The Avengement: Birth of a New Nation: the Confederate States of America

By V. A. Herbert

One man, Abraham Lincoln, was the sole cause of the War Between the States, l861 1865, and the deaths of almost one million Americans. Honest, compassionate and kind hearted, but forthright to an extreme, Lincoln spoke for millions of Americans who detested slavery, and wanted to eradicate it, and for millions more who wanted to preserve the Union upon confronting the secession of eleven southern states
By calling for 75,000 volunteers, men to defend the Union immediately following the attack in Charleston Harbor, Lincoln knowingly inflamed the situation. The war was on. Lincoln wanted it. He also knew that it could have been avoided, it could have been settled amicably without the loss of any men from the North or the South. Lincoln knew that the U.S. Constitution was silent on the issue of secession, that there was then, as there is now, absolutely nothing in the Constitution that prevents any state or any number of states, from peacefully leaving the Union.


REVIEW: A great yarn worthy of a Pulitzer. B. Ballard, Rockville, MD

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496900715

V. A. Herbert

V. A. (Victor Albert) Herbert born in Springfield, Mass., August 4, 1928, attended public schools and graduated Boston University (BSBA) 1950, and the University of Akron (MBA) 1970.   He traveled extensively in Europe and North America during his 36 year association with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the Upjohn Company and the U. S. Air Force, and since his retirement in 1990.  Mr. Herbert’s library of about 2900 books includes many novels and non-fictionalized accounts of America’s wars.  Following his tenure as a speech writer for the Commanding General of the Air Training Command in Illinois, Mr. Herbert flew in F94 all-weather jet night fighters (61st Fighter Squadron) as a Radar Intercept Officer during the Korean War.  Mr. Herbert has served the nation as an Air Force officer (1950 - 1954), his state (Ohio), as the Assistant Director of Commerce (1972 - 1974), his county (Summit), as one of three at-large County Commissioners (1967 - 1972), and his city (Akron), as one of three Councilmen-At-Large (1964 - 1966).   Mr. Herbert is the author of Notes on My Recent Abduction by A. Lincoln, (‘highly recommended’ by Lawrence Zeillinger in a review for Amazon.com.), The Man In The Diamond Suit, Inside the Titanic 2-1/2 Miles Under Water,  Two Thousand Eighty-Four (2084), An Unauthorized Sequel To George Orwell’s Polemic Masterpiece, 1984,and Japanese Capture, General MacArthur Escaping from Corregidor, March, 1942, (A Novella), and World’s First Successful Head Transplant [Thus We Have No Need To Die] (A Novella).

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2014 V. A. Herbert. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/16/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-0072-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-0074-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-0071-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905735

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CONTENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

EPILOGUE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DEDICATION

For their sincere encouragement, unlimited patience, quiet trust and cooperation, I dedicate this book to my wife of 60 years, Shirley Ann, and our children: Eileen Anastasia, Diane Elizabeth, Paul Nicholas, and Sheila Siobhan.

I love you.

Thank you.

INTRODUCTION

One man, Abraham Lincoln, was the sole cause of the War Between the States, 1861-1865, and the deaths of almost one million Americans. Honest, compassionate and kind hearted, but forthright to an extreme, Lincoln spoke for millions of Americans who detested slavery, and wanted to eradicate it, and for millions more who wanted to preserve the Union upon confronting the secession of eleven southern states.

Lincoln himself, known by his Cooper Union speech in Manhattan and debates with Senator Stephen Douglas in Illinois, was the reason the South left the Union. They were afraid that Lincoln could and would abolish slavery, an institution which was crucial to their cotton empire, vital to their economic prosperity. His election in 1860 was the initial flashpoint.

Lincoln’s response to the shelling of Fort Sumter a few weeks after his inauguration in March 1861 was the starting whistle for a war that was fought to free the slaves, but under the guise of treason. Northerners fought to preserve the Union under the impression fostered by the President, Abraham Lincoln, that states did not have the right under the Constitution to leave the Union, to secede. It was a treasonous act he said, and firing upon Federal property in South Carolina exemplified that treason.

By calling for 75,000 volunteers, men to defend the Union immediately following the attack in Charleston Harbor, Lincoln knowingly inflamed the situation to such an extent that nothing could be called back or ameliorated. The war was on. Lincoln wanted it. He also knew that it could have been avoided, it could have been settled amicably without the loss of any men from the North or the South, but that men would never go to war just to abolish slavery. Lincoln knew that the U. S. Constitution was silent on the issue of secession; that there was then as there is now, absolutely nothing in the Constitution that prevents any state or any number of states, from peacefully leaving the Union. Lincoln lied by omission, but his power as President, the ignorance of the American public with respect to the Constitution, and the inflammatory nature of the sudden southern attack on that otherwise peaceful day in April 1861 seemed to call for an immediate retaliatory response. This is a love story set in the midst of the Civil War.

