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Tag Archives: what-if
Mexican War Hero Alexander W. Doniphan: One of the Civil War’s Great “What Ifs”
Some of the most thought-provoking “what ifs” of the Civil War involve noteworthy individuals that chose not to or could not participate in the war. Instead of taking up arms for one reason or another, they remained on the sidelines … Continue reading
Could McClellan Have Been Someone Other Than McClellan?
Today is November 7, the anniversary of Little Mac’s final removal from command of the Army of the Potomac in 1862. I’ve been thinking about George McClellan lately, spurred by some writing I’ve been doing about him for an upcoming … Continue reading
A Stonewall Jackson “What If” I’d Never Heard Before
During a Q&A with the Franklin Civil War Roundtable last month, someone asked me a question about Stonewall Jackson that no one had ever asked me before. My presentation had been on “The Last days of Stonewall Jackson,” and someone … Continue reading
What About What-If?
Our question of the week this morning, which dealt with a hypothetical what-if scenario, coincidentally touched on something that’s been on my own mind lately. Do you have your own favorite Civil War alternative history? If so, what is it, … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors
Tagged alternative history, Harry Turtledove, How Few Remain, what-if
10 Comments
Garfield and Chamberlain
On June 14, 1881, Joshua L. Chamberlain of Brunswick, Maine, wrote a letter to President James A. Garfield. The President’s wife, Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, had been ill with malaria for much of the spring, and Chamberlain offered this advice: It … Continue reading
Posted in Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Federal, Personalities, Politics
Tagged James Garfield, Joshua L. Chamberlain, presidents, what-if
3 Comments
When Longstreet Took Boston
Readers of Civil War News know that I contribute a regular column, “Critic’s Corner,” in which Publisher Jack Melton allows me to write about books and other published works. July is traditionally our “Gettysburg” issue, with a big central section … Continue reading
Robert Penn Warren’s Reflections on Jefferson Davis’s Citizenship
As I mentioned in a post a couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity recently to pick up Robert Penn Warren’s short 1980 book Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back. It’s beautifully written, and Warren’s ambivalence about his native South … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors, Leadership--Confederate, Lincoln, Memory, Personalities, Slavery
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Gerrit Smith, Jefferson Davis, Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back, Jimmy Carter, John Brown, New Yorker, Robert Penn Warren, Secret Six, Slavery, Southern identity, what-if
8 Comments
“What If Jackson had Survived His Wounding?”
I get the question all the time: “What if Stonewall Jackson hadn’t been shot?” When people ask that question, what they really want to know is “What would he have done at Gettysburg?” My answer is always “He would have … Continue reading
