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[Deadmeat1471]

The Confederacy

Battle Cry of Freedom: 1861

News for July 1861

The East

The Union is in the north and we are in the south, They hole Ft monroe east of Richmond our capitol. This is a dangerous spot so we must be vigilant to guard against attacks from there, however it is isolated from the north and the only way to bring soldiers and supplies there is by sea.
The real threat comes from the Army of the Potomac in Maryland north of Virginia. It is already large, and it will only get larger. If we defend Manassas junction, a key crossroads in Northern Virginia, we will eventually be overun by superior numbers. Having said this our strategy must be to fight on as many fronts as possible to prevent the northern armies advancing in force down manassas junction straight for the capitol.

The main battleground I aim for is West Virginia, the terrain is poor so it will be hard for the Union armies to reinforce the area, also making it a good defensive position. Also it is west of Washington, the Capital of the Union and their most important objective to defend. Therefore west virginia is both safer in terms of Union commitment of troops, and better for the Confederacy to attack through in my opinion.

*game note, scouting is VERY important in this game. If you attack a province with enemy forces in and you havent 'spotted' an enemy unit, it gets a bonus to damage. If you didnt scout a province at all before attacking, you will get slaughtered, and you wont have any idea of the numbers of troops that are there just a rough estimate you get. Enemy units 'Scouted' will have binoculars on their unit picture and I believe stay scouted until they leave the province. This makes staying in one place, attacking the same objective VERY difficult as the enemy will know what you are attacking with and you have no element of surprise.
All scouting is done with cavalry, cavalry are as essential in this game as they were in real life. Each scouting mission has a chance of success based on number of cavalry units in the group, the quality of the general, against the screening forces (enemy cavalry) in the province to be scouted.

Grafton, West Virginia is occupied by Union General McClellan, an insignificant victory as there were few Confederate forces in the area. 600 casualties recorded.



Armies fortify critical points in the north, the Union seems determined to fight this war.

Confederate commerce raider Ralphael Semmes sinks a union merchant ship, capturing some supplies and damaging union moral! (small amounts, but can mount up over time)





The union did not attack Manassas in the first turn and lost 10 political points (due to not making an aggressive action against the rebels in the first month, allowing them to consolidate and prepare for invasion)

General Magruder is reinforced with fresh troops in New Kent, Virginia, to protect against a push towards Richmond (Our capitol) from Fort Monroe, down the peninsular.



In Manassas, Virginia, the main Eastern Confederate army is receiving several new brigades of militia. General Jubal A. Early, a competant leader and skilled attacker, takes command of them.



4 star general Samual Cooper is in command in the east, a fairly incompetant man but there is no one to replace him at this time. New generals arrive in Richmond ready for command.



General Jackson, our best General on the field, along with Jeb Stuart our best cavalry commander march into Franklin, West Virginia with orders to harrass the far west flank of the Union army in the East.



Our list of generals, by command points (general command ability)



*game note
The generals have their skills in numbers on the pictures, for example 3.4.4 this is: Skill attacking.Skill defending.Skill at their command type (Infantry, cavalry or artillery)

This is it for the east theatre so far this month.... next I turn to the west

[Deadmeat1471]

Theatre and Army commanders

Basicly there are two types of high level commanders, Theatre and Army who have different roles.

Theatre commanders use their administration and general command skills to 'activate' Army commanders. Each army commander has a chance of 'activating' based on his attack skill. An un-activated leader cannot take part in a battle. Every leader has a chance to activate however is a army commander is in a hex with a large stack of troops, if the army commander activates ALL the troops in that province activate.
If a theatre commander activates, he automatically activates all ARMY commanders in his theatre, east or west.
Army commanders can activate by themselves if the theatre doesnt, but obviously it helps the more chance and more times you can activate, aka make attacks, in a year.

The structure is like this

Theatre commander
   Army commander
     Corps commanders
        Sub-unit commanders

You can have a maximum of 2 theatre commanders and 4 army commanders.

Not just anyone can be an army commander, they have to be of a certain skill and certain rank to be eligable.
Political skill is one of a generals skill levels, moral is lowered by something like 4 for each possible commander (6x4=24) each month/turn, minus the generals political skill. So if all generals had 4, moral would lower 0 for this check.

