A Glorious Union or America: the New Sparta
- Thread starter TheKnightIrish
- Start date
Not looking good for Davis. Half-expecting him to be assassinated with the way things are going.
Lycaon pictus
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Didn't Stephens have some health problems? Imagine if Stephens seized the presidency, Davis got shot dead in the crossfire and then Stephens keeled over and died a week later…
Does that mean we get President Judah P Benjamin? He would be next in line, right? Sec of State and all that?
Chapter Fifty-Three The Southern Government Goes South Part II
Chapter Fifty-Three
The Southern Government Goes South
Part II
From “The Unyielding Office – the Presidency of Jefferson Davis” by James L. Caney
Buffalo
"We have only three sources for the events of that day: Colonel William Preston Johnston, son of Albert Sidney Johnson and aide de camp to the President; Robert Josselyn, secretary to the President; and an extract from the diary of Stephen Mallory, Secretary for the Navy...
The President was summoned to a meeting with the Cabinet at the Masonic Hall around 11am. The President was notably irritated "I summon the cabinet. It does not summon the President" (Josselyn). As he left he met Judah P. Benjamin on the way in to request a few moments of the President's time on Spain. Secretary Benjamin was not aware of any cabinet meeting and agreed to accompany the President. The "oddness" (Johnston) of the message now concerned the President and both Colonels Johnston and James Chesnut jr agreed to accompany the President to the Masonic Hall...
The President and Secretary Benjamin found an august gathering of Confederate notables in the newly designated cabinet room. Vice President Alexander Stephens, Attorney General Thomas Hill Watts, Secretary of the Treasury Christopher G. Memminger, who was almost squirming in his chair (Mallory), Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory, Postmaster General John H. Reagan, Speaker Thomas S. Bocock, President Pro Tempore Robert H.T. Hunter, Senators Edward Sparrow, James L. Orr and Louis T. Wigfall, Congressmen Jabez L. Curry, Ethelbert Barksdale and William Porcher Miles. Secretary of War James Seddon was not in attendance...
An angry Davis rails against "this cabinet conspiracy".
Both of the anti-Davis factions were represented. Stephens had invited only those members of the cabinet he trusted (and Memminger), and excluded those perceived as being allies of Davis - Seddon and Benjamin. The Stephens faction was also represented by Senator Orr and Congressman Curry.
The fireeaters were well represented in Senators Wigfall and Sparrow, and by the arch-fireeater Congressman Miles. The fall of Richmond and the loss of Virginia had also placed Senator Hunter firmly in the anti-Davis camp...
The President refused to dismiss either of his aides as this was clearly not a cabinet meeting. His temper mounting the President demanded to know the meaning of the summons to what appeared to be "a highly improper meeting"…
The Vice President spoke for those present. If the President summoned a special session of Congress to discuss the crisis, as the press had speculated, Congress would seek the President’s impeachment…
There was a majority in the House to vote for his impeachment. Congressman and Speaker Pro Tempore Curry confirmed this was indeed the case. Further the Vice President was confident a two-thirds majority existed in the Senate. President Pro-Tempore Hunter and Senator Wigfall confirmed this…
Unless the President dismissed Secretary Seddon and appointed a qualified officer to that position, and further confirmed that any new Secretary of War would have a free hand, in the context of a full and co-operative cabinet government, the Cabinet could no longer support the President and would freely support any motion to impeach the President. “In short Mr. President, unless you stop running this country like a dictator, and stop your damned meddling in with the army, we will kick you out of office” was Wigfall’s “unhelpful summary” (Mallory). Further an appropriately qualified army officer was to be appointed Chief of Staff to co-ordinate the war effort (A demand that Wigfall and Miles had initially opposed according to Mallory)…
The President is supposed to have listened in stunned silence to Stephens’ short declaration. What followed was like “a charge set off in a small enclosed space” (Johnston). “The President seemed like to strike someone but there were too many candidates for the blow to choose” (Mallory)…
Davis refused to call an emergency session, to which Hunter responded that if the President thought the Second Congress elected in November would be more friendly to him come December he was very sorely mistaken. Impeachment was certain if the President failed to comply with the reasonable demands of the “united government of our Republic” asserted Watts. It could reasonably be argued, according to Watts, that the deaths of the Richmond “hungry” could be laid at the President’s door. A visibly angry Hunter is said to have confirmed that the entire Virginia delegation would put their names to that motion…
Secretary Benjamin then intervened asking who the “assembly” had agreed upon for the post of Secretary of War, as it was clear they must have a candidate in mind. General John C. Breckinridge was the answer. Corps commander in the Army of the Tennessee and former Vice President of the United States. Both factions could happily unite around General Breckinridge. In turn his recommendation for the post of Chief of Staff would be endorsed (Mallory’s emphasis) by the President and the cabinet…
The Vice President spoke up to confirm that it was not “in the interests of our new nation to behead our government” in the manner of some “French Terror”, but all assembled agreed “the government cannot continue as it is currently operated by the President, as an instrument solely of his will”, but that in the interest of making “our independence an established fact, the whole intellectual and moral strength of the Presidency, Cabinet and Congress must be united in one purpose” which was most assuredly not the case as matters stood in that depressing summer of 1863…
Subsequent authors have speculated that the only reason Davis did not resign was to prevent Stephen's accession to the Presidency. An examination of the testimony of Robert Josselyn leads to the conclusion that Secretary Benjamin was largely responsible for convincing President Davis to acquiesce to the demands. Benjamin certainly carried out a thorough headcount over the next few days and confirmed to the President a majority in the House against him definitely existed, and that a two-thirds majority in the Senate was a likelihood if not an outright certainty, which would no doubt be confirmed by the results of the November election, where Davis could expect few allies to be returned...
