Literature / Until Every Drop of Blood Is Paid

The Union Forever

''Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'"

— Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (1865).

Until Every Drop of Blood is Paid: A More Radical American Civil War, by Red_Galiray, is an Alternate History timeline on AlternateHistory.com. A pro-slavery fanatic changed history when he decided to murder Lyman Trumbull, the Illinois politician who was elected to the Senate over Abraham Lincoln in 1854. Now a Senator, Abraham Lincoln arrives at Washington where tensions between the North and the South are increasing each day. Thrust into the frontlines of the irrepressible conflict, Lincoln's views start to evolve and change faster than in our world. Little changes start to pile up, leading to a different, bloodier, and more radical American Civil War.

The story has finished and continues in Reconstruction: The Second American Revolution.

Tropes that appear on this page include:

• Adaptational Badass: Robert Smalls, instead of being a pilot, is a full-on officer of the Union Army, and leads the troops that take Charleston. He even became the first black commissioned officer in the history of the United States.
• Affectionate Nickname: Breckinridge is affectionately called "Johnny Breck" by Confederate soldiers and civilians; some Yankees use it in a despective manner, however. Other nicknames include "Marse Lee" for Robert E. Lee, "Father Abraham" or "Uncle Abe" for Abraham Lincoln, and "Little Mac" for George McClellan.
• The Alcoholic:
  • Allegations of alcoholism are levied almost constantly against General Grant. Truth in Television, taking into account his Real Life struggles with alcohol. The author tends to point out that many of these accusations were false, made up by political and military enemies.
  • Confederate President Breckinridge is also said to "love the bottle", but his alcoholism is not explored. The closest is an accusation by General Bragg.
  • Stephen A. Douglas, the "Little Giant", was a great alcoholic both within this story and in real life. He drank himself to death in 1861 in our timeline but managed to hold on for a few months within this story, dying just before the 1862 elections. Unlike Grant or Breckinridge, he doesn't seem ashamed by his alcoholism, and no one seems to care about it.
  • Benjamin F. Cheatham, the commander of the Army of Tennessee in late 1864, has a reputation for being a hard fighter and a hard drinker. After the utter disasters towards the end of the Atlanta Campaign, Cheatham breaks down and begins drinking.
• Allohistorical Allusion: A false rumor claims Beauregard fled the Confederacy disguised in one of his wife's dresses. An allusion to the same false rumor about Jefferson Davis' attempted escape in OTL.
• And the Adventure Continues: After the abolition of slavery, William Lloyd Garrison planned to shut down his The Liberator newspaper, but Fredrick Douglass and Wendell Philips hijacked the paper. They changed its goal to "No Reconstruction without Negro Suffrage."
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: The population of the Union, as well as Southern Unionists and former slaves, celebrate the end of the war and the death of the Confederacy.
• And This Is for...:
  • The Union soldiers chant "Chambersburg!" as Stonewall Jackson's Corps is routed in the “Miracle of Manchester” during the final day of the battle of Union Mills.
  • When Doubleday's USCT corps routs Jackson for a second time during Grant's Overland Campaign, they yell "Revenge for Fort Pillow!" and "Remember Union Mills!"
  • When Forrest attacks Johnsonville, a fort manned by Black soldiers, both sides chant "Fort Pillow!" - the Confederates as a taunt, the Unionists as a chant for revenge. When Forrest is forced to run, the Black soldiers taunt back with "Fort Pillow, avenged!".
• Anti-Climax:
  • The Dalton Campaign in November 1863 is this for both sides. The long-awaited offensive in Georgia begins and ends within days as neither general finds the situation favorable and practically agree to not fight. Unable to outflank Johnston through the Snake Creek Gap due to muddy roads and seeing the defensive potential of the Dalton heights, Union General Thomas breaks off the action and decides to wait for spring 1864 for the next offensive. On the other side, Confederate General Joseph Johnston loses his nerve and actually plans to evacuate in the event of an attack.
  • The last battles of the American Civil War are staged in decidedly undramatic fashion. This was a deliberate choice by the author, who felt that such an evil state as the Confederacy did not deserve to be memorialized with dramatic and valorous last stands.
• Apocalypse Anarchy: Towards the war's end, violent uprising and looting occurs across the rural South as food runs low. The Junta does not take kindly to this and attempts to repress them, but their army is disintegrating from desertion.
• Ascended Extra: Breckinridge goes from a relatively minor Confederate general to the leader of the rebellion. Similarly, John F. Reynolds goes from a corps commander who is famous for dying at Gettysburg to one of the premier Union Generals.
• Assassin Outclassin': Chapter 46 has Lincoln personally helping fight off some assassins led by John Wilkes Booth. He even bashes Booth on the head with a log, leading to a poster commenting that with Andrew Jackson's cane incident, badass US presidents could become a historical meme.
