War of Rights(IC)(SEE OOC TO JOIN)

by **Wasi State** » Mon Nov 16, 2020 4:13 pm

Revlona wrote:
General Alexander Robert Henderson III
Garrisonville
Army of Northern Virginia
Late Morning, May 4th, 1861

"That is indeed my proposal General Graham, like a fishing hook caught in a young boys hand we shall strike into Pennsylvania and Maryland, cutting off and destroying their infrastructure to our line. We will then swoop around and march to the see north of Washington, putting both the District of Columbia and Baltimore under threat." Henderson said, drawing a line with his finger on the map, showing a path that looked much like a fishhook. It cut through western maryland and southern Pennsylvania before swooping north of DC between it and Baltimore.

"General Graham, as your troops are the most rested I have your orders. You shall, upon day break tomorrow, begin your march north. You are to seek out and if practical to entire armies disposition and numbers, engage the force of federals we defeated here two days past. If this force has made itself scarce you are then to march north west to the city of winchester and ensure it is secure for our cause. From there the rest of the army shall join you and begin to implement this plan, hopefully with greater forces than currently assembles, including the promised brigades to first and second corps." He said, highlighting the general area on the map he wanted the 3rd corps to travel, yet leaving it vague enough to allow Graham flexibility in how he carried out the orders.

"If you become engaged to a force equal or superior to your own you are to find the best defensible position you can and allow the enemy to come to you, aggression is a fine attribute but I would rather be delayed in our campaign than lose a sizeable portion of our force to misplaced aggression, especially so close to enemy territory not knowing the full disposition of northern forces, is this all understood General Graham?" Henderson said, finishing his small speech.

Graham simply nodded once again in affirmation towards the General, his orders being clear as day. "I'll have my boys ready by dawn tomorrow, General. Winchester will be ours by the midweek. And once more another small step towards victory for our cause, assuming we don't run into heavy resistance that is." Puffing away at his pipe again.

"And don't you worry, I'll make sure by the end of tomorrow that the Yankee boys outside of town here won't be a problem no more if they don't up and decide to turn tail and run when they still can that is." He grinned towards them, before leaving the tent to inform his officers about the new plan.

Brigadier General John "Bullwhip" Sioux
Outside Garrisonville, Virginia
3rd Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
Midnight, May 5th, 1861

Masking their regiment of skirmishers movements under the cover of darkness on a misty night, the men stealthily approached through the woods outside of town in search of any suspected Union soldiers and encampments in the area that might've remained after the battle that took place days prior. Their objective was to gauge and mark down enemy unit strengths and capabilities ahead of Graham's main force, and if possible, perform acts of sabotage against the Federals to damage their equipment and harm their resolve.

A portion of Sioux's regiment were in fact actually composed of Native American tribesmen who had been recruited prior to the outbreak of the War due to Graham's escapades out in the Western Frontier, their specific reasons for joining being varied, however they all seemed to share a common disdain for the Federal Government, not unlike their Southern 'compatriots.'

Wearing black warpaint and carrying their bows and tomahawks along with their rifles to remain discreet in this forward operating mission, the skirmishers continued to crept forwards into the night until they found what they were looking for. Assuming the Federals hadn't already left.

by **Bolslania** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 10:42 am

Major General William Westmann
on the road to Washington D.C
May 4th

After the battle at Garrisonville, he decided to retreat back to D.C to pick up more recruits, seeing as how his total strength was less then that of a corps. Supposedly the 1st Columbian Volunteers, 3rd Maryland Volunteers, and 5th West Virginia Artillery was waiting for him there, with more reinforcements on the way. Hopefully his opponent was tired enough to not make any aggressive assaults into Maryland or Pennsylvania. But who knew.

A call had gone out for more recruits to come and fight, and there had been some success. Supposedly Westmann would have another full corps at his disposal. Which should enable him to defend Washington a bit better.

