“The question I ask today is not an easy one. That question is this: what is the spirit of our nation? For one such as ours, this question is complicated, intricate, and at times impossible to answer, especially if one examines it from the perspective of our entire history.
Even that word, history, is hard to define. Do we begin, like the Yankees, at Jamestown? Do we begin with Washington and the Sons of Liberty? Or shall we instead jump to Lee and Davis and the war that sundered the Union? Perhaps we could go farther, but I think beginning at that time when North and South ceased to be regions and instead became nations is a fitting beginning. After all, the South was always less than enthusiastic about some of the more libertine ideals being espoused by the men who wrote the Declaration of Independence.
In that time, it was easy to see the story as that of slavers refusing to bow down to liberty. Our schools often teach that. But ultimately, this is not the entire truth. It was the start, yes, but as always is the case with imperialists’ wars, the war the planters started was fought by the Working Man. Poor white country boys who signed onto a war they didn’t quite understand. What they knew is that their homes were being attacked, that a government they saw as distant and foreign was now attempting to issue orders that their own local and more legitimate government was refusing.
These men fought for their homes, and died for them. And dying beside them were slaves, sent by force to aid the machines of war, or marching on a desperate bid for freedom, their natural rights leveraged against them. As always, it is the bourgeoisie who reap the benefits of a war fought by the proletariat. This was the way of the world for generations. It is often thought then, that the founding spirit of our country is one of exploitation, of the planter exploiting the slave, of the elite exploiting the commoner. But while they were deluded, it has always been the common man, the working class, that has been the soul and spirit of the South. Though we have stumbled, though we have been weighed down by the sins of our forefathers, we found enlightenment! We found truth! And we rose up! We fought! We took power for the people! For the worker!
In this, perhaps one of our darkest hours, we must remember what we are. We must remember what we fight for, remember the existentials truths of our nation! Dixieland is the home of a working people, of peasants and slaves, now masters of their own destinies! Dixieland is a free land, founded on autonomy and love of the motherland, reborn through the principles of Equality, Brotherhood, and Socialism! Say it with me now! Say it! The South will always be free! The South will always be Red!
The South will always be free! The South will always be Red!
The South will always be free! The South will always be Red!
The South will always be free! The South will always be Red!”
“I will not move my army until I am absolutely ready.”
- George B. McClellan[1]
“I will generally admit that Guns of the North is a fascinating and fun take on the genre of alternative history. Once again, Hawke crafts a strong narrative with a well research cast. But it is my obligation as a historian to look into the plausibility of the work. As far as most Northern Victory novels go, a standard in amongst American authors in the genre, this one goes beyond a singular ‘all-winning’ point of divergence. Many merely have McClellan be given some shocking revelation, or see Sherman step to the forefront through some miraculous victory, or kill off Lee as soon as feasible.
Hawke instead brings in new generals, rather than killing off the old ones. He brings in Hiram Ulysses Grant, a notable officer in the Mexican-American War that was noted for his potential and ability as a strategist, skill as a cavalry rider, and general aptitude. He died of malaria in 1858, but Hawke envisions him as a strong leader that would quickly become a general and leading commander, becoming a voice that joined Sherman in getting McClellan and Halleck both relieved of leadership. With Sherman in command and Grant as the man beneath him, the Union does far better in the early years of the war.[2]
I cannot make a firm judgment on the aptitude of Grant, but his record does indicate some very capable as a soldier and far more aggressive than McClellan. However, he also had issues with alcohol and a strong inclination for combat that could very well have seen him fall against the forces of Lee and Jackson. Notably, he did know Lee, which Hawke uses as grounds for how the Pride of Virginia agrees to a ceasefire, having their time in battle see them form begrudging respect for one another. The assumption that this relationship would ever be so strong, however, is a jump. I will give Hawke credit in that he makes it feel a logical one, and the use of Grant as a figure sympathetic to Lee helps make the restraint shown despite some rather horrid orders from Sherman (orders I personally agree are very much in his character and line of thinking) feel realistic of such a character.
Beyond Grant, the most interesting ‘new character’ Hawke introduces is Major General Chamberlain. We never get the man’s full name, but other historians have commented that he is based heavily on either Thomas Chamberlain, a colonel and later Brigadier General in the war who eventually served with Sherman, or his brother Joshua Chamberlain, who was a professor and later President of Bowdoin College becoming an instructor at West Point and serving as an advisor in the Department of War.[3] I believe he is a mix, but possibly directly an alternate version of Joshua, who gained some notoriety for urging all his students to enlist in the war, and later for sending ideas for tactics to Thomas, who applied them as his own. Joshua, who was even sent on a leave of absence by the school leadership who disliked his jingoism, never enlisted himself despite numerous letters implying her wished to due to a heavy limp sustained from breaking his ankle after a fall in 1858 on the Bowdoin campus. Perhaps Chamberlain in the novel is Thomas, who listened to his brother’s lessons a little better, or a version of Joshua who never broke his ankle and enlisted. Either is dubious in plausibility for how masterful the character is as a soldier. He also serves as a rival and counter to Sickles, keeping the man in check, and this antagonism is without any historical basis beyond Sickles’ lack of likeability and the author’s wishes.[4]
I think the biggest thing that Guns of the North does right is focus on how the faster Northern action needed to be accompanied by restraint on the part of the generals invading. Many novels on this topic fail to look at the animosity and cultural divides the war tore between the North and the South. Hawke is very conscious of these and specifically mentions that too harsh a campaign would like have made an occupation of the South so full of animosity that a revolt would have been inevitable. Perhaps only Dixie, Darkly takes note of this as well but instead follows this narrative concept to create a hellish military-run region oppressed by northern hatred for decades. Of course, Hawke’s novel is far more realistic, and while the author, of course, takes some liberties, I give a general mark of approval.[5] Grant is certainly a case of a ‘perfect commander’ who makes no error, but in many ways, he serves a good foil for Lee’s many real exploits…”
- Chad Verner, review of Guns of the North by Perry Hawke
[1] I hope not to Flanderize McClellan too much, but his penchant for inaction and inability to make use of principles of mass will be something that will become apparent and important.
[2] Grant really did almost die of malaria after trying his hand at farming. OTL he survived, TTL he died, and this means that he will not be there to command several earlier battles, and this TL does presume that whomever was sent to replace him will be unable to pull off the same victories he accomplished.
[3] John Chamberlain did teach at Bowdoin and did become President of it. He enlisted during his leave of absence/censure, but TTL he broke his ankle badly while running late to a meeting on campus; his foot never heals right, leaving him with a permanent limp that requires the aid of a cane. He never enlists, depriving the Union of another great general. Others will be killed off as well, full disclosure. This is likely influenced by my belief that one PoD is not enough to save the Confederacy.
[4] Sickles, meanwhile, is going to be able to get the upperhand on his rivals TTL. A less than intelligent commander, Sickles is best known for defying orders from Meade at Gettysburg and landing himself in a hospital because of it. He was a highly political general and a gloryhound.
[5] If it wasn’t totally obvious, this is a less ASB parody book of Harry Turtledove’s Guns of the South.
“The war had only just begun, and McClellan was cautious.[6] The capabilities of the South was not truly known, the terrain full of hazards, the population enthusiastic, and they had a number of incredibly capable generals working with all of these variables. If McClellan was anything, it was a man who loathed uncertainty. President Lincoln wanted a more active campaign, but the general thought little of his Commander-in-Chief’s capabilities, referring to him as a ‘well-meaning baboon’.[7] And while a number of generals opposed the level of inaction that McClellan enforced, they ultimately had to do as told by the general-in-chief.
The early war had seen a strong repulsion of the Confederates from Missouri and West Virginia. And several of these victories belonged to McClellan, who swiftly became the rising star of the Union Army. Many worried he was too cautious, waited too long before acting. Given the failure, however, to drive the South from Kentucky, and their control of the entryway to the Mississippi from Belmont and Columbus, alongside their strong defensive line being held by General Joseph E. Johnston in Virginia, there seemed little to do offensively until a crack could be made in the South.[8]
However, pressure was on McClellan to earn victories. He needed glory to his command in order to maintain his post. This, of course, was how he also felt he could save his country. Brigadier General Burnside had seen success in raiding the coast of North Carolina, with an aggressive mindset that McClellan felt was better served poking through the Confederates in the northwest. McClellan generally did not see that theatre as a critical priority, but with few victories there and generally wary of ‘hot-headed’ commanders, it was the perfect choice in his mind to send Burnside. Burnside and his men were sent into Missouri soon after this assessment, the first of many hellish visits for Burnside.[9] His first battle was known as the Battle of Harrison Fields, so named for the farmer killed in the crossfire. The Battle saw a Confederate division from Belmont attempting to encroach West from the river, and Burnside caught word of this. His men moved into position just before a hillscape, crossing its zenith just in time to come into full view for the Southern force.
Thanks in part to Burnside’s reliance on riflemen at Harrison Fields, he began making headway in driving the South from Missouri, successfully taking control of Belmont in December. However, Columbus had only grown into a greater stronghold in that time, described by Burnside as a ‘festering, infected wart.’ This would result in a relationship of mutual disdain for the region that he shared with then Brigadier General William T. Sherman, whose story is of course deserving a book in its own right…
...This would be the victory McClellan needed to secure the respect of his well-planning ways. Pope was much like McClellan, and while Frémont certainly had a low opinion of them both, the fact remained Brigadier General Pope’s victory in Virginia was perhaps the first critical victory of the Union in the Winter of 1861.[10] He had succeeded in routing a force directly under Joseph Johnston’s command thanks to the superiority of resources at his disposal and the careful examination of the terrain that McClellan had championed beforehand. Public support for the two generals rose as press caught wind of the success.
Pope, always a braggart, spoke to them of his and McClellan’s supposedly close correspondence and the genius of their plan. Rather than directly send Union soldiers to their deaths ‘horrid swamps and humid plains,’ Pope had said, ‘they would trap the Southerns in their own grave.’ In holding a firm line and pushing back the ‘foolhardy traitors’ with superior planning, blockades and port raids would mean they would effectively starve them out.[11]
Explained in such a manner, spoken of as making the war nearly bloodless and based in showing the South just what horrors they face without aid, the public had approval for the plan. This, however, outraged Lincoln, as the main strategy of the Union was now in direct discussion by the public at large, and meant that all expected a quick and easy war. While officially in order to ensure he could properly command the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia directly and without hindrance, McClellan was replaced as general-in-chief by Henry Halleck in February of 1862. Of course, McClellan mixed success would only brighten his shine, and make his return to the post logical…” [12]
- The American Civil War, an Annual History by Robert Birch
[6] What else is new?
[7] This, and the opening quote are both very much real things McClellan said.
[8] Ulysses S. Grant never takes control of Belmont and Columbus from the Confederates in Illinois, and without some other man being sponsored by John C. Frémont, another general is sent to try and win this important position. This utterly alters the general battle plans of the Union in that area, and means fewer competent men. OTL also saw little success early on in Virginia, but it persists more here.
[9] This means that Burnside is never assigned to push into Virginia, and is not as successful in Missouri. This means that the lacking success in Virginia is going to go longer too, and Burnsides weakening of North Carolina is being stopped far sooner. McClellan really did think the Mississipi was better to take slowly, with a focus on the Tennessee River instead. However, without Grant’s victories in Missouri, he needs to get something as a win, and is smart enough to at least know aggression might work there. Additionally, Burnside has already secured enough coastal territory to allow blockading to commence officially. Of course, his early pull out means that Union control in North Carolina’s coast isn’t going to be as strong...
[10] Pope’s victories are only going to embolden belief in McClellan’s slower tactics, which, as we’ll see, will only give the South more time to build strength.
[11] Pope really was a loudmouth and loved being in the spotlight of the media. He lied about his own exploits to get interviews OTL, and so bragging about the Union’s master plan isn’t too much of a jump. And it will have consequences.
[12] Halleck replaced McClellan OTL as well, but a few months later. TTL, the war isn’t going nearly as well despite McClellan and Pope still looking good, frustrating Lincoln further than OTL.
“The Battle of Elizabethtown was a turning point in Sherman’s career. Prior to this, he was known as a paranoid, overcomplaining lout who hated his position in Kentucky.[13] He’d been given orders to press Bowling Green into capitulation, but his frontal assault had resulted in failure. The Confederate garrison held out long enough for reinforcements to fully flank Sherman’s army, inflicting heavy casualties that would make a similar assault infeasible for some time.[14] Instead, he was given orders to try and keep as much of the state under his control as possible. To that end, when word reached his retreating army that Confederate army that hard flanked his so mercilessly had since moved north to occupy Elizabethtown, Sherman marked it his priority target.
Turning his army around, he whipped his troops into a fiery fervor. Some say this was aided by a good bit of liquid courage. Regardless, Sherman had an army that was filled with a lust for revenge, and his loosed them upon the town. The battle was more of a massacre, beginning at sundown, with the far more rambunctious Confederates having a celebration of their victories. Drunk and unprepared, the first shots fired caused a panic. The Confederates had no true formation. They only emerged, trying to fight, from the town into the surrounding area, where Sherman had encircled them. It was at this point that a small fire broke out. The Confederates came running, and Sherman showed no quarter as he opened fire on the fleeing men.
Thus a victory was put onto his belt, and as Sherman had the fire put out, some say an idea came into his mind.[15] It would take some time to grow, festering in his psyche until it matured into his own theories of war. But for now it had given a sense of accomplishment and began to drive out his encroaching depression. However, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Word of Sherman’s merciless attack and the fire that came with it circulated, morphing into a sort of dishonorable hunt, Sherman lighting a fire to smoke out his prey before he had them all killed. While inaccurate, Sherman had garnered a reputation, one that soon turned the spies he deluded about into a very real threat around him, the people of Kentucky growing scared of his wrath…
...It was in this attempt at a Northern jab that Burnside and Sherman had their first significant interaction. While Columbus held out, the assault from two fronts had greatly weakened the Confederate position. Burnside proposed a second try, this time with his men moving South and crossing the Mississippi there to allow an attack up towards Columbus. Sherman was keen on the idea, and their planning resulted in the beginnings of a lifelong friendship. Unfortunately, Burnside was needed elsewhere. His focus on Belmont and Columbus had left the rest of Missouri far less defended.
With Burnside unable to coordinate the assault, Sherman abandoned the plan for the moment. Instead, he turned towards Bowling Green, the supposed capital of Confederate Kentucky. His army was nowhere near full strength. Acting quickly, he had a detachment of cavalry remain in the region between Bowling Green and Columbus while he returned to Louisville. These riders had one job, and it didn’t include direct engagement of the enemy. Instead, it was to raid supply caravans, harass moving troops, and sabotage transit, from digging trenches in dirt roads to mangling the few rail lines nearby.
This tactic would later inspire Sherman as the war progressed. He had divided the Confederates in Kentucky, but he, unfortunately, lacked the necessary manpower to exploit that advantage. And, worse for Sherman, his complaining in times past, when he had been more on the edge of mental breakdown, meant that his requests for reinforcements and supplies remained ignored for a while longer…[16]
...McClellan entered Virginia unhappy. He knew the campaign was important, but the fact remained that he had been forced to lead it partly to get him out of Lincoln’s hair. He wrote in a letter that he thanked God that at least someone with a ‘calm head’ had taken his place in the form of Henry Halleck. Halleck was similarly slow-going in tactics, and McClellan was indeed able to put his skillful focus on the campaign before him. His enemy was Joseph Johnston, still in command of Northern Virginia for reasons unknown after his loss to Brigadier General Pope.
This meant a tactical game was afoot. Johnston was cautious. Like McClellan, he preferred to plan things carefully, but unlike McClellan he had a far superior scouting force that knew the region incredibly well.[17] This set the Union army on high alert. They were in the enemy’s turf, against a man who knew how to plan out an attack. Marching from Fort Monroe, they saw combat at Yorktown, a battle that McClellan was thankfully able to win despite the larger width of the Confederate line, due to the greater overall size of the landing Union force. Occupying Yorktown, McClellan left a solid chunk of his men to stay there as a garrison, leaving Keyes in command, hoping they might serve as rear reinforcements in case Johnston played any tricks.[18]
Some wonder what the campaign might have been like had McClellan not been in direct command from its start. He was controlling, and turned the planned rush up the peninsula into a crawl. Johnston pressed an attack only a few miles from Yorktown, and McClellan was forced to begin a retreat. His placement of Keyes as a rearguard, however, inadvertently worked out for him, as Keyes had decided to leave Yorktown in impatience, intending to follow his commander from a distance. This meant that as McClellan entered the town, furious to find it empty and quickly attempting to fortify, Johnston saw a chance to press an attack. It was a bold move rare for the man, but the situation was a strong enough advantage, and given the prize McClellan would be if captured, he took the risk. Keyes came in as if out of nowhere a few hours later, hitting Johnston’s rear and right flank.[19]
This gave McClellan a chance to lead a charge out of Yorktown that broke the army and ultimately saw Johnston be forced to surrender. Captured and humiliated, Johnston was quickly placed under arrest, and it seemed that the Union was going to win the Peninsula. Or they would have, had Lee not just arrived. Mysteriously absent for some time, he had now come to reinforce Virginia and the capital of Richmond. McClellan was struck by the aggressive Lee in late May and early June, and his hold on the Virginian peninsulas faltered. A retreat had to be ordered, though they took Johnston and many of his men with them. Leaving from Fort Monroe, it was a mixed bag. Still, the capture of Joseph Johnston was a victory, and the prowess of Robert E. Lee was known, and meant that a loss to him so soon after annihilating another Confederate army did little to curb McClellan’s fame.
The Peninsula Campaign had failed, and yet McClellan was still on the rise. Upon his return to Washington, DC he was not immediately given the position of general-in-chief. However, it would be restored to him in July of 1862 when Halleck was asked by Lincoln to lead an attack into Tennessee. Some believed the president preferred McClellan in command rather than ‘blundering into fame’ on the field, as Lincoln once said of his general.
Joseph Johnston was tried for treason and sentenced to prison. However, in September 1862 he attempted an escape alongside several other Confederate prisoners of war from a military jail with the aid of a sympathizer in the guard. He would be shot dead in the escape. Of course, the story was soon changed as it reached the South, that Johnston and his men had all been executed, a riot used as a flimsy excuse to do so.[20] This rumor soon sparked a fervor in the South; they were traitors, there was no questioning that, and now it seemed clear that the Union was out to kill them all for it. As early as October 1 there was a new poster being put up in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Charleston to try and recruit men to enlist, and it had on it a phrase that resonated in the hearts of many, and made them feel much as their forefathers had when they chose to fight the British: Join or Die.”
- The Civil War; As Told by a Northerner and a Southerner by Thomas G. Elliot and Abraham Booker
[13] Sherman was this in OTL as well. He had to take a leave of absence to clear his head of mass paranoia and severe depression. He returned in a far better headspace to become the legend we all know.
[14] Without Grant taking Columbus and Belmont, the Confederates have a strong presence in western Kentucky, while Sherman is under even more pressure to find success.
[15] A mentally unstable Sherman, drunk on victory (and just drunk), staring at burning buildings, I’m sure nothing bad will come of that.