• Asshole Victim:
  • While one might sympathize with the New York rioters over their resistance to the draft, it's hard to feel sympathy for them after they start murdering African-Americans and burning down police stations, Federal buildings and Republican newspaper offices, mugging people on the street, and invading homes and businesses.
  • The Confederates as a whole. Though their sufferings and sacrifice are described in detail, it's hard to sympathize with them given that they are fighting for slavery and white supremacy. The author points out often that their cause is fundamentally wrong, though they are not portrayed as cartoonishly evil either.
  • Confederate guerrillas are executed on sight and without trial by most Union commanders, but given what they are fighting for, it's difficult to feel pity for them.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Hood's generalship in a nutshell. Regardless of circumstances, Hood insists on attacking despite 3 bloody failures that fail to dislodge Thomas during July'64. It ends up in disaster for him when Thomas anticipates his strategy and pincers his army between a solid defense and a cavalry charge, outright destroying half of Hood's army and sending the rest into a rout.
• Awesome, but Impractical:
  • Gatling guns. Though prototypes exist, and some were even used during the New York riots, they are not easy to produce and are still rather ineffective, preventing their large-scale use by the Union Armies.
  • The Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia manages to strike terror into the Union Navy, but these early ironclads are slow, cumbersome and very difficult to make. The Confederacy, as a result, is unable to build more than a handful of ironclads, mainly due to lack of iron, while the Union makes mostly river ironclads.
• Back from the Brink: After the Union loses Washington DC, every battle thereafter either pushes back the Confederacy or holds their already tenuous ground.
• Batman Gambit: After fighting with Confederate General A.S. Johnston for more than a year, Union General U.S. Grant gets a good grasp of A.S. Johnston's generalship. In preparation for another Vicksburg campaign, Grant leaks a false version of his plans and launches offensives away from Vicksburg. General A.S. Johnston comes to the conclusion that Grant has given up on seizing Vicksburg - exactly as Grant expected.
• Bayonet Ya:
  • True to the time period, bayonet charges make an appearance, most prominently, at the "Miracle of Manchester" where the 54th Massachusetts leads the charge to rout Stonewall Jackson's Corps. Other instances include Beauregard's counterattack at Herring's Run, Chamberlain's at Bull Run, Grant's assault at Jackson.
  • Outside of the battlefield, Union soldiers are described as using bayonets to assault the barricades erected by the New York and Baltimore rioters.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: The fact that many Confederates and Yankees initially welcomed the possibility of war is explored, but soon enough both sides realized that War Is Hell.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: Several Confederate generals choose to die in battle rather than surrender and be trialed for treason.
  • Toombs chooses to shoot himself in the head for similar reasons.
  • Arguably, the whole point of the October coup. In the words of their own leader, between the choice of a "dishonorable surrender and honorable destruction", Toombs and the other coup leaders launch a coup to prevent the former.
• Big Bad:
  • Lincoln to the Confederates and Breckinridge to the Unionists. As such, terms like "Lincolnite troops" or "the Breckinridge insurrection" abound.
  • Toombs and the Confederate Junta become the ultimate antagonists of the story, being the representation of the arrogant planter class and how far it is willing to use violence and terror to preserve its power.
• Big Good: Lincoln to the Unionists and Breckinridge to the Confederates. More specifically, Breckinridge is seen as the champion of the Southern poor against the greedy slave-owning aristocracy.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • James, the protagonist of the side-story "A Kentucky Boy", loses his innocence and is unable to help the contrabands or some of the men who deserted alongside him. But he's alive and still willing to fight, and we know his Army is ultimately victorious over the rebels.
  • Henry, the slave boy of the side story "The Year of Jubilee comes to Maryland", obtains freedom and education thanks to the Union Army. Yet, he's lost many friends due to the cruel war.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: Within the guerrilla war, the Unionist guerrillas can be just as bloodthirsty and brutal as their Confederate counterparts. However, most of the time they target other guerrillas and slave-holders, while the Confederate guerrillas are more indiscriminate in their brutality. Ultimately, the Confederate guerrillas will always be worse because they are fighting for slavery and white supremacy, while the Unionist guerrillas are, at least in theory, fighting for Union and liberty.
• Blood on the Debate Floor: The infamous attack on Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks is a plot point. Lincoln tries to stop the brawl, only for a Southern politician to prevent him from intervening at gunpoint. This incident plays a role in Lincoln's increasing radicalization.
• Book Ends: The first great offensive of the war is the invasion of Washington D.C. by the Confederates. The last great offensive of the war is the invasion of Richmond by the Union.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: Many Confederate soldiers are forced to resort to old smoothbore muskets due to the South's industrial weakness.
• The Butcher: Confederate guerillas and raiders gain notoriety for murdering and even scalping Unionists and unarmed Northern soldiers as well as freed slaves. William Quantrill and his raiders massacred “182 men and boys and burned 185 buildings in Lawrence” while his pupil, Bloody Bill Anderson, murdered unarmed Union soldiers in furlough, and then slaughtered 124 of the 147 militiamen sent to pursue, including the wounded.
