As the winter melted away and spring arrived on the North American continent, the fighting once again resumed. In the east, the area expected to receive the heaviest fighting, the front lines remained static. The Union's Army of the Potomac now lead by Gen. McClellan and numbering 100 000, remained motionless, protecting Washington from the attack that never came. McClellan's southern counterpart, Gen. Lee, also refused to move, instead reinforcing his defences and waiting for the enemy to come to him, as it had at the Battle of Bull Run the previous year. And the Union did attack - just not where Lee expected.
Confederate defenses in Virginia
The Army of the West, a sizeable force of 50 000 Union soldiers led by Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck with Grant as his subordinate, moved south into Confederate territory and down the Tennessee Valley, laying waste to any farms, fields, and infrastructure that he came across. While there was some opposition, many surprised Confederate citizens let him pass through, burning a trail behind him. When the Confederate Army of Tennessee heard of this move, it was ordered to march to the defence of Nashville. It came as a shock, then, to its commander Albert Johnson that Halleck was much further west, moving towards Memphis. Fortunately, the new railroad system the CSA was building had linked these areas early in its construction. The Army of Tennessee used the railroad to move west in defence of Memphis. They were very nearly too late.
Still exhausted from the journey, only 25 000 men arrived in time for to defend Memphis. The Army of the West, on the other hand, was on high spirits. They were well rested, well supplied now that the blockade of the Union had ended, and outnumbered their enemy two to one. In the early hours of the morning, Halleck ordered the Army of the West to attack, taking the Confederates by surprise. Johnson attempted to keep his formation and hold his army together, but it came to no avail. The Confederate lines broke and fell into disarray as the men fled south. Halleck, seeing the advantage, pressed his men forward to try and surround the Confederates, knowing that if the Army of Tennessee was destroyed, the way would be clear into the heart of the Confederacy. He was not to be so lucky. As the Army of the West entered Memphis, it met a battalion of Confederate soldiers. The battalion, numbering only 1000 men, many of them Native American, held out valiantly against the Union forces, and were slaughtered to a man. This 'Stand of the Thousand', forever immortalized in the South, gave Johnson enough time to regroup his army in Mississipi and escape destruction. But the Union campaign was not yet done.
(-1000 regulars, -2000 conscripts to the USA, -1000 regulars, -3000 conscripts to the CSA)
Moving east, burning the land as they went, Grant and 25 000 men marched towards the city of Chattanooga. An impressive scouting system by the Confederates meant that Johnson was aware of this movement, and as his men were still filtering in from Nashville, he turned them around and moved parallel south of Grant, hoping to arrive before the Union did. He was supported when Confederate General Bragg arrived at Chattanooga, bringing 10 000 men with him. These men were well trained, and many of them had been in battle before at Bull Run and the Third Seminole War. Altogether, 20 000 men faced Grant near the town of Huntsville. The Battle of Huntsville lasted a long day, and with fewer casualties than the previous battle. However, as night fell, Johnson realised the precarious position his army was in, stretched out across Tennessee, and ordered a general retreat. As he regrouped to defend the strategic city of Atlanta, Grant entered Chattanooga, and moved to destroy as many rail lines as he could find. Chattanooga was a strategic railway hub for the Confederacy, and without it, the connection between east and west was severely hampered, but not destroyed, as newer lines ran further south, through Mississippi and Alabama.
(-1000 conscripts to the USA, -300 regulars, -600 conscripts to the CSA, -1 infrastructure level to the CSA)
The situation of 1862 now looked bleak for the Confederacy. It's allies in Europe had now turned their backs, large parts of their territory had been occupied, and they had lost two battles. The CSA needed a victory if they were to retain morale, and as 20 000 Union soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi, under the command of Philip Sheridan, moved south towards Vicksburg, they were determined not to let this opportunity slip through their fingers. General Bragg, leaving Johnson to defend Atlanta, moved west to take command of the Confederate forces in the area. He was too late to rescue the city of Little Rock, but as Sheridan reached the Mississippi, Bragg was waiting. He had mustered together around 18 000 men, and as the Union forces attempted to cross the river, he attacked. The battle raged fiercly. The day was almost won when Sheridan's second-in-command William T. Sherman launched a counterattack that very nearly broke through Confederate lines, but Bragg pressed his advantage and the Army of the Mississippi was forced to retreat back to Little Rock.
(-1000 regulars, -1500 conscripts to the USA, -700 regulars, - 1000 conscripts to the CSA)
Higher numbers were not enough to win the battle for the Army of the Mississippi
Although it had been a grim few months for the Confederacy, the brave actions of a few had saved the Army of Tennessee from total destruction, and swift thinking by General Bragg had prevented the Confederacy from being cut in two. The Confederacy would live to fight another day.
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