David S Poepoe
Banned
THE NORTHWEST CONFEDERACY
1858 Clement Vallandigham of Ohio elected to the US House of Representatives.
1860 Outbreak of the American Civil War
1861 Vallandigham, in a letter published in the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer states that the South should not be coerced into reentering the Union. Supported by vocal immigrant and farm constituencies in Ohio, he blamed the war on President Lincoln and the Republican Party, voted against national Conscription, refused to cooperate with congressional war measures.
1862 April 6-7. The Battle of Shiloh. Union General Grant’s unambiguous orders to Major General Lew Wallace lead to Wallace’s Third Division arriving on the battlefield by 1:30pm. Confederate General A.S. Johnston not killed, but disengages from the battered Union Army and withdraws towards Corinth, Mississippi.
April 12. Grant replaced by General Henry Halleck.
May 30-31. The Battle of Corinth. Union forces under Halleck assault dug in Confederates forces at Corinth, under Johnston. Union Army broken by frontal attacks on fortified emplacements, Halleck withdraws Army from battlefield and begins to fall back Memphis, Tennessee. Johnston pursues turning the Union withdraw into a panicked retreat.
June 11. Halleck relieved of command and Grant reappointed.
June 27. P.T.A. Beauregard succeeds A.S. Johnston as commanding officer of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi.
September 21. Beauregard holds near Mumfordville, Kentucky, block Union General D.C. Buell’s advance into Kentucky.
September 22. Confederates forces under General Kirby Smith advance and seize Louisville, Kentucky, one of the great supply bases of the Union Army in the West.
September 23. Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
General Overview of the remaining months of 1862: Contest over Kentucky continues between Union and Confederate Armies. No pro-Confederate Government is installed and Kentucky remains a Union state. The Democrats win the 1862 midterm elections and the Republicans lose control of the US House of Representatives. In Indiana the Democrat controlled legislature is suspended by Republican Governor Oliver P. Morton, who proceeds to run the state by executive decree. In the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky there is Democrat anger with Lincoln in changed the “war over Union” into one a “war over slavery”. There is a significant jump in desertions from regiments from those states.
1863 April 13. General Burnside, Commander of the Department of the Ohio, issues General Order No. 38, forbidding expression of sympathy for the enemy.
April 30. Vallandigham addresses a large audience in Columbus, made derogatory references to the president and the war effort.
May 5. Vallandigham is arrested by Federal troops, tried by military court and denied a writ of habeas corpus. He is sentenced to two years’ confinement to a military prison.
May 16. Confederate General Pemberton, after the indecisive Battle of Champion’s Hill, decides to retreat north and unite with Confederates forces under Joseph Johnston, rather than falling back into Vicksburg.
May 18. Grant’s forces converge and lay siege to Vicksburg.
May 19. Lincoln commutes Vallandigham’s sentence to banishment to the Confederacy.
May 26. Vallandigham is escorted to Confederate lines in Tennessee.
General Overview of the Vicksburg Campaign: Without Pemberton’s additional Vicksburg holds out until Johnston’s forces lift the siege on July 14, forcing Grant to temporarily withdraw towards New Orleans.
June 11. Outraged Ohioan Democrats nominate Vallandigham for governor.
July 5. Vallandigham arrives in Niagara Falls, Ontario, having been assisted by the Confederate Government in securing passage by blockade runner to Bermuda and then by steamer to Canada.
August 8. In the wake of the his defeat at Gettysburg and possibly suffering from a heart attack, Robert E. Lee offers to resign. Jefferson Davis accepts his resignation as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, but appoints him General-in-Chief of the Confederate Army and recalls him to Richmond.
October 13. Through a concerted effort Ohioan democrats turn out in mass and defy Federal threats at the polling places. Vallandigham is elected Governor by a slim majority. Lincoln invalidates the election and orders Burnside to install John Brough, the Republican candidate, as Governor. Ohioan legislators that protest Federal actions are imprisoned.
General overview of 1863: Democratic state convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, dispersed by Union Army. Vallandigham proceeds to establish a “Government in Exile” in Windsor, Ohio. Midwest newspapers expressing sympathy for Vallandigham are forcibly closed by Federal troops.
