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#449- 1864: A YEAR OF CRISIS AND DECISION

#449- 1864: A YEAR OF CRISIS AND DECISION

Released Sunday, 10th March 2024
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#449- 1864: A YEAR OF CRISIS AND DECISION

#449- 1864: A YEAR OF CRISIS AND DECISION

#449- 1864: A YEAR OF CRISIS AND DECISION

#449- 1864: A YEAR OF CRISIS AND DECISION

Sunday, 10th March 2024
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life of the party. Oh baby, mama's bringing

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home the bacon. Whoa. Hey

1:07

everyone, thanks for tuning into episode number 449 of

1:09

our Civil War podcast. My name is Rich. And

1:15

I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Welcome to the

1:17

podcast. First of

1:19

all, we want to say thanks for

1:22

your patience while we were moving. Using

1:25

those old members episodes the

1:27

last three weeks was really

1:29

helpful since it gave us

1:31

some breathing space to organize

1:33

and pack and then move

1:35

and then start to get settled here

1:37

in our new place. But

1:40

we're excited to be back this week with a new

1:42

show to share with you guys. And

1:45

with this show, we're heading into the

1:47

penultimate year of the Civil War. Although

1:50

back then, of course, the

1:52

soldiers and the politicians and the

1:54

civilians on both sides couldn't look

1:56

into the future. of

2:00

knowing that 1864 would be the next

2:02

to the last year of the war

2:05

and that the awful conflict wouldn't end

2:07

until the spring of 1865. One

2:11

thing we want to stress here at the beginning

2:13

of this show is that as

2:16

the calendar turned from 1863 to

2:19

1864, the ability

2:22

and will of both sides

2:24

to continue to wage war

2:27

would be determined as much by what

2:29

happened on the home front as by

2:31

what happened on the front lines. And

2:34

that's very important, so it

2:36

bears repeating. As

2:39

the calendar turned from 1863 to 1864, the ability and will of both

2:41

sides to continue to

2:47

wage war would be determined as

2:50

much by what happened on the home front

2:52

as by what happened on the front lines. As

2:56

the war prepared to enter its fourth year in

2:58

the spring of 1864, the terrible, bloody, costly

3:03

fratricidal conflict was trying

3:06

the patience of both

3:08

North and South. For

3:11

Jefferson Davis, there was now a

3:13

constant drumbeat of dissatisfaction with

3:15

his administration's conduct of the

3:17

war. Many

3:19

Confederates from those states west of

3:21

the Appalachian Mountains felt Davis

3:24

had prior since the Federals controlled

3:26

the entire length of the Mississippi

3:28

River and in addition,

3:30

with Bragg's defeat at Chattanooga,

3:33

Tennessee had been lost and

3:35

the Yankees now threatened Atlanta.

3:38

Moreover, Davis was now confronting

3:40

the reality that the concept

3:42

of states' rights carried

3:45

with it implications that were

3:47

distinctly at odds with the

3:49

Richmond government's attempt to successfully

3:51

wage war and secure independence

3:54

for the Southern slaveholding republic.

3:57

In other words, states' rights

4:00

rather ironically, was proving

4:02

to be an obstacle to the Confederacy

4:05

winning the war. As we'll

4:08

see in the coming year, governors

4:10

from a number of rebel states, in

4:13

particular Georgia and North Carolina,

4:16

would place the narrow concerns of

4:18

their states above the

4:21

larger strategic needs of

4:23

the increasingly hard-pressed Confederate

4:25

States of America. And

4:28

then for Abraham Lincoln, the

4:30

federal victories at Vicksburg, Gettysburg,

4:32

and especially Chattanooga had dampened

4:35

the disapproval of his administration's

4:37

conduct of the war, as

4:40

well as muted the criticism of those

4:42

who believed the war wasn't worth fighting.

