An Alternate History
How history may have changed if Abraham Lincoln had survived the assassination attempt by John Wilkes Booth
By
Brian Boyington
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface:
Prologue:
PART ONE TO HEEL OR NOT TO HEEL
Chapter 1 – The Proposal
Chapter 2 - A new Beginning
Chapter 3 - The Drivers and the Smiths
Chapter 4 - Liberia Rising
Chapter 5 - The Alabama Claims
Chapter 6 - Wars and Rumors of Wars
Chapter 7 - Preparations
Chapter 8 - Just a Small Imperial War
Chapter 9 - Ironclads on the High Seas
Chapter 10 - A long March in a Hot Jungle
Chapter 11 - Murphy’s Law
Chapter 12 - The Admiral & His Protégé
Chapter 13 - Outrage in London
PART TWO – THE FIRST COUSINS WAR
Chapter 14 - Raid in Penobscot Bay
Chapter 15 - The Church Bells Rang
Chapter 16 - Invasion
Chapter 17 - Upper Canada
Chapter 18 - Beachmont Hill
Chapter 19 - The Gibraltar of Canada
Chapter 20 - The Way Forward
Chapter 21 – A Privateers Life
Chapter 22 - Bermuda and the Caribbean
Chapter 23 - The Announcement
Epilogue
Afterword
Preface:
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana
All of my life I have been deeply involved with history. I read every history book I could find on modern, medieval, renaissance and ancient history. I wanted to know not just that empires rose and fell, but what happened, how it happened, when it began and why.
I was fascinated by societal and scientific advancements of the empires. I was more interested in the fact that more often than not when the empire fell the accomplishments disappeared with them. The ‘why’ led me to ask: Could it have been prevented and if so, what was the nexus point?
For most of the last 20 years, I have been a fan of alternative history and have read books by Harry Turtledove, Robert Conroy, and Newt Gingrich among others. These books fed my imagination and led me to write my alternate history book.
Lincoln Sneezed has been in my head for several years. I believe that Lincoln’s assassination was a nexus point in United States history; which contributed to current world history. This book is an attempt to postulate what might have been if Lincoln had survived the attempted assassination.
I want to express my appreciation to my volunteer editors. These include my son Todd, my brother Roger and good friend Dan Burns. They helped point out areas needing improvement and areas needing expansion. My feeding off their ideas has helped me to produce this book.
I also wish to express my appreciation to my wife Melody, who had to put up with my obsession.
LINCOLN SNEEZED
Prologue
During January 1865, Abraham Lincoln, with a judicious combination of arm-twisting and political appointments, engineered a vote for the 13th Amendment. On February 1, his efforts led to a 2/3 majority vote in the House of Representatives. The Senate previously passed the bill. This amendment freed all the slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation had only freed the slaves in the Confederate States. Additionally, as an Executive Order, it would expire when Lincoln left office. The 13th Amendment was an earth shattering event. Since the first time since the United States became a nation, no one was legally a slave. Of course, the Confederacy did not recognize this amendment. However northern states, particularly New Jersey previously had thousands of slaves. Now they were free.
In March 1865, Ulysses Grant, the commanding general of all the Union’s armies decided to suspend the exchange of prisoners of war. To Grant this was a hard decision, as the conditions in prisoner of war camps on both sides were deplorable; with thousands of prisoners, on both sides dying from disease and malnutrition. More important to his mind was the realization that the exchange was prolonging the war by returning soldiers to the outnumbered and manpower-starved South.
He was correct; as the Confederate armies were unable to replace their losses. The weakened armies were in full retreat and soon Richmond, the Confederate Capital was captured. General Robert E Lee and his greatly reduced army were retreating towards the Shenandoah Valley. On April 8, they were surrounded and greatly outnumbered by Grant at Appomattox Court House. On April 9th Lee tried to break out of the encirclement by ordering an attack on General Sheridan’s cavalry which was blocking the road to Lynchburg. Lee’s attack almost was successful, but after penetrating two lines of defenders, he was confronted by an entire Corps of Infantry, in battle array moving forward. Lee, now surrounded knew it was over and sent a letter to Grant requesting terms of surrender.
Lee wrote: General, Your note of this date is but this moment, 11:50 A.M. rec’d., in consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburg road. I am at this writing about four miles West of Walker’s Church and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you. Notice sent to me on this road where you wish the interview to take place.
Grant’ message replied: General you may choose the place of this meeting. Lee’s aid chose the house owned by Wilbur McLean.
April 9.
Dressed in an immaculate uniform, Lee waited for Grant to arrive. Grant arrived at the courthouse in a mud-spattered uniform—a government-issue sack coat with trousers tucked into muddy boots, no side arms and with only his tarnished shoulder straps showing his rank. After small talk, Lee brought the attention back to the issue at hand, and Grant offered the terms.
In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of N. Va. on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate. One copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery and public property to be parked and stacked and turned over to the officer appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the sidearms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside.
