Possibilities for an alternate American Civil War

Wolfpaw

Banned
There was an interesting story I read -years- ago about an alternate presidential election which caused parts of the north to secede in the 1850's and basically get pummeled by the rest of the nation.

I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it or the title, but I think it may have been part of a short story collection called alternate presidents, but don't quote me on that.
Quite right, it's part of the Alternate Presidents anthology, which is a delightful read. There are actually two short stories that involve the North seceding from the Union.

The first is "How the South Preserved the Union," which is about David Rice Atchison becoming president after Taylor and Fillmore both die in a carriage accident on their way to their inauguration in 1848. A more determined John Brown (with the aid of an opportunistic Daniel Webster) and (unsuccessfully) try to carve out a new nation for themselves.

The second is "Now Falls the Cold, Cold Night" about Buchanan dying of a heart attack during the 1856 Democratic National convention and the resulting chaos leads to Millard Fillmore being elected as a Know Nothing (confused Democrats flock to him). He starts seriously enforcing the fugitive slave act and passing harsh laws aimed at immigrants. New England gets so furious that it forms the New England Confederacy under Fremont, Sherman leads Confederate armies against Lee's Union forces. The ending is left a bit vague, but it's implied that the NEC was crushed.
As hard as it might be to create, the concept of a military coup in the North or a temporary Dictatorship as in the Roman Republic coming into being (Neo-Confederates, not now) is interesting. The latter would set an interesting precedent.
I'm a firm believer that if Northern and abolitionist interests continue to be stymied by Southerners, a coup isn't at all out of the question.
 
Tigers is great with numbers and finding some great obscure sources about military info, but take everything else he says with a grain of salt as his interpretations of how people thought are often exaggerated.

There are frequently problems with 67th numbers, such as subtracting all patients from the month after a battle from the numbers available for a battle. He also misinterprets sources, such as claiming Hattaway and Jones concluded Robert E Lee was an average commander, when they concluded Lee suffered average casualties while winning more often than his contemporaries.
 
They fought hard from the beginning. The Confederate Quartermaster Corps was almost entirely black for example (and don't appear on returns of strength).

The CSA impressed a lot of slaves into support roles, which is quite a different thing than the slaves fighting hard from the beginning. That much should be obvious from how late in the war the CSA government authorized any blacks to serve as armed soldiers.

I'd be interested in seeing you sources for the claims that the CSA quartermaster corps was almost entirely black, or that it didn't appear on returns of strength.

Like any heterogeneous group, loyalties are complex and divided, but only ca. 1 in 7 slaves crossed the lines to freedom when the opportunity presented itself. Loyalty to family, master, state and the Confederacy seems to have trumped any ephemeral "freedom".

Only about 1 in 7 Cambodians fled when the Khmer Rouge was in power. By your reasoning everyone who stayed was a loyal supporter of the Khmer who was happy with their lot.:rolleyes:
 
Southern guerrillas continue a Vietcong-like struggle even after the Civil War officially ends, fleeing into the wilderness and using knowledge of terrain and materials allotted from friendly sources to continue the struggle against Union occupation forces.

Many of the best areas for guerrilla warfare were already occupied by pro-Union guerrillas against the Confederate government.
 
Desertion Rate

Southern guerrillas continue a Vietcong-like struggle even after the Civil War officially ends, fleeing into the wilderness and using knowledge of terrain and materials allotted from friendly sources to continue the struggle against Union occupation forces.
General Johnson is suposed to have wanted to do this. A lot of his soldiers went home before even Lee surrendered. Ther would have been few guerrillas lef to fight.
 
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