• Butterfly of Doom: The death of one man, Lyman Trumbull, leads to a much bloodier Civil War, and with it a lot more suffering. Downplayed, in that the timeline is explicitly said to lead to a more egalitarian United States at the end.
• Butt-Monkey: McClellan is the closest example. While he isn't openly mocked, it's clear the author has a rather negative view of him. As a result, he's portrayed as an arrogant, cowardly, and racist commander, who ends up suffering the worst defeat of the Union at the Peninsula, where he loses close to half of his Army. The author does try to point out how certain decisions made sense at the time, but ultimately McClellan comes across as an incompetent idiot.
• Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp":
  • Justified. The Democratic Party (while they still exist) is more often referred to as the Northern Democracy rather than the Democratic Party, as was the convention of the time period. This also hints at the complete separation of the Democratic Party following the Lecompton debacle and the admission of Kansas as a Slave State.
  • The National Union/Chesnuts are basically Democrats under another name.
  • The Army of the Susquehanna is basically the Army of the Potomac under another name.
• Capital Offensive:
  • The Eastern Theater pretty much boils down to this. From the start of the war to July 1862, Washington D.C. is the main target of the Eastern Theater. The Confederates manage to seize Washington D.C. before the U.S. Army can move in enough troops to defend it. Instead of folding, the North is galvanized by the Fall of Washington and three bloody offensives eventually retake Washington D.C. and Maryland.
  • From then on, the fighting in the Eastern Theater shifts to the area around Richmond, the Confederacy's capital. The first offensive, the Peninsular Campaign, becomes a disaster, which spells the end for McClellan's career. As the war progresses, the strategy shifts from capturing Richmond to destroying the Army of Northern Virginia, though Richmond remains a key goal. On April 18th, 1865, the U.S. Army finally enters Richmond, exactly four years after Washington D.C. fell.
• The Cavalry:
  • During the Battle of Liberty, to the surprise of both Union General Grant and Confederate General A.S. Johnston, Union General Rosecrans arrives in the nick of time to launch a surprise attack on Johnston's rear. The sudden intervention allows Grant to encircle and capture half of Johnston's army, including Johnston himself.
  • Confederate guerillas arrive in time to save the 17-year-old Richmond Andrew from Unionist guerillas, but not his mother, sister and the farm.
  • During the Battle of Marietta, General Palmer and his USCT corps arrives just in time to save Generals Thomas and Sheridan who had been cut off from the main body of the Army and were at risk of being destroyed.
• Cerebus Rollercoaster: Intentionally invoked in Rosecrans' 1864 Texas Campaign. The comical and bizarre story of Rosecrans' disappearance and return captures attention in the North because it takes place between the horrific failures of the early 1864 offensives and the attempted assassination of Lincoln and deaths of Reynolds and Lyon.
• Child Soldiers:
  • There are several instances of teens lying about their age to join the war.
  • During Hunter's raids into Virginia, the Confederates send Virginia Military Institute cadets and other children to join Early's army in order to stop the former.
  • As the Confederacy begins to collapse, the roving Confederate armies begin to conscript children as young as 12.
• Les Collaborateurs: Some Marylanders try to cast their lot with the Confederacy during Lee's invasion of the North. On the other hand, many within the Confederate States are quick to pledge loyalty to the Union once the Federal Army occupies their states, and are thus seen as this by most rebels.
• Conscription: As the casualty lists go on and on, both sides resort to conscription to fill the armies though its aim is really to induce men to volunteer than get conscripted. Unsurprisingly, conscription proves to be a point of resistance against both ruling governments. Many men employ various measures to get out of it and government authorities, military forces and even civilians resort to various measures ranging from shaming to violence to induce draft dodgers and deserters to go to the front.
• Corpse Land: Well, duh! Given that there's a whole war going on, it shouldn't be a surprise that descriptions of a battlefield covered in corpses and wounded soldiers comes up often. A side-story also has James, a Union soldier from Kentucky, march to a raided contraband camp raided by the rebels and finding the mangled corpses of several of the inhabitants strewn across the camp.
• The Coup: After Lee's death and the news that Breckinridge intends to evacuate Richmond, a junta formed by Toombs, Stephens, and Generals Jackson, Beauregard, and Johnston overthrows its own government and has Breckinridge arrested.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Thanks to the good going of the war and his opponents' mistakes, not only does Lincoln win the 1864 Election, the Republican Party has more than 80% of the seats in the House and the Senate and controls all the state governments.
• Death Seeker: By the end of the side-story "A Mississippi Guerrilla​", Richmond Andrew becomes one to an extent. His family are all killed and his family's farm is nothing but ashes. He considers ending it all, but the guerillas talk him out of it. Still, there's nothing left but a desire for vengeance burning in him.
