AH Challange: Civil War Vietnam

Last night, I had a dream. Troops dressed in Union blue carrying Springfields were wading through the swamps of Sout Carolina while Vietnam era music played. Your challange is to create a Vietnam style conflict during or immediatly after the Civil War.
 
Last night, I had a dream. Troops dressed in Union blue carrying Springfields were wading through the swamps of Sout Carolina while Vietnam era music played. Your challange is to create a Vietnam style conflict during or immediatly after the Civil War.

That's easy. Rather than surrender in April and May 1865, the Confederate armies obey the orders of Jefferson Davis and fade into the woods, mountains, and swamps to begin a guerilla war. Basically you have what happened in Missouri repeated on a grand scale all over the South, with sporadic raiding into the north as well.

As you can see from the proclamation issued by Jefferson Davis at Danville, Virginia, on April 5, 1865...

Jefferson Davis said:
We have now entered upon a new phase of the struggle. Relieved from the necessity of guarding cities and particular points, important but not vital to our defense; with an army free to move from point to point and strike in detail the garrisons and detachments of the enemy; operating in the interior of our own country, where supplies are more accessible and where the foe will be far removed from his own base and cut off from all succor in case of reverse, nothing is now needed to render our triumph certain but the exhibition of our own unquenchable resolve. Let us but will it and we are free.
...guerilla warfare was definitely something the Confederates considered as an alternative to surrender. Fortunately, men like Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, and Nathan B. Forrest refused to go along. But that could have been different.
 
Instead of agreeing to Grant's surrender, Lee follows one of his staff's suggestions and disbands the army, telling them to head for the hills and continue a guerrilla campaign against the Union. Other generals soon follow suit. Lee is hanged for his continuation of the war.

Lincoln is shot later in 1865, Johnson hardlines, calling for more soldiers from the states and expanding the draft. More draft riots, more draft dodgers. In 1868, Johnson is unpopular, the death toll is rising,

Grant is elected with a 51% majority, being the only general who seemed to have gotten anything done. He loses 1872 to a Peace Democrat who recognizes the Second Republic of Texas and commands all Union troops to leave South Carolina saying that "South Carolina hasn't wanted the Union since 1833, let them leave and bring their slavery with them. All Negroes Lincoln has set free, soldiers will escort out. All Confederates who want to leave, go to South Carolina."

The secessionists and veterans who will not accept compromise go to South Carolina or Texas. Those that stay in the other states eventually compromise for peace. Louisiana especially is given certain autonomy after the years suffered under "Beast" Butler and its vital importance the the Union and southern economy. South Carolina and Texas eventually have strong economic and military ties. South Carolina, however, looks at Britain for its future economic success... only to find out that Britain is getting the majority of its cotton from India and Egypt.

German immigration makes Texas abolish slavery by 1900. Free labor makes Texas a rich nation. Oil fields make Texas a rich nation, polarized and often one-sided politics makes Texas a very conservative nation. Texas and Pacific Railway is eventually completed in 1930, making Texas more industrial and populous, making the country very very rich, eventually growing apart from South Carolina which is growing closer and closer to totalitarianism.

Speaking of South Carolina, their cotton-based economy fails to abolish slavery until the 1990s. Much like Texas, their politics remain extremely conservative. South Carolinians discriminate not only against Negroes who were unable to leave the country, but Confederates who emigrated instead of staying in the US. The Union largely ignores South Carolina. Occasionally, charitable organizations offer to cross the heavily-guarded border (the Charleston government is extremely paranoid for a renewed Union attack), to give food and medicine to the growing underclass in South Carolina.

The German government during the Great War sends two telegrams, one to Mexico offering them to regain lands they lost in 1847, and one to South Carolina, offering them weapons to restore the Confederacy. Once the United States discovers the telegrams (assuming they do) the Union and Texas join the Allied Powers and both send troops to France.

The incident leads to stronger relationships (especially with the oil) between the Union and Texas. Occasionally Texan and Union politicians begin thinking about reunion, perhaps achieved before the 21st Century. South Carolina remains almost a Latin American style dictatorship, facing dangerous urban environments and vigilante justice in the countryside.
 
A Vietnam-esque just won't work in the 19th century; the Confederacy can certainly try to go guerilla, but without any sort of outside support they'll be doomed from the start. Foreign support is a non-starter by this point, and the guerilla can't count on any Southern infrastructure supporting them during a Union occuption.

The main thing a defeated Confederacy attempting guerilla warfare is going to accomplish is a lot of dead Southerners; the Union occupation troops will get extremely unpleasant wants guerilla war starts and the 19th century is far more accepting of harsh treatment of enemy civilians than the Vietnam-era US. The South can cause the North some headaches and trouble, but things will be far, far worse for the South.
 

Typo

Banned
Guerrilla warfare don't work when the will of the population is broken, and frankly was never that hostile towards the north anyways. Vietnam just gave American popular culture the impression that Guerrilla warfare is a magic bullet against enemy armies.

Oh and there was limited guerrilla warfare in the south during the occupation, it was called the KKK
 
Guerrilla warfare don't work when the will of the population is broken, and frankly was never that hostile towards the north anyways. Vietnam just gave American popular culture the impression that Guerrilla warfare is a magic bullet against enemy armies.

Oh and there was limited guerrilla warfare in the south during the occupation, it was called the KKK

Basically, guerrilla warfare can work very well if the morale of the resistors is high and the morale of the occupiers is low (which is something which has been true for basically every US war since Korea, at least). And I was about to bring up the KKK, but you took care of that for me.
 
Basically, guerrilla warfare can work very well if the morale of the resistors is high and the morale of the occupiers is low (which is something which has been true for basically every US war since Korea, at least). And I was about to bring up the KKK, but you took care of that for me.
Foreign support also tends to be a big factor; most of the more successful guerilla movements have had a foreign backer providing supplies, equipment, training, etc.
 
France is the most logical supporter for the guerillas - weaken the victorious USA by never completing the war, having continuous actions in the South etc, and France's hold on Mexico could be redeemed - Juarez could not come back with Sheridan sitting on the border, if Sheridan is needed to subdue risings.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Even guerillas need some food and other things subsist on, and there was mighty little to go around when the war ended; it was at least as much a victory of empty tummies as of bullets. So, I'm not seeing a failure to end the war working out.

But, Tyoc's right that the KKK was a terrorist organization. Maybe if the South had been treated even worse, much longer than OTL, we could see the KKK reach NVA-like levels. We Americans have generally been weak at dealing with postwars (though simply defining them out of existence like Bush II is at least a new kind of low).
 
Not going to happen. By 1865, war weariness, a dead economy and civilian diaffection and military desertions were too great to support guerilla war for more than a few months. The South had lost belief in the righteousness of their cause
 
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