"...and having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts."
--President Abraham Lincoln of the United States of America
July 21, 1861
Manassas, Virginia
Major General Irvin McDowell, Commander of the Army of Northeastern Virginia, stared out at the battlefield of Manassas with increasing horror; in the center of the line, a brigade of Confederates were stopping his army's main push, led by an aged colonel. Group after group of green, untried Union infantrymen were decimated by the hardy Confederates and their damned accurate rifles. Behind Beauregard's troops, more rested and fed Confederate soldiers were pouring in from Manassas Railway Junction, which McDowell had earlier failed to take. Suddenly, the entire Confederate line surged forward, to McDowell's horror. Beauregard was charging. The General immediately leapt upon his horse, realizing it was a lost cause, and screamed, "Retreat! Retreat!" to his erstwhile men. The terrified Federals were only too happy to oblige.
. . .
Three Months Later--September 18, 1861
"...He [Garibaldi] said that the only way in which he could render service, as he ardently desired to do, to the cause of the United States, was as Commander-in-chief of its forces, that he would only go as such, and with the additional contingent power—to be governed by events—of declaring the abolition of slavery; that he would be of little use without the first, and without the second it would appear like a civil war in which the world at large could have little interest or sympathy."
---Letter from U.S. Sanford, U.S. Ambassador in Brussels, to American Foreign Secretary William H. Steward
Giuseppe Garibaldi, bandit, warrior, prospective Italian unifier, and advocate of civil rights worldwide, was a rude little fellow. Or so thought Abraham Lincoln, American President. However, what other man could command the Federal army? George McLellan was one of the weakest men Lincoln had ever met; his appointment to commander was only temporary. Ulysses S. Grant was a possible choice; but he was a drunk, and worse, a nobody. Henry Halleck was only a placeholder. Suffice it to say, he was no Washington. No American was capable of commanding the army. After all, most of the greatest U.S. generals had defected to the Confederacy! Only an Italian could do the job no American could. And yet he could not become general-in-chief. The job of general-in-chief was for men like Halleck, men skilled in bureaucracy. No, he deserved a field posting, an active command.
And thus did Giuseppe Garibaldi become Commander of Army of the Potomac, on October 14th, 1861.
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Okay, so this is a TL I've had in my mind for a while. What if Garibaldi become commander of the Federal troops? I decided he couldn't become general-in-chief. Any fool could see that that was too much of a bureaucratic position for him. That's why I chose the Army of the Potomac. Anyway....thoughts?