• Death by Adaptation: Over the course of the war, several generals who survived in OTL meet their end. Union General McDowell dies after his leg is amputated during the Second Maryland Campaign, Union General McClernand is killed by a bullet to the throat during the fighting for Fort Donelson, Confederate General Hardee is killed during the 1st Vicksburg Campaign and Robert E. Lee dies in a skirmish at Petersburg. Major civilian figures to pass away early are Roger B. Taney, whose heart gives out from the stress of war, Lincoln's bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon, Jefferson Davis and John C. Breckinridge (the latter two via execution).
• Defector from Decadence: Inverted. Kentucky, a slave state that sticks with the Union, becomes increasingly disenchanted with the United States as it becomes more radicalized in its approach to deal with slavery. It eventually explodes into outright rebellion in August 1864, with a couple of Kentucky regiments mutinying and starting a riot in Louisville.
• Defensive Feint Trap: Confederate General A.S. Johnston uses this tactic at the Battle of Liberty. While keeping Sherman's Corps preoccupied, Johnston lets McPherson's Corps cross the Amite River before unleashing a powerful counterattack to push them into the river. McPherson's slow and cautious advance causes Johnston to spring the trap early. Ultimately, Johnston fails to crush the bridgehead, which is reinforced by C.F. Smith's Corps.
• Defiant to the End: As in our timeline, John Brown maintains that he did nothing wrong, and that slavery is inherently wrong and must be exterminated through violence if needed. Most Northerners agree, declaring him a "martyr of liberty".
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Downplayed with Jefferson Davis, who goes from the Confederate President in our timeline to the Secretary of War. He remains a very important character nonetheless.
  • Andrew Johnson is another example. He is passed over for the position of Tennessee Military Governor, and, due to the Foregone Conclusion, it's known that he won't become President of the United States even if he does become Vice-President. Johnson is not selected as Lincoln's running mate in 1864, being passed over in favor of Joseph Holt, but he's instead chosen as the Presidential candidate of the National Union Party, meaning that Johnson will directly run against Lincoln.
• Determinator:
  • Albert Sydney Johnston, during Grant's Second Vicksburg Campaign. Knowing that his only chance is lifting the siege of Port Hudson, and that its starved garrison won't resist for much longer, he does everything in his power to reach the citadel and defeat his Yankee adversaries. This despite severe setbacks at Jackson and Vicksburg, his bad logistics situation, and numerical inferiority. Nothing will stop Johnston from reaching Port Hudson. Deconstructed, because his insistence leads to a big Confederate defeat at Liberty, Mississippi.
  • On the flipside, Ulysses S. Grant's Determinator personality is emphasized. His failures previous to the war are mentioned, but the author misses no chance to remark that one of Grant's greatest qualities is simply never giving up and trying again no matter how dire the situation may look.
  • Despite the egregious losses suffered by the Army and opposition in Congress, Lincoln remains personally determined to win the war above all else. The final victory vindicates his attitude.
• Disproportionate Retribution: A favorite of the guerrillas, both Union and Confederate, is executing several men in retaliation for a single murder. For example, Union General John McNeill executed ten Confederates following the murder of Andrew Allsman. Another example is how the execution of the guerrilla leader Captain Kess results in guerrillas indiscriminately murdering over 100 men, women, and children in retaliation.
• Don't Create a Martyr: After the overthrow of the Breckinridge administration, the Junta that replaces him attempts to destroy his reputation with a public trial and execution of him and Davis. This backfires horribly, as it leads to an outpouring of sympathy and mourning, especially from poor Confederates, who saw Breckinridge as their protector.
• Double Standard: White Southerners lambast the freedmen's preference of cultivating food for their families than cotton as laziness. Black activists quickly point out the hypocrisy of the statement as white men who work for their own subsistence are lauded as Jeffersonian heroes and self-reliant farmers.
• Draft Dodging: Men in both the Union and the Confederacy employ various measures to dodge the draft, such as fleeing to swamps, mutilating themselves, or forming armed gangs that resist conscription at all costs. In the Confederacy, many draft-dodgers end up becoming Unionists, especially as the situation grows desperate and the Confederacy abolishes previous exceptions and the use of substitutes. In the Union, although the real-life commutation fee of 300 dollars was never established, people can still dodge the draft by paying for a substitute, bribing agents, buying fake medical certificates of unfitness, or even paying a prostitute to pretend to be an indigent mother begging for her son to stay.
• Dramatic Irony: The Junta supporters state that Lee would have never considered the idea of surrendering to the Union.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: In the side-story "A Mississippi Soldier", Jordan Shaw, a USCT soldier of the 24th Mississippi, defends his community's newfound freedom from bloodthirsty guerillas. Though more guerilla raids are a possibility, and several comrades are killed, the future seems bright for Shaw and his fellow freedmen.