[16] A bit of the ol’ Boy Who Cried Wolf
[17] OTL Confederate use of native (that is to say, white Virginian locals) scouts gave them a strong tactical advantage in several cases.
[18] McClellan had a bad habit of leaving men behind. He liked to plan, and so preferred to leave areas under guard as he marched forward, failing to make much use of advantages he had at his disposal or the momentum of victory. In being in command of the Peninsula from the start, what should have been a faster conquest is being slowed down and disjointed in its building of momentum.
[19] Keyes could have also just been ready to do that later if McClellan hadn’t tried to chain him to Yorktown. In theory, this battle shows the importance of building up victories and using aggressive, surprise tactics to keep hammering at the enemy. But since Keyes was lagging close behind McClellan unintentionally, yet still due to McClellan’s order to stay back, McClellan only looks more like a smart commander.
[20] This matter will be a topic of debate for historians of TTL. Furthermore, as you can see it also will have contemporary consequences.
“It had been a question since 1862 had rolled in: Where was Lee? He seemed to appear back on the front only in late May. Even then, he gave a few orders before letting generals beneath him hold pressure on McClellan while he departed. It was only in June that General Lee was truly back in command. And he had with him the Army of the Appalachians. The truth soon became evident as these men under the Pride of Virginia did battle with the Army of the Potomac under the command of General Henry Halleck at the Second Battle of Sitlington's Hill.[21]
These men were no ordinary force of rabble. They weren’t a few young fools being barked at by aging veterans. No, they were young, but a well oiled fighting force, with clear training and practiced maneuvers. As it became apparent to Halleck, Lee’s absence had been spent training and drilling the militia he had been given into a true military, an army of the Confederacy that could go blow for blow with the boys of West Point.[22] What they lacked in experience, they made up for in spirit, firmly in belief of their cause, a fact that only grew stronger when word came of General Joseph Johnston’s execution.
Many military historians blame the inactive stance of McClellan and Halleck, but the fact of the matter was that the Confederacy had managed to keep the Union from making significant headway in the South. It had become clear to the government in Richmond that the North was taking a defensive stance. Truthfully they were most emboldened by General Pope’s very public declaration of this fact in the Winter of 1861, and it was decided, with General Johnston at the time successfully holding Virginia, to give General Lee a fresh army, but to then allow him a period of time exclusively to train and drill this army, a decision Lee took on with gusto. Many have made allusions to Washington at Valley Forge, with Lee taking the boys under his command to the mountains in southwestern Virginia and making them train and train and train, giving speech after speech.
Given Lee’s discomfort with how deified he seemed to be amongst the army, many suspect he had little idea just how much his words would get to these young men. They weren’t just fresh cadets in need of morale, but scared civilians, fighting a war they barely understood. Lee’s speeches gave them direction, gave them purpose, and he was soon being called ‘Granny Lee’ and ‘Uncle Bobby’ when not present, many of his men seeing him as a father figure.[23] Most startling to Lee was at the erroneously named Battle of Arlington, when Private James Beaufort ‘Jimbo’ Tucker intentionally jumped and shoved Lee from his horse, knocking him to the ground just as a Union rifleman attempted to shoot him. Tucker was shot in the neck and shoulder, and bled profusely over Lee, who tried to ask the boy if he was alright. As recorded in Lee’s journals;
‘He looked up at me and smiled. Smiled, as blood made his uniform look British. He said to me, ‘Just glad you’s alright, uncle.’ Jimbo couldn’t have been more than seventeen. When he first joined I knew he wasn’t old enough, but I turned a blind eye to it. And then he was dead. A child jumped to his death to save me, only caring for me, calling me his kin when he had come from South Carolina. Did Washington bear this burden? Did Napoleon? To have boys look at you like a god and be so eager to give their own life for you?
‘I have watched men die before. I have even looked them in the eye. But a boy so young, all while I knew more boys were dying around me. I write this now, knowing it to be truer than ever: There is not a thing on this Earth more horrid, tragic, or vile than War. I say that as a warrior, a general, a slayer of men. May God have mercy upon us who command, for our hands are stained with the blood of friend and foe alike.’
This passage often seen by most as the beginning of Lee’s slow withdrawal from the world. Many wanted him to run for President of the Confederacy, but he would refuse time and time again…
...The Army of Appalachia struck hard at Fredericksburg,[24] with Stonewall Jackson’s Army of Northern Virginia supplemented after a grueling battle against Henry Halleck, who had again replaced McClellan as general-in-chief, the two men having become rivals. Robert E. Lee broke the stalemate that had begun to form, and turned what was an even fight into a massacre.
Bloody and swift, the battle saw few men survive. One of the few men to garner a degree of victory and strike a strong blow against Jackson was a unit under the commander of George Meade. While stille forced to retreat, Meade was promoted quickly, and given command. Pope was handed control of the Army of the Potomac after Halleck’s death at Fredericksburg.[25] McClellan, then, was once again in command of the US military. His attention went West, hoping to use Burnside, Pope, and Sherman to gain more victories to aid the war effort, siphoning men away from Meade and later from Sickles in a move that ultimately left the North ripe for Lee’s Invasion…”
- Washington of the South by Todd Jacobson
[21] This could also be called the Second Battle of McDowell. TTL as well as OTL, Stonewall was kicked from West Virginia, but here it is Halleck who is trying to follow Stonewall’s path out the Shenandoah Valley to try and press into Virginia. And here is Lee to stop him.
[22] This is, of course, a nationalist historians overproportion of the army’s capabilities, as they have become mythologized in the years since. They are, however, probably one of the best trained armies under the Confederate banner. OTL, much of the Confederacy was quickly trained and lacking in discipline. TTL, the less aggressive Union means that the Confederates invest more in creating a professional army. Certainly, their armies did gain experience and skill, but it was on the ground, and against Union armies of similarly inexperienced volunteers. This army is instead one that has drilled and drilled and drilled and trained and trained for months before being put to march.
[23] Lee had these nicknames OTL too, or a variant of them. The average age of the army was also under 30, and that’s with old veterans raising the mean too. These are young men being trained by an idol.
[24] The Battle of Fredericksburg still happens at roughly the same time, and is perhaps even worse than it was OTL thanks to Lee’s stronger army.
[25] This is a pretty rapid rise for Meade, but is due to having in more acclaim for surviving and getting in a few good licks at Fredericksburg. But we now have Pope leading the Potomac with McClellan back as general-in-chief.
“The Bonnie Blue saw a resurgence in usage as 1862 rolled in, with the Stars and Bars having been a confusing battle flag on a number of occasions. While some disliked the usage of blue, so linked to the uniforms of the Union Army, the Bonnie Blue flag held a sort of reverence for the men of Mississippi, a number of which formed a part of Lee’s Army of Appalachia. While they had their own regimental flag, they carried the Bonnie Blue as their banner into battle, and it was then subsequently used in Western Theatre by men promoted to command from under Lee, and Stonewall Jackson also then used it after one particularly embarrassing instance of firing on one of his own units whose flag had gotten turn up, the shreds looking like numerous stripes rather than two large bars.[26]
The famous battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia was also used by Jackson, and would later become the basis for the second naval jack of the Confederate Navy. Ironically, a flag looking much like the first naval jack was starting to creep into civilian centers, stitching stars onto blue sheets to create a ‘new’ Bonnie Blue to represent the larger Confederacy. While the government would, during wartime, declare a new banner bearing the Northern Virginia saltire in the canton of a white field as the national flag, it failed to gain great use as high winds made it become a flag of surrender.[27] Thus the civilian Bonnie Blue spread to the military as well.
By the war’s end, the new government proposal for a flag was rejected in favor of continued use of the updated Bonnie, but a second proposal would come that combined both proposals. From the perspective of most historians, however, the Bonnie Blue was the popular, if unofficial flag of the Confederate States from 1862 to 1866.”
- Flags of North America by Enrico Fernandez
[26] This story isn’t real, and could be apocryphal even in TTL, but it is true the Stars and Bars were incredibly confusing on the battlefield due to the similarity to the US flag, which is how battleflags like the infamous Northern Virginia saltire got so widespread in use. Here, it’s the Bonnie Blue making a comeback.
[27] This is true OTL as well. The ‘Stainless Banner’ would look like a flag of surrender, causing confusion and issues in battle. The Confederate government weren’t fans of the Bonnie Blue though, seeing Blue as a Yankee color. However, the populace and military alike are adopting it far more than they are the Stainless banner.
“Bonnie Blue Flag
1. We are a band of brothers and native to the soil
Fighting for the liberty we gained by honest toil
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars![28]
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
2. As long as the Union was faithful to her trust
Like friends and like brethren, kind were we, and just
But now, when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar
We hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
3. First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand
Then came Mississippi and took her by the hand
Next, quickly Alabama, Florida, and Georgia
All raised on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
4. Ye men of valor gather ‘round the banner of the right
Louisiana and fair Texas join us in the fight
Davis, our loved President, and Uncle Lee a general rare [29]
Now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
5. Now here's to brave Virginia, the Old Dominion State,
With the young Confederacy at last has sealed her fate,
And spurred by her example, every other state prepares
To hoist high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
6. Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise a joyous shout
For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out,
And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given,
The single star of the Bonnie Blue Flag has grown to be eleven.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
7. Dixies, one and all, are proud that's a fact
As Missouri and Oklahoma now have joined our pact
And each every soldier mans his noble station
For now that Bonnie Blue Flag flies across our nation.[30]
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
8. Then here's to our Confederacy, strong we are and brave,
Like patriots of old we'll fight, our heritage to save;
And rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer,
So cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears our sov’reign stars!"
- “Bonnie Blue Flag,” National Anthem of the Confederate States
[28] This is originally “that bears a single star.” The original Bonnie Blue has only one star. TTL, a flag of the same name has more stars, and so the line is changed for the anthem post-war. The term “sovereign stars” reflects the supposed strength of states’ rights in the Confederacy. And, to be clear, the only state right being fought over in the war was that of slavery, but in crafting a national anthem and a national mythos, states rights is the narrative TTL, as even in OTL many Southerns were uncomfortable with slavery, if believing it a necessity.
[29] This line is changed to show the love for Davis and Lee equally as founding figures. They are effectively the Jefferson and Washington of the Confederacy, one as the great Statesman and Framer of the Constitution, the other the Great General who won them the war.
[30] This verse is entirely original and gives slight spoilers for the wars end if you’re paying attention.
“War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”
- William T. Sherman
“Elizabethtown had been Sherman’s first real victory. And with his so-called ‘outlaws’ harassing Confederate supply lines between Columbus and Bowling Green, he had effectively paralyzed the growth of Southern hold in Kentucky, if only momentarily.[1] But his loses prevented him from making use of this advantage, and it frustrated Sherman to no end. Worse, the rumors concerning Elizabethtown had made many in Kentucky far more sympathetic to the Confederate cause, allowing the growth of a network of spies that made local recruitment dangerous. Naturally, Sherman was on edge, but determined to win. It struck him that his first taste of victory had come through surprise and ruthless attack on a weakened and disoriented foe.
Some decry Sherman, particularly here in the South, as a savage man, prone to violence. But Sherman did not enjoy war. Much like Lee, he often found it a horrid affair. Kentucky birthed in him not a taste for war, but a viewpoint; that wars end quickest when you are without mercy. Honor and restraint only lengthened the battle, saw more lives lost, businesses ruined, spouses separated, children fatherless. ‘If one man’s honor,’ he wrote, ‘or even a hundred, is enough to see this war ended faster, then that is a fair price. If one man need become the Devil, need damn his soul, to bring salvation to thousands, then I gladly give myself to the fire. I will be judged a monster, by God and country, but not by posterity…’[2]
...McClellan had thankfully turned some attention West, funneling men in pursuit of vainglory, hoping as well to try and draw the South towards that Theatre. The West was far less strategically important in McClellan’s mind, and he was more willing to abandon it entirely once the South made it a focus. Whatever his reason, Burnside and Sherman were just thankful that he had given them supplies.
Missouri was an odd place between the two. While the Confederates did occupy territory along the river, the state had technically been neutral, but the sustaining Confederate presence had emboldened secessionists who formally declared their joining of the Confederacy in the Summer of 1861, a fact that given Burnside a considerable headache. Like in Kentucky, the Confederates had a declared another city their capital, occupying Joplin and commanding from it before eventually making Springfield their capital after several attempts to take the city.
While some lay the blame on Burnside, the fact was that he was focused on holding the Mississippi, and spent more time trying to crack Columbus that anything else after he took Belmont.[3] When he finally turned West to deal with Joplin, he found himself bogged into battle at Mountain Grove, twice at Gainesville, losing the second time, and thrice at Springfield. This was in large part due to his opponents, General John B. Hood and PGT Beauregard. Beauregard has often been called the Sherman of the South in regards to his unrelenting tactics, but Hood was perhaps one of the most reckless commanders in the Confederacy, and maybe one of the luckiest as well. He wanted to take all of Missouri, and pushed at Burnside again and again until he took Springfield.
Then it was a chase to Belmont and the Mississippi. Burnside held, but Beauregard was now free to reinforce Kentucky, which resulted in enough pressure on Burnside that retreat seemed inevitable. And yet he did not. He held his ground, dug in his heels, had every marksman he could grab fire across the water, picking off some of Beauregard’s best men. It was at this point that Sherman’s Outlaws came in to assist Burnside. While not a large force, the arrival of a sudden cavalry charge from the rear threw the Confederates into disarray. They had to quit the field of battle, and so Burnside was able to push at Hood. Regardless, while word of Burnside’s heroism spread to the media,[4] many saw the overall situation as just more of the same on the Mississippi.
McClellan thus tasked his up-and-coming right hand man, General Pope, to assist Sherman in Kentucky as Spring came in full force in 1863. His hope was that giving the cautious Pope command of a ‘mad dog’ like Sherman would be a winning play. From the start, the two men came to hate each other. Sherman in particular loathed how hesitant Pope was to commit men to offensive movements. Certainly, spies were an issue, but to Sherman that only meant an incentive to keep active and unpredictable, let their information become useless or unintelligible when it reached Confederate ears.[5]
By April, they had made little progress, and Sherman, growing restless, left Pope’s operational base in Louisville, and marched straight to the peace-time capital of the State of Kentucky; Frankfort, which had been in Confederate hands for several weeks, the second occupation of the city, thanks to Pope’s inactivity. It is telling of how little Beauregard had wanted to commit to the city that the small garrison fled after hearing that ‘Redskin Tecumseh’ was on his way.[6] Sherman took the city peacefully, though the populace was less pleased. They were Unionists, but Sherman was a startling man, by reputation and in person. Now on his own, and writing rather coarse letters informing Pope that his ‘slug of a spine’ was free to ‘kiss a cannon,’ Sherman began making preparation for a strong-armed campaign. His target: Bowling Green…”
- The Darkest Days of the Civil War by Jeremy G. Blythe
[1] This actually makes Sherman technically more successful in Kentucky than the Union was OTL by this point, but they still hold the Mississippi and he doesn’t have the manpower to really kick them out.
[2] I’m absolutely certain nothing bad could come from this mindset at all.
[3] Burnside was a decent commander, but just not good enough to tackle the issue he’s being sent up against. However, he’s too aggressive and too poorly connected for McClellan to want him elsewhere.
[4] This is to say that people think Burnside is a hero, but think his superiors are bungling the war.
[5] Sherman’s still paranoid, but in a ‘act quick and get em before they get you’ kind of way, while Pope is paranoid in a ‘if I stay in my room nothing can hurt me’ kind of way.
[6] A new nickname not from OTL. Basically just taking his native-inspired middle name and calling him a savage.
“[Enter SICKLES, holding a comically large bundle of papers. He drops them on MEADE’s desk, who looks up unamused. When SICKLES speaks, it is without a hint of respect.]
SICKLES: Here you are, sir! Fresh reports and proposals for how to respond to the ongoing situation in the Shenandoah.
[MEADE slowing caps his pen and inkwell, looking at SICKLES, visibly annoyed]
MEADE: We both know that half of these are nonsense. Another third are set to get me killed. And all of them are merely a means of wasting my time.[7]
SICKLES: Waste your time? Meade, you’re wasting all of our time. What we both know is that YOU will NEVER be able to beat Lee.
MEADE: That is Major General Meade to you, Sickles!
SICKLES: Don’t make me laugh. Your rank and your command are only because Hooker, rest his soul, died by Lee’s hand.
MEADE: I ought to have you thrown in irons and shot for your tone.
SICKLES: But you aren’t. The other commanders are on my side, they’d turn on you.[8]
MEADE: You’re going to threaten me with treason? Those men are only ‘on your side’ because you lie through your teeth so often I’m shocked they haven’t all rotted out.
SICKLE: It isn’t treason to save the Union!
[MEADE stands]
MEADE: Save the Union? You are damn lucky I am need of strong morale, Sickles, or else you would be under arrest for insubordination. But once we beat Lee, I’m going to have you court-martialed. Unlike the cowardly shit you spit, that is no threat, Sickles. It’s a promise, unless you reign in your cowardice and greed and act like a proper soldier!
[SICKLES steps back, looking somewhat frightened]
SICKLES: I… sir, I apologize. I crossed the line. I… I have not slept well, Mea- Er, Major General. And this campaign… it seems doomed to fail.
[MEADE seems suspicious]
MEADE: You have been trying to be rid of me for some time now Sickles, and before that you criticized Hooker, and you have repeatedly been branded a schemer. I do not trust you, and do not think you can remove that with a pitiful lie like that.
SICKLES: No, sir, it is true! Ask Chamberlain, I toss, I turn, I even shout most nights. It isn’t just me, many of us are uncertain. It… it has begun to affect our work, and I apologize. I will go to the men tonight, sir, and I will tell them to have hope. That Major General Meade knows what he’s doing and that you and I have a clear understanding.
[MEADE scoffs]
MEADE: You do that, Sickles.
[MEADE returns to his work, tossing the papers SICKLES brought in to the floor. SICKLES departs, but turns and gives MEADE one last hateful glare.]
…
[The chaos increases. SICKLES looks around from horseback, seeing men running about, the sound of gun and cannonfire mixing with screams and horses to become cacophonous. The sparse trees between the ruined farmland cast sinister shadows. CHAMBERLAIN is seen in the distance leading a forward charge.]
SICKLES: God in Heaven…
UNION SOLDIER: Sir! Sir! General!
[SICKLES snaps from his trance]
SICKLES: What?!
UNION SOLDIER: Sir, what do we do?! The other men need our help, but our orders were to flank.
[SICKLES looks left, and there’s a zoom on MEADE, a horde of grey uniforms pressing on him. He falls from his horse into the Mud Run, rising to fight, clearly in need of help. SICKLES smiles. It is slow and sinister.]
SICKLES: We’re proper soldiers. We follow the Major General’s orders. Move to flank, men!
[SICKLES and his men move forward. Cut to MEADE, watching them leaving. He locks eyes with SICKLES across the battlefield. Sound fades. A singular gunshot as MEADE cries in pain.]”
