The Great "what Ifs" of the American Civil War: Historians Tackle the Conflict's Most Intriguing Possibilities

ECW Examines Pivotal Moments Of The Civil War

I am skeptical about "alternative" or counterfactual attempts at histories which often find their way into novels. Although this new book from Emerging Civil War "The Great 'What Ifs" of the American Civil War: Historians Tackle the Conflict's Most Intriguing Possibilities" (2022) at first invoked my doubts, I found my doubts unwarranted in reading the book's essays. Far from presenting alternative or counterfactual history, the book examines some of the key pivotal moments of the Civil War and analyzes their importance. Although cast in terms of "what ifs" most of the book is squarely within the responsible practice of history. Chris Mackowski and Brian Matthew Jordan, both excellent Civil War historians, edited this volume. Peter Tsouras, an author of several novels of alternative history, wrote the Foreword to the volume. I found it most useful to plunge into the essays themselves in order to understand what this book was about.

The book consists of twelve essays of "what if's", each by a Civil War historian, involving twelve important moments of the Civil War, together with an additional "what if" at the conclusion. Each essay considers certain events and asks what might have happened if the event had been different. An example is the death of Stonewall Jackson following the Battle of Chancellorsville. Many people argue that the South might have prevailed at Gettysburg if Jackson had been there. Of course, this is counterfactual and we don't know. Kristopher White's essay in this volume attempts to dissolve some of the mystique surronding this question by a close examination of the facts of Chancellorsville, of Jackson and his health, and of Gettysburg. In other words, White's essay counsels against drawing rash conclusions.

Other essays in this volume that take an approach similar to White's include Timothy Smith's essay on the Battle of Shiloh, Kevin Pawlak's study of Antietam and the Maryland Campaign, Dan Welch's study of Gettysburg, Chris Mackowski's treatment of Lee at the North Anna River, and Kristen Trout's study of Sterling Price's 1864 expedition in Missouri. Each of these essays encourages the reader to look closely at the complexity of determining what happened before speculating on what might have happened.

Other issues raise broader issues but fall well short of alternative histories. Actions and histories are contingent. A good example is Cecily Zander's essay on the relationship between Braxton Bragg and Jefferson Davis. Zander, entirely reasonably, holds Bragg at least partially responsible for the Confederacy's poor showing in the Western theater of the War. She develops her position well without speculating on what might have happened if the South had found more capable leadership. Similarly Dwight Hughes' essay on the possibility of British intervention in the conflict shows how this possibility had been approached by the principals at the time and about the importance of Britain's non-intervention to the North and, for the opposite reason, to the South. Frank Jastrzembski's essay discusses three individuals who might have become commanders of the Army of the Potomac but who did not and comments on their possible leadership styles. Barton Myers examines Robert E Lee's decision against guerilla warfare at the surrender at Appomattox. And two essays, by Jonathan Noyalas and Bryan Matthew Jordan examine aspects of Lincoln's presidency, including the undoubted significance in the course of events to his assassination. These essays stay close to factual record and avoid speculation or counterfactual history. I enjoyed and learned from them.

As the editors point out following the essays, "nothing in the past had to turn out the way it did". This is a crucial lesson to learn and, in my view, is not tied to counterfactuals. The book concludes with brief but good bibliographies prepared by the authors of each individual essay for readers wishing the explore the particular subject matter in greater detail. Excellent maps and images with provocative commentaries enhance the themes of the book.

This book is the product of Emerging Civil War, a non-profit corporation presenting "the collaborative effort of more than thirty historians committed to sharing the story of the Civil War in an accessible way." The book admirably fulfills that goal. Savas Beatie publishes the ECW books and also kindly sent me a review copy of this title.

Robin Friedman