War of Secession (Imperium Americana)

The War of Secession was a major military conflict fought in the mid-1800s between two rival coalitions, each led by one of the two North American factions that emerged after the secession of several Southern states in the United States. While famous (or infamous) for its casualties, commanders and battles, the real contribution of this epic conflict to the annals of military history was the great new weapons discovered by the two North American nations just before the war.

The conflict was noted for its various advances that it brought, from electricity, oil, automobiles and aircraft, to tanks, battleships, warplanes and explosive weaponry.

The appearance and origin of these weapons and technologies is unknown, even to this day. Nevertheless, the impact these weapons have had on the succeeding generations is indisputable.

The war would end after ten years of bloody conflict, though its results and who truly won are a subject of debate. Despite the victory of the Union and its allies in Europe, Canada, and across most of the rest of the world, the failure of the Union to reconquer the southern states led to substantial irredentism and hostility towards the Southern States, as many Americans viewed the war as a crusade to preserve the Union.

Despite this, the Union's long term awards were momentous. The union with Germany and the conquest and absorption of the British Empire awarded the Union and its leaders a massive degree of new power.

Despite this, the diplomatic consequences were more dire. In response to the massive increase in the newly formed Empire of Free Nations' power, many nations joined a grand coalition that rallied to challenge the Empire's newfound supremacy.

.Background

Slavery and differences Between the North and South

Ever since their inception, the distinct differences between the northern and southern states were noticeable. While the north would develop and industrial economy focused on manufacturing, the agrarian south pursued the profits of "King Cotton". During the early years of the 19th century both regions grew rich from these changes. The south in particular would come to rely on cotton as its primary export.

However, this wealth came with a dark side. Carried out on the backs of slaves from Africa and their descendants, the southern economy and culture became dependent on the "peculiar institution". Even poor white farmers accepted slavery, if only to keep themselves off the bottom of the social ladder. Meanwhile, a growing abolitionist movement, spearheaded by the likes of Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison began to strengthen. At the same time, northern "free-soilers" opposed the expansion of slavery in the territories out of fear of losing any chance of gaining their own land.

The debate turned malicious during the 1820s and 30s, with attempts at compromise in the form of the Missouri Compromise and the later Compromise of 1850 failing to sate the ever-growing anger of both sides. By the beginning of the 1860s, both sides openly distrusted each other, spurred on by the Dred Scott decision, Fugitive Slave Laws and John Brown's various raids. Northerners were accused of aiding and abetting slave revolts and the escape of slaves, while Southerners were believed to be attempting to expand slavery not only into the territories, but free states as well.

Unfortunately for both sides of the debate, the decade-long struggle and the resulting bloodletting all but destroyed the will of both sides to continue. Having failed to defeat the south, and with a wide-ranging empire that needed to be secured, the Union turned its attention to keeping cordial relations with the European powers, while the Confederacy manumitted its slaves in the following years, as the new technology brought by the war as well as the loss of any chance to expand slavery into the territories (as the Union held almost all of the west except for Texas and the southern parts of New Mexico) meant that slavery slowly lost relevance. Indeed, by 1900, slavery was extinct, though not technically illegal in the south.

American Expansion

Going hand-in-hand with the slavery issue was the debate on the territories. America's rapid expansion throughout the early to mid 1800s meant that whenever a new state was allowed to join the union, there was intense debate on whether it should be slave or free. Both north and south tried desperately to maintain a balance of power, an equilibrium between slave and free states. Neither wanted to allow the other to gain an advantage.

Election of Abraham Lincoln

The biggest cause of the war was the election of the Republican president Abraham Lincoln. Despite his assurances that he wouldn't interfere with slavery where it existed, the southern states, both poor and rich classes, didn't believe him. South Carolina took the lead when it took the unprecedented step of secession in December of 1860.

South Carolina Secedes

South Carolina's secession was a watershed moment - not only in American history, but in the entire world. On the fateful day that the state convention elected to secede, they set the country, and the world, on a path that could never be changed. Indeed, Imperial soldiers in future wars would develop a slogan, that every time something went wrong, to "blame South Carolina".

New Discoveries...

The biggest change to the world was technological. Through unknown means, technology far beyond anything 19th century engineers could even dream of was discovered throughout North America. Analysis of the scant records surrounding these strange items indicated that they were from the future, the 1940s specifically, and descended from two nations, with small amounts from others, though neither of the major ones existed yet. The Soviet Union, and Germany. These discoveries in the early months of 1861 would change the world. The war was about to change the face of the world forever.

Course of the War

American Theater

1861-1863 (Early Moves)

One of these early discoveries was made by a colonel of the United States Army, Robert E. Lee, near the Alamo in Texas. After his superior, General David E. Twiggs was injured after a fall from his horse, Lee was given temporary command of the Department of Texas. Lee, despite his sympathies to the South and his firm belief in following his state, Virginia, resolved to fight to hold the Alamo when Confederate officials demanded the surrender. Despite Lee's attempts to negotiate, Texan troops fired on the Federal Arsenal at the Alamo. Lee had examined a strange new rifle found by his troops, and after equipping his men and testing the weapon, wielded it to devastating effect against the advancing Confederates. Utilizing tactics of the Mexican-American War of 1846, the Confederates, amassing to within a hundred yards of the fort and expecting to suffer only a single volley before being able to reach the fort, were mowed down in the dozens by the Union troops equipped with the strange "Garand Rifle" and "Luger" Pistols. By the end of the day, an entire brigade had assembled, and settled in for a siege.

