"The Footsteps of Illustrious Men"- USA GC AAR

RGB: Perhaps I should have taken the age old advice and not "messed" with Texas...

Jape: We don't need excuses for our civil strife!

stnylan: And like all things that stack up, one day they will fall.

Don Carlos and the election of 1862
~~

As 1861 gave way to 1862 the battle was set for the next election. Going back to the three party system, the ‘62 election would be between three candidates. First was the incumbent, President Patterson. Patterson was not unpopular with the country. Outside of South Texas there were few people who hated him. Most people ignored him on a day-to-day basis. He had avoided having his name tapped for any controversial legislation, likewise he had never done anything to earn the admiration of the people. He was, even as President, a background figure, easily forgotten.

Nevertheless he easily carried the Democratic nomination. Being the first Democrat to win office in over a decade made him popular among the political elites. His pro-southern attitude was loved by the Deep Southerners, and his moderate stance on almost everything else allowed his subordinates to do what they wanted to. He was the perfect candidate for many of the manipulative and controlling, especially for the state governors who had set about their own personal agendas on many fronts. Patterson, too careless to stop them, allowed pork barrel spending to go through the roof during his first term.


Don Carlos Buell

The American Party was staggering along on fumes by this point. It was only the work of the energetic Don Carlos Buell that saved it from destruction. His stunning victory over Little Crow, the Native American rebel, propelled him back into fame. He resigned his commission in 1861 to seek political office. With no real competition, he was chosen as the American Party candidate for president. To run with him he chose George Bancroft, former Secretary of the Navy under Conrad. They immediately set about gaining support in Texas and Louisiana, and the ‘new states’ of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska.

However, this energetic drive was cut short by the death of Don Carlos Buell. While traveling by train across Missouri, hoping to stop in St. Louis for a speech, Buell was killed. The train he was on stopped due to a mechanical problem. Buell and the other passengers disembarked to avoid the heat of the stopped train. During the confusion outside the train, Buell was shot by a Native American who had followed him from Minnesota through the South and into Missouri, hoping to take revenge for the defeat of Little Crow. Bancroft stepped up to take the ballot, but found no further support, and, in defeat, stepped down.


Henry Smith Lane

The Republicans finally decided to step up to the plate. Three leading candidates emerged after the convention. Hannibal Hamlin, governor of Maine, Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania and Henry Smith Lane from Indiana. At first the three Northerners were in a dead heat. None of the three was particularly well known, but all three had strength. In the end the nomination would go to the orator, Henry Smith Lane, who was aided by a Kentucky born Republican named Abraham Lincoln. Lane chose Montgomery Blair, a Marylander as his running mate. Together they set off for the middle states, those Mid-western states who had gone from American to Democratic, and could perhaps be returned to the Republican fold.

The two-way election did not go well for the Republicans. Although Lane was an abolitionist, his vice presidential candidate was, in no uncertain terms, distrusted. He was called a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a Southerner who was a Republican. He was conspicuously silent on the issue of slavery (in order to sway southern votes). This was seen as a contradiction. When the newspapers became involved it spiraled. Suddenly the Republicans were not promising an end to Slavery, but were going to turn the country into some dictatorship. Lane’s opposition to state power over federal power was the calling point of Patterson’s campaign. In hindsight it seemed almost inevitable. When New York went to Patterson, the game was done.


William Patterson and James Buchanan- 188
Henry Smith Lane and Montgomery Blair- 124

RGB said:

The use of red and blue confuses me. Aren't Republicans red?

Click to expand...

Only since 2000. In the 1980's the Republicans were blue and the Democrats were red.

RGB: Purple... guess that would be the non-existant Royalist Party.

Director: Things will spiral out of control really fast really soon. The next two updates will be very unexpected.

stnylan: Yep, one or two states go either way and the election goes Republican.

Vincent Julien:Arg, you've discovered my weakness, fart noises. Unfortunately I left the zip-drive with my screen shots in my car, which was left in the auto repair shop.

Pope’s Little War and the Scandal of 1865
---

Patterson’s second term began with mixed results. On the one hand he was able to push through some legislation on the waning days of congress; on the other hand, he was about to loose control of the House and Senate. Republicans did surprisingly well in the Senatorial election, sweeping all of the Ohio Valley states, and even making headway in Virginia and South Texas. Schuyler Colfax, a Republican from Pennsylvania, had taken over as Speaker of the House, and he, alongside other Republicans, dominated the legislature from then on out.

