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Chapter 90 Downfall of the Confederacy
Chapter 90 Downfall of the Confederacy
"I would rather be remembered as a one term president with no accomplishments than a President who lead his nation to victory in a civil war. For by going through one we have failed our forefathers."- President Abraham Lincoln 1868
"You can't sympathize with a traitor. They have no one to blame but themselves for this destruction."- Lieutenant General William Tecumseh Sherman 1863
"Ladies and gentlemen, at this moment our sacred party is crooked to the core. The Democrats in Washington who you voted for and claim to represent your interests, don't give a damn about your well being. For seventy years the South has languished in an endless cycle of poverty and neglect, all the while the elite aristocrats grow more rich and powerful. While the rest of the country has entered into the 20th century, we have become trapped in a fantasy of the days before Lincoln. The great President William Jennings Bryan, bless his soul, attempted to change all that and transform the Democrats as a party meant to serve the people. Yet when Roosevelt and the Progressives came in the establishment took back the reigns of power and stuck to their reactionary lunacy. We need change! If you want to end the suffering that generations of good southerners have endured, then rise up and kick the inbreed fat cats out of office. Down with the Establishment! For every man shall be a King!"- President Huey Long 1934
Alabama: Civil war historians in the past have given much praise to Richard Taylor for making the best of the terrible situation and earning the Confederacy the few victories that it could in the closing months of the war. Unfortunately for Alabama, these setbacks against Grant would be but a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things. In the west Mississippi had fallen under the wrath of Sherman, allowing him and his 90,000 men to head due east for the capitol of Montgomery. Joining him was Rosecrans and the army of the Mississippi while the Marines made their way from the south, having destroyed what tiny Confederate naval presence was left in the war. Desertions started to become common in the war as men from states outside of Alabama would leave to return to their homes under Union occupation, trying desperately to salvage what was left of their lives. Not wanting to give the capitol to the enemy without a clear fight, Taylor managed to scrap together 35,000 men; virtually the entirety of the Confederate forces in the Gulf made up of Alabamans and diehard Confederate patriots. Taylor hoped to make this his last stand and end his career with honor. Wanting to make sure absolutely no mistakes were made, Grant would wait for Sherman to combine his forces with his; the grand total would reach to an army of nearly 200,000; the largest ever assembled force for one battle. The battle of Montgomery would begin on February 11th and would last for an entire week. Under the advice of Sherman, Grant would spend seven days pounding the capitol into dust with the artillery companies which now consisted of over 500 batteries. The purpose of this would be to obliterate whatever defenses that Taylor had set up and demoralize the Confederates to the point where they wouldn't raise a rifle. On February 18th the Union infantry began a mass charge towards the city. The soldiers who fought in the battle waged war with a near berserk like attitude. For the Confederates it was a sacrifice for their dying cause and one last blow to the Yankees. For the Union it was vengeance for all the lives so far and for Montgomery starting the rebellion. Eventually the Confederates gave way as the bravery of the Southerners could not stand to the sheer human waves of the Union army. Fighting generally stopped around 7:00 P.M after Union forces put the stars and stripes above the statehouse. Richard Taylor would surrender his forces late that night and thus ended any resistance in Alabama. Casualties were high for the Confederates with 10,345 killed, 5,678 wounded, and the rest taken prisoner. Union forces took 4,116 killed, and 3,889 wounded. Grant and Sherman would spend the next three weeks securing Alabama, and then march east towards Georgia.
Confederate soldiers put up a desperate last stand in the Battle of Montgomery
South Carolina: With the capture of Charleston by Stonewall Jackson in late December, morale within South Carolina virtually collapsed. While the capitol of South Carolina was in Columbia, Charleston was the true heart of the state and was an important symbol to the Confederacy for Fort Sumter. When word spread that the birth of the rebellion had been captured by the Yankees, most South Carolinans lost faith in the war and virtually gave up. The only battle that took place in the state was the Battle of Columbia, an affair that was more a small skirmish between Hooker's cavalry and the cities defenders before the arrival of Hooker's main force that would see Governor Milledge Bonham surrender. For the remainder of the war, Jospeph Hooker would spend his time securing the state while Jackson headed further south along the coast with the goal of reaching Florida. On March 27th the city of Savannah, Georgia surrendered to Jackson which now completed the Anaconda blockade that had been set up in place. Jackson was about to head west in April to link up with Lee, until news of the Atlanta riots had spread.
