From Fifth Wheel to the Driver’s Seat: A President Hannibal Hamlin TL

Things are going South :D for the Union with a terrible speed (reasonable since Hamlin lacks the political finesse of Lincoln).
 
PART 5: GREAT BATTLES OF 1862 (BOTH MILITARY AND POLITICAL)

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Arrest and imprisonment of General Stone

The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War wielded great influence in shaping war policy. The committee members believed that moderation was to blame and wanted harsh measures taken. Hamlin, who was sympathetic to the committee, welcomed their oversight. The members of the committee were particularly skeptical of West Point graduates, many of whom fought for the Confederacy. The committee members spent considerable time scrutinizing Union Generals who were graduates of West Point, including George B. McClellan, Don Carlos Buell, Fitz-John Porter, Charles P. Stone, William P. Franklin, and Henry W. Halleck. The committee preferred politically loyal generals, regardless of their competence. However, the committee often misused their power against scapegoats, who were blamed for the Union’s military failures.

This misuse of power was first exemplified by the arrest and imprisonment of Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone. The committee blamed Stone for the Union defeat at Ball’s Bluff. The committee's investigation of Ball's Bluff focused on circumstantial evidence that implicated Stone for improper correspondence with rebel officers. Senator Sumner castigated Stone for denying asylum for two runaway slaves in the Union Army. Stone responded by writing a hostile letter to Sumner, calling him “a well-known coward” who hurled charges “from a safe distance in the rear [1].” During the investigation, the committee interviewed witnesses, who unanimously found fault with Stone’ s leadership.

On Jan. 27, Secretary of War Benjamin Wade [2] met with the committee to review the testimony against Stone. As an ally of the committee, he issued orders for Stone’s arrest the next day. McClellan interceded on behalf of Stone, arguing that he ought to have a second opportunity to appear before the committee (McClellan later betrayed Stone by passing along dubious information about Stone to Wade). But Stone’s self-defense did not help his case. Although Attorney General Edward Bates tried to stop him, Wade [2] had Stone arrested shortly after midnight on February 9 [3]. Stone was arrested and jailed for treason.

Professional officers were shocked by Stone’s imprisonment. Former General in Chief Winfield Scott wrote, “If he is a traitor I am a traitor, and we are all traitors,” while Gen. George Meade believed Stone to be “the victim of political malice.” Both men soon found themselves under suspicion.

Stone was held without charges, a violation of Army regulations. He was first placed in solitary confinement at Fort Lafayette for fifty days. He was then transferred to nearby Fort Hamilton, where remained for the next year [4].

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NOTES:

[1] As Stone said to Sumner OTL. In ATL, Sumner is now on the committee, which makes it even harder for Stone to claim his innocence.
[2] As OTL, except that it’s Wade rather than Stanton
[3] Believe it or not, this is exactly what happened to Stone in OTL! Expect more of this.
[4] As McCarthy-esque as this all sounds, this precisely is what happened OTL. See Bruce Tap’s excellent article on the subject entitled Amateurs at War: Abraham Lincoln and the Committee on the Conduct of the War. An online copy can be found here: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/26...coln-and-the-committee?rgn=main;view=fulltext

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Resignation of Secretary of the Interior Caleb Smith

On February 1, 1862, Secretary of the Interior Caleb Blood Smith resigned due to ill health [1]. He was replaced with Assistant Secretary of the Interior John Palmer Usher. Smith was the second cabinet member to resign.

[1] OTL, Smith did not resign until January 1, 1863. He had considering resigning after the Emancipation Proclamation was announced. The Declaration of Emancipation would likely speed up his departure. Since Smith was delegating most of his responsibilities to Usher, he probably succeeds Smith, just like OTL. I found no record of what Hamlin thought of Smith or Usher, so I see no reason for him to do otherwise.

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Hamlin attempts to relieve McClellan of command

Hamlin lost confidence in General McClellan early in the war. In his personal diary, Hamlin criticized McClellan for his delays, inactivity, disobedience, and above all, his propensity to meddle in politics [1]. But Hamlin did not relieve McClellan of command for his battlefield performance alone. McClellan’s opposition to using his armies as an instrument of emancipation put him at odds with Hamlin’s Declaration [2]. In January 1862, President Hamlin’s patience was finally exhausted. After months of waiting for McClellan to come up with a plan, President Hamlin became convinced that McClellan did not have a plan of attack on Confederate forces. Hamlin issued General War Order No. 1 in January 1862 to force McClellan into action in Virginia [3]. McClellan refused to obey Hamlin’s order to execute the Manassas Plan [4] against the Confederates, and replied with a 22-page letter objecting to the president's plan. This did not sit well with Hamlin, as he believed that generals should obey their commander-in-chief, not question him.

Hamlin looked for a general to replace McClellan. In late February, Hamlin inquired to General Charles F. Smith about taking command of the Army of the Potomac [5]. Unfortunately, Hamlin soon received word that Smith was seriously injured in a freak accident (which he later died of that April) and was unable to take command. On March 11, at the urging of Benjamin Wade, Hamlin relieved McClellan of the General-in-Chief position [6] and appointed John W. Fremont as General-in-Chief [7]. The incapacitation of Smith and McClellan’s popularity stayed Hamlin’s hand, and Hamlin gave him one last chance to prove himself. Hamlin reluctantly retained McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac, and acquiesced to his Urbanna Plan (which would serve as the foundation of McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign).

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NOTES (WARNING: MASSIVE INFODUMP AHEAD!):

[1] From The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 430: “The McClellan issue was now involving the administration and its supporters in a wrangle with this general and his followers who were opposed to arming the negro, and the situation was becoming more and more perplexing. In passing it may be said that Mr. Hamlin had already lost faith in McClellan, though this is a story for another chapter. He advised the President to cut the knot of difficulties by dismissing McClellan and other officers who allowed themselves to meddle with questions of state. Their duty, he argued, was to be soldiers, not politicians; to obey their commander-in-chief, not to question his acts.”

From The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 442-4: “Mr. Hamlin in his turn gave General McClellan full credit for building up the Army of the Potomac, but maintained that his usefulness ended there, because he was not a fighter by nature. He reviewed the blundering Peninsular campaign, and asserted that it was a failure from beginning to end because McClellan would not hunt for the enemy and strike a vigorous blow. He pointed out that McClellan had declined opportunities to hit the enemy while he was engaged in a controversy with the administration or was calling for reinforcements, all of which was subsequently proved before the Committee on the Conduct of the War. On the other hand, he contrasted the conduct of McClellan with that of Grant. The one had been supported by the administration with almost unstinted resources, and yet had to be urged to fight. The other had fought his way up to the top, and only asked an opportunity to fight. But while McClellan remained inactive in the field, he was active in meddling with politics, and, worse than that, had been disobedient and even insolent to the President. His refusal to move under orders and his presumptuous letter of advice to Mr. Lincoln were cited. His removal was not only justified, but was now demanded. ‘I summed McClellan up,’ said Mr. Hamlin, ‘by saying that while he was the first man to build a bridge, he was the last to cross it.’…Mr. Hamlin's opinion…was that after McClellan's delays, his fruitless exploits, his repeated overestimates of the enemy's numbers, his liability to be deceived, his opposition to the President, and his foolish propensity to meddle in politics, there was little guarantee that he would now act with success.”

[2] From Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, 1861-1865: “A lifelong Democrat, he [McClellan] wanted no part of a crusade to abolish slavery…As long as he commanded the Army of the Potomac, McClellan would oppose any attempt to use the military as an instrument of emancipation.”

[3] Essentially the same as Lincoln’s General War Order No. 1.

[4] The Manassas plan was originally proposed by Lincoln in OTL (I tend to think Hamlin would have come up with a similar plan). Basically, it involved a direct drive to Richmond where Union forces would engage Johnston’s forces at Manassas.

[5] OTL, Smith died shortly after an accident some time in March 1862. It’s very possible he doesn’t die ATL, but I will assume he still does. From The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 441: “Mr. Hamlin was one of the first of Mr. Lincoln’s friends to lose confidence in General McClellan; and while he had earlier suggested his retriement from the command of the Army of the Potomac, he now went on to Washington to urge his dismissal…Mr Hamlin’s patience was exhausted when McClellan refused to obey the President’s order of January, 1862, and move against the enemy, and he proposed that McClellan should be removed. Mr. Lincoln used to ask as a poser, ‘If not McClellan, then who?’ Mr. Hamlin replied, ‘General Charles F. Smith.’ But General Smith's untimely death after Donelson closed the incident.”

[6] As OTL on this date.

[7] As OTL, except that it was Stanton who was appointed General-in-Chief rather than Fremont. An example of being “kicked upstairs”.

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The Western Theater

In the west, Union forces became bogged down in Kentucky. Kentucky added many soldiers to the Confederate ranks and potential war-making resources. In addition, it created a large buffer zone that would protect Tennessee from Union incursions. Confederate armies found it easy to recruit and supply their men in Kentucky.

The first major battle took place at Fort Paducah [1] in February 1862. Fort Paducah was a built by the Confederacy to control the Tennessee River where it meets the Ohio. The Tennessee River was of great strategic importance to the CSA. Grant’s initial victory at Fort Paducah was greatly encouraging to the North. Following this success, Grant and his troops made their way up the Tennessee River to the Tennessee border.

But a surprise attack at Hamlin, Kentucky [2] that April dashed all hopes of a quick victory in the West, and Grant was forced to retreat. Despite this setback, President Hamlin stood behind Grant. He personally thought highly of Grant, and called him the “Caesar of the age” [3]. He praised Grant as a “soldier who knew how to move ahead and who did not know how to retreat.” However, Hamlin had heard of Grant’s reputation for hard drinking. Hamlin was a temperance man, and worried about the prospect of a liquored-up General who issued orders on the battlefield while inebriated. [4] Despite this, Hamlin downplayed Grant’s alcoholism as a “rumor” (likely because Grant’s record of victories and his support for emancipation).

In October, the Battle of Newtonsville [5] was fought near Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the last major conventional battle between Union and Confederate forces north of the Ohio River. It was a major victory for the Union, and resulted in the Confederates retreating back to Kentucky.

Meanwhile, Missouri was a state divided. While officially in the Union, the southern part of Missouri remained under Confederate control, led by Price and Thomas Reynolds (who took over as governor after Jackson’s death). Although no major battles took place in Missouri during this time, Missouri was the scene of extensive guerrilla warfare between Unionists and pro-Confederate ‘Bushwackers’. Several towns were looted and burned by marauding bands. General Fremont, Commander of the Department of the West, was blamed for his inability to control the insurgency in Missouri, despite placing the state under martial law since August 1861. Hamlin relieved Fremont of command of the Department of the West on March 11, 1862, and was appointed General-in-Chief [6]. He was replaced by Henry W. Halleck.

Far to the South, the city of New Orleans was captured by the Union Army in April 1862. New Orleans was the largest city in the CSA and one of great strategic importance. In April 1862, Flag Officer David G. Farragut bombarded Forts Jackson and St. Philip. He then ran past these forts and took the city and port of New Orleans on April 29 [7]. On May 1, 1862, Major General Benjamin Butler occupied the city with an army of 5,000 men. Butler placed New Orleans under martial law. Many of his acts were controversial, including the notorious General Order No. 28 of May 15, which treated women who showed contempt for Union soldiers as prostitutes [8].

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NOTES:

[1] ATL’s equivalent of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. Fort Paducah’s position is similar to that of Forts Henry and Donelson, which were located where the Tennessee River intersected with the Union/Confederacy border. Here, the Union/Confederate border is the Ohio River, and Paducah is located where the Tennessee River meets the Ohio.
[2] ATL’s equivalent of Shiloh. The name is purely coincidental. Hamlin is located in a similar position to Shiloh. Shiloh is located where the Tennessee River meets the Tennessee/Mississippi border. Hamlin is located where the Tennessee River meets the Kentucky/Tennessee border.
[3] As OTL. See the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, pages 455 and 520
[4] I’m not saying Grant did this, but Hamlin might well imagine it.
[5] ATL’s equivalent of the battle of Perryville (KY)
[6] Fremont was relieved from command on November 2, 1861 in OTL.
[7] As OTL. Damn the butterflies, full speed ahead! (I know Farragut said that later, but go along with it)
[8] Another fun fact from OTL.

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The Peninsula Campaign [1]

The Peninsula Campaign was a series of battles that took place in southeastern Virginia from March 1862 to July 1862. It was the first large-scale operation in the Eastern Theater. Commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, the operation was intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond.

McClellan’s Urbanna plan involved moving the Army of the Potomac down Chesapeake Bay, and landing on the Virginia Peninsula, between the York and James Rivers. His forces then moved northwest up the Peninsula towards Richmond. His hopes for a quick advance were foiled by Confederate Brigadier General John B. Magruder. Undaunted, McClellan ordered his army to prepare for a siege of Yorktown. However, just before the siege preparations were completed, the Confederates under General Joseph E. Johnston withdrew toward Richmond. The Battle of Williamsburg marked the first heavy fighting of the campaign. While the Union troops managed to win some tactical victories, the Confederates continued to withdraw.