Patterson, following his own agenda, then did some much unexpected things. Lewis Cass, his new Secretary of State (Stephan Douglas having passed away in 1861) was sent on a journey to visit the governments of many of the Central and South American countries who had stabilized a bit in the 1850’s. Cass’ report to Congress was distressing. Governments were unstable, and European involvement, despite the Monroe Doctrine, was increasing. Recently, fears of European military involvement in Mexico and Central America were rising, especially in the highly unstable United States of Central America.


The United States of Central America

The USCA had lived well beyond its means. Revolts had plagued the country in the 30s and 40s. The 50s saw a respite, but as the 60s dawned, a whole new wave of revolt wracked the country. Cass proposed that the United States help her southern compatriot, before the Europeans stepped in. He proposed a plan, endorsed by Patterson, to send 40,000 men into the Republic to put an end to the revolts once and for all. General Pope would be called upon to take command of the “Central American Intervention” and stabilize the little Federated Republic.

This was met with a resounding dismissal by the Republican congress. The use of American troops on foreign soul was outrageous to most of them. The war with Mexico had been one of liberation, as had the brief scuffle in Texas. This was out right aggression. The majority of Republicans sent the idea away in tatters, and Cass was suddenly under fire. Patterson, undeterred, ordered Pope to set sail anyway. On October 9th, 1865, General John Pope landed with 30,000 infantry, and 10,000 cavalry landed and immediately set about dispersing the army of the USCA. In reaction, the government of Mexico mobilized in defense of her “ally” and crossed the border into South Texas, America was at war once again.


Daniel Clark

Patterson, thinking he could end the war quickly and be done with it, was sourly surprised when he was called before Congress for an impeachment. Accused of High Crimes and violation of the Constitution (for declaring war, a privilege reserved to Congress), Patterson had little to say in his defense beyond the claim that he had not declared war. Meanwhile the accusers piled evidence against him, including his replacement of naval officers who were thought to be Republicans and the bribing of USCA officials to allow US troops to land. By the end of the month, Patterson found himself impeached, and then shortly thereafter removed from office. James Buchanan, who rarely had moments of genius, suddenly had one. Rather than face the tribunal himself, he testified against Patterson, and resigned as Vice President.

The succession then fell to the President pro tempore of the Senate, Daniel Clark. Clark was a New Jersey Senator who had been called upon to serve in the stead of a ill Senator. He was re-elected in his own right and rose through the ranks to become President pro tempore. Clark was hastily sworn in on January 1st, 1866. Unfortunately an election was just around the corner, but in the nation’s current disarray (fighting two wars without a President) it was decided to follow previous precedent and extend the election deadline to 1868. This would allow Clark to fill out a 2 year term and stabilize the country for the time being. This would prove to be naive.

The Democrats in Congress had voted, for the most part, against impeachment, merely to avoid loosing hold on the White House. When the tide turned against them, in great part thanks to the John S. Carlile of Virginia (who was for impeachment from the start) and Garrett Davis (who crossed the isle when Buchanan testified), many Democrats left Washington. Suddenly the words of William Henry Gist and Isham Green Harris came back to the present. Secession was the word of the day. Many men in the South saw the sudden Republican takeover of the White House as a coup, inspired by greedy New England merchants and violent Midwestern abolitionists.

Even as General Almonte of the Republic of Mexico crossed into San Antonio and crushed an American army nearby, the Southern states were calling for independence from the North. On April 1st, 1866, South Carolina governor Andrew Gordon Magrath called the state representatives to Charleston for a conference. Former governor William Gist and William Porcher Miles, a well known politician within the state both championed the cause of secession. Very few voices spoke out against the idea, and by the end of the month the Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union was issued. On May 26th, 1866 South Carolina declared itself independent of the United States of America.


"The times that try men's souls."

Alex Borhild: Indeed, times are tough for the USA. I must admit, the fallen government kind of took me by surprise, as did the rather sudden rise of the CSA. Not fun to deal with when a million angry Mexicans want to retake texas.

RGB: Seriously, its like America was sitting in a lake and suddenly someone drove their hummer into it.

stnylan Yeah, i really though I was going to avoid the war, but I was sorely surprised.

Vincent Julien: Breckinridge has not yet made an appearance in this world. He is still around.