Furthermore it is astonishing that a veteran political operator like Benjamin would not have been aware of the political manoeuvres prior to the meeting. It has often been suggested, without verification, that Benjamin supported the goals of the meeting without wishing to be seen by the President as a willing conspirator. Benjamin was certainly the only cabinet member to retain anything approaching a friendly relationship with the President after August...
A furious and frustrated Davis responded three days later by confirming the resignation of James A. Seddon from the post of Secretary of War and the appointment to that post of John C. Breckinridge, now summoned from Tennessee to assume that post. Davis’ capitulation by no means reflected an acceptance of this new status quo, quite the reverse. The President now considered himself at war with his cabinet and congress and sought every means to strike at them, often in neglect of what might have been considered the public good…
One thing however was clear, following the “Cabinet Coup” of August 1863, President Davis’ impact on the military strategy and appointments was dramatically reduced, while Vice-President Alexander Stephens stock had risen dramatically...”
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Will the South be any better off with a "defanged" Davis? I suppose it depends on Breckinridge and who he appoints as the new army "Chief of Staff".
Also if the Southern government is about to get more organised I can see another showdown between the Stephens faction and the fire-eaters (assuming better government equals more centralisation - trampling on states rights) with Davis laughing over the bodies!
Its all very detailed but it ties together so well.
Also if the Southern government is about to get more organised I can see another showdown between the Stephens faction and the fire-eaters (assuming better government equals more centralisation - trampling on states rights) with Davis laughing over the bodies!
Its all very detailed but it ties together so well.
I'd say the whole cabinet is up a creek if they fall into Kearny's hands!
Based on Kearney's conversation with Lincoln, Kearney's venegful seems a major obstacle to the peace. I'd expect Lincoln to be looking for a way to remove Kearney from command without jeopardizing the war effort.
Reagan was particularly sensitive to the fact the war was begin lost in the West in OTL (as the only cabinet member from West of the Mississippi). He was appalled by the loss of Vicksburg, more so than others, because he understood its strategic value. (That’s Shelby Foote talking not me). With the loss of Vicksburg and Richmond, I see Reagan being open to a dramatically revised approach in TTL.
I wondered about Mallory for awhile. As this timeline started with him in many ways I tried to get a feel for how he might jump. The loss of Richmond has deprived him of a lot of resources for his pet project - the ironclads. Furthermore the rigid enforcement of neutrality by the British and French, following the Presidential Orders that resulted directly or indirectly in the death of General Hunter, will have dramatically reduced his ability to obtain supplies to support commerce raiding and blockade running. In other words Mallory will have found it much harder to do his job in TTL.
Mallory is no fireeater, nor can I find much evidence of him being a diehard supporter of Davis. Mallory was however very good at “managing” Congress as it effected the Navy Department. I saw Mallory as someone who would read the prevailing mood in Congress (i.e. extremely anti-Davis) and act accordingly.
I also saw Mallory and Reagan as the most competent members of the Cabinet, and therefore they would have been most open to the Vice President’s initial idea of preparing a “shadow” government in Atlanta when it looked like Richmond might fall in the following months (over the President’s objections). I have imagined them being drawn into the Vice-President’s orbit as a result of this initial decision.
That might be tough. Kearny is Lincoln's picked man. He has the kudos of having captured Richmond. He seems to be a reasonably clued up political operator as well. (Better than McClellan perhaps?). He has proven consistently successful against Lee and his minions so far. (Downside he has prompted very competent generals who could replace him).
The murder of Hunter and the publication of his letters will have radicalised a larger element of the north. How much and how permanent? Only the author knows. But I think Lincoln may have a bigger problem that just Kearny seeking revenge. When are the next congressional/gubernational elections? That might be an indication of the support for a more radical agenda, at least regarding reconstruction.
