This is for a timeline I'm wanting to try my hand at. I appreciate any help and welcome all comments.
Whenever I start thinking about alternative history scenario's, there are a few countries, a few events, and a few battles that spring to my mind. One of them revolves around the very first land battle of the American Civil War.
The begining of the battle, where Union forces were under the command of Brig. General Irvin McDowell fought against Brig. General P.G.T Beauregard and Confederate forces, the Confederates were initially at a disadvantage. It was thanks to the arrival of Brig. General Joseph E. Johnston and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson that turned the tide of the battle in the South's favor.
The Confederate counterattack pushed the unseasoned and ill-experienced Union troops beyond their limits, and an orderly retreat turned into a rout. (this was something McDowell had been worried about, and it was only after pressure from Lincoln and other politicians that he had gone into the field to campaign)
Beauregard and Johnston did not press on, due to the disorganized state of their own combined armies, despite pressure from Jefferson Davis.
But what if Beauregard and Johnston had pressed forward? What if they had chased the panic-striken union troops back to Washington DC? Would the Confederate forces have been able to capture the city right after the first major land battle of the Civil War? How would this have effected the rest of the war?
RookieHistorian