Ayeshteni:

~~

A Southern Revolution
--


Andrew Gordon Magrath proudly shouted defiance to newly appointed President Daniel Clark. South Carolina was independent and free of US control. Clark, knowing the nation hung in the balance, moved quickly. He called upon every state to raise its men in arms to crush the rebellion in Carolina. Clark, in essence, was calling to front the loyalty of every state in the South. Clark sent his Secretary of State, a Republican named Abraham Lincoln, to Richmond, Atlanta and Lexington to sway the state legislatures of the South to stay loyal to the Union. This began the period of American history known as the Great Debate. Pro-secessionists and pro-unionists suddenly took the floors of every state in the South, save a few, and the decision of American unity was debated.

Immediately following the announcement that South Carolina had seceded came Zebulon Baird Vance’s announcement that North Carolina would follow. Vance, a proud proponent of state’s rights, had called an emergency meeting of the state’s congress and called for the vote. It passed unanimously. Joseph E. Brown of Georgia was in the same camp, and proudly debated on the side of secession. Georgia would be the third state to join the Confederacy. Delegates from South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia all met in Atlanta to discuss the future of the country. Abraham K. Allison, one time governor of Florida, had committed suicide just days before the secession has been replaced by Stephen Mallory.


Governor Mallory

Mallory was, initially opposed to secession. He went to Atlanta to champion the cause of conciliation. He spoke on behalf of his state, but did not know how his state legislature would vote. When Florida voted to join the confederacy he reluctantly accepted and signed the Declaration of the Causes the new Confederate Declaration of Independence. Thomas Hill Watts likewise was not a champion of secession, but when he saw the prevailing wind of Southern thought, he two joined his state to Confederate appeals. Charles Clark of Mississippi gladly followed Alabama’s lead. Arkansas and Louisiana were to be the next to enter. All of the Deep South stood defiant before the Union.

What was left were the border states. Proud Virginia, mother of Presidents, Maryland, who was surrounded by Union troops, Delaware, the tiny southern outpost in the North, Kentucky Missouri and Tennessee were all Southern as well. In Virginia, unionist politicians proudly announced their loyalties to the Union, while many of the Aristocratic plantation owners looked eagerly to the pro-slave south for liberation. When rising young General Robert E. Lee was called upon to speak and uttered the now famous “God made me a Virginian” speech, the hall erupted. Those few pro-unionists, most from the North-West of Virginia, were driven out of the hall and the Confederate flag was raised high above the capital in Richmond.

Tennessee followed Virginia’s lead and cast her lot to the Confederates as well. Thomas E. Bramlette had recently won election as Governor of Kentucky, and was a staunch pro-unionist. When the Kentucky assembly narrowly voted in favor of succession he called in Union troops to arrest them. Kentucky, by force of arms, was to stay in the Union. Many thousands of men fled Kentucky to enlist in Confederate divisions, a regiment called the “Orphans” was raised to fight under the flag of Kentucky for the Confederates, hoping to liberate their captured brothers. With this fate in store, Missouri wisely chose neutrality in the coming conflict.

Maryland and Delaware, surrounded as they were by Yankee soldiers, had a struggle in store. 40,000 Federal troops stationed in Washington D.C. under the command of General George Meade, who had achieved some minor fame fighting the Metis revolt. These men marched out of D.C. and moved towards Frederick. The sight of this completely northern army sent many in Maryland fleeing. The presence of a Union fleet under Admiral David Farragut sent the state into submission. Delaware, likewise trapped declared herself neutral rather than join the Confederates. The Cherokee Indians in the Indian Territory (lands north of Texas), also took this opportunity to break free. Promised autonomy and mobility were enough to draw the long restricted tribes together for the coming conflict.

All that was left was Texas. In North Texas, where Southern slave owners had been established even before the Mexican-American war, the prevailing wind was for secession. But the Northern half of the state was so reliant on her southern partner that the North Texas Legislature decided to follow whatever path the Southerners did. Louis Trezevant Wigfall and James Winright Flanagan both called for Austin to join with her Southern neighbors and fight against the Union. However, when the Confederate States were approached concerning the issue of slavery, the gap between unionist and secessionist grey beyond measure. The CSA was unwilling to accept a state that would not allow slavery to be recognized. As such, Austin refused to sign the treaty of secession and instead raised a regiment of men to fight for Clark and the Union.


The World Turned Upside Down