out with a whimper

what if general Lee had accepted the Union's offer to command its armies, and the Americamn civil war lasted less than two months with very little fighting?
 
Welcome!

Welcome to the board! Not sure if you spent any time lurking before you signed up and posted (I did!), but there are a lot of AH fans around - I am sure you'll get some good discussion here.

To your post - I did see a comment that it is tough for one man to make so dramatic a change in the ACW (although I'm working on a story which might contradict the point). That probably is the case for Lee as a Union general cutting the war short with the Bull Run campaign. Biggest single factor is probably the level of readiness of the two armies. First Bull Run was not much more sophisticated than a clash of two armed mobs, with a number of officers trained but without current experience in the latest weapons. Another factor is that while Lee was offered a general's rank, I don't think he was offered Winfield Scott's job as "General in Chief."

Lee is certainly good enough to have recognized the need to train up the Union Army before giving in to the "On to Richmond" crowd but he may not have the luxury of time - there is going to be a lot of pressure on that first Union commander even if he's Michael the Archangel.

If Lee did decide to fight for the Union (how that happens? - there are a number of threads on this board which suggest some ideas), and if he could gain at least six months (some of the other guys will surely throw in an opinion), then perhaps the war ends early.
 
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