And Then Came Spoons: A Benjamin Butler Presidency

[APTerminator]

And Then Came Spoons
The wild & almost true story of Benjamin Butler

​

Hello reader, and welcome to "And Then Came Spoons", the story of Benjamin Butler, or a fake version of Benjamin Butler. Some civil war nerds may recognize the name, but for those who don't know, I will give a brief overview of the life of this legendary man.

Benjamin Butler was born in New Hampshire, in the year 1818. The family moved to Lowell, Massachusetts in 1828, and Butler lived there for most of his adult life, practicing law and eventually becoming a mill owner. There he became involved in the Democratic Party, and became a "doughface", or northern supporter of Southern policies, and became pretty notorious for it. Although he was a ardent patriot, and when the civil war broke out, Butler leveraged his money & connection to become a general in the Massachusetts state militia.

Butler was soon given a command in Virginia, guarding the Union rear. As slaves flocked to the Union lines seeking refuge, he began to radically change his political views, and soon became a radical republican. Confiscating the slaves as 'enemy contraband', he popularized the practice among the Union Army, which had before simply returned the slaves to their plantations. He soon after was moved to become Military Governor of New Orleans, where his nickname 'spoons' appeared as he is alleged to have confiscated a silverware set from a woman crossing the Union line.

While he is considered to have been at best a mediocre field commander, Butler's previous experience and status as a wartime democrat cemented his political importance. Abraham Lincoln offered Butler the position of Vice President in 1864, but the General took it as an insult. "I would rather be in the field or in congress gallantly fighting for the advancement of our union, and of equal rights for the negroes, rather than sitting in Washington for 4 years, waiting for you to exhaust your office," he wrote in a refusal letter.

As we know now Butler was critically wrong in his assumption of Lincoln's lifespan. So what if Butler had instead accepted the offer? What would the presidency of this man have been like? Let us explore.

Part 0: Prelude
1864​

May 1: Benjamin Butler accepts the offer of Abraham Lincoln to become Vice President

"And while I consider my services more valuable currently in the field of battle or in the halls on congress, after deliberation and consideration of my future prospects and of the prospects of the country, I have come to accept your offer to become the 16th Vice President of these United States"
-Major General Benjamin Butler, acceptance letter to Lincoln

May 30: Major General Butler resigns his command, and names Major General E.O.C. Ord as his replacement


June 8: On the 1st ballot, the National Union Party nominates Benjamin Butler as it’s Vice Presidential nominee.

August 24: As Butler gives a speech in Kentucky defending his use of coloured troops, an assassin fires a shot into the air, missing Butler. From this point on the Secret Service private guard will protect Butler at all times in public.

November 8: Abraham Lincoln is reelected as president, with Benjamin Butler ascending to the post of Vice President.

​

November 15: General Sherman begins his march to the sea, systematically destroying the industrial & agricultural heartland of the Confederacy

December 21: The March to the Sea concludes, as General Sherman and the Army of the Tennessee sack Savannah, Georgia. The Confederacy's days are numbered.

1865​

January 15: General Sherman issues Field Order No. 15, confiscating the coastal territory of Georgia & South Carolina and turning it over to freed slaves in 40 acre parcels.

February 1: The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in private hands, passes congress and moves to the states for ratification.

February 5: The Hampton Roads peace Conference fails to gather any meaningful settlement, as the Confederate delegates fear what might happens with Lincoln's cabinet filled with Radical Republicans in his next term.

March 3: The Freedman's Bureau Bill passes, establishing a federal agency to aid and protect former slaves.

March 5: Butler officially becomes Vice President, and Presides over a sitting of congress which would call for the arrest of confederate generals and politicians pending trial.

April 12: General Grant, General Ord, and Vice President Butler receive Robert E. Lee for the final surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, thus ending the American Civil War. While the enlisted men are free to go every officer ranked captain and above are detained for questioning or outright arrested.

April 14: Abraham Lincoln is shot & killed in Ford’s Theatre. Secretary of State William Seward is stabbed to death at his home. President Butler's security detail stops his assassin, and he is quickly sworn in as Lincoln's body is carried back to the White House.

