In 1863, Texas' governor wouldn't even send Texan troops east for fears that they would be needed to fight Indians or Union troops invading his home state. In the end, the Confederate central government had to contend with the power of its own states, along with the invading Union Army. The Confederate draft was as unpopular in the South as it was in the North, but southern governors called conscription the "essence of military despotism." Political infighting hamstrung the Confederate war effort at times, most notably in the area of conscription. The Confederacy was staunchly a decentralized republic, dedicated to the supremacy of the states over the central government in Richmond, Virginia. Replacing troops was a contentious issue in the Confederate government. Although you think my course a wrong one you know that I never have felt and I do not feel now hostile to the South, her institutions or her people nor can I have toward them the feelings of an "alien enemy." I trust and I believe notwithstanding the dark prospects before us, and although blood may flow like water, that the time will yet come – if neither of us fall in the struggle – when we will meet again not merely as friends, which I am sure we will continue to be, but as fellow citizens of a great, prosperous, happy and united country.Ī full transcript is available for Bragg’s letter to Hunt.Ī full transcript is available for Hunt’s response to Bragg.Jefferson Davis was widely criticized by his own government, being called more of an Adams than a Washington. We must each as you say act according to the dictates of our consciences. Each one of us of course will follow the dictates of his own conscience. But so it is, and tho’ I would have taken an oath that my old friend Hunt could never be the instrument of oppression in the hands of a Black Repubn yet we see strange things in this world, and even must be content to put up with it as we find it. A few short months since companions in army, and almost brothers in friendship, it is hard to realize the fact that we are in hostile array against each other. How strange are the mutations of life! That we should be in hostile array against each other. Henry Hunt, hailing from Michigan, responded with his own conviction that the "unity of our people will be eventually restored" when "the name of American will supersede that of northerner, and southerner." Excerpt of Bragg to Hunt, April 21, 1861 Bragg wrote to Hunt, noting the strangeness of their sudden enmity: "A few short months since companions in army, and almost brothers in friendship, it is hard to realize the fact that we are in hostile array against each other." But as a Louisianan, Bragg wanted his Northern friend to appreciate how the "people, en-mass" of the Confederacy were ready for the fight. Each was moved to explain their differences and to anticipate the consequences of the impending conflict. At the time, the Confederate general Braxton Bragg was in command in Pensacola, Florida, while Union colonel Henry Hunt was at Fort Pickens, just across the bay. The following exchange between two old Army friends illustrates the painful choices made by Americans after the surrender of Fort Sumter. This terrible conflict would divide families, separate former friends, and open rifts in communities. The attack on Fort Sumter marked the opening of the Civil War. When he refused, Confederates unleashed more than forty cannons on the fort and continued to hold it under fire for a day and a half. On April 12, 1861, Confederate officials informed Major Robert Anderson, US commander at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, that they would allow one hour for him to surrender his forces.
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