“Never be haughty to the humble or humble to the haughty.”
Although Jefferson Davis would go down in Confederate history as a hero, the founder of his nation, it is difficult to ignore the various crises that took place in the latter years of his Administration. Following the collapse of Mobile State Bank and the beginning of the Cotton Recession, Richmond struggled to rebound from the economic hardships of the war. The nation’s wartime debts were added to in peacetime and Virginia , the state most effected by the conflict in terms of causalities and material damage, was forced to drastically slash budgets in an effort to avoid bankruptcy. Meanwhile all across the Confederacy, returning soldiers struggled to find work as industry attempted to return to a peace footing. This was perhaps epitomised by the collapse of the Richmond Armoury in October 1865, leaving thousands out of work, many of them recently returned from the Army of Northern Virginia. For those that did find employment, there was still the problem of low wages, which had only fallen further in response to the economic crisis. Dozens of major labour disputes took place across the country in the following years. The most famous of these led to violent clashes between textile workers and police in Charleston, South Carolina on 13th April 1866, leading to several deaths and hundreds of arrests.
In foreign affairs, despite the Treaty of Montreal, Davis and Lincoln would clash once again, this time over French intervention in Mexico. The Mexican crises had begun with a pan-European expedition into the country in March 1862, in response to President Juarez’s cancellation of the foreign debt. However Britain and Spain quickly realised Napoleon’s colonial intentions and soon withdrew support. Within weeks French forces had forced Juarez and his liberal allies to flee into the northern wilderness, while the Austrian Archduke Maximilian arrived to take the throne of the Second Mexican Empire. The situation greatly alarmed Lincoln as a violation of the Monroe Doctrine however United States’ involvement in the Secession War made any serious intervention impossible. The territorial exchanges of Montreal also later limited Union action as Confederate control of the Arizona Territory left her with only southern California for a land border. Despite this, Congress passed a resolution on 4th April 1863 denouncing the Mexican monarchy. Soon U.S troops were positioned at the narrow frontier, and the funnelling of munitions to Juarez’s Chihuahua stronghold began in earnest.
Two Mexicos: President Benito Juarez (l) and Emperor Maximilian I (r)
At the same time the French were looking to Richmond to see their response. Although Davis had little interest in seeing a European dominated Mexico on his southern border, following the U.S Congress’s Mexican Resolution he saw the only alternative would be a Union dominated one. All across the Confederacy there was fear that Lincoln would use his toady Juarez to outflank the country in a second ‘war of revenge’. In Texas in particular there was anger and worry as Republican forces increasingly crossed the Rio Grande, often fleeing Monarchist forces but also to raid Confederate settlements for supplies. By the beginning of 1864, as the United States began considering a blockade to shut off French supplies to Maximilian, the Confederate threw their (clandestine) support behind the Monarchists. Soon weapons and volunteers crossed the border to aid the Emperor’s forces. Although New York was angered to hear rumours of Confederate complicity, it was ultimately a tit-for-tat action. It was on 1st March when news arrived of Juarez’s death that the situation reached breaking point.
The Mexican President had apparently been executed by members of the French Foreign Legion at his base camp, El Paso del Norte, in the extreme north of the country. It had been chosen for its isolation from the Emperor’s southern heartlands and was believed to be many miles from the nearest enemy forces. However it also lay within view of the Texan border, quickly prompting accusations of Confederate complicity, perhaps even direct involvement. Edward Edmunds, the U.S Ambassador to Richmond passed on strongly worded messages from Federal Hall, threatening to block Confederate exports from entering the United States and even the possibility of troops being used to ‘secure’ Mexico’s northern frontier. President Davis, in discussions with Judah P. Benjamin and General Lee, came to the conclusion that Lincoln lacked the ability or resolve to act on his threats. The 1862 U.S mid-term elections had seen the Republican Party lose their majority, while the general public had little interest in Mexico, more concerned with rebuilding the nation. As such on 6th March, the Confederacy joined France and Austria in recognising Emperor Maximilian as the legitimate ruler of Mexico. It was a clear message to New York and much to Davis’ surprise, was met with action. The next days orders were given for over 15,000 U.S troops to amass on the Arizona-New Mexico border and proposals were put to Congress to quarantine all French and Confederate ships bound for Mexican ports.
