For those curious, here's the full government of each faction:
The Second American Civil War - Part VI
'
I cannot for the life of me decide which is worse: losing the city, or the wait,' President Roosevelt famously said in early August 1937. It was a bleak time indeed for the Federal cause. Although the Syndicalists had been dealt repeated and crushing defeats in Pennsylvania and New England, General Patton had undone virtually all of II. Army's progress in Virginia, and nearly all of the western states had been overrun by the three rebel factions. Furthermore, if Patton could have captured Baltimore, the Federal war effort might well have collapsed then and there.
Yet, for what at the time appeared inexplicable, Patton did not attack. In fact, even as a hodge-podge of divisions from both I. and II. Armies were entrenching themselves around Frederick for the expected onslaught, Patton called off the advance through the Shenandoah. His subordinates, particularly General Stockman, were flabbergasted. The general refused to explain himself, but after a week of inactivity, with National units glaring at Federal positions with the Capital Building and Washington Monument within sight, the explanation became obvious: word from Atlanta had ordered him to stop.
Fritz Kuhn, the de facto leader of the Union State, had given Patton a direct order to halt. His motives were almost farcical, claiming that those soldiers were badly needed in Oklahoma in order to block Syndicalist advances there. While true, Kuhn did not bother to redeploy any of Patton's divisions in order to counter Reed's offensive. Rather, afraid that Patton could gain too much popularity and influence with his smashing victories, Kuhn had intentionally sabotaged the best chance of a lightning quick encirclement of Washington.
Fritz Kuhn (center) grew increasingly powerful–and paranoid–in Atlanta.
Two weeks passed before the Federals were convinced that Patton had really given up the offensive. But Marshall had been badly bloodied by the July fighting, so the responsibility of lifting sagging Federal morale fell on MacArthur's I. Army. On August 14, with support from III. Army in the south, MacArthur began his drive for Columbus, Ohio. Marching southwest from Akron and Cleveland, MacArthur met little appreciable resistance. Only two militia divisions under the redoubtable General Haldeman stood in the way. Not unexpectedly, it was not enough to hold back the Federal divisions.
Following through on the total conquest of Ohio, MacArthur pushed due west toward Indianapolis on September 4. Syndicalist resistance had doubled and, even though fighting in many instances to the bitter end, were driven in the face of I. Army's advance. The city was taken and MacArthur immediately began to hook northwest to Gary, Indiana, practically on Chicago's doorstep. But Reed was not finished just yet. General Graves, drawing upon five divisions of mixed regular and militia infantry, assaulted Grassert's III. Corps in Toledo, just inside the Ohio border. Threatened with encirclement, MacArthur hastily retreated to relieve his subordinate.
Meanwhile, II. Army had finally recovered sufficiently to contemplate a renewed attempt at pushing Patton out of Virginia. On August 27, the defenders at Frederick left their defensive positions and by September 2nd retook their former positions in Charlottesville without opposition. Buoyed by this sign, a tentative drive toward Roanoke was attempted, but stiff rebel defenses convinced Marshall to call off the attack by the next morning. Instead, II. Army turned its attention further east. Marshall moved on Richmond, supported by Hodges and Chamberlain. Lt. General Cannon, outnumbered, held his ground stubbornly for over two days, absorbing horrendous casualties as his Minute Men units were cut down in droves. It seemed that, as the war progressed, the Nationals were growing increasingly fanatical. Just as fanatic, Patton rushed reinforcements to hold the city, stalling Marshall's advance 25 miles north of the state capital on the 14th.
The see-saw continued across the state. Taking advantage of Patton's preoccupation in Richmond, General Craig ordered II. Corps, stationed in western West Virginia, to attack south, aiming for the town of Marion as a goal. Although small and undeveloped, Marion sat directly on the major highway between Virginia and Tennessee, which would be vital for any future operations in the region. II. Corps began its advance on September 12, plodding along at a slow pace that gave the Nationals sufficient time to retreat south. The town was taken, but not before Patton had launched a surprise attack on Hodges and Krueger's corps in Charlottesville on September 28. The fighting was fierce, and casualties mounted, but the National general ultimately prevailed, forcing the joint command to retreat back north. The fight for Virginia was far from over.