Colonel Smith
Fort Herkimer

"Sir, Washington wants you to apply pressure to Confederate forces out here to prevent them from moving east." Smith said. It had been guessed that Martinez had planned on that anyway, but they wanted to formalize it.

by **Langenia** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:03 am

Major General Juan Martinez
Fort Herkimer
Union 1st Division
Southern Indiana

Martinez looked thoughtful. "I've been considering my options. I plan on marching to the north of Missouri soon to link up with the brigade of southern loyalists led by Brigadier General Max Hernandez from Kansas. I've heard from reports that a sizeable Confederate army has dug in at the state capital at Jefferson City. My division will march here," he points to the extreme north of Missouri close to the state boundary with Iowa, "and we'll send a message to Hernandez, inviting him to march east to join us. I don't know the size of the rebel force in Jefferson City, thus I think it would be prudent to avoid a direct confrontation. If the Confederate commander decides to come north after us, I'll play the sly fox and avoid him. What I think I'll do is fight parts of his army at a time, rather than all at once, to avoid the destruction of the 1st Division. Once he's been weakened enough, then and only then will I CONSIDER if a direct confrontation is worth it. This strategy is due to the limit of manpower available to me. If we manage to get that out of the way, I hope to inform Washington and wait for further orders."

by **Wasi State** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:58 pm

Lieutenant General Charles Shepard Graham
Garrisonville, Virginia
3rd Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
Dawn, May 5th, 1861

It was still very early in the wee-morning hours, the sun was only beginning to peek itself over the horizon to give them some light to see where they were heading on their planned route in the Northwest towards Winchester. Graham in preparation for his men's marching gave a morning Sunday sermon, praising the lord whilst praying for the strength and courage they'll need to bring a swift end and cunning blow to the Union in the long days ahead. Some whispers in his mind of Armageddon from this War lingered in his thoughts, sometimes driving him to drink into the night. The sane part of him only wished for the conflict to come to a close sooner rather than later in any case, less he grow fond of it in short order.

His skirmishers had reported back to him as the rest of his force were prepping to pack up and leave Garrisonville that early morning, they had found only traces left behind of their encampment from their scouting, but it was clear the boys in blue had left sometime yesterday, likely towards D.C from what John "Bullwhip" Sioux had relayed to him from the tracks on the dirt they found.

"It's a sign from the Lord that the way to Winchester may be clear, but be on your guard all of you, the snakes are in line with the devil, and devil shares his tricks to those that stoop to the brimstone and ember flames." The Lieutenant General then remarked to them as he mounted on top of his horse.

Beginning their three day long march towards the town of Winchester without any further delay, the Corps made their exit out of Garrisonville and started their journey once more. Without any Union interference, it is likely the 3rd Corps will arrive at Winchester by Wednesday, the 8th of May.

by **Bolslania** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:03 am

Major General William Westmann
Washington D.C
May 7th, 1861

He had been placed in charge of an army that had the battle strength of a division, and he had been expected to cross the Potomac and stop the rebels from moving to Washington. He had told them it wasn't going to work, that he was going to fail, but he had been sent anyway, and as he predicted, he had failed. Upon his return, all he got was anger and surprise. "How could he have been beaten by the rebels?" They ask "They outnumbered me" He would reply. Eventually the bickering stopped and he was able to take a break from the constant talking. With the addition of the 1st Columbian Volunteers, 3rd Maryland Volunteers, and 5th West Virginia Artillery he was now up to about 6500 infantry and 24 artillery pieces. Even more was on the way. God only knew how much the rebels had reinforced over the past 5 days.

Supposedly another 35,000 men had been called up and were being sent to him, which would make him a lot more comfortable.

Colonel Smith
Fort Herkimer

Smith nodded

"Yes sir, all Washington needs is for you to keep the rebels' attention, how you do that is at your discretion sir."

by **Wasi State** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:05 am

Lieutenant General Charles Shepard Graham
Winchester, Virginia
3rd Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
Evening, May 7th, 1861

As the mid-spring sun started to set over the small Virginian town of Winchester, the 3rd Corps under Graham's command had arrived sooner than even they had anticipated. Both from a combination of fortunate circumstances that left little to no incidents on the road leading towards the border town, and a relatively speedy marching routine for the Corps.