Georgia: The arrival of the Confederate government in the city of Atlanta, Georgia had shocked the inhabitants. While the war had been on the losing side for several months, Georgia had been virtually untouched besides some minor skirmishes on the borders. The people of Georgia had faith that their favored son Robert Toombs would find a way to lead them to victory. The truth of the matter was that a victory was impossible at this point. The Toombs administration had been trying desperately to find foreign support for their war as an intervention by a European power was seen as the only way out of the situation. Overtures had been made to every nation on the European continent, but almost all were uninterested. Whatever chances the Confederacy had for an ally had been killed with the Emancipation proclamation. Britain came dangerously close to propping up Montgomery as many of the British upper-class were still desiring revenge against the states for Oregon. Plans for invasion were drawn up in a series of operations called "Plan Roanoke," a military strategy where the Royal Navy would destroy the Union blockade and a military expedition of 300,000 British regulars would join the front lines and push the Union back to the starting lines of the war. Operations were set for 1863, but these would be scraped in the fall of 1862 with continuous Confederate losses disillusioning Victoria of the prospect of British intervention, coupled further with the beginning of the Austria crisis. Nothing short of time travelers from the future could save the Confederacy at this point. With word spreading of the loss of Charleston, Montgomery, Mobile, and Savannah, the people of Atlanta became restless and sick of the war. On March 26th, 1863; the fall of the Confederacy would be set in stone on a bright sunny afternoon when Robert Toombs stood in front of the Statehouse to give medals to valiant Confederate soldiers. As the ceremony drowned on, Toombs would make numerous speeches about how the Confederacy would fight to the bitter end and that victory was assured. Toombs' words only agitated the crowd with boos and jeerings rising in the speech. The climax of the affair came when a young Atlanta women named Susan O'Hare, got on stage in tears due to the death of her husband weeks before in the fighting. Susan openly berated the President, calling him a fool for starting the war with nothing to show for it. In her grief Mrs. O'Hare would assault the president. A Confederate soldier onstage, whose name is lost to history, tried to save the President by shooting Mrs. O'Hare. The shot was bloody as it went into the young woman's head and caused her bits of her brain to spill, out, herself falling off the stage and forming a bloody pile. Seeing such a young women die in front of them in the grief of her lost loved one, the citizens of Atlanta had enough and started storming the Statehouse in a fury. The entire building would be looted in less than an hour as bureaucrats and politicians were mowed down for them being perceived as losing the war. For reasons unknown a fire would break out in the statehouse, the mob would leave after smoke had risen, spreading word of the actions to the rest of the city. The Atlanta riots would begin.