1864 July 9. Outflanked by advancing Union forces under Union General Sherman, Joseph Johnston retreats into Atlanta.
July 16. After much consultation Lee convinces Jefferson Davis that Johnston should not be relieved of command of the Army of the Tennessee.
August 15th. Accompanied by representatives of the Sons of Liberty Vallandigham and many supporters secretly enter the country and make their way to Chicago, Illinois.
August 20th. The Democratic Convention in Chicago barely opens when word is received that Federal troops have been dispatched by Lincoln to disperse the convention and arrest Vallandigham. In reality there is only a detachment of Pinkertons, but the rumor soon spreads causing panic. The radical element of the Illinois delegation seize the platform and declares the secession of Illinois from the United States and calls upon representatives of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky to join into a Northwest Confederacy. McClellan and other “War Democrats” quickly flee the city as regiments of the Sons of Liberty seize control of Chicago.
August 21st. Word of the Chicago Rebellion quickly reaches Sons of Liberty militias in other parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. After minor skirmishes against green Union troops Confederate prisoners of war in Camp Douglas, Illinois and Rock Island, Illinois with similar coordinated liberations of Confederate POWs in Indiana and Ohio.
August 22nd. Declaration and establishment of the Provisional Government of the Northwest Confederacy in Chicago, Illinois. Clement Vallandigham elected Provisional President. The first act of Vallandigham is to formally declare the secession of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky from the United States in response to Lincoln’s assumption of dictatorial powers. Secondly he recognizes the Confederate State of America as an independently constituted nation.
August 23rd. Jefferson Davis formally recognizes the Northwest Confederacy as an independent nation and calls upon the United States to cease hostilities. The New York newspaper Daily News publishes statements calling for recognition of the Northwest Confederacy and an immediate end of the war. The offices of the Daily News are raided by the Union Army and its presses are seized. Attempts by other newspapers to report about the actions of the Northwest Confederacy and stopped by Union forces. Lincoln issues an executive order suspending the First Amendment.
August 25th. George McClellan and other Democratic party members are seized and imprisoned by Federal troops and held without trial. Radical Republicans in Congress vote to eject all Democrats from the Senate and House of Representatives not swearing allegiance to the United States.
August 28th. Union forces under Sherman advancing towards Atlanta are recalled to assist in putting down the rebellion in the Northwest.
September. The Northwest Rebellion spreads to Missouri. The Union advance into the South grounds to a halt as supply lines are threatened and troops repositioned to crush the new Rebellion.
November. Lincoln suspends national elections and rules by executive fiat. Protests breakout in New York and other cities in the North. The declaration of Martial Law in several of them cause the protests to escalate into full riots. The Administration reverses itself by permitting elections in those states not in open rebellion and the new election date is set in December.
December. Tired by the continued war and shaken by the Northwest Rebellion the electoral turnout favors McClellan and Lincoln accedes to the decision of the polls.
1865 January. McClellan inaugurated President of the United States. His declaration to continue the war to restore the Union isn’t calmly received. In order to mend fences with the Northwest he issues an Executive Order invalidating the Emancipation Proclamation. Abolitionist New England immediately rises in rebellion. Representatives from Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut meet in Boston to secede from the United States and form the Republic of New England. Sensing the collapse of the Federal Government back East, and without any form of communication, the Californian legislature seizes all Federal military installations and depots. Similar situation occurs in Nevada and Oregon. The California Republic is declared in response to the general anarchy increasingly taking hold in the East. Representatives from Nevada and Oregon meet in Sacramento to forge closer ties with California.
February. Watching with continued horror the self-destruction of the United States, and weary of Napoleon III’s Mexican Adventure, the British notify Washington that they will request a general cease fire and cessation of hostilities along all borders by February 20th or that it will forcibly lift the blockade and recognize the independence of the Confederate States of America, the Northwest Confederacy, and the Republic of New England.
March. Treaty of Halifax formally ends the War Between the States.
In brief the Treaty states:
1. The independence of the Confederate States of America, the Northwest Confederacy, the Republic of New England and the California Republic from the United States of America is formally recognized.
