Helen Eisner

Helen Eisner
Personal
Died	9 October 3065
Affiliation	Federated Suns
Profile
Rank	Hauptmann General

Helen Eisner was the commanding officer of the Second Chisholm's Raiders between 3046 and 3065.

History

Helen Eisner joined the Second Chisholm Raiders as a captain shortly before the War of 3039 and rose to command of the regiment by 3046. By 3050, Eisner had been elevated to Leftenant General and stationed on Dobson, and relocated to Crimond by 3054. Later, now-Hauptmann General Eisner and the Second Chisholm's would be stationed on Verlo in 3062. An inspirational speaker and strong tactician, Eisner was excellent as both a commander and teacher for her troops. Despite this, the Second Chisholm's expansion into an RCT taxed Eisner's administrative and political skills, making her reliant on the talents of her deputy Leftenant General Ryan Davion-Cole.

Early Civil War

When the Federated Commonwealth Civil War began at the end of 3062, Eisner and the Second Chisholm's Raiders remained at their post on Verlo for the flashpoint phase of the conflict before being attached to the Fourth Donegal Guards en route to the fighting on Sirdar in May 3063. The Second Chisholm's arrived in the Sirdar system on 5 May and, upon landing on the planet, took serious damage to one of its mixed combat commands from Victor Steiner-Davion-allied artillery and air strikes. Working in concert with the Fourth Donegal, Eisner's Raiders launched a massive assault on the Allied forces on-planet over the course of a month, only ending the advance when overwhelming enemy reinforcements arrived in-system. After two weeks of being pushed back, even the arrival of the Twenty-second Avalon Hussars as reinforcements for Eisner's beleaguered RCT couldn't hope to change the outcome of the battle, especially once the Twenty-second Avalon's commander made clear her intention to not throw her unit into a hopeless fight. Spending the entire month of July raiding for as many supplies as possible, Eisner's Second Chisholm's and the Fourth Donegal finally left Sirdar to the Allies on 6 August.

The Second Chisholm's Raiders didn't fight any battles during the Civil War's second wave, instead being dispatched to the planet of Atlas where they would rest and await further orders.

Kathil

When those orders came, they would ultimately prove disastrous for the Second Chisholm's Raiders. Kathil, considered by both sides to be the second most important world in the Federated Suns behind New Avalon, had already become a meat grinder for the units assigned to fight for the planet. Arriving in the Kathil system on 22 July 3064 to find most of the Katherine Steiner-Davion-loyal units dead or battered, Eisner and the Second Chisholm's Raiders punched through the Allied naval blockade on 30 July at the cost of six Raiders DropShips and her entire escorting naval assault squadron. The Sixth Syrtis Fusiliers put up a strong fight but, soon after making landfall, Eisner's Raiders had captured the General Motors plant and had begun working to take District City. Eisner's next two months of fighting were spent trying to link up with the Loyalist forces already on Kathil and, after the destruction of the city of Greenhaven, finally accomplished this goal on 24 September before returning to her base in District City.

Taking up a supporting role for the now-resupplied Eighth Donegal Guards, the Second Chisholm's spent the next few months providing interference for the Eighth Donegal as they went about the business of smashing the Fifth Davion Guards to pieces. After forcing the commander of the Fifth Guards to leave the planet with only a single remaining brigade of troops, Eisner's Raiders and the Eighth Donegal realized their critical need for breathing room as, despite the victories of the past few months, their units were essentially left running on adrenaline. Pushing the remaining Fifth Guards back as far as they could before being stopped hard between the towns of Coulman and Fredericksville, Eisner and the Loyalists got that breathing room for the first three weeks of February 3065. This detente ended with the arrival of the First Federated Suns Armored Cavalry, which quickly linked up with the Allied troops on the world while simultaneously entrapping the Eighth Donegal Guards. Eisner's Raiders did their best to attack the Allies' flanks and buy the Eighth Donegal room and time but the overwhelming pressure caused the Eighth Donegal to surrender on 23 May, leaving Eisner's unit as the only remaining Loyalists on Kathil. In short order, the Second Chisholm's Raiders were pushed out of their bases in the GM plant and District City and were left pinned in the region surrounding the city of Radcliffe.

Knowing her situation was hopeless but aware of the rumors that Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion was killing officers who failed her, General Eisner made the decision to fight until the bitter end (although she hoped Marshal Jackson Davion would send reinforcements before that end came). Months passed as the Allies kept Radcliffe under siege while going to work rebuilding Kathil's important facilities, leaving Eisner's Raiders clinging to the forlorn hope that rescue would soon come. This hope was crushed when, on 9 October, the Allies attacked Radcliffe in force and quickly pushed the Raiders out of the city. Seeing holes in the Allies' lines, the Raiders pushed into the First Armored Cavalry's trap and were quickly shredded to pieces. While some of the Raiders' DropShips left the planet prior to the unit being forced out of the city, Hauptmann General Helen Eisner died along with her unit, leaving General Ryan Davion-Cole to tender the Second Chisholm's Raiders' final surrender on 10 October, bringing an end to thirty-five months of war on Kathil and the Second Chisholm's Raiders.

Bibliography

• 20 Year Update
• FedCom Civil War
• Field Manual: Federated Suns
• Objective Raids