Gentlemen, Sirs! <salute>
We are asking for your input on our latest proposal for a Club wide Tournament coming this fall, Clash of Titans! This will be played on the Campaign Chickamauga format and will involve 3 separate battles within the campaign tree. We are asking for your comments which should include if you are interested in participating in the tournament and if not for what reason. If you would prefer to make only private comments then please do so and you can find our email addresses listed at the DoR in the Reports as CSA or USA Roster. Below is a brief outline of this "What if Campaign"Quote:
CLASH OF TITANS
Jackson goes West
Stonewall Jackson survives his wounds at Chancellorsville and rejoins the ANV just in time to fight at Gettysburg. The battle is a stalemate and Lee unable to prod Meade into attacking him on ground of his own choosing withdraws to Virginia at the end of July.
Bragg having suffered the humiliation of being outmaneuvered by Rosecrans during the Tulahoma campaign and now having lost Chattanooga has tried Jefferson Davis's patience for the last time. With the Gettysburg Campaign having achieved no concrete results, Vicksburg and the Mississippi River now under total Union control and Bragg apparently unable to stop the advance of the Union Army of Tennessee Davis makes a fateful decision. He meets with Gen. Lee and over his vociferous protests he explains that he is promoting Stonewall Jackson to full general and sending him west to replace Bragg. However, Stonewall does not want to suffer from the same handicaps all of the commanders of the Army of Tennessee have operated under i.e.: constant interference from President Davis. Jackson agrees to the promotion and assignment only under the conditions that he chooses his corps commanders and commands without interference from Davis. Davis reluctantly agrees as long as Jackson keeps the president informed of his movements and plans. Jackson arrives at Lafayette on September 10th to take command and immediately reorganizes the Army of Tennessee as follows:
Army of Tennessee: General Stonewall Jackson
1st Corps - Lt. Gen. William Hardee (14,352)
Cheatham Division & Hindman Division
2nd Corps - Lt. Gen. D. H. Hill (9,653)
Breckenridge Division & Cleburne Division (commanded by Brig. Gen. Polk)
3rd Corps - Maj. Gen Patrick Cleburne (17,100)
Johnson Division, Stewart Division & Preston Division
Reserve Corps – Maj. Gen. Walker (8,667) - (the jury is still out on adding these two divisions to Hardee's corps, reduce Walker back to division command and Gist to brigade command)
Walker Division & Liddell Division
Reserve artillery - 450
Forrest's Corps - 6,557
Wheelers' Corps - 7,016
Total Strength 63,795
(Longstreet’s Corps may or may not be included later as reinforcements, but possibly at a greater strength considering the great slaughter at Gettysburg did not occur,)
Grant Takes Command
President Lincoln was greatly relieved when Lee withdrew to Virginia at the end of July along with the fall of Vicksburg. He was genuinely euphoric over Rosecrans’s capture of Chattanooga on September 4th. Then euphoria faded as spies in Richmond reported some disturbing news. There were strong rumors that Davis had met with Gen. Lee to discuss replacing Bragg. However, the spies could not determine if Davis wanted Lee to take over the hapless Army of Tennessee or one of his subordinates Gen. Jackson or Gen. Longstreet. Lincoln though impressed with Rosecrans’s results thus far considered the man no match for a Lee or Jackson. For once Lincoln was not going to let the situation outpace his ability to react. Without consulting his Secretary of War or Army commander Henry Halleck, Lincoln sends US Grant a telegram to take command of the Army of the Cumberland. Grant leaves Gen. McPherson in command in Mississippi and along with Gen. Sherman he boards the first steamer north. On September 9th Grant arrives in Chattanooga and takes command from the furious Gen. Rosecrans. Grant quickly replaces Crittenden and McCook with Sherman and Hooker, but before the army can even absorb the rapid changes in the command the campaign begins.
Jackson moves east towards Nashville and Grant moves to block:
On Sept. 12th, 1863 the Confederate AOT marched out of Lafayette heading northwest to Stevenson Tennessee. Joe Wheeler's Corps screened the army to the north and Bedford Forrest's Corps screened ahead of the army to the northwest securing the river crossings and hiding Jackson's exact movements from the northern cavalry. Jackson now puts his army to the test as he pushes them hard toward Shelbyville Tennessee in an attempt to gain a march on Grant. The next day Grant summarizes the information arriving from this cavalry reconnaissance and concludes that Jackson is headed for the Union supply base at Murfreesboro to capture badly needed supplies and then push on to Nashville. Grant knows this is Jackson's apparent goal on the surface, but he is certain Jackson's real purpose is to draw the Army of the Cumberland into a battle and defeat it in detail thus clearing Central and East Tennessee of Union forces and opening the door to an uncontested invasion of Kentucky. The two armies screened by cavalry now push hard towards site of the hard fought battle the year before.
Grant has the more direct route to Murfreesboro from Chattanooga and despite Jackson’s best efforts he wins the race to the city, but just barely. On the morning of Sept.18th Union cavalry ordered by Grant to race ahead to the city occupy the roads leading out of Murfreesboro as Wilder's Lightening Brigade and the lead elements of Gen. Sherman's 21st Corps begin to arrive. Forrest's Corps arrives from the south as the sun rises to scout and screen the arrival of Hardee's 1st Corps and D.H. Hill's 2nd Corps. Their infantry divisions are pushing hard up the Shelbyville Turnpike with Gen. Cleburne's 3rd Corps close behind. The stage is now set for the first Clash of Titans.
Army of the Cumberland - US Grant
14th Corps - Thomas - 24,273
20th Corps - Hooker - 14,874
21st Corps - Sherman - 15,018
Reserve Corps - 8,913 (the jury is still out on dismissing Granger and adding his divisions to Sherman's corps)
Cavalry Corps - 9,164
Unattached – 721
Total strength 72,963
(OO Howard's 11th Corps may or may not be included later as reinforcements, but possibly at a greater strength considering the great slaughter at Gettysburg did not occur)
There will be more details at a later date after we have had a chance to review your comments on the pros and cons of our idea!
Respectfully,
General Ernie Sands, USA
General Nick Kunz, CSA
Colonel Larry Mills, CSA
Co-Tournament Directors