Confederate spies burn NY 1864

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_Army_of_Manhattan

Just read an ARMCHAIR GENERAL article bout this plot today- so how could this secret Confederate plot have succeeded, & with what wider effects for the CW ?

I don't think there is a way it could have succeeded. It was a few guys who set a few small fires in a few hotels. Now if they'd had the Army of Northern Virginia there going into thousands of buildings and homes and setting them ablaze, it might have worked. But with the small number of agents they had, it was never more than a crazy pipedream.

I also don't think, had it been successful, it would have had much effect on the war itself, although something like that would probably have hardened Northern resolve even more and caused an even harsher Reconstruction after the war. From that standpoint, its a good thing they failed.
 
I don't think its that easy to rule out. Catastrophic fires were a perrenial risk for large or medium sized cities. Basically, lots of flammable materials everywhere, no real fire codes, sprawling and uncontrolled urban development. Pretty much most metropolises have a 'great fire' in their history.
 
Solidifying opinion

If New York was burned to the ground, and it was known that the rebels did it (or the public thought, or was made to think, that they did it) then I bet there would be considerable outrage among people that were ambivelent about the war. Northern industry is definately hurt, but the outrage could be a fire that burns the confederacy.
 
Even if we assume that this plan works, at this point in the war the Confederacy is all but doomed. The fire isnt going to do nearly enough damage to the United State's capacity to fight to change the balance, and such a random act of violence is only going to inflame passions.
 
Probably its biggest effect would be longterm. An attempted mass murder of innocent civilians by Confederate agents would be very widely known.

It'd make things much harder for CSA apologists. Gone With the Wind wouldn't arouse much sympathy in most people.

You'd have people remembering the burning of NYC much like we today remember 9-11.
 
If New York was burned to the ground, and it was known that the rebels did it (or the public thought, or was made to think, that they did it) then I bet there would be considerable outrage among people that were ambivelent about the war. Northern industry is definately hurt, but the outrage could be a fire that burns the confederacy.
Possible martial law after the war, lynching of Southerners. That's dystopic.
 
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