The Guns of the South

Alteration of the Civil War

In January 1864, the Confederate States is on the verge of losing the Civil War against the United States. Men with strange accents and oddly-mottled clothing approach Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia. They demonstrate a rifle far superior to all other firearms of the time, operating on chemical and engineering principles that are unknown to Confederate military engineers. They offer to supply the Confederate Army with the rifles, which they refer to as AK-47s. The men, who call their organization "America Will Break" (or "AWB"), establish a base in Rivington in Nash County, North Carolina, along with offices in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

The AWB continues to offer inexplicable intelligence and technology to the Confederacy, including nitroglycerine tablets for treating Lee's heart condition. Finally, Lee questions their leader, Andries Rhoodie, who provides Lee a partially true explanation. The men of AWB are Afrikaner Neo-Nazi ultra-nationalists from post-apartheid South Africa, having traveled back 150 years from the year 2014 to change the outcome of the Civil War. The newcomers claim that white supremacy has not endured to the modern era and that blacks have marginalized whites. Lee is told that President Abraham Lincoln will act as a vicious tyrant during his second term and that his successor, Thaddeus Stevens, will continue his work to ensure that blacks will become the dominant political faction in the former Confederacy, as they outnumber whites in many areas. The AWB says that blacks will take over other countries, including the United Kingdom.

The AWB men train soldiers to use their new weapons and issue ammunition. With the AWB's guns and some direct military aid from the time-traveling Afrikaners, the Army of Northern Virginia drives Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces out of Virginia. In a surprise night attack they capture Washington, thus ending the Civil War. Lincoln refuses to flee the capital during their advance and appears on the White House lawn, where he addresses them before personally surrendering to Lee. The United Kingdom and France recognize the Confederacy, and Lincoln is forced to accept the Confederate victory.

Events after Confederate victory

1864 Union Elections

Quick facts 233 members of the Electoral College 119 electoral votes needed to win, Turnout ...

Guns of the South 1864 presidential election

← 1860 November 8, 1864 1868 →
233 members of the Electoral College 119 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	73.8% 7.4 pp
Nominee Horatio Seymour Abraham Lincoln George McClellan Party Democratic National Union Independent Alliance Parties Republican War Democrats Unconditional Union Home state New York Illinois New Jersey Running mate Clement Vallandigham Hannibal Hamlin Edward Everett Electoral vote 138 83 10 States carried 10 12 2 Popular vote 1,671,580 1,638,415 287,749 Percentage 41.5% 40.6% 7.1%   Nominee John C. Frémont Party Radical Home state California Running mate Andrew Johnson Electoral vote 3 States carried 1 Popular vote 436,337 Percentage 10.8%
The results of the 1864 United States presidential election in the novel. Blue denotes states won by Seymour/Vallandigham, red denotes those won by Lincoln/Hamlin, light gray denotes those won by McClellan/Everett, yellow denotes those won by Fremont/Johnson, while dark gray represents the U.S. territories
President before election Abraham Lincoln Republican Elected President Horatio Seymour Democratic

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The two sides hold formal peace negotiations in Richmond, with Lee serving as one of the commissioners, to resolve territorial disputes and Confederate demands for reparations. At the same time, the Union's defeat in the war leads to a four-way split in the 1864 presidential election, with Lincoln losing to New York Governor Horatio Seymour.

Following the election, the Union agrees to pay $90 million in gold—equivalent to more than $1.87 billion in 2026 dollars (or approximately $26 billion based on the gold's present-day value)—as reparations and to relinquish its claims to the Indian Territory. In return, the Confederacy renounces its claims to Maryland and West Virginia, as well as New Mexico and Arizona.

At Lee's suggestion, the border states of Kentucky and Missouri hold referendums to determine their status: Kentucky votes to join the Confederacy, while Missouri remains in the Union.

