Southern Unionist
Encyclopedia
In the United States
, Southern Unionists were people living in the Confederate States of America
, opposed to secession, and against the Civil War
. These people are also referred to as Southern Loyalists, Union Loyalists, and Lincoln Loyalists. During Reconstruction these terms were replaced by Scalawag
, which covered all Southern whites who supported the Republican party.
armies. Others refused to fight, went North or stayed North to enlist in the Union Armies, or fought informally as partisans in the South. The term could also be used of any Southerner who worked with the Republican Party
or Union government in any capacity after the war ended in 1865.
The scholar James A. Baggett profiled 742 Southern Unionists, comparing them to 666 Redeemers who opposed and eventually replaced them. He compares three regions, the Upper South, the Southeast, and the Southwest. Baggett follows the life of each Southern Unionist before, during, and after the war, with respect to birthplace, occupation, value of estate, slave ownership, education, party activity, stand on secession, war politics, and postwar politics.
Baggett thus looked at 1400 political activists across the South, and gave each a score:
Baggett found the higher the score the more likely the person was a Southern Unionist. Of course, depending on the definition, all of these activities make one a Southern Unionist by definition.
Before the war there was widespread belief in the North that the states that had not yet seceded might be persuaded to stay with in the Union. This idea was predicated on the fact that many believed that the newly elected President Lincoln would declare a relaxed policy toward the South that would ease tensions. Given the fact that there were a good number of Southern Unionists known to be found in the South it was hoped that this deliberate policy of non-provocation would subvert extremists from irreversible action. Admirable though there sentiments might have been the claims of these Northerners were greatly embellished. In fact there were fewer Unionists in the South than many Northerners believed, and they tended to be concentrated in areas such as West Virginia, Eastern Tennessee, and parts of North Carolina where slave owners and slaves themselves were few. Furthermore in the states that had already seceded irreversible action had already taken place, federal buildings, mints, and courthouses had been seized.
During the war, many Southern Unionists went North and joined the Union Armies. Others joined when Union armies entered their hometowns in Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana and elsewhere. Over 100,000 Southern Unionists served in the Union Army
during the Civil War, and every Southern state, except South Carolina
, raised Unionist regiments.
The Southern Unionists were referred to in Henry Clay Work's
song Marching Through Georgia
:
Yes and there were Union men who wept with joyful tears,
When they saw the honored flag they had not seen for years;
Hardly could they be restrained from breaking forth in cheers,
While we were marching through Georgia.
Southern Unionists were extensively used as anti-guerrilla
forces and as occupation troops in areas of the Confederacy occupied by the Union. Ulysses S. Grant
noted "We had many regiments of brave and loyal men who volunteered under great difficulty from the twelve million belonging to the South." (Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, 1885, vol 2. chapt. 68, p. 636).http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/biography/PersonalMemoirsofUSGrant-2/chap29.html
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Southern Unionists were people living in the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, opposed to secession, and against the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. These people are also referred to as Southern Loyalists, Union Loyalists, and Lincoln Loyalists. During Reconstruction these terms were replaced by Scalawag
Scalawag
In United States history, scalawag was a derogatory nickname for southern whites who supported Reconstruction following the Civil War.-History:...
, which covered all Southern whites who supported the Republican party.
Who was a Southern Unionist?
The term Southern Unionist, and its variations, incorporate a spectrum of beliefs and actions. Some Unionists opposed secession, but afterwards served and fought with the ConfederateConfederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
armies. Others refused to fight, went North or stayed North to enlist in the Union Armies, or fought informally as partisans in the South. The term could also be used of any Southerner who worked with the Republican Party
History of the United States Republican Party
The United States Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous...
or Union government in any capacity after the war ended in 1865.
The scholar James A. Baggett profiled 742 Southern Unionists, comparing them to 666 Redeemers who opposed and eventually replaced them. He compares three regions, the Upper South, the Southeast, and the Southwest. Baggett follows the life of each Southern Unionist before, during, and after the war, with respect to birthplace, occupation, value of estate, slave ownership, education, party activity, stand on secession, war politics, and postwar politics.
