Getting There From Here

Some very deep and fascinating thoughts on Harry Turtledove's alternative histories, especially his "South won the Civil War" series from Jim Bennett. He speculates on what might have happened if the Confederacy had managed to survive the War of Northern Aggression.

I have not read the series, only his Guns of the South novel where time-travellers introduce high-tech repeating rifles to the Confederacy. I have read some of his "aliens invade Earth during World War II" series, but found it only moderately interesting. He's not good with compelling characters, in my opinion, which keeps me confused about who's who in such a broad landscape.

For some reason I find reading real histories, and discovering the moments where things might have gone differently for myself, to be more enjoyable. As I learned from Catton's The Coming Fury, but for a shortage of the proper forms, we might have had President William Seward rather than Abraham Lincoln. Also, had the US been willing to send its important message by telegraph, rather than the much slower mails, the Civil War might have started in Texas rather than South Carolina, and Lincoln would have come into office with the War already raging.

The touchstone of Civil War "what ifs" is the soldier who discovered a pair trio of fine cigars wrapped in some parchment lying by the side of the road. He happened to give the papers to his commanding officer, who was able to read and recognised them as the Confederacy's order of battle, giving the North a vital advantage in the Battle of Gettysburg Sharpsburg. [Oops! Thanks for the correction, John.)

Had that not happened, the North would have been at a serious disadvantage and likely have lost the battle. The panic in nearby Washington DC over an impending Southern siege of the capital might have been the final tilt to force Lincoln to accept a truce or even co-existence. There was much sentiment in the North at that time to let the Confederacy go its own way, much as many folks today are already tired of the global War on Terror and are already willing to walk away from it, hoping for the best.

Fascinating topic of many a long, late-night discussion. History is a rich and dazzling place.