to be crushed, which was not enough time for the news to travel by horseback throughout the United States. So most of the voters went to the polls thinking about Texas and comparing the Hero of the Alamo to the current President who is suppressing a rebellion. Though it would be weeks before enough votes are counted to know the results.

David received three messages during his cabinet meetings on November 28, 1840. The first was a mundane report from the Secretary of State, that Russia had annex Bukkhara, the second was that New York had voted for General Harrison, and finally, the Harrision’s wife Rebecca was in labor. David did not care about the first, expected the second but was very concerned about the third since Rebecca had been very weak over the past two months.

Day turned into night and back into day again before one of the servants David had sent to help Rebecca and Harrison returned. David was devastated to learn that both Rebecca and the baby had not survived.

It was weeks before Harrison or James returned to the White House, David told them to take as much time as they needed, though privately, David wished that Harrison was available to talk, but he knew that Harrison and James needed time to heal first. David fully expected to ‘leap’ into President Harrison, but he also knew that President Harrison was suppose to die in office and David did not know what would happen after that.

Inauguration came on March 15th, 1841, but so did a bitter cold front and freezing temperatures. According to David’s memory, General Harrison delivered his address to the crowd without wearing a coat and then walked up Pennsylvania Ave to the White House. In an effort to help General Harrison, David delivered a heavy coat to General Harrison’s hotel room that morning as a gift from one President to another. David was pleased when the General Harrison delivered his initial speech wearing the coat. David thought to himself, ‘Well maybe we can avoid that bullet.’ Unfortunately, when General Harrison came down off of the platform, he commented to one of the soldiers that this was nothing compared to the winters in northern Ohio, so he took off the coat and started to walk down Pennsylvania Ave. toward the Whitehouse.
 
They never learn, do they? It is a curious question - what would happen if the body he was inhabiting dies while he is in it?
 
Great stuff, wienhusen! Love how some things cant be changed. Of course, as a Quantum Leap freak, I demand at least one "Oh boy."

It will be interesting to see where this Quantum Leap-esque USA goes, and how it deals with things like the Civil War. More, more!
 
Good update Wienhusen though it is interesting on how the situation will turn if General Harrison wins the election but dies in Office. Perhaps David might just jump to another President or even more, reborn? Not sure but still, update soon!
 
The Short Presidency of Henry Harrison and the Boring Presidency of John Tyler

David was awakened to the familiar voice saying, ‘Good morning, Mr. President’. However, this was anything but a good morning. David felt terrible, he had watched in horror as Henry Harrison had taken off the jacket before walking up the great lawn from the Capital building to the Whitehouse. Now, he could feel the ache in his body as the flu started to take hold. David thought to himself, ‘Am I doomed to die? How can I avoid this?’ David spent the next few days in bed, trying to think of all of the modern medical experiences that he knew to prevent the flu from becoming pneumonia. But alas, it seemed that no matter what David did, he continued to get sicker and sicker. By the end of the second week, David’s fever had become so high that he was beginning to become delirious, by the third week; he had lapsed into a coma. Somewhere in the subconscious of David mind, he thought to himself, ‘I never said Thank you to Harrison for all of his help.’ So, a mere thirty days after becoming President, Henry Harrison became the first President to die in office.

David woke up suddenly and looked around at the dark room. ‘Am I a ghost?’ he thought. He got up and looked back at the bed, it was empty but someone was sleeping there. ‘So, I am a real person again’, David mumbled as his eyes continued to adjust to the lighting, David realized that he was back in the President’s bedroom. He walked over to the mirror, ‘Ahh, President John Tyler, a pleasure to meet you.’

David could not get back to sleep, he mind tried to comprehend what had happened, he had died, but it was just like he had gone to sleep and woke up without dreaming. He thought of the philosophy classes that he was required to take while in school, all that talked of existence and thought, ‘to be or not to be, wait that was Shakespeare’, David chuckled to himself, ‘let the philosophers figure it out, I am going to be too busy to think about it.’