Baggett thus looked at 1400 political activists across the South, and gave each a score:
| Score | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1 | Antisecessionist Breckinridge supporter in 1860 election United States presidential election, 1860 The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the... |
| 2 | Bell or Douglas supporter in 1860 election United States presidential election, 1860 The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the... |
| 3 | 1860-61 opponent of secession |
| 4 | passive wartime unionist |
| 5 | peace party advocate |
| 6 | active wartime unionist |
| 7 | postwar Union party supporter |
Baggett found the higher the score the more likely the person was a Southern Unionist. Of course, depending on the definition, all of these activities make one a Southern Unionist by definition.
Before the war there was widespread belief in the North that the states that had not yet seceded might be persuaded to stay with in the Union. This idea was predicated on the fact that many believed that the newly elected President Lincoln would declare a relaxed policy toward the South that would ease tensions. Given the fact that there were a good number of Southern Unionists known to be found in the South it was hoped that this deliberate policy of non-provocation would subvert extremists from irreversible action. Admirable though there sentiments might have been the claims of these Northerners were greatly embellished. In fact there were fewer Unionists in the South than many Northerners believed, and they tended to be concentrated in areas such as West Virginia, Eastern Tennessee, and parts of North Carolina where slave owners and slaves themselves were few. Furthermore in the states that had already seceded irreversible action had already taken place, federal buildings, mints, and courthouses had been seized.
During the war, many Southern Unionists went North and joined the Union Armies. Others joined when Union armies entered their hometowns in Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana and elsewhere. Over 100,000 Southern Unionists served in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the Civil War, and every Southern state, except South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, raised Unionist regiments.
| State | White soldiers serving in the Union Army |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 3,000 |
| Arkansas | 10,000 |
| Florida | 3,500 |
| Georgia | 400 |
| Louisiana | 7,000 |
| Mississippi | 545 |
| North Carolina | 25,000 |
| Tennessee | 42,000 |
| Texas | 2,200 |
| Virginia and West Virginia | 30,000 |
The Southern Unionists were referred to in Henry Clay Work's
Henry Clay Work
Henry Clay Work was an American composer and songwriter.-Biography:He was born in Middletown, Connecticut, to Alanson and Amelia Work. His father opposed slavery, and Work was himself an active abolitionist and Union supporter...
song Marching Through Georgia
Marching Through Georgia
"Marching Through Georgia" is a marching song written by Henry Clay Work at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. It refers to U.S. Maj. Gen...
:
Yes and there were Union men who wept with joyful tears,
When they saw the honored flag they had not seen for years;
Hardly could they be restrained from breaking forth in cheers,
While we were marching through Georgia.
Southern Unionists were extensively used as anti-guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
forces and as occupation troops in areas of the Confederacy occupied by the Union. Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
noted "We had many regiments of brave and loyal men who volunteered under great difficulty from the twelve million belonging to the South." (Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, 1885, vol 2. chapt. 68, p. 636).http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/biography/PersonalMemoirsofUSGrant-2/chap29.html
Prominent Southern Unionists
- Joseph HoltJoseph HoltGeneral Joseph Holt was a leading member of the Buchanan administration and was Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, most notably during the Lincoln assassination trials.-Early life:...
- James SpeedJames SpeedJames Speed was an American lawyer, politician and professor. In 1864, he was appointed by Abraham Lincoln to be the United States' Attorney General. He previously served in the Kentucky Legislature, and in local political office.Speed was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, to Judge John Speed...
and Joshua Fry SpeedJoshua Fry SpeedJoshua Fry Speed was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln from his days in Springfield, Illinois, where Speed was a partner in a general store... - Elizabeth Van LewElizabeth Van LewElizabeth Van Lew was a well-born Richmond, Virginia resident who built and operated an extensive spy ring for the United States during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
- Captain Dennis E. Haynes
- Isaac MurphyIsaac MurphyFor the African-American Hall of Fame jockey see: Isaac Burns MurphyIsaac Murphy was the first Reconstruction Governor of Arkansas. He was the first reconstruction governor to come to power under President Abraham Lincoln's conciliatory policy...