When McClellan's army reached the outskirts of Richmond, Johnston launched a surprise attack on McClellan's army south of the river at Seven Pines/Fair Oaks. The battle was inconclusive, with heavy casualties, but it had lasting effects on the campaign. Johnston was wounded and replaced by General Robert E. Lee, who reorganized his army and prepared for offensive action in the final week of June 1862, which are popularly known as the Seven Days Battles. The aggressive Lee turned the subsequent Seven Days Battles into a humiliating Union defeat. Lee's offensive led to thousands of Confederate casualties, but it saved Richmond.

For Hamlin, McClellan’s failure to capture Richmond was the last straw. Hamlin and the Joint Committee were already frustrated by what they perceived as McClellan’s incompetence and insubordination. They were now convinced that McClellan's inactivity meant that he was disloyal. Hamlin relieved McClellan of command of the Army of the Potomac on July 20. McClellan, much like Stone, was shortly thereafter imprisoned for insubordination, due to his refusal to follow Hamlin’s orders. He remained in prison for the remainder of the war [2].

Montgomery Blair, a friend and supporter of McClellan, soon resigned as Postmaster General in disgust. Blair had long been criticized by the Radical Republicans. Hamlin replaced him with Horatio King of Maine. King was not only the Postmaster General for a brief period [3] under President Buchanan, but was also a friend and former business partner of Hamlin’s.

Hamlin promoted General Ambrose Burnside to command of the Army of the Potomac on July 26 [4]. As a New Englander (though not by birth), Hamlin thought highly of Burnside. And unlike McClellan, Burnside was supportive of the government’s anti-slavery policy [5].

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NOTES:

[1] No major changes from OTL. I know about the butterflies, but I don’t think there will be any huge differences from OTL in terms of the basic outcome. I’ve been deliberately vague on the details, since there will probably be some mild deviations from OTL. Even with butterflies, the Peninsula Campaign is probably doomed to failure for the Union (largely due to McClellan’s over-cautiousness).

[2] If it could happen to Stone, it could definitely happen to McClellan. In fact, the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was largely formed to discredit McClellan. From Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, p. 164: “Hamlin believed that the dilatory General George B. McLellan was at the root of the trouble. Hamlin, who had appointed the arch-Radicals Wade and Zachariah Chandler to the committee, did what little he could as Vice-President to assist it in its effort to unhorse ‘Little Mac’.”

[3] About four weeks.

[4] Three and a half months earlier than OTL. From Hannibal: The Life of Abraham Lincoln’s First Vice President, p. 191: “Burnside was ill-equipped to command an army… But Burnside was on the right side when it came to abolition and arming the freed slaves as far as Hamlin was concerned.”

[5] This was very important to Hamlin. From The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 443:
“The New York Evening Post published a dispatch on October 14 [1862], which was correct as far as it went, but fell short of the actual truth. It said: ‘ The Vice-President is in Washington to observe the condition of things here.. .. Mr. Hamlin, as all who were in Washington last winter know, is, and always has been, in favor of the most vigorous war measures. He was among the very first to urge emancipation as one of those measures, and of course approves the President's proclamation as far as it goes. He would have it go farther, but is very well satisfied with it as it is, if it is backed up with vigorous action. The opinions of the Vice-President on various subjects connected with the prosecution of the war have not been concealed. He is for the employment only of generals who will support the anti-slavery policy of the government with hearty vigor. In no other way, he thinks, can that policy be carried triumphantly through the ordeal it must pass, with the whole South in arms against it on the one hand, and secret traitors and deluded Democrats in the North opposed to it on the other. Success in the field of battle will soon show the strength of the new policy, in his opinion.’

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Defeat at Middletown [1]

In September 1862, the battle of Middletown (30 miles west of Washington, DC) was Lee’s first invasion of the Union . This was also the first large battle for Burnside. After several days of fighting, the Union managed to win a Pyrrhic victory. The battle was noted for its heavy losses; both sides lost more than 2000 men and more than 9000 were wounded [2]. However, Lee’s advance was successfully halted by Burnside.

As Lee's army retreated southward, Burnside pursued it very slowly, much to President Hamlin’s chagrin. Burnside lacked self-confidence and thought that he was unable to command such a large force of men. While Hamlin was disappointed by Burnside’s lack of courage, he forgave him [3], saying: “[Burnside] made a mistake but we must not discard him for one mistake. Let us feel confident of better results next time.” Military and government officials pressured Burnside to pursue Lee’s army in December 1862.

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NOTES:

[1] ATL’s equivalent of Antietam. Middletown is located about 10 miles east of Antietam. It’s likely that there will be a battle somewhere along the Virginia-Maryland border west of Washington, D.C. I just didn’t want it to be in exactly the same place.

[2] As OTL.

[3] Hamlin’s friends get second chances. OTL, Hamlin was forgiving of Burnside despite making the same mistakes as McClellan (perhaps it was his anti-slavery views or his association with New England that made Hamlin think differently of him). Referring to the loss at Fredricksburg (from Hannibal: The Life of Abraham Lincoln’s First Vice President, p. 191): “Hamlin considered Burnside ‘a true man’ who ‘made a mistake but we must not discard him for one mistake. Let us feel confident of better results next time.’ Burnside was replaced a month later.”

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Midterm Election of 1862

By this time, popular sentiment was beginning to turn against the war. The defeat at Middletown had demoralized the American public. The election has been called by many historians “a referendum on Emancipation”, which had left many in the North simmering with resentment. The Democrats won many seats in Congress. The Republicans lost 26 seats, the Unionists lost 3 seats, and the Democrats gained 32 [1]. This left the House with 82 Republicans, 76 Democrats, 16 Constitutional Unionists, and 2 Independents. This meant that Republicans had a plurality of seats, slightly less than half (82 out of 176). In the Senate, the Republicans had 31 seats (gain of 1), the Democrats had 9 (loss of 4), the Unionists had 3 (loss of 4), and the Unconditional Unionists had 3 (gain of 3) [2].

Democrats also gained several state legislatures, including those of Indiana, Illinois, and New Jersey. In addition, New York and New Jersey elected Democratic governors [3]. In these states, with large immigrant populations and their position adjacent to the Confederacy, the emancipation of slaves did not sit well with a large segment of the electorate. However, in New England States, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, California, Oregon, Delaware, and Missouri, support for Hamlin remained high and Republicans maintained their seats [4].

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NOTES:

[1] OTL, the Republicans lost 22 seats in the House, the Unionists lost 3 seats, and the Democrats picked up 28. Remember that in ATL Kentucky has seceded, so there are nine fewer total seats (all were Constitutional Unionists). The most significant race that differed from OTL was that of Ohio’s third district. In OTL, the election was very close and the infamous Copperhead lost re-election (meaning Vallandigham wins re-election in ATL).

[2] The Senate was no different from OTL (except for the loss of Kentucky Senators, one was a Democrat and one was a Unionist). This is because at that time, Senators were chosen by State legislatures, not by the voters.

[3] As OTL.

[4] From the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 440: “It was questioned at the beginning of this chapter whether emancipation was as largely responsible for the disastrous elections of 1862 as some historians maintain. That it contributed to the general result is plain, though it was not the dominating influence. Horace Greeley pointed out that it was difficult for people who had denied the dangers of slavery to discover in a year that slavery was the cause of the rebellion. In large States like New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, that had foreign populations, or were adjacent to Southern States, and had been strongly affected with the pro-slavery sentiment, the Emancipation Proclamation met with disfavor among various elements, and was sufficient to swell the tide of defeat that was already running against the administration, as was reflected in the result in Maine. But while these States defected from the Republican ranks in October, and notwithstanding the moral effect of their conduct, the remaining New England States, as well as Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, California, Oregon, Delaware, and Missouri, in the following November stood by the President, and in the last stage of the electoral contest his policy was indorsed [sic].”

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Dismissal of Seward

By the close of 1862, Secretary of State Seward increasingly became the target of jealousy and enmity from other members of the Cabinet and Republican members of Congress. After the Union defeat at Fredericksburg, Republican Senators met on December 17, 1862 to force Seward out of the Cabinet [1]. They blamed Seward for straining relations with Britain, supporting McClellan, being too quick to compromise, opposing vigorous prosecution of the war, exercising undue influence on the President, and causing conflicts with other cabinet members. The Radicals hoped that Seward’s replacement would increase the influence of Treasury Secretary Chase, their favorite in the cabinet [2].

On December 20, 1862, Seward resigned as Secretary of State. Hamlin, agreeing with the Radicals’ assessment of Seward, readily accepted Seward’s resignation. Hamlin replaced Seward with his one of his most vocal critics, Charles Sumner [3]. Sumner was considered an expert in foreign affairs by many. He sat on the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate. He had made several trips to Europe and was acquainted with many government leaders and intellectuals. Hamlin thought highly of Sumner, and described him as a political scholar and an excellent orator [4]. Sumner’s position on the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was filled by Senator William Fessenden of Maine.

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NOTES:

[1] As OTL. I don’t mean to make the Radical Republicans out to be some kind of hive-mind, but they did think similarly.

[2] From the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin p. 451-2:

“His [Seward’s] unfortunate views at the outbreak of the war, his support of McClellan, his disposition to compromise, and generally conservative attitude had served to incline leaders in Congress to the belief that he was the chief cause of the President's slowness... The Republican senators held a caucus on December 18, and appointed Collamer, Trumbull, Howard, Harris, Grimes, Pomeroy, Fessenden, Sumner, and Wade a committee to call on the President and suggest the expediency of making changes in the Cabinet. Mr. Seward was not named, but it was perfectly well understood that he was meant, and he and Chase tendered their resignations…Mr. Hamlin sympathized with this movement, but he had no part in it…He expressed himself briefly to his wife on December 19, in a letter, as follows: ‘There has been a considerable excitement here growing out of the resignation of Seward. It is about over, and I think nearly all our best and truest men are rejoiced at it, and feel confident that great good will result from it. He has been regarded as the millstone of the administration. It is not yet known who will be his successor.’”

Hamlin was disappointed when Seward was not replaced OTL. According to Hannibal: The Life of Abraham Lincoln’s First Vice President, p. 193, Hamlin reportedly said: “I think it would have [been] well for the country if Seward had gone out.”

[3] According to Seward and the Declaration of Paris by Charles Francis Adams (1912), p. 58: “His [Sumner’s] mission is to expose and denounce Mr. Seward; and into that mission he puts all of his usual intellectual and moral energy.”

[4] From the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 231: “Sumner was the scholar in politics, and excelled as an orator. He represented the most enlightened State in the Union, and his supporters encouraged him to give all his time to the slavery issue. This was a great advantage to Mr. Sumner. He was practically excused from the routine duties of a senator, and was also relieved from the worry of managing his own campaigns in Massachusetts. He was the Bay State's selected champion in the anti-slavery fight.”

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Battle of Fredericksburg

In mid-December 1862, the Battle of Fredericksburg was fought near Fredericksburg, Virginia. The battle took place between the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside, and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee. Burnside pursued Lee's army to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Union soldiers captured the town, but Lee's army fortified the ridge just west of the city known as Marye's Heights. Burnside ordered Major Generals Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker to make multiple frontal assaults against Lieutenant General James Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights. Despite the fact that the Union soldiers greatly outnumbered the Confederates, the Confederates repulsed the Union attack. On December 15, the Union army retreated in defeat. Union casualties were more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates. The battle is regarded as one of the most one-sided battles of the War of the Rebellion [1].

Soon after the defeat, Hamlin relieved Burnside of command of the Army of the Potomac [2]. Unlike McClellan, Burnside was not subjected to the same treatment by the Joint Committee as Stone and McClellan. Instead, he was sent to command the Department of the Ohio (which included the states of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois). Hamlin replaced Burnside with Joseph Hooker as Commander of the Army of the Potomac [3]. Hooker’s combat credentials and aggressiveness impressed Hamlin. Hooker’s support of abolition was an additional benefit in Hamlin’s view, and Hamlin enthusiastically appointed him as the new commander.

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NOTES:

[1] Up to now as OTL.
[2] As OTL.
[3] Almost exactly the same time as OTL. OTL, Hamlin thought highly of Hooker. From the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin (p. 444): “Indeed, he [Hamlin] urged no one for McClellan’s successor, although he thought highly of Hooker, and privately favored his appointment.” From Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, p. 166: “Although he was arrogant and rather insubordinate, Fighting Joe Hooker had impressive combat credentials which recommended him to Lincoln. This combined with his soundness on the slavery issue, brought him Hannibal Hamlin’s enthusiastic support.”
 
PART 6: BLOODY ‘63

Black soldiers in the War of the Rebellion

After the Declaration of Emancipation, President Hamlin spurred the enlistment of Black soldiers to fight for the Union Army, thinking that they would make good soldiers [1]. Hamlin’s belief in the ability of Black soldiers was sincere. The President’s own son, Captain Cyrus Hamlin, led an all-Black regiment [2].

The United States War Department under Ben Wade established the Bureau of Colored Troops on May 22, 1862 [3]. Several regiments were recruited from all states of the Union and they became known as the United States Colored Troops (USCT). However, USCT regiments were led by White officers, and Black soldiers had little opportunity for advancement.

