CSS Appomattox: A Thomas Devareaux Alternative History Military Adventure (The Thomas Sumter Devareaux Series Book 1)

by Chris Stoesen

  “Sit down Devareaux. You are not to blame. We have released your crew earlier. We found that the wine was sent to him a few weeks before. It was unopened until the flight back from Puerto Rico. It was sent by an officer in Savannah. He knew the general for years. He is being questioned now.”

  Devareaux rocked briefly from the news and then dropped into a chair before he fell down. Maybe he was not quite as sober as he thought he was.

  “We will still need you and your men. But I want to make you aware of something. There are enemies within the military who are looking to harm the Signals Bureau and possibly the Confederacy itself. We believe that they may know you are alive and will be using any means possible to harm you. The attack against the general may have been meant to harm other officers as well. We have intercepted some transmissions from an as of yet unknown wireless station. The code was simple and we have confirmation that there are spies at work in the Confederacy.”

  Devareaux’s brows furrowed. He thought for a moment. His mind was moving slowly.

  “Are you saying that they are targeting me?”

  The base commander’s face broke out into a broad grin.

  “I see you are starting to think. Yes, you in particular. The late war created a permanent rift between north and south. Even if the North were to fight us again and win, I don’t think there is any chance that the nations could reunite. But there are some that believe we should still be one nation. It is to these men that the north has contacted and is using as the basis of a spy network. We have seen their influence in disrupting some of our projects in the past. Now we have proof that they exist. We do not know the name of the person sending or receiving but your name was in the message.”

  Devareaux nodded slowly.

  “We are searching. We will find something. We will catch them. I may need you to make an appearance in Savannah though. This may flush them out of hiding. You would go in under an assumed name in a Signals Bureau uniform. Which by the way, you need to start wearing the proper insignia.”

  The man slid a box across his desk to Devareaux. Within the velvet lined box were his new rank insignia. The cap badge was there with two stars above an anchor and wreath. Also the new shoulder tab with two stars instead of the single stars he wore till now. He would have to take his uniforms to have the sleeve device adjusted to add the new stripe below his existing one with the loop.

  “Make sure you are wearing these from now on. I will have orders in a few days for you and your men. Until then, set up your training schedule. Get your men ready to be operational as soon as possible.”

  He waved his hand in a vague manner.

  “You are dismissed.”

  …

  Willard Sykes arrived in Savannah. The train ride was absolutely exhausting. An Indian raid derailed the first train in New Mexico. He and his fellow travelers spent two long days waiting for the engineers to get the train back on the rails and to continue on. Then there was an issue in Texas that left him in a hotel for three days. When he finally arrived he went straight to the ocean.

  He stood on the beach in his bare feet for an hour soaking in the sea breeze and the sound of the crashing surf. He was back in the proper place for a navy man. The desert is no place for a sailor. In the sky or upon a ship’s deck was where he belonged.

  He read the letter again. These were his secret orders. He swelled with pride knowing that he had been trusted to save the Confederacy from spies and saboteurs who would harm her. He would report in tomorrow and meet Flag Officer Moncrieff and learn of his official assignment.

  Appendix

  While working on this book, I needed some notes to keep things straight in my head of who was serving where and other details. Some of my first readers found these notes useful so I have included them here in the final work to refer to.

  Naval Ranks

  The term Captain is used for the senior commanding officer of any naval vessel while he is in command of that vessel regardless of their actual rank. So an Ensign who is in command of a tug boat would be referred to as Captain by the rest of the crew while he is on board. As soon as he steps off of his ship, he returns to the rank he actually holds.

  Officer Ranks

  Enlisted Ranks

  Admiral

  Chief Warrant Officer

  Flag Officer

  Warrant Officer

  Captain

  Petty Officer First Class

  Commander

  Petty Officer Second Class

  Lieutenant

  Petty Officer Third Class

  Master

  Leading Seaman

  Passed Midshipman

  Senior Seaman

  Midshipman

  Junior Seaman

  Entrant Seaman

  German City Class Airships

  The City class was one of the earliest semi-rigid airship designs. It was one of the first to attempt to depart from using a sailing ship hull for the gondola under the airbag. The gondola was attached directly to the airbag rather than hanging from it as in earlier designs. The City Class had its crew sleeping quarters immediately above the gun deck. The gun deck itself had a single battery of five steam cannons. These weapons were on rotating and sliding platforms and could be deployed from either the port or starboard sides of the airship. The boiler room was directly behind the gun deck where they could directly drive the single shaft propeller that spun directly into the rudder of the airship.

