The whole premise of TL-191

TL-191 started when Lee's Special Order 191 WASN'T lost prior to the Battle of Antietam. The CSA goes on to win the Civil War and become an independent state.



Is that how history would have happened had McClellan not found Lee's battle plans?
 
not finding the plans only keep McCellan from sending troops thru Cumberland Gap and into Lees rear.
TL 191's ACW ended when Lee advanced after winning Atetiem and attacked Philly.
 
On topic: probably not.
I think the battle still would have gone in favor of the Union.

Off topic, why is this in post-1900? it should be in either pre-1900 or media.
 
not finding the plans only keep McCellan from sending troops thru Cumberland Gap and into Lees rear.
TL 191's ACW ended when Lee advanced after winning Atetiem and attacked Philly.

Actually Antietam never happened in TL191. Antietam was a result of McClellan finding the lost orders.
 

Xen

Banned
No the south isn't guaranteed a win. I was reading somewhere that Lee's Army was divided on invading Maryland. Some saw it as against what the south stood for to invade the north, while others (who would have felt that way) saw Maryland as a southern state in need of liberation from the Union Army.
 
The only reason the special order scenario is so popular for CSA victory is that it was still early in the war before the Emancipation Proclamtion (the E.P.) and therefore while foreign support was still tangible.

Plus with the war so young, the Union's greater reserves of manpower and resources had not been fully tapped, as well that the popular opinion was still lukewarm following the string of defeats dealt by the CSA.

The only reason Antietam ever occured was because McClellan moved to intercept Lee after learning of his march orders from the 191 dispatch. Had McClellan never found the orders, it is likey that Lee could have slipped behind him and threatened D.C. or Philly, Baltimore, etc.

The question would be whether Lincoln forced McClellan to engage and displace the rebels (which no doubt Lee wanted very much so he could choose favorable ground) or allowed McClellan to engage at his own discretion...unlikey.

The politcal fallout from OTL Antietam was that Lincoln felt confident enough to
 
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