alternatehistory.com

I got this idea from the book What If. I'll make maps once I find a suitable base map.

OTL: The time is August 1863. Jefferson Davis asks Robert E. Lee to command the Army of Tennessee. Lee refuses.

ATL: The time is August 1863. Jefferson Davis orders Robert E. Lee to command the Army of Tennessee. Lee has to accept.

According to the book, Lee takes Ewell's corps of men with him, maintaining Ewell on a tight leash as did Jackson before he was "neutralized" at Chancellorsville.

September 20, 1863: Lee and Ewell decisively defeat Union forces in Second Battle of Chickamauga (Ewell flanks Union army)

October 1, 1863: Lee rushes forward and takes Chattanooga in a rout (Second Battle of Chattanooga)

November 1863: Tennessee is under Confederate control.

December 1863 - March 1864: No major campaigning in West due to winter. Eastern theater is proceeding as normal, as Longstreet is able to fend off Meade's halfhearted advances.

April 1864: Grant, Sherman, Thomas begin campaign, defeats Lee in Second Battle of Stones River (105,000 Union vs. 60,000 Confederate, 15,000 vs. 10,000 casualties)

May-June 1864: Tactical stalemate (Union strategic victory) at Chattanooga, (85,000 Union vs. 50,000 Confederate, 10,000 vs. 7,000 casualties).

June-July 1864: More fighting at Chattanooga, Lee receives some reinforcements, but is still substantially outnumbered.

August 1864: Union forces push Confederates out of Chattanooga in minor fighting (~4,000-5,000 casualties either side). All the while, Lee is steadily losing troops to desertion, since the Confederacy can't pay very well due to its economic meltdown (plus Davis is having a hard time requisitioning resources from the states).

September 1864: Lee asks Davis for another corps, and Davis, realizing that the war will be won or lost in the west, grants the request. Longstreet balks at this, and Meade finally goes on a decisive offensive, starting to emulate Grant's tactics of decisive fighting. Longstreet is outnumbered 2 to 1, and loses a few minor skirmishes at places like Wilderness.

October 1864: Grant wastes many men assaulting Lee's positions at Adairsville. In standard fashion, Lee pulls off another brilliant flanking maneuver to ensure victory. Out of about 80,000 men Grant loses 12,000. Lee loses about 7,000 men out of 65,000.

November 1864-March 1865: At this point, the Union forces in Virginia are about to knock on Richmond's door. Lee is recalled to go to the Eastern theater with one of his corps, while the Confederacy is becoming even more stringent with draft requirements.

April 1865: Grant and Sherman, fighting against Johnston's impoverished Army of Tennessee, take over Atlanta and begin marching towards Virginia through the Carolinas.

May 1865: Lee fights Meade at Milford Station and wins since he's not that outnumbered. In the meantime, Grant and Sherman are rolling their way towards Virginia.

June 1865: Inconclusive fighting between Lee and Meade, more desertions.

July-August 1865: Effectively the end. Lee's run-down force of ~35,000 men faces a combined force of over 150,000 run by Grant and Meade. After more fierce fighting, where Lee is down to 25,000 men, Lee abdicates generalship, but (as opposed to what he did in OTL) he accepts General Alexander's proposition to initiate guerilla activity, saving himself from the shame of unconditional surrender. He orders the troops to scatter, and he himself commands 10,000 men to engage in hit-and-run strikes against Federal forces.

September 1865: Davis surrenders to the United States, but Alexander and Lee continue to fight. The South is divided into military districts as in OTL, but the army remains, trying to capture Lee and end the war.
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