WI: Confederate Leadership tried for Treason?

You arm the freemen and make them the army.

The freemen might start using their new found freedom to be selective about their willingness to serve in wars. In short, they may start asking questions like:

1. Are black soldiers being seen as expendable in this war?

2. Was the war avoidable and pursued by political hacks after a military victory?

3. Can we count on the full support of union white units and are we treated equally off duty to whites?

4. If my family is targeted by guerillas, are they truly free to move up north?

5. If targeted, are they going to be allowed to readily relocate to say, Memphis?


The answers to the first two questions is “yes”. The second two is “no”. And the last question is “not really”. All of this is going to put a damper on the service enthusiasm of freemen. Successful anti guerilla wars need enthusiastic soldiers. Sure, the freemen will serve, but I doubt many go beating bushes for guerillas that are not an immediate threat to black communities.

Yikes, more difficulties for the occupation forces. Attempts (some successful, others not) by political hacks to arrest and execute former Confederate leaders in West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri have led to small scale, but annoying guerilla movements forming in these Union states. Due to local sentiments, using freemen units in these states is not viable. Some of the governors also state that they will not accept federal troops as they were union states. Local state troops have little enthusiasm for finding say, the group of riders kidnapping and murdering federal judges in revenge. A union general wants and easy solution, and he cant find one….. .
 
Last edited:
Because the cost of the prosecution wasn't worth it. Dragging out the ACW by lopping off the head of Jeff Davis wasn't worth it. Arguably the South was punished for its crime by the war itself. Many Southerners lost everything and almost everyone lost something down there.


I guess Jeff Davis was too big to fail. It seems like the South(aka the general population) was punished but not the conspirators who actually committed the crime.
 
The freemen might start using their new found freedom to be selective about their willingness to serve in wars. In short, they may start asking questions like:

1. Are black soldiers being seen as expendable in this war?

2. Was the war avoidable and pursued by political hacks after a military victory?

3. Can we count on the full support of union white units and are we treated equally off duty to whites?

4. If my family is targeted by guerillas, are they truly free to move up north?

5. If targeted, are they going to be allowed to readily relocate to say, Memphis?


The answers to the first two questions is “yes”. The second two is “no”. And the last question is “not really”. All of this is going to put a damper on the service enthusiasm of freemen. Successful anti guerilla wars need enthusiastic soldiers. Sure, the freemen will serve, but I doubt many go beating bushes for guerillas that are not an immediate threat to black communities.

Yikes, more difficulties for the occupation forces. Attempts (some successful, others not) by political hacks to arrest and execute former Confederate leaders in West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri have led to small scale, but annoying guerilla movements forming in these Union states. Due to local sentiments, using freemen units in these states is not viable. Some of the governors also state that they will not accept federal troops as they were union states. Local state troops have little enthusiasm for finding say, the group of riders kidnapping and murdering federal judges in revenge. A union general wants and easy solution, and he cant find one….. .

However they are almost certainly going to get better pay in the Union Army than most jobs available to them AND if they want any of their rights enforced the best way is to do it themselves. Pushing around Blacks is going to be a lot harder if there are large numbers of heavily armed Blacks in the area. If the South is occupied by USCT Jim Crow is going to have a tough time getting off the ground!
 
Top