DBWI: The Union Had Won the War of Secession?

Anaxagoras

Banned
This is probably the most common scenario posted on AH.com, but that doesn't mean it was likely at all. The Confederacy simply had too many advantages in the War of Secession: the were fighting on the defensive, they had superior generals, their cavalry was far superior, the development of the rifled musket had given tremendous tactical power to the defending army, and the Union had to protect long and vulnerable supply lines in order to advance into Confederate territory.

The only plausible way the Union could have won has to be Kentucky not joining the Confederacy. Until General Fremont stupidly advanced his troops into western Kentucky and announced that he was abolishing slavery in the state (a move which horrified Lincoln, by the way), there was the possibility that the Unionists in Kentucky could have kept the state in the Union. But once Kentucky seceded, I think the game was pretty much up. The Confederacy was too strong to be subjugated.

As for what would have happened, it's difficult to say. The precedent of the Confederacy seceding is what allowed Deseret and the Pacific Republic to split off from the United States in later decades. I suppose that all of these could have remained united under the United States in a US-wins scenario.
 
IIRC, there were a few dozens of counties in northwestern Virginia that wanted to secede from their state to create a new state called New Virginia. If they had proceeded to do so, what effect would this have had on the course of the War of Secession?

As for what would have happened, it's difficult to say. The precedent of the Confederacy seceding is what allowed Deseret and the Pacific Republic to split off from the United States in later decades. I suppose that all of these could have remained united under the United States in a US-wins scenario.
OOC: Oh come on, can we please retcon this last paragraph? Both Deseret and the Pacific States of America are so incredibly silly and clichéd. Let's keep this at least somewhat plausible, instead of turning this into some purely ASB-ish scenario.
 
IIRC, there were a few dozens of counties in northwestern Virginia that wanted to secede from their state to create a new state called New Virginia. If they had proceeded to do so, what effect would this have had on the course of the War of Secession?


OOC: Oh come on, can we please retcon this last paragraph? Both Deseret and the Pacific States of America are so incredibly silly and clichéd. Let's keep this at least somewhat plausible, instead of turning this into some purely ASB-ish scenario.

OOC: True. Victorious CSA wouldn't lead to balkanisation of USA. And it is even difficult to keep CSA as independent nation.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
OOC: Oh come on, can we please retcon this last paragraph? Both Deseret and the Pacific States of America are so incredibly silly and clichéd. Let's keep this at least somewhat plausible, instead of turning this into some purely ASB-ish scenario.

OOC: Sorry, I beat you to it. :p And I don't think it's ASB, since it's essentially impossible for any of us to determine what the postwar political situation would be like in a CS-victory scenario.
 
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While it may have been richer, I think it could have been less belligerent. The reason it was so aggressive teads Spain and in Africa was because it felt it needed to reclaim its status amongst nations. Perhaps the Saharan Territories would not exist.
 
OOC: Sorry, I beat you to it. :p And I don't think it's ASB, since it's essentially impossible for any of us to determine what the postwar political situation would be like in a CS-victory scenario.

Perhaps the US would have been able to stop the rise of the Neo-British Empire in Africa!
 
OOC: Sorry, I beat you to it. :p And I don't think it's ASB, since it's essentially impossible for any of us to determine what the postwar political situation would be like in a CS-victory scenario.
OOC: I'm not saying that the premise of there being more secessions eventually was ASB, but states like Deseret or the Pacific States of America certainly are. Whenever either of these is brought up in a DBWI scenario, one can basically evacuate the thread for good.
 
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