The Confederate Union War

by Alan Sewell

  At a period, but as yesterday when compared with the life of nations, these States were separate colonies. Their only relation to each other was that of a common allegiance to the government of Great Britain. So separate, indeed almost hostile, was their attitude, that when colonists of Massachusetts were captured by savages they were taken to Albany, New York and again led away as captives, without interference on the part of the inhabitants of New York to demand their release.

  Until the recent Rebellion, were a citizen of any part of our country, as an act of hostility, imprisoned or slain in any quarter of the world, whether on land or sea, the people of each and every State of the Union, with one heart, and with one voice, would demand redress, and woe be to him against whom a brother's blood cried to us from the ground.

  Have the purposes for which our Union was formed, lost their value? Has patriotism ceased to be a virtue, and is narrow sectionalism no longer to be counted a crime?

  Shall the North not rejoice that the progress of agriculture in the South has given to her great staple the controlling influence of the commerce of the world, and put manufacturing nations under bond to keep the peace with the United States?

  Shall the South not exult in the fact, that the industry and persevering intelligence of the North, has placed her mechanical skill in the front ranks of the civilized world?

  Do not our whole people, interior and seaboard, North, South, East, and West, alike feel proud of the hardihood, the enterprise, the skill, and the courage of the Yankee sailor, who has borne our flag far as the ocean bears its foam, and caused the name and the character of the United States to be known and respected wherever there is wealth enough to woo commerce, and intelligence enough to honor merit?

  Yankee is a word once applied to you as a term of reproach, but you have made it honorable and renowned. You have a right to be proud of your achievements as well on the land as the sea. Well may you point as you do with satisfaction, to your school houses and your work-shops, and to the fruits they have borne on the forum and in the council chamber, and in the manufactures which have increased the comforts of our own people, and have encircled the globe to find exchangeable products required at home. Those are the greatest and most beneficent triumphs--the triumph of mind over matter. These are the monuments of greatness, which resist both time and circumstance.

  So long as we preserve, and appreciate the achievements of Jefferson and Adams, of Franklin and Madison, of Hamilton, of Hancock, and of Rutledge, men who labored for the whole country, and lived for mankind, we cannot sink to the petty strife which would sap the foundations, and destroy the political fabric our fathers erected, and bequeathed as an inheritance to our posterity forever.

  It needs the united power, harmonious action and concentrated will of the people of all these States to roll the wheel of progress to the end which our fathers contemplated, and which their sons, if they are wise and true, may behold.

  From Florida to California, from Oregon to Maine, from the center to the remotest border, may the possessors of our constitutional heritage appreciate its value, and faithfully, fraternally labor for its thorough development, looking back to the original compact for the purposes for which the Union was established, and forward to the blessing which such union was designed and is competent to confer.

  The stars on our flag, recording the number of the States united, have already been more than doubled; and I hopefully look forward to the day when the constellation shall become a galaxy covering the stripes, which record the original number of our political family, and shall shed over the nations of the earth the light of regeneration to mankind.

  This great country will remain united. How “united” is set forth in the language to which this clause was a conclusion, “united to protect our national flag whenever a foreign power, presuming on our domestic dissention, should dare to insult it.”

  I say to you the people of New York, I cling tenaciously to our constitutional Government, seeing as I do in the fraternal Union of equal States the benefit to all and the fulfillment of that high destiny which our fathers hoped for and left it for their sons to attain.

  Greeley read it again then threw it on the top of the table. This isn’t quite up to the speech that Mr. Lincoln gave at Gettysburg, but it is no bad one. It will answer Mr. Davis’ purpose of rallying the people of New York to the Confederate Union, or, at the very least, of convincing them to maintain quiet neutrality. This is going to be a long war.

  8

  The White House, August 28, 1860

  President Jefferson Davis thumbed through the four pages of Copy #1 of the document labeled Confederate Union General War Plan - 1861. Copies #2, #3, #4, and #5 were held by Secretary of War Stanton, General of the Eastern Armies George B. McClellan, General of the Western Armies Robert E. Lee, and Secretary of the Navy Franklin Buchanan whom Davis had brought in to replace Caleb Cushing. To maintain security these were the only copies extant.

  The plan was written in Stanton’s style of the legal briefs he had been trained to write as a lawyer. Its strategic substance bore the imprint of George McClellan’s thinking. Its tactical details in the Western Theater derived from Lee’s thoroughgoing consideration.

  Davis read the plan aloud while Lee, McClellan, Stanton, and Buchanan followed along in their copies:

  General War Plan 1861

  1. Strategic Objectives, Department of the East.

  A) Restore Confederate Union civil government to the vicinities of Boston, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Portland and Augusta, Maine; and Providence, Rhode Island.

  B) Take possession of the ports at Boston, Portsmouth, Portland, and Providence. The foreign trade of the Insurgent States will thereafter be limited to the Canadian port of Montreal, served by single-track railroads and ice-bound from December through mid-April. Occupation of the New England ports will suppress the Rebel operation of warships and privateers.

