IMAGI-NATIONS : PART 25

THE OPENING BATTLES WITH THE FRENCH IN THE WAR FOR THE FEDERATION.

On 9th June 1875 UNION troops marching north from Chicago met French soldiers moving south west and skirmishing began. At the same time UNION cavalry patrols to the north east reported that German troop trains were moving west towards Boston. Long range patrols to the east found that German troops were detraining at a railhead only 550 miles west of Boston. Meantime the UNION cavalry brigade deployed to Boston had arrived and quickly stopped the rioting in that town and imposed martial law. The UNION command realised that it had misunderstood the strategic deployment plans of the French and Germans. The UNION had expected the enemy to concentrate all their forces along their border with the Federation and move east across a broad front.  It seemed now that the Germans had sent all their troops east towards Boston while leaving it to the French to protect the southern flank. This arrangement  left the UNION with all its troops facing the French and none to oppose the German advance on Boston. However it was also realised that the Germans had taken a big risk by sending all their forces east leaving them exposed to being cut off from the south.

The UNION 1st and 6th armies were immediately ordered to move urgently to the east towards Boston. These armies were entrained at Chicago for Lincoln where they would move north as quickly as possible. It was clear however that they could not possibly reach Boston before the Germans. The UNION's only hope of avoiding the capture of Boston lay with the cavalry brigade of 1st army, then in Boston, delaying the German advance until the German supply lines could be cut by defeating the French and capturing the railway to the west.  To this end the cavalry brigades of 4th and 7th armies were ordered north to cut the railway. In the meantime the bulk of 4th and 7th armies moved to battle positions facing the French about 400 miles north west of the border north of Chicago, both sides being at the end of a long supply line.

Following the structural changes in the composition of the UNION armies after the war with China, each UNION army was now around 60,000 strong. The 120,000 soldiers of the 4th and 7th armies were about to go into battle with 100,000 French troops. Unlike the Chinese, the French were equipped with modern quick firing artillery. Although the UNION guns had a little more range and a slightly bigger shell, the two forces were fairly evenly matched except for the significantly larger number of guns in the UNION armies and their possession of heavy artillery, the only nation in TIAN so equipped.

On 11 June the French and UNION armies engaged in battle. UNION artillery opened a heavy bombardment on French positions and for the first time, UNION troops came under heavy enemy artillery fire. UNION heavy artillery commenced counter battery fire and the artillery exchanges continued throughout the day. By night fall UNION heavy artillery commanders felt they had located the French artillery and plans were made to launch infantry assaults in the morning after a short but heavy bombardment. At dawn on the 12th the UNION assault began. Under the UNION heavy artillery bombardment the French artillery was slowly silenced. At 1pm the UNION infantry attack began under an umbrella of plunging heavy machine gun fire. Fierce fighting took place and heavy casualties were suffered by both sides. The fighting continued till dark and then faded away as both sides dug in and consolidated. Next morning was a repetition of the previous day but with a strong French counter attack in the early afternoon. After this was beaten off  UNION commanders realised  the French had started to withdraw. UNION attacks were renewed and the French retreat became general. Due to the high casualties suffered by UNION troops it was decided not to maintain the pursuit as dusk settled over the battlefield.

Next morning UNION generals took stock. They had suffered some 4000 casualties and some 3000 French dead and wounded  were found on the battlefield together with many destroyed guns. UNION Medical and Pioneer battalions began their work. UNION patrols found the French had continued to withdraw during the night and were still retreating all the following day. On the 15th UNION forces started to follow the French. Early on 16th UNION advance guards came in contact with the French who were found to have once again dug in ready for battle. During the afternoon UNION artillery opened fire on the French. French counter fire was weak and demonstrated how effective UNION heavy artillery had been. Around 5pm UNION infantry advanced and almost immediately the French started to fall back. Clearly the French had lost the will to fight. Over the next two weeks UNION forces continued to advance against weak and ineffective French rearguards taking many prisoners along the way until on 3rd July they reached the French border. At this point a white flag appeared from the French side of the border. A meeting was arranged and the French asked for a cessation of hostilities. This was granted subject to formal peace talks at government level.

The UNION army had prevailed but at a heavy cost. By the end of the fighting some 5800 UNION soldiers had been killed or wounded. Almost 1500 French soldiers, many wounded, had been captured, and repatriated,  and UNION Pioneers had buried 4000 French dead. On 7th July UNION forces started the advance towards Seattle and the border with Germany  now reinforced by the 2nd army from Richmond.  In the meantime on the eastern side of the Federation other battles had taken place with the Germans.