Time Machine - What Could You Change?

[Joe O.]

As Civil War buffs we all have fantasized (or is it just me?) about going back in time with the power of hindsight to fix blunders thereby changing the course of events, becoming famous etc... . Wouldn't it be nice convince McClellan that he greatly outnumbered the Confederates at Antietam, warn Hooker about Jackson's flanking maneuver or advice Lincoln on which generals he should hire and fire. (Sorry for showing my obvious Union loyalties). In reality though, could you do anything? Let's pretend you just step off the time machine in April 1861. You know no one personally, no one knows you. Could you advance far enough in the Army or politics to have any real effect on events? Or are you more likely to die in a hail of bullets trying to make a name for yourself or suffer a nondescript death by typhoid or other disease that your softened 21st Century immune system can't handle? Where could you make your biggest impact? One thought would be to join the medical corps and tell someone about germs and the importance of sanitation. That would have saved many lives and possibly made an army strong enough to influence the result of some battles. As for a single event, I think I could have stopped John Wilkes Booth from assassinating Lincoln and change the course Southern reconstruction and future race relations for the better. I am interested in your thoughts.

 

[CMWinkler]

Welcome

 

[ole]

Thoughts are all you're gonna get Joe. I'd have averted Lincoln's murder. I do think that his "let 'em up easy" policy would have made quite a difference in reconstruction.

 

[dlavin]

well, that's a lot to think about, but I guess Lincoln's assassination is what I would want to stop.

but who knows, I may not be here if that happened. The course of history would be changed forever

 

[Rebel_Giratina]

Why change anything? Isn't this timeline good enough as it is? And who's to say that if you changed the timeline by, say, stopping Lincoln's assassination, that things might turn out worse?

 

[tbuckley]

If time travel was possible I wouldn't make any changes, changing anything would change all of history from that point on. But if time travel is possible and changes were made, how would we know??????????

 

[dlavin]

haha maybe someone did change history by going back in time. The ultimate head scratcher conspiracy theory

 

[TinCan]

At Gettysburg I'd of liked to tell the Texas Brigade to "Git around to the right"

 

[JaneQuantrill]

Can't really answer that one, as I recently had a novel published, 'Partners in Time', which is set in the Civil War, and involves a time traveler from the 21st century.
So, I'd be giving a spoiler!
If you really want to find out; just go to https://www.amazon.com/author/janequantrill. Free plug!

 

[Patrick H]

Wouldn't change a thing on the actual timeline. I might endeavor to change a few perceptions about things that happened along that timeline.

By the way, I watched a fabulous old television program last night on youtube. It was called "The Time Element" and was written by Rod Serling. He intended it to be the pilot script for his sci-fi series, The Twilight Zone". It was produced without that goal in mind and it was a fine program. ...and we all know Mr. Serling wound up entertaining all of us with his series a couple of years later. I recommend you watch "The Time Element" on youtube.

 

[BillO]

I'd casually stroll over and pocket the "Lost Orders", grab a cold one and watch what happens next.

 

[Potomac Pride]

As Civil War buffs we all have fantasized (or is it just me?) about going back in time with the power of hindsight to fix blunders thereby changing the course of events, becoming famous etc... . Wouldn't it be nice convince McClellan that he greatly outnumbered the Confederates at Antietam, warn Hooker about Jackson's flanking maneuver or advice Lincoln on which generals he should hire and fire. (Sorry for showing my obvious Union loyalties). In reality though, could you do anything? Let's pretend you just step off the time machine in April 1861. You know no one personally, no one knows you. Could you advance far enough in the Army or politics to have any real effect on events? Or are you more likely to die in a hail of bullets trying to make a name for yourself or suffer a nondescript death by typhoid or other disease that your softened 21st Century immune system can't handle? Where could you make your biggest impact? One thought would be to join the medical corps and tell someone about germs and the importance of sanitation. That would have saved many lives and possibly made an army strong enough to influence the result of some battles. As for a single event, I think I could have stopped John Wilkes Booth from assassinating Lincoln and change the course Southern reconstruction and future race relations for the better. I am interested in your thoughts.

I'm sorry but I am using my time machine right now to prevent the War of 1812. The Civil War will just have to wait until a later date.

 

[bankerpapaw]

It seems as if whenever man tries to change something, it only ends up getting worse than it was to start with.

 

[rosefiend]

I'd casually stroll over and pocket the "Lost Orders", grab a cold one and watch what happens next.

Except you'd have to bring an ice machine back in time with you so you could have that cold one.

As for me, if my stomach could stand it, I'd secure a supply of carbolic acid and start using that on wounds in the field hospitals, and try to get other nurses to do the same, and maybe some forward-thinking surgeons if I could find them. This beats spending hours using a spoon to scoop out -- ick ick ick ick ick ick ick ick ick ick.

Oh, yeah, and chase down genealogical leads and prevent Lincoln's assassination. I really wish he'd been in charge of Reconstruction because President Johnson just sent that program all to heck on roller skates.

 

[5fish]

I would cause a mailstorm I would do my best to ensure Grant destroyed Lee's AoNV in a series of final battles leaving most if not all dead maybe even Lee dead and for good measure even Johnston army AoT destroy it(even if it wanted to surrender)... and try to bring Thaddeus Stevens fame conquered state speech to life.... I would have carved out a Freeman state out of the defeated Southern states...(Call it the Great State of Lincoln)... and rounded up confederate officers and politicians for a long stay in prison camps... The south would have paid in blood, land, and statehood for bringing war to our nation for the filth of slavery...

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I might think about strolling over to the Navy Department headquarters and tell Gideon Welles to keep a closer eye on the light-draught monitor program...

 

[Patrick H]

I would cause a mailstorm I would do my best to ensure Grant destroyed Lee's AoNV in a series of final battles leaving most if not all dead maybe even Lee dead and for good measure even Johnston army AoT destroy it(even if it wanted to surrender)... and try to bring Thaddeus Stevens fame conquered state speech to life.... I would have carved out a Freeman state out of the defeated Southern states...(Call it the Great State of Lincoln)... and rounded up confederate officers and politicians for a long stay in prison camps... The south would have paid in blood, land, and statehood for bringing war to our nation for the filth of slavery...

You didn't buy into the "With malice toward none, with charity for all" part of the speech, did you?

 

[5fish]

You didn't buy into the "With malice toward none, with charity for all" part of the speech, did you?

I do not believe those words were in the speech... not the one I looked at...Dec 18th 1865...

To achieve my goals I have to ensure Lincoln's death... and Johnson impeachment... I would have to disrupt or falsify the communication between Grant and Lee giving the indication Lee was going to fight to the death... and later on again giving the indication Johnston would fight to the death...Once Johnson was thrown out of office and the Radical control both halves of congress and the White House. It would not take much for the radicals to begin to act ruthlessly against the old confederacy and bring Stevens dream to fruition...

 

[Private Watkins]

Welcome from Oklahoma...

Instead of arrogantly assuming to change major world events to conform with my personal biases, I think I'd just want to go back and tell my Dad and my Grandpa one last time how much I loved them...

 

[Andersonh1]

I'd use my time machine to resupply Vicksburg with plenty of food and supplies, and see how detaining Grant by prolonging the siege would change events down the road.