- Excerpt, Brother Against Brother, dramatic anthology SA collection[9]
[7] This is an exaggeration for the sake of drama and dry humor, of course. As is most of this scene.
[8] The real reason Meade isn’t having Sickles court-martialed is because this is a movie and likely never happened at all, but makes for good conflict.
[9] “Scar, brother! Help me!” “Long live the King.” Also, SA is basically film or movie. Collection is season or series. So this is an anthology film/tv series about the Civil War
“Lee’s Invasion of the North, also known as the Harrisburg Campaign, was a rapid push into the now poorly defended Shenandoah Valley. With two strong armies in the region, Lee left Virginia is good hands with JEB Stuart trouncing Rosecrans in Tennessee and Stonewall Jackson’s Army of Northern Virginia keeping Richmond safe. With word of Lee’s mobilization, Lincoln, fearing an attack towards Washington, ordered that the Army of the Potomac march into Virginia to weaken Lee. Lincoln had previously granted command of the army to John C. Frémont in hopes of a more aggressive doctrine, hoping to use Frémont’s habit of acting on his own to Lincoln’s advantage. His insubordinance had seen Frémont removed from command of the West in favor of Pope by McClellan, but now the President had hoped Frémont might again defy McClellan’s orders. But, he didn’t. Frémont had begun to tire of Lincoln who, given the war’s lacking progress, had refused to aid the passage of laws against slavery, not wanting to damage North-South relations any further.[10] Frémont toed McClellan’s line, if only to get back at Lincoln, once writing to the President that he agreed it to be a shame when in a position to act fail to take a bold and daring stance.[11]
Lincoln had Frémont promptly removed, not caring for McClellan’s recommendations, and handed command of the army to General Joseph Hooker, who agreed to go for Lee, who was at this point already making his way to the Shenandoah. Hooker moved to engage Lee, but would not succeed. After a decisive victory at Chancellorsville that injured Hooker, Lee began his march. Hooker would succumb to infection and McClellan put General George G. Meade in command of the Army of the Potomac, who pursued Lee. Many believe McClellan preferred not to restore Frémont’s command as it stood, using the President’s anger as a chance to rid himself of a less than helpful commander...
...The Army of Appalachia was simply too tough a foe to defeat in any one stroke. Meade began a campaign of harassment, hoping to score a few smaller victories that would see Lee forced to retreat, at which time the Union could send someone further South to finish him off. Many have called this a smart strategy that was set to work rather well, and one that showed Meade to be a general not seeking glory but victory regardless of fame.[12]
Most examination of Lee’s notes at the time support Meade’s assessment of tactics. Lee’s army was able to move rapidly, and battles, victory or loss, were quick affairs that always bloodied the enemy a fair deal. However, despite the ability to march quickly and orderly and fight with efficiency, such a large and high-quality force had a great deal of resource consumption. This made Lee’s goal one of speed, not triumph. He intended to hit Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a move that he believed would startle the North into pressing for peace.[13] Meade’s constant small assault intensified Lee’s lack of resources, and he faltered on more than occasion, allowing Meade to inflict more casualties in his raids that he should have been able to...
...The Battle of Harrisburg is improperly named. The Union name is more appropriate, as the Confederate name derives more on the original goal of the battle, which was a final crushing of Meade’s army before an assault on Harrisburg itself. The Union calls it the Battle of Mud Run, for the small creek that was the site of the battle. The farms flanking the creek had the most fighting, first as Lee dug in, forcing Meade to cross the river, then after the Union was pushed back, the other side became where the Union would make an attempted stand under Sickles before retreating.
But while a Confederate victory, it was a pyrrhic one. Confederate losses were high, and every dead Union soldier was more ammunition lost, and almost all their medical supplies and food had been lost too. Lee had to retreat, so close to his prize.[14] He did so with a good amount of hesitation but reasoned that the Union would be demoralized enough. He failed, of course, to account for how much of a schemer General Sickles would prove to be.
As Lee turned South, Sickles had taken command of the Potomac after Meade’s death. Seeing that the Confederate general was heading South and not North to Harrisburg, he accurately surmised that Lee didn’t have the manpower. A runner had already gone to inform Harrisburg of the oncoming Confederates, but nothing ever came. Instead, Sickles chased Lee, keeping close to him. One a few occasions, he mimicked Meade and had a small detachment harass the Army of Appalachia. Word of this circulated and combined with how the ‘impending attack’ on Harrisburg had vanished. Some wondered if Sickles had somehow bested Lee, and the General was quite pleased to hear such rumors.
Sickles would go on to encourage them and even took credit for how his flanking attack on Lee, combined with his ‘quick thinking’ to harass Lee’s army even after a ‘strategic fallback’ at Mud Run ultimately ‘broke’ the Confederates. Sickles, as he casually pursued an enemy that had already decided to return home, was becoming known as the Man Who Beat Lee, the General who ran Uncle Bobby back home to Virginia and, as the story evolved, singlehandedly saved Harrisburg and indeed all of Pennsylvania from demise at the hands of vicious Southerners…”
- On the Eastern Theatre by Benjamin J. L. Parker
[10] So, basically with the war a near stalemate, Lincoln is holding out on trying a diplomatic solution. That means illegalizing slavery is out of the question. But the same circumstances are also breeding resentment between North and South that the Radical Republicans are capitalizing on.
[11] Frémont was notorious for being passive-aggressive as all hell, and prone to letting his own pettiness and emotions stand in the way of tactical victory. Thus, I feel this is in character for him as one of the leaders of the aforementioned empowered Radical Republicans.
[12] The accuracy of this is up for debate. However, given Meade’s fate, this is mostly aggrandizement of someone a lot of people think would have been very helpful in the war. Meade’s survival will be a common trope in TTL’s “Northern victory” alternate history.
[13] This was Lee’s goal OTL. TTL he’s moving faster than he did before.
[14] As in OTL, Lee’s eyes are bigger than his stomach, metaphorically speaking.
“So, who knows what’s special about the Battle of Bowling Green? James?”
“Well, uh, I know it’s also called something else.”
“Ha, alright, and can you give me that name? The name kind of gives away what's special about it.”
“It’s the Burning of Bowling Green.”
“Very good, James. The Burning of Bowling Green. Robby, you haven’t talked all day. Can you take a guess what that name means for the significance?”
“Er, Master Percival, I-i-i don’t really know much about th--”
“Aw, nonsense, Robby. You are probably one of the most informed people on history I know. Now c’mon, speak up. I know you know this. You’ve been quiet all day, no chance of looking like a know-all if you say this one thing.”
“Alright… It was the destruction of the city of Bowling Green by William Sherman. He attacked quickly, mostly moving at night to prevent word of his attack reaching the town, and he struck early in the morning.”
“There’s the Robby I know. With some extra information, too! Yes, Sherman struck in a surprise attack that he had been planning for some time. The city wasn’t prepared for that kind of assault. Now while Sherman had intended to hit the city hard, he had also been hoping for an easy win. Instead, he got a whole city that picked up arms, and a militia was fighting him in the streets as he tried to enter.[15] Sherman would ultimately succeed, but he wanted to make a blow against the Confederacy, and also wanted to round up the town to arrest any remaining Confederates. Now, the fire probably wasn’t intentional. It had been very dry and even a knocked over lantern could have sparked a good deal of issue.[16]
“But, you see, this was Sherman’s second sight of a fire breaking out while he was assaulting a town. At Elizabethtown, he had put out the flames. At Bowling Green, the city seemingly full of Confederate sympathizers and traitors in his eyes, he just let the fire grow as he pulled his men out. And it grew and grew, consuming much of the town as Sherman watched. The story goes that one of Sherman’s men asked what they were going to do. He replied, ‘We’re going to let this place be wiped away. And the ash will make the land fertile, and one day loyal Americans will come here to settle it anew.’ I don’t know if this part is true or just a story made up to jive with what Sherman would go on to say in his political career. Saul, why wasn’t there a large army defending the town?”
“Oh! Uh… Uh… Uh… … I don’t know.”
“Robby?”
“Beauregard was in the middle of battling General Pope at the Second Battle of Elizabethtown.”
“Yes, PGT was in the middle of an engagement when Sherman hit Bowling Green. He received word not long after winning that battle, which ironically was supposed to be the start General Pope’s meticulously planned conquest of Kentucky. Instead, Beauregard won, and Pope ended up with a leg amputated. The response to Bowling Green was incredibly negative, some even think that it could have gotten much of Kentucky to flip grey. But, as luck would have it, which I admit may be a poor phrase here, Beauregard was furious. He went after Sherman, who retreated to Frankfort. There these two titans did battle. Two unrelenting forces smashed into each other. Beaugard broke through Frankfort’s defensive, determined to win at all costs, but he miscalculated Sherman’s strength. By the time the Confederates were entering the city, they were too small a force to hold the city. Fighting spread throughout, and though Sherman retreated, Beauregard lost control of his men. They loot and ransacked, screaming for revenge for Bowling Green, and before he could stop them, they started a fire and spread it.
“Beauregard would have to flee the city, and it was destroyed, with untold civilian casualties, more than Bowling Green ever had. He had also lost so many men in the chaos, that he was a sitting duck for Sherman, who had regrouped his men. He’d intended a counter-attack to retake the city, but with it up in flames he used the advantage to ensure Beauregard couldn’t escape. PGT Beauregard died there, and so ended the Burning of Frankfort, the city in ruins by the time the battle was over and the flames were being put out. Ironically, while Kentucky hated him, the Union gained a positive view of Sherman. Harsh as he had been, he’d had the chance to explain for Elizabethtown and Bowling Green as being accidents. He claimed the hostile militia had made evacuating the latter city impossible, and so the fire grew too fast. Officially, this is the stance the United States takes on the incidents. In addition to what happened, numerous stories came of how the Confederate attack on Frankfort had seen looting and rioting and violence against the civilian populace that Sherman had never done. To the North, one small, contained fire and one accidental blaze worsened by foolishly hostile townsfolk had been responded to with a brutal sacking and intentional burning. That Beauregard, then seen as the mastermind behind this, and one of the South’s notable generals, had been killed by Sherman was hailed as settling the score.[17]
“But like I said, not in Kentucky. This sequence of events meant that both the Confederate and the Union capitals of Kentucky were gone. And to Kentucks of the time,[18] everyone was to blame. Famously, not long after these events, the Union Army of Kentucky saw mass desertion and refusal to fight, and the same thing occurred amongst the First Kentucky Brigade of the Confederacy. These soldiers went home, to a ruined state. Governor James F. Robinson had died at Frankfort, not evacuating in time due to a belief that Sherman would hold the city. He’d been captured by Confederate soldiers who executed him. Thankfully, much of the General Assembly had evacuated, and convened an emergency meeting. Former Governor Beriah Magoffin was named acting Governor. His first action was to remind President Lincoln, as well as President Davis, as his attempt to ensure Kentucky’s neutrality. This here is his letter. I want you to look at that line there, found in both letters: ‘I warned you, Mr. President, that Kentucky ought be a place of Neutrality. I warned everyone, but they did not listen, and now the mothers of Bowling Green and Frankfort both weep for their children.’[19]
“Kentucky’s General Assembly would again confirm its status as a place of neutrality. The defecting troops that arrived from both sides were deputized as part of the Kentucky State Militia; Sherman and every Confederate commander in the State were promptly told to leave…”[20]
- Master Luke Percival’s History Class, Washington Masonic Academy for Young Men
[15] Not only is Confederate hold in the state stronger, its been going on continuously in this city for longer without much incident than OTL. Sherman is aslo a man with a terrifying reputation, hence the militia.
[16] Is Sherman burning cities becoming a trope? A little. It’s for a greater and more exciting narrative, I promise, and still feasible.
[17] North-South relations are growing increasingly abysmal if you can’t tell.
[18] ‘Kentuck’ becomes the demonym of Kentucky by the time period this man is speaking, over Kentuckian. They didn’t call themselves Kentucks at that point, but they will.
[19] OTL Kentucky had tried to be a neutral state, and Magoffin had issued statements to that effect, and wanted Kentucky to act as a state to mediate between North and South. Also, a note on the Brigades; it wasn’t uncommon for some soldiers to try and leave when word came of an attack on their homes if they were close by, and the brigades from Kentucky had a pretty strong state identity compared to other units.
[20] Given the chaos, everyone does leave. Both the Union and the Confederacy recognize Kentucky as a state of their federation, with Senators in both Congresses. And with all that's happened, whoever stays looks like an aggressor and monster, flipping the state to join the other side. So everyone clears out, hoping to convince Kentucky to join the ‘winning side’ later.
“As 1863 came to a close, there was still no clear victor in the Civil War. Lee had nearly reached the capital of Pennsylvania, yes, but most saw his retreat as the work of General Daniel Edgar Sickles, leading the Union to believe it now had an answer to Lee.[21] Tennessee had been a disaster for the Union, but the Confederacy had lost some of its best commanders outside of the big three. Missouri was still split between Hood and Burnside, and Kentucky was now pursuing a position of armed neutrality.
Ironically, both nations saw themselves as being in a position of strength. The Confederacy certainly ended things on a high note; North Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida had all repelled naval occupation driving the last Union troops from the shores and poking holes in Union’s blockade. They still had no true trade partners, but their own resupply lines could now transit along their coastline. Furthermore, Senator Robert M. T. Hunter had succeeded in getting the Famine Relief and Prevention Act passed through the Confederate Congress.[22] It stipulated subsidized farming of food crops at various plantations, with a renewal of said subsidy for all plantations that maintained a certain production of food in ratio to the amount of land on that plantation. Each state also mobilized a small force of militia men tasked with inspecting plantations to ensure their compliance if they claimed to be growing food. As an added side effect, these ‘Agricultural Inspection Units’ also worked to see if plantations with absent owners were being properly run, and they suppressed a handful of slave riots,[23] as well as imprisoning several men in each state as failing to maintain the land entrusted to them.
While it would take time, the passage of this act soothed many people about the ongoing shortages, and soon enough, with crops able to be transported along much of the coast from any state to places in most need, relief was somewhat given. Food shortages remained even after the war, but a system had been created to try and solve it. Where it failed, people directed their anger not at the Confederate Congress, but at the Union, both during the war and after it…
...The Spring of 1864 was another period of paralysis. Lee was still attempting to rebuild his army, while JEB Stuart was holding Virginia as Stonewall Jackson was shifted over to holding Tennessee. Hood and Burnside remained locked in the same stalemate as before, both declining offers to leave the region after almost two years dancing around each other.[24] The South saw no need to press the war too radically as food shortages were being eased and their armies recovering. Supplies were low, yes, but a raid led by Jackson had secured a train of munitions, and it’s contents were being distributed.
McClellan once again held back, trying to devise a new plan of attack. But conscious in his mind was the fact that 1864 was an election year, and his bid had been accepted as the Democrat ticket for the election. The Copperheads, the faction of Democrats who wanted to sue for peace, believed the general would recognize the hopeless situation and agree to negotiations, especially with Pendleton as Vice President. Meanwhile, the War Democrats felt that having the most successful general in the Union in full command would aid the country in a time of war, removing Lincoln’s meddling and giving McClellan greater authority over generals known to be too reckless.[25]
Lincoln’s popularity at this time was sinking, largely due to the lack of progress in the war. It certainly felt winnable, especially after General Sickles supposedly chased Lee out of the North, but many put blame on Lincoln. It had been on his command that the Army of the Potomac under Hooker left their defensive positions, which some blamed for how Lee was able to move on towards Harrisburg in the first place.[26] Others pointed to Henry Halleck’s less than impressive run as general-in-chief, and word had gotten out that Lincoln had made that decision to spite McClellan. Combined with his controversial actions during the war as President, including the packing of the Supreme Court to approve his decisions, and Lincoln was struggling in the polls. Even those who disliked McClellan were unsure of Lincoln as a President, as it was he who continued to put the man in command while also attempting to work around him.
This, ironically, meant that it was Lincoln who needed military glory. As Spring came and passed, McClellan still had done little beyond assign Sherman to Tennessee, where he gave Stonewall Jackson a good run, but failed to secure a strong decisive victory. McClellan also finally pulled Burnside away from Missouri in April, replacing him with William Rosecrans, who had both Thomas Chamberlain and John C. Frémont under him, the latter thoroughly humiliated to find himself there. As Summer came, the only good news was on the Anaconda Plan blockade, where Generals Henry W. Slocum and Winfield Hancock succeeded in conquering ports in both North Carolina and Georgia, allowing the Union to begin halting Confederate ships along the Atlantic Coast...
...At this point, Lincoln had had it. It was nearly July, and the best McClellan had offered him were a few minor victories in Tennessee and Missouri, all while Confederates were now making inroads into both Arizona and Colorado thanks largely to the efforts of Oklahoma natives under Confederate banners,[27] with Kansas now supposedly having rumbling secession as Confederate sympathizers from other states moved there. This latter point is mostly hearsay, but it was being heard and said by the press, and that was enough for Lincoln. The nation needed more than thinking they had a man to beat Lee. They needed Lee beaten.
Lincoln went directly over McClellan’s head and gave orders to General Sickles, who had thus far been content to sit on his laurels in Maryland and West Virginia. He was given explicit instructions to march towards Virginia proper, aiming right for the heart of the beast: Richmond. He’d be expected to battle Stuart and Lee, two of the Confederacy’s best. Burnside was to aid him, striking towards Stuart to leave Lee to Sickles.
Some say Sickles truly believed he could take on Lee, while others feel he was terrified. Regardless, Sickles went from a bold talker to a cautious commander, his ‘March to Richmond’ slow and hesitant. Whatever his plans were, they were thrown a wrench by the more courageous Burnside, who made right for JEB Stuart’s last known position. They were locked in battle in the West of Virginia, and so that meant it was Sickles and Lee in the East. Sickles was able to actually get in sight of Richmond, which leads many to wonder just what Lee was doing to arrive so late. The fact of the matter was politics. Lee had grown attached to his Army of Appalachia and was trying to train up new recruits, all while bickering with President Davis over what to do in the Eastern and Western Theatres.
It had gotten so bad that Davis at one point told Lee promptly that if he wanted to control the war in its entirety, he was free to do so if he won the election of 1867.[28] Lee retorted that Davis’ increasingly meddling would ensure the war lasted that long. However, Davis was soon preoccupied by growing political criticism amongst the Confederate Congress who, thanks to breathing room they generally had, were focusing on matters beyond the war.
Regardless, Lee did finally engage Sickles directly. It ought to have become a defensive victory, but Sickles called for a retreat as soon as seemed feasible. Apologists of Sickles believe he was trying to be strategic, in fact learning from Lee in beginning a move back towards Union territory before he lost too many men and supplies. Lee was likely to follow, the Army of the Potomac being bait. Others are less forgiving of Sickles, and believe he acted with cowardice.[29]
The pair began a slow back and forth, Sickles always giving ground and Lee determined to stamp him out after seeing time and time again that he had the ability to do so if Sickles would just stay still. For almost two months, Sickles was in the Confederacy, the early weeks crawling to Richmond, but the rest was evading Lee’s desired final battle. In September, Sickles finally got word that Stuart had been subdued, if not beaten, and that Burnside was currently carving east to support him. Sickles decided to begin moving towards Washington, planning to pin Lee between his army and Burnside’s. Lee, however, broke off and went for Burnside, tired of Sickles, who arrogantly stayed on the march to the capital.
