A Long and Flowing Whig: The Decision of Winfield Scott

Should President Winfield Scott run for a third term?

  • Yes

    Votes: 25 49.0%
  • No

    Votes: 26 51.0%

  • Total voters
    51
  • Poll closed .
The Decision of Winfield Scott
The capture of Washington D.C. put President Winfield Scott into a difficult decision: Whether or not to run for a third term. Two years earlier the thought of running for a third term wouldn’t have crossed his mind. But now the nation is at war, the greatest in its history. This election could change the face of the nation. Can the nation afford to change leadership in the midst of crisis, or is a change exactly what the nation needs?

Arguments in Favor of running for a Third Term
. Scott would most likely win
. War Strategy won’t change mid conflict
. No missteps because of leadership change

Arguments against running for a Third Term
. Vice President, Abraham Lincoln, has promised to run in the 1860 election, whether or not Scott runs.
. Scott would be viewed as a power hungry tyrant breaking the time honored precedent set by George Washington
. Scott is old and might die in office.

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The time has come for Winfield Scott to make his decision of Whether or not to run for a third term. This poll is for my timeline, A Long and Flowing Whig. The civil war is in full swing, and Winfield Scott is President, and nearing the end of his second term. Should he run for a third term? That will be up to the readers to decide.
 

Free Lancer

Banned
I feel Winfield Scott did alright, and should step down to allow new ideas to flow through the White House.

Winfield Scott is a Good General and Leader, the Capture of Washington was not his Fault it was the Leadership of the AOTP its not scott that Needs to be Replaced its his Generals
 
No. Washington fell, and people are going to be pissed and need a scapegoat. As Truman(?) said when he was President, 'The buck stops here'. People will want him out, and be mad if he runs again.
 

Free Lancer

Banned
No. Washington fell, and people are going to be pissed and need a scapegoat. As Truman(?) said when he was President, 'The buck stops here'. People will want him out, and be mad if he runs again.

not Necessary Scot can Pick up on those Feelings and aim them at the war Make a Convincing Argument that only he can win the War and win People over with a Chage of Military Leadership

the Scapegoat can go at the Commander of the AOTP who lost the Battle and let Washington Fall
 
No. Scott is going to be 74 years old when his term ends and if his health is anything like it is in OTL, he's a very unhealthy man. Plus, there's the political baggage of having the war start under him and go badly (see: Washington D.C. in Confederate hands) that make it possible for him to be weakened enough to lose the election. BUT if Lincoln (or whoever the Whigs run) were to be an unopposed nominee, they could both get votes for being loyalists without associations to now-Confederates & still be able to pick-and-choose which parts of Scott's war policy he can support or condemn.

I'm kind of wondering who will run against the Whig nominee? Aren't the Democrats pretty much written off as the party of Confederates now? Are we going to have a 1824-lite where the election is between two candidates (technically) of the same party?
 
Renewed Command
There was plenty of blame to go around for the loss of Washington D.C. The two who faced the most blame were President Winfield Scott, and General of the Army of the Potomac, George Meade. Meade had reacted to an attempted invasion near Harpers Ferry, which in reality was a diversion for the Army of Northern Virginia’s attack on the Union capitol. After Meade and the AotP were chased out of Virginia, Scott’s cabinet tried to convince him to replace Meade with another general, but Scott refused. Now Scott had no choice but to replace Meade.

He needed to find a General who was popular enough to rescue his reputation, but still competent enough to command. He though about appointing General McClellan, but he was still recovering from a wound he received during the invasion of Kentucky. He offered the command to General Sherman, commanding the AotO, but he refused, wanting to stay in Kentucky. There was only one other General who was popular enough to save his reputation who was competent enough, John C. Fremont.

He was weary of picking Fremont. Fremont acted without orders out west, invading Missouri without an order. However his actions were successful and brought Missouri back into the Union. Though he would rather not, he had little choice. In March of 1860, he offered General John C. Fremont, the commandership of the Army of the Potomac. Fremont responded with a yes, but under the condition that he be given freedom to command as he wished. This was agreed to, but with the stipulation that he can’t go around confiscating property unless that person or his family are acting belligerently toward his men. Fremont was installed as the General of the AotP on March 15th.
 
Fremont’s Campaign​
Fremont had officially taken command of the Army of the Potomac on March 15th, 1860. He first priority as commander was the recapture of Washington D.C. He wasted no time in planning a campaign to retake the city. Unlike his campaign in Missouri, this would not just be a straight line for D.C. The Confederates have increased the manpower holding the city and has built(although limited) fortifications around the city. There is an estimated 75,000 Confederate soldiers holding the city. Fremont knew he would need more then a direct attack to recapture the capital.