• Enemy Eats Your Lunch: As the food situation worsens for the Confederates, there are several situations in which their soldiers just eat the food a retiring Unionist army left behind instead of pursuing. It becomes a critical point in the Battle of Cedar Creek, where the Confederate soldiers doing this gives General Kearny the time to rally the troops and inflict a devastating counter-attack.
• Enemy Mine: Many Southern Unionists are not really sympathetic to African Americans, and most are racists at heart. Nonetheless, many Unionist guerrillas accept black soldiers and fight to liberate slaves because they think they are better than traitors.
• Enraged by Idiocy: One of Lincoln's rare moments of anger happens when General McClellan builds a canal without measuring the girth of his ships first. As a result, the canal is too small. The resulting waste of money and time so enrages Lincoln that he actually calls the General to Philadelphia to dress him down.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Breckinridge may be the leader of a rebellion that seeks to maintain millions in bondage and assert white supremacy, but he genuinely cares for the Southern population and tries to stop Confederate war criminals from massacring black Union troops. As the war turns to an inevitable Union victory, Breckinridge tries to seek peace.
  • Many Confederates cannot give a hoot about the suffering of Unionists and slaves but the violence committed onto Unionists by Colonel Vincent "Clawhammer" Witcher and the 34th Virginia is so horrifying that they are called "thieves and murderers" by fellow Confederates.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • The supporters of popular sovereignty, like Stephen Douglas and John W. Geary, are willing to tolerate slavery, but they are appalled at seeing racist mobs and President Buchanan override the will of the people of Kansas and force a slavery Constitution on them.
  • Many Northerners are horrifyingly racist, but they still react with outrage to atrocities committed against African Americans, in the guerrilla war or in the Copperhead riots.
  • General Sherman is a noted racist, but he still does the work of distributing lands, and when colored troops led by Robert Smalls take Charleston, he effusively praises their courage.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Most Confederates cannot conceive of black soldiers being competent or brave, and as a result treat them with contempt instead of treating them as worthy foes. Due to this, the rebels later get a rude awakening at Fort Saratoga and Union Mills.
• Evil Is Petty: After the October Coup, many planters that were forced by the government to plant food either start selling what they harvested at inflated prices or just keep part for themselves and burn the rest so they can have land for cash crops.
• Face Death with Dignity: Breckinridge and Davis face their execution squads without a trace of fear.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Due to the Foregone Conclusion, we know that nothing Breckinridge does can result in a Southern victory.
• The Famine: Due to a combination of Union raids, deterioration of infrastructures and terrible policies, the Confederacy suffers from a large famine that starts at the end of 1864 and lasts until several months after the end of the war. This causes large scale social breakdown as the less fortunate begin to protest. Unfortunately, the Junta sees it as defeatism, since they consider stopping the Union armies a higher priority than keeping their citizens fed, and the only reason they don't punish the protestors more heavily is because they don't have the men. This leads to the Southern Jacqueries, a series of riots that shake the entire Confederacy and brings down the house of cards.
• Fat Bastard: General Sterling Price, who leads an army to "liberate" Missouri even after the fall of Atlanta, weights 300 pounds and has to be carried around on an ambulance. Even worse when you take into account he's this fat in the middle of a famine.
• Fatal Flaw: McClellan's is his extreme timidity on the battlefield. Completely afraid of defeat, the General prefers to not engage the enemy rather than risk his reputation, this despite his numerical and logistical superiority over his adversaries.
• A Father to His Men:
  • Lee to the Army of Northern Virginia. Also, McClellan to the Army of the Susquehanna previous to the Peninsula Disaster. Although they are not commanders on the field, both Breckinridge and Lincoln project a fatherly image to their troops. Breckinridge for example refers to the Confederate soldiers as "my brave boys" and Lincoln is called "Father Abraham".
  • "A Scene from Washington" shows Lincoln visiting wounded soldiers (both Union and Confederate) at a Washington hospital for five hours, volunteering to write a letter dictated by one of the soldiers and joking with the Confederates.
  • In Breckinridge's case, it causes his execution to be delayed when the first execution squad can't bear to kill "Father John".
  • Nathan Forrest attempts to trade himself for his soldiers' immunity, but when told he doesn't get that chance, he chooses to die next to them.
• Foregone Conclusion: As a Civil War timeline with the explicit goal of a more radical Reconstruction one can guess how its Civil War is going to end. The tension comes most from how the story gets to its premise rather than how it expands from it. Likewise, the author has stated that Lincoln will survive the war, so there is no drama regarding the possibility of him dying.
• Frontline General:
  • True to the times, the trope was custom for numerous generals and other officers, who directly supervise the movements of troops and even lead counterattacks. This leads to the deaths of some generals, such as Union Generals McDowell and McClernand, and Confederate Generals Hardee and Lee.
  • Reynolds becomes the poster boy of this trope for both good and bad. While his presence invigorates and inspires his troops, his micromanagement at Frederick and wounding at North Anna show how this trope can backfire.
  • In the First Vicksburg Campaign, both Grant and A.S. Johnston personally visit the front to rally troops and direct counterattacks.
