IMAGI-NATIONS : PART 8.

A  PERIOD OF PEACE.

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In the five years following the War of Independence the UNION experienced a huge surge in economic and industrial growth. During this period the leaders of the army reviewed the future organisation of the army and its equipment and the government considered the UNION's future relationship with the rest of TIAN.

Engineers at the Rock Island Arsenal had  prototyped a new field gun based on the best features of the foreign weapons purchased during the War. The new gun  proved far superior in all respects to those weapons and it entered full production. In addition development of  both a new heavy artillery gun and a heavy towed machine gun had been completed and production started. The UNION companies of Colt, Remington and Winchester had developed  a new  lever action  rifle with a ten round magazine and a six shot revolver both of which had again proven in tests to be far superior to any of the foreign made weapons then used by the army. These new guns also started full scale production. Construction of vehicles and heavy equipment by Studebaker, Abbot Downing and Murphy also continued apace with several new wagon and trailer types entering service.

Additionally the organisation of the army was considered. Originally it had a regimental basis with each army being a self contained force but only capable of operations as a whole. Although this had proven broadly adequate during the War of Independence senior officers realised a different structure was necessary for the future. It was decided to reorganise the army into independent self contained arm of service battalions which would be grouped together into brigades, similar in size to other nations divisions, with four Infantry brigades and one Cavalry brigade forming each army.  ( This revision was implemented in the Woodscrew Army several years ago.) In addition the government created the Army Support Service. This body was formed to provide supporting services to the field armies. Members of this organisation would not only man the Rock Island Arsenal and its associated warehouses of stockpiled weapons, ammunition and equipment but also provide the services needed to operate the various army bases including training of new recruits. It was decided that employment in the Army Support Service would be open only to retired army personnel and those who had left the service after a period of enlistment. By this time  service in the army, although voluntary, had become very popular with young men in the UNION. However, not surprisingly, many did not see army service as a career but were happy to serve for maybe the minimum time of six years. The Army Support Service provided continuity of employment and the opportunity to develop a trade.  Towards the end of this time frame  it was also decided to create a fifth army which would be based at the new Fort Bridger near Tucson, a little north of the border with Mexico.

This decision was prompted by concerns in the UNION government about the situation in Mexico.

For some years a low level insurgency had been going on in Mexico between the government and Arab supported religious terrorists in the south of the country. The terrorists were keen to create a fundamentalist nation in Mexico similar to those in the Arab countries of Syria, Iran and Iraq.  This insurgency had been simmering for a long time but had increased in strength over the past few years. Mexican government troops and police were finding it increasingly difficult to control terrorist activities and the fundamentalists were striking government targets over widening areas of the country and with increasing success. Although at that time the Mexicans had not asked for UNION support, it had been decided to offer, free of charge,  the redundant foreign made military equipment available as a result of re equipment of the UNION army with home produced weapons. This equipment was welcomed by the Mexicans.

The UNION government remained very concerned by the situation in Mexico for other reasons too. It had been realised that following the War of Independence the UNION had no friends amongst other nations in TIAN. Although the UNION could and would remain a self sufficient country it was recognised that Mexico provided a useful pipeline to the rest of the world. To that end the UNION had established its one and only embassy in Mexico City and to support the rather weak Mexican economy had started to import raw materials  despite the UNION being quite self sufficient in all such materials.

In the fall of 1866 the Mexican government finally formally requested UNION assistance in the fight against the fundamentalist terrorists in the south of the country. This request was immediately agreed by the UNION and so started UNION army involvement in Mexico that continues to the present day.

UPDATE.

This weeks update is a bit late in publication as I have remained busy with working in the garden, that said I have had some more playtime too, maybe the week had more hours in it than usual or did we have two Tuesdays ?????? Lockdown syndrome must be setting in !!!!!!!!

Anyway, the Infantry battalion was completed and another is well advanced. The Cavalry upgrade is also moving along well. The horses have been made and the screw soldiers cut ready for mounting which is the next step. Work continues on the upgrade of light and heavy GS trailers and ammunition wagons. It seems the light trailers and ammunition wagons have been finished and there appear to remain just some heavy GS trailers left to do. I will publish final totals of upgrades completed as soon as the exercise is finished.

