Advance the Flag of Dixie

1861
March 11th - Following the secession of seven states from the Union, in the halls of Montgomery, Alabama, the Confederate States of America is formally established. Jefferson Davis, a distinguished commander from the Mexican-American war is elected President, and begins to build a new nation

April 12th - With months of tumultuous argument and negotiation, P.G.T Beauregard, using cadets from the Citadel Military Academy fires upon the fort, beginning the War Between the States. Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 more volunteers, prompting the secession of Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia.

June 3rd - George B. McClellan, a flamboyant Union general routs a small Confederate detachment in Western Virginia. Despite the small scale of the skirmish, the battle served as intense propaganda for a swift capture of Richmond, while resulting in the secession of West Virginia from Virginia.

July 21st - With the Union victory a month earlier, Irvin McDowell launches an expedition to Richmond. However, the inexperienced troops were met with stiff Confederate opposition. Using Johnston's tactics, and Beauregard's zeal, the Union troops are routed back to Washington. The Confederates won their first major victory, in the First Battle of Manassas

August 10th - With the victory out east in Manassas, the west was also with another Confederate victory. The Missouri State Guard, alongside the Confederate military under Sterling Price rout the Union Army in the Battle of Wilson's Creek, taking control of southwestern Missouri.

Fall 1861 - Confederates win a series of small battles in Kentucky, allowing them to control southern Kentucky.

1862
February 1862 - General Ulysses S. Grant, following a siege takes Fort Donelson, giving the Union control over the Cumberland river and Western Tennessee.

March 1862 - In the Battle of Pea Ridge, Confederate Earl Van Dorn was defeated, and withdrew his troops from the area, ending Confederate control of Missouri.

POD starts here

April 6-7 - Following the Union control of the Cumberland river, newly appointed General, and mentor of Jefferson Davis; Albert Sidney Johnston takes control of the newly formed Army of Mississippi. With 44,000 men, he launches a surprise attack on the Union garrison in Pittsburgh landing, flanking the Union positions, and forcing them across the river, ending with a night assault on the Union positions, routing the Union forces, and inflicting detrimental casualties upon the Union garrisons, almost wholly destroying them. However, Johnston suffered 10,000 casualties in one day, and despite the Union suffering far worse, Johnston's fresh troops are in inadequate condition to attack the reinforced troops under Don Carols Buell. Johnston retreats to Corinth, Mississippi. Ulysses S. Grant has his position terminated, and among the dead was William Tecumseh Sherman, chivalrously leading a counterattack, and nearly overwhelming the Confederate attack, before being shot by a Confederate sharpshooter, leading his men into mass-retreat.

April-May - With inadequate defenses, the city of New Orleans is sized by Union forces. However, Confederate high command, under A.S Johnston plans a retaking of a city, to detach John C. Breckinridge's men, and accompany them with the few steam ships available down the Mississippi to retake the city, while simultaneously launching an assault into Kentucky to overstretch Union forces.

April-May - Henry Halleck, losing Grant, moves to Corinth at a very slow pace, and allows cavalry to quickly make out Halleck's military units, three Union armies, one of which was heavily damaged moving at an incredibly slow pace towards Corinth, fortifying after each day of marching. A.S Johnston, seeing an opportunity, decides to use his 65,000 men, alongside Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry to attack the three armies separately.

April 28th - While Don Carols Buell's Army of Tennessee was slowly moving to Corinth, A.S Johnston leads another attack on the right flank of the army as it was stopping following two divisions colliding into each other. The disorganized Union troops were easily overwhelmed by the Army of Mississippi. The Army of the Ohio was sent retreating to the Army of the Tennessee, now personally lead by Halleck. Forrest was sent to harrass and report on the movements of the retreating army.

May 2nd-5th - The Army of the Ohio reaches the Army of the Tennessee, and just as Johnston intended, he once again attacks them, this time from the center and the right. The two damaged armies, battered and demoralized largely ran from the onslaught of 60,000 Confederate soldiers. Finally, the center assault pushed through, after an artillery barage from the left high ground, and the two armies were pushed back north. However, three days were squandered defeating the army, and the Confederates suffered some 5,600 dead, and some 8,000 more wounded or missing. The Confederate Army was now reduced to some 40,000 men, roughly the same size as the Union Army of Mississippi.

May 9th - As some may expect, the Union Army of Mississippi successfully reached Corinth, and took it without opposition. Though the tactical objective of defeating the Union advance was achieved, the strategic goal of protecting Corinth failed. Johnston, knowing that the two armies he defeated are far from destroyed, and understanding that a Siege of Corinth would be a squandering of resources moves to Tupelo, and then Middle Tennessee to prepare for an invasion of Kentucky, while simultaneously detaching 7,000 men under Breckinridge to retake New Orleans, with the CSS Arkansas.

Late May-Early June - Confederate General Stonewall Jackson decides to launch a valley campaign, to distract Union forces and overstretch them. Though some battles were tactically cumbersome, Jackson effectively removes Confederates from the valley, and would later return for the Seven Days Battles.

Late June - Following the wounding of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston in the Battle of Seven Pines, General Robert E. Lee takes over command of the Army of Northern Virginia and audaciously repels Union forces from the Virginia Peninsula in what would be called the Seven Days Battles.

August 6th - In the Battle of Baton Rouge, Breckinridge carefully maneuvers his troops to be avoided by Union sentries, and surprises the Union forces, quickly inflicting damage upon the Union Army. With the timely arrival of the Arkansas, the Union forces were forced to retreat.

August 10th - The Arkansas steams down the Mississippi with Breckinridge, and soon reaches New Orleans. Despite the Arkansas having mechanical failures mid-battle, it continued to slowly flow down the river and fire upon both Union infantry and Union gunships, until the seamen were forced to abandon ship. However, the Confederate troops under Breckinridge were able to acquire various batteries from the Union, and from various armories in Louisiana, allowing for a continued control of New Orleans. However, many riverfront areas of New Orleans were damaged as stray shots from Union cannons burned down various areas of it.

August 28-30th - Emboldened by the Seven Days Battles, Lee once again ventures into Northern Virginia, and almost destroys the Union Army, leading to many European powers looking to recognize the Confederacy.

WIP