The American Napoleon

In April 1865 many events took place. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Apomatox court house. The confederate government went on the run, and Abraham Lincoln was assasinated. At the time the U.S. government was afraid after the death of Lincoln,William Techumsah Sherman might march into D.C. and overthrow the government proclaim himself dictator. Sherman had enough support in the army to do so. The only opstical would be U.S. Grant.
I have a couple Butterflys to throw in here. On the night that Lincoln is assasinated, Booth's entire plans works. He kills the President, Vice President, the Secratary of State, and General Grant, all in one swoop. This would lead to a great panic, allowing Sherman the capability and reasoning to perform a coup.

How plausible is this scenario?
 
Secretary of War Stanton assumes power. He acts with an iron hand, executing all the people assumed complicit in the conspiracy, throwing every Confederate leader in prison. Sherman is sacked for having proposed lenient surrender terms to Johnston.

I wrote a TL once on a similar line of thought.
 
i view a Sherman coup as unlikely, Sherman was a Drunk not a dictator, though the death of Lincoln and Grant might send him over the deep end.

now if the April Plut had worked the rightful President would be a Daniel Clark the then President pro tempore,
 
Wouldn't it be Schyler Colfax? He was Speaker of the House, therefore 3rd in line of succession.

He seems a remarkable nonentity.
 
Why WOULD Sherman? He was loyal to the U.S. Also, semi-related qoestion. Was Sherman American-Indian in decsent? Tescumeh gave me the idea.
 
why would Sherman do this?? When thought of as a possible choice to run for president as a Republican in 1884 he said.....

"If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve"

That quote makes it very clear that he didn't wish to hold power like Napoleon did
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
At the time the U.S. government was afraid after the death of Lincoln,William Techumsah Sherman might march into D.C. and overthrow the government proclaim himself dictator.

How plausible is this scenario?

Um. . . not plausible in the least. Where do you get the idea that anyone thought Sherman might launch a coup, much less that his troops would follow him? Sherman had no political ambitions and certainly had no thought of doing any such thing.
 
Wouldn't it be Schyler Colfax? He was Speaker of the House, therefore 3rd in line of succession.

He seems a remarkable nonentity.

nope, from 1792 to 1886 the President pro tempore was 3rd and the Speaker was 4th, any way Daniel Clark would be President till November when a special election would be held
 

burmafrd

Banned
Show one example one instance one single bit of evidence that Sherman would have ever even thought of something like that.
 
Show one example one instance one single bit of evidence that Sherman would have ever even thought of something like that.

lets ditch the "Sherman takes over the government" part of this becaus eit does rase a good Question, the WI is what would happen if President Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, Secretary of State Seward, and General-in-Chief Grant had been killed by a conspiracy of Confederate sympathizers in the dying days of the Civil War?
 
A McClellan who is as much a tactical as logistical genius always seemed like more of a threat to me. He defeats the Army of Northern Virginia, takes Richmond, Lincoln demands harsh terms, McClellan decides that's not a good idea and wheels the Army around.

Or something like that.
 
Apologies for quoting Wiki, but since the information is easily available it seems useful to quote things :-

Wiki said:
Sherman was born in 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio, near the shores of the Hocking River. His father Charles Robert Sherman, a successful lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court, named him after the famous Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Judge Sherman died unexpectedly in 1829. He left his widow, Mary Hoyt Sherman, with eleven children and no inheritance. Following this tragedy, the nine-year-old Sherman was raised by a Lancaster neighbor and family friend, attorney Thomas Ewing, a prominent member of the Whig Party who served as senator from Ohio and as the first Secretary of the Interior. Sherman was distantly related to the politically influential Baldwin, Hoar & Sherman family and grew to admire American founding father Roger Sherman

