Potter's Raid
From Turtledove
Potter's Raid was a military operation conducted by Confederate States troops under the command of Brigadier General Clarence Potter, C.S.A. Its goal was to smuggle via subterfuge a superbomb into the heart of Philadelphia, the capital of the United States of America. The raid was an outstanding tactical success for the Confederacy; the west side of Philadelphia was destroyed, and all the raiders, who were wearing US uniforms and thus could be executed as spies if captured, made it back to the CSA. However it did nothing to alter the strategic picture for the CSA, and the USA still won the war a few months later on July 14, 1944.
[edit] The Raid
Acting on orders from Confederate president Jake Featherston, Potter gathered together at Lexington a company of Confederate soldiers who had convincing US accents. Dressed in US Army uniforms, the company loaded a jovium bomb onto the back of a truck and drove through the Shenandoah Valley toward the US line at Luray. The convoy was passed through by unsuspecting US guards into West Virginia, and then Maryland and Pennsylvania before turning east toward Philadelphia.
Featherston had wanted Potter to take the bomb all the way to the heart of Downtown Philadelphia, but Potter assumed US security would be overwhelmingly tight close to the seat of the federal government and US war effort; instead he opted to leave the truck bomb at a lot to the west of the Schuylkill River and hurry out of town. Potter and his men had managed to clear the blast zone when the bomb went off, annihilating most of West Philadelphia and killing or maiming most of the witnesses who saw Potter leave the bomb in the city. Nevertheless Potter's role in the bombing was suspected almost immediately due to his activities earlier in the war, and orders for his capture went out all across eastern United States. Despite these orders Potter and his men managed to reach Confederate lines.
[edit] Aftermath
Potter caught up with Featherston as the Confederate president and his inner circle were fleeing across North Carolina. As the United States had a price on his head for his role in the raid, Potter felt he was safer sticking with his political foe to the end rather than face trial and execution for espionage. In the end the USA caught up with Potter when Featherston was shot dead in Georgia, and Featherston's inner circle arrested at the scene by US soldiers. Potter went on trial for war crimes in Philadelphia, but was found not guilty and released, spending his days under surveillance in Richmond.