While they were welcomed by the locals with open arms upon their march into the town, the Lieutenant General's orders still remained clear that they were to secure the town in full and await further reinforcements from the 1st and 2nd Corps before they made their path of destruction through Maryland and Pennsylvania to dismantled the Union's backline on this side of the Mississippi. Anticipating that within the time it would take for their reinforcements to arrive, Graham had ordered a few of his smaller units to camp outside of the town in a form of setting up an early warning system in the form of several forward operating 'bases' that'll warn his main force back in the town in the event of a Federal incursion.

For now though much of his forces take their rest, having been marching plenty already since they left Richmond on the onset of the War.

by **The Traansval** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:35 pm

Brigadier General John H. Pike Jr.
Military Staging Ground, Washington D.C.
2nd Division, Army of the Potomac
May 8th, 1861

The atmosphere in D.C. was nothing like Corporal Willian Jenson had ever experienced before, having grown up out west in the California territory. He was used to heat, being posted to western forts out on the plains under that unforgiving sun. What he wasn't used to was the absolute swamp that was the capital, a heat combined with dampness that was absolutely oppressive. He and his unit, 3rd regiment, had been shuttled east in cattle cars on the railroad and were now marching in ranks under the banner of 2nd Division straight into a wide-open field on D.C.'s outskirts known as the staging grounds. Row after row of tents was assembled, reminding Jenson of the camps erected by the Sioux and Blackfoot but much much bigger. Wisps of smoke rose from firepits only recently put up while the air itself was populated with the cacophonous sounds of war men; the hammer strikes of the smiths, the idle chatter of soldiers, the braying of the horses, and of course the sounds of boots stamping the ground underfoot. Jenson used his left hand to wipe his brow, adjusting his Hardee hat to sit a bit more back on his head. The wide-brimmed and tall piece of headwear was useful on the frontier when the heat came from above, but here in D.C., it felt as if the very air was an oven assaulting from all sides assisted by the woolen uniforms.

Hoofbeats cut through the noise, hammering into Jenson's left ear as a mass of mounted men rode past. A troop of cavalry with blue and white banners attached to their saddles surrounded a group of men wearing the ornate officer uniforms of the Union Army, and at their head was Brigadier General Pike. As he rode, Pike looked around his surveying the camp; the men were rough around the edges, obviously a consequence of the recent fight they'd seen, presenting quite a contrast towards his fresh troops.

Pike spotted a command tent ahead and turned to his left towards his aide de camp, Colonel Richardson. He pointed at the tent and said "I'll ride ahead, see to the quartering of the men."

Richardson nodded and gave a salute as Pike dug his spurs in, urging his horse on followed by his retinue of staff officers and cavalry escort. Next to the command tent was a small area with a decent amount of hay, a water trough, and a young boy in ragged Union blues. Pike slipped off his horse and handed off the reins to the boys, slipping him a dollar coin for his troubles, and strode towards the tent, throwing his opening folds up to allow him access. Inside were all the accouterments of command and accessories of comfort, mostly a lot of chairs and tables with boxes of equipment, maps and charts strewed about, and a man in a chair with a glass of bourbon now looking up.

"Who are you?" Pike inquired.

The man stood up and saluted, "Captain Jackson, sir. Quartermaster assigned to Second Division." He replied.

Pike nodded, "Good, stay, and inform me of our situation." He ordered.

Jackson lowered his salute and got to work while Pike's staff entered the tent. There were five officers; Brigadier General Daniel Winston of 1st Brigade, Brigadier General Samuel Qunicy of 2nd Brigade, Major Calvin Monroe of Battery C, Signals officer Major Theodore O'Ryan, and Chief medical officer Colonel Johnston Agnew. Normally these meetings would include regimental commanders but they were currently busy seeing their men quartered and taken care of, so for now it was just Pike and his staff.

Inside a footlocker Jackson managed to find the map of the area and laid it out on a table in the middle of the room, clearing off a couple of empty bottles.

