Breckinridge Made Confederate Secretary of War: March, 1862

[Anaxagoras]

(Blatantly stolen from Poepoe)

What if John C. Breckinridge had been made Confederate Secretary of War when Judah Benjamin stepped down in March of 1862?

 

[Johnrankins]

Not much change except maybe a quicker surrender in 1865. Breckinridge knew it was all over in OTL even before Lee surrendered but he was in office only a short time. There is some evidence he tried to manipulate things to reach a quicker surrender but with better terms for the South. With being in office longer he might have been able to get the South to surrender in Febuary or March with at least some terms.

 

[Anaxagoras]

I think the change would have been massive. The Confederate War Department was a very poorly-run institution, largely due to lackluster leadership. Breckinridge was an extremely competent man in political, military and administrative areas- with him at the helm, things would have been much different.

 

[Johnrankins]

I think the change would have been massive. The Confederate War Department was a very poorly-run institution, largely due to lackluster leadership. Breckinridge was an extremely competent man in political, military and administrative areas- with him at the helm, things would have been much different.

The Confederacy was doomed the moment the Union decided it was willing to pay the butcher's bill to win. The North simply had too many advantages including a larger population, a much larger economy, a more united population and a better international position.

 

[Marky Bunny]

I think the change would have been massive. The Confederate War Department was a very poorly-run institution, largely due to lackluster leadership. Breckinridge was an extremely competent man in political, military and administrative areas- with him at the helm, things would have been much different.

I agree having read several times William C.Davis superb book on the last days of the Confederate Government, Breckinridge was very good in his job, but by then the game was up and he knew it.
If he takes over earlier in the war, then he could well have made a real difference.
He would have made a superb President of either the United States before the War or the CSA after the war if they had won.
Davis book is worth a read , and always thought it would make the basis of an excellent movie.

 

[David S Poepoe]

(Blatantly stolen from Poepoe)

What if John C. Breckinridge had been made Confederate Secretary of War when Judah Benjamin stepped down in March of 1862?

Which is fine since I stole - I mean liberated it - from someone else.

As Marky Bunny points out the William C. Davis book (in my case Look Way) is very informative.

I think the major thing is to allow idiot generals like Braxton Bragg to be removed. Jefferson Davis dominated the War Department too much - well he ran it too often. Breckinridge would have been one to have stood up to the President. Of course that leaves the problem of having to deal with the Confederate Congress.

 

[violadog]

Breckinridge would have been one to have stood up to the President.

And then Davis would have sacked him. Davis kept appointing non-entities to run the War Department so that he could be personally involved. IIRC he tended to try and run the government like the army, everyone taking his orders. He only allowed other people to run the war when he didn't have any choice IE 1865 with the War already lost.

 

[robertp6165]

And then Davis would have sacked him. Davis kept appointing non-entities to run the War Department so that he could be personally involved. IIRC he tended to try and run the government like the army, everyone taking his orders. He only allowed other people to run the war when he didn't have any choice IE 1865 with the War already lost.

That may not be true. Davis respected Breckinridge, and might have been inclined to listen to him, as he was to Judah Benjamin (another man he respected).

One possible butterfly to come out of all this...Breckinridge might not recommend that the Cleburne Memorial, when it comes into his hands in January 1864, be squashed. Breckinridge was one of the supporters of the black recruitment measure which was finally passed in 1865, and authored General Order 14 (which specified that black recruits had to be freed before being accepted into the army, that black recruits were not going to be formed into segregated regiments, and that black recruits had to receive equal pay, rations, clothing, and treatment). So it is not beyond the realm of possibility that he might even endorse the measure, and urge Davis to act upon it. Whether Davis would listen, of course, is unknown. But in OTL it was partly James Seddon's (the OTL Secretary of War in January 1864) horrified reaction to the Cleburne Memorial which influenced Davis to treat it as he did.