When Harrison arrived in the morning, David was already up and dressed, ‘Yes, Harrison, it is me again, do not ask how, it just is.’ David had decided that he had spent that last few years operating within the preconceived idea of what the United States is suppose to be. David had always assumed that he would eventually gain control of the Southwest and California, but now, he was going to venture out and make it MORE that what it was in his history. First, we must build and prepare. David spent the next few years increasing the size of the national guard, expanding resources, expanding factories and trying to avoid going into debt. To achieve this, he had to alienate many of John Tyler’s fellow Whig party members and guaranteed that they would not re-nominated John Tyler. Whenever, his advisors would warn him about that, he would laugh it off, ‘that it did not matter who was elected, the path would be followed.’

The election of 1844 saw the election of the democrat James Polk and a new tone in the country. A new booklet titled ‘Manifest Destiny’ was sweeping the nation and many people were looking west toward California. David knew that the country was prepared, it was time to start expanding.
 
Rather a scary thought - no matter what he does, he will ultimately still hold the reins of power. His choices are almost limitless.
 
It would be pretty interesting if you linked this up to HOI somehow and see how David would do as President in WW2. Still it is indeed interesting.........................so when David dies, he inhabits another President? Intriguing I must say...................so he was still Martin Van Buren when Harrison died and became John Tyler? Very interesting I must say. Anyway update soon and yes, must expand into California.
 
Ksim3000: David did make the transistion from Van Buren to Henry Harrison and was President Harrison for thirty days. This was the chapter that I regreted naming the butler Harrison. :wacko: David was in President Harrison until he died, including the week or more in the coma. After the President died, David was in limbo until the next President slept in the President's bed.



Sorry for the slow updates last week, two things hit: first a project a work need to be ready for beta by last Friday and the game decided that it wanted to crash. I ended up have to go back to my 1845 save and replay from there to avoid the crash, which luckily was still after my public updates.
So the story will continue, just along a different path that I originally played.

Unfortunately, that means that this story will not include the 2 week war with Russia, in which they surrenders ALL of their claims, ALL of Alaska, and three baltic provinces. In that story David sent flowers to Queen Victoria until the US and UK were allied, then declared war on Russia late in the Crimean War (UK did not invite us, so we invited ourselves). Before any US troops even set foot on Russian territory, they surrender all that territory. Of course, this was the trigger that caused later problems. It was the possession of the Baltic provinces that caused Prussia to declare war a few years later that leads to the game crashing. Of course, at the time we were at war with Portugal and Britain (Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned), when Prussia and within a few months the Netherlands declare war. It would vary betwen Prussia and the Netherlands who would declare war first, but the second declaration would usually crash the game.
 
The first few weeks of James Polks Presidency were filled with heated debates. David spend many cabinet meetings acting more as a referee than the President. Harrison would remain nearby acting as the ‘butler’ by serving drinks, but more importantly Harrison would watch and listen. Each evening, David and Harrison would discuss and analyze the meetings, while reviewing options and plans. Harrison pointed out that most of the older members of the cabinet still remembered the British burning Washington thirty years earlier and the dream of liberating Canada from the British. However, the younger members of the cabinet were enamored with the booklet Manifest Destiny and argued for the expansion westward either through purchase or force to California. David finally told them that they both had valid points, but that the United States currently does not have the resources to fight a two front war. Out of the two potential opponents, Mexico is currently weaker. David ordered the Secretary of State to dispatch an ambassador to Mexico to offer to buy all of the western territory north of Buena Vista. David then turned to the older member of the Cabinet, ‘Do not worry about your dreams of Canada, but we must wait and watch.’ After the Secretary of State left, David summoned the Secretary of War and issued a series of orders. First, was to establish a military presence at the coaling station, I want to you create twelve cavalry division; dispatch the first six to Africa and the remainder to the Western Canadian border. In addition, I need you to create another 12 infantry divisions; six regular and six native. Station the six natives in Florida, three of the regular in the Northwest Territory near British Columbia, and you may place the three remaining divisions in New England. The Secretary of War responded ‘Yes Sir, however, we currently do not have the manpower to raise so many division.’ David responded that he understood that, but that he needed the division raised and trained by Spring 1847, which would give him two years.