"The assassination of Lincoln perhaps left it's most impactful impressions on Vice President Butler. For a vindictive man already holding a grudge against southerners from his time in the Army, the assassination of the President was a bridge too far. The conspiracy to decapitate the government had succeeded 2/3rds of the way, but it failed in removing the most aggressive man from the equation, and now the South would have hell to pay."
-H.W. Brands, Reconstruction(2004)

 

[Blitz the Dragon]

Ooh, count me in for this one. I always wondered what an alternate Reconstruction might look like.

Also just a quick correction: The Secret Service was not founded until July 5, 1865, and did not protect the President until 1901, after McKinley's assassination. Any security detail Butler had would likely have been arranged for separately.

 

[APTerminator]

Part I: We are Coming, Father Abr'am
1865​

April 15: Now President Butler initiates a massive manhunt, involving the entirety of the Army of the Potomac, blocking off every roads and rail in a 60 mile radius of Washington.

"Butler, it was hard to consider him President at this point, sprung immediately into action. When I asked him what he wanted, he sternly remarked, 'I had a bastard traitor in New Orleans hanged for destroying our flag. These men shall hath no mercy. They will be captured alive and hung or they will die like savage dogs who resist the masters hands. Every many in the Army will be on the manhunt for them, and I will give the man who kills or turns in that peckerwood Booth a $1,000 prize, and his unit $100,000',"
-Edwin M. Stanton, Mr. Secretary(1940)

April 19: Lincoln's body begins it's lay in state for a full week. Throughout it's stay in the rotunda, a group of local soldiers sing the hymn "We are Coming Father Abr'am" and hundreds of thousands pay their respects to the fallen leader.

April 21: In a joint session of congress, President Butler speaks of the martyrdom of President Lincoln, and to the blood spillt for the Union and the freedom of the slaves, asking congress not “turn this bloody & righteous struggle into a stain on our history that resulted in nothing,” and to enforce strict terms on the Confederacy. At the end of his speech, President Butler states “we can not let the sacrifice of the few go in vain, we must wave the bloody shirt in memory of our sons, our brothers, our fathers, and president who went out in a struggle for freedom and liberty like our forefathers 80 years prior.”

"While Butler's pining for Lincoln & the soldiers fallen in battle was likely genuine, it was still a masterclass in political savvy. Butler whipped congress & the public into a fervor, demanding that retribution, reform, and change come out of the sacrifice the nation endured. Nothing less than a societal revolution and destruction of the Southern proto-aristocracy would suffice. Butler now with the political capital to put his plans into action moved forward with the strength for change not seen since the initiation of the constitution, and perhaps not seen since."
-H.W. Brands, Reconstruction(2004)

April 25: President Butler reforms the readmission plans of President Lincoln with Senator Benjamin Wade and Representative Henry Davis, demanding that 50% of voters take loyalty oaths, that states rewrite constitutions explicitly renouncing slavery, enshrining the right of all races to hold office, and that new interim state governments and federal representatives be apportioned according to census ethnicity data.

April 27: After being rammed through congress a 2nd time, the Wade-Davis Bill is signed by President Butler. It legally sets Butler's terms for readmission to the Union.

April 30: John Wilkes Booth is shot & killed outside Bowling Green, Virginia after a 15 day manhunt. Booth accomplice David Herold surrendered but Booth refused, resulting in a rolling gunfight throughout the town. President Butler was true to his word & awarded B Company, 1st Battalion of the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment $101,000.

"We had not as many men as wanted, as several hundred soldiers were busy guarding Jeff Davis and Bob Lee in Fort Monroe, with hundreds more processing their counterpart rebels. The plan for holding and waiting at the ring worked, and on April 29 we received word that Booth was in Bowling Green, Virginia, planning a way to bypass the checkpoints and move further south. I immediately dispatched nearby units to close in, and by the morning of the 30th we had the city surrounded. While Herold was willing to surrender Booth still put up a fight, and after a 30 minute gunfight encompassing half the town, lay dead on a tavern floor, gunshot wound to the head."
-Edwin M. Stanton, Mr. Secretary, (1940)

May 1: President Butler orders that Confederate government & military leadership be tried for treason, and so the process of roping together every leader begins.

May 3: General Oliver Otis Howard becomes the 1st Director of the Freedman's Bureau, an Army sub organization dedicated to the advancement of African Americans through reconstruction.

