1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 731 Lots of Talents

The age of around 50 is indeed the golden age for politicians as they have both experience and knowledge, and as long as they are in good health.

"Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsey was born into a merchant family. He was ruthless and proficient in the art of opening up borders and commanding troops. He was known as the nemesis of the local indigenous people. Minneapolis, the heart of Minnesota, was originally a gathering place for indigenous people. After Ramsey took office, the indigenous people of Minneapolis were immediately slaughtered by him.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Ramsey was one of the first governors to respond to the federal government's call for military mobilization.

Although Minnesota had a small population, it still sent three regiments of militia to Washington and was commended by the federal government.

More than 70% of the Minnesota military fortresses that our army is currently attacking were built during Ramsey’s tenure.”

Chen Lisong first introduced Alexander Ramsey, the governor of Minnesota.

Chen Lisong agreed with Ramsay's assessment that he was proficient in the art of opening up borders and commanding the army.

Since the opening of the Strait of Kansas to the east, the Western Army has been able to get whatever it wants, and has not suffered any major losses except for the disastrous defeat of the Mexican militia brigade in northern Kansas.

The defeat of the Mexican militia brigade at Norton, Kansas, was understandable because the Union Army was greatly outnumbered.

The defeat in Minnesota was completely different. Every troop participating in the battle in Minnesota was stronger than the Mexican brigade, and there was also a regular standing brigade to support them. It was a situation where we were strong and the enemy was weak.

According to the battle reports sent back by the front-line troops, although the front line in Minnesota is advancing steadily, it will soon be possible to attack St. Paul, the stronghold of the Minnesota Union Army.

However, the casualties of the Western Army were not very optimistic. Up to now, the number of Western Army soldiers killed in the battlefield of Minnesota had exceeded that in Kansas, North and South Dakota, and Iowa, with nearly a thousand casualties, which was equivalent to the destruction of an entire regiment.

This casualty data does not include local indigenous troops who assisted in the battle.

If the casualties of indigenous people are also included, the casualty data will only be uglier.

It has to be admitted that Alexander Ramsey is the person who caused the most trouble to Liang Yao on the military level besides Brannan and Ames.

The only thing Liang Yao felt fortunate about was that Ramsay had been involved in business in his early years and had only been involved in the military and political circles for a short time.

At this time, Ramsey had no influence in the Northern Army and was a relatively marginal figure in the Republican Party. If he was the commander of the Corps of Omaha during the Battle of Omaha, the Western Army might still win the Battle of Omaha, but it would have to pay a greater price.

Ramsay's path was somewhat similar to Liang Yao's. They both started out in business in their early years and joined the military and political circles after accumulating enough wealth. However, his rise was much slower than Liang Yao's.

For people like Ramsey, the reason they joined the military and political circles late was not because of their lack of vision, but because of their limited financial resources.

In this money-oriented country, without Daole, you will be restricted in everything you do.

Sending three regiments of militia to Washington was not an achievement worthy of praise for states above the third tier.

But Mingzhou is just a fourth-tier state with a population of barely 200,000, and the state faces tremendous border security pressure.

Under such circumstances, Ramsey was able to send three regiments of militia to the Northern Federation as soon as possible, which is indeed worthy of encouragement and commendation from the federal government.

Troops in frontier states are generally more resilient than troops in wealthy states such as New York and Pennsylvania.

This was a consensus between the Western Army and the Southern Army. The Southern Army looked down upon the so-called elite troops from New York State and Pennsylvania that bore historical honorary numbers, but spoke highly of the troops composed of frontier country bumpkins.

This is indeed the case. During the Civil War, the loss rate of young and middle-aged people in the northern border states was much higher than that in the non-frontier states in terms of population loss ratio.

The three militias that Minnesota sent to the Northern Union might be enough to match the six militias from New York and Pennsylvania.

Ramsey was able to become Secretary of War during the reign of Rutherford Hayes not because of his status as a Republican veteran, but because of his outstanding political achievements and abilities.