Grant’s adjutant Ely Parker, a Native American of the Seneca Tribe, recorded the terms of surrender. Lee stated: “It is good to have one real American here.” Parker replied: “Sir, we are all real Americans.” Grant chose Major General Joshua Chamberlain to accept the surrender. General Chamberlain wrote in his journal of a remarkable tribute he provided the defeated Confederate Army:
The momentous meaning of this occasion impressed me deeply. I resolved to mark it by some token of recognition, which could be no other than a salute of arms. Well aware of the responsibility assumed and of the criticisms that would follow, as the sequel proved, nothing of that kind could move me in the least. The act could be defended, if needful, by the suggestion that such a salute was not to the cause for which the flag of the Confederacy stood, but to its going down before the flag of the Union. My main reason, however, was one for which I sought no authority nor asked forgiveness. Before us in proud humiliation stood the embodiment of manhood: men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death, nor disaster, nor hopelessness could bend from their resolve; standing befo
re us now, thin, worn and famished, but erect and with eyes looking level into ours, waking memories that bound us together as no other bond;—was not such manhood to be welcomed back into a Union so tested and assured? Instructions had been given; and when the head of each division column comes opposite our group, our bugle sounds the signal and instantly our whole line from right to left, regiment by regiment in succession, gives the soldier’s salutation, from the “order arms” to the old “carry”—the marching salute. General John Gordon at the head of the column, riding with heavy spirit and downcast face, catches the sound of shifting arms, looks up and, taking the meaning, wheels superbly, making with himself and his horse one uplifted figure, with profound salutation as he drops the point of his sword to the boot toe; then facing to his own command, gives word for his successive brigades to pass us with the same position of the manual,—honor answering honor. On our part not a sound of trumpet more, nor roll of drum; not a cheer, nor word nor whisper of vain-glorying, nor motion of man standing again at the order, but an awed stillness rather and breath-holding, as if it were the passing of the dead!
April 11.
Two days after Lee’s army surrendered to Grant, John Wilkes Booth, a Southerner, and outspoken Confederate sympathizer attended a speech at the White House in which Lincoln supported the idea of enfranchising the former slaves. Furiously provoked, Booth decided on assassination and said to Lewis Powell: “That means nigger citizenship. Now, by God, I’ll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever give.” Booth recruited four fellow southern sympathizers to assist him. On the morning of Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Booth went to Ford’s Theater to get his mail. While there he was told by John Ford’s brother that President and his wife accompanied by General and Mrs. Ulysses Grant would be attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater that evening.
Booth immediately set about making plans for the assassination. These included making arrangements with livery stable owner James Pumphrey for a getaway horse and an escape route. Booth informed fellow conspirator’s David Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt of his intention to kill Lincoln. He assigned Powell to kill Secretary of State Steward and Atzerodt to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson. Herold would assist their escape into Virginia.
Later that day, the Grants canceled, as Mrs. Grant had other plans. The President had a cold and almost canceled. Knowing that the Grants would not be there, Alan Pinkerton, the head of the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency and his wife agreed to go. The Pinkerton’s provided personal security for the President, as they had foiled an assassination plot before Lincoln became President.
The Presidential party arrived in his private box in Fords’ Theater around 9 pm. The President & Mrs. Lincoln were sitting in the middle, the Pinkerton’s were seated to the Presidents right, and an army officer Major Henry Rathbone and his wife sat to Mrs. Lincoln’s left. Booth, who had drilled a spy hole in the wall of the box seats, saw the Presidential Party and entered the box behind President Lincoln.
Booth, armed with a single shot Derringer in his right hand and a dagger in his left aimed the Derringer at Lincoln. Just has he fired his pistol, the President sneezed and dropped his head forward and slightly right. The bullet missed. Booth was momentarily stunned, then lunged at President Lincoln with his dagger. At the same time, Major Rathbone lunged at Booth and in the struggle was stabbed in the shoulder. Alan Pinkerton grabbed Booth, who frantically swung the knife at Pinkerton. Trained in hand to hand fighting, Pinkerton blocked Booth’s arm and knocked the dagger from his hand. As they struggled, Booth tripped on the stairs, and Pinkerton shoved him over the railing. Booth broke his neck when he hit the stage. He died on the scene, a fitting end to the famous actor.
At the same time, David Powell broke into Secretary Seward’s residence and shot him three times. Seward was wounded but survived. George Atzerodt had second thoughts about assassinating the Vice President and fled. The plot to decapitate the US Government had failed. A massive manhunt resulted in the arrest of the surviving plotter. Public trials led to convictions of the plotters, and public executions.
In the days following the assassination attempts, the people of the North were outraged and thirsted for revenge. Newspapers stirred the pot calling for the arrest and trial of Southern leaders. These editorials resulted in mass arrests of the leading southern politicians and military officers. The Union Army clamped down hard in the occupied former Confederacy.