May 7: On hearing of the actions of General William Tecumseh Sherman, President Butler issues General War Order 77, instructing Army Generals to confiscate land from Southern plantations and redistribute it to freed slaves.

Army Seizes Plantations - Land to be Given to Negroes - President Declares Action Necessary
The Union Army today was given General War Order 77, authorizing commanders to seize plantations of slave owners and confederate citizens, and redistribute the land in 40 acre parcels to former slaves as compensation and to shed unnecessary weight from army camps. The jubilant cheers of the darkies were heard as the plantation owners were kicked to the curb. If this is to continue than the President may have the Army soon stopping at every door, replacing every white home with a negro shack.
-The Union Democrat, May 1865

May 15: The Military Trial of the Booth Conspirators start, with over 100 defendants resulting from anyone who had the slightest contact with Booth during his escape or planning.

May 19: Confederate President Jefferson Davis is arrested, and later sent with Robert E. Lee, Alexander Stephens, and Judah Benjamin to Fort Monroe in occupied Virginia.

May 27: President Butler seeks to enshrine redistribution into law, asking the Radical Republicans to introduce a bill to legally approve of the army's actions.

June 1: The Army of the Trans-Mississippi surrenders, marking the end of organized combat in the American Civil War.

June 18: The Slaves Compensation Act is introduced into the House by Thaddeus Stevens & 13 other co signers. The bill would legally entitle any freed slave up to 40 acres of land, a mule, and a years worth of seed or cash equivalent from their former master(s). While Democrats are outraged moderate Republicans are far less appalled.

June 19: Union forces enter Galveston, Texas and read out General Order No. 3, emancipating the last slaves in former Confederate territory.

July 1: The Slaves Compensation Act Passes the House, 129-47, with 7 abstentions from Republicans & 7 voting against.

July 4: The Booth trials end, with over 30 defendants found guilty, with 6 (Mary Surratt, Samuel Mudd, George Atzerodt, David Herold, Michael O'Laughlen, and Lewis Powell) receiving the death penalty.

July 8: The Slaves Compensation Act Passes the Senate, 37-9, with 2 Republicans abstaining. President Butler would sign the bill into law immediately.

July 9: With President Butler in attendance, the Booth conspirators found guilty are hanged until dead, Butler noticeably grinning and clapping when the hangman pulled the lever.

The Hanging of David Herold, July 9th, 1865​

July 11: President Butler nominates Representative Henry Winter Davis to the office of Secretary of State. Davis had currently served as the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

July 18: Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson files an injunction in the Federal Circuit Court against the Slaves Compensation Act, citing violations of the 4th Amendment freedom from search & seizure, along with the 5th Amendment right to due process.

July 21: Congress passes a bill to establish a memorial hall to the late Abraham Lincoln, to be built on the banks of the Potomac across the National Mall from the Washington Monument.

The final design of the Lincoln Memorial​

August 1: The Federal District Court of Tennessee agrees to hear the injunction against the Slaves Compensation Act.

August 3: Henry Davis is confirmed by the Senate, making him the 25th Secretary of State.

August 6: Judah Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of State, appears in Southampton, Britain. He was assumed to be have escaped via blockade runner to the British East Indies sometime in May.

August 10: Secretary of State Davis summons the French Ambassador, informing him that France must begin plans for withdrawing from Mexico, effective immediately.

August 20: Union forces capture Nathan Bedford Forrest in Tupelo, Missisippi after a 5 month long manhunt. The last General on the run from Union troops, Forest's capture marks the last Confederate to be arrested.

September 17: The Confederate Government Trial begins in Hampton, VA against 27 leading Confederate statesmen. While President Butler wanted a trial in the north, Attorney General James Speed advised against it as a military tribunal of civilians in an area not controlled by martial law may have legitimate legal challenges against it.

September 20: Concurrently the Confederate Officers Trial begins in Fort Monroe, just outside Hampton. 18 Generals & High ranking officers of the Confederate Army are tried for treason and other crimes.

October 15: The Federal District Court of Tennessee rules in favor of Military Governor Johnson, declaring the Slaves Compensation Act unconstitutional on several counts.

