The three rivers that straddle the centre of the American continent were the second key to the Confederate War of Independence. Tennessee, Cumberland, and above all the mighty Mississippi were of true strategic importance and the centre of the other major operations throughout the war. The importance of the rivers were paramount, but none more-so than the Mississippi, the river fortress city of Vicksburg was key to the control of the river and therefore would split the Confederacy in half and enable deep Yankee operations into the rear of the rebel lines. Some have even mused that an approach upon the strategic cities of Atlanta, Savannah and further onto North Carolina could have been made after the fall of the fortified city. This is certainly what Lincoln envisaged and he set
McClellan,
Grant and
Halleck about the task of delving deep into the south and taking the strategic point.
The first move was for the three armies to cross into Tennessee over the grand old river,
Grant and
McClellan crossed at Paducah and proceeded towards Fort Henry keeping the Tennessee river at their left (eastern) flank and attacking the force their on the 6th February 1862. The defences that the fort had were weak in the extreme, its position upon the river was bad due to Kentuckian neutrality and it fell easily, from here they approached Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland river.
General Floyd attempted to strike a week point in the Federal forces and force a gap with which to escape. Although the assault was in part successful the gap was not enough and the garrison of around 12,000 surrendered.
McClellan was removed from command of his corps and sent back east to take effective command of the US army leaving
Buell in command of his army. At this point the three armies were reorganised into three wings and command centralised with
Halleck. Then General stated that
Buell was to march upon Nashville while
Grant move south toward Shiloh where
Buell would re-join him and march to Corinth where the three wings would form into the full army.
Halleck himself was in Columbus, which had fallen the previous year, rebel forces, with the new Confederate
General Beauregard in command, opposed the Union forces just outside the city which
Polk had lost the season before.
Beauregard was loathed to take on the numerically superior Northerners and decided to fall back toward Corinth, he decided that his army must concentrate before being destroyed piecemeal, and so ordered
Bragg,
Ruggles and
A.S. Johnston to converge with him there. This left Nashville wide open to Buell and so he marched on toward Shiloh after leaving a small garrisoning force.
Boer cavalry (dismounted) before the Battle of Shiloh
On the 6th April
Grant was surprised at Shiloh by the appearance of the armies of both
Beauregard and
Johnston, the first day of the Battle of Shiloh was a Confederate success driving
Grant back towards the Tennessee, but were not able to complete the defeat. The largest impact of the day was by far the loss of
General Johnston, considered by many including
President Davis to be the most able officer in the theatre. His work was, however, carried on very successfully by his Cavalry commander, a British officer from Natal, South Africa, with a regiment of Boer dragoons that he had brought from his homeland. The sudden appearance of
General James Archer and his regiment of strangely uniformed dragoons, able to “shoot from the hip” accurately while upon horseback drove back an otherwise spirited
Grant counter attack. Many times in British history a in adversity a great man suddenly rises to the fore and leads his men to victory, this would seem to be the case with Archer, who after impressing
Beauregard so much, was given command of the erstwhile
Johnston’s army. The next day
Grant was reinforced by
Buell’s wing of the army and decided to try his counter again, upon the opposite flank of the southern forces. The Union forces struck
Beauregard’s left with such ferocity that the lines of grey started to crumble, the senior northern commander,
Grant, looked to throw in his reserves and eliminate the Confederate forces.
Grant,
Buell and their union charges were dismayed to see the speed with which
Archer swung his erstwhile regiment around to the opposite side of the field, the brilliance of speed of the counter again sapped precious initiative from the Yankee. Rallied by the performance of the regiment and the supporting CS Cavalry the lines resolve strengthened allowing
Beauregard time to form an orderly tactical retreat.
Archer the archetypical English gent knew that the old general could not ask of him what was needed and spoke plainly;
…sir, it seems that you are in need of a cavalry screen close to the union lines. With respect I am the best man, I shall proceed to the lines and command from there. Would you get this note to my family and tell them that I shall undoubtedly return…
With that the Englishman left the command tent, mounted his steed and rode off to the front and the fierce fighting.
Beauregard sighed in his tent as he realised that, no matter what the sentiments of the man,
Archer would almost certainly not return. He jotted down some of his own thoughts for the man’s family and gave it to a dispatcher to carry it to the family home in Atlanta.
Beauregard managed to retire in good order towards Corinth concentrating his forces. The rearguard was finally routed and fled southeast toward the cost, its status and that of its commander was unknown. While the army of
Beauregard merged in Corinth, the bravery of
Archer, his Boer’s and the CS Cavalry were lauded in the newspapers and society.
The damage to
Grant’s wing was great, but not as sour as the damage to his reputation and career. The Northern generals command of the battle was actually excellent but US reporters, some distance from the field that had not seen the action, they reported that
Grant had been drunk and had caused many of his men to be bayoneted in their beds. He was relived of command and sent back east to work on the fortifications at Washington.
Beauregard was similarly removed from his command after his tame performance at Corinth on May 29th.
Braxton Bragg, now raised to full General, took control of the force and moved south Tupelo to rest his force.
Halleck, now in control of the combined Union armies moved west toward the river fortress, all the time bing hit by repeated hit and run raids from Confederate forces in his rear. The next season, in early 1863, looked to be a defining year in the west and one that did not look too bright for the Confederacy. 1862 had dealt them a sever blow and their opponents looked to march on with impunity, ironically the exact opposite was occurring in the east…
The 1862 campaign in the west
created a plausable AH scenario.
