Davis and Lee, both crushed by what they had seen at Richmond and Lee’s camp, looked at each other. Davis got out of his chair and paced the room. He looked again at Lee. Lee slowly nodded his head. Forrest was right, they both concluded. The Confederacy will have to wage a guerilla war.
Davis sat down and drafted an announcement to the press. He stated that the Armies of the Confederacy would soon be reorganized, concentrating on small cavalry battalions. He didn’t use the word “disband” when he referred to reorganizing the Armies, a word that sounded defeatist.
The Confederacy would not give up; rather it would “reorganize.”
Davis saw the wisdom of this idea, as did Lee. He also saw the potential tragedy. He would make the announcement to the press. But he said to Lee and Forrest, “Absolutely no steps will be taken reorganize the armies until some time goes by. I want to assess the Union response to the announcement.”
Chapter 85
On the morning of July 31, Lincoln called a hasty meeting with Navy Secretary Wells, Secretary of War Cameron and Secretary of State Seward.
As they were ushered into his office, Lincoln stood behind his desk holding a copy of yesterday’s New York Times. The headline read:
It was a headline that Lincoln hoped he would never see. His advisors were stunned. The headline of one newspaper had changed everything. It made the difference between what was supposed to happen, and what would happen.
With the help of the California, the Battle of Bull Run was a resounding Union victory. It was followed up by the attack on Lee’s Army, which decimated his artillery and munitions. Then the missile attack on the Richmond Armory was the final straw, or should have been.
“Gentlemen,” said Lincoln, “my worst fears have come to full fruit. We know what ‘small cavalry battalions’ means. It means a guerilla war of attrition, of lightning fast strikes against our larger forces, a war of endless bee stings. All of our military plans called for us to eventually occupy key Southern cities. But now, instead of occupying cities, we shall have to occupy a vast land area, an area the size of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland combined. Instead of dealing with a central government, we shall have to deal with countless bands of warlords. Our numerical superiority as well as our industrial strength will be sapped. Our plans call for us to engage large armies. Now there will be no armies to engage, just bands of marauding cavalrymen. The California was to be the key to forcing the South to come to its senses. Captain Patterson and her crew performed beyond our expectations. But instead of bringing the South to its senses, our recent victories have caused it to lose its senses.”
“We have seen no reports that the Confederacy has realized that Operation Gray Ships was a ruse,” said Wells, trying to be helpful. “They still think that we have a vast fleet of terrifying ships.”
“But,” continued Lincoln, “the Gray Ships deception is what caused the South to reorganize. After they saw what happened at Bull Run and Richmond, they knew they were fighting a force they could not resist. Our success is what has cornered them into their only option, guerilla warfare. Not only is the California at a disadvantage in a guerilla war, she is only one ship, as we all know. Captain Patterson has advised me that they are beginning to run low on munitions. They only have three Tomahawk missiles left, and a dwindling supply of other arms. They are also running low on the fuel they need to fly their aircraft, fuel that we cannot provide. We have deceived the enemy. Let us not deceive ourselves.”
Lincoln went on to say that even the naval blockade would lose its power, because the South would no longer worry about provisioning large armies. Small guerilla groups can live off the land. The California’s blockade assistance will become less important because of her constantly diminishing firepower.
Abraham Lincoln, in addition to his qualities as a great leader, also suffered bouts of depression, his “black moods.” His mood had never been darker. They had achieved great military success, but they failed in the most important goal of all, to win the minds and hearts of the enemy.
“Gentlemen,” said Lincoln, ” I need to look at new war plans as soon as possible, because we suddenly have a new war.”
Chapter 86
Ashley kept a heavy boxing bag suspended from the overhead in the corner of her office. It was a great form of exercise, doing wonders for upper arm strength and agility. It was also a great way to let off steam, to give anger a way to vent, a way to punch the face of an opponent without causing trouble.
When the news of the Confederate “reorganization” got to Ashley, she suddenly developed a lot of steam to let off.
Ashley put on her gloves and started to work the bag. As she punched the bag, the image of Jefferson Davis was on her mind. After 20 minutes of the most intense workout she ever had, she steadied the bag and removed her gloves.
Ashley felt better, or at least calmer. She took a quick shower, toweled off and changed into fresh fatigues. She needed to meet with her brain trust, her Time Travel Brain Trust. She picked up the phone and called Father Rick and Jack to her office. She then stood up, walked over to the bag and gave it one last punch. Maybe two.
Father Rick and Jack showed up within moments of each other. Father Rick noticed the punching bag swaying on its chain, and Ashley’s boxing gloves hanging on the bulkhead.
“Having a nice morning, are we?” said Father Rick with his usual smile and chuckle.
Ashley walked over to each man and gave him a hug in place of a salute. Jack’s hug was a little longer than his, thought Father Rick with a smile.
They sat around the conference table, with Father Rick and Jack on one side and Ashley on the other.
“No, we are not having a nice morning, to answer your question, Father.”
“As we steamed away from Richmond I ordered the navigator to lay out a course for our last position on April 10, 2013, the wormhole, our doorway to home. I don’t know if he’s done it yet, but suddenly there doesn’t seem to be a rush. Soon I’ll be meeting with President Lincoln, I’m sure. My guess is that he’ll see the strategic use of the California reduced to blockade duty. We’ll be back to ‘costume changes’ and firing warning shots, with our dwindling supply of ammunition. I can only imagine the shock that went through the White House when they heard of the Confederate ‘reorganization.’ ”
“The bottom line is that we achieved military success beyond our expectations,” Ashley continued. “From Bull Run to Lee’s Army to the Richmond Armory, we showed the South the new face of warfare. Our job was to scare the shit out of them, and their job was to come running and waving a white flag. We did our job, but they have rethought theirs. Instead of surrendering, they decided to make warfare a continuing part of the future for both the North and South, a guerilla war that will have no real end. I never saw this coming, and I don’t think President Lincoln and his people did either.”
“Jack, you have an amazing talent for pulling together a bunch of facts strewn all over the place. How do you see our situation?”
“In a way, it’s simple,” said Jack. “Not pleasant, but simple. I agree that Lincoln will probably want us to continue blockade duty. But with scattered forces all over the South, fresh supplies are less important. Fresh armaments are not as critical either. Guerilla actions don’t take up a lot of materials or ammunition. Strike and run. Disrupt and seek cover. So we’ll steam up and down the coast until we run out of ammo, not to mention aviation fuel for our drones and the Apache. I heard the Weapons Officer say at the meeting the other day that we’re down to three Tomahawks, about 25 Harpoons, 30 Hellfires and enough gas to keep the drones flying for maybe 500 hours. It seems that everyone aboard the California will want to find a nice large target and fire everything we have in one big turkey shoot, and then start searching for the wormhole. That’s the way I size it up.”