The burning of Atlanta (Left). Union troops rush to save the city (Right)
The storming of the Statehouse would be the spark that lit the fuse as the entire city began to descend into anarchy. Looters would target the bakeries, farmer's market, anywhere that would give them the food that they desperately needed. Old grudges were taken out in the fighting, and the state militia that had sworn to protect the peace, would turn on their officers and either desert or join the looting. The worst victims of the riots were the slave population of Atlanta as the populace blamed their problems on them for the start of the war and the losses that had been daily since the Emancipation proclamation. Lynches would be frequent as blacks would be hung on the nearest lamposts or trees for the simple crime of having dark skin. Female slaves would be raped or brutally murdered, many children being forced to watch. Churches were torn down, hospitals raided for supplies, banks were robbed for their gold, none were safe. The fire that had started in the statehouse would spread over the next few days and would claim as much as 40% of the city. The city that was once the pride of the South, was now imploding. Refugees would escape outside the metropolitan area and spread word of the carnage over the coming days. General Lee and his army would be the first Union forces to arrive on the 5th. Lee was said to have shed a tear at the sight of the city, himself being quoted, "God has left Atlanta. For there would be no reason that the Lord could ever allow this to happen." The Union forces would be quick to restore order to the city of anarchy, shooting any rioters on sight. Virtually no mercy was given to the looters for the sight of dead bodies and destroyed buildings was too much for the Union forces to feel any sympathy for the men. What little of the citizens that were left wept at the sight of the blue uniforms who they would've scorned just weeks earlier, for it was thanks to these Yankees that their lives would be saved. Over the next week 113 trials would take place over the affairs that occurred, only 4 would be found innocent while the rest would die by firing squad. Lee attempted to find what was left of the Confederate government to settle a peace deal, but most of Congress was either dead or fled outside of the city in desertion. Toombs' body was nowhere near to be found and most simply presumed him having been killed in the riots. On April 12th, exactly two years to the start of the war, Vice President Jefferson Davis would be found among the refugees, the man having hid within the city for days due to fear of being killed by the angry mob. With Toombs presumed dead, Davis was officially the President of the Confederate States of America. In the late afternoon, Davis would be escorted into the Atlanta courthouse which miraculously survived the riots. There Davis would take the Oath of office for the Presidency, only to sign its unconditional surrender minutes later to Generals Lee and Grant, the latter having arrived two days prior. With the stroke of a pen, the American Civil War was over.
Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant shake hands in the aftermath of Davis signing the Confederacy's unconditional surrender
A/N: For those of you extremely confused about Huey Long's quote, that is meant to reveal the state of the South in the early 20th century and how Long is going to change all of that. Now Long is not defecting and forming a third party, rather he is leading the "Long Revolution" and kicking out the Dixiecrats and Eastern establishment in favor of the Populists who adhere to the ideals of Bryan and Long. More will be revealed on this in the future, particularly with American politics before and after the Great War.
Next chapter will be the Treaty of Havana and Chapter 91 will be the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. Following that we turn our attentions to Europe for one or two chapters. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!
"I would rather be remembered as a one term president with no accomplishments than a President who lead his nation to victory in a civil war. For by going through one we have failed our forefathers."- President Abraham Lincoln 1868
"You can't sympathize with a traitor. They have no one to blame but themselves for this destruction."- Lieutenant General William Tecumseh Sherman 1863
"Ladies and gentlemen, at this moment our sacred party is crooked to the core. The Democrats in Washington who you voted for and claim to represent your interests, don't give a damn about your well being. For seventy years the South has languished in an endless cycle of poverty and neglect, all the while the elite aristocrats grow more rich and powerful. While the rest of the country has entered into the 20th century, we have become trapped in a fantasy of the days before Lincoln. The great President William Jennings Bryan, bless his soul, attempted to change all that and transform the Democrats as a party meant to serve the people. Yet when Roosevelt and the Progressives came in the establishment took back the reigns of power and stuck to their reactionary lunacy. We need change! If you want to end the suffering that generations of good southerners have endured, then rise up and kick the inbreed fat cats out of office. Down with the Establishment! For every man shall be a King!"- President Huey Long 1934
