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III
This is a little experiment in footnote heavy AH writing, where I created an incredibly flawed piece of history and fill in the gaps with what I conceived of actually happening. Please, let me know if you guys think there are too many footnotes
From: Our Fair Commonwealth! An Introduction to the History of Kentucky for Young Readers by Timothy Clooney. Bluegrass Press. 1952.
Chapter 4: The Great American War and Kentucky’s Road to Independence
1861 was a pivotal year in all of America, but especially in Kentucky. The beginnings of the Great American War [1] tore the United States in half, and threatened to tear Kentucky along with it. If it were not for the statesmen put into place by the people of the Commonwealth. [2] Statesmen like Lynn Boyd, the governor who was able to maintain the main factions from joining either the Union or the Confederacy, [3] John Crittenden, who tirelessly worked to maintain support for Boyd’s neutrality [4]. While many detracted from Kentucky’s neutrality, considering it to be impossible, these two men found themselves at odds with both the North and South and soldiered on to maintain Kentucky’s sovereignty over her own land. Boyd stated that “No Federal or Rebel trooper shall gallop on our bluegrass. No Yankee or Confederate shells will bombard the property of the people of Kentucky. No Northern or Southern regiment will dare cross the Ohio or the Alleghenies.” [5]
The people of Kentucky were themselves initially skeptical of neutrality, with pro-Union and pro-Confederate secret organizations forming all over the state. As the war raged on around Kentucky and Kentuckians who had volunteered with both sides reported home, the people of Kentucky grew to appreciate the choice of neutrality they had made. Later, Kentuckians were subjected to occupation from both sides as the war continued onwards. [6] Confederate troops under Albert S. Johnston [7] and Union troops under Don Carlos Buell [8] tore up the Kentucky countryside and drove thousands of Kentuckians out of their homes.
This caused any Secessionist and Unionist Kentuckians to sour on both the US and the CS, and led to the Bluegrass Revolt of 1864, where the town of Lexington rose up against Confederate forces and retook control of the town. Linking up with independence minded insurgents from the hills [9], they marched on Frankfort. There, they held out against Southron forces until the end of the war in March of 1865. Even though a pro-Confederate state government had been set up in Mayfield [10] and Kentucky was represented on the Confederate flag, due to anti-Confederate guerilla warfare, Alexander Stephens was reluctant to incorporate Kentucky into the CSA. And because so many Kentuckians had become disillusioned with the Union, the Kentuckian delegation to Lisbon, James Fisher Robinson and Beriah Magoffin refused Kentucky’s reentry to the Union.[11] So Kentucky was declared a neutral and sovereign Commonwealth by the Treaty of Lisbon on May 26, 1865.
If it were not for Kentucky’s historical neutrality, it is likely that Kentucky would have been partitioned by the larger powers that surround her, much like Virginia was partitioned between Upper Virginia and Old Virginia. [12]
[1] This is the most politically neutral way to say the OTL American Civil War ITTL. There’s a reason why Kentucky uses it
[2] Well, the people of Kentucky who didn’t have the misfortune of being black or a woman.
[3] This isn’t strictly true. What Boyd was able to do was maintain the pro-neutrality consensus amongst the Unionists and Secessionists, something the governor IOTL, Beriah Magoffin, was unable to do very well, since he was seen as too firmly pro-States Rights for the Unionists to stomach, but too wishy washy for the Secessionists to take seriously. This was largely due to Boyd’s defter hand at politicking. Boyd, IOTL was considered in ’59 to run as governor, but he wanted to run for POTUS in 1860. So they Kentucky Democrats let him be lieutenant governor. He died shortly after taking office of complications from inflamed kidneys. ITTL, he decides to run for governor and got his kidneys treated earlier.
[4] Also not totally true. But at least more true than the other statement. Crittenden, IOTL, tried to negotiate a compromise between the North and South, bless his heart. ITTL, the Cameron administration is much more pissy about secession, which causes Crittenden to adopt a Mercutio-esque approach to the two sides.