Burnside would fail to take on Lee alone and had to retreat only to face a recuperated Stuart. Lee then, spent late September and early October going back towards Sickles, who had actually made use of his time to reclaim the Peninsulas he had once helped win. With Lee on his heels, however, he made for D.C. once again. Finally, at Arlington, Lee had Sickles in his jaws. It was a massacre, Sickles failed to competently command his men, and while several units showed valor and ability on their own, they were unable to coordinate. Lee captured Sickles, who was executed; while officially it was part retaliation for Joseph Johnston, and part Sickles’ own escape attempt where he killed a man, Lee’s diaries report that Sickles had alternated between insulting him and his men and trying to offer a deal for his release, including details on fortifications in DC and West Virginia. This makes some believe that this lead to Lee having Sickles killed in a combination of anger and disgust. Arlington had taken a hard toll on Lee’s psyche and morale, so it is a very likely possibility this is true, as is the escape explanation…”
- The Civil Discourse, free EMT talk show[30]
[21] Keyword here is that they think they have a solution, not that they have one.
[22] This is actually pretty major. The bill is fake, but the idea had been thought of. OTL the CSA Congress was focused entirely on the war, slapping on temporary fixes to shortages that always failed, until there was rioting in Richmond over food. The situation threatened the war, and even then that only meant they gave it some fixes while putting off long-term solutions. TTL, the war is going far better, so now the Congress is looking to other issues and thinking more long term.
[23] Could these units every become the basis for something authoritarian and dystopic? No, certainly not!
[24] Both of these men were known for getting rather emotional and being stubborn. They want to beat the other man, badly.
[25] This is pretty much the same as OTL.
[26] Thanks to McClellan, Halleck, and Pope, the slow and steady method is being believed as the best tactic even by the public.
[27] This is my way of telling you that Oklahoma is now in full Confederate hands. They’re in a stronger position, and more natives are convinced this could be a better deal than the Union, as well as the fact that they have plantations. This will have serious impacts on Confederate relations with these natives. Meanwhile, they’re supplementing the Texans in the West.
[28] The Confederacy has 6-year presidential terms without reelection.
[29] As is the case in OTL, men like Sickles are always going to be points of debate, especially where more than one viewpoint provides a good explanation for things.
[30] Not ambulance-style EMT. TTL this stands for Electromagnetic Telegraphy. It’s a radio show.
“There you… drink up. So, you were saying about the Arlington?”
“Right! That was it. Arlington. Beautiful place.”
“The Battle of Arlington.”
“Oh, yes. Well it was bad. Really bad. Lee won, sure, but he lost a lot of guys, again. And he’d lost a bunch up in Pennsylvania too. So he was like, ‘Nah, man. I’m NOT gonna let any more of my boys die. Imma, imma, imma win this war. Fuck yeah, I am. I’m gonna win it right fucking now.’”[31]
“And that’s verbatim, huh?”
“Might as well be! So he sends a message to Richmond, and Davis, y’know he and Lee didn’t get along. But Davis had this bill he wanted passed, something about expanding the duration of war taxes, and people didn’t like it. Lee knew that, and in his letter, he said, “Ahoy, Davis, my bruv. Look, I need some fucking cannons to shoot at DC. You need someone to help your bill pass. You send me a bunch of cannons, I’ll write to Congress that I think your bill is Bonnie’s tits, yeah?’
“And Davis, he agrees. He’s all, ‘Fuck yeah man. Here’s some cannons.’ And Lee, he goes, ‘Thanks, bruv. Your bill is so awesome, Congress you should pass it.’ And it passes! Lee gets those cannons, and he’s in Arlington, man, in sight of DC, and he just starts hammering. He’s not even trying to really kill anybody. He wants t’ spook ‘em. And that’s… that’s some fucking glacial shit right there. Making everybody scurry. Sometimes he’d fire cannons, but he’d pack ‘em with paper and leaves and cloth n’ stuff so it only made a bang and didn’t do anything, just made people scared of the cannons.”
“How long was he there for?”
“He got there in early October, but he didn’t start shelling until mid-October. But he kept it up. Even when Burnside tried to get him, he kept it going. And Burnside, he actually did win. On like, November 2, he got Lee to retreat, but, y’know word can take a bit to travel and people didn’t know if he was just gonna comeback. So there’s a fucking election going on while all this is happening. People in and around DC are voting still afraid Lee’s about to come shell them again, and the rest of the country still think Lee’s at it!”
“So how did that hurt Lincoln?”
“Oh, c’mon, weren’t you listening? Actually, one second…”
“...Uhm, haha, okay? What… where are you? Hahahahahaha…”
“...Aaaaaand back. Sorry, y’know when a man’s gotta piss, he’s gotta piss. So Lincoln in the election. Look, Lincoln told Sickles to go for it, just go all Jupiter G. Douglas on Lee’s ass. Told McClellan to go suck one, and then just sent Sickles off to go FLB the guy.[32] And everyone knew that. Lincoln wanted that as a win, so people had heard that he wanted results so he sent Sickles to go get them. Instead, Sickles gets his ass stomped into the dirt, and Lee is trying to blow up the capital.
“Way I see it, Lincoln was already probably maybe gonna a lose. But after Arlington, there’s no way in a thousand years he wins that race. At all. Cause everyone was voting. Kentucky voted. West Virginia, only just a state, voted. Missouri, where Jefferson City, the capital, was an active warzone, and damn near everything south of the Missouri River was in Confederate hands? Everything north of the river, plus St. Louis, they voted.[33] Tennessee, where Sherman only had like, half of it? They voted. And they almost all voted McClellan.”
“So McClellan wins the presidency.”[34]
“Yep.”
“And do you think he was a better president for handling the war?”
“As my dad would say: Hell. Fucking. No. Because by the time he was President, McClellan was a nervous wreck. He wanted to win, needed to win, but was starting to think he couldn’t. Best thing he ever did was make Sherman general-in-chief. And then one of the worst things he did was just set Sherman loose on Virginia. Because, yknow, they repaired Frankfort. They even repaired Bowling Green. But there wasn’t nothing left in Richmond to repair after Sherman was done with it…”[35]
[31] Please feel free to picture this show as including scenes of actors in full period costume mouthing these lines.
[32] Jupiter G. Douglas is a famous fighter of TTL. FLB is military slang that caught on after a war, like FUBAR. FLB was similarly a description of how bad a situation was that got adapted by civilians to mean aggressively destroying something or completely messing something up. FLB = Fucked like-a Bitch.
[33] I’ll let you know now, big clue on Missouri’s future is found in this line.
[34] Now, OTL McClellan only won 8.93% of the Electoral votes. But he won 44.95% of the popular vote. In increasing his overall national popularity and decreasing Lincoln’s, that easily shifts a huge wave of Electoral votes in McClellan’s favor.
[35] And cue the ominous music!
[36] If you can’t tell, this TTL’s version of Drunk History. I also have a version of this show in my other TL, where it’s known as History at the Pub. I love the show, and also love what it lets me do for breaking up dry ‘textbook’ and ‘lecture’ entries in this TL by having some historian being absolutely hammered, cursing and using slang. Also, Recording 7 Collection 1 just mean Episode 7 Season 1.
“By some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land.”
- President George B. McClellan
“Many people judge President McClellan too harshly. Firstly, let us examine the situation he began his presidency with. We cannot forget that McClellan was not inaugurated until March 4, 1865. People, including some historians, mistakenly begin laying blame on McClellan on events occurring after his election. We cannot forget that Abraham Lincoln remained president until that time, and that he and McClellan were constantly at odds, and it was Lincoln who laid the foundation for the military situation by March.[1]
Ironically, by this point Lincoln and McClellan had achieved a sort of begrudging respect.[2] After Lee’s shelling of Washington, the President admitted that he had begun believing that perhaps McClellan was right, that the military situation was not as it seemed to a lawyer from Illinois. McClellan, meanwhile, spoke frankly to Lincoln that he felt the man was a better speaker, and a better politician. It was to that end that McClellan promised Lincoln a place in his administration, a move which aided in mending tensions between their political supporters.
As I had stated, McClellan made preparations for his ascension to the Presidency, and meanwhile, his general orders still faced some tampering by Lincoln. Sherman was given command of the Army of the Potomac, and he began to properly fortify several points along the Potomac, at Arlington, and in the Shenandoah Valley, hoping to prevent a land invasion.[3] McClellan had his doubts about Sherman, and was upset to hear that Lincoln had appointed him to command without his approval. However, Sherman’s immediate actions brought him and McClellan to a quick understanding; as much as Sherman was aggressive, he knew that risking the Union line was far too risky. After establishing the so-called Sherman Line, he immediately requested command of his forces be given to his trusted friend and ally General Burnside. Meanwhile, Sherman had his remaining men from his Kentucky operations brought out of Tennessee. He formed a strong force that had a prominent cavalry presence, his Outlaws again at his side.
Then, while his plans were hesitantly approved by McClellan, it was Lincoln who gave Sherman the order to take his army across the Potomac in the midst of winter. Lee was at that moment busy trying to reclaim Tennessee from Rosecrans and Custer, whose numbers were depleted by Sherman’s plans.[4] This was not Lee’s choice, but instead a decision of President Davis, another case of civilian leadership being woefully unqualified for rule in war-time. Sherman began what would be a lengthy campaign of briefly fighting and avoiding JEB Stuart, eventually forced to hunker down near the Virginia peninsulas, resupplied by the US Navy throughout the Winter. It would only be in late February that Sherman began making headway towards his objective.
As McClellan’s inauguration was being prepared, Sherman was in the process of retreating further south into North Carolina. The new President had only been in office for two weeks when word arrived of Sherman’s actions; he had managed to repel Stuart in a decisive battle, and was right at Richmond. As the Confederate government was made to evacuate, Sherman did as Lee had and shelled Richmond repeatedly. Then, he gave the civilians of the city two days to leave. After that, he had the city destroyed. Fires were lit, artillery was fired endlessly, and when all was done he had the last standing structures, including the Virginia State Capitol, blasted by cannonfire. Of the event, Sherman said, ‘So long as a foundation stands firm, anything can be rebuilt. And so I have shattered the foundation of the Southern rebel government. Even if they win, they will never recover.’[5]
Certainly, Sherman, wise as he was, would prove correct. The Confederate government, when it established its new capital after the war, built it as a fortress. A fallen capitol haunted them, and its successor would ever hold in its walls a paranoia of the same fate. But amongst contemporary Americans, the act was harsh and radical, and the blame was not laid on Sherman. It was on McClellan, for taking his mad dog off the leash. Already, a number of critics revoiced concerns of letting a military man stand as the supposedly civilian leader of the Union. But Richmond was Lincoln’s mess. He evaded blame, though thankfully the McClellan administration regained some national trust by naming Lincoln Secretary of State.
His top priority became ensuring that the French and British remained out of the civil war.[6] The South had yet to become rabidly desperate, but the fall of Richmond was impactful, and yet their successes was feared to embolden foreign powers into believing they could back a sure bet. Lincoln would be lauded for his masterful diplomacy, securing first an agreement from the British to denounce the Confederacy, and then in gaining the French to reject an official request by the Confederates to intercede on their behalf. While all of this is commendable, I wish to reiterate that Lincoln is who dropped into McClellan’s lap the situation he is so often blamed for…”
- A Re-Examination of the McClellan Administration by Walter J. Graves
[1] There is a lot of fatalism TTL, seeing the situation as being too far lost at some point. Some say that was before the election, others after the election, others not until some point after inauguration.
[2] This is a very optimistic interpretation by a very pro-McClellan historian. The election remained close and Lincoln has had reinforcement of his support thanks to anti-Southern sentiment. McClellan would be incentivized to play nice.
[3] Sherman is more defensive TTL thanks to Kentucky, but still more aggressive, and Lincoln putting him in command hurts the idea that he and McClellan buried the hatch so quickly.
[4] Oh I didn’t forget about Custer. Keep an eye on him.
[5] Sherman, and some of the public, know a loss is possible; so their mentality is to win by any means, as then even a loss means getting a few good licks of revenge if nothing else.
[6] This was always a major goal for Lincoln, but now its his main job. Its also a harder task than OTL thanks to Confederate successes.
“Now I understand that a lot of people nowadays think decently, or at least hold a mixed opinion, of George B. McClellan. That’s largely in part because of the policies of the Roosevelt Era, and the works of Late 19th Century writers like Olivander Louison, Waistill Monroe, and Walter J. Graves. But I think he was a goddamn idiot. Paranoid, pompous, and discriminatory on the basis of race and religion. I’m not alone in this thinking either. I’m a partriot, hell I served time fillibusting as a freebooter in the African Horn. But McClellan was an idiot.
Now Graves especially concocted the idea that Lincoln and the other generals had created an unwinnable situation that McClellan inherited. Except, oh yeah, McClellan had been in charge of the whole damn thing for years! His order created that situation! And I know, Lincoln gave Sherman the okay for Richmond, but if McClellan wasn’t wasting his time acting as a perfectionist, trying to build his entire White House cabinet before he was even President, he could have easily overruled Lincoln, could have taken more than a passing glance at Sherman’s plans.[7] But he didn’t. Richmond was McClellan’s mess, as people back in 1865 rightfully believed.
Now let’s look at his next big blunder that blew up later; Norton and California. Who was Joshua Norton? Anybody?”
“Some crazy guy from San Fran.”
“Ha! Mostly correct. Norton was eccentric as all hell, but not crazy. He was making a political point in his Imperial Edicts, even in calling himself Emperor of America.[8] Norton was a smart man, who wanted to make a spectacle of himself. Why? Because he had nothing left. Lost all his money investing in rice, living penniless, his ‘royal uniform’ coming from the post office. He didn’t have wealth or connection or even fame to ensure his voice was heard. So instead he tried infamy. And it worked. Once the Civil War was underway, he started getting even more active. He criticized Sherman, Beauregard, Sickles, Lincoln, Davis, and McClellan. A litany of errors from the ever botched war front made their way into his writings.[9]
That pissed McClellan off. He didn’t like the immense criticism coming his way. Norton challenged the very idea of handing the reins of a democracy to a military commander. Today we see this as normal and rational, but Norton and many other countries today don’t. He wrote that he, as Emperor, wanted to have McClellan dismissed as President, both the Democratic and Republican parties dissolved for their idiocy, and that a new election be held. Where Norton went too far was in calling upon his ‘most loyal subjects’ of San Francisco and California, to refuse to listen to the orders McClellan gave them as President.
To McClellan, that sounds like treasonous speech. Like secessionist rhetoric. Especially after he was told, and I’ll admit very much mistakenly, the Norton held large influence in San Francisco.[10] Regardless, however, his reaction was too far. McClellan ordered that his men in California, who’d just finished repelling Confederates, move in and investigate Norton as a secessionist conspirator, and to arrest him if that proved true. Naturally, the troops in California balked at this. They went to San Francisco and Norton was asked to hold his tongue to avoid trouble. Norton went on a tirade. Now, he rarely broke his ‘Emperor’ character, this guy. But for McClellan he did. His criticisms were scathing and long, culminating in Norton’s defense of his words and actions, painting McClellan as a man who would piss on the Bill of Rights, and arrest every American who dared criticise him, speak their mind, or live in a, quote, ‘fashion which the Great Commander does not deem appropriate or proper to his panicking sensibilities.’
And a lot of people thought Norton made some good points. Especially in San Francisco and eventually in California itself. Norton went from local oddity to state and even national phenomenon. This part here is the real kicker. In Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, Eureka, and Bakersfield, there were men, and one woman, who declared themselves to be Dukes, Duchess, and Counts of their area, who as lords and ladies declared that they were vassals of the Emperor. They became the Emperor’s Court, effectively a political club advocating for various reforms, criticizing the government, and generally benefiting their communities, all while pretending to be stuffy eccentric aristocrats to gain press coverage.[11]
Pretty harmless, right? Even fun.
McClellan tried to have them all arrested. And this time, the national guard didn’t just hesitate and use excuses to get out of it. They said no. Point blank. And the State of California’s government said much the same, appalled at the dismissal of state sovereignty, even if a lot of them didn’t like Norton themselves.”
“Didn’t McClellan back down?”
“Yes, but the damage was done. Especially what happened at the Emperor’s March. And I know McClellan wasn’t President then, but it would be his orders that caused that shitstorm. But let’s look back at the war. In Summer, McClellan finally took some initiative from Sherman. Sherman’s destruction of Richmond had been decried by some as cruel and excessive, and pretty much ensured that the South and North were never going to reconcile as peoples. But it was also the most powerful and potent military victory in the whole damn war. McClellan’s appointment of Sherman as general-in-chief was lauded. Here in the North, most people viewed Richmond as having deserved punishment for being the center of the vile enemy. Now Sherman went too far to a lot, but some people even saw the extra mile Sherman went to as justified by stories of the terrified people of Arlington and Washington when Lee was there shelling indiscriminately. Tit for tat, and all.
Now Sherman finally got McClellan to again let him try something bold and risky. He and McClellan both knew that the Southern defensive line had grown too strong — mostly because McClellan’s idiotic hesitation had let them build it up. So the plan was a lot like Sherman’s last one, but bigger, better, and taking a page from his buddy Burnside’s early war accomplishments.[12] Rosecrans, Burnside, Custer, Chamberlain, and Thomas were all prepared to begin a sudden aggressive attack in both Theatres. The idea was to get the Confederates believing that McClellan had finally committed to an all out assault, commanded by Sherman. But this was all a distraction. Sherman and his own men would instead board several ships from the US Navy, who would push their way to get a landing in either Georgia or Florida depending on what was easiest. Then Sherman was going to do his March From the Sea, carving up from the mostly untouched Southern heartland.[13]
He was going to split the South, destabilize it, maybe even catch their government again. Generals would be without orders, governors without advisement, supply lines severed, and the Confederate army would have no choice but to break away from their defensive line, turning the South into a brutal free for all. At least… that was the plan…”
- Dr. Matthias Guggenheim, American Political History Post-Graduate Course, Rothschild University
[7] This is a bit harsh. Given the war and the general situation, McClellan was smart to try to build his administration before the reins were handed over. He also likely expected to trust his generals and Lincoln not to lose the entire war in the time he was busy. But I felt it fair, after giving you a very excessively pro-McClellan piece from TTL, to give you an overly critical one.
[8] Joshua Norton was a former businessman who one day declared himself Emperor of America and started sending ‘edicts’ in the mail. Some people think he was crazy, but he showed a great deal of intelligence, having proposed and advocated for a bridge to Oakland long before it happened, and having rather apt criticisms of the government at the time. The town of San Francisco played along, and he was a town celebrity, and shops even took his fake money, knowing he was actually poor. When he died of disease, he was found penniless and lively in poverty despite his typical mirthful show, and the town mourned him.
[9] And boy does he have more to write about.