  The Dessauer class reflected the modernization of the airship design. The armament remained the same types of weapons, but the gondola was now larger and could accommodate a larger crew and more of the weapons. The look of the Dessauer class was closer to that of the Appomattox but just much longer. While the City Class airships were a mere 200 feet in length, the Dessauer class dwarfed it is some five hundred feet in length. In comparison, the Appomattox was just slightly larger than the City Class at 250 feet in length. Like the Appomattox, the Dessauer class had a long and low slung gondola that ran across the middle third of the airship.

  The center of the gondola was only one level high and carried the gun deck. The bow and stern of the gondola held the bridge and boiler room respectively. Like the Appomattox, these utilized multiple motors spinning propellers driven off of the main boilers. These airships were also semi-rigid airships. Unlike the Appomattox, both classes of the German airships relied entirely upon their steam engines and had no sails.

  The Confederate Winans Gun

  The original Winans gun was the size of a locomotive and lacked sufficient pressure to kill beyond a range of 20 feet. Tobias had not only reduced the size of the gun, but introduced a number of collector tanks to the design that allowed the pressure to remain constant. This increased the range of the weapon out to 200 yards. Furthermore, the young man had perfected a phosphorous round for the weapon. The gunners now could see where they were firing and aim the weapon. Every tenth round was a phosphorous round. The ammunition bay was heated by the steam ducts as well. This provided the slight side benefit of potentially setting some targets on fire, such as the airbags on some lighter than air craft. Especially those still using volatile gasses.

  The phosphorus rounds could possibly set an enemy airship alight if they were fired down into the airbags. However, the steam could only heat the phosphorous so much. Without sufficient initial heat, the phosphorous was only slightly capable of starting a fire. A prolonged burst from the gun did not allow the phosphorous enough time to heat while short, controlled bursts would have a greater chance.

  The only defense the enemy could mount would be their Gatling turrets on the topside bow and stern. Those had a limited range and only produced smaller holes compared to the larger ones of the Winans guns.

  The German guns were all located on a main deck under the large tube like gas bag holding the airship in the air. They were fairly heavy guns that could damage fortifications well above any current defensive weapons.

  The Appy, however, only mounted three
steam guns - one in the bow and one on either side of the main prop in the stern below the boiler room. Then there was the Gatling turret on top in the observation deck with a 360 degree arc around the airship. Lastly, there was the experimental rocket batteries mounted on the port and starboard side of the airship. The Appy was only half the size of her opponents with only a fraction of the firepower.

  Gatling Guns

  During the period of this book, the United States military had begun to use the ‘Bruce Feed’ system on their Gatling guns which had two magazines where one was being loaded while the other was actively firing. In the novel, the Confederacy ruled out the system in favor of a larger spring loaded magazine. This enabled the gun to be used at angles that would have prevented the Bruce Feed system from functioning.

  Information on the Appomattox

  Crew Stations and Size:

  Rocket Bay: 1 gunners mate and 2 seamen per bay

  Bow Winans Gun – 1 gunners mate and 2 seamen

  Stern Winans Guns – 2 gunners mates and 4 seamen

  Gatling Turret – 1 gunners mate

  Boiler Room – Engineers mate and three seamen

  Sail Trimmers – Six seamen

  Kitchen – two messmen

  Bridge Crew:

  Lieutenant Thomas Sumter Devareaux – Captain of the CSS Appomattox

  Master Alexander Almond – Confederate Naval Officer from Savannah.

  Passed Midshipman Willard Sykes – Officer of the Observatory

  Midshipman Powell – Bridge Officer

  Bosuns Mate Paul Hargrave – Senior NCO of the observatory and later bridge. Petty Officer First Class

  Weapons Crews:

  Octavius – Gunners mate in command of the top Gatling Gun Mount.

  Henri Stoe – Bow Gunner of the Appomattox. Petty Officer Second Class

  Lucius – Bow gunner assistant 1

  Petrus – Bow gunner assistant 2

  Elijah Pickens Thompson – Port Rocket Gunner

  Julius – Port Rocket Assistant

  Jed Babcock – Starboard Rocket Gunner (Deceased)

  Cassius – Starboard Rocket Assistant (Wounded)

  Michel Petain – Commander Port Winans Gun

  Jehosophat – Port Winans Gunner, former top man.