In the meantime I have been reviewing Pioneer and Field Police battalions and have decided to increase the number of companies in each battalion from 5 to 6, similar to Infantry battalions. With 12 Pioneer battalions in service I will need to build 12 more companies of 44 men each together with some extra medics and signals troops. These will be made in batches of four and the first will commence shortly.  For the three Field Police battalions similar numbers of extra soldiers are needed but additionally each battalion will need another GS wagon with a light GS trailer to maintain the units supply capability.

The next installment of IMAGI-NATIONS will be posted mid week just as soon as I can polish the draft. I do hope these ramblings are of interest to readers, any and all comments are always welcome, even if you think they are nuts !!!!!!! Stay safe.

BOOKS : A VICTORIAN RSM.

This book, which I have had for some years,  was published in 1987 and is an edited copy of the diary of George Loy Smith who was RSM of the 11th Hussars during the Crimea War. That regiment was commanded by Lord Cardigan for 16 years and took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade as did Loy Smith.

The dairy covers the whole of his career from joining up in 1833 as a boy of 16 through service in India, Ireland and England, and of course,  throughout the Crimea campaign, until his retirement shortly thereafter.  At that time he became a Yeoman Warder or Beefeater at the Tower of London.

The book gives fabulous descriptions of service life in India, the activities and events of peacetime soldiering at home and good insights into his infamous commanding officer. Although he thought Cardigan a harsh disciplinarian, he also thought him keen to ensure  the rank and file had no injustice done to them by those in authority over them, an interesting and unexpected observation. He also liked Cardigan's gift for remembering the men's names.

As you might expect much of the book covers the campaign in  the Crimea and the Charge in particular, almost a minute by minute account in fact.  Loy Smith clearly understood he had participated in an historic event and indeed he became President of the Balaclava Commemorative Society after his retirement. The book gives a vivid first hand account of both the voyage to the Crimea and life generally throughout the campaign. He also provides interesting observations on the various battles that he saw as an onlooker. As is well known the Cavalry were largely kept away from the fighting  until of course the Charge.

There is a vast amount of fascinating information on all sorts of subjects and the book is highly recommended to anyone interested in the Crimea War or life in the British army and the Cavalry in particular in the years before that war.

IMAGI-NATIONS ; PART 7.

 THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.   THE BATTLE IN THE NORTH AND PEACE.

As negotiations with the Russians for a peace treaty came to a conclusion in June 1861 word reached the UNION government of a French and German expedition moving south into the territory claimed by the UNION in the general direction of Chicago. The UNION government decided the threat had to be met forcefully and therefore deployed the new 3rd and 4th armies to Chicago with instructions to establish a new military base just north of Chicago to be called Fort Kearney. Over the following couple of months UNION forces completed their move north establishing a substantial tented basecamp and sending patrols out to determine the position and strength of the invading force.

In early September UNION patrols located the French and German expedition about 100 miles north east of Chicago and confirmed the force numbered less than 2000 men. Immediately the UNION  3rd army moved forward to intercept the enemy. The UNION commanders realised that sending the whole 3rd army was not necessary, however the structure of the UNION army did not permit deployment of only a part of an army, this clearly was an issue that would require action in the near future. On the morning of 15 September the two forces met in a skirmish which soon developed into a battle. The UNION army hugely outnumbered the French and Germans and quickly routed the invading force taking many prisoners with only a very few survivors fleeing back north.

The French and German governments were outraged by news of the destruction of their expedition and uttered dire threats of retribution. However they knew full well that not only did the UNION now clearly possess a substantial and well equipped army but the distances involved seriously hampered the mounting of a full scale invasion of the UNION. Any French and German invasion force would not only have to be supplied from within their respective countries as their colony just did not have the resources to support such a military expedition but also a railway would be needed.

With that conclusion also came the realisation that their colony may now actually be under threat from the UNION. Such a change in priorities  clearly required a different approach so the two governments sent word to the UNION of their desire for a peace treaty and the establishment of formal borders between the UNION and the French/German colony. The UNION had no desire at that time to expand their territory so accepted the French and German offer. Talks started and quickly agreed a formal border almost precisely along the line proposed by the UNION. The treaty was signed on 1st December 1861 and German and French prisoners were returned.

With the new treaty the borders of the UNION had now been finalised on all frontiers and the existence of the new nation had been begrudgingly recognised. Although the UNION was under no illusions as to the unfriendly relations that now existed with Russia, France and Germany, the War of Independence was over and the UNION could now look forward to a period of dynamic growth and prosperity under the shield of a powerful army.