It would be a month before Fremont’s campaign would be launched. On April 15th, he landed a force of about 25,000 at the Confederate held Yorktown. Also, another force of about 25,000 made a landing at Harpers Ferry in Virginia. News of the landing at York Town reached General Johnston first. He and the ANV were not stationed in D.C. The Governor of Virginia didn’t want one of his best Generals stuck in a single location. The ANV marched east from Williamsburg down the peninsula toward Yorktown. A few hours later news of the landing at Harpers Ferry reached the governor. There was no major Confederate Army in that area, so he had no choice but to let it go.

A third US army, this one numbering about 35,000 landed along the Warwick river, and cut off the ANV from reaching the army attacking York Town. A small battle ensued there. The Union army, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, was defeated, but bought time for the army at Yorktown. Grant’s forces retreated toward Yorktown, where they met up with them and combined forces, putting them under overall command of Grant. Johnston’s army of about 45,000 encountered the combined Union armies at Yorktown, numbering about 50,000. This engagement became known as the Battle of Yorktown(some called it the 2nd battle of Yorktown). After several days of fighting, the Army of Northern Virginia was forced to retreat.

On April 18th, Fremont began his siege of D.C. He opened up with a heavy bombardment of D.C., trying to avoid government buildings, but it was nearly impossible. There were unfortunate casualties, both people and structurally. The capital building and the White House were, unfortunately, turned to rubble in the siege. After several days of bombardment, Fremont ordered an attack on the Confederate lines. 100,000 Union soldiers strike the grey shore in a tidal wave of blue. This goes on for days until the Confederate lines are broken, and just as in the First Battle of D.C., it turned into urban warfare; fighting from street, house to house, room to room. On May 1st, the last of Confederate forces are driven from the city.

The recapture of D.C. also came at the same time news as the capture of Williamsburg. Along with this, a campaign through the blue ridge mountains in western Virginia found that the people of that region were pro-Union. Some counties had even voted to remain in the Union and were acting as such. These pro-Union counties even tried to secede from Virginia. Scott wasn’t sure of allowing this, not wanting to legitimize secession. He would find a solution later that year, before the election.

After two battles, D.C. was in ruin. Most of the government facilities had been damaged or destroyed, including the Capital building and the White House. When Fremont was touring the ruins of D.C. he came across the location of the unfinished Washington monument. He noticed that the monument wasn’t hit at all during the battle, not a scratch was on it. A picture of this was taken and sent all across the north as a miraculous sign, that it was God’s will that they win.
 
Free Virginia
During Fremont’s campaign to retake Washington D.C., one of the armies captured the city of Harpers Ferry. That army then continued on a campaign through the blue ridge mountains. There the army discovered that the local populace was pro-union, and many of the counties and townships had voted to remain with the Union, and many acted as though they were still in the union. There was a group in western Virginia that wanted to secede from the State and rejoin the Union.

This option was tempting to President Scott, but he was weary of the constitutionality of splitting up a state. If he allowed western Virginia to secede and become a separate state, then this would legitimize the secession of the other southern states. He did not want to do this. His Secretary of State, William Seward, offered up a solution. Why not recognize this group in western Virginia as the “Legitimate” government of Virginia, and look at the group in Richmond as a false government.

This idea was tossed around Scott’s cabinet. They eventually decide that it is the best solution to this group in western Virginia. This idea is handed to Congress, and they pass the necessary legislation to recognize a new government in Virginia. This new government would be centered in Harpers Ferry. This new government writes a new constitution. In this constitution they include a non-secession clause, as well as the abolishment of slavery. This new government is officially recognized in July of 1860. The first governor of Free Virginia[1] was Francis Harrison Pierpont, a Whig.


1. Areas of southern states under Union occupation are often referred to as being "Free".
 
My Old Kentucky Home
Fighting in the eastern theater, and west of the Mississippi had been quick and decisive movements. However, in the central theater[1], it was a more difficult fight. Ground was gained slowly and at a high cost, especially in Kentucky. The invasion of Kentucky had begun in the late summer of 1859, and by November the Capital of Frankfurt had been captured. The government of Kentucky had been relocated from Frankfurt to Danville by General Leonidas Polk. They hoped to stave off defeat. By March of 1860, the Union forces had not made much ground since November. They were being held back by the Kentucky River. Sherman was still in command of the Army of the Ohio because the original general, George B. McClellan, was still recovering from a wound taken at the siege of Frankfort. Danville was south and west of the Kentucky River, and was what was keeping Frankfurt from going to the Union.

Kentucky, as a state in the upper south, was not as pro-secessionist as its southern compatriots. Within the government of Kentucky there were pro-union sympathizers, who were secretly working against the Confederate government of Kentucky. It was difficult, but they did what they could to send information to the Union army, and even occasionally sabotage their own forces. They had support in North-east Kentucky, most of which was in Union hands.

