https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_Patrick
Jeeze, he lived a while.
Really?
Now this could be an interesting rivalry if you set these two up to face each other.
EDIT:
Well, this won't be happening this time around:
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Cinco de Mayo
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Jeeze, he lived a while.
Really?
Now this could be an interesting rivalry if you set these two up to face each other.
EDIT:
Well, this won't be happening this time around:
Yeah my goal is to have the two of them face off on the battlefield… eventuallyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_Patrick
Jeeze, he lived a while.
Really?
Now this could be an interesting rivalry if you set these two up to face each other.
EDIT:
Well, this won't be happening this time around:
And yeah no TIME cover for him, lol. Though Hitler got Man of the Year so who knows haha
World Mapping
Banned
I think annexing up to the York-Pamunkey Rivers would make the most sense. It puts Richmond in artillery range, if I'm not mistaken (or at least puts Richmond very close to the border).
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I thought he died really early on during the GAW and his son has to deal with his monumental fuck up. So, Max days are waning if anything.
Obviously he'll have a heart attack at the choice of Confederate stupidity,
What I find fascinating is that where General Patrick was born is US territory. His father served as a Surgeon in the Confederate Army (unclear when during the war, so might not happen iTTL, his Paternal Grandfather was the first speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates when created in 1863 and his Maternal Grandfather served in the Confederate Virginia House of Delegates.
His family is apparently Virginia royalty and this is a CSA that prizes good bloodlines more than just about anything else.
So were USA intelligence efforts nonexistent or just asleep at the switch? I’d expect recon balloons, naval observations, and good ol’ fashioned local HUMINT would’ve caught Confederate mobilization.
For the bombardment of Baltimore, it makes sense that the CSA could fire up and be in Baltimore before they had time to respond, but the mobilization required for the sickle or scythe maneuver probably would’ve been noticed, but the assumption would be that the people who did notice couldn’t reach decision makers who could respond. That has been the most common breakdown in intelligence gathering, historically.
For the bombardment of Baltimore, it makes sense that the CSA could fire up and be in Baltimore before they had time to respond, but the mobilization required for the sickle or scythe maneuver probably would’ve been noticed, but the assumption would be that the people who did notice couldn’t reach decision makers who could respond. That has been the most common breakdown in intelligence gathering, historically.
I suspect that there was also a bit of American arrogance at play as well - they probably couldn't imagine that the Confederates would strike first or that any first strike would be successful (which plays into the theme of the GAW of both sides stumbling towards it due to bad decisions). And so there was breakdown in communication as you suggested, and likely when the build up WAS noticed and news of it reached the higher ups, it was misconstrued; if the Confederates couldn't possibly attack first, they were OBVIOUSLY building up to defend against the inevitable attack by the US. They certainly wouldn't have taken the initiative after the US had so clearly stated that THEY were the driving the timetable here.
Then, odd to that, an utterly incompetent Secretary of War and ... yeah.
Goes into what Nevins was stating in terms of each section's "film of illusions" being evaporated under the "heat of actualities". The Confederates have cherished the notion that Yankee "counter-jumpers" and "mill-hands" will inevitably 'cave-in' under the shock and weight of Plan HHH. On the other hand, you could have the U.S. War Department scoffing at the idea of "slave-breeding braggarts, good only for drinking juleps and fighting duels", being able to conduct an offensive akin to HHH in the first place.
They do have Shiloh and the Seven Days to draw-upon in terms of the blood that can be spilled.
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Have you met the planter class in the South? Lol.
The USA didn't have much in the way of the intelligence efforts pre-WW1 at all, which of course will be changing pretty damn fast here soon.
That, too.
God damn this Herrick is absolutely the dirt worst. Is there a single thing he does well besides being friends with the Governor of Ohio? Like anything at all? I dunno man, I'm kinda drunk (cheers to $6 mojitos at the poolside bar in Panama City, Panama, where ITTL there's no canal so this place is probably a backwater, but let's not get sidetracked) but the way I see it the only reason he's not ending his narrative arc at the bottom of a noose is because his ironclad defense against being a Confederate traitor is that's he's really inept and the Constitution only makes overt treason a crime not being a mouthbreathing idiot. But still, when the best case is that you are too stupid to be a traitor that's not great Bob!
I do like the idea of the Americans establishing an independent buffer state in Kentucky. Especially if it comes along with the Americans forcing the Confederates to agree to sign an emancipation agreement. The Free Commonwealth of Kentucky would serve as an destination for freed black people seeking to escape the poor living conditions of the Confederacy.
And why hasn't Liberia even been mentioned in TTL since it was founded in 1822 and was de-facto independent since 1847?
And why hasn't Liberia even been mentioned in TTL since it was founded in 1822 and was de-facto independent since 1847?
American Charlemagne: The Trials and Triumphs of Charles Evans Hughes
"...conditions in Baltimore forced the train to stop in Gwynns Falls and everybody piled off onto the tight platform as an automobile to circumvent the city was procured. Though the Maryland National Guard would hold at the Monocacy for the entirety of the first two days of fighting, nobody could have known that at the time, and the fear that a Confederate advance force could threaten to attack the B&P line and cut fleeing persons entirely off from escape routes north. Hughes and Root stood side-by-side in the commotion, looking about at the panicked civilians around them, and Hughes would later record in his diary, "I was left stunned by the humanity before me; the fear, the confusion, the shock. This small train station near Baltimore was close enough to the exchange of fire in the Harbor that we could hear the report of gunfire, a battle so close to the city that we could not continue on to Pennsylvania Station. It was the most humbling hour of my life." It was noted by Hughes, Root and countless historians for decades thereafter that the moment was perhaps the nadir of the American Presidency, having fled the capital under bombardment and now waiting to escape to safety while genuinely worried about the risk of capture. Had events in the weeks that followed transpired differently, Hughes' Presidency may well have been remembered as a hapless, humiliating episode. But it was on that platform at Gwynns Falls that the long process to win the war, and salvage his own reputation, began with a short, impromptu address oft overshadowed by that given some weeks later before Independence Hall but perhaps no less important.
