Richards Southern Yarn

Book I of the Alternative History Trilogy
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4835-4560-8
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 155 Seiten

A Southern Yarn is a what-if scenario on the Civil War based on a trap Lee set for Grant on the North Anna River in May of 1864. Richards springs the trap which was never actually sprung and plays the war out to a different ending.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Richards, Ron

Leseproben

Chapter Two
Ox Ford For his own part Grant was admittedly discouraged by the twin failures at the Wilderness and again at Spotsylvania, but surely not to the point of despair. The thought of retreat never entered his mind. No sooner had the guns fallen silent than he began to devise another plan for the destruction of his southern counterpart. He was beginning to see the futility in assaulting an army entrenched in fortified earthworks. Lee would have to be drawn into the open where he could be exposed to total defeat. Accordingly, he proposed to detach Hancock’s corps from the army, sending it on a march six miles east of Spotsylvania to the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad. Here they would turn directly south to Milford Station, well to the rear of Lee’s right flank. He expected Lee to leave his fortified position and lunge after Hancock to prevent a rearward thrust, whereupon he would fall upon the Army of Northern Virginia with all his remaining strength. Lee and his beleagured army would pass into history. The war would be over. Unfortunately for Grant, things would not go quite as planned. Though he himself was in the process of receiving some thirty thousand reinforcements, and would soon have an additional eleven thousand with the return of Sheridan’s cavalry. Lee was also fast making good his own losses. Two factors in widely spaced areas of Virginia contributed to this development. Grant’s campaign had begun as a three-pronged effort, with his own force comprising the center. To the west, Franz Sigel had been assigned the duty of conquering the Shenandoah Valley. To the east, Ben Butler had sailed up the James and landed with a sizeable force south of Richmond. Both of these men had come to grief. General Breckinridge, with the help of the cadets of Virginia’s Military Institute, dealt Sigel a decisive blow at the Battle of New Market and sent him reeling down the Valley toward Maryland. Butler was stopped by Beauregard and effectively bottled up on a tiny peninsula known as the Bermuda Hundred. With these two Federal incursions neutralized, Lee was able to draw reinforcements from both regions to assist in the next confrontation with Grant. A minor skirmish at Spotsylvania involving Grant’s extreme right also contributed to the derailing of his design. The action itself was largely inconclusive from a tactical standpoint, but the contact produced intelligence which Lee was able to put to immediate use. He discovered that Grant’s right flank had been largely denuded, which to him meant but one thing, another sidle to his own right. He prepared to meet it. Grant too drew knowledge from the brief encounter on his right. It showed that Lee was not adverse to taking a swipe at him if the opportunity could be found. Accordingly, he decided not to dangle Hancock too far away, lest that able officer be lost. Instead, all four corps of the army would march toward Milford Station at close intervals, Hancock leading the way. All day long on the twentieth of May, the signs of an imminent Federal march were unmistakeable. Lee therefore kept his own forces ready to move at a moment’s notice. Under the cover of darkness on the night of May twentieth, Grant slipped away and marched east. It was not until six hours later that the lead elements of the Rebel army moved out to intercept them. Whether by intuition or superior use of existing intelligence, Lee once again correctly guessed his opponent’s intentions and was able to choose the ground on which they would meet. Though it pained him to yield another twenty miles of his homeland to the northern invaders, he chose the North Anna as the next line of defense. Given the added advantage of an interior line of march, he could easily afford to allow his adversary a six hour head start and still beat him to the North Anna. By dawn on the twenty-first, both armies were well into their respective marches. Robert E. Lee and his staff officer, Colonel Taylor, were astride their horses atop a small rise watching as the men of Anderson’s Corps passed toward the southeast. The men of each unit cheered their commander as they passed, and he invariably replied with a tip of his hat or a wave of his right arm. “Well, General,” remarked Taylor. “Two battles so far. What