• General Failure: McClellan is this for the Union, while the Confederacy has Braxton Bragg.
• Godzilla Threshold: After the disasters of August-September '64, Breckinridge decides to resort to recruiting slaves as soldiers, seeing it as the only way to preserve the Confederacy. It is regarded as an absolute failure, as slavers resist the measure and the number of black men that are trained is vastly inferior to what is needed.
• Good Is Not Soft: Lincoln and the Republicans are committed to the undoubtedly noble goals of slave emancipation and black civil rights, but they are willing to wage bloody war, use illegal and violent methods to stamp out dissent and sedition, and trial and execute traitors and Copperheads to achieve these objectives.
• Handicapped Badass: General Philip Kearny (who's missing his left arm) personally leads the Army of the Shenandoah into a crushing charge against Jubal Early's army, all while having a sword in his right arm and his horse's reins in his mouth.
• Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee:
  • The Union had the Joint Committee on the Conduct of War to investigate the military conducts of generals. After the disaster at the Peninsula, McClellan is court-martialed for insubordination and cowardice and investigated by the Committee as to whether or not formal charges were to be levied against him.
  • For the Confederates, Tory senators interview several commanders with the intent of receiving testimonies to depose Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Lincoln's bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon takes a bullet for his boss during John Wilkes Booth's assassination attempt.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Some Unionist partisans, in their quest to defeat the Confederates, have become just as brutal as them, inflicting terror and pain upon the (mostly innocent) Southern civilian population.
• Historical Hero Upgrade:
  • Abraham Lincoln is not only radicalized in the fight to end slavery and establish civil rights but he also cements himself as a badass for bashing a would-be assassin in the head with a log.
  • Confederate General A.S. Johnston is typically regarded as an inadequate general in real life due to his mistakes early in the war and he never redeemed himself due to his early death. Here, A.S. Johnston survives and learns to become a more effective leader, though the same flaws he possessed in real life ultimately become his undoing in the Battle of Liberty.
  • General Irvin McDowell receives this in spades. Although his inadequacies are highlighted at times, his early death during the Second Maryland Campaign seals his image as an early hero for the Union, unlike his real fate of being disgraced and reassigned as far away from the war.
• Historical Villain Upgrade:
  • By living longer and with the earlier introduction of U.S. Colored Troops, Confederate generals Stonewall Jackson and A.S. Johnston become complicit in massacres of USCT, and Jackson becomes a member of the Junta that overthrows Breckinridge in the October Coup.
  • McClellan was a flawed and arrogant commander in real life, but he did train the Army of the Potomac and avoided disastrous defeats. Here, a combination of arrogance and cowardice leads to the worst military defeat for the Union at the Peninsula.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • The greatest irony of the Civil War is that by seceding, the Confederates ended up causing the exact revolution they had hoped to avoid.
  • The Copperheads pave the path to complete Republican dominance by having associations with the rebels. After the Month of Blood, paranoia and hysteria lead to the almost-total purging of the opposition to the Republicans.
  • The Junta intended to make Breckinridge's execution an attempt to boost morale by showing they would not allow traitors to live. Instead, Southern society is cleaved in twain between the planter aristocracy and the lower classes that Breckinridge had done his best to protect, with the latter now seeing the former as willing to sacrifice them as long as they can keep their slaves, and morale sharply drops.
• Hold the Line: Of course, given that a good part of the story is a war, many strategies end up riding on an army doing this. After being forced out of the North, Lee's main strategy is to hold out against the Northern armies for long enough that the 1864 elections will pick someone amenable to accept the independence of the Confederacy. The fall of Atlanta and Mobile and the beginning of the Siege of Richmond in September 1864 kill any chances of that strategy being successful, and Breckinridge decides to offer peace terms to the Union.
• Hypocrite: Many Confederates lament that Booth was unable to murder Lincoln, accusing the President of being the worst criminal of all, while happily ignoring (a) that their own troops are worse than the Union soldiers, and (b) many of them are complicit in the crimes associated with the slavery they defend.
• Idiot Ball:
  • McClellan holds it during the Peninsula Campaign, where a series of bad decisions allows Lee to destroy half of his Army.
  • Lee holds it during the Pennsylvania Campaign, where overconfidence and contempt for his enemies make him foolishly fight Reynolds along the Pipe Creek Line, a fortified line of defenses. Predictably, the battle ends in a bloody defeat for the rebels.
• Insane Troll Logic: Hood, after realizing that his smaller force is no match for Thomas, determines his next course of action is to fight and march his way through Union-held Tennessee to raise an unrealistically big army in Kentucky to destroy Thomas. This is to be followed with a march across the mountains of West Virginia to destroy Grant and march on Philadelphia. It doesn’t even make it outside Georgia.
• Insistent Terminology: The opposition to the Lincoln government is always called National Unionists or Chesnuts, never Democrats. Justified, since the Democratic Party disappeared in the North after Lecompton, and it ceased to exist after secession.