General Ulysses S Grant protested to President Lincoln that the arrests were contrary to the surrender agreement he had granted Robert E Lee, which had also been accepted by other Confederate armies still in the field. He even threatened to resign if Lincoln refused to reverse the policy.
Lincoln, stroking his beard listened thoughtfully then said: “General Grant, you are correct. I have a speech scheduled for 2 pm today on the White House steps. I will put an end to this. Please join Mary and me for our noontime meal.” General Grant, greatly relieved joined them for a pleasant lunch.
At 2 pm, President Lincoln stepped out onto the porch, followed by General Grant. A large crowd had gathered, eagerly waiting to hear what Lincoln had to say. The sun was shining in a bright blue, almost cloudless sky. Lincoln began: “This past week has been a difficult time for this nation, our people, my wife Mary and our children. It has been hardest of all on our southern brothers and sisters, who are being held accountable for the acts of a madman and his cohorts. Booth is dead; the rest are in jail. Now is the time for healing. A house divided cannot stand. Therefore, I have instructed General Grant to order the United States Army and Federal Marshals to immediately cease all interrogations and forthwith release all the arrested former Confederate leaders. The time for vengeance is over. We must be one nation, united again.” With Lincoln’s calming words, the furor died down. The Presidential order lifted the curfews and freed the arrested Southern leaders.
On April 26, 1865, General Joe Johnston upon hearing of Lee’s surrender, surrendered the last significant Confederate Army still in the field. The War Between the States was over.
CHAPTER 1
May 5, 1865, Washington DC
It was 9 am on a Monday morning. The temperature was already nearing 80 degrees. The air was thick with humidity, and a dense fog obscured vision. Even for Washington, it was expected to be a hot spring day. An enclosed carriage with a troop of cavalry escort waited in the Navy Yard. A fog horn sounded, and the cavalry began to stir. A few minutes later the sound of a blowing steam whistle blew, and steam engines were evident.
Out of the fog, the bow of a paddle wheel steamship approached from its trip up the Potomac River and maneuvered towards the dock. Deck hands tossed mooring lines to dock workers who fastened them to cleats, and the gangplank lowered. Major Henry Rathbone and Captain Robert Lincoln walked onto the dock. The paddle wheel steamer carried only four passengers plus their military escort. General Robert E Lee and former Confederate President Jefferson Davis with one valet each had arrived.
On the trip up the Potomac, other than being provided refreshments by the stewards, Lee and Davis had been left alone. Davis was pessimistic. His attempted escape from Richmond ended with his capture in Georgia. That resulted in his return to Richmond, and imprisonment at Fort Monroe. They thanked the stewards for their service and sat in silence until the stewards left the room.
Davis said: “Robert, do you think they are planning to accuse us of treason publically?”
Lee replied: “Unlikely. Grants’ terms of surrender were very generous. He promised that as long as we observed our paroles, we would be left alone.”
Davis rejoined: “That is easy for you to say. After my capture in Georgia, they imprisoned me, chained in a basement at the Monroe Battery. It wasn’t until Varina, William and Winnie came that I was allowed to live under guard at the BOQ. Treason – Bah – We had the right to secede. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution provided us with that right.” Lee smiled indulgently, as he
and Davis had this conversation on many occasions.
After a period, Davis impatiently said: “That infernal idiot Booth. What he tried to do could be the end of us all.” After a sigh, he continued: “Federal Marshals interrogated me for hours. They demanded to know if I knew Booth and had knowledge of his attempts on Lincolns’ life. I told them I knew of Booth – but as he was a famous actor, everyone knew of him. But I swear, I knew nothing of the plot.”
Lee replied: “The Federal Marshals came to my house also and questioned me for about an hour. Then an army Colonel arrived with a troop of cavalry and a message to the Marshals from Grant. He instructed them to cease the interrogations immediately. The Chief Marshal protested: We still have questions which need answers. The Colonel walked up close, looked the Marshal in the eye and said: On the contrary, your time is over; now gather your men and get out. Totally unnerved, the Marshals quickly left. The Colonel turned to me, saluted, apologized for my inconvenience then took his leave. I walked onto the front porch and saw his troop of cavalry escorting the Marshals up the road.”
Davis snorted then said: “I still have a bad feeling about this. We were picked up in the middle of the night and brought to this place.”
Lee shook his head and said: “Jefferson, stop tilting at windmills. We will find out why soon enough.” At that, Lee stood up and walked around the cabin. Soon the whistle blew, and they knew they were nearing their destination. The stewards cleared the table and left.
Lee and Davis walked down the gangplank. Major Rathbone introduced himself and Captain Lincoln and said: “Gentlemen if you please, follow me.” Lee looked at Captain Lincoln and said: “You look like the President, are you related?” Robert answered: “I am his son.” Lee rejoined: “What unit are you attached?” Robert responded: “I am attached to the staff of Major General Joshua Chamberlain.” Lee smiled and said: “He is a good man, listen well to what he instructs.”
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