  C) Secure possession of the arsenals at Watertown, Massachusetts near Boston and Kennebec, Maine near Augusta.

  D) Destroy by cavalry raid the arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts and the Colt factory at Hartford, Connecticut.

  2. Strategic Objectives, Department of the West.

  A) Destroy the Insurgent armies in Illinois and Indiana --- the army commanded by Grant in Illinois; the army commanded by McDowell in Indiana; and the garrison at Terre Haute.

  B) Restore Confederate Union civil government to the principle cities and populated districts of Indiana and Illinois and Southwestern-most Ohio as far as the line of Rock Island --- Chicago --- Fort Wayne --- Dayton --- Cincinnati.

  C) Isolate the westernmost Insurgent States of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Territory of Kansas by blocking their communications through Illinois and Indiana.

  3. Government of recovered territories. The civil and military governments in the recovered territories will be administered by persons loyal to the Confederate Union. Until hostilities cease, the civil government will be subordinate to the military. Insurgent activities, most specifically recruitment and procurement of supplies, will be suppressed. Movement of persons and trade in and out of the recovered areas will at the discretion of the military authority. The recovered areas will be garrisoned and fortified against Insurgent counterattack.

  4. Attainment of objectives. When these objectives are attained we will have confined the remaining Insurgent armies to the states of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and the inland portions of New York and New England west of the Connecticut River. We will be positioned to close out the Rebellion of these last Insurgent-held territories in 1862.

  5. Commencement of operations. The Western Campaign will begin on about October 1, 1861. The Eastern Campaign will begin about two weeks later after the Insurgents’ attention has been focused westward.

  6. Duration of operations. The campaigns will be constrained after December due to the onset of winter rain and snow. The offensive will therefore halt by early December and defensive lin
es will be constructed. The large cities of Chicago, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Dayton, and Cincinnati should be within our lines by then and will quarter our men through the harsh winter season. Communication lines to supply bases will be garrisoned to prevent disruption by insurgents.

  7. Allocation of forces. The Eastern Campaign anticipates 100 regiments of the National Army will be allocated to the occupation of Boston and its immediate vicinity; 25 will be allocated to the occupation of Portland; 15 to Augusta; 15 to Portsmouth; and 25 to Providence. The Western Campaign anticipates 240 regiments of combined state militias for the initial operation --- 120 to pin the armies of Grant and McDowell and 120 to envelop them. These will be augmented by 100 follow-on regiments within 30 days to occupy lines of communication and replenish losses.

  8. Concentration of forces.

  A) In order to deceive the Insurgents into believing that no offensive may be expected before 1862 our concentrations must remain obscure. In the West our final concentrations will be begin no earlier than 72 hours before the start of the offensive. In the East a movement to the seaboard ports will begin no sooner than one week prior to the start of the offensive.

  B) Order of Concentration, Department of the East. Units of the National Army will debark from these ports: in Florida, Jacksonville; in Georgia, Savannah; in South Carolina, Charleston; in North Carolina, Wilmington, in Virginia, Norfolk. The transports will assemble at Hampton Roads. From there they will be escorted direct to amphibious landings at or near the harbors of Boston, Portsmouth, and Portland.

  C) Order of Concentration, Department of the West. State militia companies will gather: in Alabama, Mobile; in Mississippi, Vicksburg; in Tennessee and Arkansas, Memphis; in Kentucky, Louisville; in Louisiana, New Orleans; in Texas, Galveston. To expedite the arrival of forces near the front, rail traffic will be one-way toward the fronts for three days prior and three days after the commencement of operations.

  9. Supporting army operations

  A) Eastern Campaign. Our forces in and around New York and Philadelphia will launch spoiling attacks to tie down the Insurgent armies, thereby inhibiting the enemy’s ability to reinforce New England or the Northwest. Should the Insurgents attempt to move forces from these areas toward New England they will be attacked on the march by General Beauregard’s army at New York.

  B) Western Campaign, Trans-Mississippi. The Missouri State Militia will secure the State of Missouri against incursions by Insurgents operating out of Iowa, northern Illinois, and the Kansas Territory.

  C) Western Campaign, Kentucky and Indiana. The Kentucky State Militia remaining in Kentucky will secure the State of Kentucky against incursions by Insurgents operating from across the Ohio River, especially from Cincinnati. To tie down the Rebels in Kentucky and Indiana, General Harney will launch a diversionary attack to occupy points on the railroad between Indianapolis and Cincinnati at Shelbyville and Greensburg. Madison will be brought inside our lines if feasible.

  10. Naval Operations.

  A) Eastern Campaign. We will charter steamers to move our men into the New England ports. They will be escorted by warships of the Home Squadron based in Norfolk. A part of the Home Squadron will be sent to the mouth of the Delaware River to engage the Rebel ships based in Philadelphia.

  B) Contracts have been let for the construction of twenty armored gunboats to patrol the Western rivers and block Rebel interference with our commercial and military shipping. These to be completed by March 1, 1862.

  C) Contracts have been let for the construction of twelve ocean-going battle cruisers to augment our Navy, these to be completed by December 31, 1862.

