Today In History...
...Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appamattox Court House, Virginia (1865). It is worth reflecting on this day just how right Bismarck was when he remarked "God has a special providence for fools, drunks and the United States of America." Had Robert E. Lee listened to his advisors and ordered his army to disperse and commence guerilla warfare, America in the 19th Century (which was bad enough) might have painfully resembled Iraq in the 21st, a theory expanded upon at length by Jay Winik in his excellent book, "April 1865: the Month that Saved America." I wouldn't wish for that reality, of course, but it does lead me inevitably to wonder what would have happened to the tribes of the West if the entire US Army had been pinned down for decades fighting Confederate insurgents.
Labels: Alternate History, Today in History
posted by The Local Crank | 8:26 PM
2 Comments:
If a large number of tribes had EVER banded together and coordinated their efforts for a sustained time, the history of western American expansion would undoubtedly have been much different. But for most tribes, it just wasn't a part of their history, culture, or inclination to form a lasting coalition. Hell, even the various tribes of Comanches rarely cooperated with each other for long. I'm sure that was true of many other North American Peoples as well.
You're right, of course. It would've taken someone with Pontiac or Tecumseh-level vision and charisma to mount an effective, unified defense of the Great Plains. Crazy Horse, maybe. Or Sitting Bull. The "Great Man" Theory of History at work. That's the conceit of Pamela Sargent's alt hist novel "Climb the Wind," where she has Touch The Clouds, a contemporary of Crazy Horse, take advantage of a renewed Civil War. There's some silly stuff in there, too; Russian spies and the like, but it's still an interesting premise.
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