Despite early success, by 1863, only 20,000 Black troops had been recruited and trained. Unfortunately, many recruiters were reluctant to train and arm Black recruits. This was because many in the North believed they would not make good soldiers, or feared that Black soldiers would use the weapons for nefarious purposes against them [4]. This belief was in large part due to Copperhead propaganda, which was used to persuade Northern Whites to vote for Democrats in the midterm election of 1862. Another disturbing fact was that Black soldiers died at a much higher rate than their White counterparts. This was mostly because Black prisoners of war were either shot on the spot or were subject to neglect, malnutrition, and torture in Southern prisons [5].

The perceived failure of Black soldiers greatly harmed the image of Blacks amongst Whites in the USA. They were quickly scapegoated for the Union’s losses. This anti-Black sentiment was used by the Copperheads for racist propaganda, which suggested that Republicans were the ones hurting the Union cause by using Black soldiers.

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NOTES:

[1] One of Hamlin’s most admirable qualities, IMO. This was far from a common belief at the time.

[2] As OTL

[3] One year earlier than OTL.

[4] I want to make this clear: This is not my personal belief, but it was unfortunately a common one in the Nineteenth Century. I would speculate that the reason why racism against Black soldiers in the North wasn’t a larger factor OTL is because the entry of Black soldiers into the war coincided with Union victories. Here, their entry coincides with Union defeats and unfortunately they get scapegoated.

[5] As OTL.

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The Missouri Campaign [1]

After a mix of victory and defeat in Kentucky, Union forces turned their sights on the state of Missouri. General Halleck had been unable to quash the insurgency in Missouri, and Hamlin replaced him with Major General Ulysses S. Grant in November 1862. Grant had been successful at holding off the Confederates at the Ohio River and was sent west to dispatch the Confederates in Neosho. Grant’s plan was to head up the Missouri River, starting at St. Louis, turn southwest at the Osage River, then head due south from Osceola, Missouri. He would be joined by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s army, who headed up the Missouri to Kansas City, turned south through Kansas, and turned east at Galena, Kansas (at the border with the Indian Territory). At every turn, they came under attack by Confederate regulars and guerrillas.

The Missouri Campaign included several major battles in the southern part of the state. The first major battle was a Union victory at Bonnot’s Mill in March 1863 (near Jefferson City, at the confluence of the Missouri and Osage rivers). This was followed by a Confederate victory the Battle of Warsaw in May 1863 (at the confluence of the Osage River, South Grand River, and Pomme de Terre River). The Battle of Pittsburg (Kansas) in June 1863 marked an important Union Victory as Sherman’s forces made an eastward assault.

The last major battle of the Campaign was the Battle of Joplin in July 1863. Grant was victorious over the army of Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton. Grant’s army drove the Confederate Army back into Arkansas. Pemberton’s army eventually crossed into Indian Territory. Reynolds and Price fled Neosho, and went with Pemberton to Fort Gibson in the Cherokee lands of the Indian Territory.

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NOTES:

[1] Roughly the same time as the Mississippi Campaign of OTL. I’m making all of this up, so I hope it’s plausible. I’m just an armchair general.

=================================================================================

The Indian Territory in the War of the Rebellion

When the War of the Rebellion broke out, the Union moved its soldiers out of the Indian territory and put them in the battle zones. This left the Indian Territory undefended from the neighboring states of Texas and Arkansas, which had already joined the Confederacy. Most of the leaders in the Indian nations tried to maintain a policy of neutrality. But the leaders of Arkansas and Texas saw the Indian Territory’s neutrality as a threat, and pushed the Indian Territory into siding with them. Chief Ross of the Cherokee Nation tried to keep his people out of the Civil War, but a Cherokee leader named Stand Watie recruited men to join the Confederate Army. By October 1861, Chief Ross reluctantly allied his nation with the CSA. Leaders from each of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) soon followed suit. The CSA promised to protect their people and property, and to continue the trust fund payments made by the Union government. In return, the tribes supplied troops to defend the Confederacy from Union attacks, but only within the Indian Territory [1].

However, not all tribal leaders agreed to this arrangement. Support for the Confederacy and Union often fell along tribal lines. The Choctaw and Chickasaw (who were located in the southeastern and south-central parts of the territory, respectively) mostly fought for the Confederates. In contrast, the Creek and Seminole (who lived in the central part of the territory) mostly fought for the Union. The Cherokee (who lived in the northeast) were divided: most supported the Confederacy, but some Cherokee were pro-Union. Chief Opothleyahola of the Creek led a band of 6,000 Creek and Seminole fled north towards Kansas. Their departure led to several battles with Confederate authorities in 1861 and 1862 (they eventually arrived in Kansas in 1862, but only after many had died from exposure and starvation).

The Confederacy soon broke its promises, and relations with the Indian Territory began to deteriorate. In March 1862, Confederate commanders ordered Native soldiers to fight a battle outside Indian Territory at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The CSA was overdue in making promised payments, which made many Creek and Seminole soldiers refuse to fight. That summer, a Union Army detachment that included Creek and Seminole soldiers invaded Indian Territory. The USA wanted to keep control of Indian Territory. This was partly to keep its resources out of the hands of the Confederacy and partly to allow Native American refugees in Kansas and Missouri to return home. After the Northern troops won two victories, many Cherokee originally recruited by Chief Ross for the Confederacy joined with the Union cause. When this army withdrew in late summer, the territory fell into chaos. Some Native Americans on both sides burned homes, destroyed crops, slaughtered livestock, and killed their enemies [1].

After defeating the Confederates of Missouri, Grant’s army quickly moved into Indian Territory. Here, he joined up with Major General James Blunt of the Union Federal Army of the Frontier to capture Fort Gibson. The Army of the Frontier was notable because it included a large number of Native Americans and African-Americans. The fort was located where the Texas Road crossed the Arkansas River, near the Creek-Cherokee border. In October 1863, they captured the fort after the Battle of Fort Gibson [2]. Here, former Missouri Governors Reynolds and Price were captured.

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NOTES:

[1] Everything up to now is as OTL. See http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/68honey/68facts2.htm

[2] OTL, the battle occurred six months earlier.

===============================================================================

Kentucky in 1863

While no major battles took place in Kentucky in 1863, many skirmishes took place on either side of the Ohio River (the largest being the Battle of Covington, opposite Cincinnati). The state was the base of operations for General John Hunt Morgan, whose infamous raids into Indiana and Ohio stymied the Union. On September 1, 1863, Governor Beriah Magoffin was re-elected to a second term, defeating state Senator John F. Fisk [1].

Eastern Kentucky, however, remained a source of pro-Union sentiment. The region had supplied thousands of troops to the Federal army. The region became a hotspot for Anti-Confederate guerrilla warfare against state authorities. Guerrillas burned bridges, cut telegraph wires, and spied for the North. Despite the strength of Unionist sentiment in eastern Kentucky, the Confederates continued to hold the region. Their resistance largely proved to be ineffective. Many pro-Unionists were captured or killed by Confederate authorities, or fled to New Virginia and Ohio [2].

[1] OTL, Magoffin resigned in 1862.
[2] All in all, ATL eastern Kentucky resembles OTL eastern Tennessee

==================================================================================

Conscription Act passed

Due to the unpopularity of the war in the North, recruiting had been slow. More than 100,000 soldiers had been killed or wounded on the Union side. Since the Declaration of Emancipation, there was a reluctance to fight that had not been present at the start of the war [1]. On March 3, 1863, Hamlin concluded that the military would have to resort to the draft to meet recruiting goals. Many Northerners resented the draft, partly because they did not want to fight and partly because they did not want to fight to end slavery.

The draft became a popular topic for the Copperheads, who denounced it as unfair and illegal. Some Democratic politicians like Ohio Representative Clement Vallandigham actively encouraged desertion and draft resistance. Many thousands of draftees deserted during the war.

This anger culminated in the New York Draft Riot [2]. The riot took place in New York City in July 1863, shortly after the first conscription lottery was held. This began five days of horrific violence against Black New Yorkers. The people responsible for this violence were mostly Irish immigrants. While the rioters were generally not pro-Confederate, the Democratic Party had courted Irish and German voters by telling them that the emancipation of slaves would result in Black people moving north and taking their jobs. At the end of the riot, hundreds of Black men, women, and children had been killed, often in gruesome ways.

New York Governor Horatio Seymour was blamed for not doing enough to intercede in the Riots. During the Riots, he gave a speech on the steps of City Hall, where he addressed the crowd as “My friends” [3]. Republicans said this was proof that Seymour was conspiring with the rioters, but he strongly denied that he supported them. He asked Hamlin to postpone the draft in order to give New York a chance to organize volunteers. President Hamlin was sympathetic, but refused to halt the draft [4].

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NOTES:

[1] OTL, this is one of the main reasons for why the draft was started. The Emancipation Proclamation had lowered recruiting in much of the North.

[2] As OTL. It’s a bit of a misnomer. It would be more accurate to call it a race riot, with most of the violence being perpetrated by Irish immigrants against Black people.

[3] From The Life and Public Services of Horatio Seymour, p. 98: “At this moment, Governor Seymour, who had been urged by leading citizens to address the crowd, appeared on the steps of the City Hall, and instantly the crowd ran over to the Park, and surrounding the place where the Governor was standing, called on him for a speech. His remarks were judicious and well chosen. His first duty was to soothe the excitements then prevailing in the city; and he knew that this could be done only by the use of temperate and calm language. Threats of force would only inflame the crowd still more; and it was particularly desirable to quiet them at the cost of as little bloodshed as possible. He said: 'My Friends: I have come down here from the quiet of the country to see what was the difficulty-to learn what all this trouble was concerning the Draft.'"

[4] As Lincoln did OTL

===================================================================================-

Burnside’s Order No. 38 and the Chicago Times [1]

In 1863, defeat on the battlefields led the Republicans to cast suspicion on Democrats. Indiana Congressman George Julian, an ally of Hamlin on the Joint Committee, gave a speech before the House in February 1863. Julian’s view of the cause of Northern military defeats was laid at the feet of the Democrats in the North. In Julian’s opinion, the opposition was disloyal. He blamed them for their control of the army, their policy of conciliation with the South, and their support for slavery. Julian believed that they actively hampered the effort to suppress the rebellion. Julian said: “The disasters of the war and the perils which now threaten the country, find their best explanation in the failure of the Government to stand by its friends, and its readiness to strengthen the hand of its foes… Democratic policy, personified by General McClellan and General Stone, sent Colonel Baker and his gallant men across the Potomac against a superior force, with one scow and two small boats as the only means of transportation.” [3]

In this light, it is understandable why a suppression of free speech was deemed necessary. This was best exemplified in April 1863, when General Ambrose Burnside, commander of the Department of Ohio, issued General Order No. 38. Burnside placed his headquarters in Cincinnati, where many residents were sympathetic to the Confederacy. Burnside’s General Order No. 38 attempted to intimidate those who supported the Confederacy in the Department of Ohio. However, the order was often inappropriately applied to those who simply opposed the war and did not have Confederate leanings.

The Order stated:

“The habit of declaring sympathy for the enemy will not be allowed in this department. Persons committing such offenses will be at once arrested with a view of being tried…or sent beyond our lines into the lines of their friends. It must be understood that treason, expressed or implied, will not be tolerated in this department.”

Unsurprisingly, the Democrats in Ohio objected to General Order No. 38. Representative Clement Vallandigham strongly opposed the order, saying that he "despised it, spit upon it, trampled it under his feet.” Vallandigham had long attempted to obstruct the administration’s policies, and openly advocated desertion and draft evasion, so his reaction was unsurprising. The next day, Congress voted to expel Vallandingham, making him the second US politician expelled from Congress (Senator Jesse Bright of Indiana was the first, a year earlier). Vallandigham did not take forced retirement well. He helped organize a rally for the Democratic Party held on May 1, 1863. Samuel Cox and George Pendleton also delivered speeches expressing their opposition to General Order No. 38. Vallandigham encouraged his fellow Peace Democrats to openly resist Burnside and criticized the President for not seeking an immediate end to the Civil War and for allowing General Burnside to impinge on Ohioans’ civil rights.

Two army officers under Burnside's command who were present at the rally reported to Burnside, saying that Vallandigham had violated General Order No. 38. Burnside ordered Vallandigham’s immediate arrest (while some historians have viewed General Order No. 38 as Burnside's personal attack on Vallandigham, other Union military commanders issued similar orders). On May 5, 1863, a company of soldiers arrested Vallandigham and brought him to Cincinnati to stand trial. Vallandigham was charged with “Publicly expressing…sympathy for those in arms against the Government of the United States, and declaring disloyal sentiments and opinions, with the object and purpose of weakening the power of the Government in its efforts to suppress an unlawful rebellion.”

A military tribunal heard the case, and Vallandigham offered no serious defense against the charges. He contended that military courts had no jurisdiction over his case. The tribunal found Vallandigham guilty and sentenced him to remain in a United States prison for the remainder of the war. An appeals judge, Humphrey Leavitt, agreed with General Burnside that military authority was necessary during a time of war to ensure that opponents to the United States Constitution did not succeed in overthrowing the Constitution. Critics of General Order No.38, however, argued that it violated Americans' civil liberties, including the writ of habeas corpus and freedom of speech.