[10] What this means is that one of McClellan’s advisors totally blew how much sway Norton had out of proportion, making a local oddity out to be an influential rabble-rouser.
[11] “You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it.” - Alan Moore
[12] This is in reference to his invasion of North Carolina, which TTL he was pulled from early due to failures in the Western Theatre.
[13] This is the opposite of Sherman’s OTL March to the Sea, but it has the same basic idea.
“Sherman landed not far from Jacksonville. The city was seized and lightly plundered before Sherman moved on. He marched first West, defeating a local militia at the Battle of Okefenokee, before attacking Tallahassee. Again, as quickly as he had come, he was gone. He employed the tactics his Outlaws had cultivated in Kentucky, destroying telegraph lines and ditching roads, ruining railways and raiding caravans as he moved into Georgia.
For Sherman, things had been going perfectly. He was halfway through Georgia, and after a month he had yet to encounter any major opposition. There was little contact with the North, but by local accounts, Burnside and Thomas were engaging Lee and Jackson valiantly, never crushing him but whittling at his army again and again. Meanwhile General George Custer was finally winning the Western Theatre, still holding Tennessee despite Kentucky’s neutrality, and his usage of the Mississippi allowed him to start chipping into southern Missouri.
This is why General Sherman was in high spirits. He kept moving through Georgia, planning to first pierce up into Union controlled Tennessee before swinging West to try and take the Confederate capital of Montgomery. His March From the Sea had been doing wonderfully in its effect of breaking Southern morale and deteriorating the Confederate defensive line. It would be at the Battle of Cedartown that Sherman encountered an unlikely foe; Robert E. Lee. He was not supposed to be there, not with Burnside fighting him. Sherman at first believed that Burnside had succeeded in securing western Virginia, hence why Lee had retreated and instead gone for the more pressing threat.
It is for this reason that Sherman went on the offensive, and morale remained high. This had technically been expected, if not so soon. His scouts had spotted Lee getting closer, and Sherman launched an attack. The battle was short, but ultimately decisive; Lee’s men broke, retreating as the great general tried in vain to rally a charge toward Sherman’s flank. This was partially because they had not been Lee’s usual Army of Appalachia, and partially because Sherman’s reputation was such in the South, that if the Devil cursed Sherman’s name, the town would buy him a round for his courage.
With Lee retreating before too many men could be lost, Sherman pressed on. The battle depleted his supplies, and his men needed rest. They rushed on into Tennessee. There, they saw a peculiar sight. Union soldiers were sitting around in Chattanooga, which still had a Union flag above it. But Confederate troops surrounded and patrolled the town. Furthermore, all seemed peaceful. As Sherman rode closer, a messenger came informing him to report to nearby Fort Cass. Confused, the general-in-chief did so, and it was there that he was face to face with his old friend Burnside.
It was there that he learned that Burnside had been eventually beaten back by Lee, chased into Tennessee. He learned that while the offensive had been pushed, General JEB Stuart had taken his own small force and embarked on several CS Navy vessels. These ships had no issues slipping into Union waters after so many ships had been pulled to secure Sherman’s landing. Stuart had made a quick trip North, landing in Maryland, and he quickly marched upon a still recovering and practically undefended Washington, DC.[14] Sherman learned that McClellan had evacuated, learned that Stuart had taken the capital in a bloody charge. He learned that Lee had not been coming to attack him, but to deliver him a message. He learned that the Battle of Cedartown had occurred effectively after the war was over. He learned that the Union had lost.”
- Sherman by J. Edgar Thomas
[14] There are some dramatics here; Sherman had probably learned of the attempted attack on Washington earlier, but believed it would fail. It also took Stuart more than one push at DC to take it.
“Stuart’s surprise attack on Washington shouldn’t have succeeded in normal circumstances. However, McClellan had sent the men defending the capital south, hoping to create a defensive line a few miles away. These men were to fallback to the capital in they began to fail in holding the enemy. McClellan had also left the navy in the South, trying to use small landings to draw Confederate troops towards the coast and away from the main front, giving Sherman more time to march North unharassed. Stuart’s attack, which three assaults before victory, was also still costly. But he had failed to repel Sherman in the past, and held an intense anger for the fall of Richmond. His action were without Presidential approval; he acted rapidly and without confirmation from the Davis administration, seeking revenge above anything else.
But his gambit worked. Washington was taken, and as McClellan fled to Philadelphia, his Vice President George Pendleton, a Copperhead Democrat favoring peace, convinced him that surrender was the best course of action. After four years, little had been gained. McClellan caved to Pendleton’s words, and sent a message to Stuart, who then carried that message to other generals. That message was telegrammed to Georgia and then couriered to Montgomery. The Union carried it to the Virginian front and to the Western Theatre. It was a ceasefire, to be effective immediately, while the two governments met in staunchly neutral Kentucky.
The Treaty of Lexington took a week before anyone came into agreement, with President Davis storming out in protest more than once. In terms of territory, the results were as follows:
West Virginia: Recognized as a state separate from Virginia and a part of the Union.[15]
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas: Recognized as States of the Confederacy
Oklahoma: Recognized as a ‘Dependent Autonomy’ of the Confederacy.[16]
Arizona/New Mexico: The Confederate Territory of Arizona recognized south of the 34°N parallel. The Union had the remainder of the region joined into the Union New Mexico Territory.[17]
Missouri: A border was to divide the state, moving diagonally from the Mississippi River at Sulphur Springs to the Missouri River, then following the Missouri until the town of Huntsdale, at which point the border continued along the 38°54 Parallel. The territory south of this border was recognized as the Confederate State of Missouri (later renamed the State of Ozark), while the territory north of this border was recognized as the Union State of Missouri (later renamed the State of Jefferson). The Missouri River along the shared border was to be shared in usage.[18]
Kentucky: After a great deal of debate and the staunch persistence of Governor Magoffin, Kentucky was to be recognized as an independent buffer state between the Union and Confederacy. It’s Constitution was to stipulate its neutrality and to include a referendum every 10 years to decide if it was to join the Union, the Confederacy, or remain independent.[19]
There were also a number of issues concerning trade and the transference of prisoners of war. Most crucially was the Runaway Slave Clause, which stipulated that any slave that escaped to the North was to be returned to the Confederacy…”[20]
- Simply Explained: The American Civil War by Jeremy Fox
[15] This was a given. It wasn’t Confederate held at war’s end and staunchly Unionist.
[16] This means that while without a voting member in Congress, they do have a representative, have more autonomy to a state, and legal protection from an Sooner-style colonizing effort. Fun fact, Okla Humma means ‘Red People’ and was proposed as a name by Choctaw leaders in favor of Indian Territory when they wanted a state for themselves. The Confederates accept the name. They don’t want it as a state, but expansion is presently not on their mind, and there is a general gratitude to the “civilized red men” who fought (and are now in charge as slavers).
[17] The Union originally divided Arizona and New Mexico into East and West just to deny the Confederate claims on the North and South division. With Arizona lost, its back to one long territory.
[18] The protracted conflict in Missouri also sees Unionists fleeing to the northern regions and secessionists fleeing south. Keeping it one state would be difficult after such bad blood, like WV and VI.
[19] With such animosity towards both sides and over a year as effectively a sovereign nation with its own army, this solution is feasible, though clearly seen not intended to last. Kentucky will see the Union and Confederacy try to court it for years to come.
[20] Will said Clause be fully obeyed? Stay tuned to find out!
“As soon as the press got full copies of the Treaty of Lexington, the public went mad. There was protesting, debates, even rioting. The banks saw a scare erupt, creating the Panic of 1865, and George B. McClellan was suddenly in charge of a nation falling apart at its seams. That is partly hyperbolic, of course, but it was how people felt. Economic downturn, the entire South leaving, families realizing that their sons and fathers were dead for nothing, and the President ordering the arrest of any further ‘secessionists’.
Making things worse, the natives of the West realized that the United States was weak. Raids increased as the Sioux began a campaign of warfare, offering alliances to other native tribes as they took advantage of the military’s general disarray. Many men resigned, deserted, or refused to renew their service. McClellan was aware of this, but had riots in the Midwest to handle, and murmurings amongst the Mormons of Utah. Many of them began to wonder if they might be able to establish Brigham Young’s dream of a sovereign Mormon state. This triggered yet another kneejerk response from McClellan, who had his remaining men under the command of General Custer go march into Utah and intimidate them into compliance…[21]
...This strategy might have worked well if it weren’t for the growth of the Colorado War. During the Civil War, several native armies from Oklahoma marched north and aided members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes against various Colorado Militias.[22] In doing so they eventually were able to make headways into both Colorado and New Mexico, relieving Confederate troops entering Arizona. When the Civil War ended, the 1st and 2nd Oklahoma ‘Brave Brigades’ gave to the Cheyenne a large endowment of weapons and supplies. Their war dragged on, with Colorado Colonel John Chivington increasingly a general-in-chief for the colonists himself. Governor Evans of Colorado spoke passionately to General Custer when he and his men arrived in Denver on their way to Utah. He pleaded that they offer some assistance.
Custer was torn, and ultimately agreed to delay his departure two days in order to aid in an attack on a large native presence that had taken control of Fort Stephens, a small outpost in Southern Colorado constructed by Confederates. Custer bit off more than he could chew, however, and sustained losses in the battle, arrogantly believing he’d be facing savages with arrows, meeting instead cannons and rifles in the hands of skilled marksman. This meant, in short, that when Custer moved on to Utah, his numbers and supplies were far lower than he had originally set out with. His arrival angered the territory’s government, understanding it for the threat it was. He would then be forced to leave by a militia that dwarfed his.
He wrote to President McClellan that Utah was rife with secessionist traitors, and that the savages of Colorado were a horde of uncountable warriors, armed with weapons he presumed they had picked from Confederate and Union corpses.[23] This rather excessive aggrandizement created a panic in the country, and western migration effectively froze. No new settlers were coming, no men to serve as reinforcements for the militia. Attacks on railways were soon in effect, particularly after Custer attempt at a ‘negotiation’ with the Mormon militia turned into a massacre after a shot fired by a zealous young officer. Soon the Mormon and Indians were both hitting telegraph lines and railways, taking control of them in the case of the former and destroying them in the case of the latter.[24] California, Nevada, and Oregon were effectively cut-off from the rest of the United States. Naturally, the smaller two states gravitated towards the California as they tried to maintain normalcy.
The few messages that did come from the East were poorly received. As he had in Pennsylvania and Kansas when they rioted, McClellan's fears of secessionists and chaos saw him issue a state of martial law to the Western States...
...Before much of the chaos in the West went on, it was decided by several states in Congress to hold Congressional elections early, hoping to rejuvenate faith in Congress, and several Congressmen resigned after the war. Liberals blamed the slow ideals of moderates Republicans and Democrats for losing the war, while conservatives blamed the Radical Republicans for starting the war, and blamed the War Democrats for either needlessly extending it or for failing to win it. Thus, in the throughout the Summer and Autumn in 1866, Radical Republicans and Copperhead Democrats flooded into Congress, creating a heated environment just barely won by the Republicans.[25]
This is when McClellan finally attempted to deescalate the country’s situation. He called for unity between party and people, and situated Custer in Denver, keeping the Mormons contained until a proper pacification could be arranged, and in his free time Custer was allowed to defend the Colorado frontier. Martial law was rescinded from Kansas and Pennsylvania after rioting quieted down, and though it was officially maintained in the West, McClellan informed the state governments that it was a status intended to empower sitting governors to keep the peace until railways and telegraph could be repaired built in more secure territory.[26]
A final moment of light, McClellan finally saw praise for his administration. The war had been lost, and the immediate aftermath ugly, but it seemed the general at least knew how to help keep the peace. He vetoed bills from Copperheads and Radicals alike that he felt went too far, including legislation intended to abolish slavery. McClellan still believed the South would rejoin in time. If the Union pursued illegalizing slavery, he felt it would turn Southern independence from temporary to permanent. While this angered abolitionists and hardline Republicans, it was felt that stability was creeping back. And then someone did the unthinkable…”
- Post-Bellum America by Thomas MacGregor
[21] Because if Custer is good at one thing, it’s subtle uses of militarist diplomacy.
[22] The Colorado War is real, and did begin during the Civil War. The lacking success in the Western Theatre sees an Oklahoma that is taken over and rallied to the Confederate cause by deals offered by the Confederacy after several native tribes offer to form militias. This leads to Oklahoman support for the natives in Colorado.
[23] Custer was a braggart and quick to defend his errors. This feels in character for him to do as a defense of not only why he chose to delay his mission, but why he lost the fight and so many men.
[24] This is a very pro-Union historiography. Mormons might see it as forming militias to protect themselves from Confederates, Indians, and bandits, only to be threatened by the Union, and then shot at by them in ‘unprovoked’ slaughter.
[25] With such a messy war and political landscape, I don’t subscribe to the idea that a Southern victory creates such a one-sided political scene. During the war, many people just wanted peace and others wanted to win but both blamed the Republicans, others wanted to win or wanted peace but blamed the Democrats for starting it. A poor showing in a dragging war means finger pointing goes round and round; was the war pointless, if so who to blame? Could the war have been won, if so who is to be blamed for the loss?
[26] McClellan is a planner. His hand was forced and he panicked, made grave errors. But with time to think and strategize, I believe more sensible decisions would come.
“It was a quiet Winter evening. President McClellan had felt it to be a productive day. He’d met with a representative from California to discuss how to address British encroachment into the Washington Territory, then he had tea with Lincoln on bringing their parties to heel to pass economic relief bills, and he’d even visited Pendleton. He and the Vice President hadn’t been on the best of terms after McClellan blamed Pendleton for convincing him to surrender. But the man had been deathly ill, and had been useful in whipping the Copperheads to toe McClellans line.
The visit had been pleasant, though few believed Pendleton would survive the year. Lincoln had effectively become his replacement, an odd rivalry-friendship developing now that they relied on another in politics. McClellan stepped out of his carriage, looking up at the theatre. A final bit of relaxation after a long day. As he approached the entrance, someone called after him.
‘Mr. President! Mr. President, might I have a word for the papers?’
McClellan let out a small sigh. He was presently alone aside from his bodyguard Howard, though there was a crowd outside the theatre waiting for admittance, Nelly looking after May and Max, the former feeling ill and the latter too young to be left alone. The president had been asked to be accompanied by others, but he’d wanted a night to himself. Howard was a friend, but even he had agreed to keep some distance.
He turned to face the reporter. The man was a scrawny thing, red haired and clearly of Irish stock. ‘My boy, I am tired and have no desire to speak to the press.’
The Irishman smiled. ‘I understand, sir. But, honestly, I’m here to make you silent.’
The strange statement made McClellan furrow his brow. Before he could even process it, the Irishman shot him. A small gun had been hidden in his sleeve, and he fired once into the President’s gut. As the leader of the Union fell forward, a second bullet rang out, and hit him on the top of his skull.
The assassin ran, the crowd panicking. Howard made to chase him, but turned to check on the President. ‘Mr. President!’ he called, but George B. McClellan was already dead...”[27]
- Killing McClellan, a Novel by Beatrice Purdue
[27] This is a dramaticized historical fiction novel. No one can truly know what was said or what happened in full. The basic idea is the man walked up, well-dressed and allowed near the President, getting his attention before shooting him twice with a small gun before running. The author adds drama as the novel uses the assassination as a prologue to its main story of the conspiracy and manhunt before and after the killing.
“[The crowd murmurs as NORTON stand at their head, staring down CAPTAIN MONROE. The wind blows lightly. The DUCHESS of SAN DIEGO approaches from the crowd. She and NORTON whisper to each other.]
DUCHESS: What do we do, Joshua?
NORTON: We will not back down.
DUCHESS: Joshua, they have guns…
NORTON: [Speaking louder] They do have guns, but we have our rights!
[NORTON speaks in a booming voice]
NORTON: They have their bullets! We have our words! They march to a drumbeat! We march to the call of freedom! We are Americans, we are endowed by our creator with inalienable right to live as we wish, and to speak our minds! My good subjects, do not fear! For while these cowards have guns, we have our rights! Let them shoot! Let them reveal the true nature of their black hearts and vile masters!
CPT. MONROE: Norton! Surrender, you madman! Come into custody and tell your cult to disperse!
NORTON: A cult he says! Do you hear that, my subjects? He calls it crazed religion to believe in Liberty!
CPT. MONROE: I will give you to the of five to order them to leave and surrender yourself. One!
NORTON: Is violence all you know?!
CPT. MONROE: Two!
DUCHESS: Joshua…
CPT. MONROE: Three!
NORTON: We cannot be afraid. Not anymore.
CPT. MONROE: Four!
DUCHESS: I’m not afraid… But I just need to tell you I l—
NORTON: I know Louisa… I know. I love you too.
CPT. MONROE: Five! Damn it, you loon! Fire, men!
[As CAPTAIN MONROE’s cavalry sword comes down, there is a hesitation amongst the National Guard. Three men then pull the trigger. Each bullet finds a target. WALTER FREEMAN is struck in the throat. ABIGAIL PAULSON is hit in the stomach. The aged DUKE of EUREKA is hit in the chest. The other guards recoil, and they look at the three who fired. LT. DANIELS grabs the gun from one of the murderers, and hits him in the face as the protestors tend to their own.]
CPT. MONROE: What are you idiots doing?! I told you to fire!
LT. DANIELS: And we won’t!
CPT. MONROE: Daniels, know your place!
LT. DANIELS: I know my place! And it sure hell ain’t over here. It ain’t shooting people for speaking out of line!
[LT. DANIELS marches up to CAPTAIN MONROE and grabs him, detaining him]
CPT. MONROE: What are you doing? Why?! Why?!
LT. DANIELS: For freedom, sir.
[LT. DANIELS nods his head over at NORTON]
LT. DANIELS: And for the Emperor.”[28]
- Excerpt from NORTON, award-winning SA drama
[28] Another dramatic piece with fictional dialogue. The film also portrays Daniels as a fan of Norton torn between duty and beliefs. His words ‘for the Emperor’ are to convey that he always felt Norton was on the right side of the law, not that he’s a monarchist converted to a cause that second. He is mocking Monroe, who has hated Norton and took on orders to break up ‘secessionist movements’ with tyrannical gusto.
“After the assassination of President McClellan, the Union seemed to be at the edge of an abyss. His Vice President, George Pendleton, had been deathly ill for several weeks, and few expected him to make a recovery. When he was informed of McClellan’s death, he made the decision to decline the Presidency, allowing Congress to determine his successor.
Officially, the Act of 1792 was the document to refer to.[29] However, the bill only addressed the circumstances wherein both the President and Vice President were vacant positions. Technically, Pendleton had decline the Presidency, and certainly no one wanted to force it on him. However, he was still Vice President, and he refused to relinquish the position as doing so would inevitably mean a radical Republican was bound to take his place. He also held out hope for recovery and, if not, he believed whoever was chosen as President would do well to determine their own Vice President.