Once more Edmunds presented the President were word from his opposite. If another act of ‘banditry’ emanated from the C.S.A into Mexico, Union soldiers would be forced to occupy the Arizona Territory. Within a week Lt. General Octave Herbert, governor of the province, had amassed 10,000 soldiers and militiamen in response. After several weeks of stand-off, eventually shots were fired. Dubbed somewhat dramatically as the ‘Battle of Apennine Ridge’ by the press, on April 12th a Confederate scouting party accidentally crossed the border in pursuit of Apache Indians. During the Secession War, the Apache had chosen no favourites, attacking both sides in an effort to secure their territory and making use of the new border to avoid pursuit. Arriving on the eponymous outcrop, the party spotted horsemen galloping in their direction and quickly opened fire, suspecting an Indian trap in their panic. A protracted gun battle broke out and soon the Confederates had forced their opponents to retreat. Much to their surprise, they discovered two dead U.S cavalrymen and quickly fled across the border. The Union forces involved had not been so short-sighted and soon word broke of C.S expeditions into New Mexico. Suddenly north of the border the crisis in Mexico was front page news. Despite swift apologies from Herbert and Davis, the attack fit the problem of ’banditry’ Lincoln had outlined in his missives. Richmond feared the possibility of a second war only a little over a year after Montreal.
It was not to be. When word arrived from Edmunds on 15th April it was a demand for compensation for the families of the dead and the offer of talks to withdraw both nations from the war in Mexico. Ultimately Davis‘ prediction of Union hesitance had been proven right. The death of Juarez had effectively decapitated the Republican cause. General Porfirio Diaz had been seen by many as the President’s successor but on 1st April after secret talks with Mexico City, the General had sworn loyalty to the Emperor. It would later be learned that the talks had been underway long before Juarez’s execution. At the same French forces had secured control of Baja and Chihuahua in a direct effort to cut off U.S supplies into the country. Other reasons have also been speculated for the Union’s decision to step down over Mexico. Most credible perhaps, and a theory put forward by Benjamin, was that Lincoln still believed a return to hostilities would see France and possibly Britain intervene on the Confederacy’s behalf. Similarly the anti-war faction held dominance in both Congress and the Cabinet, with most simply unwilling to fight, either so soon or over the issue of Mexico. By June the Mexican Crisis was deemed to be at all but at an end as Richmond and New York agreed to halt aide to either side and step down their military forces along the Arizona border. Although French forces would in some capacity stay in the country until 1868, Diaz’s defection had ended any hope of Republican victory in the near future. Regardless, the United States would not officially recognise Maximilian and the Empire until the 1880s.
Backroom dealing at the Republican National Convention, 1864
The U.S step down ultimately doomed Abraham Lincoln’s re-election prospects. The Republican Party Convention met only weeks after the Battle of Apennine Ridge in Cleveland, with the majority of the delegates determined to find a new contender. In the first ballot Lincoln gained only a third of the vote, coming second to Hannibal Hamlin, his Vice-President and a leading Radical, while the moderate Salmon Chase from Ohio came third. In the following ballots Lincoln’s support slowly collapsed, however Hamlin failed to gain a majority, due to former Secretary of State William Seward, a fellow Radical, stubbornly holding onto 40 delegates. By the fifth ballot the deadlock remained as Chase’s anti-tariff and nativist views put off various sections of the party. Fearful of a Hamlin-Seward ticket sweeping the Convention, conservatives put forward a compromise candidate on the sixth ballot in the form of the little known Senator James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin. He quickly by-passed Chase and Lincoln and following both standing aside, won the Presidential nomination on the seventh ballot, with Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts agreeing to be his running mate. Hamlin was furious at the result, claiming to have been robbed by the Party bosses and closet Democrats. He refused to support the nomination and walked out of the Convention with 38 fellow delegates. The rebels quickly organised themselves as the Radical-Republican Party and promptly nominated Hamlin for the Presidency at an ad-hoc convention in Boston.