However, Burnside was not done yet. In Illinois, a newspaper known as the Chicago Times, had a reputation for printing editorials against the war. Wade’s War Department had tried its best to censor news about the war and dissenting papers like the Times had become too influential for the administration’s liking. Burnside dispatched a squadron of troops to the paper's offices and ordered them to cease printing. General Burnside said that the paper’s “repeated expression of disloyal and incendiary sentiments” was reason enough to close it down.

It is important to note that there is no evidence to suggest that Hamlin ordered Burnside to arrest Vallandigham or to close the Chicago Times. However, Hamlin did not commute Vallandigham’s sentence, believing him to be dangerous as a free man [4]. This concern was likely placed in Hamlin’s mind by Secretary of War Benjamin Wade (a fellow Ohioan and longtime enemy of Vallandigham), who said Vallandigham was “a man who never had any sympathy with the Republic, but whose every breath is devoted to its destruction, just as far as his heart dare permit him to go.” Hamlin feared that Vallandigham would aid the Confederacy if exiled there, and he remained imprisoned until the end of the war. Hamlin did, however, reopen the Chicago Times, citing that Burnside had “acted without orders” in shutting down the newspaper [5].

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] All of this, with the exception of the final paragraph and Vallandigham’s expulsion, is entirely as OTL. Not the nicest chapter of the civil war, but it happened. I don’t know what Hamlin would have thought of Burnside’s order, but I don’t think he would be as forgiving as Lincoln. He strongly opposed the Copperheads, and given the Radicals’ penchant for blaming defeats on their political opponents, he might turn a blind eye to Burnside’s order.

[2] From the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 459: “It was Mr. Hamlin’s peculiar mission as the representative of the Union to expose Copperheadism in its true light to the multitudes.”

[3] As OTL.

[4] OTL, Lincoln commuted Vallandigham’s sentence and exiled him to the Confederacy because he feared that Vallandigham’s detention might cause a Copperhead rebellion.

[5] As OTL. Lincoln also re-opened the Chicago Times over Burnside’s order.

==================================================================================

Admission of New Virginia [1]

The State of New Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863. The state was formed after Unionist delegates formed what became known as the Wheeling Conventions of 1861. The delegates were from the northwestern counties of Virginia, where most people wished to remain in the Union. The area comprising the state closely matched the area that was under Union control at the time.

The new state consisted of 38 counties (Barbour, Berkeley, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Gilmer, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pleasants, Ritchie, Putnam, Randolph, Preston, Roane, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wood, Wayne, Webster, Wirt, and Wetzel) located in the northwestern portion of Virginia [2]. Several Shenandoah Valley counties were also added to New Virginia, forming a panhandle. This was done to ensure that the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad, an important trade corridor, would be located within the new state [3]. The capital of the new state was Morgantown, near the Pennsylvania border.

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NOTES:

[1] The name for West Virginia originally proposed by John Carlile. Interestingly, its future postal abbreviation would likely be NV (same as Nevada which will be admitted to the Union next year).

[2] Slightly smaller than OTL. Basically, the same as the area proposed for new state on August 8, 1861 by John S. Carlile. See: http://www.wvculture.org/history/statehood/wheelingconvention20808.html

[3] An informative website on the subject of the formation of West Virginia: http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/wvboundary.html

==============================================================================

Resignation of Hooker and the Battle of Gettysburg

After the disastrous battle of Chancellorsville, Hamlin could no longer overlook Hooker’s faults. Hooker's timid decision making had lost another battle. Hooker resigned his position. On June 28, 1863, Hamlin appointed George Meade [1]. Soon after, Hooker replaced Fremont as General-in-Chief. Fremont’s incompetence had become too great to ignore, and Hamlin thought Hooker would be a better choice for the position.

Meade would not rest for long. At Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a major battle erupted and lasted for three days. The battle occurred because Confederate General Robert E. Lee made a daring foray deep into Union lines in an attempt to approach Washington, DC from the west. Newly-appointed General George Meade was successful in countering Lee’s attack. While both Union and Confederates forces alike took heavy damage (Casualties totaled more than 30,000 on both sides), the Union won the battle. On July 5, Lee’s army retreated across the Potomac [2].

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] OTL, Meade was named Commander of the Army of the Potomac on the very same date.
[2] I’m keeping this brief on purpose since the battle won’t be much different from OTL.

=================================================================================

Resignation of Welles and appointment of Fox

The resignation of Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles on July 30, 1863 was the result of a personal dispute with Hamlin. The rift between Hamlin and Welles began after shipbuilding contracts were given to some of Hamlin’s political opponents. In April 1863, Hamlin had promised the contracts to a shipbuilder named William McGilvery. Instead, the contract was given to a man Hamlin believed was a Copperhead. This infuriated President Hamlin, who accused Welles of reneging on a legal contract. Hamlin reportedly said "Then this terminates our relations…I will not have anything to do with a man who breaks his plighted word to me." President Hamlin had recommended Welles’ appointment to the Secretary of the Navy to Lincoln, but now regretted it. He never spoke with Welles again [1]. Welles later said that Hamlin was “as rapacious as a wolf” in granting favors for his friends [2].

After having fallen out of favor with Hamlin, Welles submitted his resignation. Welles was replaced by his immediate subordinate, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Gustavus V. Fox. Fox was a Massachusetts native, and was highly regarded by Hamlin for his usefulness and efficiency. [3]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] Hamlin actually was that petty. This was a real-life incident from OTL said to have occurred in July 1863, according to some sources. From the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 415-416: “Mr. Hamlin became more interested in the army than the navy, partially through an unpleasant incident which compelled him to sever his connections with Secretary Welles. While it must be left to others to weigh the various estimates of Mr. Welles, it must be frankly recorded that Mr. Hamlin regretted his responsibility for Welles's appointment to the Cabinet as one of the mistakes of his life and not entirely on personal grounds... But Mr. Hamlin's differences with Secretary Welles grew out of a personal affair…When the war broke out, the government among other things directed the Navy Department to build a number of wooden gunboats. Maine was then the great shipbuilding State of the Union. One of her leading shipbuilders was Captain William McGilvery, a patriotic citizen of Searsport. He was associated with General Samuel F. Hersey, who was one of the half a dozen leading lumbermen of the United States. They desired to obtain a contract for building some of these gunboats, and asked Mr. Hamlin to see Secretary Welles about it. He called on Mr. Welles, who said, "Certainly, Mr. Hamlin, certainly. The gentleman is in every way responsible, that I know, and he shall have the contract." "Then I can be assured that there will be no mistake about the matter?" said Mr. Hamlin. "Certainly, certainly; the contract will be awarded at once," was the reply of the secretary; and so the matter for the moment ended. Later, however, the Vice-President, learning that certain bureau officers had more to do with the awarding of contracts than the secretary himself, again went to Mr. Welles, informed him of this, and was again assured in the most positive manner that the contract would be awarded as arranged. In the mean time, Mr. Hamlin wrote Captain McGilvery and General Hersey that Secretary Welles had promised them the contract, and they began to prepare to build the gunboats. But a few days afterwards, to Mr. Hamlin's astonishment, it was announced that the contracts for building the vessels had been made without including McGilvery and Hersey. One contract had been given to Maine, and to a man who was in active sympathy with the rebels, and who had applied for the contract to make all the money he could, whereas McGilvery and Hersey, who were Union men, had made a low bid. Mr. Hamlin had a short but stormy interview with Mr. Welles. He asked for an explanation, and the secretary stammered out that his promise had escaped his mind "Do you then not intend to keep your word, sir?" "Mr. Hamlin asked sternly. "No, sir, I cannot now," was the hesitating reply. "Then this terminates our relations," said Mr. Hamlin; "I will not have anything to do with a man who breaks his plighted word to me…It was galling to Mr. Hamlin to experience this ingratitude, and to see a Copperhead have an opportunity to gouge money out of the government. He never thereafter spoke to Welles.”

[2] The Diary of Gideon Welles: Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln tells the story somewhat differently (p. 366-7): “The President sends me a strange letter from Hamlin, asking as a personal favor that prizes may be sent to Portland for adjudication…I informed them that such a matter was not to be disposed of on personal grounds or local favoritism…. These facts…did not cause Hamlin, who is rapacious as a wolf, to abate his demand for government favors [Dated July 8, 1864].”

[3] From the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 415: “Yet he [Hamlin] consoled himself in the reflection that the administration had in Gustavus V. Fox, the assistant secretary of the navy, a man who, in his judgment, should rank next to Stanton as the most useful and efficient officer of the administration.”

==================================================================================

Second Cooper Union Speech [1]

President Hamlin delivered the following speech at Cooper Union, New York City, on September 30, 1863. Hamlin used the speech as an opportunity to denounce the Peace Democrats (aka “Copperheads”) who opposed his policies, accusing them of partisanship in a time of crisis. It went as follows:

“It is an hour, it is a day, when patriotism should rise superior to party…the little I have seen of war leads me to desire peace, but I want that peace which shall be purchased without dishonor; I want that peace which shall leave no contest for our children's children hereafter; I want no peace when this rebellion is within our grasp and almost beneath our feet. I want no peace which might revive it; and I believe that the surest road to accomplish that peace, aye, indeed, the most rapid and certain road to peace, is by recruiting your armies and fighting for peace. Now, I am just so much of a peace man that I am willing to fight for peace. Nay, more, I do not believe for a single moment that any peace worth having lies in any direction than that of arms. I affirm, my friends, and give it as my opinion, that if we had a common union at the North and a common loyalty to the government, we could have ended this war months ago; but this aid and comfort the rebels have received from their Northern allies have kept them alive and active for months. Now come together and strike one gallant united blow for the great North that loves the whole country, and this rebellion may be crushed out in its last vestige in ninety days.

It is evident that in a limited time we can crush out the rebellion in front with arms, and at the ballot-box beat their sympathizers at the rear. And what are the duties that devolve upon us to do this? We owe it to the true and loyal men of the South - men who have been good and true and who love liberty - men like the gallant admiral who sits before you [Farragut]. If there were no other earthly considerations, the brave men who have stood up amid all the perils that surrounds them in the rebel States demand it of us, and we owe it to them to be true to our government, and to vindicate their rights as well as our own. We owe it to our gallant army in the field, that we will send recruits to them to enable them to bear on our standard until it floats again over every inch of our own domain. We owe it to the good mothers, the kind-hearted sisters and wives, whose sons, brothers, and husbands have gone forth to the conflict. We owe it to the character of our institutions, because if they go down, they go down in eternal night as the last effort for free government in the world. We owe it to all the considerations that cumulate upon us from the ages of the past; we owe it to the uncounted generations of the future, that we in this day of our country's trial do our duty like men; and woe, woe be unto those who fail to do their duty like men.

When these men talk along your streets for peace, I tell you to charge it upon them that they, and they alone, are guilty of this procrastination in the return of peace; there is no doubt about it. They are the same class that we find in New England. They give all the aid and comfort they can to the South; they discourage recruiting in your army; they are preventing enlistments; they stand on the corner of your streets and throw every obstacle in their power against strengthening the armies of the government. Yes, they are still doing all they can in aid of the rebellion, and I tell you, my friends, that down in Maine we did not draw any distinction between the Tory of the revolution and the Copperhead of 1863; and if there were any to discuss the relative merits of the two, they would not be found in favor of the Copperheads. Charge it upon them, and hold them up to the public odium of all honest and loyal men.” [2]

But Hamlin’s sentiments about the Copperheads fell largely on deaf ears. The Copperhead cause was increasingly popular in the North, which was growing weary of war. This would prefigure the upcoming election.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] A speech from OTL. See the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 459-60.
[2] This last paragraph sounds a bit un-Presidential, but I’ll leave it in anyways. In case you didn’t know, the ‘Tory’ he refers to were British Loyalists during the American Revolution.

===================================================================================

Joshua Chamberlain appointed to the Army of the Potomac [1]

General Meade was blamed for failing to pursue Lee after his retreat from Gettysburg. Hamlin was disappointed but not surprised by Meade’s failure [2]. Hamlin replaced Meade with Brigadier General Joshua Chamberlain. Chamberlain caught Hamlin’s attention after his valiant performance at Little Round Top at Gettysburg. Chamberlain came from Maine, which also helped to endear him to President Hamlin. Hamlin thought Chamberlain a “superior man” who had proved himself to be an “efficient, brave, and gallant officer” [3].

Meade, who had been Commander of the Army of the Potomac for only three months, resigned on October 16, 1863. The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War soon launched an investigation that was intended not only to prove Meade's unfitness for command, but to trace it to the Copperheads. The committee members believed that many of the principal officers of the Army of the Potomac consisted of men who were secretly Southern sympathizers. The committee interviewed disgruntled officers known to be hostile toward Meade. Particularly damaging testimony came from Major General Daniel Sickles, who accused Major General Meade of mismanaging the battle (This was an attempt on the part of Sickles to deflect criticism from his own incompetence) [4]. Meade was later imprisoned for treason, but was released a few months later.