• In Spite of a Nail: Some situations end up the same as OTL. For example, Jackson still acquires his historical nickname of Stonewall and many campaigns are similar to their real-life counterparts. The author has admitted it's because the OTL decisions either made sense when taking into account military conditions and the commanders' personalities or because they were so iconic, he felt they had to be included.
• Internal Reformist: Lincoln starts out at this, but he finds his illusions about a compromise over slavery increasingly shredded at a much quicker pace.
• Irony:
  • Breckinridge decrees that the Confederate government can draft the enslaved into the army and then free them, since they would be property of the government - a reasoning similar to the one Butler used when he started the "contraband" policy.
  • Appomattox is the site of the Army of Northern Virginia's last stand. Instead of an honorable surrender, it ends in a massacre thanks to its leader's stubbornness.
• Ironic Death: Jeb Stuart is executed in Harper's Ferry, the same place where he witnessed John Brown being executed seven years earlier.
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time:
  • George B.McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. On paper, using the Union's naval superiority to get close to Richmond without having to fight any major battles seems like a good plan. Unfortunately, the political need to detach troops to defend the newly liberated Washington D.C. and McClellan's cautiousness allows the Army of Northern Virginia to defeat the scattered Union army detachments and concentrate to deliver a shattering blow to the Army of Susquehanna.
  • Braxton Bragg's invasion of Kentucky. As a slave state and Breckinridge's home state, Kentucky seemed like an ideal target. especially with the significant pro-Confederate sympathy in the population. Bragg even brought a wagon train with 15,000 rifles to arm the expected Kentuckians who would flock to his banner as he entered the state. Although Bragg received 7,000 new recruits and E.K. Smith won a small victory at Richmond, Kentucky, the Confederate army was smashed at Lexington and later White Lily. Most depressingly, the two defeats resulted in the abandonment of Tennessee as Bragg's army would have dissolved after another battle.
  • Robert E. Lee's Invasion of the North. After the Confederate victories at the Peninsula and Manassas, Robert E. Lee sought to invade the North with the intention of emboldening the Copperheads, convincing the U.K. and France to recognize the Confederacy and intervene if necessary and plundering the country for supplies. After an early victory at Frederick, the Army of Northern Virginia is effectively reduced to half its strength after the self-destructive charges at Union Mills and the Union pursuit to Gettysburg. Furthermore, the defeat at Union Mills dissuades foreign powers from extending an offer of mediation or attempting intervention.
  • The Junta's coup against Breckinridge. While there were indications that Breckinridge intended to achieve some sort of negotiated peace, his quick trial and public execution only serve to further split the Southern poor population from the aristocracy and bring in further destruction and loss to the South, particularly as they undo some of the few measures that could have helped the Confederacy hold on. It also loses them what little legitimacy they still had outside.
  • Price's attempted "liberation" of Missouri. Going in with 12,000 men (with somewhere between 20%-40% unarmed), his army barely does more than steal food and goods from the locals before an abortive attack at Fort Knob and a crushing defeat at Westport. Price runs with his tail between the legs with only a third of the men he had initially.
• It's Personal: The Stonewall Brigade holds a grudge against Doubleday's USCT corps after they defeated them at Union Mills. The USCT, in turn, wants to avenge their comrades, slaughtered by Jackson's troops at the Battle of Harper's Ferry. Consequently, some of the fiercest fighting of the war ensues when they face each other again at the Battle of Mine Run and then later at the North Anna and Overland Campaigns.
• The Klan: The author has explicitly said that the Ku Klux Klan will appear later. Confederate guerrillas are directly said to be their ancestors.
• Know When to Fold 'Em:
  • Bragg knows that the Confederacy has lost both Kentucky and Tennessee after the shattering defeats at Lexington and White Lily, so he leaves both states and retreats to Georgia. Though he saved his Army this way (and earned several months because Thomas would have to patrol and pacify that enormous territory), his lieutenants and President Breckinridge are all furious.
  • Pemberton recognizes the futility of trying to hold onto Vicksburg and flees with around half of his men after Grant's initial attack. His insistence that saving his Army was the right move falls on deaf ears, and he receives great contempt from most Confederates.
  • Averted by Albert Sydney Johnston, who, despite all setbacks and defeats, presses on, decided to liberate Port Hudson. Though his determination is admirable, this leads the Confederacy to disaster at the Battle of Liberty. See Determinator.
  • Deconstructed by both Joe Johnston and George McClellan. They both think that refusing to engage in bloody and costly battles is the better choice, often disengaging instead of vigorously fighting. But this only leads them to strategic or tactical defeats. When they face each other at Anacostia, the result is something of a fiasco as Johnston doesn't put up much resistance before retreating, while McClellan refuses to pursue, giving up a golden opportunity to destroy the main rebel army.