Meanwhile the Democrats had swiftly nominated the Governor of Ohio, David Tod, a noted entrepreneur and administrator who had gained respect for his efforts during and after the Secession War to rebuild his state. His Copperhead rival, Thomas H. Seymour of Connecticut accepted the Vice-Presidential nomination begrudgingly, his faction uneasy with the formerly pro-Lincoln Tod. Despite this it was the Republicans who were to face internal problems as the campaign wore on. Doolittle believed that the Radicals would fail to make any real impact on the election, due to Hamlin widely being portrayed as being personally motivated, while the Confederacy’s successful secession made the issues of war and slavery moot ones. In June this changed when the Radicals gained the backing of John Fremont, the father of the Republican Party, leading to many supporters defecting to Hamlin’s camp, particularly in California and New England. At the same time, Doolittle struggled to outline a clear programme as he attempted to appeal to both Democrats and Radical rebels, promising to raise punitive tariffs on Confederate goods while also normalising relations being just one example. On the other side Tod attacked the Mexican debacle and promised to build-up the U.S economy and maintain peace through foreign trade deals, citing his experience in international diplomacy. As the election date drew near, Hamlin proved a dark horse, drawing in many die-hard Republicans on issues of Westward expansion, abolition and high tariffs.
The split in the Republican vote scuppered Doolittle's chances
Back in Richmond the election of the moderate Tod was greeted with approval, however politics was just as frantic in the C.S.A as her northern counterpart. The stand-off in Arizona, although something of a victory for the Confederacy, deeply upset sections of the Government who deemed Davis too aggressive and irresponsible in his provocations of the Union. Many wondered what would have happened if Lincoln had not backed down. Chief amongst these was Vice-President Alexander Hamilton Stephens. Stephens, a former Whig, had been chosen as Davis’ second in the name of fostering national unity, however the two men deeply disliked each other on both political and personal levels. While Stephens debated passionately behind closed doors against the President, Robert Toombs, his friend, ally and fellow Georgian attacked Davis brutally in the press and Congress. Toombs, a wealthy aristocrat and gifted, if power hungry, career politician had briefly held a Cabinet position at the beginning of the war, however he lacked Stephens’ patience or tact and soon resigned due to disagreements. Most notably Toombs had caught national attention in 1863 by calling on Richmond to liberate Mexico from the French invasion in order to “remove the rot of monarchy from our continent”. Much to Davis’ embarrassment the call was very popular as despite its pragmatism, the President’s Mexican policy was deemed somewhat unsavoury in most circles.
Although the vocal opposition of Toombs and company was in a minority, as Davis’ term continued his Administration became marred in scandal. In May 1865 the Governor of Tennessee, Isham G. Harris, was gunned down in Knoxville by James Wilson, a diehard Unionist. After being apprehended by police Wilson claimed he had killed the Governor because he was allowing favourites to illegally confiscate property from former Union supporters in the east of the state, ruining his life by seizing his family farm. An investigation discovered the assassin’s claims to be true and numerous politicians and officials were linked to the scheme. Most surprisingly the austere Treasury Secretary, Christopher Memminger, was discovered to have been involved, ignoring financial irregularities in the state to cover Harris and his accomplices. The Wilson Affair was the first major stain to President Davis’ tenure and ensured the end of Memminger’s political career following his resignation in July. The President denied any knowledge of a conspiracy but Stephens was convinced otherwise. In August the Vice-President met with Toombs, Senator John Bell and others to discuss organising a ticket for the next year to oppose Davis’ successor.
Happier Times: The 1st Confederate Cabinet, March 1861