October 16: Attorney General James Speed appeals the ruling of the Federal District Court of Tennessee. Meanwhile Union forces still seize plantation land & redistribute it to former slaves.

October 21: The Federal Appeals Court declines to hear the case of Johnson v. Butler, citing the clear violations of the 4th & 5th amendment that the Slaves Compensation Act bears.

November 1: The Officers trial concludes, with 51 of 55 generals found guilty. 11 (Samuel Cooper, Robert E Lee, Joseph Johnston, P.G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, Edmund Kirby Smith, John Bell Hood, Nathan Bedford Forest, Felix Huston Robertson, James G. Bourland, Henry Wirz) are sentenced to death.

November 8: The French Ambassador returns to SoS Davis, requesting more time & further meetings to discuss a full withdrawal from Mexico.

November 13: The Government Trial Ends, with 16 found guilty and 6(Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens, James Seddon, John C. Breckenridge, Stephen Mallory, R.M.T. Hunter) are sentenced to death. Judah Benjamin is convicted in absentia.

"President Butler's heavy hand came to light very quiickly into his term. While everyone believed he would not really execute William Mumford in New Orleans, no one expected him to execute 17 Confederate leaders. However the sentences came, the gallows erected, and the day finally arrived. To the shock of the south, and those in the north unfamiliar with Butler, the sentences were carried out, and very much rightfully so for the crimes they were convicted of. Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens had organized a treason, Robert E Lee had led troops against his country, Nathan Beford Forest had done vile war crimes, etc."
-H.W. Brands, Reconstruction(2004)

November 15: President Butler meets with congressional Republicans, formulating a plan to override the Courts and see the slaves reimbursed. After several hours of deliberation, the plan is to initiate a constitutional amendment allowing seizure of property from traitors.

November 17: All 17 Confederate Prisoners sentenced to death are hanged in the Washington Arsenal Yard. Presiding Officer, Major General David Hunter, offers up a brief speech before the hangman has his due:

"It is not for our fallen, or for ourselves that we today send these men to the almighty. We send them to him today for the crimes they have committed, namely treason. We send these men to the creator not in hopes that it will right their wrongs or bring back loved ones, but for retribution of their sins, and we may pray that the lord will forgive them, and be more forgiving than us mortals."

November 18: Radical Republicans introduce the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which would allow the military to seize property and assets from traitors and former traitors to the United States. While considered a step too far for moderate Republicans, Butler begins wheeling and dealing to exchange patronage positions for votes.

December 5: The 13th Amendment is ratified by 3/4 of states, thus formally enshrining it into law, abolishing slavery across the United States.

December 7: President Butler makes his 1st State of the Union address to congress, with strong remarks about foreign policy, Abraham Lincoln, reconstruction, and retribution against the south. His closing remarks would earn him thunderous applause from the Republicans:

"And so it is now, not more than 7 months after my ascenscion to this office that I can declare steadfastly, the United States is on it's way back to the righteous path it once held. Although our former Head of State was savagly murdered by the hand of an agent of Dixie, we now once again control our own destiny. We control the entire union, and are working every day to heal her wounds and destroy the traitors that dare to simmer within her. I can say sir, with all my being, that the constitution has, is, and will be defended by both her sons and her current garauntor as head of state. And finally I will say to my predecessor, who I know smiles brightly down on this room tonight from his seat in the heavens, that we are coming. We are coming father Abraham, for your Union to restore. May God bless all of you, and may he bless these United States."
-Benjamin Butler, State of the Union Address(1865)

 

[APTerminator]

Ooh, count me in for this one. I always wondered what an alternate Reconstruction might look like.

Also just a quick correction: The Secret Service was not founded until July 5, 1865, and did not protect the President until 1901, after McKinley's assassination. Any security detail Butler had would likely have been arranged for separately.

You get told 1 thing for all your life from all kinds of sources and don't research it... always double check everything kids.

 

[TheRockofChickamauga]

This is really interesting. I don't think I've ever seen a serious look into an ATL Ben Butler presidency, so I'm ready to see what this TL has in store. Will be watching.

 

[APTerminator]

Part II: The Mexican Diversion
1866​

January 1: President Butler, Senator Benjamin Wade, and Representative Thaddeus Stevens meet with Moderate Republicans in the House. At the end of the meeting, it is agreed that the moderates will vote for Butler's 14th Amendment if they are given civil service positions or outright bribes.

