This is a 'What If' book on how the South could have won the Civil War. By the time of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, the South had one million adult slaves. These slaves wanted to fight for the South. They wanted to help build railroads, nurse the wounded, and build ironclads that would free the Mississippi River of Yankee gunboats. At least 100,000 adult slaves could be trained to fight under strong CSA army leaders in the West like Nathan B. Forrest and Pat Cleburne. The Civil War is a naval struggle as well as a land struggle. If the South utilized their slave resources, they may beat Grant's Army of the Mississippi, Rosecrans's Army of the Tennessee, and Hooker's Army of the Potomac. The South would also win Great Britain's favor and be able to buy two Hi-Tech Battle Cruisers that were more advanced than any Union gunboat. Read how increasing the size of the Southern armies with trained Black recruits, increasing the Southern naval power, and placing strong leaders in charge of CSA Western Armies turn the tide in 1863.
About the Author: Joe Potts The author was born in Athens Georgia. He is an engineering graduate from Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia. The Cyclorama in Atlanta was a large three dimensional painting of the Battle of Atlanta at Peachtree Creek. That panoramic view was the beginning of my studying the Civil War from the South's side. I served 35 years as a military civilian engineer for the Air Force and Army. While at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, I was involved in loading M-60 tanks on C-141 and C-5 aircraft that went to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. We sent more tanks to Israel during that war than Russia was able to send to Egypt and Syria and Russia was closer. Israel with our tanks was able to win that war. As a Manufacturing Engineer I was able to increase monthly M-1 tank engine production at the Stratford Army Engine Plant in Connecticut from 20 per month to 100 per month. The M-1 tank is the fastest tank in the world and can fire on the run. The engine for the M-1 tank is a 1500 horsepower turbine engine. I worked in Washington DC for the Army for 20 years. In Northern Virginia, I was able to tour the Civil War battlefields where Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia won most of the battles. I was pleased that Antietam and Bull Run were National Parks. I visited Charleston, South Carolina and learned that the Civil War also had many naval battles with large guns and heroes on both sides. The Civil War was a major war that almost became a global war. The South was behind the times. Slavery kept the real Civil War from becoming a global war. By freeing the slaves, most of them would have fought or worked for the Southern cause. By freeing the slaves, the South was able to buy from Great Britain two of their Hi-Tech Battle Cruisers that could defeat any Northern warship. From my study of the Western Theatre of the Civil War, Nathan B. Forrest and Pat Cleburne would have made better Confederate Army commanders. 100,000 trained Black soldiers fighting for the three main Confederate armies would have given Grant's, Rosecrans's, and Hooker's armies with tactical problems. If the South had recruited the Black men on plantations, trained them, and loaded them on trains to the nearest Southern army, these Black men would have made a difference. Nobody knew this better than Abe Lincoln.