"Davis Proposes Arming the Slaves Only if Necessary..." Topic

…to Win the War.

"Throughout the history of the war, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was concerned most with saving territory rather than armies. In trying to save Vicksburg, for example, he sacrificed an entire army, losing the city anyway. His top western generals argued that this philosophy was short-sighted, but Davis pursued this path regardless.

And now, when so much territory had been lost, Davis seemed to finally see the error of his ways. In a speech delivered to the Confederate Congress on this date, while he detailed the gains of territory (mostly in Texas and Louisiana), he seemed to have turned a new leaf. The loss of Atlanta could hardly be ignored, and since John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee remained a working force, he instead chose to change his mind on these matters.

"The truth so patent to us must, ere long, be forced upon the reluctant Northern mind," said Davis, who must so recently have had it forced upon his own. "There are no vital points on the preservation of which the continued existence of the Confederacy depends. There is no military success of the enemy which can accomplish its destruction. Not the fall of Richmond, nor Wilmington, nor Charleston, nor Savannah, nor Mobile, nor of all combined, can save the enemy from the constant and exhaustive drain of blood and treasure which must continue until he shall discover that no peace is attainable unless based on the recognition of our indefeasible rights."…"
Full article here
link

Interesting "what if"

Amicalement
Armand

Oh, this won't end well.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

That's why I'm not biting.

Some other related pieces

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wow, I never knew Davis ever considered emancipation of slaves. This was in Nov 1864, President Abraham Lincoln's excutive order was on January 1, 1863. I wonder if Davis saw how many slaves joined the Union Army and wanted to try and mimic that….

I had read about Cleburne's proposal but never knew it had gone further up the chain of command to Richmond.

One thing that really surprised me was the south offered a better deal than the north did, equal pay, and possible freedom. Lincoln's emancipation did not provide either of those.

If Davis emancipated the slaves… the war ended?

Amicalement
Armand

If Davis emancipated the slaves… the war ended?

Certainly not. The Federal war goal was to re-unite the States, the Confederate to secede. Emancipation was a means to that end for either side. The war could only end with Confederate or Federal defeat, secession or union triumphant.

Emancipate the slaves would end the war…

No, but if Lincoln had lost the election and if the south emancipated their slaves. I wonder if then there might have been a negotiated end.

Thanks for your guidance boys.

Amicalement
Armand