4:45

Nevertheless, the Democratic Party, not to

4:47

mention many officers and men in

4:49

the Union armies, remained

4:52

unhappy with the Emancipation

4:54

Proclamation. Speaking of

4:56

the Union armies, they would

4:58

soon lose substantial numbers of

5:00

soldiers who had enlisted for

5:03

three years back in 1861.

5:06

But the enthusiasm for the war itself

5:08

had declined to the point where the

5:10

North would have to fill the ranks

5:12

of its armies, either through

5:15

conscription or the offer

5:17

of large bounties to incentivize

5:19

re-enlistment. Worryingly

5:21

though, the July 1863 draft riots in New York

5:26

City had underlined the deep

5:28

antagonism to the draft that

5:30

existed among substantial numbers of

5:33

Northerners. In addition, in

5:35

the coming year, the North would

5:37

face the unprecedented challenge posed by

5:40

the necessity of conducting a presidential

5:42

election in the midst of the

5:44

Civil War. That

5:46

meant Abraham Lincoln would have to

5:48

play a skillful political game, while

5:50

at the same time continuing to

5:53

manage the complexities of waging war.

5:55

FYI, the re-election

5:58

problem was one that Deborah Davis

6:00

didn't have to worry about since

6:02

the Confederate Constitution gave him a

6:04

term of six years. 1864

6:18

will prove to be a year of crisis

6:20

on both the home front and both the

6:22

north and the south. In

6:25

the fourth year of the conflict in both

6:27

the Union and the Confederacy, harsh

6:30

realities of war will bite

6:32

more deeply than ever. In

6:34

the south, the effect of the war was felt

6:37

not only in the absence of more than one

6:39

third of the region's white male population, but

6:42

even more directly in the growing shortage

6:45

of food, especially in

6:47

the urban areas and near the fighting

6:49

fronts. This shortage

6:51

of food was ironic because

6:53

the south was an overwhelmingly

6:55

agricultural region, and at

6:57

the outset of the war Jefferson Davis

7:00

had appealed to planters to shift from

7:02

cotton to food production. But

7:04

most had thumbed their noses at his

7:06

request since cotton was a more lucrative

7:09

crop. Indeed, if

7:11

it could be run through the

7:13

Union blockade, cotton offered bigger profits

7:15

than ever in European markets. Yet

7:19

despite the Planner class's devotion

7:21

to the so-called white gold,

7:24

the south nevertheless still produced

7:27

enormous amounts of food, amounts

7:30

that should have been adequate to feed its

7:32

people. Why

7:34

then was hunger stocking significant

7:36

segments of its population? One

7:39

reason was the lack of transportation to move

7:42

food from where it was grown and

7:44

raised to where it was to be consumed.