A bystander pointed and exclaimed that the President was on the platform. The crowd turned and backed away, somewhat surprised and in awe. Rural Maryland was not exactly Liberal territory, but there was cachet for a man of his stature standing there yet. Hughes, nobody's idea at that time of a stirring orator at the level of his former rival Hearst, looked out over the nervous eyes of his fellow Americans and raised his hat above his head. "Yes, it is indeed I," he called out. "Yesterday, I was the President. Tomorrow, I suspect I will be as well. But today, here, I am just a man standing here with my fellow Americans, stunned and confused and in shock. Today, I am just another man, standing here with his crumpled hat. We can all hear the rolling thunder of cannon fire here in Baltimore, and I suspect most of you heard it this morning in Washington as well. I shall not insult you with empty reassurances; rather, I ask only for your prayers." [1]
The Gwynns Falls Address, also known as "the Crumpled Hat Speech," was short and off the cuff but it did its job. The words were jotted down by a reporter on the platform and reprinted late in the week across the country. It spoke to Hughes' strengths, of moderation and modesty, and captured the shocked mood of Americans very well. The car, as it were, did show up before long, and Hughes and Root were in it and driving the long way on perilous country roads around Baltimore to a depot north of the city where they could take a train to Philadelphia; the harrowing journey out of Washington was, by nightfall, at its end, and Hughes noted in his diary simply, "This is only the beginning. God help us all."..."
- American Charlemagne: The Trials and Triumphs of Charles Evans Hughes
[1] I hate writing speeches
A bystander pointed and exclaimed that the President was on the platform. The crowd turned and backed away, somewhat surprised and in awe. Rural Maryland was not exactly Liberal territory, but there was cachet for a man of his stature standing there yet. Hughes, nobody's idea at that time of a stirring orator at the level of his former rival Hearst, looked out over the nervous eyes of his fellow Americans and raised his hat above his head. "Yes, it is indeed I," he called out. "Yesterday, I was the President. Tomorrow, I suspect I will be as well. But today, here, I am just a man standing here with my fellow Americans, stunned and confused and in shock. Today, I am just another man, standing here with his crumpled hat. We can all hear the rolling thunder of cannon fire here in Baltimore, and I suspect most of you heard it this morning in Washington as well. I shall not insult you with empty reassurances; rather, I ask only for your prayers." [1]
The Gwynns Falls Address, also known as "the Crumpled Hat Speech," was short and off the cuff but it did its job. The words were jotted down by a reporter on the platform and reprinted late in the week across the country. It spoke to Hughes' strengths, of moderation and modesty, and captured the shocked mood of Americans very well. The car, as it were, did show up before long, and Hughes and Root were in it and driving the long way on perilous country roads around Baltimore to a depot north of the city where they could take a train to Philadelphia; the harrowing journey out of Washington was, by nightfall, at its end, and Hughes noted in his diary simply, "This is only the beginning. God help us all."..."
- American Charlemagne: The Trials and Triumphs of Charles Evans Hughes
[1] I hate writing speeches
Def a backwater without the Canal!
I'm definitely coming around to the idea too...
Can't wait for the endless what ifs about Hughes getting captured and the ensuring chaos that would ensue.
I still think Kentucky returned to the USA seems likely. Even if its nit a greay idea, the USA will be coming off the most costly war in its history and against a foe like the CSA, brothers turned enemies and all that. There will be a demand for prizes worth the cost, and while I do hope for Texas and Indian Territory getting independence, I think the Americans will want a big prize of their own; with northern Virginia and Confederate Arizona just not cutting it.
"What do we have to show for this horrid war?"
"Amongst other things, the whole blasted state of Kentucky by God!"
Will they come to regret it at times, yes. But as the lead up to this war shows poor decisions can and will br made in the course of human events. Also, it would be grand middle finger to the CSA on river rights with the USA having the whole Ohio River lock stock and barrel under their control. Even sharing it with an indepndent Kentucky would not have the same zing as wrapping your arm around all those chips yourself and pulling them to your side of the poker table.
"What do we have to show for this horrid war?"
"Amongst other things, the whole blasted state of Kentucky by God!"
Will they come to regret it at times, yes. But as the lead up to this war shows poor decisions can and will br made in the course of human events. Also, it would be grand middle finger to the CSA on river rights with the USA having the whole Ohio River lock stock and barrel under their control. Even sharing it with an indepndent Kentucky would not have the same zing as wrapping your arm around all those chips yourself and pulling them to your side of the poker table.
I’m buzzed in Hawaii, which ITTL will probably
end up an independent country,
With Long coming to the presidency, presumably Louisiana is still part of the Confederacy, but not sure we've ever specifically been told about Arkansas.
And an independent Kentucky given to the (insert racial obscenities here for people originally from Africa) might be more of a middle finger to the Confederacy than having the land rejoin the USA.
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