"We recently skirmished with the rebels here," Jackson pointed at a position on the map in northern Virginia, "at Garrisonville. Since the rebel army has been somewhere south at a strength of about two Corps as far as the scouts could tell. Supplies are dwindling but we're expecting resupply to come in with the new reinforcements." He said.

Pike looked up from the map, "Reinforcements?" He inquired.

Jackson nodded, "The army is understrength, War Department is promising 35,000 men in order to beat the rebs."

Winston sighed, "Thousands of good old boys from the country with muskets but no boots I bet."

"Rebs don't have any better, besides we'll need every man we got on the front as soon as possible. You can only snuff out the flame by smothering it." Pike said.

"We're bringing up two brigades here, should be enough with the volunteers." Said Quincy.

Colonel Agnew shook his head, "Two rebel Corps ain't gonna bow out from an understrength Division, even of regulars. We've only ten regiments when we should have fifteen."

Major Monroe laughed, "They'll bow out when they hear the roar of our 3-inchers. My men don't miss." He said.

"I'm counting on that Calvin, but for now let's see to shoring up our position. Jackson, see about getting some men attached to the division, maybe a brigade of militia. Some cavalry and artillery would do too." Pike ordered.

Jackson nodded and held up a salute before turning and making for the door, but was stopped as Pike called his name. He turned to face his commander.

"Where's Westmanns command?" Pike asked, moving around the table to join Jackson by the tent's entrance.

The quartermaster lifted the tent's flaps and pointed across the area. Pike nodded and clapped Jackson on the back, sending him off on his task.

"Young lad, since when did we put Captains in charge of supply for Divisions." Asked O'Ryan from behind Pike.

"We do now. See to the men, I'll return shortly. I expect everyone in here at dusk for a report." Pike said before he strode out of the tent.

The evening sun was beginning to come low, its rays turning a deeper orange from its earlier bright yellow, signaling the approaching supper time. The men were all huddled in groups, speaking to one another, often laughing or cheering at each other. Pike found himself needing to watch where he walked, as the dirt beneath often was wet and muddy in places, with puddles dotting the area in typical D.C. fashion. At least it hadn't rained recently, so that was a blessing.

Finally, Pike came upon Westmann's command. Outfront were posted two guards who moved aside for the general, giving him crisp salutes which he reciprocated. The inside was a refreshing coolness enjoyed by the many occupants whose eyes were now fixed on Pike, who removed his headwear and gave a slight bow with his head while saying, "Evening gentlemen, Brigadier General John Pike of Second Division at your service."

by **Bolslania** » Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:22 am

Major General William Westmann
Army of the Potomac
Washington D.C
May 8th, 1861

Westmann looked up when the Brigadier walked in, he stood up to meet the General.

"Brigadier Pike! Excellent that you could make it." Westmann said. In truth he was pleased to have another battery of cannons and 10 infantry regiments in the Army. Now their total strength was above 10,000, but it still wasn't enough. God when will more get here.

Private James Wallace
Manhattan Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Potomac

He sat around one of the small campfires. He and the other men weren't speaking much, mostly just staring into the small fire. They continued in this silence before one of them leaned up and pointed.

"Well won't ya look at that. We got ourselves some reinforcements." He said excitedly. Wallace turned around and raised an eyebrow, a whole new division had just marched into the camp and was beginning to set up tents. They looked fresh and cheery eyed, in contrast to the dirty and battle-worn members of 1st Division. Instead of going up to talk to the new recruits, the veterans chose to keep themselves to themselves.

by **Revlona** » Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:49 am

General Alexander Robert Henderson III
Winchester, Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
Mid day, May 9th, 1861

Reinforcements had poured into the Army of Northern Virginia, both while it was encamped at Garrisonville and while it had marched north to Winchester. Now as the sun peaked in the sky above Northern Virginia and the Confederacy, nearly 35,000 Southerners made ready to go to war for their homes. In front of the procession upon a stallion black as the night was General Alexander Robert Henderson III, behind him were 20,000 men of first and second corps. Cavalry, flying pennants of different regiments and home states, trotted back and forth along the line, screening the marching infantry and on the look out for any northern attempts at aggression.