7:47

Although the south rail system had

7:49

grown rapidly in the 1850s, it

7:52

was still fragmented and partial. Unfortunately

7:55

for the Confederate government, very

7:57

few trunk lines carried rail

7:59

traffic. from one southern region or

8:01

state to another. You

8:04

see, most of the south's railroad

8:06

tracks had been laid down with

8:08

a view to carrying cotton and

8:11

other produce from interior areas to

8:13

ocean or river ports where it

8:16

could be shipped to the markets of the world. Few

8:19

of these small rail systems connected with each

8:21

other, and it would

8:23

have done little good if they had, since

8:26

many had incompatible gauges, which

8:29

was the width between the rails, which

8:31

meant the rolling stock of one railroad company

8:34

couldn't move on another railroad's

8:37

tracks. The southern rail

8:39

system shortcomings were made worse by the stress

8:41

the war placed upon it. This

8:44

led to transportation problems, which resulted

8:46

in foodstuffs tending to stay in

8:48

the agricultural districts where it was

8:50

grown and raised rather

8:53

than finding its way in sufficient amounts to

8:56

the cities and Confederate armies where

8:58

the need was greatest. Further

9:01

exacerbating the difficulty southern city

9:03

dwellers faced in attempting

9:05

to purchase food was the impact of

9:07

the Confederacy's method of financing the war. Wars are

9:10

expensive, and not

9:12

the least of the curses they

9:15

bring on a society is the

9:18

growth of that society's own government. What

9:21

the government consumes or redistributes

9:25

a people must necessarily provide, whether

9:28

they do so in taxes or by

9:30

other means. Since

9:32

the Confederate government never mustered the political will

9:36

to impose the taxes

9:38

necessary to finance even a fraction

9:40

of its war effort, and

9:42

since it was not very successful in

9:44

obtaining foreign loans, it

9:47

depended on printing pieces, churning

9:49

out thousands upon thousands of

9:52

Confederate banknotes. The

9:54

result was massive inflation, as

9:57

the Confederate government sucked more and more of

9:59

the value. out of the money

10:01

that remained in its citizens' pockets, bank

10:04

accounts, or under mattresses. As

10:07

prices soared, frustrated and

10:09

angry southerners condemned merchants

10:11

and businessmen as war

10:13

profiteers. As holding

10:16

cash became more and more obviously

10:18

a path to economic ruin, smart

10:21

southern businessmen tried to squirrel

10:24

away their wealth in commodities

10:26

instead, and the public

10:28

labeled them hoarders and

10:30

speculators, which were the

10:32

worst kind of war profiteers. Preachers

10:36

and newspaper editors lamented

10:38

how such economic practices

10:41

revealed the lost virtue of the

10:43

southern people, who now seemed

10:45

to put personal gain ahead of

10:47

devotion to their newly minted slaveholding

10:50

republic. But in

10:52

fact the culprit was their own

10:54

government's economic policies, which

10:57

made such practices unavoidable for

10:59

anyone trying to escape economic

11:02

ruin. Meanwhile hardships

11:04

steadily increased throughout the south

11:06

and with it discontent. In

11:09

the spring of 1863 that

11:11

discontent flared up into open

11:14

unrest. In April

11:16

in Richmond a large mob

11:18

composed mostly of women begin

11:20

breaking into shops and helping

11:22

themselves not only to food

11:24

but also to clothing, shoes,

11:26

and even luxury items such

11:28

as jewelry. As

11:30

the mob worked its way through

11:32

the business district the city militia

11:34

arrived and so did Jefferson

11:36

Davis. The Confederate

11:38

president climbed atop a wagon near where

11:41

the militiamen stood in line nervously

11:43

holding their muskets. In

11:46

a brief speech Davis urged the rioters

11:48

to return to their homes. Then

11:51

he added, you say you're

11:53

a hungry and have no money. Here

11:56

this is all I have. And

11:59

with that he threw all the

12:01

coins in his pocket into the

12:03

crowd, which remained standing, suddenly glaring

12:06

at the President and militia. Finally,

12:09

Davis announced that if the street were

12:11

not clear in five minutes, he would

12:13

order the militia to open fire. He

12:17

then pulled out his pocket watch and

12:19

quietly watched the seconds tick off. Not

12:22

until he instructed the commander of the militia

12:24

detachment to order his men to load their

12:26

weapons, did the crowd begin

12:28

to disperse and before the

12:30

five minutes were up, the street was

12:33

empty of rioters. As

12:35

ominous as the Richmond bread riot

12:37

was, and despite the fact

12:40

the Davis administration tried to squash any

12:42

press coverage of the incident, it

12:45

was far from an isolated event

12:47

as there were similar outbreaks of

12:49

civil unrest and looting in several

12:52

cities in Georgia and North Carolina.

12:56

Clearly the strains of war were

12:58

beginning to tell on Southern society.

