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, the area north of Washington was secured. 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 1861, 3, 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.

"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 had little contact 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 drafted a telegram to commend Lieutenant Colonel Cullen, a loyal federal officer.

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

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 17000 regular troops dropped sharply to 14000, 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 number of troops without authorization from Congress 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 25000 well-trained soldiers to ensure that Fort Sumter is foolproof, otherwise the fall of Fort Sumter is only a matter of time.

After reading Lieutenant Colonel Anderson's report, Lincoln wanted to curse. If Colonel Mason's request for the federal government to send two or three standing regiments to Fort Kearny was reasonable, then Lieutenant Colonel Anderson's request was simply nonsense and an excuse for surrender.

25000 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 reasons Seward gave were that Fort Sumter was not completely completed, the fort was not very strong, the number of cannons on the fort was not large, and the ammunition was not sufficient. Moreover, Fortress Sumter is far away from the north. The supply of Fortress Sumter will cause a huge financial burden on the already poor federal government.

Furthermore, they were simply unable to meet the 25000 reinforcements requested by Lieutenant Colonel Anderson.

Postal Minister Blair also said that if they really have 25000 elite mobile troops, why not directly attack Richmond, the capital of the southern puppet government a hundred miles away, and waste precious troops in a city 700 miles away from Washington. On an unfinished fortress?

Could it be that the southern industrial center and the capital of the puppet government had less strategic and political significance than a fortress at the seaport of Charleston?

Secretary of War Scott advocated holding on to Fort Sumter.

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

As long as Fort Sumter is controlled, Charleston, South Carolina's most important port and coastal city's access to the sea, can be turned into an inland city. South Carolina's cotton, cane sugar, tobacco and other cash crops were unable to leave the port of Charleston, which in turn severely damaged South Carolina's economy.

South Carolina was the slave state with the toughest attitude in the South. If a military fortress could paralyze South Carolina's economy, it would be well worth it.

At the same time, Scott also refuted Blair's views, saying frankly that Blair did not understand military affairs at all and was confusing the audience and substituting concepts. Attacking Richmond, the capital of the southern puppet government, and supporting Fort Sumter are completely different things and there is no comparison. In the end, Scott did not forget to ridicule Blair for attending the West Point Military Academy. He was so short-sighted and was simply a shame to West Point.

(End of this chapter)