Yeah, I think Wade Hampton's probably the most likely first dictator of the CSA. With Forrest possibly serving as his Himmler. Only... competent, and smart.
So they should just keep holding plebiscites until the secessionists get the result that they want?
Or Nathan Bedford Forrest, without the batshit insanity.
And, well, without the genocide. Killing slaves is...
Oh god, thinking about that just makes me sick.![]()
Speaking of Confederates, back to the other quesiton.
How likely would Forrest run for POTCS and win? What would he govern like? Would he turn it into a dictatorship outright? What if he found himself needing to act as Commander-in-chief? What would be his battle doctrine for the army? How effective would he be as Commander-in-chief giving orders from Richmond rather than with a field command?
Same questions for Wade Hampton III.
So having Hampton as a Hitler analogue would work?
That's not much of a suspension. They were on the verge of it throughout the autumn of 1862. Only McClellan's victory at Antietam gave HMG pause.
There are a lot of scenarios that work here. A British/ French intervention during the "Confederate High Tide" that OTL abated in September 1862 requires little suspension of disbelief. It would be based upon a forced negotiated settlement, and plebicites in the disputed territories would be a reasonable way to go.
Virginia - would go. The Unionists in the state were a small minority.
Missouri - would probably go. Whilst they initially resisted leaving the Union, the US military quickly pushed opinion over to secession, but the US occupied the state rather quickly after this.
Kentucky - would probably go assuming the pro-Confederate citizens don't do something stupid like boycott the election like they did in 1861 (handing Kentucky over to the Union).
Arizona etc. - likely dealt with by a demarcation line somewhere. The pre-war agreed demarcation line is a lot further north than this.
Maryland (not mentioned above) - would likely go CSA if offered the chance. Unionist west Maryland is totally outweighed by Confederate east Maryland (and especially Baltimore)
More Wilhelm II. The CSA's not likely to produce a Hitler, at the worst it would produce a Pol Pot.
Arizona is interesting. There's not a really large need for Arizonans to hold slaves, and they have really been on the fringe of this conflict. Aside from Sibley's abortive campaign, there's nothing which really ties this area to the whole North/South divide, so I imagine it will stay in the Union, although, it may opt for Confederate ownership.
New Mexico Territorry (NM & AZ) - Plebisicte difficult because of logistics. If held, almost certainly USA unless there is massive vote fraud, which is possible in a disorganized wilderness territory
It would mean the CSA getting a shot at the entirety of a territory from which they'd been driven out. I'm already giving them a shot at half of it.
And why would the French allow them to establish a strong strategic base overlooking Mexico? Arizona alone is a difficult to defend strip of desert, coupled with the rest of New Mexico it is a springboard for an invasion of Sonora.
Confederate Arizona: Not gonna happen. The Confederacy was soundly defeated there, and it's pretty much a worthless strip of land. If it connected to the Pacific, that would be one thing, but it would be the ass end of nowhere that nobody would really be interested in.