It tells the story of young southern men, victimized by the American Holocaust brought about by the utterly unnecessary 60 miles wide path to the sea, from Atlanta to Savannah in 1865 in which General William Sherman encouraged his Yankee soldiers to burn, rob, rape, kidnap and destroy everything in their path, without regard for human life, property or values.

Following the defect of the Confederate armies and the arrest of President Jefferson Davis in the spring of 1865, Judah P. Benjamin became the acting President of the Confederate States of America.

By immediately calling for a limited guerrilla war in the north, and authorizing the murder of southern politicians who would have voted to rejoin the Union, Benjamin unintentionally launched all-out terrorism in the northern states by southern gangs, veteran rebel soldiers and assorted criminals, over whom he had no control.

To stop the burning, looting, robberies and raping, President Andrew Johnson, U. S. Grant, Robert E. Lee and a few others agreed to a ballot issue by which the people of the North and the South would decide, by their votes, if the southern states should be allowed to secede in peace.

This is an exciting story, based on truth and factual evidence of how the South could have, should have, won their freedom and independence without having had to go to war. Vox populi, vox dei.

V. A. Herbert

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

March 2014

1

THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA

On the evening of Good Friday, April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a southern sympathizer, climbed the stairs in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D. C., quietly opened the door to box seats occupied by President Abraham Lincoln, his wife and their guests, and shot the President in the back of his head. President Lincoln died early the next morning, and so did hope for reuniting the Union.

Booth had ignited fires of fury that spread very quickly to every home in the North, and profound depths of fear of northern revenge to every home in the South.

Any lingering love or memories of days and friendships past between Southerners and Northerners were gone in a shot, heard and felt throughout the land. Lincoln was not loved by everyone in the North, and by few in the South. But he was an icon, recognized by everyone as such. Now the South knew they were in for more trouble, postwar punishment courtesy of an angry army of Yankee occupiers.

There were those in the Confederacy who understood that and used it to advantage. One such man, Judah P. Benjamin, former Confederate Attorney General, Secretary of War, Secretary of State and now President pro tem was also known by many as the ‘Brains of the Confederacy’. Benjamin and others spoke for millions of people who had left the Union following Lincoln’s election in 1860 because they wanted to be left alone. Theirs was a way of life they enjoyed and wanted to keep, never mind the turmoil, factories, immigrants, noise, poverty, filth and political corruption up north which they could see, hear, and feel. They lived on creeks, rivers, and mountainsides in Georgia and the Carolinas. Hill people in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia wanted nothing to do with heavy industry, high finance in New York City, trade unions, and railroads cutting through their beloved forests and farms. Progress be damned.

People down south wanted to grow their own food and plant cotton. They wanted to fish and hunt in the rich, beautiful land they had come by. Northerners just did not understand.

How could an Irish immigrant with a dozen kids, living in a filthy hovel in Boston, New York or Philadelphia slums appreciate a golden sunrise over a cascade of mountains every morning? They probably didn’t know what a cow was, or that it had to be milked by someone early every day, or had ever seen a pig or a mule. They would not have known anything about plowing or raising chickens and rabbits.

Theirs was a completely different lifestyle.

Up north kids were forced to go to school. In the south, maybe they went. Some places had a little schoolhouse for all grades, but the kids didn’t spend much time there. They had chores that would not wait.

Life in the southern states was free and easy. No dress code, no government interference, few rules or laws to obey. True, land could be protected by a deed issued by a county official. True, you might be held accountable for shooting another man. True, you had to pay a few dollars in property tax once a year. Aside from that, which everyone felt was reasonable, all you had to worry about was God. God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The local pastor would tell you biblical stories and that you had better repent, but a few small coins every Sunday would usually get him to smile and wish you well.

Up north a lot of papists, otherwise known as Catholics, had to worry about the Pope. He had a lot of power, and told everyone how to live: no meat on Fridays, only fish; no sex unless you were procreating; confession every Saturday; communion every Sunday; limbo, purgatory, and generous contributions for the ‘poor’, and the Pope. Their only good news was you could not get to heaven unless you were a Catholic.

A small family in Alabama or Mississippi, mother, father, 2 children, would have a breakfast of eggs, bacon, beans and biscuits. Coffee for the adults, and milk for the kids, and maybe a fresh peach or two. Up north, there was nothing like that unless you had money. An Irish immigrant working on the railroad would get 25 cents an hour for hard labor, and probably drink half of what he earned before the day was over. His kids, starting at age 8, would work all day in the cotton mills of New England for less.

