For those who don't know, marching clubs like the Wide Awakes were paramilitary Lincolnites dressed in black capes and with military caps. Who protected Republican rallies and ran military drills and drills in antebellum America before the 1860 election.
The parallels to the Blackshirt squadristi of Fascist Italy are enough to make me wonder if, out of curiosity they can be kept relevant after the civil war?