The town itself was not large enough the house the army and it itself was not under siege, so houses would not have to accommodate any of the armies men, no matter how patriotically they were offered up by their owners. Instead Henderson joined his corps to that of third corps and attached his camps to theirs. When his tents had been set up and he had been caught up with all the most vital and recent news, Henderson summoned his staff.

"Graham a fine job in securing the city, I expect you came to no trouble?" He said, allowing Graham to answer before continuing.

"Gentleman, with a stroke of good fortune we are to have swelled our ranks to a number I had not expected to have when we first marched, every corps in our army host upwards of ten thousand fighting men. An achievement I myself must thank god and the young patriots who joined up for," He said. "Make your men ready, tomorrow we break camp and begin our campaign, our first objective is Hagerstown,"

by **Wasi State** » Fri Nov 20, 2020 1:50 pm

Lieutenant General Charles Shepard Graham
Winchester, Virginia
3rd Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
Mid-Day, May 9th, 1861

Graham nodded at General Henderson's question, "Ay, Sir. It would seem the Yankees have given up the ghost on this side of the Commonwealth's border. I'm suspecting they're still building up their strength elsewhere before they try to send anymore of their troops down here." The Lieutenant General then said, figuring as of this moment they had the advantage to do as they please against the Federals who were being reserved thus far with them.

Listening to his General's short speech, Graham had agreed, the sooner they leave to start their campagin proper, the better. He intended for Hagerstown to fall in rather short time, especially with additional reinforcements for his Corps from Thompson's Brigade. Basically giving him basically two divisions of troops to work with in the coming weeks.

For now he had ordered his men to rest for now, for they leave at dawn with the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia on their march North.

Outside Winchester , Virginia
Early Morning, May 10th, 1861

As Graham had destined for his vigorous desire to meet the Federals in Maryland head on first, his Corps were the first to prepare and leave from Winchester, beginning their march on the road towards the city of Hagerstown at the helm of the Army's advance.

by **The Traansval** » Sat Nov 21, 2020 2:08 pm

Brigadier General John H. Pike
Washington D.C. Military Staging Grounds
2nd Division, Army of the Potomac
Evening of May 10th, 1861

With the stroke of a match, Pike lit the oil lamp set into the wall of the home he was staying in, an abandoned home that belonged to some officer who defected. He waved his hand, snuffing out the match, and placed the glass covering on the lamp, protecting the flame. Turning away, he strode towards the small dining table set in the middle of the room. His wife and child were up north staying with Pike's family, so he had hired a colored servant to take care of the house and cook. At the moment she was setting down his plate of food; a simple dinner of a grilled strip steak with fried potatoes and vegetables.

Pike smiled, "Thank you, Annette. You can go home now, I'll tend to the home." He said.

Annette curtseyed and left the room, leaving Pike to take his seat. The general unfolded the napkin and stuffed it into his collar, covering his shirt front, and picked up his utensils to dig in. The vegetables and potatoes were done fine, but the steak was a bit overdone and cooked in the European fashion; Pike made a mental note to buy some spices and show Annette what he learned from the Hispanics out west in regards to the flavoring of meat.

The doors opened to admit Captain Jackson, papers stuffed under his right arm bound together. Pike looked up from his meal, "Captain, thank you for coming. Take a seat, please." Pike said, pointing towards a seat at the table with his knife.

Jackson took a seat, placing the papers down on the table. "You called for me, sir?" He said.

"What's the state of the Division?" Pike asked, plopping a piece of steak in his mouth after he finished speaking.

"The men are well but restless. We've plenty of powder and muskets. Reinforcements have been arriving replenishing our understrength regiments, and we've two regiments attached; the 14th and 17th New York Infantry, along with Battery B of the 3rd Artillery Regiment." Jackson said, looking through his papers.

Pike nodded, setting down his utensils and wiping his mouth with his napkin. "I'm quite finished here. Come walk with me, I'd like to inspect the troops." He said, rising from his chair, slipping the napkin out from his shirt front and tossing it over his empty plate. Jackson rose as well, tucking his papers under his right arm, and followed Pike out of the house.