The ambassador dispatch to Mexico returned within a few weeks with the refusal by the Mexican government to sell any western land to the United States. The ambassador also informed David, that the Mexican government was openly discussing forcefully reacquiring its lost territories in Utah, New Mexico and Texas. David quickly called the Secretary of War, ‘They reacted as we had expected, it is time to mobilize the National Guard and deploy them along the border.’ The Secretary of War responded, ‘Do you want ALL 60 divisions deployed along the border sir?’ David responded, ‘No, just 45 division along the border, the remaining 15 will remain in strategic reserve to be deployed into hot spots.’ By mid summer, the National Guard had been deployed all along the border with Mexico and scouts were reporting large numbers of Mexican troops moving along the border. In fact, three divisions were seen moving from Buena Vista into San Diego and another six division were seen moving all along the front from Mantamoros toward San Diego. With the Mexican army on the move, David decided that the time to strike was now, before they had a chance to entrench. So on July 8, 1845, the second Mexican American War started.
 
Good update Wienhusen, I say Mexico won't be pretty hard to defeat. Secure the border at Texas and order your troops to cross into California, the best tactic. Anyway sorry about the confusion about Henry Harrison, I thought it was Martin Van Buren you were still playing. I see, so every President that sleeps in The President's bed, David takes control? I see, very good. Anyway update soon! Good story by the way.
 
The Second Mexican American War

David summoned General Winfield Scott to the oval office, ‘General Scott, please lay out your plans for dealing with Mexico.’ General Scott explained that he was deploying the National Guard in 9 corps of three divisions each; three of the corps will form the California Army Group, whose job it is to secure the territories west of the United States, two of the corps will move out of the Colorado territories to secure California, while the Third Corp will move out of Utah and secure Las Vegas and move on to San Bernardino. General Scott continued to explain that it was his belief that the Mexican troops moving along the Mexican border are headed to San Bernardino. The Third Corps job is to engage the enemy and hold them in place. The Western Army Group will move out of New Mexico, the Fourth Corp will follow behind the bulk of the Mexican Army with the intent of being the hammer to strike when they Mexican Army encounters the anvil of the Third Corp. The Fifth Corp will secure Buena Vista before moving off after the Fourth Corp to help destroy the Mexican Army, while the Sixth Corp will move south securing the coastal provinces. The Texas Army Group will move out along wide front securing provinces, with the Ninth Corp moving along the coast down. General Scott went on to explain that the initial part of the campaign concentrates on isolating the Mexican Army and destroying it, to prevent the enemy from constantly retreating and reinforcing. So whenever, we engage the enemy, we will attempt to swing at least one division around behind the enemy to prevent retreat.

By July 23, American troops had started to arrive at their initial destinations, Buena Vista, Matamoros, Rivilla, Chilhuahua, Caliente, San Bernardino, Elko, Beaver, San Fernnando. So far the bulk of the Mexican Army seemed to have paused in San Diego, but luckily, we were able to isolate and defeat a division at Rivilla. David could not help but laugh when early August brought another declaration of war: El Salvador joined Mexico in their war with the United States. Within two weeks of El Salvadors declaration of war, all nine of the initial provinces had all been liberated and the United States army was on the move again. Scouts reported that the Mexican Army had not moved out of San Diego, and appeared to be preparing defensive positions. The California Army Group continued to move through the western territories securing provinces before moving forward. The Fourth Corp remained in Buena Vista, secured the province and reinforced. The remainder of the Western Army Group and the Texas Army Group simply steamrolled through Mexico, facing minor resistances that turned out to be nothing more than speed bumps in the road. Although General Scott was quite embarrassed when a Mexican division snuck behind enemy lines and captured Caliente during September of 1845. October of 1845 saw the end of the Mexican Army, the California Army Group and systematically moved through Nevada and was posed to hit San Diego in conjunction with the Fourth Corp. The battle lasted just six days with twelve US Army divisions hitting four Mexican division from two directions, the province was secured within two weeks and the Army Group moved south to secure Baja peninsula. Throughout the fall, the Western Army Group and Texas Army Group moved south like a scythe through wheat, the California Army Group was broken down into divisions and deployed throughout the liberated provinces to subdue revolts and to secure the northern California provinces. Fall turned into winter, undefended California provinces were liberated and the Texas Army Group closed in on Mexico City.