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NOTES:

[1] I have no doubt that Hamlin would promote Chamberlain without hesitation. From Joshua Chamberlain: The Soldier and the Man, p. 163: “On October 16 [1863], Vice President Hannibal Hamlin…wrote his boss, Abraham Lincoln, seeking promotion for the former commander of the 20th Volunteers.”

[2] From Hannibal: The Life of Abraham Lincoln’s First Vice President, p. 197: “’All are rejoicing at the recent victory’…he [Hamlin] wrote to Ellen on July 6. ‘I hope they may capture the rest of the rebels, but I fear not’…When reporter Noah Brooks asked Hamlin what happened on the battlefield, Hamlin did not answer. He just ‘raised his hands and turned away his face with a gesture of despair.’” I would speculate this gesture was what we would now call a ‘facepalm’.

[3] From To Gettysburg and Beyond, p. 200: “Hannibal Hamlin…wrote Lincoln on Chamberlain’s behalf. ‘He is a superior man and has proved himself an efficient, brave, and gallant officer.’”

[4] This entire paragraph up to this point is as OTL.
 
Hey, while ACW timelines may have been done to death, there should always be a space for a TL as well-researched and well-written as this one. I look forward to its continuation.
 
=====================================================================================

PART 7: A NATION STILL DIVIDED

=======================================================================

The Wilderness Campaign

The year 1864, in many ways, was just as challenging to the Union as 1863. The Union faced much difficulty in making gains against the South, particularly in Virginia. After six months of disappointing performance, Joseph Hooker resigned as General-in-Chief in March 1864. Hamlin already had a replacement in mind. After his successes in Missouri, Major General Ulysses S. Grant had greatly impressed Hamlin. Hamlin promoted him to Lieutenant General on March 3, 1864, which gave Grant command of all Union armies. He devised a strategy of coordinated Union offensives to attack the Confederate Army. This plan resulted in the Wilderness Campaign.

The Wilderness Campaign was a series of battles fought in Virginia in May and June 1864. Grant, directed the actions of the Army of the Potomac, which was commanded by Major General Joshua Chamberlain. They opposed the forces of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia [1].

The Wilderness Campaign culminated in the Battle of Cold Harbor, which was fought from May 31 to June 12, 1864. It is remembered as one of the bloodiest, most lopsided battles in American history. Union casualties totaled more than 10,000 as they assaulted the fortified positions of the Confederate army. Chamberlain’s inexperience had cost the Union deeply. In the end, Lee’s army claimed victory.

Despite the efforts of Wade to quash reports of the defeat, the unfortunate news slowly reached the Northern press. The defeat fueled anti-war sentiment in the North and lowered the morale of Union soldiers. Grant became known as the "Grant the Butcher", a man who would try to win battles at any cost [2]. Much to the chagrin of the War Department, the Democratic press called the Wilderness Campaign a “national humiliation.”

This was not good news for Hamlin. Hamlin had been an ardent supporter of Grant, but he gave in to mounting pressure from his party to fire Grant. Grant resigned on July 4, 1864. He was replaced as General-in-Chief by Benjamin Butler, who served in that position until the end of the war.

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NOTES:

[1] Up to now, as OTL
[2] As OTL. See America Aflame: How the Civil War created a Nation, p. 330

=================================================================

The Kentucky Campaign

The Confederates’ hold on Kentucky greatly concerned President Hamlin. After the failure of the Wilderness Campaign, Hamlin took a new strategy. After meeting with his generals, they devised the Kentucky Campaign, which would drive down from Indiana and Ohio toward the state capital at Frankfort. Hamlin anticipated that the residents of eastern Kentucky, who had established a pro-Union capital in Prestonsburg in 1861, would join the Union cause (for the most part, they did not).

Most of the battles of the campaign took place in northeastern Kentucky. The first major engagement was the Battle of Falmouth (August 1864), located midway between Cincinnati and Lexington. Falmouth was a major stop on the Kentucky Central (aka Covington and Lexington) Railroad. The Union employed a three-prong attack. Major General William T. Sherman marched his troops south from Covington, Kentucky (opposite Cincinnati). Another battalion led by Major General Franz Sigel approached from the east via New Virginia and Ohio. Sigel’s army faced little resistance (aside from a minor skirmish near Neville, Ohio). Another Union battalion led by Major General George H. Thomas, arrived from the west, departing from Indiana. On the way east, he faced Confederates at the Battle of Beaverlick [1]. After an easy victory, he joined up with Sherman’s army at Kenton.

Over the course of the three-month Campaign, Sherman battled Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's Army. At Falmouth, Sherman scored a decisive victory against the Confederates and pushed south toward Lexington. This led to a difficult and controversial choice: Johnston would sacrifice the city of Lexington to defend Frankfort. The city’s military facilities (and much of the city) were burned before Sherman’s army could reach Lexington. Johnston’s strategy worked: Sherman’s army, which was running low on supplies, turned west toward Frankfort. Sherman lost heavily in a frontal attack at the Battle of Midway [2] on September 30, suffering over 5,000 casualties. Sherman retreated back to Ohio, where he was relieved of command.

Another major battle took place at Carrollton, Kentucky in October 1864 (midway between Cincinnati and Louisville on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Kentucky River). Here, Union Major General James B. McPherson’s [3] Army won over Confederate General John B. Hood’s Army. After this victory, Union troops pushed inland to Monterey, 15 miles north of Frankfort. In November 1864, they met heavy Confederate resistance at the Battle of Monterey and were pushed back to the Ohio.

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NOTES:

[1] Yes, there really is such a place.
[2] No, not that Midway. Midway, Kentucky is located (fittingly enough) midway between Frankfort and Lexington.
[3] He was killed on July 22, 1864 in OTL.

================================================================

Indiana Conspiracy

In the Northwest, military defeats in 1863 and 1864 led to the growth of secret groups like the Knights of the Golden Circle and the Sons of Liberty. The members of these groups were a mix of ex-Southerners, recent immigrants from Germany and Ireland, and Jacksonian Democrats. The more radical members plotted to free Confederate prisoners from northern prison camps and use them to overthrow the governments of states including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.

These groups quickly came under suspicion by state governments. Governor Oliver P. Morton of Indiana believed that if the Mississippi were not re-opened to trade, Indiana (and possibly Illinois and Ohio) were in danger of leaving the Union. In 1863, under Governor Morton, the Knights of the Golden Circle were disbanded after many of its members were arrested. During one notorious incident in May 1863, Morton had soldiers disrupt a Democratic state convention in Indianapolis, called later the Battle of Pogue's Run. Many leaders of the Democratic Party were arrested, detained, or threatened.

In July 1863, Morton illegally called out the state militia to counter Morgan's Raid, an incident where Confederate raiders crossed the Ohio River into southern Indiana. However, the people of Indiana failed to support Morgan's troops in significant numbers. In response, Morton softened his approach toward potential Confederate sympathizers, believing that this lack of support meant that Copperheads would fail to aid a larger invasion.[1]

Morton’s beliefs proved to be incorrect. Harrison Horton Dodd, the leader of the Sons of Liberty (a secret society of Copperheads associated with the Knights of the Golden Circle), was a printer who frequently campaigned against the policies of Governor Morton and President Hamlin. After giving an inflammatory speech in 1863, he was arrested by a local provost marshal, but was freed after Democrats threatened to riot [2].

On the night of August 22, 1864, things came to a head [3]. With a band of more than 600 armed Copperheads, Dodd and his followers descended on Indianapolis. They were reportedly armed with thousands of ammunition rounds and 400 revolvers. They made their way towards Camp Morton, which was located on the outskirts of the city. After a 20 minute battle, nine soldiers guarding the camp and several dozen of Dodd’s followers were killed. However, nearly 100 Confederate prisoners-of-war managed to escape during the chaos with a similar number of Dodd’s men. Dodd himself with arrested and imprisoned, along with 25 co-conspirators, including a physician named William A. Bowles. Both Bowles and Dodd were sentenced to hang in June 1865.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] Everything up to now is as OTL.
[2] As OTL.
[3] OTL, Dodd and Bowles were arrested in August 1864 after claims from a Secret Service agent by the name of Felix Stidger that Dodd was planning to release Confederate prisoners at Camp Morton. In ATL, Stidger (a pro-Union Kentuckian) was imprisoned by Confederate government for aiding Unionists in eastern Kentucky, meaning Dodd’s plan goes on without being discovered.
=====================================================================================

Appointment of Chief Justice Fessenden

Shortly before the election, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney died on October 12, 1864 [1]. After Taney’s death, Hamlin thought of his old acquaintance from Maine for the position. Hamlin appointed Senator William Fessenden of Maine to be the new Chief Justice. Hamlin had apprenticed as a law clerk under William Fessenden’s father, Samuel Fessenden. During this time, Hamlin worked alongside William Fessenden at his father’s firm. Later, Hamlin and Fessenden both served as Senators of Maine.

Fessenden’s appointment led to Edward Bates’s disappointment. Bates felt he had earned the right to be Chief Justice, and resigned as Attorney General shortly before the election on October 30 [2]. Hamlin replaced him with former Maine Attorney General Josiah Hayden Drummond, a personal friend who was well-acquainted with the position.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] As OTL. In OTL, Salmon P. Chase was appointed Chief Justice, but Hamlin had other ideas on who should succeed Taney. From Lincoln’s Supreme Court (p. 193): “Vice President Hannibal Hamlin interceded in behalf of Secretary Fessenden… Hamlin declared: ‘if you can…give him the place it will confer a lasting obligation upon me.’” (quote dated October 15, 1864).

[2] Slightly earlier than OTL.
 
PART 8: ELECTION OF 1864

=======================================================================

Republican National Convention

The Republican National Convention of 1864 was held in Baltimore, Maryland. President Hamlin was chosen as the Republican candidate with little opposition. Even the most radical of the Republicans generally liked Hamlin, particularly because of his bold stance on abolition [1]. Yet, as the war dragged on, Hamlin became increasingly unpopular amongst the Northern public. The Democrats had made gains in 1862, and would likely gain even more seats in Congress in 1864. Would they capture the Presidency?

----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] OTL, some Radical Republicans considered replacing Lincoln with Fremont or Hamlin. Hamlin is closer to their side, so I think his replacement is unlikely, even if the war is going badly.

================================================================================

Selection of a Vice President

Since the day Hamlin began his term as President, the Vice Presidency was left vacant. In those times, the Vice Presidency was a powerless position. However, the choosing of the Vice President was often important decision for the Presidential ticket. Usually, the Vice President came from a different part of the country from the President in order to give the ticket geographic balance. Since Hamlin was from New England, this meant that the Vice President would be someone from the Western states (the modern Central states).

Hamlin and the party leaders decided on Zachariah Chandler for Vice President. Hamlin had feared his own death since Lincoln’s assassination, and wanted the Vice President to be someone of similar views as himself in case he should die. Chandler was a very good and close friend of Hamlin [1]. He was originally from New England (which Hamlin liked), but was a Senator from Michigan (giving the ticket geographic balance). He was a staunch abolitionist and Radical Republican, who gave aid and support to the Underground Railroad.

Hamlin’s cabinet at the time of the election [2]:

President: Hannibal Hamlin (Maine)
Vice President (candidate): Zachariah Chandler (Mich.)
Secretary of State: Charles Sumner (Mass.)
Secretary of Treasury: Salmon P. Chase (Ohio)
Secretary of War: Benjamin Wade (Ohio)
Secretary of Navy: Gustavus V. Fox (Mass.)
Postmaster General: Horatio King (Maine)
Attorney General: Josiah H. Drummond (Maine)
Secretary of the Interior: John P. Usher (Ind.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] Hamlin and Chandler were very close friends in the Senate, so I think Chandler would be a likely choice as a running mate. From the Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 319 and 320: "At the outset Chandler and Senator Hamlin conceived a strong liking for each other. There was much in common between the two. Both were New England Yankees, men of the people, and they were equally ardent in their attachment to the Union and hatred of slavery…From now on until the end of his public career, Mr. Hamlin held no associate in closer intimacy or in more affectionate regard than Zach Chandler, with the exception of Lincoln, who always had the first place in his heart."

[2] Note that the entire cabinet, with the exception of Usher, is different from OTL. Hamlin retains Chase due to pressure from the Radicals.


===================================================================================

Democratic National Convention

The Democrats ran on a peace platform. After the recent anti-Copperhead violence in Indiana, the Democrats claimed that they were being illegally and unjustly persecuted by the government (this perception had some truth to it). They claimed that Hamlin was more concerned with stamping out Northern political opposition than winning the war against the South. Adding to this were the widely unpopular issues of emancipation and conscription.

Several candidates seemed promising: Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee Unionist and War Democrat who served on the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, advocated for a different course to the war. On the other extreme, former Connecticut Governor Thomas Seymour wanted an immediate end to the war. In the middle of the road was New York Governor Horatio Seymour, who wanted a negotiated peace with the South that would secure a Union victory. [1]

In August 1864, the Democratic Party nominated Horatio Seymour, as a compromise candidate [2]. Seymour was a well-known critic of Hamlin, who opposed Hamlin’s wartime centralization of power, restrictions on civil liberties, conscription, and emancipation. Early in the war he opposed Hamlin, but defended the Union and supported the war effort against the South. As Governor, he gained fame as a staunch opponent of the draft (though he was blamed for the New York Draft Riots, which marred his reputation). The Democrats chose Daniel W. Voorhees of Indiana to be Seymour’s Vice President [3].