Ramsey, who climbed up step by step, was much more difficult to deal with than McClellan and other so-called Northern generals who came from wealthy families and had family heritage. "Governor Windermere of Wisconsin was originally from Pennsylvania. He was a lawyer by training, and later moved to Wisconsin to engage in politics. He joined the Republican Party, was good at speaking and sociability, and was a genius in the postal service.

The postal system of Wisconsin and neighboring border states was built under his advocacy." After introducing Ramsey, Chen Lisong introduced the governor of Wisconsin, Windermere, from west to east.

Windermere's military performance was not as impressive as Ramsay's, but he was also a rare talent in the fields of diplomacy and postal services.

"Governor Richmond of Illinois was originally from Kentucky and trained as a lawyer. He was known for his radical abolitionist attitude and firm stance, and for his good governance of the people's livelihood. In terms of political achievements, Richmond's most dazzling achievement was the integration of Illinois' railway system."

The last company Chen Lisong introduced was Richmont.

Even at the local level, there are so many capable officials who are good at their own things and have expertise in certain areas. We have to admit that the Republican Party, which was at its peak in history, was indeed full of talents. It is not the case that 164 years later, from the president to local officials, each one is more abstract than the other.

Illinois has passed its pioneering period, and it is difficult to describe the status of Ridgemont in the hearts of Illinoisans.

However, the two Alexanders, Ramsay and Windermere, had a status in Minnesota and Wisconsin in later generations that was basically equivalent to Wang Shenzhi's status in Fujian.

The central border area is generally quite desolate. It was only when Liang Yao's fleet reached Dingbian City that the population began to gradually become dense.

At this time, the river port of Dingbian City was quite busy.

As a shipping node on the East Mississippi River, the river port of Dingbian City not only receives immigrant ships coming upstream from the south, but also receives cargo ships returning fully loaded from Wisconsin, an upstream tributary.

There were too many ships coming from the rear front, and the original river port of Dingbian City was already overwhelmed. The old port was full of ships.

As for the warehouse, the original river port warehouse had already been full.

California Ports, the port company that took over the Dingbian Port, is purchasing houses from local residents for emergency response while building new warehouses to store the mountains of supplies.

Even so, there were still many supplies shipped from Wisconsin piled up in the open air, with only canvas hastily covering the piles.

California Ports is one of the largest port companies in North America. Its core assets include the Port of San Francisco, the Port of Los Angeles, and half of the Port of Houston.

The president of California Ports is Liang Yao's cousin Liang Sheng. Liang Sheng was exiled to Nevada to work in a mine for two years in his early years because he took his anger out on Liang Yao. Later, at the plea of ​​his grandfather Liang Weiming, Liang Yao reluctantly agreed to find a better job for Liang Sheng and transferred Liang Sheng to work at the Port of Los Angeles.

Although this guy is not good at mining, he is an expert in port management. He started as an assistant to the manager of the Port of Los Angeles and gradually rose to the president of California Ports.

In order to expand the market in border areas, Liang Sheng personally arrived in Dingbian City to take charge of the port affairs of Dingbian City.

When Liang Yao arrived at Dingbian City, good news from the front line reached Dingbian City one after another.

Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, has been captured, and the only area under the Northern Union's actual control in Wisconsin is the Milwaukee area on the shores of Lake Michigan.

On the Minnesota battlefield, the Minnesota Northern Army, backed by Wisconsin in the urban area, was already at the end of its strength.

After the Union Army in the Minneapolis area exhausted its stockpile of ammunition, it burned its outposts and retreated northeast to Duluth.

Duluth is Minnesota's only lake port on Lake Superior. As long as Duluth is captured, the Union Army in Minnesota can either defend it or retreat to a safe area in the rear by boat.

"Which two troops were the first to capture the Minnesota capital of St. Paul and the Wisconsin capital of Madison?"

After arriving at Dingbian City, Liang Yao immediately summoned Elvis, the front-line deputy commander in charge of the Minnesota and Wisconsin battlefields.

(End of this chapter)