In Kearny’s mind the cruel treatment of prisoners of war has certainly put the Confederacy on the same level as the Berbers he faced in North Africa. He has come a long way from being a southerner by inclination and upbringing. That has radicalised him for want of a better phrase.
However, although his views on race are more “European” than “American”, that’s European in the 1860s sense. He was happy to see the negro uniformed and armed and marching alongside white troops from a very early stage in the war but we have not seen any evidence yet that suggests he has “radical” views on race in terms of equality etc.
You will have to wait a bit longer to find out whether Lincoln or the radicals will frame the debate on reconstruction…assuming the North wins of course…
Chapter Fifty-Four Untrusted Friends Part I
Chapter Fifty-Four
Untrusted Friends
Part I
Part I
“The Confederacy of Slaves – Spain and the Confederacy in the Slaveholders’ War” by Hunter L. Bainbridge
LSU 1953
“At the outbreak of the Slaveholders War, the Union was concerned about possible European aid to the Confederacy as well as official diplomatic recognition of the breakaway republic. In response to possible intervention from Spain, President Lincoln sent Carl Schurz, whom he felt was able and energetic, as minister to Spain; Schurz's chief duty would be to block Spanish recognition of, and aid to, the Confederacy. Part of the Union strategy in Spain was to remind the Spanish court that it had been Southerners, now Confederates, who had pressed for annexation of Cuba. Schurz was successful in his efforts; Spain officially declared neutrality on June 17, 1861…
However this was a period when Spain experienced economic growth, political stabilization, and military revival, and the country began to sense that it again could be a great global power. In addition to its desire for international glory, Spain also was the only European country that continued to use slaves on plantations in Spanish-controlled Cuba and Puerto Rico, and therefore more familiar with the issues the Confederacy faced in respect of its “peculiar institution”…
Historically, Spain never had close ties to Washington, D.C., and Spain’s hard feelings had increased as it lost Latin America to United States inspired independence movements. Clearly, Spain shared many of the same feelings as the Confederate States of America during the war, and it found itself in a unique position to aid the Confederacy since its territories lay so close to the South. Diplomats on both sides, in fact, declared them “natural allies”…”
The blockade runner Advance in the Port of Havana
From “The Rudderless Ship – The Confederate Diplomacy in the Civil War” by Aldous Morrow
Buffalo 1983
“Spain’s hesitancy to join in an alliance with the Confederacy reflected a deep ambivalence about the Confederacy. Many in Spain believed that if the South won its independence it would once again try to take over Cuba. Indeed in the decades before the war it had been the Southern politicians who had been at the forefront of the filibustering efforts to claim Cuba, as well as attacks on Catholicism…
Suspicions of each other’s motives and long-range plans were enough to prevent an open alliance, despite many commonalities in social systems and mutual antipathy towards the United States. However Spain’s perceived dependence on France and Great Britain prevented any suggestion of a unilateral declaration on the part of Spain. Indeed by the end of 1863 both nations had firmly turned their backs on the Confederacy…
“Even without formal recognition, Spain remained willing to enable Confederate blockade running through its Cuban ports, which became vital as the (British) Royal Navy closed Bermuda, the Bahamas and other British Caribbean islands to Confederate blockade runners in strict compliance with its neutrality…”
From “And The Doors Remained Closed” by Elise Van Der Horst
Berkeley 2007
“Many Spanish aristocrats, military leaders and slave owning creoles supported the South, particularly within Cuba. With the end of any meaningful access to the British or French governments the entire Confederate European effort was focused on keeping access to Spanish ports open. It’s has been suggested by American historians that a series of “gifts” were made from the remaining Confederate funds in Europe to Prime Minister Leopoldo O’Donnell. However this ignores the fact that Manuel de Pando, Marquis of Miraflores, was Prime Minister during the critical period of 1863-64 (and is thoroughly refuted by Spanish historians as an unfounded slur on its leaders)…
Leopoldo O'Donall, Duke of Tetuan
None the less the Spanish ports in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific remained open to Confederate blockade runners and commerce raiders for almost another year before diplomatic pressure from Britain and France forced the Spanish to finally close their ports…”
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Chapter Fifty-Five Untrusted Friends Part II
Chapter Fifty-Five
Untrusted Friends
Part II
Part II
Taken from "A Revolution at Sea: How the Confederate States Navy changed the making of war at sea" by Admiral Sir James Sinclair-Davies RN KCMG
Portsmouth Press 1978
Portsmouth Press 1978
“The South did not surrender the seas without a fight, however. By mid-1862, Confederate ships known as commerce raiders were prowling the North Atlantic in search of Union merchant vessels travelling along the Northern coastline or trading with Europe. These raiders seized millions of dollars in Union goods, and they destroyed or captured hundreds of vessels. The Confederate raider CSS Alabama alone burned forty-eight American ships valued at more than £3.0 million...