"What was your previous posting?" Pike asked Jackson as the two walked down the streets of D.C., the setting sun-basking them in orange light.

"I've been in D.C. since I graduated from West Point, working for the War Department," Jackson replied.

As the ground beneath changed from the hard stones of D.C.'s streets to the packed dirt of the staging grounds, Pike looked around at his men. Like Jackson had said, they seemed restless, many passing the time in a variety of ways. Some sang, some drank, others simply talked or played games like horseshoes. It was a tense calm broken by the hurried hoofbeats of a mass of cavalry riding at full speed into the camp, rushing by the rows and rows of tents along the dirt path.

Pike turned and raised a hand, hailing the men. A man at the front raised his hand up, signaling to his men to halt. Pike approached his hand to his brow to block out the rays of the sun behind the mounted officer.

"What's the hurry Colonel?" Pike asked, recognizing the Colonel bird on the officer's uniform.

"We've just returned from a reconnaissance foray against the enemy. The Rebel army is on the march, I need to inform the General immediately." The Cavalry Colonel said, taking huffs in between words, obviously out of breath.

Pike shook his head, "You and your men are obviously exhausted. Give the report here and I'll give it to Westmann myself, I'm supposed to meet with him anyway, while you and your men go and rest," he said.

The cavalry colonel considered Pike's words a moment and then reached down into his saddle, retrieving a leather cylinder that he passed to Pike. As the colonel turned his horse, ordering his men to move towards their encampment, Pike opened the cylinder and retrieved the papers inside.

Jackson stepped up towards Pike's left shoulder and tentatively asked, "What's the report say, Sir?"

Pike was silent for a moment after he finished reading, then stuffed the papers back into their leather carrier. "Go get Richardson, have him rouse the men. Ready them to march by sunset." He barked out.

Jackson hesitated, then shot off a salute before turning and running off in the direction of Second Division's officer tents, recognizing the haste in Pike's words. Pike for his part set off in the direction of Westman's command, refusing to run lest it diminish his officerial status but still going as fast as he could.

Inside, Pike came into the room in a bit of a huff, attracting the attention of Westmann and his staff officers. Pike raised up the leather holder and said, "Sir, the report from the cavalry scouts. The Rebel army is on the move from Winchester."

Pike walked towards a table in the command room with a map on it, one that command staff had been going over in considering its strategy, laying the scouts reports on it.

"As near as I can tell, the rebels have three possible routes. The first," here Pike traced his finger along a road leading from Winchester to Leesburg, "Would take the Rebs directly towards Washington, a frontal assault. It's been clear from their past fights that this isn't in line with the Rebel strategy; they've neither the men nor cannons to test a full-frontal attack on Washington, to attempt as such would be a bloodbath they cannot afford."

"Now the second," he said, tracing his finger along a road connecting Winchester to Frederick, "Would take them towards the Federal Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, an obvious target as it'd provide them with the tools for armament manufacturing. Although the Federal garrison there might be a deterrence."

Now Pike stabbed his finger on the city of Hagerstown, "The third would take them far north of our position, threatening to spill over into Pennsylvania. From Hagerstown, the Rebels could either swing south," Pike swiped his finger along and ark from Hagerstown towards D.C. "Cutting off Washington by taking northern Maryland and Baltimore, isolating us from supplies and reinforcements; or," now Pike jabbed his finger over the north, "He could go into Pennsylvania, raid, and pillage to gather supplies and kill Union morale."

Pike stood up straight, no longer putting his weight on the table, "It's of my opinion that the Rebels intend to make for Hagerstown. Despite that, it would be wise to hedge our bets. I'd like to ask permission to take my Division and make for Harper's Ferry to link up with the garrison and secure the Federal Arsenal there. If I'm correct, from there I can move on Martinsburg and cut off Rebel supply lines. Meanwhile, the Army can move to Frederick, where it can meet arriving reinforcements from the north, and then once we've established the position of the Rebel army, move on them. If they are moving to Hagerstown, as I suspect, we can meet them there, and if they're heading for Leesburg then the march south from Frederick would not be terrible. Under a forced march my men can make it to Harper's Ferry by morning tomorrow."