[Deadmeat1471]

Name of the day!

Union Major General Philip Sheridan


While on his meteoric rise in the Union army, Philip H. Sheridan earned the enmity of many Virginians for laying waste to the Shenandoah Valley.
        His date and place of birth is uncertain, but he himself claimed to have been born in New York in 1831. Although he was destined to come out of the Civil War with the third greatest reputation among the victors, his military career had not begun auspiciously. It took him five years to graduate from West Point (1853) because of an altercation with fellow cadet and future Union general, William R. Terrill.

After serving in a staff position during the early part of the war he was recommended for the command of a cavalry regiment by Gordon Granger. Within days of taking command he was in charge of the brigade with which he earned his first star at Booneville in northern Mississippi. In the late summer of 1862 he was given a division in Kentucky and middle Tennessee. He fought well at Perryville and Murfreesboro and was given a second star in the volunteers to date from the latter. At Chickamauga his division, along with almost two-thirds of the army, was swept from the field. However, at Chattanooga  he regained his somewhat tarnished reputation when his division broke through the Rebel lines atop Missionary Ridge. There was some question of who, if anyone, had ordered the troops all the way up to the crest. His division made a limited pursuit.
        When Grant went to the East, he placed Sheridan in command of the Army of the Potomac's mounted arm. Against J.E.B Stuart's depleted horsemen Sheridan met with mixed success in the Overland Campaign but did manage to mortally wound the Confederate cavalryman at Yellow Tavern. His purposes were thwarted at Haws' Shop and Trevilian Station. His Irish temperament brought him into conflict with Generals Meade and Warren and Duffie and Stevenson.
        Following Early's threat to Washington, Grant tapped Sheridan to command a new military division, comprised of three departments, and charged him with clearing out the Shenandoah Valley. Despite being plagued by irregulars along his supply lines, he managed to worst Early at 3rd Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. At the outbreak of the latter battle he was returning from a meeting with Grant and rode at a gallop from Winchester to the scene of the early morning reverse. Reforming his men, he drove the enemy-who had lost all sense of order while plundering the camps-from the field, taking many prisoners. For this campaign he was named brigadier and major general in the regular army, vacating his volunteer commission, and received the Thanks of Congress. He also burned his way through the Valley, preventing future Confederate use of its grain and other stores.
        The next March he destroyed Early's remaining forces at Waynesboro and then went on a raid, threatening Lynchburg. Rejoining Grant, he smashed through the Confederate lines at Five Forks, necessitating the evacuation of both Petersburg and Richmond. During the action he unfairly removed Warren for slowness. It was his cavalry command, backed by infantry, which finally blocked Lee's escape at Appomattox. His role in the final campaign even eclipsed that of army commander Meade.

Next up... the west front plans!

[Deadmeat1471]

The western theatre

The main goals here are to defend Kentucky. If Kentucky (who is neutral) is invaded by the Union it is likely they will join the confederacy.



General Albert S. Johnston is in [army] command in Humbolt Tennesee, preparing for Union invasion of Kentucky. Upon invasion he will attack towards Paducah northwards and drive the Union across the river. General Leonidas Polk commands the largest force.

General Bragg is in Mobile training troops for battle in the west, the coastal guns covering mouth of the mississipi in New orleans are trained on the seas.

Confederate troops occupy Springfield in Missouri.

Thats all for now.

[Deadmeat1471]

Ok im going to run through it quicker now, Ill screenshot the major battles and make comments on strategy. Put simply though, the game is to boring to account for every happening

[Deadmeat1471]

September 1861 - Jeb Stuart and his cavalry tear up railway tracks in West Virginia.

October 1861 - The armies of both the North and South are beginning to bulge, massive depots of arms and training camps are springing up around both nations. The cannon foundrys in Richmond and New York are working full steam.

The Union have occupied several Islands off the coast of the Confederacy, we cannot afford, nor are they strategicly worth it to defend them.

The Union army has invaded Kentucky!! Union commander Nathanial Lyon has occupied Paducah and Benjamin Butler has marched into northern Kentucky and taken Loisville. It is expected Kentucky will join the confederacy very soon.