This meant that Congress was in an unprecedented position. The solution was contested, and certainly many worried about the backlash. But the nation needed a leader, and it was determined that said leader, though only until the November 1867 emergency election, was to be the Secretary of State. And that was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln himself had not motioned for the decision, but accepted it. He was hesitant, and rightfully so. He’d been president before, had then lost the election, and had only recently achieved any kind of recovery of his national credibility, thanks in part to McClellan’s praise of his duties. There was a hope that, with the war lost and McClellan’s presidency rocky at best, that people might accept Lincoln to serve at least temporarily. A full candidacy in the election wasn’t even discussed.
In general, the first reaction to the return of President Lincoln was mixed. But estimation of public opinion had been correct. People recognized the move as temporary, acknowledged that he was not entirely responsible for the war, nor blamed for its ultimate loss. He also represented a form of solidarity. The first criticism to hit his brief administration, however, was when he had Pendleton resign as Vice President. The man was getting sicker from stress, and Lincoln felt he might have a chance of recovery if he stopped attempting to perform duties. In the meantime, the position was left vacant, as Lincoln was personally against running for election, and had no desire to allow some other politician to saddle-ride him to national fame.[30] But this made some accuse him of monopolizing power, most not yet seeing that Lincoln, while a Republican, had increasingly more in common with the War Democrats than he did the Radical Republicans.
But Lincoln’s term was doomed from the start. Two months had elapsed, and McClellan’s killer was finally caught and identified. He’d forced a shootout, but wasn’t killed himself. His name was Peter O’Hara. Irish by descent, his family was three generations American, and he had briefly served in the war, and counted himself a Radical Republican and an abolitionist. He confessed that his actions had been motivated by McClellan’s refusal to stop slavery, his losing of the war, and his tyrannical actions in his first year and a half as President. O’Hara stated his hope was to bring a Republican presidency into existence, having known Pendleton to be at death’s door.
This shook the country. Many had been shocked by O’Hara’s motivations, but worse they now looked at Lincoln as proof that he had succeeded. Lincoln was caught in a bind. What he did next has been lauded by many historians and politicians as a mark of his good character. He, as President, ordered that O’Hara be executed swiftly and publicly by hanging, with a stipulation that while he would observe and confirm that McClellan’s murderer had been brought to justice, he would be stepping down as Acting President.
Unfortunately, many in Lincoln’s party were far less honest men. It was not that they held malice or desired the end of their country. But they saw the Copperheads as fools who would let the South become strong enough to one day absorb the Union, and saw the War Democrats as biggoted imbeciles who lost the war, while their own moderate wing simply lacked the conviction needed to do what need be done. The Radical Republicans knew they would be taking a gamble. But their plans to end slavery, to militarize the Southern border, to form economically embargo the South, and to regain control of the West would win them approval in the end, at least in their own minds.[31]
When Lincoln resigned, he had no Vice President. Congress could have ignored the Act of 1792 and crafted a new line of succession for the time being. But instead, through their slim majority in both Houses and the inability for the Democrats to come together on a single set of candidates, the Act was instead ruled to be in effect.[32] This meant that the present President Pro Tempore of the Senate was to become Acting President, while the Speaker of the House was to become his Vice President. And that meant, that quite suddenly, in May of 1867, Benjamin Wade and John C. Frémont were now the heads of the Executive Branch, men who defined the meaning of Radical Republican.[33]
The response was immediate. The public cried foul, and even then some went so far as to accuse the pair of having been involved with O’Hara in killing McClellan. After all, it would have been they who ascended to the Presidency if McClellan had died and Pendletons soon after. Or so was the claim. In truth, Frémont had only become Speaker a few days before McClellan death, even if he had a grudge with McClellan. Wade, meanwhile, had little direct malice with McClellan and had only been President Pro Tempore for a few months. But the idea had been planted, and regardless many feared the dangerous precedent it set for a killer of the President to have succeeded in his aims. Things might have calmed down, and Wade might have gotten some bills passed, had Norton’s March in California not ended in bloodshed and mutiny, the national guard not even aware of who was President, only acting on continuing orders to suppress ‘secessionist’ groups. This affair trickled East, paralyzing Wade from doing little beyond rescinding any kind of martial law, governor-directed or otherwise, from the West, and even had Custer’s raids into Utah halt…[34]
...In a comically horrid run of luck, the next event to strike the Wade Administration was proof of a conspiracy between Peter O’Hara and the Republicans. It was claimed by O’Hara’s neighbors, who had purchased his estate, that they had discovered documents that spoke of meetings with ‘prominent Radical Republicans’ who aided him in gaining not only a discreet weapon despite recent poverty, but access to the President’s private schedule and arranging a carriage for his escape. It made sense to many, especially as it was only one wrong turn and a pothole that had broken O’Hara’s carriage wheel that foiled his northward escape. In having to run on foot, he was tracked to several locations before his final capture. Had all gone well, he would have committed the perfect crime.[35]
This discovery came in July, leading some to hold suspicion over the veracity of the documents. Regardless, an investigation was spearheaded by Andrew Johnson and George Pendleton, who had made a recent recovery and who was surging forward as a possible candidate for the ‘67 election. And soon enough, Wade was being hit with a possible impeachment. The bills he had wanted to pass all died in the water, his own supporters unwilling to commit political suicide in his name. Wade’s saving grace came after a search of Frémont’s home uncovered a letter from O’Hara himself. Wade was effectively exonerated, Frémont was impeached, removed, arrested, and executed.[36] Many experts believe this may have been falsely done. The letter from O’Hara does not match the handwriting of the killer, nor did it seem written by someone with the same mannerisms. The timing is also suspect, and it was recently ruled by a panel of experts that it was a forgery. Some think the Radical Republicans wanted to make it seem one man’s plan to move blame away from the party as a whole, others look at Wade directly as the culprit, and others still believe it may have been the work of investigators wishing to create a clean narrative for the good of the country.
We may never know the truth. Regardless, Wade did nothing once free of accusations. His bill to end slavery remained dead, and the election was fast approaching. The election’s candidates reveal much about the direction of Yankee politics. The War Democrats rallied around Andrew Johnson, while the Copperheads threw it all behind George Pendleton, who had recovered and made himself a known name during the turbulent months. In the other party, the Radical Republicans tried to push Thaddeus Stevens, but he was quickly rejected by the moderates in favor of Schuyler Colfax. Colfax, however, failed to garner much national acclaim, and the Republicans, despite being united under a candidate, simply lost a wave of voters after what became known as the O’Hara Conspiracy. The election thus became anyone’s game…”[37]
- The 1867 Crisis by Todd Hunt
[29] For reference, the President’s cabinet and the Secretary of State were excluded because the Federalists refused to make Jefferson the successor to Adams or Washington, ironic as that is.
[30] Saddle-ride means to ride someone’s coattails TTL, a phrase whose current meaning originated in the US far latter than the PoD.
[31] There’s a direct demonizing here that fails to account for the lack of strong candidates, the desire to adhere to legal precedent, doubt over O’Hara’s claims, and the dangerous threats being made by the Radical Republicans’ political opponents.
[32] That even in this instance the Copperheads and War Dems can’t agree on someone to step in lends to the idea that the Radicals were low on happy outcomes and just bit the bullet and hoped for the best.
[33] Wade is President Pro Tempore here thanks to resignation, while Fremont is Speaker thanks to various elections and Radical Republican’s slight majority.
[34] Again the Radicals avoid making waves. That this was a vicious power grab should be suspect, but then so should it be suspected of being so based on reasons this author provided (ie, the bad precedent).
[35] That O’Hara’s neighbors were Democrats who hated his guts is going unmentioned here.
[36] All of that happening rapidly, almost like someone else were hoping to tidily close any loose ends and prevent the Vice President from voicing himself too much.
[37] I’m focusing a lot on Union politics for a TL based around the Confederacy, I know. But it’s important, and the next part will be about the Confederates for the most part.
“This idea, though not incorporated in the constitution, was the prevailing idea at that time. The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error.”
- Alexander Stephens on “All men are created equal.”[1]
“December 20, 1860. February 8, 1861. October 14, 1865. November 11, 1865. These three dates all have something in common. Each was in consideration for date of Dixie Independence Day. 12/20 was the day South Carolina declared secession from the United States, triggering the beginning of what would be the Confederacy. On 2/8, the Confederacy was officially declared, and this date gained the most backing during the war. Even today, it remains the date of the Confederation Festival, a celebration of unity between all our sovereign states. 10/14 was the date of the ceasefire between the Union and the Confederacy, and some saw it as the de facto date of true independence. Furthermore, it being the fourteenth was evocative of July Fourth, American Independence Day.
However, the intense celebrations that ensued on 11/11,[2] following the signing and overnight telegrams announcing the Treaty of Lexington. The South was alight with jubilation, and it would be again the following year. It was a time of joy and victory, and a number of traditions were created in this first Sovereignty Day, as we shall explore:
1. Pumpkin Cracking. A pumpkin is tossed in the air and (often inebriated) men try to crack it open with a swing of a bat. A number of farms and families have claimed to have invented this tradition, but it was documented in several places in 1866 as being done as a recreation of festivities from 1865, either done on the farm or heard about from other families.
2. Midnight Kissing. Youths ranging from 13 to 17 are blindfolded and dance in cricked around in a tight group, one arm out and held up. When the music loops, they grab the first outreached hand they feel, partners then switching and reaching out the other arm. Growing dizzy and giddy, the music finally stops, blindfolds come off and partners must kiss, regardless of who it is. There is great hilarity when brothers bemoan their luck and have to share a fraternal peck, while others cheer as the fiddleplayer expertly waited until two lovebirds were paired. This event was documented as being invented on Thomas Abernathy’s farm in Georgia.
3. Powder Shoot. Other nations celebrate with fireworks, but by 11/11, the South had grown tired of cannons thundering. Instead, small sacks of colored powder are hurled into the sky with a sling, catapult, or arm, and a marksmen shoots to make it explode into a delightful cloud. This was invented at Fort Matthias on the Kentucky border, where soldiers used bags of dried spices, flour, and dirt.[3]
4. Star-racing: Negro slaves were always noted as having strong legs and a fast gait. Strong slaves ran along the perimeter of a large field, carrying small white stars. The finish line has a blue blanket that the slave would slap their star on, the ‘first star to hit the Bonnie Blue.’ After Abolition, the tradition remains, often done first by children and then by adults of any race. First recorded on Daniel Dew’s plantation, and the following year he invited neighbors.”[4]
- “National Holidays,” by Nathan Farbrook, in the Oklahoma Herald
[1] This is a real quote. Real stand up act, that Stephens.
[2] I was leaning towards one of the two, but decided to do something a bit more original.
[3] This may sound contradictory, but firing a rifle was a normal peacetime occurrence. Cannons were not.
[4] Sovereignty Day is usually celebrated as a huge community festival outside of the more disconnected areas. Like a huge county fair with all these events.
“A young nation has a lot of things to consider upon independence. For the Confederacy, three things dominated the agenda: debt, agriculture, and bureaucracy.
Let’s start at the top and work our way down. Now, the Confederate States Congress was empowered to collect taxes for the payment of debts. The problem? The debtors weren’t a foreign power or bank, but instead the states and citizens. The common historiography of the Civil War is that it was easy. The Confederacy gained time to build troops thanks to the recognized tentativeness of the Northern armies, and soon the defensive line became a shield to hold up until the North broke down. But a more modern and increasingly accepted perspective is that the war was a game of poker. Both sides had no understanding of the other’s resources in totality. Certain moves elicited certain reaction, both sides trying to find tells.
We have to understand that the commanders on either side were West Point alumni and veterans of the Mexican-American War. They shared similar ideas of warfare, rooted in Napoleonic thought. Many innovations that military historians point to were outgrowths of this thinking, such as the trenches in Tennessee.[5] Both North and South were scared, playing against men who knew all their tricks. The difference between them was that the Confederates took risks faster than the Union. Had Sherman been allowed to take his bold actions sooner, the South may have fallen. But the gambles the South made were expensive. Lee’s Army of Appalachia had cost a fortune, and every new soldier meant another check to cut after the war. And then there was the famine relief, which owed farmers subsidies for growing corn. Thus we come to the debt.
The government owed soldiers their pay, they owed States for equipment, and they owed planters. Printing bills was considered, and we saw inflation rise dramatically post-war. But everyone knew this wasn’t a lasting solution. Taxes were also right out; taxing the soldiers and farmers to pay them would’ve caused absolute anarchy. The next solution was found in a war time slogan: King Cotton. Cotton exports were resumed to the world. Initially, sale was at a small loss, a ploy by the new Secretary of the Treasury John H. Reagan. Reagan corresponded with the British and French, and then reached out to the German Powers and the Russians. While the latter rejected his offer, the other world powers agreed to recognize the Confederacy rather quickly in exchange for cheap cotton. While this created a rift for the United States, the US had already been made to recognize the Confederacy.
Once trade in cotton was growing, Reagan began to raise the prices, just so slightly. At the same time, loans were now on offer by various countries. Using loans and US reparations, the planters were paid their subsidies, while the soldiers were given a portion of their pay with a compromise to either be paid in installments or to be supplemented by grain and cotton, or land in Arizona. The cotton trade, meanwhile, would help to raise money to pay those loans off.[6] Of course, taxes and inflation were both going on, but without these ideas they’d have been much worse.
“So next, agriculture. Someone needs to grow that cotton. But famine was still feared. The corn subsidy was lessened, but not ended. It was still believed that corn needed to be grown heavily, alongside wheat, to keep the nation fed and stable. Plus, cheap local goods would help ensure a positive trade deficit. This is the predecessor to Jackson’s Stronghold System. But cotton is still the cash crop. And so slavery was further cemented as necessity for Southern existence. Rewards for fulfilling cotton quotas were offered while laws on the treatment of slaves were encouraged to be repealed. Productivity on plantations soon rises by the next harvest.
So that takes us to bureaucracy. Hm. Maybe I should have started with this one. You see, the Confederate Constitution was lauded for its defense of state authority and property rights. But the war had demanded the approval of a number of emergency powers. Some thought they needed to be extended for several more years. Others wanted it ended immediately, and it was on this that Davis and Stephens would pull apart as enemies. Davis had come to believe that the emergency powers granted the government were just that; powers to handle any emergency. He wanted to build a large executive bureaucracy that would be powerless when not granted authority by the Congress, but nevertheless maintained and extant.
Stephens opposed this. He had become wary of the general trend of big government in the Confederacy. He took up the autonomy of states as a cause to champion. The emergency bureaucracy was unneeded and only a means of tempting the government with an easy use of powers it shouldn’t have. By this point, Davis was only in the second half of his presidency, and he had made numerous enemies. In the war, his own politicking and consolidation of power had drawn harsh criticism already. Despite his status as a ‘Founding Father,’ others of the same rank and seniority were ready and willing to toss out words like ‘tyrant’ and ‘King Jeff’.[7]
After a bit of debate, Davis finally decided this wasn’t the hill he planned to die on. Stephens and his faction won out. Now who was in that faction? He worked close with Robert Toombs, an old friend, and fellow-Georgian, and with Robert M.T. Hunter, a Virginian, both of whom were previously Secretary of State and loud critics of Davis. Already, looking down the syllabus, we can see the rifts in the Democratic Party. The trio was appealing to a rather grand and romanticized idea of what the Confederacy could be; decentralized, agrarian, and with a government incapable of even considering the infringement of property.
Davis, who was always a rather emotional man, began to take their attacks personally. He soon saw himself as a defender of the Confederacy, standing between it and anarchy. This quote from him, in response to if he supported the states, sums up his evolving stance; ‘The rights of states, yes. Their infidelity, never.’ He’d go on to compare the confederal government to a father and states as sons; let them grow, let them learn, and support their endeavors. But punish their sins and keep them righteous. This idea, of course, completely clashed with Stephens’ rhetoric. They drifted further apart and grew bitter. Davis called him a snake in his tent, and a wolf in his hen house.
And Stephens grew dynamic. Rather than let the President pro tempore, who was R.M.T. Hunter, his ally, Stephens, as Vice President, sat in on the Senate. He embraced his role as presiding officer and head of the Senate, taking a dynamic stance to help kill bills that didn’t fit with his vision. This would start to distinguish the CS government from the US quite radically.[8] Davis, meanwhile, had effectively lost control of his government. He gave up the emergency bureaucracy, and now focused on the matters of debt and economics, mostly because it was the only thing he could get past Stephens…”
- Michael Warren, lecture on early Confederate History
[5] Tennessee was a major area of contestment in the later war ITTL. The fieldworks grew more elaborate and usage of things like gatling guns start to increase until it starts looking like proper trench warfare.
[6] Tying your entire economic stability plan to a single crop. What could go wrong?
[7] Davis and Stephens were often at odds. As you’ll see, this was provide the basis for the early divisions in Confederate politics.
[8] In theory any Vice President of the US could do this, but they don’t as not to cause tensions between the Executive and the Legislative Branches. But this is Stephens using his powers to help weaken the Executive, but inadvertently has set a precedent that strengthens the presidency.
“The CS Flag Referendums of 1865 and 1866 has often been denigrated as a mere quirk. A small affair the represented little beyond a cosmetic choice by a government that was settling all the minor details of being a proper state. But this view neglects to see how the referendum serves as a microcosm of contemporary issues and as a predictor of future issues amongst Dixie society…
...The first referendum reflect the aristocratic nature of the Confederacy and its politics. The government did not enjoy the Bonnie Blue, not the least because its hue evoked a connection to the blue of Union soldiers.[9] Stripes, however, were discounted due to the memorable confusion the Stars and Bars had created on the battle-field. Thus, when recalling the aforementioned star discussion and the ratio debate, we see that the concerns of warfare and diplomacy were widely on the mind. The Stainless Banner was cut from the referendum entirely due to angry remarks of Lee, despite Senator King’s impassioned defense of presenting the Confederacy as a nation of ‘morality, Whiteness, and peace.’
The flag options then had their parameters: (1) Minimize the usage of ‘Yankee Blue,’ (2) Avoid Union-esque Stripes, (3) Avoid confusion for any other flag, (4) To avoid a 10:19 ratio, (5) To display all State Stars equally…
The Flag Referendum of 1865 had the following options:
1. The Blood-Stained Banner: Bearing a 13 star all-red Southern Cross in the canton on a field of white, at a 2:1 ratio, with a red horizontal bar across the bottom.[10]
2. The Bonnie Burgundy: The Bonnie Blue, with 13 Stars at 3:2 ratio, blue rendered a dark red.
3. The Blood Stars: A white field in 2:1 ratio with 13 red stars in a circle in the canton, and a vertical red bar at the fly.
4. None of the Above
Each option was paired with a depiction of the flag design, which I have rendered in color here. The government was at the time still using the Stainless Banner and the Old Blood-Stained. The lack of any blue again shows the dominance of the government’s aversion to the color, and all the designs were made by Congressional committee. Each tells a different story about Congress...
...The Blood-Stained’s committee was chaired by C. J. Villeré, a proponent of the original Stainless. Under the belief that the blue on the Southern Cross would hurt their chances of victory in the referendum, the saltire was made red. The bottom stripe helped to ensure the surrender flag debacle would not be repeated. But there was almost no consideration of incorporating the wishes of the general public. They took the use of the Bonnie Blue as a sign of discontent with the current flag, not desire for that flag to replace it...
