Posted on 03/17/2015 8:14:26 AM PDT by iowamark
By March 1865, it was obvious to all but the most die-hard Confederates that the South was going to lose the war. Whether that loss was inevitable is an unanswerable question, but considering various “what if” scenarios has long been a popular exercise among historians, novelists and Civil War buffs...
Perhaps the most common scenario centers on the actions of Gen. Robert E. Lee...
What many fail to recognize is that Northerners were just as committed to winning as the Southerners. Some saw it as a war to free the slaves, while others fought to ensure that their republican form of government survived. Northerners believed that America was the world’s last great hope for democracy, and if the South destroyed the Union by force, that light of liberty might be extinguished forever. Lincoln once said the North must prove “that popular government is not an absurdity. We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose. If we fail it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves.”
The South may have been fighting to preserve a way of life and to protect its perceived constitutional rights, but so was the North. If the Southern people kept fighting even after the devastating defeats at Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Chattanooga, why should we not believe the North would have kept on fighting even if the Confederates had won Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Chattanooga? The fact is that both sides were equally brave and equally dedicated to their cause. Commitment and morale being the same, the stronger side prevailed.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com ...
ping
1. If the France of Napoleon III had enetered the war on the side of the south (To preserve her Mexican expedition) the South may have won—if the French Navy had broken the blocade the south might have won.
2. If Booth had killed Lincoln in 1863 -—Johnston would not have won re-election, McClellin would have won and made peace with the south.
3. If Jackson had not been killed at Chancelersville —he would have won the Battle of Gettysburg—captured Washington DC, and Lincoln would have been captured and brought to Richmond for terms.
4. If England had joined the south and invaded from Canada. The war would have gone to the south.
5. If the south had freed all of her slaves—drafted them to fight it would have taken away a big part of the Northern rational for the war.
You have a vivid imagination, I’ll give you that.
You’re absolutely correct. Sherman taking Atlanta in September of 1864 guaranteed the election for Lincoln.
Before that, Lincoln was almost resigned to the fact that he would lose reelection. Without that victory, the democrats (why is it always them giving up to enemies?) would have won and McClellan wanted to have a peace conference with the Confederacy. Now, Mac said the conference would be on what to do to get the Southern states back into the Union, but what would he have done if they refused; restart the war?
Dang! If only we had the Internet in the 1920's, he'd have made a great FReeper!
6. If Albert Sidney Johnston stayed alive at Shiloh, and wrecked Grant’s army, Grant would have taken the fall and been cashiered as a general.
7. If Jeb Stuart hadn’t lost touch of Lee’s army, and left Lee completely in the dark of Federal whereabouts right before Gettysburg.
8. If the Confederates found a way to evacuate Fort Donelson, instead of having Buckner surrender the WHOLE command, even newly arrived reinforcements.
9. If John Bell Hood capitalized on dividing and destroying
Schofield’s army at Spring Hill, instead of letting the Federals escape unmolested, then Franklin would never have happened.
Even if McClellan had won, he and the new Congress would not have taken office until March 1865. You honestly think that at that point he would have surrendered to the rebels and given them what they want?
And that's ignoring the fact that McClellan had said before the election that he wouldn't abide by the peace plank in the Democrat platform.
The endless “ifs” continue.
I thought that was what this thread was about.
Interesting. But McClellan's victory would have been a sign that the country was weary of war. Peace Democrats would have made the most of the win, and that could have changed things. Plus, who's to say the army would have won the war with McClellan as commander-in-chief?
Not a bad article, though. Traditionally people have underestimated the North's resolve and commitment to winning the war and attributed victory to material factors and brute force. Jones does a lot to remind us that Unionists were also determined and idealistic. They weren't just doing what they were told to do. If they weren't inspired and dedicated, the result could have been different.
True dat.
How 'bout this: If the south had gone about secession the right way instead of mounting an armed insurrection there would have been no need for war for either side to win or lose.
That is a conundrum!
Suppose Hood held out in Atlanta, instead of rushing all over trying to attack the Yankees? Suppose the win at Chickamauga could have been exploited the next day, instead of letting Rosecrans withdraw?
My recollection of McClellan saying he didn’t support the peace plank came only after the Union win at Atlanta. And if taking Atlanta failed, like not taking Richmond for 18 months of siege, could mean the March to the Sea never happened.
If Lincoln had lost the election, and Sherman was still besieging Atlanta with many pitched battles inconclusively killing thousands more men, maybe the war wouldn’t have gone on after the election, but stopped due to the results even before the inauguration.
Neither of us know, as it is all speculation, but I think it is important to stress how the fall of Atlanta and the subsequent March to the Sea lifted the Republicans to electoral AND battle victory, and doomed the Confederacy.
There were no real victories for the South after the Fall of Atlanta. Yeah, they won a skirmish here and there, but the Union had the whip hand by then.
Well yeah but what about slavery? How long could that have lasted?
“So George Washington, Thomas Jefferson were Communists?”
________
You are hovering in the vicinity of making a valid point, if it weren’t for you failure to recognize a couple attributes that distinguish Washington and Jefferson. First, their agricultural concern (and slave ownership) was peripheral to the purpose of their lives. Not the focus of their lives.
And, unlike confederates, they worked to build the United States and did not selfishly execute treasonous endeavors to destroy it. Sort of a big deal.
Stalin's vision was to allow the Nazis to destroy the Capitalists and then he would destroy the Nazis.
But keep in mind, Stalin was just as insane as Hitler was.
Don’t you remember? The second sacrament of the Lost Causers says that “slavery was dying out anyway”. ;’)
Hitler liked to look at maps and pretend he was a genius to make decisions. Real generals look at logistics, from both sides, before they make decisions. Looking at how well the German Army did during WWII with a total idiot like Hitler calling the shots is amazing. That the German army didn't kill the SOB for wasting their army is even more amazing.
Going back to the topic of the thread, Sherman (and Grant) understood logistics. Sherman saw that he could march through the South 'living off the land' while at the same time depriving his enemy of the resources of that same land.
In WWII, it was bombing raids on factories and transportation centers. That is logistics. It's ugly, but that is how it works and why war should be avoided.
I recall reading a letter written by Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard before Sumter claiming the Confederates could cut the Union in half by invading from the Northern panhandle of then Virginia (now West Virginia) up to lake Erie.
Another example of looking at maps, not at reality.
Well my contention is the war was more about states rights than slavery.
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