13:01

Although suffering may have been more intense

13:03

and was certainly more visible in the

13:05

cities, it was present in the

13:07

countryside as well. A

13:09

large portion of the white male population was

13:11

in the army and many a farm was

13:14

left to the efforts of a wife and

13:16

such of the children as were old enough

13:18

to wield a hoe. In

13:21

many cases, the families left behind

13:23

had been unable to raise sufficient

13:25

crops and their food supplies

13:27

were dwindling. Since

13:29

the Confederacy was literally years

13:31

behind in paying its troops,

13:34

the rebel soldiers had nothing to send

13:36

to their families back home. In

13:40

this situation, a steady stream of

13:42

letters began to reach the Confederate

13:44

War Department from wives requesting

13:46

furlough or discharge for their husbands

13:48

so that the men could come

13:51

home and help their families get

13:53

in a crop. But

13:56

to have given in to such pleas would have been

13:58

the beginning of the end of the Confederacy. and

14:01

so the authorities declined these

14:04

heart-rending requests. As

14:06

the war progressed and the hardship became more

14:08

acute, such letters

14:10

increasingly were sent not to Richmond,

14:13

but to the soldiers themselves, as

14:16

desperate wives urged their husbands to

14:18

obtain leave from their units, if

14:20

they could, or come home

14:22

without leave so as to save their

14:24

families from starvation. The

14:27

fact that so many of the South's

14:29

white men were in the Army was

14:31

another sign of the long reach and

14:34

considerable power of the central

14:36

Confederate government enrichment and

14:38

defiance of the concept of state's

14:40

rights. The

14:42

Confederacy had been well in advance

14:45

of the Union in imposing national

14:47

conscription, and its version

14:49

of the draft was more rigorous

14:51

and sweeping than the Northern version,

14:54

demanding the service of every white male between the

14:56

ages of 18 and 35, with

15:00

the exception of certain classes and skills.

15:03

Later, the upper limit of the draft was raised

15:06

to 45. And

15:08

then men of ordinary means complained

15:11

bitterly about the 20-slave rule that

15:14

exempted large slaveholders and

15:16

overseers from duty in the ranks. Many

15:19

politicians, such as Georgia Governor

15:21

Joe Brown, raged against

15:24

the draft as a violation of

15:26

the principles of state's rights. But

15:29

the Davis administration was undeterred,

15:32

and conscription went on. Although

15:34

in some regions of the South,

15:36

draft resisters gathered in large bands

15:39

and withdrew into the hills,

15:41

woods, or swamps, where they

15:43

defied Confederate authority. Some

15:56

of us love history. Others used to or

15:58

never did because history is a History was presented as

16:01

nothing but the rote memorization of names, dates,

16:03

and facts. Basically,

16:05

the story got left out, and that made

16:07

history kind of suck. My

16:10

name is Greg Jackson. I'm a

16:12

university professor with a PhD in history, and

16:14

bringing history to life is my passion. That's

16:17

why I created my podcast, History That Doesn't

16:19

Suck. I want to teach

16:21

you everything you need to know about US

16:24

history, but I do so through stories. Let me

16:26

tell you about George Washington begging his men not

16:28

to mute me against Congress. Clara

16:30

Barton's saving Union soldiers are met in

16:32

the fire, enslaved Sergeant Douglas, risking his

16:35

life for liberty, and about so many

16:37

other figures as their real experience is

16:39

making industrialization, social movements, and even congressional

16:41

debates and tax policies come to life.

16:44

Subscribe to History That Doesn't Suck today,

16:47

and join me, Professor Greg Jackson, every

16:49

other week for a new episode, where

16:52

I'd like to tell you a story. Hello,

16:57

all. Eric Rivenus with the Most

16:59

Notorious podcast here. Each

17:01

week I interview an author or

17:03

historian about a historical true crime,

17:06

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bring their incredible knowledge directly

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to you. Please subscribe

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to Most Notorious on your favorite

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podcast app. Cheers, and have

17:24

a safe tomorrow. The

17:31

situation in the Northern States was far

17:33

different than that in the South, and

17:36

although hardship might be felt in some

17:38

families, particularly those whose breadwinners were in

17:40

the Army, the economy

17:42

overall was booming. Yet

17:45

despite abundance, the North was also

17:47

experiencing significant social unrest as

17:49

the calendar turned over from 1863 to

17:51

1864. The

17:56

causes of the turmoil

17:58

included general war-wearing discontentment

18:01

with a conscription, and

18:03

opposition to emancipation. Were

18:07

weariness affected all regions equally,

18:10

but resentment of the draft

18:12

and disapproval of the Emancipation

18:15

Proclamation were closely related and

18:18

combined to produce powerful

18:20

effects in specific localities.