The fight for Kentucky would not be decided on the battlefield, but in the legislature. As the war dragged on more and more of Kentucky was being ravaged by the Union army lead by Sherman, who was engaging in a style of warfare that he called “Hard” War. This term would eventually become the political and military term for war without restraint. The Kentucky state legislature, once divided along party lines, was now divided on lines of allegiance: those who want to stop the carnage by bringing peace with the Union, and those who want revenge against the Union for all of the damage done to their state. These politicians eventually came to a vote of whether or not they should make peace with the Union, or continue fighting. The vote in the General Assembly’s lower house was 50-50, and in the upper house it was 20-18 in favor of peace. The measure did not pass.

There were radical pro-unionists in Kentucky government. On May 7th, an action that would become known as the “Nelson Plot”, occurred. This plot was organized by pro-unionists in the Legislature, and would be pulled off by General William Nelson. General Nelson had 5000 soldiers under his personal command. On the 7th of May, at 12:00 pm, during a session of the General Assembly, the plot was started. William Nelson ordered his soldiers to occupy government buildings, and to locate and capture all members of the government, especially the members of the legislative and executive branches. By 3:00 pm Nelson’s soldiers had control of the government of Kentucky. They forcibly removed governor Beriah Magoffin from office, and James F. Robinson was made interim governor.

On May 8th, James Robinson telegrammed General William Tecumseh Sherman, offering the surrender of Kentucky. Sherman was hesitant to accept this because he wasn’t even aware of a change in power in Danville. It turns out, Sherman found out about the power shift before the Confederate Generals on the front line. However, few people outside of Danville knew that power shifted, and fewer people knew that it was done by a coup. However, General Leonidas Polk soon found out from a leak in the security around Danville. Polk took his army of 10,000 and attacked Danville in order to restore the confederate government to power.

When news of this spread out further, there was fighting between Confederate armies along the Kentucky river. The fighting was done between those who had sided with the Confederacy because of State allegiance, or because of ideological stance. Those who sided with the Confederacy because of allegiance to their state began fight with those who side with the Confederacy because of ideologies. Sherman hears of this and responds by saying “I think the job just got a lot harder.”
 
The Second Battle of Richmond
After General Fremont recaptured D.C., he was soon ready to take Richmond. The AotP, replenished after the Capture of D.C., marched south to Richmond in late May. They reached the outskirts of Richmond and met up with the portion of the army, lead by Ulysses S. Grant, that had invaded the Peninsula and captured Yorktown and Williamsburg. They began a siege of Richmond, and for several days bombarded the city. On June 3rd, Fremont began what he would call the “crush” on Richmond. He ordered his vanguard forward to break the Confederate Lines. It looked as though the lines would break after the several days of bombardment.

They held their ground with the fiery passion of demons. The western defenses of the city were then broken through by General Grant on the 4th. His men headed toward the city, but they were intercepted by a large, fast moving army. Grant tried to find out who was leading this fast moving army. Through a spy scope he spot an older man commanding his troops from the back. He wore his grey uniform with the utmost perfection expected of a southern Gentleman. He soon discovered that leading this army was the famous General Robert E. Lee.

Lee had arrived in Virginia in mid April, but wasn’t able to assemble an army until May, after D.C. was retaken. His army was independent of any state. Not even the central government of the Confederacy had jurisdiction over it. His army was all volunteers from all the states of the Confederacy. It was an army built for speed, utilizing large amounts of cavalry and flying artillery, along with soldiers lightly equipped for fast movement. The defenders near the area heard that it was Lee who came to their rescue like a southern Messiah. His forces were able to repel Grant and solidify the line. News spread across the defending lines that Lee had arrived. Suddenly their spirits were raised and they were holding on even stronger then before.

Fremont wanted to keep going and break the Confederate lines, but they were now re-empowered and seemed like they could go on for even longer. He was willing to stay till the end, that is until Longstreet arrived. Longstreet and the First Army of the Confederacy(FAotC) arrived on the 6th of June to reinforce Richmond and then push the AotP back. When these reinforcements arrived, Fremont knew that he would also need reinforcements to win, but his other forces were at the very least 10 days away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He discussed the issue with his subordinate generals, and after an hour they agree to pull back.

On the 8th they begin an orderly withdrawal from the siege of Richmond, instead of the disorderly withdrawal that had happened the previous year under Meade. By the 10th all of their forces were away from Richmond, forming a defensive line along the southern bank of the Potomac River. Fremont was not discouraged by this. He instead took another look at the map, and decided to find a way to break the back of the rebels.
 
Today is the last day of voting. If the result is yes, then Scott will run again and win the Whig party nomination. If the result is no, then he won't run again. If it's a tie then he will run but he will be challanged for the party nomination, which will lead to another poll.
 
Today is the last day of voting. If the result is yes, then Scott will run again and win the Whig party nomination. If the result is no, then he won't run again. If it's a tie then he will run but he will be challanged for the party nomination, which will lead to another poll.

I was wondering how a tie would be resolved, since the vote has been extremely close for the past couple of days.
 
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