January 3: The House opens its year discussing the 14th Amendment. Butler is busy overseeing operations in Congress as The Freedman's Bureau begins running into major issues with reconstruction. As land redistribution is effectively in limbo until the 14th Amendment is settled, the most important piece of reconstruction hangs in the balance.

January 13: The Freedman’s Bureau officially becomes part of the War Department, with some Army officers occupying the south officially assigned as bureau agents.

January 20: United States Army forces cross the Mexican border into the coastal border town of Bagdad, arresting Mexican Imperial forces there and installing Republican forces aligned with Benito Juarez in the city. The raid was previously sanctioned by President Butler, U.S. Grant, and the local Military Governor, Philip Sheridan.

January 25: The House passes the 14th Amendment, 129-44, effectively endorsing the redistribution of land to slaves.
January 28: Senator Lyman Trumbull introduces the Civil Rights act of 1866 to the senate, enforcing equality before the law and in business on the country. President Butler would ensure that the Freedman's Bureau would have the power to enforce the statute with fines and even imprisonment for grievous offenses.

February 4: The Commissioner of the Freedman’s Bureau sends his first report to Washington, outlining the need for educational, economic, and legal assistance for the millions of freed slaves. Noticeably absent is the outlining of any legislation to enforce the Bureau’s efforts.

February 14: French troops & Union Army forces face off in a small skirmish across the Rio Grande, leaving 4 Union soldiers wounded and the French with several more casualties.

March 1: In a strategy meeting with General Grant, War Secretary Edwin Stanton, and Navy Secretary Gideon Welles, President Butler requests plans be made up to blockade the Mexican Empire and land troops at the ports of Veracruz & Tampico, as well as a plan to storm the French Indies.

March 7: Talks between the French Ambassador & SoS Davis break down over a French withdrawal, with the Americans demanding an unconditional withdrawal from the country, and Napoleon III refusing.

"While Secretary Davis had been a rabid proponent of war against France, and by extension Mexico, the rest of Butler's Cabinet was strongly against the idea. While Demobilization had left over 500,000 troops still active at this time, they were all on enlistments that either expired the 1st of February, 1867 or required in the South, to oversee reconstruction and tame the growing flashes of terrorism committed by white southerners. However when the French refused to agree to an unconditional surrender in Washington, they did so by meeting with Secretary Davis at his home, informing him of their intentions to withdraw from talks, and left without another word. Secretary Davis then cursed the French for waking him up at this late hour, and demanded a proper diplomatic notice. Apparently after some arguing a French diplomat spat in Davis' rose garden, and then Davis cursed him 'I shall plant this Rosebush in Mexico city, on top of 10,000 French graves!', and in the end Davis' prophecy was fulfilled, if only after a few years and on top of 2,500 French graves."
-H.W. Brands, Reconstruction(2004)

Mach 10: After being denied renomination by the Republicans, Representative Charles E. Phelps forms the Conservative Party of America, which is limited in scope beyond Phelps’ home state of Maryland. Phelps focuses the party towards Patriotism, Pro-Business attitudes, and countering the Republicans radical plans for reconstruction.

March 14: As a prelude to the coming senate vote, President Butler would make house call to several moderate republican senators, urging them to vote for the amendment.

March 29: The Senate narrowly passes the 14th Amendment, 34-14. That same day Michigan, Massachusetts, and Maine would ratify the amendment.

April 6: Veterans in Springfield, Illinois form the Grand Army of the Republic, a union veterans organization.

April 10: The Senate passes the Civil Rights Act, which President Butler quickly signs into law.

April 14: A year after Lincoln’s assassination, President Butler leads a vigil from Ford's Theatre to the Lincoln Memorial work site.

April 20: Captain James Lewis, Major Thomas O. Osborn, and General Edward Ord are appointed by President Butler as ‘Deputy Commissioner’s’ of the Freedman’s Bureau. Cpt. Lewis is handpicked by Butler as a man of color and as his personal attache to the Bureau.

April 28: Guns begin flowing in earnest to Benito Juarez’s republicans as general demobilization takes effect. Muskets, 6 pounder guns, and a handful of Gatling guns make their way to Chihuahua City and to Republican soldiers.

