alternatehistory.com

One of the most well known stories of the American Civil War is that of the H.L. Hunley, the first submarine (called a Torpedo-ram) to ever sink and enemy ship. This ship was designed and built during General P.G.T. Beauregard's time as commander of the department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida and he was excited by the prospect of this new weapon.

General Beauregard encouraged the development of such new weapons and devised ways to use them while he was in exile from the major theaters. In this exile he refused to be ignored and continually sent new plans for the other theaters of the War to the Confederate congress, championed by his allies, and one of his plans involved using Torpedo-rams like the H.L Hunley

He devised a plan to reinforce the Western armies at the expense of Robert E. Lee's army in Virginia and destroy the Federal army in Tennessee which would force Ulysses S. Grant to relieve pressure on Vicksburg and maneuver his army into a place where it could be destroyed by the Confederates. The Confederate Army would continue to Ohio, and bring the war to the northern states, maybe getting some of those states to ally themselves with the Confederacy if possible. Meanwhile, a fleet of Torpedo-rams built in England could be used to recapture New Orleans, ending the war.

Of course this plan speaks entirely of Beauregard's poor planning ability but also of the overly optimistic personality of the dreamer that he was but, while Beauregard's plan for the Torpedo-rams was more of a work of fantasy, I did wonder whether or not those weapons could be used in anyway to help the Confederacy.

Any thoughs anyone?
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