I read somewhere that Governor Brown had threatened that Georgia would secede from the Confederacy if President Davis didn't stop being such a tyrant. Is there a way to get Georgia to secede during the war, in such a way that it causes the CSA to fight it, too?
I was thinking that if Buell wins a race to Chattanooga and takes it in summer of 1862 - if Georgia is threatened, he may feel his state is threatened enough he orders all Georgian troops home, which would put the South at a real disadvantage.
What would Lincoln do? i think he's wise enough to let the sides fight it out rather than enter Georgia; becasue Grant's got Vicksburg to worry about (if Buell doesn't have to focus westward because Shiloh is an easier win, he probably still has to learn some lessons he didn't there, perhaps facing a more serious bloodletting further south before deciding to lay siege to Vicksburg instead.) And, of course, the AotP still has its problems.
Hardee would likely jump at the chance to defend his home state given his squabbles OTL with Bragg and Hood; he would probably figure he could defend his state. And, if the Unio decides on a hands-off approach and just holds Chattanooga with some thrusts into the far north of Georgia, where would the South attack from? Would they be fighting a two-front war/ Or would DAvis simply agree, "Okay Georgia, you want to be on your own you've got it" and just request that his military be allowed to move through it. (Which I'm sure they'd grant, the argument wasn't about not being part of a loose confederation, Georgia just wanted Davis to stop commandeering their troops and food.)