Grant and Lincoln's invitation

[loetar44]

(10-13-2014 08:35 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Had the Grants not declined - what would have happened at Ford's that night? What would JWB have done, how would he have proceeded - shot both? Whom first? Would he have succeeded? What do you think?

Eva,

I think you love history, but by asking this I think you love alternate history (AH) too. “What ... if” always leads to speculation, to an alternative (hypothetical) reality. We may assume that all history is based on facts (which is probably not true), but AH is pure fiction, consisting of stories in worlds in which one or more historical events unfolds differently from how it did in reality. What if de Grants had accompanied the Lincolns to Ford’s? One possibility is that Grant would have had a large military guard with him for protection. Another possibility is that Grant was not protected at all (like Feb 10). Between these two extreme possibilities are a lot of possible outcomes. One possible outcome of many is that Lincoln might not have been assassinated that night. Another possible outcome is that Lincoln and Grant both were assassinated. Or.... Lincoln was assassinated and Grant was badly wounded...... or Lincoln was (not so badly) wounded and Grant was assassinated ..... or Lincoln and Grant were borh severely wounded..... or .....or.....or. Just pick one outcome. All is possible. This is speculation at best, not founded on evidence. That makes AH (for me) so funny, but not more than that. It's like the modern literary genre known as "faction", facts and fiction woven together into a briljant story. I'm a lover of "faction".