WC vs. History: Generally Speaking (May 24, 2011)

Bandit LOAF

Long Live the Confederation!
In the seventh episode of Wing Commander Academy, "Expendable" (WCPedia), a hypoxic Maverick tells Payback about his family's military tradition. He explains that "there was a Blair--a General--in the Civil War". If it were just a Blair in the Civil War we would probably be out of luck... but there were a finite number of Generals! So, who was Christopher Blair's ancestor?

The answer seems to be General Francis "Frank" Preston Blair, Jr. (Wikipedia), a politician turned Union soldier who was largely responsible for preventing Missouri from joining the Confederacy early in the war. He went on to command divisions under Sherman through the March to the Sea and was regarded as an extremely competent officer. He was also the brother of President Lincoln's postmaster general, Montgomery Blair.



Separated at birth?!



Final resting places.

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Original update published on May 24, 2011
 
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I'm sure the General was pleased to see the Colonel's Confed Blues matched his Union Blues!
 
When Payback inquired which civil war, Blair chuckled and replied “All of them”. While he was probably referring to the American Civil War (being the most immediately familiar to the viewer), this also seems to indicate that the Blair family has seen active military service in several major civil wars up to and including the creation of the Terran Confederation.

Wing Commander lore mentions that the Terran Confederation succeeded the World Economic Consortium, though there’s no indication whether this was a peaceful transition or not. Given the nature of the WEC, I doubt very much that the transition was peaceful. If this were the case, then Blair probably had a relative fighting in the conflict, the last major civil war before the Border Worlds secession, which Blair was directly involve with, thus continuing the legacy.
 
When Payback inquired which civil war, Blair chuckled and replied “All of them”. While he was probably referring to the American Civil War (being the most immediately familiar to the viewer), this also seems to indicate that the Blair family has seen active military service in several major civil wars up to and including the creation of the Terran Confederation.

Maybe he was counting Eric Blair!
 
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