Twilight of the Confederate States of America
Heart of Dixie
Alabama was in the heat of war. General George Meade leading the Trans-Mississippi army, General John C. Fremont leading the Army of the Potomac, and General John Brown leading his “Army of Liberation”. The clock was ticking on the Confederacy. President Abraham Lincoln was anxious for a knock-out blow to end the war, and he felt that Montgomery was the key. Confederate President Jefferson Davis, under the exponentially growing stresses of war, has taken to Heroin, Opium, and Marijuana to ease his stress, but these drugs have altered his mind and he is now mentally unstable, yet with a gun to the head of everyone in his government.
Fremont and Meade pushed south toward Montgomery. Davis had enough sense to flee the government out Montgomery, and out of Alabama. He fled the government to Mobile, and from there he would flee to Havana, Cuba, where he would make his last stand. Davis gave one last order to Longstreet, saying “Do what it takes to win. Do what is best for the Confederacy. Do what is right for the South”. With that he left Longstreet in command of the Montgomery line that split the state into north and south. Longstreet knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to what was best for the south. He would hold the line long enough for Davis and his government to reach Mobile and flee to Cuba. On April 12th, 1863, a white flag arose from the Confederate side of the Montgomery line.
General Longstreet and the governor of Alabama met with Generals Fremont and Meade. It didn’t take much negotiation. Longstreet and the governor agreed to surrender on condition that all confiscated property in Alabama would be returned to their owners, including the slaves that John Brown had confiscated. Fremont and Grant agreed to this. Alabama was forced to do make the same constitutional changes all of the other states had. Longstreet was offered a command in the Union army, but unlike Lee he was completely tired of war, and wanted nothing more to do with it. He would accept the punishment of the union, and hope to live the rest of his life in solitude. This dream would be interrupted in the 1870s when the call for generals rang out, he would return to service, in the union.
Unexpected Surrenders
Not long after Lee and Grant entered into Georgia, they received word from the state government. A vote had just been held in the state legislature to offer up surrender, and it had passed. They were waiting for reply from a Union general. Both Lee and Grant hurried to Atlanta to meet with the governor to formalize their surrender. The surrender of Georgia was formalized on April 30th. Georgia was allowed to keep it’s slaves as long as a new government was formed and a anti-secession clause was added to their state constitution.
Georgia wouldn’t be the only surrender in April. Shortly after Georgia surrendered Florida also surrendered. It didn’t surrender to a general, but instead sent it straight to Philadelphia, where the senate approved. They met the same conditions Georgia had, and rejoined the union.
Cuba is the last bastion of the Confederacy, and possibly their best hope for survival. Can the Confederacy survive and amphibious invasion? Will President Lincoln risk war with Spain just as the greatest conflict in the nations short history is ending?