Many enslaved people freed by Union forces during the war, including those who served in the Union Army, continue to resist Confederate forces after the Union's formal surrender. This development generates significant concern among Confederate civilians and provokes strong reactions from troops tasked with suppressing the resistance, particularly Nathan Bedford Forrest and his forces. Lee, already skeptical of slavery and respectful of the service of the United States Colored Troops during the war, becomes convinced that the continuation of slavery is both morally indefensible and impracticable.^[5] Despite threats from Rhoodie and the AWB, he does not conceal these views.

1867 Confederate Elections

Quick facts 119 members of the Elector College 55 electoral votes needed to win, Nominee ...

Guns of the South 1867 Confederate States presidential election

← 1861 November 5, 1867 1873 →
119 members of the Elector College 55 electoral votes needed to win
Nominee Robert E. Lee Nathan Bedford Forrest Party Confederate Patriot (American Revolution) Home state Virginia Tennessee Running mate Albert Gallatin Brown Louis Wigfall Electoral vote 69 50 States carried 6 6 Popular vote 496,536 466,901 Percentage 51.54% 48.46%
The results of the 1867 Confederate States presidential election in the novel. Red denotes states won by Lee/Brown, blue denotes those won by Forrest/Wigfall, while dark gray represents the non-voting Indian Territory.
President before election Jefferson Davis Independent Elected President Robert E. Lee Confederate

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With the encouragement and support of Jefferson Davis, who is ineligible for re-election under the Constitution of the Confederate States after serving a six-year term, Lee runs for President in the 1867 Confederate States presidential election on a pro-abolition Confederate Party ticket, with Senator Albert Gallatin Brown of Mississippi as his running mate.

The Rivington faction supports the pro-slavery Patriot Party ticket of General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Senator Louis Wigfall of Texas, committing substantial resources to Forrest's campaign. Lee wins a narrow victory, defeating Forrest 69–50 in the Electoral College and by 32,000 votes out of 963,437 cast. Forrest concedes following the election.

AWB's betrayal

Soon after the election, Lee receives a history book stolen from the Rivington men by a former Confederate soldier. The book describes the Civil War and the outcome that would have occurred without the AWB's intervention. Enraged by what he perceives as deception, Lee confronts AWB leader Rhoodie, using the book as evidence of his dishonesty, and compares his fanaticism to that of John Brown. In response, Rhoodie promises to demonstrate the AWB's true intentions.

At Lee's inauguration on March 4, 1868, AWB operatives attempt to assassinate him using Uzi submachine guns. The attack results in the deaths of Lee's wife, Mary, Vice President Brown, several dignitaries and generals, and numerous civilians. Police forces subsequently seize AWB offices in Richmond following a fierce engagement. Lee enters the stronghold and discovers various advanced technologies (including fluorescent light bulbs, air conditioning, and Macintosh computers), along with books documenting the decline of institutionalized racism after 1865 and efforts to improve race relations into the 21st century. He presents these materials to the Confederate Congress in an effort to demonstrate the long-term global rejection of slavery and racism and to support his proposal for gradual abolition.

Confederate forces then lay siege to Rivington, engaging AWB personnel equipped with modern weaponry, including belt-fed machine guns, sniper rifles, mortars, barbed wire, and land mines, which inflict heavy casualties. Confederate infantry ultimately destroy the AWB's time machine during the fighting and capture the town after breaching its defenses. AWB members unable to return to their own time subsequently surrender.

In Richmond, the Confederate Congress narrowly passes President Lee's gradual emancipation bill. Confederate pharmacists replicate the nitroglycerin pills introduced by the AWB, and Lee expresses hope that he will live long enough to witness the effects of emancipation. Several stranded Afrikaners agree to assist the Confederacy in reproducing aspects of their 21st-century technology, allowing Lee to counter the Union's industrial capacity and its use of replicated AK-47-style rifles. Although the Confederacy maintains neutrality during a conflict initiated by the Union against the British Empire following an invasion of Canada, Lee expresses concern that the Union may later pursue a war of retaliation. He remains confident, however, that the Confederacy will retain a technological advantage for decades.