...The Bonnie Burgundy’s committee was chaired by Robert Toombs, who partly made the flag out of a lacking desire to waste much time on the matter. However, he was a populist who recognized that the Bonnie Blue was simply the most popular flag, flown at plantations across the South. Yankee Blue was still intolerable for a design within the committee, but the general design was kept with a change of color…
...The Blood Stars were designed by Alexander Bess, a junior Congressman who submitted the design on his own, but it was supported by President Davis himself, who believed it a brilliant design that incorporated all the rules outlined by the Congressional debates, and straddling the line between the present Stainless Banner and the star-centric dichromatic design of the Bonnie Blue. This in turn mirrored Davis’ attempt to rally against Stephens’ populism while still trying to be dynamic and forward thinking…
...With this overwhelming rejection that sparked far more backlash than anyone could have imagined, the Referendum of 1866 altered the rules. Blue was back and permitted, especially more vibrant and dynamic shades than the dark and dull blue of the Union flag. Another three proposals were submitted, each different than the last. The new flag options then had their new parameters: (1) Make usage of ‘Bonnie Blue’ as a color, (2) Avoid Union-esque Stripes, (3) Avoid confusion for any other flag, (4) To avoid a 10:19 ratio…
The Flag Referendum of 1866 had the following options:
1. The Southern Cross: Bearing a 13 star Rebel Red and Bonnie Blue Southern Cross that occupies ⅔ of the flag, at a 3:2 ratio, with a thin white vertical stripe and a Rebel Red fly occupying the final third.
2. The Blood-Stained Bonnie Blue: The Bonnie Blue, with 13 Stars in a circle, occupying ⅔ of the flag, at a 3:2 ratio, with a thin white vertical stripe and a Rebel Red fly occupying the final third.
3. The Bonnie Stars: A white field in 2:1 ratio with 13 white stars in a circle in a Bonnie Blue canton, and a vertical Rebel Red stripe at the fly.
4. None of the Above…
...Even this was a close win. Many still wanted just the plain Bonnie Blue, but the Blood-Stained Bonnie drew people in, garnering it enough votes to defeat None of the Above with a 2% plurality. The win meant it was official, and the moment the tally came in, the new flag was hauled up the flagpole in Montgomery…”
- “The Political Relevance of the Flag Referendums of 1865 and 1866” by Richard Parker, Undergraduate thesis, Georgia State Institute of Humanities
[9] This dislike of blue was prevalent in OTL as well, when designing the Confederate flag.
[10] This was a proposal to fix the Stainless Banner in OTL. TTL, they never got around to making a new flag, what with the total loss of Richmond and Sherman stomping around in ‘64 and ‘65. All the generals were already using the Bonnie Blue alongside their regimental flags.
“‘Its gotta have a moat, and its gotta have walls. A castle for King Cotton and his fair Queen Dixie. A fortress for our liberty.’ These words were spoken by President Jefferson Davis when he gathered the nation’s best architects to Montgomery. They entered the First Confederate Capitol, and Davis sat them down with a plethora of maps and land surveys. ‘Here, gentlemen,’ he said, ‘Here is where it shall be. And it will be your responsibility to design it.’
The men were more than a little uncertain. The task was not only difficult but as that first day went on, they realized just how much forethought they’d need to have when beginning the layout. How much space would be needed? Where should everything go? What of the shape? How far would the unwalled regions extend? What would go there as opposed to within the walls? What non-essentials deserved to fill the space?
But soon, it became an exciting challenge. Thompson, as described, was an innovator, who began to invigorate the others with his enthusiasm. It was contagious, as MacLaughlin put it. They soon fully understood just what an opportunity to have. To build the next great capital city. A city for all the world to see, to serve as a home for the government for generations to come…
...At last they came to an agreement on the layout. As in all other drafts, the Capitol was at the center of everything, a building that looked like the Pantheon of Rome, but massive, and flanked by two, long adjoined buildings; two levels of basement for clerical officers, the western and eastern wings for a Congressmen’s offices, a lower floor for public assembly, a second floor for the Lower House and Upper House to meet separate rooms, and a third floor opened for all of Congress to meet in, with double the seating needed in each legislative room to allow for the optimistic expansion of the country. With its position in the city, the common name for the Capitol appeared: Confederate Centre...
...The northern fifth of the city held all the buildings for the Executive departments, and at the center of that fifth was the Presidential Manor, commonly known as Rebel Manor. It was always meant to look like a plantation home, being two stories with a large inner-courtyard, and plenty of greenery surrounding it…
...This south-eastern fifth was for the Judiciary, the Supreme Court’s ‘Hall of Justice’ at it center. The name of course derives from the lengthy straight building that leads to the grand circular hall that holds the Court’s main chamber. This was not part of the original design. The main circular Courthouse was designed and built to have a long lawn that was to have numerous statues. Like everything else, the lawn ran towards the center of the city. During construction, Chief Justice Magrath felt that the proposed statues didn’t look right and asked they be redesigned. In the meantime, he also requested an extension to the building, along the lawn, for offices and clerks, removing any need for tedious travel between buildings.
This extension would then be extended yet again soon after, and the statues were never approved. Within two years, as the Supreme Court garnered more power and responsibilities and a more extensive bureaucracy, the building was extended again, until at last we have the long corridor of offices preceding the courthouse, hence its name the ‘Hall of Justice’. Statues were finally put in the place at the end of the now occupied lawn, just before the Hall’s entrance. One a winged blind woman being Lady Justice, holding a sword and scales, and the other being a blind man holding a shield and scales, known commonly as Lord Justice. One to represent the punishment of the wicked (the Lady) and the other the protection of the innocent. Interestingly, while his hair seems like that of George Washington and while his face is partially obscured by cloth around his eyes, the model for Lord Justice seems to have been African or of mixed race, though this an admittedly very modern speculation based on revisionism…
...Thus, while controversial, the situation of the Army and Navy’s headquarters to be in its own fifth, along with numerous lodgings for the Capital Guard, helped to round out the city. Rather than one central building, the Military Fifth holds a massive statue of George Washington on horseback, saber raised into the air, with the waters of the Delaware flowing at his horse’s feet in the form of the fountain at the base. This leads us into the Garden Fifth, the entire region of the city dedicated to parks, fountains, and in the future a number of small zoos and aquariums…
He would not get to properly move in and live in the city, but Jefferson Davis did have the privilege to officially declare construction complete and to call into order the first session of Congress in Confederate Centre. In a large celebration, the city was declared complete and recognized as the new capital, with Davis laying one last, final, golden brick into the archway of the Dixie Capital Wall. Equipped with a moat, steel drawbridges, a massive and thick city wall, and well-armed bastions, at last the Confederacy had its great, impenetrable city, within the newly declared Capital Enclave: Eden, C.E.”[11][12]
- Building Eden by Jessica L. Hawthorne
[11] This is the fortress capital alluded to in the Burning of Richmond. Eden is a large star-shaped city with a surrounding ‘civilian’ town around it, with the government region having a wall, a moat, and cannons. It is located roughly in the area of OTL Birmingham, which was established after the Civil War in the 1870s.
[12] To clarify, it is called an enclave of the confederal government to denote that it is a region of civilization that stands out from the state of Alabama around it.
“The Election of 1867 was being watched carefully. It was the first peacetime election in Confederate history, and the first to be held with all states under non-provisional governments. Davis had made it clear he was through with the political scene,[13] though he was, of course, ineligible for reelection. However, some had tried to argue on his behalf that his election had been a mere confirmation of the provisional government, and as such he might be able to be seen as having not yet served a full non-provisional term.
But Davis silenced these voices immediately. He was done, and tired at that. The main group campaigning was known by everyone, even before the campaign had been officially declared; Alexander Stephens was running, with Robert Toombs as his running mate.[14] The pair were supposed to be unbeatable, especially once Toombs made a public declaration of his support for the early Temperance Movement, which had grown thanks to the alcoholism rampant amongst Southern veterans. He did not go so far as to say he’d illegalize drinking, but his approval acted to validate that he was no longer an alcoholic.
Few seemed properly poised to oppose them. Davis, for his part, certainly did, but had not yet found anyone to support. The dominance of Stephens and Toombs would seen John C. Breckenridge depart for Kentucky, where he would go on to become President and Chancellor.[15] But soon enough, a contender would emerge, driven by a dream many called prophetic, even to this day. A man hailed and hated in equal parts after his time, and one of the few Planterate leaders to be respected in the Proletariate: Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson…
...He claimed this had occurred after a particularly warm day in the field, in which he had become exhausted after rushing to stop an overly angry farmhand from beating a slave. Jackson had needed a rest, and he claimed that the moment his eyes shut, the following was seen:
‘Before me was a field. I saw in it cotton, ripe for picking, the stalks blowing in a gentle breeze. Above, there was only shadow. I walked forward, naked as a babe, and my hands caressed the cotton as I meandered toward the only stars in the sky, a ring of 13, nearly as bright as the sun. I heard in the distance the sound of thunder and gunfire, nigh inseparable from one another, the clap of sound coming in such rapid succession, it would require the whole of an arsenal, and every bolt at God’s command to be maintained. The stars began to grow dim, and my fingers grew wet. I stumbled, something catching my foot. I looked down, to see the my fingers stained red, and to see in the field around me a litany of corpses. All were emaciated, worked to the bone, bloody with shackles of gold that ate into their wrists, ankles, and necks. And I knew these pitiful dead, who were of all colors. I saw negroes of my flock and my plantation, and I knew that the bodies beside them were their children and their children’s children. But I saw red men too, and I knew them to be the kin and descendants of General Drew. And mixed amongst all of these were white men and women, and I saw my own family amongst them. All wore the same chains, bore the same wounds.
All around me, the cotton was red with blood.
As I fell back, I looked up to those fading stars. And now I could see who was sapping their brilliance, gorging the light like a calf takes milk. Two demons, who sneered at me, flesh pale and blue. One was fat and vulgar, and liquor oozed from his lips like puss from a wound. The other was thin and gnarled, but its face and manner was like a child, petulant and angry, wailing though I heard no sound. As the stars died, I heard a voice, neither man nor woman nor white nor black, speak to me the words of Ephesians 6:12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Then the stars went out, and all was dark, but I felt water pool up around me. But the warmth and thickness of this rising tide made me know it was blood, even before it consumed me and flooded my mouth.’
After this dream, Jackson claimed he awoke with a start, and meditated on its meaning. He understood it to be a warning, that if the wrong man took control of the South, ruin and death would follow. It was only once he read an editorial in the paper about Stephens and Toombs that he felt he understood. Toombs had been a drunkard, even if he claimed sobriety. And Stephens was, in that editorial, criticized as an overgrown child, having lost his parents as a boy and having never had a wife or son to temper him. Jackson saw then, that these men were the demons of his dream, and he readied himself for what he felt was a holy duty…”[16]
- The Stonewall Presidency by Jupiter J. Spartacus
[13] Davis hated being President, and was somewhat reluctant when he found out he’d been selected by the CS provisional Congress. His wife described him as looking upset and troubled when he received the letter confirming he was President.
[14] Even before he claimed sobriety, Toombs was nearly CS President, having been the option if Davis declined the position, as well as just being the pick for those who disliked Davis at the time.
[15] Breckenridge was running against Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in the 1860 election of OTL and TTL. As in OTL, he commanded the Kentucky Orphan Brigade, and though for less time, he was still close with them. Given that numerous troops who remember him fondly have entered the government, he has little trouble assimilating into Kentucky, first becoming Chancellor (think Prime Minister) and then President. He was upset OTL at not being considered for the office of President of the CS, given how he was the South’s candidate in the US election.
[16] I’m a bit of a Stonewall apologist, I’ll admit. Though not too bad of one, don’t worry, his faults will be apparent. As for the dream, it’s possible it was to some capacity real, but likely Jackson added more and more detail with each retelling to help it fit his ambitions, and may have begun to remember the dream as having such details.
“Tell Stephens that Brutus, Judas, and I will set a spot at our table for him.”
- Jefferson Davis, last words to his friends
“I never wanted any part of this…”
- Jefferson Davis, last words to Franklin Pierce
“Let me get this all written down…
On this side, we’ll put the Democrats, and on this side, the Republicans. They can be put into two factions each. The Copperheads are up here, and the War Democrats are down here. The Radicals are up here, and the Moderate Republicans are down here.”
D
R
Copperheads - George Pendleton
Radical Republicans - Thaddeus Stephens
War Democrats - Andrew Johnson
Moderates - Schuyler Colfax
“Now my placement is intentional. Anyone know why?”
“‘Sa way t’ ‘arties formed later, innit?”
“Can I get that answers from someone willing to enunciate with coherence? Oliver.”
“He said, ‘It’s the way the parties formed later, isn’t it?’”[1]
“‘Ucking prick…”
“Thank you, Oliver. That is correct. But we’ll get back to that in a second. Each faction had it’s own ideal candidate for the election. The Copperheads had good old Pendleton, who you should know well enough. Strengths? A nationally known name, experience in the executive branch, evaded all blame for any of McClellan’s scandals. Weaknesses? Well… He’s Pendleton. Weak-willed but stubborn, proud but cowardly.[2]
The War Democrats would put up Andrew Johnson, who was at this time widely known as the stubborn Tennessee Senator who had bravely gone to battle against the South. Strengths? A keen debater, respected for his service and ideals. Weaknesses? A southerner, too aggressive in his rhetoric against his opponents.[3] People wanted someone who could unite, not divide.
On the other side of the aisle we have Thaddeus Stephens for the Radical Republicans. Strengths? Dedicated to his values, skilled statesman. Weaknesses? He was too close to the O’Hara Conspiracy, having little national goodwill for him or his allies.
And then we have the Moderate Republicans, who put forward Schuyler Colfax. Strengths? One of the founders of the Republican Party, a staunch abolitionist, but a friendly face to everyone. And to boot a story had circulated during the demonization of John C. Frémont about Colfax giving Frémont and other generals sound tactical advice that had been ignored. That made Schuyler here sound like a guy who know how to lead and who had been at odds with the O’Hara Conspirators for years. Weaknesses? Well the biggest is that despite being so friendly that people called him ‘Smiler’, he didn’t have a presence, couldn’t command a room, and debates between him and Stephens usually went nowhere, even though Colfax had become less radical and more in-line with the more popular tenets of his party. And after a debate between him and Johnson, Colfax was described by a newspaper as ‘emasculated.’”
“Oof…”
“Oof is right. Now after a while, Thaddeus Stephens backed off. He and Colfax had an understanding, because for a lot of years Colfax was seen as a Radical. Johnson, of course, refused to bow out of the race against Pendleton. You might think at first that this would split the Democrat vote. But you’d be wrong. The Democrats were affiliated with the South, but McClellan had been one. The Republicans were the party of Lincoln and Unionism, but not only had they lost the war, but a prominent member had just been executed for being involved in a conspiracy that murdered the president.[4]
There was no faith in party. People looked for candidates they could agree with, looked for people who could entice their votes. Colfax couldn’t draw in enough people back after the O’Hara Conspiracy, and Johnson’s aggression spooked recently defecting Republicans. And so the winner was…”
- Dr. Thomas Brooks, Union Political History course, Rothschild University
[1] This will be explained later. But if it wasn’t clear, the implication is that future parties will see Copperheads and Radicals working together and War Dems and Moderates working together. How? Why? Well you’ll just have to wait.
[2] The speaker is clearly biased against Pendleton and teaching his students a standard narrative.
[3] Johnson was infamous for his aggressive debate style and trying to debate nearly anyone. Often he was more focused on ‘winning’ against a perceived opponent rather than doing the smartest thing politically.
[4] There is no evidence by this point that Frémont was framed. Also, the Republicans aren’t a dead party because they completely disavowed the O’Hara Conspiracy by acting so quickly and harshly.
“It must be understood just how divided the nation was. Looking at the electoral map, it is easy to just dismiss Pendleton’s victory as any kind of landslide. By the map, Johnson only won 3 states of the 25 states, and yet he garnered over a quarter of the popular vote.[5] It was a close race in a number of regions, and not just between both Democratic candidates, but between all three men. As scandalous and disastrous as appointing Wade and Frémont to the executive branch had been, only for Frémont to be proven a conspirator and effective murderer, Colfax represented the face of the Republicans. A founder of the party, likeable and honest, and having disavowed his peers.
This is very important when reviewing the Pendleton presidency. While he has often been derided by historians, he was a smart and intelligent politician, who was very much aware of the fact that his nation had not granted him any kind of mandate to act. Pendleton was a Democrat of the Old Jacksonian school, of reaching out to masses and being a tool for their will.[6] To be without true popular support was a blow to how he believed he should govern, and explains many of the failures of his administration. I contend that while there was failure, Pendleton’s actions were not those of a coward, a cretin, or an idiot, but a man bound to his ideals and struggling against a situation that could never be won, just lost the least…
…This brings us to the first major act of Pendleton’s presidency. The position of Secretary of State was given to Clement Vallandigham, a man court martialed and exiled to the Confederacy for opposing the war.[7] Vallandigham began to reach out to the Confederacy, creating an embassy in Philadelphia and one being built in kind in Eden.[8] Unfortunately, this was not the lauded act of a peacemaker Pendleton intended. Vallandigham was a divisive figure, and so Pendleton managed to drive a greater wedge between himself and the War Democrats, as they had hoped Pendleton would make overtures rather hand the reins of diplomacy to the most traitorous Copperhead known.
Certainly Pendleton should have considered offering the position to a War Democrat, a neutral figure, or even a Republican as a show of solidarity. From Pendleton’s own letters, we know he did consider these things. However, he believed that after first the election of McClellan and then himself, as well as a general “malaise of futility concerning the War With the South,” the President believed that the last thing the general will desired was tension with their new southern neighbor. Where he miscalculated was presuming that malaise over the war was equivalent with desiring reconciliation.[9]
There was a deeper wound, a wider divide between North and South than Pendleton realized. Perhaps he could be called naïve, but he was aware that he “may have misplaced optimism over the reconciliation of Americans.” This is why to call him an imbecile is false. Pendleton was self-aware, but believed his morals could be made real with diligence and commitment…
…With these bills it is clear that Pendleton had many high points of his presidency that simply took too long to bear fruit for him to receive due credit. The cornerstone of the modern role of the veteran is the Grand Army of the Union, and it was Pendleton who took the growing organization and grew it into a state-backed entity.[10] And it was Pendleton who approved and fostered the Union Postal Express Service (UPX) that so critically aided to maintain the razor thin connection between the Union and the Western Coast.[11]
Even one of his greatest so-called blunders was of great importance. The Adams-Lyons Treaty, negotiated by former Vice Presidential candidate Charles Francis Adams, Sr. and the Earl Lyons. That Adams, a Republican, first encouraged the treaty’s idea once it was offered by Lyons is often irrelevant to detractors of Pendleton. But his defenders are too quick to dismiss how carefully he considered the Treaty before dedicating his full support. The Treaty infamously alleviated American War debts by selling the Washington Territory norther of the 47th Parallel to Britain, for both an immediate bulk price and continuous payments for a minimum of 10 years, with a caveat that American settlers would keep their lands and be allowed to enter or leave the territory, though the recognition of Britain’s claim to the area would stand in perpetuity or renegotiation.[12]
The treaty was rammed past Congress, and clever delays and negotiations with Senators prevented the treaty from being rejected. The general public was appalled, however, as it was a “Spit in the Face to President Polk,” or so wrote one prominent Republican paper.[13] The territory was gone, and opponents of Pendleton began to spin the payments not as a boon to America, but as dependency on the British. Yet did not the lessening of debt become critical to the uplifting of the economy? Was not the dollar saved and the Panic ended by the ensuing closeness with British investors? And were not both of these things fundamental to the future investments and economic freedom of the Union?
