AHC: Quickest Union victory in the American Civil War

Although a surviving Confederacy is a favourite of many, its often pointed out a CSA victory in the American Civil war was unlikely. I have to admit ignorance in this area but I was led to believe the sheer length and brutality of the war was partly due to incompetence on the Union's part.

So my challenge is secure a Union victory as swiftly as possible. And by this I mean post-Sumter, so no Lee fighting for Lincoln etc.
 
The easiest way is probably to have none of the European or South American bankers or states give the Confederacy any credits, or allow any arms purchases. Without the arms, and above all, gunpowder, the Confederacy can only fight for six months or so.
 
The easiest way is probably to have none of the European or South American bankers or states give the Confederacy any credits, or allow any arms purchases. Without the arms, and above all, gunpowder, the Confederacy can only fight for six months or so.

Better yet adopt the Rhett constitution, elect Rhett president and have him restore the Atlantic Slave Trade and have England blockade the South as a result. This is near ASB though. He was very much hated by most of the delegates and would have had to have had a LOT of blackmail on the delegates for that to happen.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
A Union victory at First Bull Run could have lead to an early fall of Richmond and knocking Virginia out of the war. This would, in turn, have lead to a stronger reaction from Unionists against secession in places like East Tennessee, western North Carolina, northern Alabama and Central Texas. Recruitment for the army would have been much lower than IOTL. It also would make it much more difficult for the Confederacy to float bonds. I could see the Confederacy collapsing in 1862 under such circumstances.
 
The problem with a fast military win is that it was a slow military era because guns fired fast enough to regularly stop charges by killing them ALL, bwahaha. And, there was no tank yet.

Unless they'd had decided to adopt, early, for no particular reason, the tanklike that could be done, the Hussite War Wagon which they'd never heard of in the first place, it had to go slowly.

Probably von Adler's way, attack of the bankers, is the only way. EDIT: though, even that probably woulnd't work because they could just run the presses inflatioarily, like we did for the ARW. The CSA buck would be worth about as much as a Continental, as we liked to say in the day, but it'd work for then.

Nope, still need something else.
 
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The South Fires on fort Sumter, but ITTL supplies arrive, and the fort holds out, and is eventually stormed by CSA troops, killing many garrisoned soldiers there, and becoming an Alamo like myth. This may result in less states joining the CSA, even leaving it with just the deep south. If Virginia doesn't join the CSA, Robert E Lee accepts control of the Union Army, and Curbstomps the southern forces.
 
The South Fires on fort Sumter, but ITTL supplies arrive, and the fort holds out, and is eventually stormed by CSA troops, killing many garrisoned soldiers there, and becoming an Alamo like myth. This may result in less states joining the CSA, even leaving it with just the deep south. If Virginia doesn't join the CSA, Robert E Lee accepts control of the Union Army, and Curbstomps the southern forces.

Do we perhaps get a Unionist Stonewall Jackson as well? :D:cool::eek:
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
The South Fires on fort Sumter, but ITTL supplies arrive, and the fort holds out, and is eventually stormed by CSA troops, killing many garrisoned soldiers there, and becoming an Alamo like myth. This may result in less states joining the CSA, even leaving it with just the deep south. If Virginia doesn't join the CSA, Robert E Lee accepts control of the Union Army, and Curbstomps the southern forces.

Fort Sumter didn't fall because it ran out of supplies. It fell because it was bombarded into surrender. Some extra supplies are not going to change that.
 
Have Richmond fall to the Union in 1862 in the span after Halleck's Corinth Campaign when McClellan besieges it, by virtue of Joe Johnston being uninjured and McClellan simply pushing on after the Fair Oaks/Seven Pines battle.
 
The problem with a fast military win is that it was a slow military era because guns fired fast enough to regularly stop charges by killing them ALL, bwahaha. And, there was no tank yet.

Unless they'd had decided to adopt, early, for no particular reason, the tanklike that could be done, the Hussite War Wagon which they'd never heard of in the first place, it had to go slowly.

Probably von Adler's way, attack of the bankers, is the only way. EDIT: though, even that probably woulnd't work because they could just run the presses inflatioarily, like we did for the ARW. The CSA buck would be worth about as much as a Continental, as we liked to say in the day, but it'd work for then.

Nope, still need something else.

Actually the CSA was very near to falling apart in the first part of 1862. It lost one of its major industrial areas, its largest city, was nearly cut in two in the entire, was within a whisker of losing Richmond, and it only rebounded because of *both* Halleck *and* Lee. Change one of those two and the CSA disintegrates in a relatively short war that's got all of one "real" battle in it: Pittsburg Landing.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Have Richmond fall to the Union in 1862 in the span after Halleck's Corinth Campaign when McClellan besieges it, by virtue of Joe Johnston being uninjured and McClellan simply pushing on after the Fair Oaks/Seven Pines battle.

Johnston remaining uninjured is no guarantee of Richmond falling. McClellan got badly spooked by Johnston's attack at Seven Pines, which reinforced his natural caution and reluctance to engage in battle.
 
Johnston remaining uninjured is no guarantee of Richmond falling. McClellan got badly spooked by Johnston's attack at Seven Pines, which reinforced his natural caution and reluctance to engage in battle.

Sure, but would Johnston be as ballsy as Lee was in terms of continuing to press an attack if he gets his ass handed to him four out of five times? Of which the only one instance he did not was not the first or the last battle, to boot?
 
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