1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 684: One wave comes after another

"Congress said someone must be held accountable for this failure and demanded that General Scott resign." Nikola stated Congress's demands.

Let Scott resign?

The cabinet members in the presidential office shook their heads when they heard this. The defeat of Manassas and even the Kearny Fort Group was more due to the dereliction of duty of the front-line generals, and the main responsibility did not lie with Scott.

The war with the Southern Army was still going on, so it was obviously inappropriate to change the commander at this time. Moreover, the Northern Army was already lacking in talented commanders, and Scott was one of the few famous generals in the Northern Army who could take on important tasks.

If Scott is fired, there seems to be no more suitable candidate to replace Scott.

"I am largely responsible for the failure of the war on both fronts. It is reasonable for Congress to demand that someone in the cabinet must be held responsible for the defeat. I will write a resignation report and give them an explanation."

As a key member of Lincoln's cabinet, Scott did not want to embarrass his colleagues in the cabinet and Lincoln, who had always trusted him very much.

"General Scott, can your resignation change the situation of our defeat on the battlefield? No, your resignation will only make the situation worse!" Lincoln disagreed with Scott's resignation.

The strategic plan proposed by Scott, whether it was the Anaconda Plan or the deployment on the Eastern Front, was flawless and very much to Lincoln's liking.

The real problem of the Northern Army was that the generals and troops under it did not implement Scott's plan and deployment well. In other words, it can be said that the Northern Army was unable to implement Scott's plan and deployment.

The Northern Army had been at peace for a long time and had not fought in battles for a long time, so its military preparations had been neglected. In the wars that took place in North America in the past twenty years, such as the two Mexican-American Wars, the main forces participating in the wars were the Southern Army and the Western Army, and the Northern Army had little sense of participation. Lincoln could still see this clearly.

Of course, the weakness of the Northern Army was not the most serious problem. The more serious problem was that they were weak but did not realize it, and they were weak but thought they were strong. The North's theory of a quick victory before the war was the product of this underestimation of the enemy.

I hope these two consecutive defeats can wake up the Northern Army soldiers, Lincoln thought to himself.

"Mr. President, the reaction from Congress is very intense. If no one is held responsible for the defeat, it will be difficult to explain to them." Nicholas reminded Lincoln.

What Nicola said was true. Someone had to be held accountable for this so that Congress could get away with it. Lincoln stood up from his seat and paced back and forth in his office. After walking around the office several times, he finally came up with an idea.

"General Anderson and General Mason lied about military intelligence and shamelessly whitewashed defeat as victory, deceiving the government and the people, causing very serious consequences. This is extremely despicable. These two generals should be brought to the military court for trial and they must be severely punished. General Sinclair of the Shenandoah Army is to blame for the defeat in the Battle of Manassas. Let him resign voluntarily."

Lincoln was a very shrewd man and was not easily fooled.

He knew from the beginning that Anderson and Mason lied about military intelligence and treated a funeral as a wedding, but they were only doing it because of the formality. Although Lincoln hated their behavior, he still had to accept it.

Now that Congress wanted people to be held responsible for the defeat, let them be held responsible. Lincoln had already made up his mind to sacrifice three generals to save Scott.

"I'm afraid these three people are not important enough," Vice President Hamlin said. "Congress is openly impeaching General Scott, but in reality it's targeting you. From what I know about Congress, they won't be satisfied with this outcome."

"Telegram to Samuel DuPont, the Chief of Naval Operations in Baltimore, asking him to bring more military reporters. I'll give him five days to win a battle." Lincoln said, "I don't believe it. If we can't defeat the South on land, can't even our navy defeat those sampans of the South?!"

The supreme commander of the Northern Navy was the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Wells, but as a cabinet member, the Secretary of the Navy was not responsible for specific combat command. The military commander who was actually responsible for naval combat command was the Chief of Naval Operations. "Sir, here are the telegrams from New York State Senator Astor and Congressman Livingston." Nicola hesitated and took out the telegram sent from the telegraph room.

"These guys who don't do their job properly, the telegrams they send must be bad news." Seward knew the personalities of these two old money New Yorkers and had a hunch.

"Tell me, what did they say in the telegram?" Lincoln waved his hand, motioning for Nicola to read out the contents of the telegram.

"They impeached General McClellan, the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, accusing General McClellan of being afraid of the enemy, doing nothing in Omaha, and watching the Western Army encroach on federal territory. They requested to replace the commander-in-chief of the Western Front." Nicola lowered his head and whispered the contents of the telegram to Lincoln.

"Damn these bastards! How about I remove McClellan and let them take command of the troops on the Western Front?"

Before one crisis was over, another one arose. When Lincoln, who had always been very stable in his emotions, heard the content of the telegram, he rarely got furious in front of everyone.

Soon, the federal military court tried two Union generals, Anderson and Mason, according to the Articles of War and military regulations. This time, the federal military court was surprisingly efficient.

Both Anderson and Mason were stripped of all honorary titles and medals, including that of American hero, and were hanged for desertion and desertion.

This was the first time since the establishment of the Federal Military Tribunal that a general was hanged for treason, and it was also the first time that two generals were sentenced to death at the same time.

Although Anderson's rank of brigadier general was highly questionable, the judgment still caused a strong earthquake in the Northern Army.

After learning the news, many Northern Army generals on the front line felt an inexplicable chill on their necks and an unprecedented sense of crisis arose.

At the same time, General Sinclair, commander of the Shenandoah Army, also resigned and voluntarily submitted his resignation.

Now the pressure was on Samuel DuPont, the Secretary of Naval Operations, after receiving Lincoln's telegram.

Samuel DuPont did not dare to delay for a moment and worked with his staff to formulate a battle plan overnight.

The time given by Lincoln was very limited, and Samuel DuPont set the Union Navy's operational target on Norfolk, the largest and most important port city in Virginia.

Norfolk is located at the confluence of the James River and the Elizabeth River, close to the Chesapeake Bay, and is a rare natural deep-water port. Norfolk has the Gosport Naval Shipyard, which is one of the most important naval bases of the Confederate Army.

At the same time, the Port of Norfolk is also Virginia's main tobacco, cotton and timber export port. If the Port of Norfolk can be occupied, it will be regarded as the implementation of the Anaconda Plan proposed by Scott.

More importantly, taking Norfolk would definitely give Lincoln an explanation.

Those incompetent guys in the army are simply a bunch of good-for-nothings, and in the end it is the navy that has to clean up their messes.

At the beginning of the war, Virginia militia quickly expelled the Union Army stationed in Norfolk and took over the Gosport Naval Shipyard.

Now is the time to take back the federal property from the southern barbarians!

(End of this chapter)