The CSS Alabama attacks a US sidewheeler
These rebel cruisers did not alter the outcome of the war, but they diverted numerous Union navy ships from the blockade, drove insurance rates for American vessels to astronomical heights, forcing these vessels to remain in port or convert to foreign registry, (the raiders concentrated their attacks on ships flying the American flag) and helped topple the American merchant-marine from its once-dominant position, which it never regained…
The best-known Confederate raiders were the CSS Florida and the CSS Alabama. Both of these vessels had been built in English shipyards and sold to the Confederates by shipbuilders who managed to find loopholes in our declaration of noninvolvement in the American conflict prior to the fall of 1863 when Britain began to vigorously enforce its neutrality...
The Florida destroyed thirty-eight American ships before the Union Navy captured it in June 1864. The Alabama was even more deadly to Northern shipping. The rebel cruiser, under the command of Captain Raphael Semmes (1809–1864), raided 278 ships, capturing or destroying 60 of them, before the U.S.S. Kearsarge sank it in a battle in the Bay of Biscay off coast of Spain in June 1864…
John Newland Maffitt and James Dunwoody Bulloch
Attempts by Confederate agents and sympathisers to purchase vessels or supplies after September 1863 became a risky business. Charles K. Prioleau was arrested in Liverpool for breaches of the Foreign Enlistments legislation… Caleb Huse was arrested by the Royal Navy, attempting to run the blockade from the Bahamas, with a vessel full of arms, fraudulently flying a British flag and possessing fraudulent papers claiming a British registry for his vessel which it did not have… John Newland Maffitt barely avoided arrest in the Bahamas in November 1863 and was forced to relocate his efforts to Havana. James Bulloch was also forced to relocate from England to Spain to further his attempts to procure supplies and vessels for the Confederate cause…”
Caleb Huse in later life in Carlotta City
Huse was a blockade runner and arms purchaser for the Confederacy
“The Confederacy of Slaves – Spain and the Confederacy in the Slaveholders’ War” by Hunter L. Bainbridge
LSU 1953
LSU 1953
“The primary route for blockade runners after September 1863 became the Havana to Mobile run. A number of vessels also used Havana as a base to run the Atlantic blockade…
It became easier for the US Navy to intercept blockade runners as its reassigned squadrons to focus on the Florida Straits and the Gulf of Mexico. Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, observed that the Anglo-French moves to enforce their neutrality in late 1863, allowed the US Navy to enforce the blockade with increasing success without the need to occupy large areas of the Confederate coast or its ports…
It all added to a growing squeeze on Confederate resources…”
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Great stuff! I like the way this timeline is going.
BTW will we see the CSS Arkansas make an appearance?
Wikipedia Entry
BTW will we see the CSS Arkansas make an appearance?
Wikipedia Entry
I am afraid, as the breeze from my butterfly's wings didn't reach the west until after the summer of 1862 I have decided the fate of the CSS Arkansas is largely as in OTL.
I agree they were the most competent members of the Confederate Cabinet, but they've also experienced the least interference from Davis of any Cabinet members. They'd also be smart enough to know publicly siding with Stephens means Davis will dismiss them, as is his right.
Lincoln has a dilemma. Kearny is the public darling and an effective general, so Lincoln needs him. OTOH, Kearny has joined the likes of McClellan in telling Lincoln how to do his job. If the military does not remain subordinate to the civilian government, then what separates the Union from the banana republics? Kearny has massively overstepped his bounds and must be removed from power for the good of the Republic.
Lincoln has to get rid of Kearny, but he can't - yet.
You will have to wait a bit longer to find out whether Lincoln or the radicals will frame the debate on reconstruction…assuming the North wins of course…
Things are going the Union's way, but Kearny hasn't shown the overall strategic vision needed to coordinate the whole, like Grant did in OTL. The Confederacy is self-destructing so fast that probably won't make a difference, though.
But what power does Davis really have at this point. There is a sufficient number of votes to impeach him whether that's for the loss of Richmond, the massacre of Richmondites during the last bread riot, any scandal relating to Northrup, or the general disasterous conduct of the war to date.
It seems that the only thing protecting Davis at the moment is that Congress is out of session and his opponents don't want to create an early banana republic! Reagan and Mallory are either patriots, in which case its country first not Davis, or politicians, in which case they know Davis no longer has a power base to rule. If Davis starts firing the competent members of the cabinet he will definitely be impeached.
In theory Davis can dismiss the cabinet. In practice doing so will ensure his own end (and perhaps his own imprisonment if that Hunter chap from Virginia has his way).
It seems to be plausible that if the Senate, House and VP are united in forcing the President's hand (and their requests are not unreasonably in the context that some reader's expected an actual coup!) the cleverer/competent members of the cabinet won't want to be on the losing side politically.
I definitely see Reagan opposing Davis at this point. I can live with Mallory being involved as well.