ACW WI - Acecretary of War if Stanton killed

With Stanton killed in summer of '63, who should be next Sec. of War?

  • Samuel Curtis, abolitionist Congressman who did well as geneal

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Charles Dana, investigative reporter mostly

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • John Fremont, though might clash with Lincoln

    Votes: 2 50.0%
  • Thomas Scott, excellent with transportation networks, will stay on anyway

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • Winfield Soctt, at least till a general is svailable

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • Gideon Welles, he could man it and Navy till a general becomes available

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • John Wool, for more than a few weeks - likely just till someone younger is available

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Just one of the political g4enerals, w/Lincoln promising to put Sherman or someone in later

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Someone else I'm not thinking of

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    4
ACW WI - Secretary of War if Stanton killed

Wow, we've had a lot of these lately! :) We'll pass WW II yet for the most popular! :D

Thanks for the great help in the discussion leading up to Let Us Strive, John Frederick Parker's AH - right now, I'm deliberately avoiding a few of the good ACW TLs up now so as not to be unduly influenced & thus not seem to be copying - though even in their beginnings I could tell others were taking rather different paths than I am in my history/politics analogue to "If Baseball Integrated Early."

However, I had one question which is a great analogue to LoyalistColonial's question. It involves John Wilkes Booth, and what he's up to.

In my TL, Virginia falls after Chancellorsville is a crushing Union win, Hooker's very badly hurt (won't command anymore) by the Confederate shell, Couch as acting commander (Lincoln: "I have enough problem having to replace commanders in reality without having to replace them hypothetically, let's see how he does") catches Lee off guard by changing to all-out attack, with McLaws killed as well & Early captured (or wounded), he chases Lee to Richmond, superior numbers mean even Longstreet can't save him so Longstreet's sent to Tennessee under Bragg, and Lee surrenders/resigns his command. (With Richmond gone, Davis is more likely to accept it.)

So, instead of killing Lincoln, Booth feels the South is still in it, and decides to sneak into the Union camp, and try to decapitate the Union Army. Grant is still reviewing troops near Chattanooga (moved over because Couch is seen as a butcher after Richmond, so he won't command the overall attack, just the rump army which, along with Dix's Army of Virginia, marches throught he Carolinas against Beauregard). But, Halleck (going over last minute details before the planned assault), and a few other generals are killed or wounded, and so is Scretary of War Stanton, who has ironically been making sure security is tight after the meeting Lincoln had with several top generals to go over the end of war strategy to get Montgomery, where the Confederate government flees.

So, I'm trying to figure out who would be the best Secretary of War in this position. In no particular order, just as I think of them:

Gideon Welles might be too busy anyway, plus the Secretary of the Navy is a Democrat, though he might be fine till the war ends and someone like Sherman becomes available.

John Wool, who I'd looked at as a short-term fix, is pretty old; he might stay till Congress comes into session, but I'm not sure if he'd want to even till the war ends.

Thomas Scott did wonders with transportation, getting many thousands of troops from one place to another within a day's time, which proved crucial, in OTL - but I couldn't tell which battle that was yet, & I don't know if he'd be better as just just an assistant.

Charles Dana is a great reporter and investigator when it comes to finding out what generals are effective, but he's too important int he field.

John Fremont's looking for something to do still, but he'd clash politically with Lincoln and lots of others. Then again, he's also more radical, and politcally savvy Lincoln might take a risk; he clashed with stanton, too, after all. (I'm kind of liking this idea, the more I think about it.)

Winfield Scott is ill enough, and obese enough, that he's really only good for a joke now: Lincoln: "The press will suggest I replace Halleck and Stanton with General Scott, as he is big enough for two men."

The political generals are pretty much Democrats, Crittenden perhaps the best of a bad lot, as none of them were that good. I don't know if Lincoln woudl want one of them, even if it was jsut to wait till the end of the war when someone military was available.

Samuel Curtis is a dark horse, as an abolitionist he's going to clash with Missourians after Pea Ridge - but I prefer him riding with Sherman against Johnston and Hood, as they drive through Mississippi in a pincer move with Grant in Tennessee.

Am I missing someone?
 
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Charles Dana is already Assistant Secretary of War, so he would be the acting Secretary of War in the case of Stanton's death. If Lincoln decides to appoint a new Secretary of War, he'll probably go with another War Democrat like Stanton was. Joseph Holt, Andrew Johnson, and Benjamin Butler will likely by considered for the post.

Fremont will not be considered. He was a political disaster as a general and far from competent militarily. If Lincoln wants another Radical Republican in his Cabinet, he'd go for Charles Sumner or perhaps Cassius Clay.
 
Charles Dana is already Assistant Secretary of War, so he would be the acting Secretary of War in the case of Stanton's death. If Lincoln decides to appoint a new Secretary of War, he'll probably go with another War Democrat like Stanton was. Joseph Holt, Andrew Johnson, and Benjamin Butler will likely by considered for the post.

Fremont will not be considered. He was a political disaster as a general and far from competent militarily. If Lincoln wants another Radical Republican in his Cabinet, he'd go for Charles Sumner or perhaps Cassius Clay.

Thanks. The Radicals cried foul when Johnson removed Stanton - but I suppose that this was more about the fact he removed him and replaced him without their consent.

Andrew Johnson...now there is irony! And AH irony is often cool. So, do I go with the rule of cool...or play it safe? Probably play it safe, but that is an interesting thought.

Dana could probably hold the fort in Washington, though, when I think about it. On the front examining generals, he wouldn't be as needed, after all. And, while this http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=44&subjectID=2 says he wasn't appointed an actual assistant till 1864, it also shows he was shrewd enough to be a possible nominee, and butterflies could mean he was appointed earlier.
 
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