Meanwhile, newly elected President Abraham Lincoln resolved to confront the nascent Confederacy as it challenged federal authority in Texas. As Lee's army held out for a week, Lincoln called up 75,000 volunteers for three months to secure federalk property and enforce federal laws. The result was massive. States quickly furnished regiments of infantry and cavalry. However, in the border states, the result was different. Led by Virginia, five border states(Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky) seceded and joined the Confederacy. Maryland and Missouri also were thrown into near revolt themselves, with border clashes between Union and Confederate troops and militia companies of their supporters occuring throughout the early months.

Lee finally surrendered after an overwhelming Confederate force of more then six thousand men arrived and managed to breach the wall. Lee's troops reached Union lines soon after, and Lee was offered command of the Union Army by Lincoln himself. Lee, reluctant to invade Virginia but knowing that the die had been cast, accepted a posting instead as the commander of the Department of the Mississippi, including three new armies, the Army of the Mississippi under Don Carlos Buell, the Army of the Cumberland under Henry Halleck, and the Army of the Ohio, under a new general whose own discoveries of similar weapons and his subsequent development of a so called "Panzer Brigade" led to a swift Union conquest of Louisville Kentucky, named Ulysses S. Grant.

Meanwhile, in the East, a large force under General Robert Patterson marched south into Virginia from Washington. A similar-sized Confederate force assembled under Joseph E. Johnston, while PGT Beauregard guarded Western Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. The Union began a coordinated offensive soon after, as General George B. McClellan advanced into the Shenandoah, and Patterson push towards Manassas Junction. 

Johnston, as the senior commander in the Virginia area, quickly moved to meet the invaders, ultimately colliding with them near Leesburg. However, Patterson's force consisted mostly of troops armed with muskets, while Johnston's newly trained Army of Virginia wielded so-called K Muskets, though their official name was K98, as the German weapons were reffered to by engineers. Even worse, Johnston wielded a force of powerful Type 34 tanks which, while uncomfortable for the troops, were overwhelmingly effective.  

Johnston's army dealt a crushing defeat to Patterson at Leesburg, after which Johnston moved northwards to occupy Washington D.C. McClellan's army, cautiously moving for fear of encountering a larger force, quickly lost its nerve as it withdrew into Maryland. Beauregard coordinated with Johnston as he pushed into Maryland, occupying Sharpsburg by August. After a chaotic period of flight, the Union government escaped to Pennsylvania. The mayor of Washington surrendered the city soon after, and Maryland joined the Confederacy as the thirteenth state.

The disaster at Leesburg shocked the Union. However, it also galvanized it. Upon setting up shop in Philadelphia, Lincoln called for a proper army of half a million to continue the war. Meanwhile, in the west, fighting continued.

Lee coordinated with his subordinates throughout this period, launching daring raids with "planes" against Confederate positions, though his attempts to mount a strategic offensive stalled. Halleck and Buell were slow to mobilize, leaving Grant's Army of the Ohio unsupported as it pushed into central Kentucky. Nevertheless, Grant, when confronted by Confederate General Leonidas Polk at Owenton, won a stunning victory thanks to pioneering armored and infantry tactics. These included the complete abandonment of the traditional line of battle in favor of troops seeking cover and using hand grenades and machine guns to commit to localized breakthroughs before they could mop up resistance. Artillery was used to support the attack rather to prepare for it, while the scream of Union Mustang Birds resulted in heavy Confederate losses. Indeed, Grant's combined arms tactics impressed both Lee and Lincoln, who promoted him to Major General of the Regular Army, while Lee set up his headquarters in the Army of the Ohio.

Naval Warfare

1861-1866(Commerce Raiding)

During the early months of the war, Union sailors discovered and learned how to operate the so-called "steelclad" fleet. Consisting of warships so enormous, with guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees, that many officers thought that firing a cannon would lead to the ship capsizing, this fleet was quickly assembled to protect New York and Philadelphia, while the primarily wooden and steam fleet was used to enact a blockade.

However, in 1862, the Confederates revealed their own steelclad fleet, led by the Battleship Yorktown. The Yorktown decimated the Union squadron blockading Hampton Roads, necessitating the deployment of the Union Battleship Bismarck to the area. As Bismarck entered the area, it opened fire with its fifteen inch guns. The two battleships clashed, though it quickly became clear that the Bismarck held the advantage. Within an hour, a shell from the Bismarck penetrated the deck armor of the Yorktown, causing an enormous explosion that consumed the battleship.

The Bismarck then proceeded to shell several nearby forts, before withdrawing back to Philadelphia to tremendous acclaim. Indeed, this single act would send the Bismarck into the annals of naval history, and it would forever be known by the nickname the steel tiger.

Air Warfare

North America(1861-1871)

Both the Union and the Confederacy made heavy use of aircraft during the war. Air raids and scouting missions occured often, though the Union would pioneer strategic bombing with its use of B-17 and B-29 bombers throughout the war, becoming the bane of Confederate citizens who believed that being so far from the front line would keep them safe.