Independence
As the year 1865 began things looked bleak for those who wanted to preserve the Union. Memphis had been captured, New Orleans was about to fall, and Grant's advance in Virginia had been halted. George B. McClellan was sworn in as the seventeenth President of the United States of America on March 4, 1865. Though he was at odds with the peace movement in his own party, he was aware by this point that a total defeat of the Confederacy was unlikely. And he became focused on trying to keep as many states in the Union as possible. Recent Confederate victories had emboldened sympathizers in Kentucky and Missouri and guerrilla warfare had become a growing problem in those states. General Bragg would also begin a Confederate offensive into Western Kentucky in late March. President McClellan was determined to keep Kentucky in the Union and entertained the possibility of keeping Tennessee as well. Bragg's forces defeated Sherman at Benton on April 10 and captured Paducah a few days later. Bragg then advanced into Southern Illinois where there were many Confederate Sympathizers. William Sherman stopped Bragg's advance at the Battle of Metropolis from May 4-11, in which 14,000 Union and 9,000 Confederate soldiers lost their lives. Sherman then drove the Confederates out of Kentucky and back into Tennessee. He was then given orders by McClellan to retake Memphis. Sherman's forces were defeated at the battle of Durhamville from May 27-June 3 after suffering high losses and high rates of desertion. Many Union soldiers were conscripts who say no reason to continue risking their lives in a "losing war." Morale was low for Union soldiers across all theaters of the conflict.
In the Spring of 1865 Grant made one last attempt to break through Confederate Defenses in Virginia. He decided to avoid Ashland and attack Confederate positions at Fair Oaks commanded by General Stonewall Jackson, about 10 miles east of Richmond. 70,000 Union troops fought 40,000 Confederate and 5,000 Spanish troops at the Battle of Fair Oaks from May 8-20. Casualties were high on both sides but once again the Confederates held their position and the Union had to retreat once more. After the battle, Robert E. Lee decided to capitalize on the Union's weakness and go on the offensive against the Army of the Potomac. After a series of small battles and skirmishes, the demoralized Army of the Potomac retreated back into Maryland on June 21, 1865, ending combat operation in the Eastern Theater. Around this time riots began to erupt in every major city in the North, with the people demanding an end to the war. Some of the last battles in the War of Secession were in the far west. Confederate forces, led by General John B. Magruder, had begun an invasion of the New Mexico Territory in February to reinstate the Confederate government of the Arizona Territory. Mesilla was captured on March 20 and Magruder's men advanced westward. On June 1, Tuscon fell to Confederates and on July 11 Yuma fell. This encouraged southern sympathizers in California who organized in Los Angeles and attempted to secede from California and join the Confederacy. Federal troops were sent in and the secessionists were placed under arrest. On August 9, Federal troops recaptured Yuma after a short battle against Magruder's army.
Pressured by the American people, Congress, Vice President Pendleton, and the British, McClellan knew that the war end soon. On August 19, 1865, a ceasefire was agreed upon, ending the four year long War of Secession, also known as the War of Southern Independence. American, Confederate, Spanish, French, and British dignitaries would meet the following year at Ottawa to determine condition of peace and territorial changes. The Confederacy had won it's independence, and there was celebration throughout much of the South. But much of the now independent Confederacy had been devastated by the war and would have to spend the following years rebuilding. In the North there was bitterness over the hundreds of thousands of lives lost for what seemed to be no gain. Many in the North believed that the Confederacy would collapse in a few short years and the Southern States would be begging to return to the Union. President McClellan seemingly shared this delusion. Others in the North looked for people to blame. Many blamed the Republican Party for starting the war. Others blamed Catholics because the Papal States were one of the first nations to recognize the Confederacy. Others blamed Jews, partially because the Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin, who was present at the negotiations in Ottawa, was Jewish. Anti-Semitic conspiracies about the "Jewish-funded" Confederacy would spread throughout the North in the years following the war [1]. There was also a rise in racial tension as slaves who were freed by Union troops were brought back up North, angering many Northern whites. On April 13, 1866, the Treaty of Ottawa was signed between the United States and the Confederate States, France, and Spain. It's provisions were:
-Maryland, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Missouri, and the northern New Mexico Territory would remain under the control of the United States.
-The Indian Territory and The southern New Mexico Territory, would become part of the Confederacy.
-All prisoners of war would be released.
1: Sadly, a number of people actually believe this today OTL