Lee Sides with Union

Was this possible? Say Lee decides that the best thing for his state is to side with the Union. Reason why? Umm, tiny butterflies do something, not sure what.

But wouldn't this have rapidly ended the Civil War? Perhaps have allowed Reconstruction to work out with Abraham Lincoln at the helm.
 
Was this possible? Say Lee decides that the best thing for his state is to side with the Union. Reason why? Umm, tiny butterflies do something, not sure what.

But wouldn't this have rapidly ended the Civil War? Perhaps have allowed Reconstruction to work out with Abraham Lincoln at the helm.

No. It probably wouldn't. The end result is that Lee statues don't festoon Virginia.
 
Was this possible? Say Lee decides that the best thing for his state is to side with the Union. Reason why? Umm, tiny butterflies do something, not sure what.

But wouldn't this have rapidly ended the Civil War? Perhaps have allowed Reconstruction to work out with Abraham Lincoln at the helm.

Not really, no. Someone else is found to do what Lee did for the Confederacy, and Lee in 1861 is in no better a position than McDowell.
 
Well, if Lee did side with the Union, wouldn't the Confederacy lose one of its best generals?

Otherwise, yeah...
 
yes it would me faster victory for one Lee was a good general & another is the only way he would join the union is if Virginia sides with the north & if virginia sides with the north then most likly North Carolina & possibly Tennessee stay with the north too & the war is over very quickly
 
I don´t think he´d be trusted with command at the Army at first Manassas, maybe Lincoln puts him in command at Ball´s bluff (which failed IOTL due to piss poor planning as much as anything else).
 
Not really, no. Someone else is found to do what Lee did for the Confederacy, and Lee in 1861 is in no better a position than McDowell.

And who among OTL's candidates might be that person?

And why are you so certain that would be inevitable?

Also, Lee was offered command of the Union army by Lincoln himself, so it's not like he'd be starting out low on the totem pole.
 
yes it would me faster victory for one Lee was a good general & another is the only way he would join the union is if Virginia sides with the north & if virginia sides with the north then most likly North Carolina & possibly Tennessee stay with the north too & the war is over very quickly

There's a book out there where Lee is in charge of a federal base in Texas (near the Alamo) during the first wave of secessions and he actually resists the Texan attempt to seize the site, unlike OTL's commander.

I don't know much about the book though.
 

67th Tigers

Banned
Also, Lee was offered command of the Union army by Lincoln himself, so it's not like he'd be starting out low on the totem pole.

No he wasn't. Blair offered him the rank of Major-General in the Regular Army and command of the Washington defences. He was one of four chosen for the rank (Fremont, McClellan, Halleck and Lee), although Halleck took so long to get back from California that it is missed (was missed by me until my mistake was pointed out).

There were already two regular brigadiers (Wool and Harney), and Sumner was promoted BG March 1861. In May 1861 Mansfield, McDowell, Robert Anderson and Rosecrans were commission BG in the RA.

The assignments of the regular generals initially were:

Bvt Lt Gen Scott - commanding US Army
Maj Gen Fremont - Dept of the West (replacing Harney who was removed from active service after negotiating with Missouri)
Maj Gen McClellan - Dept of the Ohio
Brig Gen Wool - Dept of Virginia (i.e. Ft Monroe)
Brig Gen Sumner - Dept of the Pacific
Brig Gen Mansfield - Dept of Washington
Brig Gen McDowell - Army of NE Virginia
Brig Gen Anderson - Dept of Kentucky
Brig Gen Rosecrans - a brigade commander in McClellan's forces

Mansfield held the command offered to Lee. It is likely Lee would not have superceeded McDowell, but would have spent the war commanding the Washington garrison.
 
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