2. The decision of political alignment for the Border states of Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky and the Midwest states of Nebraska and Iowa will reside with their citizens.
3. Demilitarization of the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers, as well as the Great Lakes.
4. The guarantee from the Confederate States of the gradual abolition of slavery within its borders over a period of 40 years.
5. The Confederate annexation of the New Mexico and Indian Territories.
6. The Californian annexation of Oregon, Nevada and the Washington Territory.
April-May. Maryland votes to join the Confederate States. The Federal Government is moved to Philadelphia while the Confederate Government moves from Richmond to Washington City. Kentucky votes to join the Northwest Confederacy. Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri vote to form their own nation, the Midwest Union.
1872 General review: In response to continued Indian problems in the Indian Territory, caused by its continued neglect by the Confederate Government, Texas formally occupies the Indian Territory. Demands by the CS Government for Texan forces to withdraw from the Indian Territory fall on deaf ears. Texas’ secedes from the Confederate States taking both the Indian and New Mexico Territories with it. Unable to raise troops within a timely fashion, or prevent Texas by being recognized by the United States, New England or California, the CS Government drops all territorial claims.
The Nations of North America, circa 1880:
The Dominion of Canada
The United States of America - 8 (number of states or OTL states)
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota
The Confederate States of America - 11
Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, George, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas,
The Northwest Confederacy - 4
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois
The Midwestern Union – 3
Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa
The Republic of New England - 6
Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island
The Republic of Texas
OTL Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona
The California Republic
California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada
Deseret
OTL Utah
For more information on the Northwest Conspiracy take a look at "What Ifs? of American History" edited by Robert Cowley. Here I make use of two WIs mentioned in the book; Victor Davis Hanson's Lew Wallace and the Ghosts of the Shunpike and Thomas Fleming's The Northwest Conspiracy.
Yes, the vast majority of the Midwest has been completely ignored. The exact status of OTL states North and South Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado have been completely left up in the air. Kansas may probably join the Midwest Union, tho the others - 'the Unorganized Territories' may just remain predominately Indian. Perhaps a great Indian buffer state will arise.
I've got some presidential might-bes lined up and will post them later.
1858 Clement Vallandigham of Ohio elected to the US House of Representatives.
1860 Outbreak of the American Civil War
1861 Vallandigham, in a letter published in the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer states that the South should not be coerced into reentering the Union. Supported by vocal immigrant and farm constituencies in Ohio, he blamed the war on President Lincoln and the Republican Party, voted against national Conscription, refused to cooperate with congressional war measures.
1862 April 6-7. The Battle of Shiloh. Union General Grant’s unambiguous orders to Major General Lew Wallace lead to Wallace’s Third Division arriving on the battlefield by 1:30pm. Confederate General A.S. Johnston not killed, but disengages from the battered Union Army and withdraws towards Corinth, Mississippi.
April 12. Grant replaced by General Henry Halleck.
May 30-31. The Battle of Corinth. Union forces under Halleck assault dug in Confederates forces at Corinth, under Johnston. Union Army broken by frontal attacks on fortified emplacements, Halleck withdraws Army from battlefield and begins to fall back Memphis, Tennessee. Johnston pursues turning the Union withdraw into a panicked retreat.
June 11. Halleck relieved of command and Grant reappointed.
June 27. P.T.A. Beauregard succeeds A.S. Johnston as commanding officer of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi.
September 21. Beauregard holds near Mumfordville, Kentucky, block Union General D.C. Buell’s advance into Kentucky.
September 22. Confederates forces under General Kirby Smith advance and seize Louisville, Kentucky, one of the great supply bases of the Union Army in the West.
September 23. Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
General Overview of the remaining months of 1862: Contest over Kentucky continues between Union and Confederate Armies. No pro-Confederate Government is installed and Kentucky remains a Union state. The Democrats win the 1862 midterm elections and the Republicans lose control of the US House of Representatives. In Indiana the Democrat controlled legislature is suspended by Republican Governor Oliver P. Morton, who proceeds to run the state by executive decree. In the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky there is Democrat anger with Lincoln in changed the “war over Union” into one a “war over slavery”. There is a significant jump in desertions from regiments from those states.
