The Dominion's Dilemma: The United States of British America (74 page)

        “…Additionally,” Scott resumed, “it will have a positive effect on keeping Missouri in the Dominion.”

      Wellington turned back to Scott: “That too, I can see. However, General, the main theater of course will be in northern Virginia. How soon will you be ready?”

       The General began to pace the room, his long legs eating up the distance in four or five steps. He paused before the open window with its view of Arlington House in the distance.

        “I would prefer to march approximately November 1
^st
. That would allow us a month of relatively decent weather. Enough time to meet a Rebel force in the field or to invest Richmond, in the unlikely case they choose not to come out and fight. However…”

      He held up a huge paw as Matty Van began to voice his strenuous objection. “…I am aware, Mr. Governor, of the pressure you are under in the northern press and from London…” He glanced ruefully at Wellington, shifting his legs in his chair---the politico and the soldier doing internal battle---before continuing.

      “…So I have ordered Worth and Wool to be ready to move out October 15
^th
. General Thayer informs me he can have the Carlisle army fully equipped and supplied well before that.”

         “A reasonable compromise, General.” Wellington looked over at Van Buren. “I concur. October 15
^th
is the optimum date: it allows enough time for training while also allowing enough time for a fall campaign.”

        The G-G nodded. “All right, gentlemen. I will accede to your decision. October 15
^th
it is.”

       As Scott and Wellington walked down The Residency steps, the General turned to his old chief: “Optimum time, Sir ?  You know as well as I that 30 days is foolhardy and dangerous. Damn it, Sir! We shouldn’t move out until spring…”

       Wellington mounted his horse before looking down at the glowering Scott and replying: “You are militarily correct, of course. In an ideal world, yes. But under the present conditions, intolerable delay...

      “Consider these facts, General: the Rebels will have had as little chance as your forces to train and coalesce. And, General, we hold the ace:

      “You.”

       Wellington pulled on his reins and trotted down the driveway. Scott, meanwhile, let loose with a series of quiet oaths that would have made the lamented Jackson blush…

___________

Camp Washington

(outside Richmond)

September 16, 1833:

  General Twiggs was pleased. The Camp was filling rapidly with regiments from across the Upper South, with the exception, of course, of Tennessee.
Even the Kentuckians---who are calling themselves “The Orphans” because that damn Clay convinced the state legislature to remain in the Dominion---are already here in regimental strength.

     He had five regiments of Virginians thus far and an almost equal number from North Carolina. There was even a regiment from Maryland, even though that state had also failed to secede.
All told, I have about 12,000 infantry in a dozen regiments and another 1700 in cavalry, along with six batteries of artillery
.

     Of course, that is on paper. These men might be formed into regiments, but they are scarcely trained as yet. Sidney Johnston’s seeing to that, however. The West Pointers, both those come directly from the Old Army, and others who have come from their homes leading their local regiments, are shaping these boys up. And young Joe Johnston is proving a godsend in drilling the artillery
.

     The thought of the big guns made Twiggs smile, then frown.
Those damn Yankees have to be kicking themselves at the thought that we’re getting ready to hit them with their
own
artillery
. But the whispers that his action in turning over Fortress Monroe to Gaines was, somehow, tainted burned.
Tainted! By God, I’ve delivered the “Gibraltar of the Chesapeake” to the CSA without the loss of a single Confederate soldier and that, damn
it, is less than honorable?
He knew what it was all about:
that damn little Gratiot!
  They had rubbed each other wrong as far back as their mutual posting in the Michigan Territory 25 years ago. And they had clashed about Monroe’s design every time Gratiot had come down to Hampton Roads.
Now, incredibly, the bastard is Secretary of War and
even Gaines reports to him.
The other day, ol’ Ted all but admitted Gratiot intends for Taylor to command the field army, if Zach gets up here in time!

   
Well, we’ll see about that. Scott isn’t going to wait to see if Zach’s in Virginia before coming after us! He’ll come when he’s ready…which could be as early as next month. If Taylor has arrived and Calhoun puts him in overall command, so be it. I’ll be the good soldier and follow orders.

