President Ward

Instead of going off to China and founding the Shanghai Foreign Arms Corps (and later the Ever Victorious Army of the Qing), Fredrick Townshend Ward followed up his career as a French-trained Filibusterer mercenary under the infamous William Walker by enlisting in the Union army in the opening year of the American Civil War. Rising through the enlisted ranks and even recieving a field commission through fearless front-line leadership and bombastic self-promotion, Colonel Ward fulfilled the energizing role Lincoln desperately wanted for the army (but could not find in his slow and steady commanders, Ulysses S. Grant dying in the 1861 in this timeline) and made brigadier general in the last desperate days before the Confederacy was sufficiently pacified. He cashed his story of meteoric rise and glorious self-sacrifice (having been shot numerous times throughout the war) in for a political career and eventually became president of the United States.

Or that is, since in reality he left for Shanghai in 1859, maybe in this timeline he somehow managed to get into the officer training and was thus on his way for a shortened curriculum and quick commission at the onset of the war in '61. Anyways, the end result is the same. Ward; whether simply a famous colonel, a field-trained brigadier general, or a properly trained commander; is a Union hero of the war and takes the place of Grant (who isn't an officer due to some homing anti-redundancy butterflies between 59 and 61) as war hero turned president (though presumably taking longer to build up a political career than Grant had to).


How could this general guideline be improved and what might the effects of the mercenary-officer-President on American (and world?) history be?
 
Does anyone know anything about his political inclinations? In my TL I had him survive the war in China and become US vice president in the 1880s. Then I had him die by falling down a flight of stairs because he's an unknown quantity politically and I couldn't figure out what he'd do if he became president.
 
If youi have double butterflies keeping Ward for the Union and killing Grant, then your triple butterfly is a baby of the other two's mating, Ward basically seems to take the place of Grant. Instead of drunkard, ex-army failure becomes leading general and later president, you have ex-mercenary bad-boy does the same.

OK, even if it doesn't change anything in itself, I would agree that the fact of his success may well change things ni that it opens more doors for an unorthodox military career to lead to high office. But of course as the 19th century goes on, there is less and less unorthodox because the US military gets more and more orthodox, though the role of volunteer units remains much higher than in Europe, so instead of setting the standard for future mercenaries it does it for future volunteer commanders

Regarding TR he already had high office when he resigned it to take command of a volunteer force, and through his success there snatch the vice presidential nomination. Its not necessarily the same as someone whose previous was ENTIRELY in the volunteer units being able to build upon that in order to stand for high office

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
I don't think Ward was 'French trained'. However, by 1859/60 I think it likely that he could have received a commission via the Massachusetts legislature/governor and not had to 'rise thru the enlisted ranks', if one still considers him to have served with Walker.

Ward certainly had the charisma to lead.
 
I'm a huge fan of AH involving Frederick Townsend Ward and there is not enough of it around! Ward was a bit young (born Nov. 29, 1831) and not a West Pointer (having attended the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy ((now Norwich University)) in Vermont for a few years), so he most likely would not have been made Army commander no matter what. Besides with various butterflies it is more likely that given Grant's death Reynolds or Hancock would command in the East and Thomas or Sherman in the West. More likely we would see Ward as a Corps commander. He may then have a chance to run for President later in life.

I think a more interesting POD would be for him to survive after being only wounded in Sept. 1862. A suspicious Manchu government would then force him out in favor of Gorden. No longer in command of the EVA, Ward would then have reason to return to the United States. With his Chinese family in tow, along with several hundred Chinese and Philipino admirers from the EVA, he returns to the US in early 1863. This is in time to replace a Union general that falls in the Battle of Chancellorsville. Over the next two years he will rise to Corp commander and go on to run for president.

Benjamin
 
I think a more interesting POD would be for him to survive after being only wounded in Sept. 1862. A suspicious Manchu government would then force him out in favor of Gorden. No longer in command of the EVA, Ward would then have reason to return to the United States. With his Chinese family in tow, along with several hundred Chinese and Philipino admirers from the EVA, he returns to the US in early 1863. This is in time to replace a Union general that falls in the Battle of Chancellorsville. Over the next two years he will rise to Corp commander and go on to run for president.

Do you think that Americans would elect him with a Chinese wife?
 
You may be right about that David, but there are many ways around this.

1. Have his wife die early and he remarries into an affluent New England family.

2. Have him as VP first then ascend to the Presidency upon the death of the elected President. If he does a decent job her race may be overlooked come the next election.

2. Have the American public become enamored with this "foreign princess" and Emperor Norton himself befriends the Wards. They soon become the talk of land and must have guests at all high society functions. When he is elected he will be the first President-elect to travel to his inauguration in an airship!

The AH fan in me prefers option three of course!

Benjamin
 
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