1863 April 13. General Burnside, Commander of the Department of the Ohio, issues General Order No. 38, forbidding expression of sympathy for the enemy.
April 30. Vallandigham addresses a large audience in Columbus, made derogatory references to the president and the war effort.
May 5. Vallandigham is arrested by Federal troops, tried by military court and denied a writ of habeas corpus. He is sentenced to two years’ confinement to a military prison.
May 16. Confederate General Pemberton, after the indecisive Battle of Champion’s Hill, decides to retreat north and unite with Confederates forces under Joseph Johnston, rather than falling back into Vicksburg.
May 18. Grant’s forces converge and lay siege to Vicksburg.
May 19. Lincoln commutes Vallandigham’s sentence to banishment to the Confederacy.
May 26. Vallandigham is escorted to Confederate lines in Tennessee.
General Overview of the Vicksburg Campaign: Without Pemberton’s additional Vicksburg holds out until Johnston’s forces lift the siege on July 14, forcing Grant to temporarily withdraw towards New Orleans.
June 11. Outraged Ohioan Democrats nominate Vallandigham for governor.
July 5. Vallandigham arrives in Niagara Falls, Ontario, having been assisted by the Confederate Government in securing passage by blockade runner to Bermuda and then by steamer to Canada.
August 8. In the wake of the his defeat at Gettysburg and possibly suffering from a heart attack, Robert E. Lee offers to resign. Jefferson Davis accepts his resignation as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, but appoints him General-in-Chief of the Confederate Army and recalls him to Richmond.
October 13. Through a concerted effort Ohioan democrats turn out in mass and defy Federal threats at the polling places. Vallandigham is elected Governor by a slim majority. Lincoln invalidates the election and orders Burnside to install John Brough, the Republican candidate, as Governor. Ohioan legislators that protest Federal actions are imprisoned.
General overview of 1863: Democratic state convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, dispersed by Union Army. Vallandigham proceeds to establish a “Government in Exile” in Windsor, Ohio. Midwest newspapers expressing sympathy for Vallandigham are forcibly closed by Federal troops.
1864 July 9. Outflanked by advancing Union forces under Union General Sherman, Joseph Johnston retreats into Atlanta.
July 16. After much consultation Lee convinces Jefferson Davis that Johnston should not be relieved of command of the Army of the Tennessee.
August 15th. Accompanied by representatives of the Sons of Liberty Vallandigham and many supporters secretly enter the country and make their way to Chicago, Illinois.
August 20th. The Democratic Convention in Chicago barely opens when word is received that Federal troops have been dispatched by Lincoln to disperse the convention and arrest Vallandigham. In reality there is only a detachment of Pinkertons, but the rumor soon spreads causing panic. The radical element of the Illinois delegation seize the platform and declares the secession of Illinois from the United States and calls upon representatives of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky to join into a Northwest Confederacy. McClellan and other “War Democrats” quickly flee the city as regiments of the Sons of Liberty seize control of Chicago.
August 21st. Word of the Chicago Rebellion quickly reaches Sons of Liberty militias in other parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. After minor skirmishes against green Union troops Confederate prisoners of war in Camp Douglas, Illinois and Rock Island, Illinois with similar coordinated liberations of Confederate POWs in Indiana and Ohio.
August 22nd. Declaration and establishment of the Provisional Government of the Northwest Confederacy in Chicago, Illinois. Clement Vallandigham elected Provisional President. The first act of Vallandigham is to formally declare the secession of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky from the United States in response to Lincoln’s assumption of dictatorial powers. Secondly he recognizes the Confederate State of America as an independently constituted nation.
August 23rd. Jefferson Davis formally recognizes the Northwest Confederacy as an independent nation and calls upon the United States to cease hostilities. The New York newspaper Daily News publishes statements calling for recognition of the Northwest Confederacy and an immediate end of the war. The offices of the Daily News are raided by the Union Army and its presses are seized. Attempts by other newspapers to report about the actions of the Northwest Confederacy and stopped by Union forces. Lincoln issues an executive order suspending the First Amendment.