Pendleton must be recognized as the man who bit the bullet and took the loss of prestige for a treaty that saved the economy. He also knew that losing more land would incense the public. But with the Sioux Alliance expanding and Mormon raiding growing more violent, there were barely any settlements growing in Washington, and even the state government of Oregon rarely had the ability to maintain communication with Washington’s territorial government. The British had been exerting greater influence and sending settlers since the war, reaching a zenith in the McClellan administration that rendered American ownership a shallow idea as it was.
Pendleton wrote that “so much land has been lost already… what’s a touch more for the good of national prosperity?” He believed that given time, public resentment would fade as the loss of Washington was tied part and parcel to the loss of the South, becoming one singular incident. He was not entirely wrong, but again he underestimated how long the grudge would endure, or perhaps how well his enemies would capitalize on it…
…If there are incidents that earn Pendleton full ire, it is these two. The Mormon War was truly needless. But Pendleton had felt pressure at the time, and needed a swift military victory to give him the appearance of strength. With another seven dead at the Colorado-Utah border, he gave Custer full permission to sweep in, and sent Burnside as a supporting force.
In choosing two ruthless commanders, Pendleton was practically asking for a massacre. It is difficult to fathom why he made the decision, or why he refused the delegation sent by the ‘Council of Deseret’. Perhaps the stresses were too great, or perhaps he felt that his reputation as a Confederate sympathizer could be abated if he showed zero tolerance to other separatists. Or perhaps he merely placed too much faith in the diplomatic abilities of the two generals, who admittedly were formally tasked with ‘ensuring a peaceable end to the insurrection in Utah if possible…’
…Leaving Custer retreating back towards the Rockies. And this was not the worst news to return from the ever lawless West. The Sioux were plainly aware of the lacking ability of the military. For all the bravado Pendleton offered in refusing any parlay with the indians on the basis that ‘the people of the Union shall not bend to savages,’ he did not have the military to counter them. Perhaps without the Mormon War, it could have been feasible, but enlistment for the military was abysmal, and morale remained low. Sherman, as Secretary of War, advised mild conscription from areas near the conflict, in order to drum up at least a force capable of hindering Sioux raids.[14]
But yet again Pendleton let his ideals stand firm. He had come to oppose conscription as a fundamentally tyrannical act, something which did garner him popularity once published in newspapers. And yet, it only left the Sioux and their allies to raid and even conquer territory. Any political boon gained in the taming of Colorado and the Arapaho Treaty dried up, leaving Pendleton once again at square one…”
- In Defense of President Pendleton, by Archie M. Wheeler
[5] The states he won were Maryland, Missouri, and Nevada, states that felt themselves to be ‘border’ states and the most jingoistic.
[6] This is taken from historians’ review of Pendleton as a politician. He was a true believer in Jacksonian populism and anti-elitism.
[7] This actually happened. Lincoln wanted to have Vallandigham arrested but didn’t want him made into a martyr. So instead the man was made to move past enemy lines and then was court-martialed, leaving him stranded in the Confederacy, where he was taken as a prisoner of war voluntarily.
[8] Eden, C.E. has been completed, but the US is still figuring out what to do as Washington, D.C. is still being rebuilt and is now on a fairly hostile border. For now, Philadelphia is the de facto capital.
[9] Union citizens don’t want peace, they don’t want war. Mostly they’re just done with the South. F*ck ‘em is the general mindset.
[10] This is the GAR but more like the American Legion and eventually becoming a state sponsored/funded veterans organization. Couldn’t have negative ramifications, right?
[11] The USPS meets the Pony Express, meets the Mojave Express. Guns, adventure, excitement, crossing the lawless West! Definitely a gold mine for films in the future.
[12] British encroachment was mentioned earlier, and the American economy is in shambles from the Panic that triggered after the war. War reparations are expensive too.
[13] President Polk ran on a slogan of “Fifty-four forty or fight!” meaning to push for as much of the Cascadian region as possible.
[14] If it wasn’t obvious, Sherman was appointed, but his ‘mad dog’ reputation means that Pendleton micromanages and goes over his head on everything. The appointment was meant to counteract appointing Vallandigham as Secretary of State. But since most people expected Sherman to serve in a position like that, it didn’t earn Pendleton any brownie points.
“James, you have the power of choice. Your category?”
“‘National Parties’ for 4,000.”[15]
“Jenna, reveal the challenge… Ahem; Before 1867, this 19th Century political party held the same name as a major political party in the Union… James?”
“What is the Democratic Party.”
“That is correct. For your prize question: What name did the Democratic Party adopt?”
“The Southern Democratic Party.”
“One moment, the judges are conferring on that answer… I’m sorry, James, that’s been deemed incorrect. It was the Southern Democrat Party, not Democratic. Still, that’s 4,000 points added to your Triumph! And you maintain the power of choice. Your category?”[16]
“‘Mantle of Eatership’ for 1,000.”
“Jenna? ...This was Stonewall’s infamous treat, which he ate, rine and all, to help with indigestion.”
“...”
“James?”
“What are… oranges?”
“Incorrect. Rebecca?”
“Uhm… What are lemons?”[17]
“Correct! Prize question: What was Stonewall’s actual favorite snack?”
“Ah, Peaches!”
“Correct! Jenna, please reveal the Prize… And that’s another 1,000 points in addition to the 1,000 for the Challenge question, which brings your Triumph to 47,000. You now have the power of choice. Your category?”
“I would like to defer power to Emmett.”
“You would like to use your one time deferment, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Understood. Emmett, you now have the power of choice. But remember that means that whatever you gain from the question, she will gain half of it if you cannot answer the question, in addition to the full amount if she answers the question rather than James or Argos. So choose wisely. Your category?”[18]
“‘National Parties’ for 100,000.”
“No hesitation, going right for the big win! Jenna? …This annual event first began as a political stunt by Robert Toombs in 1867 before ending in 1944. Oh, Rebecca!”
“What is the National Temperance Rally?”
“Incorrect. Emmett!”
“What is the Dixie Days Gala.”
“Correct! That is 100,000 in your pocket, for a total of 130,000, and Rebecca is down to -3,000. For your prize question: What political party did Robert Toombs help found at the very first Dixie Days Gala?”
“The Constitutionalist Party.”
“Correct! Oh, there’s the Lucky Bell! Your second prize question: What party convention did Toombs originally attend to run as a Vice Presidential candidate for in 1867?”
“Southern Democrat Party, John.”
“Correct. My, it seems 1867 was on our challenge teams’ minds. It’s now time for a word from our partners, but you’ll get to see more Knowhow after the break.”
- Knowhow, Collection 14, Installment 6, SA game show[19]
[15] At the time this is broadcasted, gameshows don’t measure victory by dollars...
[16] The way this game works is that, like Jeopardy, you pick a category and answer a question based on who buzzes in. But if you’re correct, there’s follow-up questions for bonus points. They don’t use the ‘what is the question’ format for those, and a panel of judges is available to make decisions on the answers.
[17] Just a reminder than Stonewall ate lemons like apples like an utter madman.
[18] Deferring choice can be done once an episode by each contestant. It lets someone else pick the question category. In exchange, you get 1.5x the points if you answer the question correctly, and are guaranteed half of the points if someone other than the category-picker answers the question.
[19] I’ve stated before that collection is a season/series. Installments are episodes.
“1867 was the single most important election in Dixie history. It set the country down a particular path, and had the potential to set it down a very, very different path if Jackson had lost…[20]
…When Jefferson Davis threw his weight behind Jackson, he likely didn’t expect the man to so fundamentally alter the identity of the Southern Democrats. The SDP, formerly the Democratic Party, was the only official political party at the start of 1867, and everyone expected Stephens to dominate the convention.
Instead, Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson started to oppose him, and Jefferson Davis was all too happy to name Stonewall as his champion against Stephens. And Stephens had been so sure of victory that he had burnt enough bridges that by the time of the party convention there were a number of party officials who were happy to screw him over. The SDP named Stonewall the candidate after a number of debates against Stephens, where Stonewall received thunderous applause.[21]
Stephens was mad. But he wasn’t alone. Some people saw Stonewall as a way for Davis to rule past his term, others were appalled at a ‘lesser’ candidate being set to win the presidency purely out of spite for Stephens. Robert Toombs, Stephens’ running mate, gathered these people at a massive party he called the Dixie Days Gala, and convinced Stephens that they needed to run anyway. Arguing that Stonewall’s presidency would see violations of the Confederate Constitution, the Constitutionalist Party had no choice but to hold up Stephens and Toombs as their leaders. For the past months, the two had been garnering national attention during their conflict with Stonewall and Graham, so it would have been a waste of time to try and field anyone else…
…Let’s imagine a timeline with Stephens’ victory. That means no Slave Code Reform Act, which means no restrictions on the treatment of slaves. In fact, Stephens would probably have sponsored and expanded chattel slavery and dehumanization methods.[22] This could mean earlier slave revolts, but that would make them smaller and less well prepared. And then with generations of dehumanization, it’s unlikely the slave class would have literacy or emboldened leadership.
A Stephens presidency also means no Stonewall Doctrine. President Stonewall famously said ‘The South shall stand on its own feet,’ when he signed the Second Industrial Investment Act, but its doubtful someone as agrarian focused as Stephens would have bothered to invest in growing Southern industry and cities. Even Stonewall wasn’t extremely supportive of shifting the Confederacy away from a ‘pious agrarian society’, but he had a strong belief that it would be necessary.[23]
If Stephens instead opted to consolidate the power of the Planters by keeping industry small, then not only would the Confederacy stagnate in the coming years, but the nation would have become dependent on French, British, or even Yankee industry. Even if Reconciliation would never happen, the Confederacy could have ended up a puppet of the Union anyways…
…And that is why President Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson was so important for Dixie agriculture too. Stephens opposed the subsidies Davis had created to combat famine, and likely would have ended them over time and let the Planters go back to growing cotton only. The Stonewall administration diversification policy was what kept trade going during the Indian Cotton Boom…
…So in short, Stephens would have meant a more decentralized, weaker Confederacy. We can even see this in the states that voted for him in 1867. Texas was a state with a shaky loyalty to the Confederacy, and voted against Stonewall purely because they wanted the Confederacy to weaken, for Davis’ expansions of power to get undone so they could be more independent again. Missouri and South Carolina were sold on the doctrine of the Constitutionalist, since Missouri had gone through a split of their state in the name of the Confederate dream, and South Carolina was the birthplace of the Confederacy. Georgia loved Stephens and Toombs as native sons, but Alabama and Arkansas voted for them because they were sold on allegations by Stephens that Stonewall was an abolitionist.
These states, from conservative bastions to hardliner idealists to states that wanted near independence, were who wanted Stephens. Stonewall’s promises of a better, fairer Confederacy, and a nation run by ‘Christian compassion and Stoic resolve’ appealed to places in need like Tennessee and Florida and Oklahoma. Not every state voted because of that. Virginia loved Stonewall, and North Carolina was loyal to Graham, even though both states were not in as much need of the economic and social policies Stonewall was speaking for. Mississippi voted Southern Democrat because of Davis’ support for Jackson, but they were one of the states still recovering from famine too, as was Louisiana. What this tells us is that Stonewall primarily drew in states that had desire or were willing to allow a stronger Confederacy with stronger federal standards for states in exchange for more support in their times of need…[24]
…This is what makes the 1867 Presidency so critical to the future of the Confederacy.”
- Tessa Vanderlin, Essay for Confederate History 102, Marks: 3.1/5.0
Comments: Tessa, please see me in my office hours if you want to makeup points. Signed, Prof. Regina Looker
[20] This is a student writing, so expect odd logic and connections within this section because it’s a student who slapped their final paper together last minute.
[21]...And numerous political deals to ensure Stephens would not be chosen. Jackson only ran alongside William Graham because Graham was a more trusted member of the party. Recall that the VP in the Confederacy has more power, so balancing the ticket is far more important.
[22] Stonewall was not a fan of slavery. He was a racist believer in a White Man’s Burden to Civilize, but he wanted slaves literate and treated kindly. We’ll get into the weeds of his reforms next time.
[23] Stonewall Doctrine = Trying to achieve autarky by subsidizing industry.
[24] This is the first true election. At the moment Confederate politics are heavily based on personalities like Davis and voting for the guy from your area above all. That will change overtime as local party politics evolve. As a final note, Oklahoma, as a Dependent Autonomy, gets to have electors in the college, as many as they would have if they were a state, but to be clear they have only one non-voting representative in either house of government. And yes, this was an amendment to their Constitution that the Confederacy passed under Davis.
"Following the civil war, Kentucky was less of a nation and more of a demilitarized zone. The people of the state were more angry than patriotic, full of spite toward either side of the war. The Union government was in control, but the military keeping the peace was lead predominantly by the Kentucky Orphan Brigade, a Confederate force. And though officially the Treaty of Lexington granted Kentucky independence for 10 years, the instability of the situation resulted in the 1867 Referendum, not even 2 years after the end of the war. ..
...Generally, most of the Kentucky was sympathetic to the Union, but the utter chaos of the O'Hara Conspiracy and the 4 presidencies that occurred within the year made many hesitant. As for the Confederacy, Kentucky's people were not a fan of Alexander Stephens, who most expected to win the presidency even after Stonewall Jackson secured the Southern Democrat nomination away from him. The referendum, held in October and finalized in December, had the following question: Should Kentucky be admitted as a state of the United States of America or the Confederate States of Amerian? The result was overwhelming in favor of 'Neither', which resulted in waiting the next referendum until 1887, an agreement made binding by the small but vocal number of Kentucky nationalists...
...As a charming anecdote, this is when the Kentucky flag was created. At the time, there was not a set flag for the country. The government had developed a new seal, fusing the Union sigil of a frontiersman and statesman shaking hands with the Confederate motto of 'voce populi'. Theoretically, cities could have used this seal on a banner, as many Union states did. However, in the aftermath of the war, the new Free Kentucky Army was vital to maintaining order. From most forts and towns flew the flag of the Kentucky Orphan Brigade, a red cross with 11 stars on a blue banner. The reason for this was initially practicality; the Orphan Brigade had a number of regimental flags that they place at various major forts to show it was under their control, whereas any flag using the new seal or a different army would require time and resources to make the flag, whereas the Orphan Brigade already had by chance a surplus of their banner. From here, the government decided to formalize the banner as the flag of the entire army. Then, for ease of creation, the stars were striped away in favor of a white outline. Records show this was proposed half-heartedly as a joke by a statesmen who felt the entire discussion was a waste of time, and yet he inadvertently designed his country's flag. For as the years went on, the flag of the army was recognized as a symbol of Kentucky, and after the 1887 referendum was again for independence, the flag was formalized by the government as the flag of the Independent Republic of Kentucky."
My Heart for Kentucky: A History by Canaan J. Walker
"The Marylander Occupation of the Eastern Shore is a travesty that endures to this day! It has no legal basis whatsoever."
"Wrong! The so-called 'occupation' was in fact a lawful purchase. The area was militarily occupied, but that was during the war!"
"Then why was the Eastern Shore not returned after the fact?"
"It was legally under Virginian control! However, the local governments had no connection to Virginia due to damage to the infrastructure and ports. And ensuing treaties over control of the Chesapeake Bay made it so that more Union ships went by than Confederate!"
"That does not give the Union the right to lay claim to the area."
"That is true, but that is not the case for the Maryland government. The State of Maryland offered aid to people in the Eastern Shore, and numerous people left the area, with Union citizens taking residence with the consent of the locals."
"Ah, so she admits to the utter imperialist colonization plot of the Yankee occupiers!"
"What I admit to is that the State of Maryland sent a purchase agreement to State of Virginia, an agreement both states agreed to!"
"But not one either the Union or Confederate governments recognized!"
"Just because they were not aware of it for 5 years does not mean it wasn't recognized. And by then it could not be undone."
"That's utterly ridiculous. I have already claimed in the last round that it was a travesty for the Confederate government to abandon its people, but that does not automatically give the Union claim to the land."
"The Union recognized the claim of the Confederate government to the State of Virginia, and I quote 'as it stands along recognized lines of the armistice'. While this was meant to refer to West Virginia, it was argued, successfully, by the towns of the so-called Eastern Shore, that they were included since the military occupation of the region was not ended by the Union nor demanded by the Confederacy during the armistice."
"That... is true. But the region was still a legal part of Virginia, and the Treaty of Lexington clearly states that 'the admittance of the State of Virginia, barring the territory of the State of West Virginia, into the Confederacy is legally recognized.' See?"
"That section clearly was meant to recognize that West Virginia could never be legally counted as being part of the Confederacy. That section does not actually describe strict territorial borders. Whereas the section I was referring to was explicitly parts used to define legal borders for the country."
- Burnside High School Debate tournament, Open Forum semi-finals, Rachel Fahrenbach v. Adam Brookes
"The Copperhead Flag, as some refer to this iteration of the United States flag, was introduced by President George Pendleton. As a firm Copperhead, he felt a change of the flag would firmly show the Union's recognition of the Confederate States. His proposal eventually won out over 6 others, mostly due to the Radical Republicans having their first moment of solidarity with the Copperheads. After a fiery oration by elder statesman Thaddeus Stephens, the Radical Republicans of the were pushed into voting for Pendleton's design.
The reason was simple; Pendleton's design was the only one to remove not just stars, but stripes from the flag. The Radicals were convinced not to take this as appeasement to the Confederates, but a rejection of the traitors. 'Let us tear not just their stars from our sky, but rip away their traitorous stripes, for the states of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia do not deserve to be honored anymore! Fie on the 4 who broke the covenant they helped to forge! Who pissed on their blood oaths! And glory be to the 9 founding states that remained steadfast to this, our perpetual Union!'
This speech did not sit well with the Copperheads, but given the overall minor importance of the issue, they saw no need to argue semantics when they had the votes for their President's flag design. Thus was born the Copperhead flag. 9 stripes of red and white, and 25 stars in a canton of blue, removing the stars of the lost Confederacy but adding the stars of Nevada and Nebraska."
- The Not-so-Little Book of Flags: North American Edition
"Territories? It's a hellscape, sir. What I propose is a means for order. Erase the borders that don't exist, and give me and my men the ability to actually try and push back the indians. Or contain them, at least, if you're so damn set on not letting me off my leash."
- Secretary of War William T. Sherman to President George Pendleton, proposing the creation of Dakota-Idaho Military District