Sherman's unusual given name has attracted considerable attention. Since 1932, it has often been reported that, as an infant, Sherman was named simply Tecumseh. According to these accounts, Sherman acquired the name "William" at age nine or ten, after being taken into the Ewing household. His foster mother, Maria Ewing, who was of Irish ancestry, was a devout Catholic. In the Ewing home, Sherman was baptized by a Dominican priest who supposedly used the name William because the event took place on a Saint William's Day – possibly June 25, the feast day of Saint William of Montevergine.[3] However, this colorful account is dubious. Sherman himself states in his Memoirs that his father named him William Tecumseh, and there is corroborating evidence that Sherman was baptized by a Presbyterian minister as an infant and given the name William at that time.[4] As an adult, Sherman signed all his correspondence (even to his wife) "W.T. Sherman,"[5] but his friends and family always called him "Cump."[6] Despite having been baptized twice in his youth, Sherman did not adhere to any organized religion for much of his adult life

His name, and its origins

In January 1861 just before the outbreak of the Civil War, Sherman was required to accept receipt of arms surrendered to the State Militia by the U.S. Arsenal at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Instead of complying, he resigned his position as superintendent and returned to the North, declaring to the governor of Louisiana, "On no earthly account will I do any act or think any thought hostile ... to the ... United States."[23] He promptly traveled to Washington, D.C., possibly in the hope of securing a position in the army, and met with Abraham Lincoln in the White House during inauguration week. Sherman expressed concern about the North's poor state of preparedness but found Lincoln unresponsive.[24] Thereafter, Sherman became president of the St. Louis Railroad, a streetcar company, a position he held for only a few months before being called to Washington, D.C.

Oh probably not relevant, but full of facts I certainly didn't know

During his time in Louisville, Sherman became increasingly pessimistic about the outlook of the war. His frequent complaints to Washington, D.C. about shortages and his exaggerated estimates of the strength of the rebel forces caused the local press to describe him as "crazy".[27] He was replaced in his command by Don Carlos Buell and transferred to St. Louis, Missouri, where in the fall of 1861 he experienced what would probably be described today as a nervous breakdown. He was put on leave and returned to Ohio to recuperate. While he was at home, his wife, Ellen, wrote to his brother Senator John Sherman seeking advice and complaining of "that melancholy insanity to which your family is subject".[28] However, Sherman quickly recovered and returned to service under Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, commander of the Department of the Missouri.

I don't see anything anywhere about Sherman being a drunk - that was Grant, in his past. Sherman probably had something of a nervous breakdown, then recovered and was worried each time about a repetition.

Sherman captured the state capital of Columbia, South Carolina on February 17, 1865. Fires began that night and by next morning, most of the central city was destroyed. The burning of Columbia has engendered controversy ever since, with some claiming the fires were accidental, others a deliberate act of vengeance, and still others that the retreating Confederates burned bales of cotton on their way out of town. Local Native American Lumbee guides helped Sherman's army cross the Lumber River through torrential rains and into North Carolina. According to Sherman, the trek across the Lumber River, and through the swamps, pocosins, and creeks of Robeson County "was the damnedest marching I ever saw". Thereafter, his troops did little damage to the civilian infrastructure, as North Carolina, unlike its southern neighbor, which was seen as a hotbed of secession, was regarded by his men to be only a reluctant Confederate state, due to its position as one of the last to join the Confederacy. In late March, Sherman briefly left his forces and traveled to City Point, Virginia, to consult with Grant. Lincoln happened to be at City Point at the same time, allowing the only three-way meeting of Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman during the war.

Now, I could quote more but there is more useful stuff in "What if America"...

If Lincoln's assassination had been accompanied by those of Johnson and Seward, the government in DC would have faced the choice of trying to make the civilian administratio work, or going to a military dictatorship. Much as we might hate to admit it, the latter would have made sense at the time !

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
I'd say Hooker was the most likely candidate. He even publicly spoke out about America's need for a dictatorship, presumably with himself on top.

Quick & Dirty TL: Hooker successfully anchors his "hanging flank" at Chancellorsville. Lee & Jackson's attack repulsed. Hooker counterattacks and splits the CS forces. Drive to Richmond, siege, victory.

Hooker, ego inflated, turns army north, gathers supporting forces claiming Lincoln "incompetence" during war. Seizes government. Crowns self President for Life. Wears Hooker's Green robe to "inauguration".

Civil war now a nationwide insurgency as all "democratic peoples" rise up against tyranny. Ameriwank stillborn.
 
There is an AH book with Stanton seizing power by offing Grant and Colfax, this being set in the 1870s. Can't remember the title, but I did read it.
 
Top