[5] Tim Clooney, for all his charm and wit, has failed to mention the rest of the speech, about how Boyd wouldn’t let Kentuckians help dismember the Union and how Kentucky will sit out of the conflict until “Cooler heads prevail and a compromise is reached that will restore the Union”. But that wouldn’t make him out to be a Kentucky patriot, now would it?
[6] That’s a hyperbolic way of putting it, but even though US and CS troops were hailed as liberators by different groups in different regions of KY, being a literal battleground does a lot to drain the war enthusiasm of the folks living there. Plus, it wasn’t helpful that the areas the Union army was occupying leaned towards succession (Western Kentucky) and the region the Confederate army was operating out of was more Union (Eastern Kentucky)
[7] Guess who didn’t die in battle? Especially at a battle that didn’t happen ITTL!
[8] Guess who doesn’t get fired for being a less than stellar commander!
[9] Independence minded is a bit of a stretch-they were really more “Get these idjits off my land” minded
[10] IOTL, this happened in Russelville
[11] What Clooney failed to mention the reason why Kentucky was reluctant to rejoin the US-slavery. ITTL, their version of the Emancipation Proclamation, drafted by different people in the Cameron administration, is much more conciliatory to Radical Republicans in a failed attempt to keep them in the party. (I’ll get to that later) IOTL slavery was the main reason why Kentucky became neutral in the first place. They were too afraid of Federal troops to secede but too afraid of abolition to be confidently Unionist. ITTL, by the time the peace negotiations come about, it’s clear that Kentucky was a poisoned gift for whoever gets it, thanks to the unrest against Union and Confederate forces. Also, at this point, the Seymour administration just wanted peace, at almost any price. It’s much easier to let them do their own thing and reincorporate them later thought both the CS and the US diplomats.
[12] Note that Clooney, an ardent Kentucky patriot, has neglected the idea that Kentucky probably would have been happily reabsorbed into the Union if TTL’s version of the Emancipation proclamation were more like ours.
From: Our Fair Commonwealth! An Introduction to the History of Kentucky for Young Readers by Timothy Clooney. Bluegrass Press. 1952.
Chapter 4: The Great American War and Kentucky’s Road to Independence
1861 was a pivotal year in all of America, but especially in Kentucky. The beginnings of the Great American War [1] tore the United States in half, and threatened to tear Kentucky along with it. If it were not for the statesmen put into place by the people of the Commonwealth. [2] Statesmen like Lynn Boyd, the governor who was able to maintain the main factions from joining either the Union or the Confederacy, [3] John Crittenden, who tirelessly worked to maintain support for Boyd’s neutrality [4]. While many detracted from Kentucky’s neutrality, considering it to be impossible, these two men found themselves at odds with both the North and South and soldiered on to maintain Kentucky’s sovereignty over her own land. Boyd stated that “No Federal or Rebel trooper shall gallop on our bluegrass. No Yankee or Confederate shells will bombard the property of the people of Kentucky. No Northern or Southern regiment will dare cross the Ohio or the Alleghenies.” [5]
The people of Kentucky were themselves initially skeptical of neutrality, with pro-Union and pro-Confederate secret organizations forming all over the state. As the war raged on around Kentucky and Kentuckians who had volunteered with both sides reported home, the people of Kentucky grew to appreciate the choice of neutrality they had made. Later, Kentuckians were subjected to occupation from both sides as the war continued onwards. [6] Confederate troops under Albert S. Johnston [7] and Union troops under Don Carlos Buell [8] tore up the Kentucky countryside and drove thousands of Kentuckians out of their homes.