  Hadrian – Port Winans gunner

  Jimmy Peterson – Commander Starboard Winans Gun.

  Marcus – Starboard Winans Gunner

  Aelius – Starboard Winans Gunner

  Engine Room Crew:

  Chief Francis Budroe Hinkey – Chief Warrant Officer in charge of the Boiler room.

  Mark Applegate – Second in Command of the Boiler Room. Wounded

  Seneca – Coal Man. Boiler Room

  Tiberius – Coal Man, Boiler Room

  Other Crew Members:

  Tobias Whytherspoon – Civilian Engineer, designer of the Appomattox

  Julian – Surviving Messman aboard the Appy.

  Sergeant Amos Benjamin – Commander of the Marine contingent aboard the Appomattox.

  Henderson, Wilson, Ramirez, Lopez, Hunt (Broken Leg) and Herlinger– Marines

  Isaac Lutes– Captain of the Maintop - deceased

  Other Characters:

  Captain Jackson – Commander of the Confederate Expeditionary force to the Caribbean.

  Captain James Ellison Patrick – Chief of Airship Development

  François Delacroix – Explosives expert

  Watches aboard a Ship

  Watch Start

  Watch End

  Watch Name

  0000 (midnight)

  0400

  Mid watch

  0400

  0800

  Morning watch

  0800

  1200 (noon)

  Forenoon watch

  1200

  1600

  Afternoon watch

  1600

  1800

  First Dog watch

  1800

  2000

  Second Dog watch

  2000

  0000

  First watch

  Santa Maria de Santiago Crew Information

  Captain – Captain John Edmund Lewis

  1st Lieutenant – Gerald Elmore Reynolds

  Operations Officer – Lieutenant Reece Andrew Bingham

  Information on the German Navy Ships referenced in CSS Appomattox

  Ship Class

  Type

  Length

  Speed

  Weapons

  Preussen

  Ironclad

  316 ft 11in

  14 kn

  4 × 10in L/22 guns

  2 × 17cm (6.7in) L/25 guns

  Sachen

  Ironclad

  322 ft

  13 kn

  6 × 10 in L/22 guns

  6 × 3.4 in guns

  8 × 1.5 in guns

  Kaiser

  Ironclad

  293.1ft

  14.6 kn

  8 × 10 in L/20 guns

  Wespe

  Gunboat

  142.2 ft

  11 kn

  1x 12 in gun

  2 x 3.4 in L/24 guns

  2x 35mm torpedo tubes

  Blitz

  Sloop

  254 ft

  15.7 kn

  1 × 4.9 in K L/23 gun

  4 × 3.4 in K L/23 guns

  1 × 14 in torpedo tube

  If you would like to receive more information about upcoming books from Chris or some special offers on his books, please sign up for his mailing list.

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  About the Author

  Chris is an avid amateur historian and wargamer. He has penned several scenario books for miniature wargaming on a variety of topics. If you have enjoyed this book, please be sure to check out his other titles.

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  http://cstoesen.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-name-of-roma-is-released.html

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  This is a campaign generator and historical scenarios for the first year of the air war over North Africa. There are 38 historical scenarios covering a number of actions across the period from June 1940 to February 1941. The scenarios cover a number of different types of actions, including: level bombing, dive bombing, torpedo bombing and of course fighter actions. The book weighs in at about 120 pages. There are orders of battle present for the start of the war, Marshal Graziani's September Offensive and for Operation Compass. In addition, there is data on squadron changes and movements. The campaign system includes information, where available, for the pilots for each squadron including notations on pilot quality. A pilot progression system is present for both fighter as well as bomber pilots. Each of the three campaigns contains a brief potted history as well as information on the corresponding ground campaigns. For more information, please look at the website:

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ntinues where This Land Divided leaves off, covering the activities in South Carolina between June and August 1780. It is a critical time for the American Revolution in the South after the fall of Charleston. There are twenty-four scenarios for Sharp Practice that will provide the gamer with a selection of scenarios, from a dozen or so men a side up to over 100 figures each covering militia, provincial and regular troops. For more information, please check out the TooFatLardies website:

  http://toofatlardies.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=75