Unfortunately, the Democratic Convention in Chicago was marked by violence. Some members of the Copperheads (who called themselves the Sons of Liberty) hatched a plot to release several thousand Confederate prisoners of war at Camp Douglas. The operation was subsidized by the Confederate government. On August 29, several hundred Copperheads planned to attack the camp. Unbeknownst to them, the plan leaked out and the Copperheads found themselves vastly outnumbered by Union officers, who had been sent to reinforce the camp after the attack at Camp Morton in Indianapolis. After a few minutes of fighting, most of the Copperheads fled, with several dozen dead and several dozen more captured [4].

The campaign was vicious, with strong language being used on both sides. The Republicans accused Seymour of treason for opposing the government in wartime. In response, Democrats called the War of the Rebellion “Mr. Hamlin’s War”, and called Seymour a “true friend” of the Union. In a mean-spirited, bigoted campaign that played upon the fears and hatred of Northern Whites toward Black people, the Democrats claimed that emancipation would lead to competition for jobs, increased crime in cities, and marauding bands of ex-slaves attacking the countryside [5].

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] Considering McClellan was in prison ATL, he won’t be running.
[2] In OTL, Seymour didn’t want to be nominated.
[3] One of the candidates for Vice President OTL. He was not quite as extreme as George Pendleton, who was chosen to balance out McLellan’s moderate-ness. I considered Thomas Seymour, but he was from Connecticut, which is too close to New York (besides, you would end up with a Seymour/Seymour ticket, and that’s just silly). :)
[4] This almost happened in OTL.
[5] This is basically what happened in OTL. While I respect the Civil War-era Democrats' opposition to the war, their racism is completely repugnant to me.

==================================================================================

Cartoons of the campaign

Then, as now, the wit of the political cartoon had the power to influence public opinion. Many cartoonists made use of Hamlin’s first name. Famed cartoonist Thomas Nast showed Hamlin being carried by an elephant with the face of Zachariah Chandler (the vice presidential candidate), with the caption: “Hannibal crossing the Appalachians on the back of his Republican War Elephant”, recalling the fearsome creatures used by the ancient Hannibal in his campaign against Rome [1]. Also recalling Hamlin’s ancient namesake, a Northern pro-Confederate political cartoonist depicted Hamlin as a boy, held in the arms of Lincoln in front of a roaring fire, saying: "I swear so soon as age will permit, I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of the Confederacy.” [2]. Others made use of a not-so-clever rhyme of his first name. A pro-Copperhead cartoonist from the New York World who opposed the war portrayed President Hamlin as a monstrous figure with a huge, ravenous mouth eating a soldier, with “WAR” emblazoned on his chest. It was subtitled “Hannibal the Cannibal” [3]. Yet others made use of his last name. In one cartoon, Hamlin was depicted playing a pipe, leading a troop of young soldiers toward a sign marked “DEATH”. The caption read, “The Pied Piper of Hamlin leads the Children astray.”

The Republican press made similarly abundant use of the name of Hamlin’s opponent, Horatio Seymour. One cartoon featured the memorable line: “Elect Seymour and you will: Seymour War, Seymour Death, Seymour Widows, Seymour Destruction, Seymour Riots and Seymour Slavery!” Another cartoon featured Horatio Seymour and fellow New Yorker and Democrat Fernando Wood standing in front of a mob during the New York Draft Riots. In the caption, Wood says: “Alas, poor York! I knew it well, Horatio.” Seymour responds: “My friends, Rioters, Copperheads, lend me your ears.” [4] [5]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] In OTL, Nast was the origin of the Republican elephant. However, I should note that he did not use the elephant as the symbol of the Republican Party until 1874. Artistic license.
[2] This was in reference to Polybius’ account of the ancient Carthaginian Hannibal’s boyhood oath swearing eternal enmity against Rome, as his father reputedly made him swear (the author of the cartoon was implying that Hamlin had a fanatical grudge against the South, placed in his mind by Lincoln). While the reference is obscure now, most schoolchildren in the early 19-th Century would have learned about ancient Roman history. At that time, pretty much anyone who could read a newspaper would have understood the meaning.
[3] Oddly enough, cannibalism was a common motif in political cartoons during that time (One example can be found in the first picture on this site: http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/eduresources/display.asp?id=672&subj=eduresources). Since Hamlin was a teetotaler, I assume he didn’t eat him with a nice Chianti :)
[4] A reference to two famous lines from Shakespeare’s plays Hamlet and Julius Caesar. Also, it is a reference to Seymour’s infamous gaffe wherein he addressed a crowd during the Riot as “my friends.”
[5] I made all of these up. If someone who’s talented at drawing could make these in the 19-th century style, that’d be awesome.

=================================================================================

The Election of 1864

The Presidential election was extremely close. Seymour won the election with 112 electoral votes (Hamlin won 110) [1]. Hamlin’s defeat was not seen as unusual, as the past nine Presidents had only served one term in office (or less in the case of Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Fillmore and Lincoln). Seymour won the following states [2]:

Connecticut: 6 electoral votes
Delaware: 3 electoral votes [3]
Illinois: 16 electoral votes
Indiana: 13 electoral votes
New Hampshire: 5 electoral votes
New Jersey: 7 electoral votes [3]
New York: 33 electoral votes
Oregon: 3 electoral votes
Pennsylvania: 26 electoral votes

The states that supported Seymour are unsurprising. New York was his home state, and had more electoral votes than any of the other states at that time. His popularity spilled over into the neighboring states of Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In Indiana and Illinois, states with large Copperhead factions, voted to support Seymour (intriguingly, Seymour lost Ohio, a large state with a sizable number of Copperhead supporters). The reason for Seymour’s wins in New Hampshire and Oregon were less clear, but were very close elections.

In Congress, the Democrats made gains in both Houses [4]. The Democrats gained a majority in the House, with 100 seats, a gain of 24. The Republicans lost 22 seats, falling to 60. The remaining 20 seats were occupied by Constitutional Unionists or Independents (a gain of 2). In the Senate, the Republicans held on to their majority, but with a loss of 2 seats. The Republicans had 29 seats, the Democrats had 17 (a gain of 8), the Unconditional Unionists had 3 (no change), and the Conditional Unionists had 1 (loss of 2).

Hamlin’s days as President were numbered, and he would leave office on March 3, 1865. During his “lame duck” period, he accomplished very little, spending most of the winter at his family home in Maine. Meanwhile, Republicans and their supporters were distraught at Hamlin’s defeat. Horace Greeley, the pro-Hamlin editor of the New York Tribune, despairingly said, “The mighty Hannibal has met his Zama [5]. Let us pray that the Union shall not become the new Carthage; burned, razed, and sown with salt.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] Considering how well Seymour did in the 1868 election, this is plausible. I generally think there was a lack of enthusiasm for McClellan OTL due to his moderate stance on the war, which kept turnout from Copperheads low. Kentucky’s electoral votes were not counted (unlike OTL). OTL, all of these states were won with less than 55% of the vote by Lincoln. The election was particularly close in New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. The presence of Seymour, a New Yorker, would likely increase the Democratic share of the vote in his home state.

[2] I determined this by adding 10% to McClellan’s total for each state to obtain Seymour’s share of the vote. Similarly, I subtracted 10% from Lincoln’s total for each state to obtain Hamlin’s share of the vote. Not a perfect method, but allows for a rough estimate.

[3] Won by McClellan in OTL

[4] Basically a reverse of OTL, with Republicans/Democrats fortunes switched. In the House, the Republicans gained 50 seats, the Democrats lost 34 seats and the Constitutional Union Party lost 7 seats. In the Senate, the Republicans gained six seats. Remember that Nevada and New Virginia became states during this time, for a gain of 4 Senators and 4 Representatives.

[5] The battle in which Hannibal the Great was defeated by the Romans. While Horace Greeley didn’t say this in OTL, it’s something I could imagine him saying. He had a colorful way with language.

==================================================================================

Hamlin’s legacy

After his defeat in the 1864 election, Hamlin retired to private life, which was traditional for Presidents at that time [1]. He returned briefly to the White House on March 4, 1865, upon Seymour’s inauguration. For the next 26 years, he resided at his home in Bangor, Maine. During this time, he wrote his memoirs about his time in office in an attempt to salvage his reputation. These were eventually published by his grandson in 1899 [2]. He lived until July 4, 1891, becoming the third President to die on Independence Day [3].

In the popular mind, many think of Hamlin as a failure of a President. Historians, however, generally have a more favorable view of Hamlin. Some think he was well-meaning, but was too easily swayed by the radical end of his party. According to these historians, Hamlin was a man too far ahead of his time. Others think he was a competent President, but was tasked with winning an extremely difficult war. Yet other historians take a different view: Hamlin’s pettiness and preoccupation with patronage led to the appointment of incompetent, but loyal, generals and cabinet members.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] OTL, Hamlin returned to the Senate in the year 1869, where he served two terms until 1881. He then served as Minister to Spain from 1881 to 1882.
[2] As OTL
[3] As OTL
 
PART 9: THE WAR OF THE REBELLION ENDS

==========================================================================

President Horatio Seymour [1]

On March 4, 1865, Horatio Seymour was inaugurated as Eighteenth President of the United States of America. In his inaugural address, Seymour called for a negotiated peace with the South that would secure victory for the Union. The exact details of what a negotiated peace would mean were not clear, but basically meant giving in to some of the South’s demands with conditions. Only then would the southern states be allowed to re-enter the Union [2].

Seymour’s Inaugural Address was not particularly noteworthy, but included a famous line [3]:

“The assertion that this war was the unavoidable result of slavery is not only erroneous, but has led to a disastrous policy in its prosecution. The opinion that slavery must be abolished to restore our union creates an antagonism between the free and the slave states. Which ought not to exist.”

His inaugural address outraged Republicans, who claimed that a truce with the South meant that the men who fought and died during the war gave their lives in vain. However, no one could argue that Seymour was wrong about the lack of progress made against the Confederates. Northern Virginia was a never-ending meat-grinder for Union and Confederate soldiers alike; Kentucky remained solidly Confederate; insurgents ran amok in Missouri and the Indian Territory; even solidly northern states like Indiana and Ohio were threatened by the occasional Confederate raid.

Seymour’s first action as President was to issue an immediate pardon to release all of the generals and politicians who were imprisoned during what he called “the tyranny of Emperor Hamlin.” He believed them to be political prisoners, and thought their acts had not been treasonous. Generals Stone and McClellan, as well as Clement Vallandigham, were released from prison. Dodd and Bowles, the organizers of the Indianapolis Conspiracy, were not released from prison as Seymour thought them traitors, but he did commute their death sentences to life in prison [4]. Seymour held a grand ceremony in Washington to celebrate their release.

Seymour’s cabinet:

President: Horatio Seymour (New York)
Vice President: Daniel Voorhees (Indiana)
Secretary of State: George Pendleton (Ohio)
Secretary of Treasury: Thomas Hendricks (Indiana) [5]
Secretary of War: Clement Vallandigham (Ohio)
Secretary of Navy: Samuel Cox (Ohio)
Postmaster General: Thomas Seymour (Connecticut)
Attorney General: Lazarus Powell (Kentucky)
Secretary of the Interior: Augustus Dodge (Iowa)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] I’ve based my depiction of Seymour on two sources: “The life and public services of Horatio Seymour: together with a complete and authentic life of Francis P. Blair, Jr.” written in 1868 by James D. McCabe, Jr. (you can find it here: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&sid=95e3f6e828e116b80d4cccd93c806bc1&view=text&rgn=main&idno=ABT6246.0001.001). It’s a bit of electoral propaganda, but it’s one of the best sources I could find. Another useful resource on Horatio Seymour was “Horatio Seymour”, written by Isaac Smithson Hartley in 1886.

[2] The issue of what terms the Confederacy could expect at the negotiating table was recently discussed in this thread: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=375375

[3] From his inaugural address as Governor, January 7, 1863. Note this was after the Emancipation Proclamation OTL. See https://theyranforpresident.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/horatio-seymour/

[4] Just as Andrew Johnson did in OTL.

[5] Seymour preferred hard currency, and would not want Pendleton as Secretary of the Treasury. From https://theyranforpresident.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/horatio-seymour/: “A major financial issue was the ‘Ohio Idea’ proposed by popular candidate George Pendleton: Government bonds could be repaid with greenbacks. Seymour, a strong supporter of hard currency, disagreed and threw his support behind Indiana’s Thomas Hendricks.”

============================================================================

A Negotiated Peace

On March 5, 1865, Seymour called a truce with the South and offered to send his Secretary of State, George Pendleton [1], to deliberate and negotiate a settlement. Davis agreed, and sent his Secretary of State, Judah P. Benjamin, to meet with his northern counterpart, George Pendleton. The two men met in Alexandria, Virginia in April 1865.