Alabama: Civil war historians in the past have given much praise to Richard Taylor for making the best of the terrible situation and earning the Confederacy the few victories that it could in the closing months of the war. Unfortunately for Alabama, these setbacks against Grant would be but a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things. In the west Mississippi had fallen under the wrath of Sherman, allowing him and his 90,000 men to head due east for the capitol of Montgomery. Joining him was Rosecrans and the army of the Mississippi while the Marines made their way from the south, having destroyed what tiny Confederate naval presence was left in the war. Desertions started to become common in the war as men from states outside of Alabama would leave to return to their homes under Union occupation, trying desperately to salvage what was left of their lives. Not wanting to give the capitol to the enemy without a clear fight, Taylor managed to scrap together 35,000 men; virtually the entirety of the Confederate forces in the Gulf made up of Alabamans and diehard Confederate patriots. Taylor hoped to make this his last stand and end his career with honor. Wanting to make sure absolutely no mistakes were made, Grant would wait for Sherman to combine his forces with his; the grand total would reach to an army of nearly 200,000; the largest ever assembled force for one battle. The battle of Montgomery would begin on February 11th and would last for an entire week. Under the advice of Sherman, Grant would spend seven days pounding the capitol into dust with the artillery companies which now consisted of over 500 batteries. The purpose of this would be to obliterate whatever defenses that Taylor had set up and demoralize the Confederates to the point where they wouldn't raise a rifle. On February 18th the Union infantry began a mass charge towards the city. The soldiers who fought in the battle waged war with a near berserk like attitude. For the Confederates it was a sacrifice for their dying cause and one last blow to the Yankees. For the Union it was vengeance for all the lives so far and for Montgomery starting the rebellion. Eventually the Confederates gave way as the bravery of the Southerners could not stand to the sheer human waves of the Union army. Fighting generally stopped around 7:00 P.M after Union forces put the stars and stripes above the statehouse. Richard Taylor would surrender his forces late that night and thus ended any resistance in Alabama. Casualties were high for the Confederates with 10,345 killed, 5,678 wounded, and the rest taken prisoner. Union forces took 4,116 killed, and 3,889 wounded. Grant and Sherman would spend the next three weeks securing Alabama, and then march east towards Georgia.
Confederate soldiers put up a desperate last stand in the Battle of Montgomery
South Carolina: With the capture of Charleston by Stonewall Jackson in late December, morale within South Carolina virtually collapsed. While the capitol of South Carolina was in Columbia, Charleston was the true heart of the state and was an important symbol to the Confederacy for Fort Sumter. When word spread that the birth of the rebellion had been captured by the Yankees, most South Carolinans lost faith in the war and virtually gave up. The only battle that took place in the state was the Battle of Columbia, an affair that was more a small skirmish between Hooker's cavalry and the cities defenders before the arrival of Hooker's main force that would see Governor Milledge Bonham surrender. For the remainder of the war, Jospeph Hooker would spend his time securing the state while Jackson headed further south along the coast with the goal of reaching Florida. On March 27th the city of Savannah, Georgia surrendered to Jackson which now completed the Anaconda blockade that had been set up in place. Jackson was about to head west in April to link up with Lee, until news of the Atlanta riots had spread.
Georgia: The arrival of the Confederate government in the city of Atlanta, Georgia had shocked the inhabitants. While the war had been on the losing side for several months, Georgia had been virtually untouched besides some minor skirmishes on the borders. The people of Georgia had faith that their favored son Robert Toombs would find a way to lead them to victory. The truth of the matter was that a victory was impossible at this point. The Toombs administration had been trying desperately to find foreign support for their war as an intervention by a European power was seen as the only way out of the situation. Overtures had been made to every nation on the European continent, but almost all were uninterested. Whatever chances the Confederacy had for an ally had been killed with the Emancipation proclamation. Britain came dangerously close to propping up Montgomery as many of the British upper-class were still desiring revenge against the states for Oregon. Plans for invasion were drawn up in a series of operations called "Plan Roanoke," a military strategy where the Royal Navy would destroy the Union blockade and a military expedition of 300,000 British regulars would join the front lines and push the Union back to the starting lines of the war. Operations were set for 1863, but these would be scraped in the fall of 1862 with continuous Confederate losses disillusioning Victoria of the prospect of British intervention, coupled further with the beginning of the Austria crisis. Nothing short of time travelers from the future could save the Confederacy at this point. With word spreading of the loss of Charleston, Montgomery, Mobile, and Savannah, the people of Atlanta became restless and sick of the war. On March 26th, 1863; the fall of the Confederacy would be set in stone on a bright sunny afternoon when Robert Toombs stood in front of the Statehouse to give medals to valiant Confederate soldiers. As the ceremony drowned on, Toombs would make numerous speeches about how the Confederacy would fight to the bitter end and that victory was assured. Toombs' words only agitated the crowd with boos and jeerings rising in the speech. The climax of the affair came when a young Atlanta women named Susan O'Hare, got on stage in tears due to the death of her husband weeks before in the fighting. Susan openly berated the President, calling him a fool for starting the war with nothing to show for it. In her grief Mrs. O'Hare would assault the president. A Confederate soldier onstage, whose name is lost to history, tried to save the President by shooting Mrs. O'Hare. The shot was bloody as it went into the young woman's head and caused her bits of her brain to spill, out, herself falling off the stage and forming a bloody pile. Seeing such a young women die in front of them in the grief of her lost loved one, the citizens of Atlanta had enough and started storming the Statehouse in a fury. The entire building would be looted in less than an hour as bureaucrats and politicians were mowed down for them being perceived as losing the war. For reasons unknown a fire would break out in the statehouse, the mob would leave after smoke had risen, spreading word of the actions to the rest of the city. The Atlanta riots would begin.