On January 26, 1846, the Secretary of State rushed into the President’s office out of breath and very exicted, ‘Mr. President, it is the British.’ David thought to himself, ‘Oh no, we are not ready, have I over extended.’ The Secretary of State continued, ‘They wish to settle the Oregon issue. I suggested that we make the border the 49th degree and they accepted.’ David breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, ‘Good, we are not ready this year, but soon.’

The second Mexican American War continued into the Spring of 1846, General Scott’s reports started to become monotonous, “We liberated this, we liberated that, we have not engaged any major Mexican armed resistance.’ With the exception of the forces in San Diego, the Mexican forces consisted of a few isolated single divisions that were easily isolated and destroyed. By the summer of 1846, the war had been going on for almost a year, the troops were getting very tired, over half of the US Army was on detached duty running around Mexican provinces suppressing revolts, though the front line troops continued their constant forward movement. Late June of 1846, the Eight Corp out of the Texas Army Group was pulled back for rest and reinforcements, when a coordinated rebellion in Revilla, San Fernando and Santillana surprise the US forces. The divisions in Revilla and San Fernando were defeated, which resulted in the worst defeat of the US Army in the second Mexican American War. General Scott ordered the deployment of the Tenth Corp from the strategic reserve to secure both of those provinces. The Eight Corp division in Santillana was able to suppress the revolt and General Scott had the two-defeated division move to Santillana for reinforcements.

By the end of 1846, Congress was pressuring President Polk to end the war. David dispatched the Secretary of State himself to negotiate with the Mexican government. Negotiations began on December 15, 1846 and ended on January 5, 1847 with Mexico surrendering Revilla, San Fernando, Chihuahua, Caliente, Lees Ferry, San Bernardino, Elko, Carson City, Alturas, Las Vegas, San Diego, Eureka and Beaver to the United States. David was disappointed that Mexico was unwilling to surrender all of California, but he was patient because he had time.

By the end of January 1847, the Secretary of State had returned with the full report on the Mexican negotiations, but David was more interested in the second part of the Secretary of States reports. It appears that Great Britain was now at war with Austria. David then spoke with the Secretary of War, who reported that six cavalry divisions had been deployed to Lagos, six cavalry division were on the Canadian border, and six native divisions were being deployed to Florida at the beginning of February. The remaining divisions would be fully trained and deployed by the end of the month. David looked at the older members of the cabinet, ‘May, your time will come this May.’
 
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The National Guard was recalled from Mexico and demobilized for 30 days to allow the troops some rest before being remobilized. A majority of those troops were deployed along the eastern coast and along the border with Canada from Maine to Minnesota. The first quarter of the year was spent preparing and dispatching various sealed orders, some of which contained additional sealed orders to be opened only after completing the first set of sealed orders. But for war to be successful, it had to be a complete surprise for Great Britain. At the beginning of May 1847, ships and troops started to move, on May 9th, the United States declared full unconditional war on Great Britain. David had heard the arguments from the Secretary of State about executing just a colonial war to limit the fighting overseas were we only could lose Lagos, while Britain could lose dozens of claims. But it was decided that the risk versus reward was great enough to warrant the war.

David and the Secretary of War knew that the United States could not fight Britain on the high seas, which is why the six cavalry division were already in Africa with their orders before the war started. They immediately started to move out of Lagos, three westward along the coast, three southward and toward the interior. The small US Navy split into three fleets and quickly shuttled three of the native divisions in Florida to Bermuda, Bahamas and Belize. The divisions sent to Bermuda and the Bahamas landed successfully by mid May; however, as the fleet approached Belize it discovered that Britain had a full division already dug in, so the fleet diverted to Jamaica were the division was put ashore by the end of the month. After the three division were landed, the fleets returned to Florida and picked up the three remaining division, would were delivered to Trinidad and Tobago, North Leeward Island, and the Leeward Islands. After that, the three fleets fled to New Orleans to sit out the war.