This caused any Secessionist and Unionist Kentuckians to sour on both the US and the CS, and led to the Bluegrass Revolt of 1864, where the town of Lexington rose up against Confederate forces and retook control of the town. Linking up with independence minded insurgents from the hills [9], they marched on Frankfort. There, they held out against Southron forces until the end of the war in March of 1865. Even though a pro-Confederate state government had been set up in Mayfield [10] and Kentucky was represented on the Confederate flag, due to anti-Confederate guerilla warfare, Alexander Stephens was reluctant to incorporate Kentucky into the CSA. And because so many Kentuckians had become disillusioned with the Union, the Kentuckian delegation to Lisbon, James Fisher Robinson and Beriah Magoffin refused Kentucky’s reentry to the Union.[11] So Kentucky was declared a neutral and sovereign Commonwealth by the Treaty of Lisbon on May 26, 1865.
If it were not for Kentucky’s historical neutrality, it is likely that Kentucky would have been partitioned by the larger powers that surround her, much like Virginia was partitioned between Upper Virginia and Old Virginia. [12]
[1] This is the most politically neutral way to say the OTL American Civil War ITTL. There’s a reason why Kentucky uses it
[2] Well, the people of Kentucky who didn’t have the misfortune of being black or a woman.
[3] This isn’t strictly true. What Boyd was able to do was maintain the pro-neutrality consensus amongst the Unionists and Secessionists, something the governor IOTL, Beriah Magoffin, was unable to do very well, since he was seen as too firmly pro-States Rights for the Unionists to stomach, but too wishy washy for the Secessionists to take seriously. This was largely due to Boyd’s defter hand at politicking. Boyd, IOTL was considered in ’59 to run as governor, but he wanted to run for POTUS in 1860. So they Kentucky Democrats let him be lieutenant governor. He died shortly after taking office of complications from inflamed kidneys. ITTL, he decides to run for governor and got his kidneys treated earlier.
[4] Also not totally true. But at least more true than the other statement. Crittenden, IOTL, tried to negotiate a compromise between the North and South, bless his heart. ITTL, the Cameron administration is much more pissy about secession, which causes Crittenden to adopt a Mercutio-esque approach to the two sides.
[5] Tim Clooney, for all his charm and wit, has failed to mention the rest of the speech, about how Boyd wouldn’t let Kentuckians help dismember the Union and how Kentucky will sit out of the conflict until “Cooler heads prevail and a compromise is reached that will restore the Union”. But that wouldn’t make him out to be a Kentucky patriot, now would it?
[6] That’s a hyperbolic way of putting it, but even though US and CS troops were hailed as liberators by different groups in different regions of KY, being a literal battleground does a lot to drain the war enthusiasm of the folks living there. Plus, it wasn’t helpful that the areas the Union army was occupying leaned towards succession (Western Kentucky) and the region the Confederate army was operating out of was more Union (Eastern Kentucky)
[7] Guess who didn’t die in battle? Especially at a battle that didn’t happen ITTL!
[8] Guess who doesn’t get fired for being a less than stellar commander!
[9] Independence minded is a bit of a stretch-they were really more “Get these idjits off my land” minded
[10] IOTL, this happened in Russelville
[11] What Clooney failed to mention the reason why Kentucky was reluctant to rejoin the US-slavery. ITTL, their version of the Emancipation Proclamation, drafted by different people in the Cameron administration, is much more conciliatory to Radical Republicans in a failed attempt to keep them in the party. (I’ll get to that later) IOTL slavery was the main reason why Kentucky became neutral in the first place. They were too afraid of Federal troops to secede but too afraid of abolition to be confidently Unionist. ITTL, by the time the peace negotiations come about, it’s clear that Kentucky was a poisoned gift for whoever gets it, thanks to the unrest against Union and Confederate forces. Also, at this point, the Seymour administration just wanted peace, at almost any price. It’s much easier to let them do their own thing and reincorporate them later thought both the CS and the US diplomats.
[12] Note that Clooney, an ardent Kentucky patriot, has neglected the idea that Kentucky probably would have been happily reabsorbed into the Union if TTL’s version of the Emancipation proclamation were more like ours.
- Guildencrantz
- Word Count: 1.1k