With that in mind it was decided to construct two more military bases so that each UNION army could be accommodated in a strategically important location. As a result 1st army was located in the original militia training base now to be called Fort Sill outside Rio Diego where it could support 2nd army in Fort Leavenworth facing Ukraine, 3rd army moved to a new base called Fort Reno near Denver supporting  4th army  based in Fort Kearney facing the French and German colony.

In an effort by the French and Germans to strengthen the status of their colony and provide some sort of quasi independence it was now been renamed The Federation and given a  French and German dominated puppet government.

UPDATE.

Our new laptop has arrived and this is my first post using the new machine. Very neat, my wife has set it up and given me basic instructions, I am not of the digital age but this seems much like the old thing. That computer was very old, about 18 years we think and lasted well. This one is much smaller and lighter and does not get hot on the lap !!!!!!!!

This week has been a little more productive on the modelling front despite doing a great deal of work in the garden and workshop. The batch of new GS wagons has been completed and the Infantry battalion is almost finished. Indeed yet another Infantry battalion has been started. In addition I have restarted the Cavalry upgrades, readers may recall I have been increasing the number of squadrons in each Cavalry regiment from 3 to 4. Twelve regiments have been upgraded so far and I an now just starting to build the penultimate 3 squadrons. Of course the upgrading of light and heavy GS trailers and ammunition wagons still continues.

Finally the next chapter of my IMAGI-NATIONS story will be published over the weekend. Well this new computer is definitely better than the ipad or Amazon fire thing, a pleasure to use !!!!

BOOK REVIEW : THE SHORT VICTORIOUS WAR.

As mentioned in a previous post our laptop has expired so I used the iPad to write that last general update post. I now find the iPad will not allow me to add photos to a new post. This post is therefore written on our Amazon Fire. However typing on this device is not easy and I cannot see much of what I have written. A new laptop has been ordered and is supposed to arrive later this week thank goodness. Please excuse any errors as I try to write this book review which will be the last post until the new machine arrives.

This book, published in 1974, is one I have had for many years and recounts the Russian Japanese war of 1904/5. It gives a good general account but with an emphasis on the background with only brief details of the various battles. In fact it is very much in the style of my IMAGI NATIONS posts.  It clearly demonstrates that  the Japanese were lucky that Russia was such a disorganised and chaotic country at that time otherwise there is little doubt they would have lost against the huge resources of their enemy. Overall this is an excellent book, easy to read and if more detail is needed there are plenty of other books that give much more information on the actual campaign.

So with that limited review I shall close this post as eye strain is setting in rapidly !!!!!!

IMAGI-NATIONS : PART 6.

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.  A VICTORY AND A NEW ENEMY.

In late summer 1860 Mexico informed the UNION that continuing efforts to source heavy weapons supplies on behalf of the UNION had secured a large quantity of British artillery with substantial amounts of ammunition. These new supplies enabled the UNION to form another two armies of a similar size to the first two. Training of  yet more recruits in use of the new weapons started immediately. At the same time samples of all the foreign guns were sent to the Rock Island Arsenal for UNION engineers to examine and deconstruct to determine the best features to inform development of a new UNION made weapon. Meanwhile the UNION arms manufacturers of Remington, Colt and Winchester had combined design teams and had produced a new rifle, prototypes of which were supplied to the army for testing. All three companies had also created huge new ammunition manufacturing capabilities. The wagon makers of Studebaker, Murphy and Abbot Downing had also vastly increased production and were now supplying large numbers of wagons to the UNION forces.

At this time conventional military wisdom considered that troops could only be supported by wagons up to 50 miles from a railhead. UNION commanders thought this could be greatly increased by use of sufficient vehicles and strict road management. With this in mind efforts were made by the UNION field army to push substantial bodies of troops far beyond the slowly advancing railhead in Ukraine. These efforts were successful and by having large numbers of wagon convoys moving in parallel across the flat country of northern Ukraine the UNION army moved some 125 miles ahead of railhead. Very early in 1861 the UNION army had advanced to within 50 miles of the Russian railhead quite unbeknown to the Russians.

Although the Russians had deployed a substantial number of troops to their railhead they did not expect a major battle with the UNION at that time as they believed some distance still separated the two sides. The UNION army now had both first and second armies in the field and moved them into positions from which they could  outflank the Russian railhead and launch  assaults on the Russian encampments from two directions simultaneously.