May 3: Butler’s War Plans are delivered, which call for the invasion & occupation of Tampico, Veracruz, and Coatzacoalcos, and follow up invasions of the french islands of St. Martin, Guadeloupe, and Martinique.

May 7: In a joint session of congress, Butler once again waves the bloody shirt and calls for a war against the Mexican & French empires, citing the Monroe doctrine and the democratic principles of the Mexican People. Congress votes for war.

"The situation in Mexico rapidly turned south for both the French and their imperial allies. Precisely the day after the declaration of war on the 7th, A US battle fleet consisting of both ocean-going and coastal Monitors seized upon the port of Tampico and took it over nearly without a shot, the only resistance being a drunk farmer who was quite surprised to see American soldiers wake him up and ask for directions to the crossroads just north of the city. The US battle fleet, which composed of 10 coastal monitors, 7 ocean rated vessels, & the newly christened USS Kalamazoo, made for the port proper. There they met the French Navy in earnest, a full 10 "ironclads" which were wooden hulled, and several more sailing vessels, the largest of which was the 4th rate "Prosperine". Needless to say when the French Admiral Cloué challenged the fully iron American vessels bearing down on his position, it was not long before the Napoleonic Navy was at the bottom of the sea or in the process of scuttling their vessels and embarking to the Mexican coast."
-Drachinfel, "The Franco-American War: Why Ironclads Need to be Iron Clad"(2021)

May 15: Major General Charles Griffin orders occupation troops to set up 3 registrars for each southern county, with the intent on signing up freedmen for voting and sorting the eligible white voters from ineligible Confederate soldiers & civil servants.

May 27: The Union Navy occupy St. Martin, quickly overrunning the undefended french portion of the island.

USS Monadnock in harbour at Guadeloupe​

May 30: General Sherman begins an assault against French forces, wiping them aside as he links up with the Coatzacoalcos occupation force and moves to secure Xalapa & Cordoba. The widespread use of the Spencer rifle would see the technical superiority of the Americans outweigh the numerical superiority of the French/Mexican force.

June 3: The French send a delegation to Washington to begin discussions of surrender.

June 4: President Butler issues executive order 79, allowing former confederate soldiers to enlist for the Franco-American war in exchange for a return of voting rights. Thousands of conscripted soldiers take the offer.

June 12: President Butler signs the Economic Reconstruction Act into law, allocating $50 million to rebuild the broken southern infrastructure, and provide $10 million to southerners to rebuild their estates, both white & black.

June 25: United States Marines capture the islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. The outdated colonial forts & local militia prove no match for the ironclad navy & repeating rifles of the Americans.

July 4: Patriotic rallies across the north, and even to some small extent in the occupied south, break out in support of the ongoing efforts in Mexico.

July 11: As more War Democrats are booted out of the Republican Party, they start flocking to the Conservative party, where their wealth and previous electoral success are put to use, though still mainly limited to the Eastern Seaboard.

July 20: The territory of Nebraska’s constitution is rejected, and Congress refuses to see another constitution until the territorial legislature adds black suffrage to the document.

July 30: The citizens and police of New Orleans start a race riot in defiance of the state constitutional convention, leaving 20-30 freedmen dead and hundreds injured, as Union forces fire on the rioters, killing 16. The City Police would be abolished & reformed with Union Soldiers, and the convention would be postponed for several months.

"When news reached us of that horrible tragedy in New Orleans, most of us were solemnly mournful, others were vengeful and righteous. Senator Lane on the Military Affairs Committee heard the news, he spoke calmly 'I would like to live long enough to see every white man in New Orleans in hell, and negroes inherit their property. It would not wound my feelings any day to find the dead bodies of rebel sympathizers pierced with bullet holes in every street and alley in Washington,'. For myself and the War Department, we simply added it to the growing list of deadly conflicts coming from every corner of that southern demon."
-Edwin M. Stanton, Mr. Secretary(1940)

August 7: After a long battle against partisan guerillas and disease, General Sherman marches north to Tampico, destroying military installations along the way, and cutting off any hope of French withdrawal.

August 13: Sporadic violence breaks out in the south as hooded southerners of several different secret societies harass both scalawags & freedmen. The Army stretched thin struggles to contain the violence.

