- Previous: France Aid The Confederates (CYOAH)
The French naval fleet has sailed out to North America with the intent of ending the Union blockade of the Confederacy. These ships will take a few months at most to arrive, allowing the Union to leap at the opportunity to seize France's holding in Mexico. General Henry Hopkins Sibley who had led the Union armies in the campaigns against the Confederate army in New Mexico, is tasked with sending a force of 30,000 men to invade French occupied Mexico with the aid of the Mexican Republic's army.
The Union and Mexican armies push southward and force the French and European forces to retreat. In late 1863 Union and Mexican Republican forces gained a decisive victory at Miahuatlán. Meanwhile, in the Atlantic near America's shores a war is being waged over the seas between the navies of the Union and France. After multiple engagements ending in crippling losses for the Union, France achieves naval superiority by 1864. This comes at the detriment of their holdings in Mexico. Union and Mexican forces close in on the city Querétaro where the Emperor of Mexico Maximilian had fled to. Before the city's fall after a siege, the Emperor retreats to Mexico City. The Union and Mexican forces have caught up and encircled the city, placing it under a siege. Maximilian would make an attempt to escape through enemy lines before being intercepted and later executed. And with that, the Mexican Empire has fallen alongside France's last holding in North America by Mid 1864.
The war may be looking dire for the Confederacy despite France's recent involvement. France has been met with heavy naval losses and although it eventually gains the upper hand over the Union navy, it is a pyrrhic victory, and rumor is that the French will leave the war when the situation becomes unfavorable to say the least. The loss of the Union's naval superiority left its holding in New Orleans isolated. The Confederacy later retook the city with French naval support and cut off Union attempts to connect with their forces in New Orleans while advancing down Arkansas through the Mississippi River. In South Carolina, the Confederacy had regained control of its ports and with it, its ability to recapture Union strongholds on the coast. In late 1864, Confederate troops attacked the Union army in the Beaufort area of the Sea Islands and later captured the area back. The Confederate military now has a decision to make. Using their newfound naval supremacy they could perhaps regain lost territories in North Carolina, make a renewed push into Virginia, or push out the Union army from Arkansas and the Mississippi River.
Written By: Flabby Cheeks for Life
What will the Confederate Military Decide?
- Attack North Carolina
- Begin a Push Into Virginia
- The Confederacy Secures the Mississippi