On 1st March 1861 UNION forces launched massive coordinated artillery bombardments on the Russian railhead and surrounding camps while UNION troops seized the Russian railway to the east and using explosives, blasted large sections of track. They then dug in facing eastward. The artillery bombardment of the Russian railhead was followed by infantry assaults from west and south. In heavy fighting with numerous but surprised Russian forces heavy casualties were inflicted on the Russians and much damage caused to railway structures. By the end of the day the Russians had been defeated with heavy losses and the railhead seized. During the next  day all the remaining Russian troops were either captured or killed.

During the battle increasingly frantic messages were sent from railhead to Russian command. As the day wore on it became clear to the Russians that they had suffered yet another defeat. Over the  following days strong patrols were despatched west to determine the exact position of UNION forces. The first reports were depressing. They stated that strong UNION forces were advancing rapidly east using the Russian tracks. The Russians realised that within a matter of weeks if not days UNION troops would be arriving on the Volga and that they did not have time to assemble the strong army they would need to attempt to defeat the UNION on the Ukrainian side of the river. Russian strategy immediately turned to seeking a solution that would prevent a strong UNION military presence on the Volga.

A proposal was sent to the UNION for a truce and peace talks. This was agreed and the UNION advance to the Volga stopped. Negotiations commenced and a deal was made. Basically it was agreed that Ukraine would be demilitarised and both sides would guarantee it's neutrality. The UNION was asked to submit proposals  on a formal border between it and Ukraine. Neither side asked the Ukrainian opinion as neither side was interested in the small rural farming communities in the south. The UNION was keen not to have to permanently maintain thousands of miles of railway with a large military force on the Volga and the Russians were equally keen not to have that UNION presence on the Volga. Neither side had any interest in the thousands of miles of trackless steppe between them either. On 4th July 1861 a treaty was signed, Russian prisoners were repatriated  and both sides started to dismantle the railway tracks from the point of the furthest UNION advance as they retired back to the newly agreed borders. It was agreed each side would have the right to send small military patrols into Ukraine to monitor that the other side was not rebuilding the tracks.

The Russians realised that they had seriously underestimated the new nation in the west and determined never to do so again while they waited an opportunity to secure revenge !!!!! To the UNION the peace agreement came at just the right time as reports were starting to come in of a German/French military movement into the far north of the UNION.

UPDATE.

Yet another week has passed with little achieved on the modelling front. Again most of my time has been spent on painting or working in my workshop building new shelves and drawer units and then actually putting stuff away.

All I have managed is to start the painting of both the  batch of 32 new GS wagons and another new Infantry battalion. Some more upgrades have also been done. 

I thought readers may be interested to know that to date the number of upgrades completed stands at 270 heavy GS trailers, 284 light GS trailers and 153 ammunition wagons. I have now completed the upgrades to my first and second armies. The third army was created with many vehicles already built to the new specification so not too many left to do. Additionally I now have 48,136 soldiers in active service.

I hope visitors to my blog enjoy the IMAGI-NATIONS posts, the next chapter will be published later this week. Please let me have your comments, good or bad, all are welcome. Are these posts interesting or just crap ???

Finally, my laptop has suffered terminal meltdown so this post is created on the iPad, I sure hope it works, stay healthy.

IMAGI-NATIONS : PART 5

   THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. THE OPENING BATTLES.

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Whilst the UNION waited for military supplies from Mexico during 1859, the government undertook many initiatives aimed at strengthening the UNION. These activities included the construction of a railway line from Tucson to Mexico City to enable transportation of the awaited supplies and construction of a substantial military base outside Richmond. In addition, the local arms manufacturers of Colt, Remington and Winchester and the wagon manufacturers of Abbot Downing, Murphy and Studebaker were given government contracts requiring substantial expansion of  their factories and output. Manufacturers of clothing were given orders to produce uniforms and food canning factories were approached to create military grade rations and a government arsenal was established at Rock Island near Manhatton to develop the ability to design and construct heavy weapons and specialist military vehicles. A number of mainly British mercenaries had been recruited by Mexico and these ex officers were immediately put to work enhancing the training of the Militia.

Throughout this period patrols were regularly sent both north to watch for French/German encroachment and east to monitor Russian track laying progress. Although there was nothing reported in the north, in the east the Russians were progressing and towards the end of 1859 were only 250 miles from Richmond. It was with great relief that Mexico announced to the UNION in January 1860 that the military supplies had arrived and the UNION took delivery of a substantial number of both German and French artillery weapons with huge quantities of ammunition and a large shipment of British made rifles again with vast amounts of ammunition. These weapons were quickly issued to the Militia and training began. Planning also started on how and where the Militia, now renamed the UNION army should be deployed.