The burning of Atlanta (Left). Union troops rush to save the city (Right)
The storming of the Statehouse would be the spark that lit the fuse as the entire city began to descend into anarchy. Looters would target the bakeries, farmer's market, anywhere that would give them the food that they desperately needed. Old grudges were taken out in the fighting, and the state militia that had sworn to protect the peace, would turn on their officers and either desert or join the looting. The worst victims of the riots were the slave population of Atlanta as the populace blamed their problems on them for the start of the war and the losses that had been daily since the Emancipation proclamation. Lynches would be frequent as blacks would be hung on the nearest lamposts or trees for the simple crime of having dark skin. Female slaves would be raped or brutally murdered, many children being forced to watch. Churches were torn down, hospitals raided for supplies, banks were robbed for their gold, none were safe. The fire that had started in the statehouse would spread over the next few days and would claim as much as 40% of the city. The city that was once the pride of the South, was now imploding. Refugees would escape outside the metropolitan area and spread word of the carnage over the coming days. General Lee and his army would be the first Union forces to arrive on the 5th. Lee was said to have shed a tear at the sight of the city, himself being quoted, "God has left Atlanta. For there would be no reason that the Lord could ever allow this to happen." The Union forces would be quick to restore order to the city of anarchy, shooting any rioters on sight. Virtually no mercy was given to the looters for the sight of dead bodies and destroyed buildings was too much for the Union forces to feel any sympathy for the men. What little of the citizens that were left wept at the sight of the blue uniforms who they would've scorned just weeks earlier, for it was thanks to these Yankees that their lives would be saved. Over the next week 113 trials would take place over the affairs that occurred, only 4 would be found innocent while the rest would die by firing squad. Lee attempted to find what was left of the Confederate government to settle a peace deal, but most of Congress was either dead or fled outside of the city in desertion. Toombs' body was nowhere near to be found and most simply presumed him having been killed in the riots. On April 12th, exactly two years to the start of the war, Vice President Jefferson Davis would be found among the refugees, the man having hid within the city for days due to fear of being killed by the angry mob. With Toombs presumed dead, Davis was officially the President of the Confederate States of America. In the late afternoon, Davis would be escorted into the Atlanta courthouse which miraculously survived the riots. There Davis would take the Oath of office for the Presidency, only to sign its unconditional surrender minutes later to Generals Lee and Grant, the latter having arrived two days prior. With the stroke of a pen, the American Civil War was over.
Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant shake hands in the aftermath of Davis signing the Confederacy's unconditional surrender
A/N: For those of you extremely confused about Huey Long's quote, that is meant to reveal the state of the South in the early 20th century and how Long is going to change all of that. Now Long is not defecting and forming a third party, rather he is leading the "Long Revolution" and kicking out the Dixiecrats and Eastern establishment in favor of the Populists who adhere to the ideals of Bryan and Long. More will be revealed on this in the future, particularly with American politics before and after the Great War.
Next chapter will be the Treaty of Havana and Chapter 91 will be the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. Following that we turn our attentions to Europe for one or two chapters. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!
- Kaiser Chris
- Word Count: 2.2k