     Because, unlike most everyone else in Richmond, I don’t
believe this will be over in one day or one fight! We can’t quit, not now. And we’d have to just about annihilate the Yankees---another Cannae even---before Winfield Scott quits. Well, let old Scott march into Virginia in a few weeks. Whether Zach’s here or not, I’ll be waiting for him. Maybe conduct a Cannae of my own…

___________

    Albert Sidney Johnston was a big man who in a short time had carved a big reputation. Maj. Robert E. Lee had graduated from The Point only three years after Colonel Johnston but looked at him with a certain degree of awe. That was because the Kentuckian had rocketed through the USBAA ranks, serving as a captain and chief-of-staff in the Black Hawk War just six years after his 1826 graduation. Even General Scott had considered Johnston an officer apart, entrusting him with responsibilities far beyond his years and experience.

    Johnston was a natural leader of men and the obvious choice to oversee the CSA Army’s training. He had a hand in assigning the resigned Old Army officers and had concurred with Lee’s appointment to command the 1st Virginia Infantry. There were other officers commanding regiments who Johnston had his eye on; if he couldn’t have them replaced---for political reasons---he had already decided to influence the design of the order of battle to keep them under his thumb as much as possible.

     It was Johnston who, in traveling east from Missouri, had brought the first word that Tennessee had exploded in its own mini-civil war. He had thought about staying on to fight Colonel Crockett and his Dominionists. But the issue would be decided in Virginia and so he had hurried on to Richmond. Calhoun and Gratiot had welcomed him with open arms and General Gaines had quickly arranged for him to assume direct responsibility for preparing the Army for battle. It was going to be strange, going up against the blue uniform…

    But the South’s destiny was south and southwest: Mexican Texas and beyond, Cuba, even California. He was a soldier and he was a Southerner. The choice had not been difficult…

___________

Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania

September 28, 1833:

     Sylvanus Thayer was worried. Not about the build-up of the Army; the volunteers were arriving in surprising numbers. Even Ontario had sent a regiment after successfully appealing to Van Buren about Scott’s decision to restrict its participation to what amounted to occupation duty in Quebec.

    Regulars were also coming in from the Northern and Western posts. The Chief-of-Staff agreed with Scott’s plan to build the Carlisle army around this tough core; only enough officers and non-coms to establish order in the most out-of-control volunteer regiments were to be detached.
Though that might be more difficult that Scott expects, Thayer thought.

    That’s why Brian Judge had been transferred from his Fort McHenry command to take over the 1st New Jersey. The Dutch farmers from Bergen and Passaic counties were not mixing well with the Irish-born volunteers from Newark and Jersey City. 
Well, Judge is a Jersey native; they’ll respond to his brand of discipline.

    Lt. Col. Savage was that rare officer who had risen from the ranks. Thayer didn’t know where he had been born. But John Wool had taken one look at the 1st New York and removed its elected commander.
Damn it, these volunteers have to be taught that
command isn’t a popularity contest
. Thayer himself had suggested Savage when Wool’s request had reached the War Department. Scott had grumbled a bit---“at this rate, my orderly’ll be the ranking Regular in the defenses”---but had ordered Savage to Pennsylvania himself.

      No, what worried Thayer was the weakness he had spotted that gorgeous day last May when Scott had unveiled his plans in the Commandant’s Quarters at The Point: Wool and Worth were oil and water.

     Wool was a crusty old veteran who guarded his prerogatives jealously. He had done a fine job of establishing the training facility here. Everything had run surprisingly smoothly, in fact, until Worth arrived to begin building II Corps. Worth had naturally begun issuing orders, diverting men and supplies. The key argument was over the Regulars, naturally. Wool had enjoyed first crack as the closest ones came in from Plattsburg, Fort Hamilton and other posts of the East. Now Worth was claiming the companies arriving from the Western outposts, men fresh from combat conditions and presumably tougher than troops “softened” by “easy” garrison duty back East.