During these negotiations [2], Pendleton attempted to get the Confederate States to return to the Union. To Seymour’s dismay, Benjamin and the Confederate delegates had no interest in returning to the Union. Even if Seymour could guarantee the perpetuation of slavery in the South during his tenure as President, the Confederate delegates were concerned that once a Republican got back into the White House, slavery would be abolished. Adding to this was the open opposition from the Republicans in Congress, who vowed to reject any peace agreement that did not require the abolition of slavery as a prerequisite of re-admission to the Union.

A most difficult bargain (as Seymour later put it) was offered. Davis stipulated that a cessation of hostilities would only be granted if New Orleans and the surrounding parishes were returned to the Confederacy. Seymour wanted to keep control of New Orleans to ensure that the US could continue to use the port. He also realized that Washington was vulnerable to Confederate attacks (seeing that it was right on the border). Seymour came to the conclusion that this situation was untenable, and proposed a compromise that involved exchanging New Orleans for northern Virginia.

This resulted in the Great Compromise with the South known as the Treaty of Toronto [3]. Delegates from the USA and CSA met in the city of Toronto in Canada West in June 1865. In this treaty, the following ten points were stipulated:

1. The United States of America acknowledges the Confederate States of America (comprised of the former US states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) to be an independent nation.
2. The United States of America relinquishes all claims to the Government, property, and territorial rights of the Confederate States of America.
4. The Confederate States of America relinquishes all claims to the Government, property, and territorial rights of the United States, especially Arizona Territory, Indian Territory, Missouri, and New Virginia.
4. The United States of America relinquishes all claims to the Government, property, and territorial rights of the state of Kentucky.
5. The Virginia counties of Loudoun, Fairfax, and Alexandria will be annexed by the state of New Virginia.
6. Territory presently occupied by the United States of America in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi will be transferred to Confederate control.
7. No slave, presently within the bounds of the Confederate States of America at the time of ratification of this treaty, will be released from servitude.
8. Prisoners of war on both sides are to be released; all property of the Confederate States (including slaves) now in the United States is to remain and be forfeited.
9. The United States of America is to be given unlimited, perpetual access to the Mississippi River, vessels of the United States of America are to be given unencumbered passage thereof.
10. Ratification of the treaty is to occur within six months from its signing.

The Treaty was signed by both sides on June 6, 1865. Seymour declared the treaty to be a great victory for the United States, claiming that he single-handedly wrested Indian Territory and northern Virginia away from the Confederates. The CSA was jubilant, and Davis’ administration declared that they got the better deal. Republicans thought the bargain was a bad deal for the United States, and conceded too much to the Confederacy. Former President Hamlin thought it a great tragedy. The Treaty had been a repudiation of all that he tried to accomplish while President [4].

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] Given that Pendleton was somewhat sympathetic to the South, he seems a likely choice.
[2] A negotiated peace had been tried unofficially. In OTL, Lincoln sent Horace Greeley to negotiate with Confederate agents in Canada in July 1864.
[3] A likely location, given it was reasonably close to both the CSA and USA and was in neutral (i.e. British) territory.
[4] Yeah, I’m aware that Confederate independence is a bit cliché, but I think it is justified given the circumstances. Given the events leading up to now (Hamlin’s early support of emancipation led to alienation of the border states, which led to Kentucky’s secession, which led to a more difficult war for the Union, which led to Seymour’s victory in the ’64 election), I believe that this outcome is plausible, if not likely. I know that while many such Southern victory TLs are wish-fulfillment vehicles, I am not a lost causer by any means. I certainly would not want the South to win, largely because it would mean the perpetuation of slavery, but I have to follow things to their conclusion despite my personal beliefs.

==================================================================================-

Post-war actions of President Seymour

In the border states, slavery continued unchecked. Seymour thought that the Federal government had no right to regulate slavery and thought it best left up to individual states [1]. The Radical Republicans in Congress were revolted by Seymour’s position, but had little power to do anything but express their disagreement. Abolitionists found themselves harassed by Seymour’s administration, who felt their work to end slavery in the Border States to be a threat to national security. Seymour felt justified in part because of the over-reach of some of Hamlin’s supporters and administration during the War.

The West remained unstable. As a result of the Treaty of Toronto, the Indian Territory remained in the US. Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie, a member of the Cherokee tribe, was the last general to surrender to Union authorities, on June 23, 1865 [2]. While the territory was filled with pro-Confederate Natives, this did not deter the Union’s desire for the Territory’s fertile fields. President Seymour chose Ely Samuel Parker, a member of the Seneca tribe from New York State, to be the Territorial Governor [3]. Parker served as a lieutenant colonel for the Union during the Civil War, and Seymour had given him a reference for a superintendent position in Chicago in 1857. Seymour hoped that Parker could bring peace to the territory, as he was an outsider and was not entangled in the tribal politics of Indian Territory. However, Parker was unable to end the violence both between and within tribes, which continued for many years after the War of the Rebellion.

After the war, the economy of the USA was devastated. Millions of dollars in damage had been done from the destruction caused by the war itself; however, most of the economic damage was a consequence of the interruption in trade between the North and South during the war. The US also had to deal with the debt racked up during the Hamlin administration. Seymour’s Secretary of State, George Pendleton, supported paying off the debt in greenbacks (paper money), a plan known as the “Ohio Idea”. Thomas Hendricks, Seymour’s Secretary of the Treasury, disagreed, saying that greenbacks would cause inflation and that the war debt ought to be paid back in gold. Unlike most of his party, Seymour (as well as most Republicans) backed Hendricks’ plan [4]. This plan kept the price of gold stable, but led to increases in the interest rate and a tightened monetary supply. This hurt the farmers in the Central States, who had supported the greenback plan.

In the CSA, the economy was much worse. The CSA faced decades of rebuilding and stagflation. After finishing his six-year term in office, President Jefferson Davis retired to private life in 1867. The election of 1867 was hotly contested. After general and war hero Robert E. Lee declared he would not run, three candidates emerged. All of these men represented different political factions that would characterize Confederate politics for more than 60 years. Former US Vice-President John C. Breckinridge, ran as the nominee for the Democratic Party. Former CSA Vice President Alexander Stephens, ran as the nominee for the Constitution Party. Robert Barnwell Rhett, a Fire-Eater who had famously called ex-President Hamlin a mulatto, ran on the Nationalist ticket [5]. Stephens won the election by a slim margin and served as President until 1873.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

[1] As he thought OTL.
[2] As OTL
[3] I’m well aware that the Seneca were rivals of many of the tribes living in Indian Territory. But bear in mind that Seymour had a relatively enlightened attitude towards Native Americans and thought highly of Parker. According to Horatio Seymour, p. 430: “Governor Seymour was well informed also in Indian history. His articles on the Iroquois, the Romans of the new world, are quite numerous. He studied with great care their habits, travels, wars, and antiquities; nor could he free himself from the conviction that the aborigines of the State had been greatly wronged.” According to “Warrior in Two Camps: Ely S. Parker, Union General and Seneca Chief, p. 51: “In January 1853, New York Governor Horatio Seymour formally recognized him as the ‘elected Chief and Representative of the ancient confederacy of the Six Nations.” On page 59: “His [Parker’s] references were impressive; they included such prominent New Yorkers as former Governor Horatio Seymour.”
[4] As OTL. I think it goes without saying that there will be no Alaska Purchase.
[5] OTL, Rhett was a strong opponent of Davis during the Civil War.

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Kentucky War

Even though the War of the Rebellion was over, someone forgot to tell the people of Kentucky. Much of the state was pro-Union, and had not supported secession. During the War, many Kentuckians, particularly those in the eastern part of the state, opposed the state government and the CSA, leading to the arrest and execution of many.

In 1865, as part of the Treaty of Toronto, Kentucky remained part of the CSA. However, with Union assistance [1], a rebel group called the Easterners (because most were from eastern Kentucky) sparked a civil war within Kentucky called the Kentucky War. The uprising was led by Green Clay Smith and Lovell Harrison Rousseau, both of whom were former state representatives [2] and Union generals. They sparked a popular rebellion against the pro-Confederate government of the state, and aimed to re-join the USA. The CSA and USA-backed rebels engaged in small-scale fighting for three years, leading to several thousand deaths.

In 1868, lack of manpower for a full-scale war and popular opposition to the war brought the USA and CSA to engage in peace negotiations. Under the terms of the Treaty of Toronto, however, Kentucky could not be re-admitted into the Union. A new treaty was drawn up (called the Treaty of Louisville), wherein both sides agreed to an armistice and Kentucky became independent from the Confederacy. Thus, on December 2, 1868, Kentucky became an independent nation.

After independence, the state government was dissolved and new elections were held. However, there was a falling out between Smith and Rousseau that led to them becoming bitter rivals [2]. Smith and Rousseau ran as opponents in the 1870 Presidential Election. Smith won the election, but Rousseau did not take defeat well. He instigated a civil war against Smith’s government [3], and attempted to seize power in coup attempts in 1872 and 1874, before being exiled. This political instability would plague Kentucky politics for decades to come.

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NOTES:

[1] Just because Seymour had some sympathy for the South, he was still a Unionist and I think he would support an independent Kentucky if it had a chance to become an ally of the USA.

[2] Both were Unconditional Unionists, but had very different views on slavery (Smith was an abolitionist, and Rousseau was pro-slavery). This would become a point of contention between them.

[3] Not out of character for Rousseau. Just ask Josiah Bushnell Grinnell.

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PART 10: CONCLUSION

What follows is a summary of the major events in North America between 1870 and 1930.

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Election of President Grant

In the 1868 election, the Democratic Party began to fracture into Western and Eastern factions. Seymour dropped Voorhees from the ticket, favoring George Pendleton. Voorhees ran against Seymour at the convention, but failed to get the nomination. The Republicans nominated former general and war hero, Ulysses S. Grant. Grant won in a landslide election, capturing 173 out of 216 electoral votes [1]. Seymour won only his home state of New York, as well as New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Oregon.

After the Democrats failed to get the economy out of postwar depression, Republicans made gains in Congress, obtaining a majority in both Houses. While Grant’s term in office was marred by scandals and corruption, he is best remembered for the Compensated Emancipation Act of 1869, which ended slavery in the border states. This legislation passed both Houses and was signed into law by Grant.

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NOTES:

[1] As OTL, if you take out the Southern states. Before you say it: Yes, I am aware this is parallelism, but I think it is justifiable given that the same two candidates are running. A slightly different result that does not change the outcome of the election is plausible, of course.

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Compensated Emancipation Act [1]

After the secession of the Confederate states, many Republicans were troubled by the fact that slavery remained legal in the border states. In June 1869, Congress passed the Compensated Emancipation Act. The Act planned the gradual, compensated emancipation of slaves in the border states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and the newly-formed state of New Virginia [2]. The law stipulated that all slaves would be freed no later than 1880. In addition, all slaves born after January 1, 1870 would be free immediately after the signing of the Act, and all slaves over the age of 65 at the time of the act’s signing would be freed. The plan was deemed practical due to the relatively small numbers of slaves in each state (approximately 2,000 slaves in Delaware, 20,000 slaves in New Virginia, 120,000 slaves in Missouri, and 90,000 slaves in Maryland). Together, this represented six percent of all slaves living in the United States in 1860. The plan cost the federal government 80 million dollars [3]. Delaware was the first state to end slavery (in 1874), New Virginia was second in 1877, Missouri was third in 1879, and Maryland was last in 1880.

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NOTES:

[1] Modeled after the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, which President Lincoln signed on April 6, 1862. OTL, a similar plan for the border states failed due to opposition from state governments.

[2] The key difference between this bill and the OTL bill is that it Section 11 was not included (it related to the colonization feature described above). From the D.C. Emancipation Plan, Sec. 11: “And be it further enacted, That the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, is hereby appropriated, to be expended under the direction of the President of the United States, to aid in the colonization and settlement of such free persons of African descent now residing in said District, including those to be liberated by this act, as may desire to emigrate to the Republics of Hayti or Liberia, or such other country beyond the limits of the United States as the President may determine: Provided, The expenditure for this purpose shall not exceed one hundred dollars for each emigrant.”

[3] OTL, compensated emancipation in Washington, D.C. in 1862 cost $300 per slave. According to Wikipedia: “This law prohibited slavery in the District, forcing its 900-odd slaveholders to free their slaves, with the government paying owners an average of about $300 for each.”

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Slavery in the Confederate States of America

While the end of slavery came to the North in 1880, the South’s particular institution was preserved for two generations. Slavery was extremely profitable for the plantation owners, who resisted all attempts at abolition. Slaves would also be used as cheap labor in factories, and in various wars against the USA during the late nineteenth century. Slave rebellions, many of them fomented by the USA, were used to weaken the CSA from within, but were put down violently by the Confederacy. [1].

By the 1920s, however, the CSA was not the same place as it was in 1861, and internal economic factors began to make slavery less attractive [2]. The boll weevil had destroyed the cotton crop for more than a decade, and alternative crops were not as profitable [3]. As a result, many slaveowners faced bankruptcy and could not afford to keep their slaves. The sons of wealthy planters increasingly sought their fortunes in the cities rather than on the family plantation [4]. Factories were being built in places like Louisville, Richmond, Atlanta, and New Orleans. More profit could be made there than on the family estate. This burgeoning industrial class sought closer ties to Great Britain and the United States, who had invested a great deal in Confederate industry. Confederate industry produced machines that could be used on farms, which lessened the need for slaves [5].