Ending his little speech, Pike waited in silent bated breath for the response from General Westmann.

by **Bolslania** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:04 am

Major General William Westmann
Army of the Potomac
Evening of May 10th, 1861

As Pike walked in, he nearly bumped into Sergeant Brooks, who had been sent to ask Pike if he wanted to join the other Generals for drinks, Brooks quickly saluted Pike and led him into the parlor, where Westmann and the other generals were sitting, conversing about small topics. Westmann stood to greet Pike, but stopped when Pike urgently laid out the situation and his plan.

Westmann rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

"General Gambell, how far out are the reinforcements?" Gamball looked up and replied

"About 3 days General." Westmann nodded.

"It will be close, but we can maybe do that." In truth, he was still itching to pay the opponent back for the defeat at Garrisonville.

"Well General Pike, you have my permission to take over the garrison at Harper's Ferry, however, if the situation becomes dire, do not fight to the last at Harper's Ferry, the town itself isn't important, so if you can evacuate the supplies, do so. Generals, ready your men to march at dawn." He said. The generals turned to their respective XOs, who went off to ready the various brigades.

"Well generals, it seems we'll be able to pay our adversaries back."

by **The Traansval** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:11 am

Brigadier General John H. Pike
Camp Hill, Harper's Ferry, Virginia
2nd Division, detached from the Army of the Potomac
May 12th, 1861

As soon as the meeting was over, Pike had come out to see 2nd Division rallied and readied just as the sunset behind the horizon. Regulars were used to marching on a moment's notice. Supplies were a bit trickier so Pike left the 17th New York behind until the supply wagons could be collected and readied, a task that'd take until dawn. He didn't expect that to be an issue since they were marching to a friendly installation and would probably find food and powder available there.

Pike brought the spyglass down from the eyes, collapsed it and placed it in his satchel bag, and rested his hands on his saddle pommel. He turned his eyes to survey his men, who were making tents and firepits on Camp Hill, where Patriots had encamped during the Revolutionary War. He turned towards his Aide de Camp Richardson and spoke, "They're tired. We'll need to rest here a day or so, let the men recuperate, and wait for the 17th."

Richardson grunted in agreement, "Aye. But don't you think we could at least place some men on post? There's a ridge over yonder that'd provide good defense." Here Richardson pointed over Pike's left shoulder towards the town of Bolivar and a ridge past it known as Bolivar Heights.

Pike shook his head, "Westmann's orders were specific. Secure the garrison and arsenal, but do not commit to battle. Speaking of which, I need you to oversee some projects for me. Gets some of the men from the local garrison, the uh..."

Here Pike stumbled, blanking on the name of the arsenal's garrison. "The 20th Infantry?" Richardson supplied helpfully.

Pike smirked, "Yes, the 20th. Get them to disassemble the gunsmiths and pack up all the supplies they can manage; muskets, powder, flints, caps, parts, machines, whatever. When the 17th arrives we'll use some of our carts and whatever we can get from the town and send the 20th back north. Westmann could use the muskets and powder, and the War Department could set up a new smith with the machines and parts. See to getting some of the smiths themselves to travel too." He said.

Richardson nodded and grabbed the reins of his horse, about to dig his spurs in and make for the arsenal before Pike raised his hand.

"And one other thing; get some dynamite from Major Monroe and rig the bridges. If any Rebels arrive I am going to deny them a route to cross the river." Pike said, his face a solemn stone.

Richardson nodded, "Will do. On the topic of the rebels, I've contracted with some local partisans; local boys, hunters that know the land. They should return with news of the Confederates if they've made it to Martinsburg." He said.

Pike grunted his approval and waved off Richardson, sending him off to perform his duties. Pike turned to his left and picked out his spyglass once more, and surveyed Bolivar Heights. It was a good position, opposite another position labeled on the maps as Schoolhouse Ridge, with a small creek in between. He made a mental note to assign some pickets to the area, just in case.

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