1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 631 Misfortunes never come singly

Even though the federal government had so many advantages on paper and had many cards to play, the Northern Democrats also recognized the legitimacy of the Republican Party and Lincoln as president.

Lincoln, who had just taken office as president, had a lot of troubles.

Although the Union had full control of Baltimore, all of Maryland, and all of Delaware, it ensured the security of the area north of Washington. Lincoln did not have to fight a battle to defend the capital as soon as he took office.

However, the unpleasant things that happened in Baltimore still greatly damaged the image of the federal government and caused the federal government to lose the hearts and minds of some southern swing states, causing these southern swing states to completely fall into the arms of the Confederacy.

On March 2, 1861, something terrible happened to the federal government in the Kansas Territory.

General Longstreet, who was in charge of the defense of the Kansas Territory, publicly announced the change of flag, handing over most of the military facilities in the Kansas Territory and more than 2,000 elite soldiers who were capable of fighting to the Confederate hands intact.

All the stars and stripes flying over Kansas were lowered and replaced by the stars and patches representing the Confederacy.

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"Thank God, at least Lieutenant Colonel Cullen is still loyal to the federal government. We still control Fort Manhattan, and northwest Kansas still belongs to the federal government."

Secretary of War Scott looked at the list of Nantou officers and the numbers of the Nantou troops in the cable. He was relieved to see that Lieutenant Colonel Cullen and his troops did not surrender to the arms of the Confederacy. That's a lot of good news mixed with bad news.

Due to the lack of famous and capable senior generals in the North, Lincoln looked around and could not find a suitable candidate to serve as Secretary of War. The North was really short of generals and handsome men, so Lincoln decided to keep Scott in the cabinet. Serves as Secretary of War.

Although this man is considered a veteran of the North and the oldest general in the United States, his hometown is also in Virginia, a land of outstanding people. But Lincoln had no choice. Lincoln did not have a deep relationship with the military. He had few military friends in his social circle, and no one was qualified for the post of Secretary of War.

"This is indeed good news." Lincoln telegraphed a commendation to Lieutenant Colonel Cullen, a loyal Union officer.

Unexpectedly, it would be the next day, March 3, 1861.

Lieutenant Colonel Karen declared his allegiance to the American Republic government in the west and accepted the appointment as colonel from President Liang Yao of the American Republic. Cullen's unit was also reorganized into the Kansas Regiment of the Republic's Defense Forces.

At this point, the federal government completely lost control of Kansas.

Most of Kansas became the territory of the Confederacy, and a corner of northwest Kansas centered on Fort Manhattan was incorporated into the territory of the Western American Republic.

Shortly after receiving news of Cullen's rebellion in the west, Lincoln and his cabinet received a letter requesting reinforcements from Colonel Mason stationed in Kearny. Colonel Mason begged the War Department to send at least two to three additional regiments to the Kearny area. It would be better to have an artillery regiment.

Cullen's rebellion meant that Mason's Fort Carney had been caught in a situation where the Western Army was attacking from both sides. Fort Kearny, which was used to contain the North Platte Western Army's eastward march, was in danger. Colonel Mason's concerns are reasonable.

Increase troops? Why didn't Lincoln and Scott want to send more troops to the Kearny area?

There were not many standing and volunteer troops in the hands of the federal government. The Kansas garrison was moved to the south. The federal government's 17,000 regular troops dropped sharply to 14,000, and this number is still decreasing. More and more officers and soldiers in the Union army crossed the border to join the Confederate army.

To make matters worse, these standing armies were dispersed and stationed in border areas to suppress the plains Indians, and the mobile forces they could draw were extremely limited.

Faced with such a difficult situation, Lincoln even came up with the idea of ​​immediately setting up a militia bureau under the War Department to quickly mobilize troops and recruit a large army without congressional authorization to alleviate the dilemma of insufficient federal troops.

Just when Lincoln was troubled by the lack of defense in the western frontier, he received another report from Lieutenant Colonel Robert Anderson at Fort Sumter.

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson mentioned in this urgent report that the military supplies at Fort Sumter could only last three months. If he could not obtain sufficient supplies and reinforcements in time, he would be forced to head to South Carolina, South Carolina. The surrender of the army.

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson also emphasized in the report that there must be at least 25,000 well-trained soldiers to ensure that Fort Sumter is foolproof, otherwise the fall of Fort Sumter is only a matter of time.

Lincoln wanted to curse after reading Lieutenant Colonel Anderson's report. If Colonel Mason's request for the federal government to send two or three more standing regiments to Fort Kearny was reasonable, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson's request was simply nonsense. Surrender to excuses.

25,000 highly trained soldiers? Damn it, the number of standing and volunteer armies that the federal government can command right now doesn't even add up to that amount.

Lincoln's cabinet debated the urgent question of whether to hold on to Fort Sumter or abandon it.

Secretary of State Seward's view was to abandon Fort Sumter. The reason Seward gave was that Fort Sumter was not fully completed, the fort was not very strong, the number of cannons on the fort was not large, and the ammunition was not sufficient. Moreover, Fort Sumter was far away from the north, and the supply of Fort Sumter would impose a huge financial burden on the already tight federal government.

Moreover, they could not meet the 25,000 reinforcements requested by Lieutenant Colonel Anderson.

Postmaster General Blair also said that if they really had 25,000 elite mobile troops, why not directly attack Richmond, the capital of the Southern pseudo-government, a hundred miles away, instead of wasting precious troops on an unfinished fortress 700 miles away from Washington?

Could it be that the strategic and political significance of the Southern industrial center and the capital of the pseudo-government was not as great as that of a fortress at the mouth of Charleston?

Secretary of War Scott advocated holding on to Fort Sumter.

Scott believed that Fort Sumter controlled the outlet of Charleston, the largest coastal city in South Carolina and the second largest city. Even from a purely military perspective, Fort Sumter was of great significance.

As long as Fort Sumter was controlled, the most important port and coastal city in South Carolina could be turned into an inland city by controlling the waterway of Charleston. South Carolina's cash crops such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco could not be shipped out of Charleston Port, which would severely damage South Carolina's economy.

South Carolina was the most hardline slave state in the South. If a military fortress could paralyze South Carolina's economy, it would be worth it.

At the same time, Scott also refuted Blair's views, saying that Blair did not understand military affairs at all, was confusing the audience, and was stealing concepts. Attacking Richmond, the capital of the Southern pseudo-government, and supporting Fort Sumter were completely different things and there was no comparison. Finally, Scott did not forget to mock Blair for having attended West Point Military Academy, but being so short-sighted, which was simply a shame for West Point Military Academy.