August 27: President Butler replaces Freedman’s Bureau Commissioner General Howard, installing his longtime friend and orderly General Edward Ord in his place, allegedly over concerns that General Howard was too indifferent to the political needs of the Bureau.

September 14: General Sherman captures the whole of the Gulf Coastal Plain as his invasion force links up with the Army of the Rio Grande & much needed supplies. Sherman’s army had been living off the land and was in desperate need of resupply on everything from shoes to ammunition.

September 21: A ceasefire comes into effect between American & French forces, resulting in a brief period of peace as the negotiations continue.

October 1: French & American representatives sign the Treaty of Baltimore, ending the Franco-American War. In accordance with the treaty, France will withdraw from Mexico and cancel all debts to it held by the Mexican State. They shall also cede St. Martin, Guadeloupe, and Martinique to the Americans, and in return receive a sum of $100,000(14 cents per acre). All citizens of the indies would have the choice of leaving for other French territories or to become a citizen by October 1, 1869.

"The Franco-American War was truly a work of political art at the hands of Butler. A quick 4 month invasion of a small portion of Mexico, the acquisition of Caribbean islands with their sugar and tropical fruits, and a stout defense of the continent from European influence truly gave voters the idea they were living in the peak of America, as the founding fathers had envisioned it. Not to mention the rabidness of reconstruction, Republican voters were overwhelmed at the polls. Nearly 3 million Americans from the north voted in the 1866 midterms, a number that would not be seen from that region for 25 years."
-H.W. Brands, Reconstruction(2004)

October 16: The 14th Amendment becomes law as California ratifies the amendment. Immediately the Freedman’s Bureau continues it’s program of land redistribution.

October 28: Troops begin withdrawing from Mexico in earnest, as General Sherman receives a full military parade in Washington.

November 8: The House & Senate Elections finish, with the Republicans leading the way by a large margin. The Democrats finish a very distant second and the upstart Conservatives manage to win 8 elections with turncoat politicians.

​

"Radical Republicans had by this point total domination of the government. The Butler Administration had hurried out War Democrats and older, moderate Republicans in favor of a near totally radical electoral slate. Around a dozen moderates remained elected in the House, while the Senate(42R-8D) remained more moderate thanks to the small grasp the national party held on state legislatures, but still wholly Republican. Meanwhile the Democrats managed to hold onto their districts in the Midwest, but lost several crucial races to the Conservative Party in the Northeast. The Conservative strategy of accepting Reconstruction and Emancipation fully, and moving on to the next battle, black suffrage, won them much needed support."
-H.W. Brands, Reconstruction(2004) ​

​

November 15: After general accounting closes, 14,521 former confederate soldiers enlisted in the US Army, a vast majority of them coming from the poor regions of Appalachia.

December 2: Freedman's Bureau Commissioner Edward Ord delivers his 1st report to Washington, stating that the citizenship and voting rights of freedmen need be protected by the constitution to be fully enforced.

December 8: Tennessee becomes the first state certified to rejoin the Union, sending a full Republican slate to Congress.

December 12: Official flag lowering/raising ceremonies commence on St. Martin, Guadeloupe, and Martinique, with each island becoming a U.S. Territory.

December 19: Just before winter recess, Congress passes a law dividing the former Confederacy into 5 separate occupation districts, granting each district commander the power of martial law in states yet to be readmitted to the Union.

 

[Anarch King of Dipsodes]

August 24: As Butler gives a speech in Kentucky defending his use of coloured troops, an assassin fires a shot into the air, missing Butler. From this point on the Secret Service will protect Butler at all times in public.

The Secret Service was not established till 1865, and did not not take up the function of guarding the President and Vice President until 1901.

 

[APTerminator]

The Secret Service was not established till 1865, and did not not take up the function of guarding the President and Vice President until 1901.

Someone else pointed this out already, but thanks for clearing it up

 

[TheRockofChickamauga]

When I first saw this chapter was going to be about an American intervention in Mexico, I got pretty excited because I had just recently found out the Union army corps that were under Sheridan's command IOTL to lead the advance. But by the end, I see that the war is now over, so its kind of a moot point now I guess.