August 25th. George McClellan and other Democratic party members are seized and imprisoned by Federal troops and held without trial. Radical Republicans in Congress vote to eject all Democrats from the Senate and House of Representatives not swearing allegiance to the United States.
August 28th. Union forces under Sherman advancing towards Atlanta are recalled to assist in putting down the rebellion in the Northwest.
September. The Northwest Rebellion spreads to Missouri. The Union advance into the South grounds to a halt as supply lines are threatened and troops repositioned to crush the new Rebellion.
November. Lincoln suspends national elections and rules by executive fiat. Protests breakout in New York and other cities in the North. The declaration of Martial Law in several of them cause the protests to escalate into full riots. The Administration reverses itself by permitting elections in those states not in open rebellion and the new election date is set in December.
December. Tired by the continued war and shaken by the Northwest Rebellion the electoral turnout favors McClellan and Lincoln accedes to the decision of the polls.
1865 January. McClellan inaugurated President of the United States. His declaration to continue the war to restore the Union isn’t calmly received. In order to mend fences with the Northwest he issues an Executive Order invalidating the Emancipation Proclamation. Abolitionist New England immediately rises in rebellion. Representatives from Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut meet in Boston to secede from the United States and form the Republic of New England. Sensing the collapse of the Federal Government back East, and without any form of communication, the Californian legislature seizes all Federal military installations and depots. Similar situation occurs in Nevada and Oregon. The California Republic is declared in response to the general anarchy increasingly taking hold in the East. Representatives from Nevada and Oregon meet in Sacramento to forge closer ties with California.
February. Watching with continued horror the self-destruction of the United States, and weary of Napoleon III’s Mexican Adventure, the British notify Washington that they will request a general cease fire and cessation of hostilities along all borders by February 20th or that it will forcibly lift the blockade and recognize the independence of the Confederate States of America, the Northwest Confederacy, and the Republic of New England.
March. Treaty of Halifax formally ends the War Between the States.
In brief the Treaty states:
1. The independence of the Confederate States of America, the Northwest Confederacy, the Republic of New England and the California Republic from the United States of America is formally recognized.
2. The decision of political alignment for the Border states of Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky and the Midwest states of Nebraska and Iowa will reside with their citizens.
3. Demilitarization of the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers, as well as the Great Lakes.
4. The guarantee from the Confederate States of the gradual abolition of slavery within its borders over a period of 40 years.
5. The Confederate annexation of the New Mexico and Indian Territories.
6. The Californian annexation of Oregon, Nevada and the Washington Territory.
April-May. Maryland votes to join the Confederate States. The Federal Government is moved to Philadelphia while the Confederate Government moves from Richmond to Washington City. Kentucky votes to join the Northwest Confederacy. Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri vote to form their own nation, the Midwest Union.
1872 General review: In response to continued Indian problems in the Indian Territory, caused by its continued neglect by the Confederate Government, Texas formally occupies the Indian Territory. Demands by the CS Government for Texan forces to withdraw from the Indian Territory fall on deaf ears. Texas’ secedes from the Confederate States taking both the Indian and New Mexico Territories with it. Unable to raise troops within a timely fashion, or prevent Texas by being recognized by the United States, New England or California, the CS Government drops all territorial claims.
The Nations of North America, circa 1880:
The Dominion of Canada
The United States of America - 8 (number of states or OTL states)
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota
The Confederate States of America - 11
Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, George, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas,
The Northwest Confederacy - 4
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois
The Midwestern Union – 3
Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa
The Republic of New England - 6
Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island
The Republic of Texas
OTL Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona
The California Republic
California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada
Deseret
OTL Utah
For more information on the Northwest Conspiracy take a look at "What Ifs? of American History" edited by Robert Cowley. Here I make use of two WIs mentioned in the book; Victor Davis Hanson's Lew Wallace and the Ghosts of the Shunpike and Thomas Fleming's The Northwest Conspiracy.
Yes, the vast majority of the Midwest has been completely ignored. The exact status of OTL states North and South Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado have been completely left up in the air. Kansas may probably join the Midwest Union, tho the others - 'the Unorganized Territories' may just remain predominately Indian. Perhaps a great Indian buffer state will arise.
I've got some presidential might-bes lined up and will post them later.