       That’s why Thayer had traveled up from Georgetown; the first full-dress parade of the Carlisle army was good for morale, of course. But this situation had to be ironed out. The answer might be to reorganize the Regulars into two regiments…and assign one to each Corps.

      And there was the nagging question of how heavily to rely on the half-pays. Thayer understood the concept but also wondered if he had detected the fatal defect: exactly why were they on
half-pay
anyway? Individually, that is? Why had London singled
them
out? For the overwhelming part, they had proven good peacetime officers. But how good were they at leading men when the lead was flying? If there were character flaws that had led London to place them on half-pay status, the heat of battle would expose them. Only then, it would be too late…

     
The Old Man thinks I worry too much. Maybe he’s right; after all, he did serve with the British army in Spain and I did not. But worrying is what this damn chief-of-staff job is all about.

      That and coaxing certain one-stars to act like field commanders, not children…

___________

Richmond, Virginia

September 29, 1833,

1 p.m.:

    
One of the advantages of delegating authority
, thought President Calhoun,
is that it
frees up time to think and plan long-range.

      Calhoun utilized his freed-up time to take a daily ride. Out of the stuffy White House office and in the clear air, he could think and consider his options on any number of issues. Usually, that is.

      Today Count Ignatieff was riding with him. The President didn’t personally care for the Count---the man radiated danger---but as the official representative of the Confederacy’s only ally, he had to be tolerated.  That Ignatieff was indeed the Czar’s representative was no longer in doubt; enough official paperwork had secretly arrived in Richmond from the Georgetown Consulate to verify his bona fides.

      The two men rode within a protective cohort of CSA cavalry. Calhoun uncomfortably accepted, in light of Jackson’s demise, his advisors’ insistence that he be provided round-the-clock protection.

       The irony was not lost on his companion…

     “Well, Mr. President, rumor has it that General Scott is expected to begin his advance as early as next week. May I ask if your intelligence service has confirmed that as fact?”

      Calhoun smiled his dark smile: “Rumor also has Wellington awaiting the arrival of a British army of immense size and power, my dear Count. Yet we have not confirmed that report, either…”

       Ignatieff laughed as he tugged at his horse’s reins. They were now moving out of the city and toward Camp Washington on its eastern outskirts. “I believe we are both comfortable with the fact that no British army is within 3000 miles of northern Virginia, Mr. President.

      “In fact, one of my reasons for intruding on your ride was to report that the British are finding it exceeding difficult, apparently, to raise a coalition to force us out of Syria. As expected, Prussia has publicly declared its disinterest in the crisis; Asia Minor and the Balkans have no charm for Berlin. Louis Philippe likes being King of France; he intends no serious foreign entanglements. Only the Hapsburgs, apparently, can see further than the length of their very prominent noses. Vienna has joined with the Lion to seek our withdrawal…”

       “Can you blame them? They’ve been waiting to grab the Balkans from the Ottomans themselves. And if you get long-term right-of-way through the Bosporus…”

       The Count pulled off his hat and, bowing, swung it cavalier-fashion. “I salute you, Mr. President. Your grasp of European geopolitics, at this critical time…”

        Calhoun was grim. “European geopolitics formed a part of the equation which resulted in our declaring our independence at this time, Count Nicholas. All such factors demand my grasp…” He pulled up slowly and leaned forward to pat his horse gently. “Much farther and we’d be at the Camp, sir. My presence causes too much of a fuss. I suggest we proceed northward instead.” He indicated this to the escort commander.

          Ignatieff nodded and pulled his own animal around. “Certainly, Mr. President. And if I may be so bold…will your army also be proceeding north…in force?”

        Calhoun was silent for sometime. Finally, turning to the Russian, he grimaced: “Unfortunately, I’m told that will be the case sometime next month. All indications are that Scott is training a massive force to lead against us before winter sets in. The Northern press is screaming for a march on Richmond. The pressure on Van Buren must be enormous. And I’m sure Wellington is adding to it.”