Internationally, slavery became a great embarassment for the CSA. An early silent film called The Death of a Nation [6] was released in 1923. Audiences in the USA and Britain saw the barbarity of slavery for the first time (the film was banned in the CSA). British politicians resented the fact that cotton could be produced more cheaply in the CSA, than in their own colonies of Egypt and India. Under immense political pressure and threat of embargo by Great Britain [7], a new constitution was drawn up in 1926 by the leaders of the ironically-named Constitution Party (the Confederate Constitution had explicitly prohibited any ban on slavery, requiring a new constitution to be written). The end of slavery finally came after the end of the Pan-European War in 1928 [8], in which many slaves died or were freed after their service. By this time, the War of the Rebellion was a distant memory, and fewer than 5% of the veterans who fought in the war were still alive [9].

Although slaveowners were compensated for the loss of their slaves, the planter class was livid. They rebelled against emancipation, and instigated a coup that placed an agrarian-based oligarchy (known as King Cotton politics) in power for the next 40 years, starting in 1930. The new constitution limited the power of national and state governments, and placed power in the hands of plantation owners. Under this political system, voting was often rigged to support the candidates backed by planters, and election results could be overruled by Confederate Congress. Slavery was soon replaced with a system of indentured servitude, segregation, and denial of voting rights for Black people [10].

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NOTES:

[1] The South is heading for a Latin American development trajectory (slave labor, major landholders holding political power, lack of industrialization, reliance of cash crops, etc.). It’s likely that the ATL CSA will resemble Latin America, particularly Brazil, which abolished slavery in 1888.

[2] I know this will be very controversial, but I didn’t pull this date out of nowhere. I am no Confederate apologist and I don’t think slavery would end out of kindness of Southerners’ hearts. The end of slavery won’t mean the end the deeply entrenched racism of the South that existed at that time. A slave economy will be sustainable for several decades after the Civil War, but there are several reasons why I believe it will not be sustainable after the early twentieth century. Now I know many of you are probably saying there’s no way slavery would end peacefully in the CSA. Well, that’s what happened in Brazil (though the monarchy fell soon after because of it).

[3] The Boll weevil:

The Boll weevil devastated the cotton crop OTL. In Brazil, a natural disaster called the Grande Seca (Great Drought) obliterated the cotton crop in northeastern Brazil in the 1870s, shortly before abolition. According to Wikipedia, this helped end slavery in Brazil: “As wealthy plantation holders rushed to sell their slaves in the south, popular resistance and resentment grew, inspiring numerous emancipation societies. They succeeded in banning slavery altogether in the province of Ceará by 1884.” In OTL, the boll weevil also damaged the cotton crop of the American South in the 1910s and 1920s, and I think it may have a similar effect. It will ruin plantation owners economically, forcing many of them into bankruptcy. They will try to find alternative crops like peanuts and tobacco (which were tried OTL), but none of them will be as profitable as cotton.

[4] Economic diversification:

My guess is that industrialization will begin to occur in earnest in the 1890s. It’s important to note that part of what made slavery economically successful in the mid-19th century was industrialization: the cotton gin and cotton mills of Britain made cotton plantations extremely profitable. This won’t be sustainable long-term as cotton is produced cheaply in the British colonies of Egypt and India. Eventually, I suspect that there will be a growing industrialist class in the South in the early twentieth century. The answer for why this will happen is in industrial slavery, which already existed in a small scale in the antebellum South. According to a paper written on the subject by Starobin (1970) called “The Economics of Industrial Slavery in the Old South”, industrial slavery was profitable and efficient. But, he cautions that “in the long run, extensive industrialization would have been difficult, if not impossible, under a rigid slave system” (p. 135). This would likely result in a standoff between plantation owners (who would want to preserve slavery) and industrialists (who want to end slavery to allow for the expansion of industry), possibly leading to an internal civil war.

[5] Mechanization:

Slavery is actually quite expensive. Even the nastiest slaveowners had to provide food and shelter for their slaves. Not to mention guards (to keep slaves from escaping) and field masters. Eventually, machines will make some jobs on plantations obsolete. This isn’t terribly different from OTL. When farm machines became available in the South, many black sharecroppers were put out of work. This was one of the factors that led to the Great Migration of the 1920s.

[6] Film:

I think the invention of film, which will likely happen at about the same time as OTL, is something that cannot be underestimated. Media can have a strong effect on people: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle’s Tom’s Cabin fueled abolitionism; the photograph brought the barbarities of the Civil War to all Americans, and the television exposed the Jim Crow South. It seems likely that there would be films in the North and Britain showing the inhumanity of slavery, possibly leading to political pressure to end the practice.

[7] International political pressure:

Again, Brazil provides a good (though not perfect) parallel. In Brazil, slavery ended not out of the kindness of the monarchy’s heart, but due to British pressure. The British didn’t like the fact that sugar could be produced so cheaply in Brazil compared to their own West Indies colonies (where slavery was banned). Here, something similar could happen with cotton where Britain resents the fact that CSA cotton is cheaper than cotton produced in India and Egypt.

[8] Wars:

There is a possibility of using slaves to fight in wars, with the promise of emancipation. According to Wikipedia, the Paraguayan War of the 1860s also helped to bring about the end of slavery in Brazil: “As in other countries, ‘wartime recruitment of slaves in the Americas rarely implied a complete rejection of slavery and usually acknowledged masters' rights over their property.’ Brazil compensated owners who freed slaves for the purpose of fighting in the war, on the condition that the freedmen immediately enlist. It also impressed slaves from owners when needing manpower, and paid compensation. In areas near the conflict, slaves took advantage of wartime conditions to escape, and some fugitive slaves volunteered for the army. Together these effects undermined the institution of slavery. But, the military also upheld owners' property rights, as it returned at least 36 fugitive slaves to owners who could satisfy its requirement for legal proof. Significantly, slavery was not officially ended until the early 1880s.”

[9] Death of Civil War veterans:

By 1928, the youngest Civil War veterans would be about 75 years old. In my opinion, there’s no way slavery could be ended before then, as slavery was the whole reason for the war in the first place. But by the 1920s, almost everyone who fought in the war is dead, so the Civil War will be a distant memory. Of course, I’d bet there would be some people saying “but that’s what my grandpa fought for.”

[10] Unsurprisingly, democracy in the CSA goes down the tubes pretty darn quick.

==============================================================================

Wars Between the USA and CSA

The end of the Kentucky War in 1868 is sometimes considered the true end of the War of the Rebellion. However, Union sentiment in Appalachia continued unabated, especially in southwestern Virginia, eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. This culminated in the “Hillbilly Wars” [1] of the 1890s. During these wars, the residents of Appalachia (with USA support) engaged in guerrila warfare against the Confederacy, before being brutally repressed in the first few years of the twentieth century.

The late nineteenth century was marked by several border wars, including the Second Kentucky War of the 1880s and Missouri War of the early 1890s. For the most part, these were guerilla wars between pro-USA and pro-CSA factions that were openly backed by the USA and CSA, respectively. These proxy wars accomplished little, but continued to exacerbate hostile relations between the USA and CSA [2]. Tensions in the Indian Territory culminated in the Sequoyah War of the first decade of the twentieth century. The USA wished to open up the Territory for settlement, which was strongly opposed by the Native population of the Territory. The leaders of several tribes (particularly the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee) appealed to the Confederacy on their behalf, recalling their 1861 treaty with the CSA. With the aid of Confederate troops (many of them slaves offered freedom in return for service), Indian Territory became the independent nation of Sequoyah in 1910. However, independence came at a terrible cost. During the war, tens of thousands of people died in Sequoyah due to war and disease [3].

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NOTES:

[1] Analogous to the Boer Wars of South Africa around the same time.

[2] Given how divided these states were in OTL, it is plausible that there would be large segments in both states that would like to be part of another country.

[3] I would imagine the nation of Sequoyah to be kind of like Paraguay or Lesotho – a nation almost entirely made up of indigenous people surrounded by more powerful nations.

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BONUS: WI PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN?

I’ve added this as a little Christmas bonus. It’s my final post on this TL. This is a WI from the ATL perspective (or a DBWI from our perspective). What follows is my guess as to what a speculative fiction writer might imagine a Lincoln administration to be like, had he escaped the Baltimore Plot. They would have to base their information on Lincoln’s record before becoming President, and so they would undoubtedly make errors. I also give a few little hints as to what the ATL present is like. I’m keeping it short intentionally, but perhaps someone could run with it and turn it into a full-fledged TL if they want.

President Abraham Lincoln

As we history buffs in the USA know, President-for-a-day Lincoln was mortally wounded in an assassination attempt on February 23, 1861. This, of course, led to Hannibal Hamlin becoming President. But what if he had listened to Pinkerton? Lincoln would probably be terribly embarrassed if people found out if he had snuck in to the city. But at least he’d be alive.

Lincoln was quite a good speaker. We saw this in the Douglas-Lincoln debates of OTL. He apparently had planned a great Inauguration speech, based on fragments of an early draft. Perhaps it would be rousing enough to re-unite the country? Or maybe he could end the war simply by debating Jefferson Davis! :D (Probably not, but he was quite inspiring.)

I don’t think Lincoln would have been a good a President as Schmidt or O’Connell (admittedly I’m a fan of the Progressives), but I think he would’ve been better than Hamlin. Maybe that’s easy to say in hindsight, but comparing Hamlin and Lincoln, I don’t think that’s unreasonable. I think he was more politically savvy than people (namely Seward) thought. Also, Lincoln seems to have been somewhat less radical than Hamlin. He was thought by his fellow Republicans to be a fence-sitter on the issue of slavery (A true Kentuckian – always neutral). This probably makes him a little more popular than Hamlin, who was hated by the Democrats. I also wonder if Lincoln would have done the same controversial things that Hamlin did, like suspending habeas corpus.

For his cabinet, Lincoln makes the same decisions as Hamlin initially (since Lincoln was the one who chose them), but I would guess this would evolve in a way different from Hamlin. I could see Lincoln replacing Cameron eventually (due to corruption), but not Welles (Lincoln didn’t seem to be the type to bear a grudge like Hamlin). Lincoln might have asked Seward to resign, too, due to his crazy ideas. Who might they be replaced with? Lincoln, I think, would choose conservative Republicans from the Central states, rather than the Radicals that Hamlin chose.

The War of the Rebellion (or the War for Southern Independence as you folks in the CSA call it) might well have turned out differently. I think Lincoln postpones the Emancipation Proclamation until 1862 or 1863, once Kentucky is securely “Union-ized”. He was born there, and was probably more aware that while people in Kentucky were pro-Union, they did not want to fight to end slavery. He’s also a bit more cautious than Hamlin, so he probably delays emancipation until he’s confident the border states won’t secede. IF Kentucky stays in the Union (big if), then I think the Union wins. My guess is you would end up with a rump CSA made up of the states of the Deep South, with the upper South re-integrated back into the Union. Or maybe Lincoln would get really lucky and win back the entire South (and if I had that kind of luck, I’d go to one of those big casinos in Sequoyah City!). :D

Even if the North somehow won, that opens up a can of worms. How do you re-integrate the South? Does the North even want them back? What about the freedmen? Do they get to vote? This would be especially challenging for Lincoln, who just fought a war against the CSA and would now be saddled with the task of bringing them back. Hamlin apparently had a draft of a plan to “re-construct” the South that of course never got implemented.

In 1864, Lincoln runs against Horatio Seymour and Lincoln wins. I think Seymour would still run in 1864, unless the War of the Rebellion was already won by that point. Maybe Lincoln gets a challenge from his own party, given his lukewarm position on slavery. I’d bet an extreme radical like Sumner or Stevens (or even Hamlin!) runs against him, but ultimately fails in getting the nomination. Perhaps you even get a third party of Radicals who challenge both Lincoln and Seymour.

As for Hannibal Hamlin, he would likely be little more than a footnote in this TL. Imagine that! He’s almost a non-entity in Lincoln’s administration, as was the case for VP’s at the time. He might have been replaced for Lincoln's second term, probably with someone with experience in both war and politics (my bet is on Butler). Seymour, too, is relatively obscure and is probably best remembered for being the Governor of New York.

Looking beyond the immediate aftermath of the War of the Rebellion, I wonder what happens to the Pan-European War. Does it get butterflied away? It was 60 years after the War of the Rebellion, after all. It’s hard to imagine something worse taking its place (at least there was only one of them!).

Any thoughts on President Lincoln? I'm thinking of doing a TL about his Presidency. I think I'll call it "Abraham: The President who could have been"
 
THE END

That’s the end! I hope you enjoyed reading my TL. If anyone wants me to continue, let me know. If I get enough of a response, I might post a little bit more. Otherwise, I think I’ll end it here and try to get it posted over on the “Finished TL” forum.

I've been working on a new timeline, which I hope to start posting soon on the Future History page.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :)
 
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