18:24

Discontentment with conscription stemmed from

18:26

an unwillingness to fight, particularly

18:28

for the cause of emancipation,

18:31

and also from the perceived inequity

18:34

of the rules Congress laid down

18:36

for the administration of the draft.

18:39

You see, out of the

18:41

usual processes of compromise and

18:43

legislative give and take had

18:46

emerged the Enrollment Act of 1863. The

18:50

law required every man between the ages of 25 and

18:52

45 to register,

18:55

and then, provided that the

18:58

federally established quota of recruits didn't

19:00

volunteer within a given congressional

19:03

district, the draft would

19:05

go into effect in that district and

19:07

make up the difference. Congress

19:10

had thought to soften the impact

19:12

of the draft by providing two

19:14

remarkably ill-conceived safety valves. First,

19:17

a man who did not wish to serve

19:19

had the option, if drafted, of hiring another

19:22

undrafted man to go into the

19:24

army in his place, thus

19:27

securing permanent immunity from

19:29

conscription. Naturally, such

19:31

substitutes were bound to

19:33

become expensive, so

19:36

in order to keep the

19:38

price within someone's idea of

19:40

reasonable bounds, the

19:42

law also provided that a

19:44

drafted man could pay the

19:46

government a $300 commutation fee

19:49

and go free, but only

19:51

until his number came up again in

19:53

a future round of conscription, if it

19:55

ever did. Rarely

19:57

was the law of unintended consequences.

20:00

more starkly on display than in

20:02

this piece of legislation since

20:04

the $300 commutation price was

20:07

still far out of the reach

20:09

of an unskilled laborer for whom

20:12

that some might represent an entire

20:14

year's wages or more. Substitutes

20:17

were even more expensive. This

20:20

situation led to unrest and

20:22

complaints like similar grumblings in

20:24

the Confederacy that the conflict

20:27

was a rich man's

20:29

war but a poor man's fate. And

20:33

so although they were intended to

20:35

mollify public annoyance with the draft,

20:37

the commutation and substitution provisions

20:40

of the Enrollment Act in

20:43

fact became the focus

20:45

of considerable agitation and

20:47

discontent. In most

20:49

congressional districts efforts by local

20:51

authorities succeeded in meeting the

20:53

recruiting quotas. This was

20:56

usually accomplished by offering cash

20:58

bounties or bonuses for enlistment.

21:01

However a substantial number of the men

21:03

who signed up turned out to be

21:05

bounty jumpers enlisting in

21:07

one locality collecting a large

21:09

cash payment there then

21:11

deserting it the first opportunity to enlist

21:14

in another town and repeating the

21:16

process over and over until they

21:18

either amassed a small fortune or

21:21

were caught. They

21:23

as well as many of the

21:25

substitutes who were hired were of

21:27

at best dubious value to

21:29

the army as were the

21:31

conscripts who actually did find their way into

21:34

the ranks. The

21:36

latter made up only a small percentage

21:38

of the total numbers mustered into the

21:40

service since the impact

21:42

of the draft lay primarily

21:45

in spurring voluntary enlistment. In

21:48

other words the draft was the

21:50

stick while voluntary enlistment was the

21:53

carrot. However in

21:55

most areas the net yield of

21:57

the Enrollment Act was only a

21:59

small percentage small trickle of men who turned

22:01

out to be good soldiers among

22:04

large numbers of nearly

22:06

worthless substitutes, shifty

22:09

bounty jumpers, and

22:11

unhappy conscripts. In

22:23

some areas in the north, resistance to the

22:25

draft was more intense and could flare

22:27

up into violence. This

22:29

was true in localities where popular

22:32

opposition to the cause of emancipation

22:34

ran high. In

22:36

such districts, men angrily announced that

22:38

they would not fight to free

22:40

the slaves. Regions

22:43

of particular resistance to the draft

22:45

included the Ohio River Valley and

22:47

the southern parts of Ohio, Indiana,

22:50

and Illinois, but the

22:52

Fuhrer was most intense among the

22:54

Irish immigrant population that made up

22:56

most of the lower class in

22:58

New York City. In

23:01

the summer of 1863, the Irish

23:03

population of the city engaged in

23:05

the war's most violent urban riot.