General Braxton Bragg is promoted to Army command, and given the goal to train the recruits of the whole confederate army in Atlanta, Georgia.

General A. S. Johnston In Kentucky orders the Confederate army to dig in, the Union forces are too strong to oppose, yet.

November 1861 - It appears that Kentucky has no spine to resist the Union army, General A. S. Johnston will be moving into central Kentucky to combat the invaders.

December 1861 - Union General Butler is replaced in Louisville, Kentucky.

Confederate Eastern theatre commander Cooper has been dismissed, P.G.T Beauregard is placed in command.

Thats all for now....

[Flintus10]

New system makes things alot easier to go through. Keep it up

[Josephus]

Hah, the Union has made a strategic mistake.

[Deadmeat1471]

Hah, the Union has made a strategic mistake.

Im gonna be honest. Im scared about the west lol. Im hoping Jackson can make some noise in West Virginia

[Deadmeat1471]

Jan 1862 - Union forces occupy Livingstone, Kentucky.

Union gunboats float down the Mississipi and raid transport steamers, there is set to be a river battle soon!

Isaac N Brown is wounded as his Confederate raider is sunk by the Union navy

[oh noes] Union Invade Manassas junction, marching direct towards the Confederate capital.


Confederate forces a dug in, neitherside has a clear view of forces, but it appears the Confederate forces are vastly outnumbered. Generals Jackson and Ewell are in West Virginia out of range to reinforce, General Longstreet will have to hold the ground alone.


The union troops drove us from Manassas junction in a close battle, the union outnumbered us 2 to one. We lost 4400 men, they lost 3600.
James Pettigrew is killed in action! Ambrose P Hill is wounded in action.

February 1862 - Union invades New Kent, Virginia from the peninsular fort Monroe.
The eastern confederate army moves into counter this threat..... General Joseph E. Johnston commands the defence.

.
.
.


We pushed them back after a hard fought battle!
casualties are approx 10,000 on each side, the bloodiest battle yet, and worse..... our greatest leader on the field, general Longstreet is wounded in action


That is all for now... Im not going to lie, loosing Manassas so easily is a big loss! and its happened to me before Jackson should have got off his arse and invaded West Virginia quicker!

[Deadmeat1471]

Man of the hour - Confederate general James Longstreet



  Commanding a brigade, he fought at Blackburn's Ford and lst Bull Run before moving up to divisional leadership for the Peninsula Campaign. There he saw further action at Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, and the Seven Days. In the final days of the latter he also directed A.P. Hill's men. Commanding what was variously styled a "wing," "command," or "corps," the latter not being legally recognized until October 1862, he proved to be a capable subordinate to Lee at 2nd Bull Run, where he delivered a crushing attack, South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg.
       By now promoted to be the Confederacy's senior lieutenant general, he led an independent expedition into southeastern Virginia where he displayed a lack of ability on his own. Rejoining Lee, he opposed attacking at Gettysburg in favor of maneuvering Meade out of his position. Longstreet, who had come to believe in the strategic offense and the tactical defense, was proven right when the Confederate attacks on the second and third days were repulsed. Detached to reinforce Bragg in Georgia, he commanded a wing of the army on the second day at Chickamauga. In the dispute over the follow-up of the victory he was critical of Bragg and was soon detached to operate in East Tennessee. Here again he showed an incapacity for independent operations, especially in the siege of Knoxville. Rejoining Lee at the Wilderness, he was severely wounded, in the confusion, by Confederate troops. He resumed command in October during the Petersburg operations and commanded on the north side of the James. Lee's "Old War Horse" remained with his chief through the surrender at Appomattox.

[Deadmeat1471]

Februrary 1862 - Union soldiers land small raiding forces in florida and texas.

March 1862 - Robert E. Lee takes command of the north flank in Virginia.

that is all for now...

[warhammer651]

wow, you certainly are putting a lot of factual...

My GOD! He's educating us!

[Josephus]

I like learning. I wouldn't be an historian if I didn't like learning.

[Deadmeat1471]

Mostly the people are to enlighten people of a great subject, and explain fuller the character of the Civil war which the game uses