  11. Security. The utmost secrecy must be maintained. We must assume that the Insurgents have agents at high levels in our armies and government agencies. We must assume that they are monitoring our rail and shipping traffic at ports and railroad terminals.

  12. Deception. In order to deceive the enemy we will instigate rumors that the Eastern Campaign will be an amphibious assault up the Delaware River into Philadelphia. We will depend upon the short 72-hour concentration of forces to deceive the enemy in the West.

  When Davis finished reading the plan he paused to take a long drink of his minted tea. “These plans are open to discussion.”

  Robert E. Lee looked at McClellan. “It’s not my bailiwick, Mac, but I do want to know how you’re going to reduce the forts guarding the harbors at Boston and Portland. I didn’t see anything about that in the plan.”

  “I’m not going to reduce them!”

  They all sat bolt upright.

  “It’s one of the things I learned while observing the Crimean War,” McClellan explained. “Harbor forts only have utility when an enemy fleet engages them. They are of no use when an invading fleet chooses to ignore them.”

  “They won’t blow the bottoms out of your ships coming into the harbor?” asked Davis incredulously.

  “They won’t be able to,” retorted McClellan confidently. “The artillerymen manning those forts are inexperienced. They’ve had no practice in deflection shooting. So long as we don’t approach the forts head-on they won’t hit anything except by luck. We’ll run the steamers in by day. I’ll bring the slower sailing ships in by night. Unless there’s a full moon they won’t even see them.

  “To confuse their gunners I’ll mount some cannons on a few ‘decoy ships’ and have them open fire with powder charges only. That will fog up the harbor and make it impossible for the forts to see what they’re shooting at even in broad daylight. Once our men are landed in Boston they’ll be safe. The harbor forts won’t open fire on the city. Their artillerymen probably couldn’t hit it even if they did. I’ll ignore the forts and let them fire off all their ammunition. After that the forts will be no more dangerous than any other pile of rocks.”

  Davis was astonished. “So what you’re telling me is that all those expenditures we’ve been making on harbor forts for lo these many years are useless. They wouldn’t protect our cities from the European navies, would they?”

  “They’d protect us so long as the Europeans played the game of engaging them,” answered McClellan. “And most navy men would insist on slugging it out with the forts until they were reduced. That’s what we’ve all been trained to do. But if an enemy chose to ignore the forts they wouldn’t be likely to inflict substantial harm on him.”

  “What do you think, Frank?” Davis asked Secretary of the Navy Buchanan.

  “I concur with Mac’s conclusions. Conventional wisdom holds that you can’t take possession of an enemy harbor without first reducing its forts. But when has conventional wisdom ever been put to the test? Like Mac says, their artillery men aren’t trained, and even if they were, I doubt that they would be able to estimate lead and deflection with sufficient accuracy to make hits on fast-moving ships.”

  “What about their defending the harbor with warships?” asked Lee. “Do we know how many U.S. Navy ships are loyal to the Rebels? Some of those are bound to show up in Boston to contest our invasion.”

  “We know for certain that they have five of our active-duty ships under their command,” Buchanan replied. He looked at his notes. “They captured the Jamestown at Philadelphia. They acquired the Vincennes and Preble in ordinary at Boston. The Portsmouth and Levant on overseas duty are commanded by New Englanders and crews known to be loyal Free Staters. We suspect some other ships on overseas duty may be Free State-loyal, but we won’t know for certain until they return to their ports. Also, besides the Vincennes and Preble, which are of recent construction, there are about a dozen of our older warships laid up in Boston, Philadelphia, and Portsmouth, but so far as we know the Rebels have not put any of these older ships to sea.”

  Buchanan looked up from his papers. “As indicated in the war plan, we’ll try to draw whatever ships the Rebels command to Delaware Bay to defend against our feigned attack on Philadelphia. We’ll try to destroy those ships or at least bottle them up. If they keep any of their warships in Boston we’ll have
to defeat them, but I don’t expect we’ll have to deal with more than two. We’ll have our entire Home Squadron to deal with them.”

  “I’m satisfied on that point,” said Lee. “At least until we find out whether running our landing fleet past the harbor forts works as well in practice as well as it sounds in theory! I do agree with your point about the risk being necessary. It would take weeks to reduce the forts by naval bombardment and that would only serve to give the Rebels the time they require to fortify Boston itself. Now I would like an explanation of the details of another point in your plan --- that being the cavalry against the New England arsenals.”

  “We’ll land three thousand un-mounted cavalrymen at Boston on the first day,” McClellan explained. “They’ll acquire horses in Boston and then ride for the Springfield Armory ninety miles away. They’ll get there before the Free Staters even know they’re on the way. They’ll burn it then follow the Connecticut River down to the Colt Factory at Hartford twenty-six miles south. They’ll burn that one then return to our lines in Boston. With your permission I’d like to assign Jeb Stuart to command the raid. You trained him superbly to command cavalry in long distance raids. He proved his mettle fighting the Indians on the frontier.”