Maryland Secedes

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Deleted member 36284

So, here's a simple question. What would be a good PoD from which Maryland would secede from the Union sometime in 1861? Then tell me your opinion of what would happen.
 
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What if Lincoln drops dead sometime in mid-April? Would the confusion lead to Hamlin adopting a less effective (or even counterproductive) policy in the state?
 
The Union moves the capital from DC to a more defensible location. This will probably help it in the long run. Far too many troops were used to defend DC. Move the capital to Chicago or Cleveland and all those troops can be used for the offensive.
 
If Maryland does secede, the state will be rapidly occupied by federal troops; the Confederacy cannot send reinforcements of any size to Maryland, not with Washington in the way. I could see a Maryland government-in-exile forming, possibly based out of whatever bits of Western Maryland the CSA can occupy. It might make Marylanders support a CSA attack north like OTL Antietam, or the Gettysburg Campaign.
 
If Maryland does secede, the state will be rapidly occupied by federal troops; the Confederacy cannot send reinforcements of any size to Maryland, not with Washington in the way. I could see a Maryland government-in-exile forming, possibly based out of whatever bits of Western Maryland the CSA can occupy. It might make Marylanders support a CSA attack north like OTL Antietam, or the Gettysburg Campaign.
But if the Confederates over run D.C after Bull Run, they will have a clear corridor into Maryland.

And, for the record, I would think the capital would be moved to Philadelphia.
 
But if the Confederates over run D.C after Bull Run, they will have a clear corridor into Maryland.

And, for the record, I would think the capital would be moved to Philadelphia.

Why Phliadelphia? It is only about 50 miles from Md which would be under CSA control. Move it to Cleveland and it is at least 200 miles from solid CSA control. WV isn't a state yet, of course but the fact that it was hostile enough to the CSA to secede from VA and become a state and is very mountainous means no attack is likely from there. Chicago or Milwaukee would be even better.
 
Why Phliadelphia? It is only about 50 miles from Md which would be under CSA control. Move it to Cleveland and it is at least 200 miles from solid CSA control. WV isn't a state yet, of course but the fact that it was hostile enough to the CSA to secede from VA and become a state and is very mountainous means no attack is likely from there. Chicago or Milwaukee would be even better.

Philadelphia is larger, and also has been the US capital before.
 
But less defensible. If you are going to move the capital the best place to move it is as far away from CSA controlled areas as you reasonably can.
Think about the scenario. Congress was in session at the time, so all but a handful of congressman have been captured by the Confederate army, as have the President and his cabinet and the Supreme Court. The US government has just been decapitated. Under that circumstance, I highly doubt whatever vestiges of authority (the military, I suppose) remain would be thinking about defensibility.
 
Think about the scenario. Congress was in session at the time, so all but a handful of congressman have been captured by the Confederate army, as have the President and his cabinet and the Supreme Court. The US government has just been decapitated. Under that circumstance, I highly doubt whatever vestiges of authority (the military, I suppose) remain would be thinking about defensibility.

If THAT happened the FIRST thing they would be thinking of is defensibility. They wouldn't want it to happen again.
 

Deleted member 36284

Capital and Strategy

Think about the scenario. Congress was in session at the time, so all but a handful of congressman have been captured by the Confederate army, as have the President and his cabinet and the Supreme Court. The US government has just been decapitated. Under that circumstance, I highly doubt whatever vestiges of authority (the military, I suppose) remain would be thinking about defensibility.

It's highly unlikely the Confederates would just storm D.C. that quickly. There is still a very large garrison there and the Union Navy would easily have supremacy. They could easily evacuate D.C. of it's politicians before its captured.

This raises new questions. First of all where do you think the provisional capital would be? (I know some of you have answered that, but we still haven't come up with a good consensus). Also, what would the Union do now and what would their strategy be? Even with D.C. fallen it still wouldn't of had a hard time defeating the Confederates in north Maryland, it may have already even before D.C. is captured.
 
It's highly unlikely the Confederates would just storm D.C. that quickly. There is still a very large garrison there and the Union Navy would easily have supremacy. They could easily evacuate D.C. of it's politicians before its captured.

This raises new questions. First of all where do you think the provisional capital would be? (I know some of you have answered that, but we still haven't come up with a good consensus). Also, what would the Union do now and what would their strategy be? Even with D.C. fallen it still wouldn't of had a hard time defeating the Confederates in north Maryland, it may have already even before D.C. is captured.

You are right, it would be VERY unlikely. Jeff Davis was able to escape Richmond in far worse circumstances. I would suggest Cleveland as Ohio is an important state, isn't his home state so couldn't be accused of playing favorites and is far away from the fighting.
 

Deleted member 36284

You are right, it would be VERY unlikely. Jeff Davis was able to escape Richmond in far worse circumstances. I would suggest Cleveland as Ohio is an important state, isn't his home state so couldn't be accused of playing favorites and is far away from the fighting.

But wouldn't Lincoln want to be closer to the front so he can get there quickly? Although Ohio is well situated between the Theaters of war. However I could see Washington being recaptured fairly quickly as Union forces consolidate and retake much of Maryland from bases in the north of the state. So Lincoln would probably move the capital back there. It would be interesting if Confederates ran-sack the city and burn it to the ground on the way out.
 
But wouldn't Lincoln want to be closer to the front so he can get there quickly? Although Ohio is well situated between the Theaters of war. However I could see Washington being recaptured fairly quickly as Union forces consolidate and retake much of Maryland from bases in the north of the state. So Lincoln would probably move the capital back there. It would be interesting if Confederates ran-sack the city and burn it to the ground on the way out.

Lincoln wasn't an idiot so why would he? Even if he did for some reason the rest of the government wouldn't. Why move back? DC was an albatross around the US government's neck. It didn't move the capital mainly to show it couldn't be forced out. If it moved out there would be no reason to move back. Keep the government in Cleveland (or wherever) and free up tens of thousands of troops .
 
Lincoln wasn't an idiot so why would he? Even if he did for some reason the rest of the government wouldn't. Why move back? DC was an albatross around the US government's neck. It didn't move the capital mainly to show it couldn't be forced out. If it moved out there would be no reason to move back. Keep the government in Cleveland (or wherever) and free up tens of thousands of troops .
Which is why they are going to want to move back, to show Europe that they are not afraid of the Confederacy who got lucky once

All those tens of thousands of troops will not matter if Europe intervenes and if Europe sees that the US cannot control their own capital or be sure of it (which will be what not returning looks like) intervention will be more likely

Symbols are important, as are perceptions, especially those of powers who might want to take the US down a notch and if they scent weakness this will be more likely

Still not likely but more probable than intervention OTL
 
Which is why they are going to want to move back, to show Europe that they are not afraid of the Confederacy who got lucky once

All those tens of thousands of troops will not matter if Europe intervenes and if Europe sees that the US cannot control their own capital or be sure of it (which will be what not returning looks like) intervention will be more likely

Symbols are important, as are perceptions, especially those of powers who might want to take the US down a notch and if they scent weakness this will be more likely

Still not likely but more probable than intervention OTL


I doubt moving the capital back to DC will cause the chances of intervention to decline much. You already lost the capital, moving back won't change perceptions much. If I were European I would think it idiotic. DC is worthless outside of being the seat of government. It is of absolutely no other importance. Without the capital it is about as important as Green Bay, WI which if it weren't for the Packers no one would ever hear about. I admit that even though I am from the state. In any case the chances of intervention are near zero. The CSA has nothing that GB wants enough to be worth the risk to the government.
 
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