Anyways, here is my obligatory, "What is George H. Thomas up to ITTL?" question that I have to ask for every Civil War TL. Was he involved in the intervention, or did Butler retain him at his departmental post in the South, being as he was one of the more forceful commanders in that region from OTL.

 

[APTerminator]

When I first saw this chapter was going to be about an American intervention in Mexico, I got pretty excited because I had just recently found out the Union army corps that were under Sheridan's command IOTL to lead the advance. But by the end, I see that the war is now over, so its kind of a moot point now I guess.

Anyways, here is my obligatory, "What is George H. Thomas up to ITTL?" question that I have to ask for every Civil War TL. Was he involved in the intervention, or did Butler retain him at his departmental post in the South, being as he was one of the more forceful commanders in that region from OTL.

It was a short war yes but it was all that was needed to force the French into an unconditional surrender. Sheridan did at least lead Union forces into Monterrey & beyond. George Thomas was handpicked by Sherman to run logistics from Veracruz, after his success supplying & defending Sherman's Atlanta campaign. He'd later become the military governor of the 1st Military District(Virginia).

 

[marktaha]

I find this -shall we say I never liked Butler in OTL so my feelings this time..

 

[Jajasim]

Really great and interesting stuff. I would suggest modifying the title a little to more clearly explain the TL (And Then Came Spoons: ...) as more people will read it then.

 

[SlyDessertFox]

Really great and interesting stuff. I would suggest modifying the title a little to more clearly explain the TL (And Then Came Spoons: ...) as more people will read it then.

Idk, I like the simplicity. But yeah maybe mentioning its a reconstruction timeline will drive viewership.

Anyway, color me intrigued, I really want to see where you go with this timeline.

 

[A Random Man]

Nice series, can't wait to see how Reconstruction is handled and the aftermath in the ensuing decades. Good work. Will this story be threadmarked?

 

[Purrangzeb]

he looks like a meatball
great tl btw

 

[dcharles]

​

October 21: The Federal Appeals Court declines to hear the case of Johnson v. Butler, citing the clear violations of the 4th & 5th amendment that the Slaves Compensation Act bears.

Appeals courts can't decline to hear a case. Only the Supreme Court can do that.

November 15: President Butler meets with congressional Republicans, formulating a plan to override the Courts and see the slaves reimbursed. After several hours of deliberation, the plan is to initiate a constitutional amendment allowing seizure of property from traitors.

November 17: All 17 Confederate Prisoners sentenced to death are hanged in the Washington Arsenal Yard. Presiding Officer, Major General David Hunter, offers up a brief speech before the hangman has his due:


November 18: Radical Republicans introduce the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which would allow the military to seize property and assets from traitors and former traitors to the United States. While considered a step too far for moderate Republicans, Butler begins wheeling and dealing to exchange patronage positions for votes.

Literally no reason that an Amendment is necessary to do that. Treason is a crime, and courts have always had the ability to deprive criminals of life, liberty, and property.

 

[APTerminator]

Nice series, can't wait to see how Reconstruction is handled and the aftermath in the ensuing decades. Good work. Will this story be threadmarked?

I think I did it right(?), tho I've never interacted with threadmarks before

 

[Pesterfield]

Treason is a crime, and courts have always had the ability to deprive criminals of life, liberty, and property.

Wouldn't it be a bill of attainder, unless every slave owner was put on trial individually?

 

[dcharles]

Wouldn't it be a bill of attainder, unless every slave owner was put on trial individually?

A bill of attainder is like outlawing a person. Like, when they finally came for Robespierre, IIRC, they attainted him--literally outlawed Robespierre. No defense to that, expect for mistaken identity.

So yes, they would need to try the traitors individually. A slave owner isn't necessarily a traitor, of course. If the court accepts as evidence that Confederate veteran status, or status as an official in the government, is enough to convict for treason, then that's that. Takes fifteen minutes. Five if you want to rush things.

Prosecutor: Are you Robert E. Lee, General of the Confederate Armies?

Lee: Yes.

Prosecutor: I rest my case.

 

[Deleted member 81475]

The idea of a radical vice president creating a nationwide movement in the wake of Lincoln's murder is definitely plausible. Butler is an interesting and slightly Jacksonian personality. It will definitely be interesting the see more of his presidency.