Cattlepunk 1881 LORE

Albert Sidney Johnston is not wounded at Shiloh in 1862 and is able to defeat Grants troops by bypassing the Hornet's Nest and attacking the flanking units. By the time Buell's army arrived, it was too late and the Union was forced to retreat. With this victory, the Army of Mississippi was able to take the initiative in Tennessee and fight the Union to a standstill.

Having cut off the Union from the Northern approach of the Mississippi River, Davis and Johnston agreed to send PGT Beauregard and some units from Johnston's Army to New Orleans as they now expected an attack there. Beauregard arrived just in time to narrowly beat back the Union invasion and stayed in the city for nearly a year in case there was another attempt to capture the city.

In the East, Lee took victory during the Seven Days campaign and again during the Maryland campaign. The next year, he again took victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville (the latter at the cost of Stonewall Jackson). With these victories, both France and Britain decided to recognize the CSA in May of 1863. Furthermore, Britain began making plans to break through the Union naval blockade.

After his string of victories, Lee was confident that he could end the war by invading the North and winning a victory. The Gettysburg campaign wound up being a failure for Lee as Lincoln had transferred Grant to the Army of the Potomac which was under the command of Meade after his defeat at Shiloh. Unwilling to be embarrassed a second time, he dogged the Army of Northern Virginia all the way back across the Rappahannock. Grant struck another blow against Lee during the Overland Campaign (which also led to the death of JEB Stuart). For these victories, Grant was promoted to Lieutenant General.

Just as the Overland Campaign ended on June 24th, 1864, a small British fleet sailed into sight of the Union ships that were blockading New Orleans. Union naval officers, unsure of what to do and unwilling to start a war with Britain, let them pass, ensuring that New Orleans would remain open for the rest of the war.

In the West, Johnston and Beauregard were able to hold off the Union for the rest of 1863, but only just as both commanders had been stretched nearly to the breaking point. The opening of New Orleans was a godsend for the two generals, and allowed Beauregard to leave New Orleans with a majority of his troops to rejoin the fighting in Tennessee while the British Navy defended the city. The influx of fresh troops and supplies allowed Johnston to begin a campaign aimed at recapturing Nashville, which he took in October of 1864.

With these Confederate victories, both martial and diplomatic, the people lost faith in Lincoln. Jubal Early's Valley campaigns that same year, though unsuccessful, only worsened things for Lincoln as Early's troops advanced to within a few miles of Washington DC and were able to fire at Lincoln himself. McClellan, who was running on a platform of peace with the Confederacy, proved to be a much more popular option with the war weary North and he won the 1864 election by a fairly decent margin.

On March 4th, 1865, George McClellan was sworn into office and signed a ceasefire that same day. Grant had stretched Lee to the breaking point during the Petersburg campaign by this point, but he complied with the ceasefire and made no further attacks. Union and Confederate representatives then went to meet in Washington DC and work out a treaty which was eventually signed on April 12th, 1865, exactly 4 years after the war began.