In the Northwest, US troops move across the border, the cavalry rushed through Alberta and Saskatchewan with the intent of dividing British Columbia from the rest of Canada. The 9th Corp sent fifty thousand men across the border into Vancouver.

In the east, troops moved across the border into Brandon, Fort William, Ottawa, Sherebooke, London and Sault Ste-Marie. The troops in Eaton and Maine held their position keeping the forty thousand British troops holding position across the border. The first great battle of the war was fought in Sherbrooke, with thirty thousand British troops defending against ninety thousand US troops. For two days the armies’ battle before the British troops retreated east to Riviere du Loup. David and General Scott were ecstatic when the heard the news of the retreat and but even more so when they learned that the British retreated to Riviere du Loup. General Scott ordered the three Corp in Sherbrooke to secure the province, with one Corp moving north into Quebec and the other two moving east into Riviere du Loup. Of the two Corp in Eaton, one was to move north into Riviere du Loup hitting the British from the southwest. So, just as the demoralize retreating British troops arrived, so did three US Army Corps. The first US troops arrived on June 22 and the British held their ground for seven days before retreating south to Bathhurst. Once the province was secured, the troops marched south as well as the remaining Corp in Eaton moved southeast. The US Army moved like a hot knife through butter until ten of Britain infantry divisions melted away on the shores of Hailifax in late October.

But this was not the only action in the east, US divisions moved north out of Ottawa and Sherbrooke forming a horseshoe from the Hudson Bay to Quebec, provinces fell and the remaining British forces were trapped and destroyed in Timmons. The forces were split with some division heading northeast to secure provinces, while the remainder headed northwest in pursuit of the few remaining British division. With the first phase of the war in the east over, the US attempted to secure as many provinces as possible before the expected British counter punch landed.

Although the first six months of the war in the East was classified the ‘an outstanding success far exceeding the expectations of the President’, the war in the west was an entirely different affair, it was described as ‘confusion, mistakes and foul ups.’
 
Great series of updates. David is really taken to the expansionist mind-frame. Good luck with the rest of the British war.
 
Just as the American troops arrived in Vancouver, scouts reported that British troops had been spotted in Vernon and Nelson. The American command immediately split his single Corp into individual divisions, sending two into Vernon and one into Nelson. In addition, he diverted one of the Cavalry divisions from Alberta to hit Nelson from the east. What the American commander did not realize was that the two divisions in Vernon and Nelson were firmly entrenched and they had another four British divisions in British Columbia. Two of those divisions move south to reinforce Vernon and Nelson, while the other two division slipped in behind the American force to capture the Seattle. To make matters worse, the cavalry division arrived in Nelson much earlier than the infantry division and was badly mauled before the infantry arrived. When news of the loss of Seattle and the infantry bogged down in combat in Vernon and Nelson, General Scott ordered the reassignment of three reserve divisions in California to move north to liberate Seattle and the shift of three reserve divisions from Texas to move north and reinforce the border. To add insult to injury, it appears as if the Cavalry moved too rapidly through central Canada, resulting in a gap between the Infantry moving out of Minnesota and the Cavalry, which had almost reached the Northwest Territory. Through this gap, Britain was able to move three or four infantry division out of the trap in Ottawa to reinforce the troops in British Columbia.

The cavalry forces in central Canada reached the southern Edge of the Northwest Territory and stopped to form a picket line, their orders were to hold that line and prevent the British from retreating south once the infantry moved north out of Ottawa. The cavalry commander did see an opportunity to extend his line westward to capture Ft St John and Atlin, thus splitting the Northwest Territory from British Columbia, so leaving a screening force behind he move west to capture Ft. St John. Unfortunately, even though his idea was good, the cavalry commander did not wait to concentrate his forces, but instead rushed them in as they became available. The first lone division attacked Ft. St. John on July 20, 1847 and was forced to retreat a week later. The American forces then paused, regrouped and waited for the remainder of the available cavalry forces to arrive.