In the Deep South, people could and did live on fish and small wild animals. They loved it. No one bothered them. The crackers and the rednecks, with sun on their backs and necks as they plowed the fields, loved their lives. Who would not? A gun or bow and arrow, a hunt for squirrels, or wild hogs, or birds was a day of rich enjoyment, easy going.

2

Judah Benjamin spoke for the South while at the last full meeting of President Jefferson Davis’ cabinet in Charlotte, North Carolina, April 24, 1865. He said: "I know we are on the road, our escape route, but I do not believe it is the road to perdition. Yankees be damned! We can win this war if you will listen and agree with me. Now wait, I must have quiet. We can win this war by fighting back. I will tell you how. First, we have to force all of our major politicians, from all eleven of the Confederate states, to say no. No, no, no! Never will we be puppets of the U. S. government and vote or agree to rejoin the Union. We must make it clear to these men that to agree in any way to reunify is a crime that will cost them their lives.

Secondly, we will begin to undertake a limited campaign of terror so costly, so inhumane, that Yankee newspapers will run full page editorials condemning us and bellowing atrocities! We do not want them back. That is the headline I want to see in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune. Those headlines will guarantee our victory."

Born August 6, 1811, Judah Benjamin had strong disagreements with President Jefferson Davis about how to conduct the war.

Although they were close friends, after U. S. Senator Benjamin had challenged U. S. Senator Davis to a duel for a perceived insult on the floor of the Senate for which Davis later apologized; Benjamin felt that Negroes should be given their freedom if they volunteered to serve in the Confederate Army. This suggestion was adopted by the CSA in 1865, too late to make a difference in the outcome of the war.

Benjamin, a left of center Jewish Democrat, hated war, although he felt the South had to fight for its freedom and independence. An exceptionally intelligent man, Benjamin’s Sephardic ancestors had served the kings of Europe for hundreds of years.

Davis had appointed Benjamin as Attorney General, Secretary of War and finally as Secretary of State. He had great trust and confidence in Benjamin and gave him his final assignment when last they talked during the government’s escape through Georgia following the fall of Richmond.

You must take the reins Judah, Davis said. You will be the Acting President of the Confederacy and do what I was unable to do: win our liberty, our freedom. Do it and the South will honor you forever!

Others also spoke, including President Jefferson Davis, but none was better received than Benjamin’s passionate speech. Davis, trying desperately to escape the Yankee authorities hot on his trail, talked about General Sherman, the northern general who captured and burned Atlanta and was now burning a 60 mile wide swath through the state of Georgia on his way to the sea.

Awful, Davis shouted, Criminal, hideous! What this monster Sherman is doing cannot be condoned; a God damned holocaust! We must fight back. Save the South, gentlemen. Mr. Benjamin is right. We must make it so ugly the North will never want us back.

Several others, including senators and representatives from Texas and some western territories, concurred. It is truly our best chance, Benjamin said to many of the cabinet members and politicians. I know we can make it work. The people are with us. We have enough natural resources; cotton, tobacco, food stuffs, fish, fruits and vegetables to do business all over the world, including the northern states. We will grow and prosper. But we must first put down any hope or desire to rejoin our northern cousins, politically.

Following that cabinet meeting, Benjamin appointed two committee chairmen: McCready, you are to undertake a terror campaign in the North. Create several sub-divisions, one or more for each state in the Union. Terrorize them with explosions, murders, bank robberies, derailments, and fires, selectively. We want maximum notice for every incident.

Joseph McCready, a guerilla colonel from Tennessee quickly agreed. I will need money, of course, but I know what you want and I agree. It will be done Mr. Secretary.

Now, Mr. Davis, Benjamin said, as President of the Confederate States of America I hope you will bring every politician of note, in each of our states, to sign a pledge. It must be witnessed of course. They must promise not to enter any agreements with the USA to rejoin the Union, upon penalty of death. That last one is important. They must understand that to merely suggest they may vote to rejoin the Union, or obfuscate, is going to cost them their lives. The South is on its own. We are on the edge, the cusp of victory. It is a sweet feeling, one that Mr. Lincoln and his northern aggressors never understood. We are two different nations.

3

McCready’s first target was the Maynard Hotel in Washington, D. C. Having stayed there a number of times he knew that it was vulnerable. A few of his men, after loading fertilizer and some common chemical ingredients into three horse drawn carts, pulled up to the hotel on May 1, 1865. Asking for rooms for their