A few words seem appropriate now on the structure of the UNION army. The army was organised at this time on a regimental basis. Each regiment had a number of battalions. There were a total of five Infantry and two Artillery regiments together with a Support regiment containing veterinary, workshop and signals units and a Service regiment with several supply columns. The whole force was commanded by a Headquarters unit. The army was clearly designed to operate as a single entity. ( Just for reference, this structure is the organisation I followed for my original woodscrew army. ) Following  equipment of the army with the new weapons there had remained more than sufficient material to equip another army of similar size so  training was started with that new equipment by the second tranche of fresh recruits  to create that second army.

In April 1860 the first army was considered ready to commence operations and it was decided to send it to attack the Russians, destroy their railroad and throw them back with the objective that the Russians would realise that the UNION was not available for their domination thereby causing them to retreat back to the Volga. The army concentrated at the new base of Fort Leavenworth outside Richmond and commenced the march east towards the Russians. The army, using a newly built railway line from Fort Leavenworth that had been laid east for just under a hundred miles, advanced on the Russian railhead and arrived at the Russian positions on April 29. The UNION commander kept his forces behind a hill just west of the Russian camp and sought a meeting with the Russian commander. An ultimatum was issued at that meeting and the Russians given 12 hours to retreat. The Russian commander telegraphed for instructions and was told the UNION was bluffing and he should dig in and defeat the untrained civilian mob that he was probably facing.

Next morning saw the Russians, numbering about 500 soldiers and the same of construction workers, dug in and ready for a fight. At dawn  the UNION artillery opened a heavy bombardment on the Russians which took them by great surprise and caused many of the construction workers to flee towards the trains then standing at the railhead. UNION infantry attacked and after a short but intense battle captured the Russian camp taking many prisoners. Casualties on both sides were moderate. The Russian trains which had attempted to escape were also captured. During the battle the Russian commander telegraphed to his superiors that he was under artillery bombardment and clearly facing a well equipped and trained army. Immediately the Russian high command despatched two train loads of reinforcements west which were followed 48 hours later by two more train loads of troops. None of these trains carried supplies, vehicles or heavy equipment.

Unfortunately the Russian railroad had been constructed mainly with a view to supporting trading activities and was only single tracked with very few passing loops. In fact only two trains per week had been arriving at the railhead, one with supplies for the troops and construction workers and the other with construction materials.  Even with double crews and 20 hours a day running, stops for fuel and water meant that it took the Russian troop trains seven days to approach the railhead. By this time the UNION army had advanced to the east almost a hundred miles supported by UNION trains operating on the Russian tracks that had by then been connected to the UNION line from Fort Leavenworth. In addition the UNION had started the construction of a second line alongside the original to enhance the capacity of the railway.

The first Russian train was  ambushed many miles before they had expected to meet UNION forces and ten of the 30 carriages were quickly destroyed by UNION artillery fire causing the train to come to a sudden halt.  Russian soldiers leapt from the remaining carriages only to be met with very heavy rifle fire. The second train, which was following only a minute behind the first, was also taken under artillery fire and, unable to stop in time, plowed into the rear carriages of the first train destroying the rear three carriages. Again Russian soldiers leapt from the train to be met with heavy rifle fire and canister shots from artillery. The Russian troops were exhausted by their long journey, shocked by the artillery bombardment and the heavy casualties around them and quickly surrendered in large groups. The casualties amongst the Russians were huge and UNION medical staff were swamped with tending to  hundreds of wounded Russians. Only two days later and another 50 miles further east the second pair of Russian troop trains met the same fate. Both trains were hit by UNION artillery fire from concealed batteries and again came to a sudden stop . The exhausted detraining troops again came under very heavy fire and resistance collapsed within minutes after  severe casualties.

Word of the disasters soon reached the Russian command and they realised that they were facing a substantial enemy and  only an organised build up of troops and heavy equipment would give any chance of victory. They immediately started to build from the Volga crossing a second line to their railway. The upshot was that both sides commenced a race towards each other as they each constructed a double track railway across the vastness of Ukraine. Over the next few months hostilities were restricted to a few skirmishes between opposing scouts monitoring the others sides progress.