During the summer, the forces from California marched up the coast and recaptured Seattle. Scouts reported that the British had moved east into Spokane, the California troops march east in pursuit. Luck was beginning to smile on the Americans, because, the troops from Texas had arrived in Spokane just prior to the British troops attack, so while those two forces were engaged, when the California forces arrived. Two British divisions were smashed and over 4000 prisoners were captured on August 4, 1847. The American troops only had a moment to catch their breath, because the battles in Vernon and Nelson were still going on. The Texas troops moved north to reinforce the forces in Nelson and even though the did not arrive in time to save the cavalry division, they were able to turn the tide of battle, so that the British were forced to retreat on September 7, 1847 and liberated the province in October.

October also saw the resumption of offensive operations in northern British Columbia as the cavalry forces had been concentrated for another attack on Ft. St. John. It was a risky operation to attack on the onset of winter, but the element of surprise was with the Americans when they attacked the British forces. The victory in Ft. St. John was surprisingly quick; however, the complete liberation of the province took longer that expected, especially since all but one of the cavalry divisions was immediately sent west to secure Atlin before the British could be warned or reinforced. The Americans were able to defeat the retreating division and to repeal two counter attacks from the Northwest Territory into Atlin before liberating the province late in 1847.

But before the victory in Atlin, there was the tragedy in Vernon. The American do not know why, but the British choose Vernon as the point on the map to defend at all cost. All of the British troops that slipped through the pickets from Ottawa were there. The California forces arrived in early November, but could not reach the 33rd and 34th Divisions that were trapped on the far side of the river. The British had driven the original two American divisions back and now just a few hundred men were left. The California troops watched helplessly as the British attacked until both division no longer existed and the last fifty American troops were lead away as prisoners, the only American survivors of the seven month battle in Vernon. The American commander knew that crossing the river into the British forces was suicide. He only had three divisions and was facing eight British divisions, although they were badly depleted and only had a slight numerical advantage. But he made a grand show of building defensive positions along the riverbanks, visibly building boats and making sure the British expected him to cross and attack. The British forces started to dig defensive positions in preparations to repeal the river assault. What the British commander did not know was that the Texas troops were on the march, they left Nelson in late October and would be arriving in Vernon soon.

On the morning of November 20th, the British commander was awakened by one of his scouts to report that most of the Americans across the river were gone, instead of three divisions, there was only one now. The British commander smiled and thought, ‘Good, just as I expected, he crossed up river and is attempting to hit my flank.’ The British commander was up and out the door, yelling order, ‘Pull the river lines in and prepare the defenses.’ The British commander had expected that the Americans would not be foolish enough to assault directly across the river, so he had prepared two defensive lines. The first being the obvious river line, but a second camouflaged O shaped line that defended the primary river crossing point, but also extended a few hundred yards inland at a ninety degree angle from the river. So no matter which flank the Americans came from, the British could shift forces from one side to the other quickly. So, when pickets reported two American divisions approaching: one up river and one down river on the British side of the riverbank, the British were ready for them. What the British commander did not expect was the additional four infantry divisions approaching from inland. ‘What, were did they come from’, yelled the British commander. ‘They have to be reinforcements from Nelson, they must have captured Nelson sir’, answered a young Captain. Though taken by surprise, the British forces in Vernon fought for weeks before breaking out and retreating on December 18th. Vernon was liberated and the California and Texas troops set off in pursuit of the retreating British.

1848 opened with the United States facing just a few scattered British divisions retreating back into the few remaining British Provinces. All of the British Caribbean islands had been liberated and most of Canada was in American hands. Just a few provinces in Northern Quebec, central British Columbia and the Northwest Territory were still in British hands, but David and General Scott were still concerned, the US had no Navy, so the British could land forces anywhere, which meant that the National Guard was now spread out paper thin all along the coast. In addition, without a Navy, David had no idea how the Africa campaign was going; was it a success or were they all dead? All of those answers came when a single British ship sailed up the Potomac under a flag of truce on March 9th.
 
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