23:08

For several days, mobs rampaged

23:11

through the streets, killing policemen

23:13

and blacks, and burning buildings,

23:16

including an orphanage for black children.

23:19

In order to quell the riot, authorities

23:21

finally had to bring in several regiments

23:23

of troops from the Army of the

23:25

Potomac. Some officials

23:28

had doubts as to whether the soldiers

23:30

would actually fire on the rioters. As

23:33

it turned out, the veterans of

23:36

Gettysburg had neither doubts nor hesitation

23:38

in using deadly force on

23:40

those whom they saw as traitors who were

23:43

stabbing the Union cause in the back, while

23:45

the more honest rebels attacked at the front.

23:49

The arrival of the battle hardened troops quickly

23:51

brought peace to the streets of New York.

23:55

Democrats in the North faced difficult choices

23:57

since they were well aware that to

23:59

a power the war outright

24:01

meant their party risked political

24:04

oblivion as it had for

24:06

the Federalist Party after the War of 1812. Some

24:10

decided to go all in and

24:12

become supporters of the Lincoln Administration's

24:14

policies as well as of the

24:16

war. These

24:18

Democrats, led by Benjamin Butler

24:20

from Massachusetts and

24:23

Illinois' John McClernod, were

24:25

rewarded by Lincoln for their support, with

24:28

Butler and McClernod receiving commissions as

24:30

generals. A

24:32

second group of Democrats supported the

24:35

war effort but broke with the

24:37

Lincoln Administration over its approach to

24:39

emancipation, conscription, and the suspension of

24:42

the writ of habeas corpus. A

24:45

third group, a large portion of

24:47

the Democratic Party in the North, denounced

24:50

the war as wicked, foolish, and a

24:52

failure. These

24:55

Peace Democrats, also

24:57

known as Copperheads, urged

25:00

compromise with the rebels through

25:02

a negotiated settlement. Copperheads

25:05

actually controlled the Indiana

25:07

legislature and had considerable

25:09

political strength in other states as well,

25:12

and they criticized the war and

25:15

obstructed measures for its support as much

25:17

as they could. In

25:19

the face of this opposition,

25:22

Indiana's Republican governor, Oliver P.

25:24

Morton, showed considerable determination

25:26

and creativity in order to

25:28

keep his state contributing to

25:31

the Union war effort. Like

25:34

other Democrats, Copperheads spoke

25:36

out against emancipation, conscription,

25:38

and Lincoln's extreme use

25:40

of executive power. Confederate

25:43

agents added fuel to the

25:45

fire by encouraging such sentiments,

25:48

since the rebels believed that a

25:50

Copperhead victory at the polls would

25:52

result in Confederate independence. Distressed

25:55

as the Lincoln Administration might have

25:57

been by Copperhead criticism, Moves

26:00

Republicans to question the loyalty

26:03

of Copperheads was evidence that

26:05

some of their activity went

26:07

beyond the illegitimate channels. the

26:09

political debate. To talk of

26:12

taking up arms against the government. Reports

26:15

of Copperhead contact with Confederate

26:17

agents also called into question

26:20

their claims that they were

26:22

merely a loyal opposition. Bolstering

26:25

Copperhead optimism with the fact that

26:27

Abraham Lincoln was up for reelection

26:29

in the fall of eighteen sixty

26:31

Four, there was never any question.