- William Woods HoldenWilliam Woods HoldenWilliam Woods Holden was the 38th and 40th Governor of North Carolina in 1865 and from 1868 to 1871. He was the leader of the state's Republican Party during Reconstruction. Holden was the second governor in American history to be impeached, and the first to be removed from office...
- Fielding Hurst
- Andrew Jackson Hamilton, Thomas H. DuVal, John Hancock (Hamilton's law partner)
- Thomas E. BramletteThomas E. BramletteThomas Elliott Bramlette was the 23rd Governor of Kentucky. He was elected in 1863 and guided the state through the latter part of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. At the outbreak of the war, Bramlette put his promising political career on hold and enlisted in the Union Army,...
- James L. PetigruJames L. PetigruJames Louis Petigru was a lawyer, politician, and jurist in South Carolina. He is best known for his service as the state's Attorney General, his juridical work that played a key role in the recodification of the state's law code, and his opposition to nullification and, in 1860, state...
- William Gannaway BrownlowWilliam Gannaway BrownlowWilliam Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow was an American newspaper editor, minister, and politician who served as Governor of the state of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875...
- William CrutchfieldWilliam CrutchfieldWilliam Crutchfield was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 3rd congressional district of Tennessee. He was born on November 16, 1824 in Greeneville, Tennessee in Greene County...
- Robert Jefferson BreckinridgeRobert Jefferson BreckinridgeRobert Jefferson Breckinridge was a politician and Presbyterian minister. He was a member of the Breckinridge family of Kentucky, the son of Senator John Breckinridge....
- Archibald W. Campbell
- William CannonWilliam CannonWilliam Cannon was an American merchant and politician from Bridgeville, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party and later the Republican Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware during much of the Civil War.-Early life and...
- Stephen FosterStephen FosterStephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
- Sam HoustonSam HoustonSamuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
- Joshua Hill
- Francis Harrison Pierpont
- Francis LieberFrancis LieberFrancis Lieber , known as Franz Lieber in Germany, was a German-American jurist, gymnast and political philosopher. He edited an Encyclopaedia Americana...
- John Minor Botts
- David Hart
- John BellJohn Bell- Law and politics :* John Bell , English barrister* John Bell , professor of law and Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge* John Bell , Member of Parliament from Thirsk...
- Thomas Jefferson Durant
- Winfield ScottWinfield ScottWinfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
- Joseph G. Sanders
- Montgomery C. MeigsMontgomery C. MeigsMontgomery Cunningham Meigs was a career United States Army officer, civil engineer, construction engineer for a number of facilities in Washington, D.C., and Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army during and after the American Civil War....
- James Madison WellsJames Madison WellsJames Madison Wells was elected the 20th Governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction.-Early life:Born near Alexandria, Louisiana, on January 8, 1808, Wells' father was Samuel Levi Wells, II, a member of the constitutional convention in 1811. His mother was the former Dorcas Huie. A brother, Thomas...
See also
- CarpetbaggerCarpetbaggerCarpetbaggers was a pejorative term Southerners gave to Northerners who moved to the South during the Reconstruction era, between 1865 and 1877....
- Freedmen
- Reconstruction
- ScalawagScalawagIn United States history, scalawag was a derogatory nickname for southern whites who supported Reconstruction following the Civil War.-History:...
- RedeemersRedeemersIn United States history, "Redeemers" and "Redemption" were terms used by white Southerners to describe a political coalition in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction era which followed the American Civil War...
- wiktionary:scallywag
Sources
- Fleming, Walter L. Documentary History of Reconstruction: Political, Military, Social, Religious, Educational, and Industrial 2 vol (1906). Uses broad collection of primary sources; vol 1 on national politics; vol 2 on states
- Memoirs of W. W. Holden (1911), North Carolina Scalawag governor
- Foner, Eric "Give Me Liberty! An American History" 1 vol - second ed. (2009)
- Keegan, John "The American Civil War, A Military History" (2009) Random House