do you think of this man Grant?” “Are you asking me if I agree with the general sentiment that he is butchering his own men to no good end?” “I’m curious as to your estimation of his abilities.” “Then let me say, Mr. Lincoln has never sent me a tougher opponent. General Grant knows full and well what he is doing and what the ultimate result will be if we continue fighting at this pace. I’ve heard him called a butcher, but I’m afraid I don’t agree. He appears to be a man of purpose, and he seems to allow no interference with that purpose. General Longstreet made a comment to me before being wounded in the Wilderness. Apparently he knows General Grant very well. They were friends before the war. He compared Grant to a bulldog. He said that once he latches on to an opponent, he simply doesn’t let go. I’ve come to the conclusion that old Peter was right. General Grant has no intention of letting go of us until we perish or yield.” “Is there yet hope for us?” pressed Taylor. “Strange we should be discussing such a prospect, Walter. We’ve just dealt those people two rather emphatic setbacks, yet we find ourselves wondering if we still have any hope for victory.” “Do we?” “I think so, my friend, but if we are to win at all we have to do so in the open field. Even now we are yielding ground, far too much of it to suit me. We cannot allow ourselves to be pushed back much further. If Grant reaches the James, this whole affair will settle into a siege. There can be only one result of such a turn of events. The superiority of northern manpower and resources will literally strangle us. We’d have no choice but to ... ” He stopped in mid-sentence, unable to say the obvious word. “We must defeat them, Walter!” he continued. “We must do so decisively and soon!” General Grant was in high spirits that same morning, sure that he had managed to steal a march on old man Lee and confident that the end was near. Even as Lee was commenting on Grant’s singleness of purpose, a regiment of Massachusetts infantry had an opportunity to witness that aspect of Grant’s character at work. They were marching south along the railroad when they spied their commander seated atop a flatcar gnawing on a hambone. He seemed oblivious to all else, as though nothing else existed save the remaining meat on that bone. They cheered him wildly and waved their hats in salute. Grant acknowledged their greeting with a wave of his arm, then quickly returned to the business at hand, savoring every bite as if it might be his last. To those infantrymen one thing was obvious. Ulysses S. Grant rarely allowed himself to be distracted. Once he had established a goal, he pursued it relentlessly allowing nothing to interfere. “You see that?” one soldier called to his companions. “That’s what he’s doing to Bobby Lee! He’ll just keep chewing till nothing’s left!” His comrades agreed in a rather boisterous fashion, most of them convinced that a match had at last been found for the fabled Rebel General. Despite the recent setbacks, their spirits remained high. True, they had twice been bested, but it was not toward the Potomac they marched but for the James. They were not retreating as they had after so many previous defeats, they were moving forward. It was the rebels who were giving ground. Away they marched, and not too much later Grant polished off the remaining meat of the hambone. He leaned back against the front wall of the flatcar and savored the feeling of being full. He was on the verge of dozing when sounds of several approaching horses brought him to full attention. He opened his eyes to find Meade along with several staff officers and a small escort. “Good afternoon, George,” he grunted. “How goes the march?” “On schedule for a change. Everything seems to be going well, so far.” “Good. That’s the kind of news I like to hear. Any word on Lee?” “Only that he’s marched from Spotsylvania. Hancock hasn’t reported any contact yet.” “Have you studied the maps?” “I have.” “Where do you think he’ll try to stop us?” “The next natural line of defense is the North Anna River. I think he’ll try to head us off before we reach it.” “I agree, but I think we’ll get there first. His men must be close to starvation; don’t you think?” They can’t possibly march as fast as these fellows.” “Don’t take him lightly,” cautioned Meade. “I’m not. Believe me, I wouldn’t, especially after what I’ve seen in the last two weeks. By the same token, I refuse to overestimate him. We have a head start of several hours. Our men are in fine shape, both physically and mentally. The physical condition of Lee’s troops has got to be deplorable. I think we can reach the North Anna before he does, and if we do we can wrap this thing up once and for all.” “We’ll know soon enough,” replied Meade, who had long since...