26:33

a pulse pounding are cancelling the

26:35

elect sense and so Northern voters

26:37

were going to have the chance

26:39

and the middle of a war

26:41

for the nascent survival to express

26:43

their opinion at the ballot box

26:45

as to whether the war. Should

26:47

continue in Eighteen Sixty

26:49

Four in the North.

26:51

The connection between politics,

26:54

And events on the battlefields. Would.

26:56

Take center stage. As.

26:58

Everyone acknowledge the presidential election

27:00

would be a referendum on

27:02

the war itself. Once

27:06

the military campaigning season opens.

27:08

His. Confederate armies for it's worth

27:10

the advance of Union or means.

27:13

And. Inflicts heavy casualties and doing

27:15

so. The. North and

27:18

electorate might become demoralized

27:20

enough. To. Elect to peace

27:22

democrat. Who. Would give up

27:24

the war and accept Confederate

27:26

independence. As

27:38

will see, the year agency see for

27:40

would be a pivotal one propels the

27:42

north and south on both the battlefields

27:44

and the home. For as the.

27:46

Cost in lives and many

27:49

in discomfort and sacrifices mounted

27:51

ever higher without any real

27:53

sign on either side that

27:55

reward. In the shape of final Victory

27:58

was just around the corner. Men

28:00

in their tens of thousands were

28:02

killed and maimed. Prices

28:05

spiraled upwards. Taxes

28:07

multiplied. Treasured freedoms

28:10

were repressed. Normal

28:12

life was disrupted. And

28:15

all to what purpose? Both

28:18

the Lincoln Administration in Washington and

28:20

the Davis Administration in Richmond struggled

28:23

to bolster sagging popular

28:25

support as opposition voices

28:27

grew louder in both the Union

28:30

and the Confederacy. During

28:33

1864, Lincoln will face an upsurge of discontent, especially

28:38

in the old Northwest and

28:40

a plague of war weariness throughout the

28:43

Union. For

28:45

the South, there will be ample

28:47

evidence to show how tightly stretched

28:50

were Confederate manpower and resources, how

28:53

slender was the margin for the

28:55

Confederacy's survival, and how

28:57

heavy was the price already

28:59

paid in pursuit of Southern

29:01

independence. As

29:04

we'll see during the course of the podcast,

29:06

throughout most of the coming year, frustration

29:09

and war weariness will be the

29:11

great danger to Northern morale. But

29:14

at the same time, despair will

29:16

be gaining ground in the South.

29:22

That

29:26

means it's time for this episode's book recommendation.

29:28

And our recommendation this time is a two-for-one

29:30

deal. Both are by the editors of

29:32

Time Life Books. The

29:34

first is Confederate ordeal, the

29:37

Southern Home Front. And

29:39

the second is 20 million Yankees, the

29:42

Northern Home Front. Both

29:44

of these are part of the old,

29:46

out-of-print Time Life series on the Civil

29:49

War, which

29:52

have those distinctive silver or gray,

29:55

I guess, covers. But like all

29:58

the books in that series, they're

30:00

a good starting point or

30:03

introduction for whatever topic they're

30:05

covering. In this case

30:07

the northern and southern homefrooms. Just

30:10

a reminder that you can find a list of

30:12

all of our book recommendations if you head

30:14

over to the podcast website which

30:18

is www.civilwarpodcast.org.

30:22

Also at the website you can find

30:24

info on joining the Strahfut Brigade over

30:27

on patreon and support the podcast in

30:29

that way. If

30:31

you are a member of the

30:33

Strahfut Brigade you'll keep getting all

30:35

the members episodes and new regular

30:37

shows ad-free. As we

30:40

wrap up this show we'll remind you that the

30:42

music you hear at the start and at the

30:44

end of every episode is from the song Midnight

30:46

on the Water and we use it

30:48

with the kind permission of spirit with music.

30:51

And with that we'll say thank you

30:54

for listening to this episode of the

30:56

podcast. Tracy and I do

30:58

hope that you join us again next time

31:00

but until then take care. Thanks

31:02

everyone. Bye. you

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