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1864​

Abraham Lincoln loses to General McClellan in the race for the White House. The General had been running on a platform of negotiations with the southern Confederacy in hopes of ending the bloody conflict. Northern discontent with the war had been growing since the defeat at the Fourth Battle of Bull Run between the Army of Northern Virginia and that of the Potomac.

Though that was only the latest of a growing chain of losses by the Union armies. Sabotage in northern factories and the Great Fire of Chicago in 1863 had done a major deal of damage to the Illinois economy. With the war raging supplies were scarce, and the city was in ruins, only adding more animosity between the populace and the Lincoln government, ironically the President's home state.

After the election of McClellan, Lincoln ordered a last ditch attempt to strike at the Confederate heart in hopes of ending the war once and for all before the President-Elect had the chance to start talks. Reinforcing the Army of the Potomac with half a division of infantry and 3 regiments of cavalry, on the night of December 12th, 1864 General Ulysses S Grant marched across the Army’s namesake, marching south towards Richmond.

Within an hour of entering the Confederacy, the Army of Northern Virginia collided with its northern counterpart, having been entrenched just a few miles south of the river. The northern force fought valiantly, but a smaller force under Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson moved behind the Union lines and cut off their line of retreat.

13 hours later the battle was over, with Jackson's army in pursuit accompanied by 3 regiments from Lee’s main force. The Army of Northern Virginia remained holding about 16,000 Union prisoners, most of which were held in quickly constructed camps after being disarmed.

By the 15th of December word had spread among the north and south about the Fifth Battle of Bull Run, cementing the stigma of failure which was to be attached to the Lincoln Presidency. President-Elect McClellan called the actions of Lincoln “useless….and uncalled for”.

The time between then and March 4th of 1865 were quite peaceful with Union forces being slowly pulled out of the deeper areas of the Confederacy, and local ceasefires began to spread across the front.

1865

The inauguration of President McClellan was a major turn in American politics, in his speech the newly elected Commander in Chief made it clear that peace was the only option;

“ 4 years ago on this very day, we the people of the United States saw our nation divided, our southern brethren had left us, and had attempted it in peace. Only we did not let them leave in peace. Our dear President Lincoln thought it would be honorable and constitutional to try and coerce our brother states in the Confederacy to rejoin our Union. But after 4 years of terrible war, he has been proven wrong” -Excerpt from President McClellan’s inauguration speech.

After the conclusion of his speech the new President sent a telegram to the Confederate government in Richmond, with the proposal of an immediate nation wide ceasefire. Richmond accepted the proposal, and on March 6th, 1865, at 3 PM, EST, the War of Independence had ended.

Talks began several weeks later in a small room in General Lees estate of Arlington, with Thomas Jackson and Robert Lee among the Confederate delegation, with George H. Pendleton, the US Vice President, among the Union delegation. Talks ranged for weeks, with nitpicks and other issues taking up more time than most of the larger ones. By July the 6th, the delegations had hammered out a treaty which would come to be known as the Treaty of Arlington, it laid out the following terms;

  • The states of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri would be given plebiscites on which nation to join, with forces from sides vacating the 3 states completely, leaving it to local Militia.
  • The status of Western Virginia was to be returned to the Confederate States, though it would have its own plebiscite on whether or not to become its own state.
  • Neither side would be charged with reparations.
  • The Arizona and New Mexico Territories would remain in the Union. (This was debated hotly at first, but the Confederate delegation agreed to concede on the issue in return for plebiscites in various states).
  • The Indian Territories would become its own sovereign nation. (The Confederacy also demanded these territories, but eventually conceded to the region being independent. )
  • All Union troops would be given a 2 month period to withdraw from the Confederacy.
  • The United States would bar runaway slaves from entering the Union, but any that left with Union armies or had already left the South would not be pursued.
  • In the event of the secession of Maryland, the United States will have a 2 year period to evacuate the the District of Columbia, after which the district will be ceded to the Confederacy.
  • The United States will recognize the Confederate States of America as its own nation.
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