  • Following the battles of late August and September 1864, President Breckinridge starts to send peace feelers to Lincoln, realizing that the Confederacy is going to lose the war.
• Lack of Empathy: Some Confederates, like Forrest or Bloody Bill Anderson, are psychopathic murderers who feel no remorse over murdering or massacring Unionists and black Americans.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • It can be argued that what happens to the Confederacy is a direct result of their actions, but there are several examples that are more specific.
  • James H. Hammond, who hypocritically spoke of "Southern refinement" while he raped his slaves (and being also infamous for raping his nieces), was lynched by a mob.
• Last Stand: The First Kansas Negro Regiment at the Battle of Canton. Although they are massacred to the last men by Albert Sydney Johnston's Confederates, their sacrifice saves the rest of Grant's army.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: While Breckinridge and his government are fighting to uphold a system of slavery, they are willing to consider the plight of poor whites, making them this to the planter-dominated Junta that overthrows them.
• Long-Lost Relative: USCT soldier Garland White meets his mother for the first time in years as he enters Richmond with the Army of the Susquehanna.
• Loophole Abuse: When the Confederate Congress declares that Breckinridge's decree that the government can draft enslaved into the Army and then free them is illegal, Breckinridge replies that only the Supreme Court can declare his decrees as unconstitutional. Congress approves a motion to organize the Supreme Court (passing over Breckinridge's veto), but Breckinridge refuses to nominate people.
• Made a Slave: Confederate guerrillas often raid Union territory and kidnap free blacks, hauling them south to be slaves. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia engages in this practice as well during the Pennsylvania Campaign.
• Monumental Damage: The Confederates burn the White House and the US Capitol to the ground after capturing Washington, leaving behind little more than ashes.
• Moral Myopia: In the side-story "Somewhere in Georgia", Thomas notes how the master cried out greatly after his son died - while the man had no problem with selling his slaves' children for profit.
• Multinational Team: The presence of Irishmen and Germans in the Union Army is mentioned.
• The Mutiny: E. Kirby Smith's men mutiny rather than fight for what they know is a lost cause.
• Never My Fault:
  • McClellan never assumes responsibility for his blunders and mistakes, always blaming Lincoln or Secretary of War Stanton for everything that goes wrong.
  • In 1864, Hancock shifts the blame of his army's failures to his superior Grant, despite having control of the army.
• Neutral No Longer: The theme of the story is Lincoln becoming less and less accommodating of pro-slavery politicians early on, along with many other politicians.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • Booth's attempt to murder Lincoln ends up ensuring that not only he comes out of it with more power than before, but boosts the cause of the Radical Republicans - who manage to pass a 13th Amendment that goes beyond the RL version.
  • The October Coup ensures that the Confederacy loses what little legitimacy they still had, while their cause becomes bound for self-destruction and its people suffer from incredibly short-sighted policies.
• No One Gets Left Behind: Averted in the Peninsular Campaign. In an act described by his fellow generals and president as cowardly and "unpardonable", McClellan abandons General Sumner's Corps during the retreat to Harrisburg Landing. This act cements McClellan's reputation as General Failure in the eyes of his soldiers and the politicians.
• Off with His Head!: Confederate guerrillas, especially in Missouri and Kansas, take to beheading "abolitionists" and planting their heads in the middle of towns, as a way to intimidate and threaten their enemies. The first and most famous example is the murder of Andrew Allsman.
• One-Steve Limit:
  • There are actually two Johnstons, both of them Confederate generals: Albert Sydney Johnston, the commander in the West who mostly fights against Grant, and Joe Johnston, who starts fighting in Virginia and then is reassigned to Georgia.
  • There are also two John Pembertons, both Confederates. One is famous as the commander who surrendered Vicksburg to Grant, while the other is the creator of Coca-Cola. The author once put up the photo of the wrong Pemberton as a result.
  • The author points out that Simon Bolivar Buckner, named after the Venezuelan liberator, does not deserve that name. Buckner is instead called "S.B. Buckner" within the story.
• Only a Flesh Wound: James McPherson ends up losing an arm at the Battle of Liberty.
• Our Presidents Are Different: Buchanan is President Focus Group. As in real life, he's obsessed with placating the slavery advocates, even as their actions go well into outright violations of the rule of law.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Unionist guerrillas have no qualms about massacring or murdering Confederates.
• Pet the Dog: Breckinridge genuinely cares for the struggling Confederate population and tries to do everything in his power to alleviate their suffering.
  • Toombs tells a mayor to give the last dregs of the Confederate treasury to soldiers that need it, and wills his mansion to the people he enslaved for so long.
• Point of Divergence: The assassination of Lyman Trumbull leads to a very different and much bloodier American Civil War.
• Powder Keg Crowd: The worsening food situation in parts of the Confederacy led to riots in Richmond. When Breckinridge was in power, he was able to calm the 1863 Bread Riots with a Rousing Speech. The Junta that replaced him, however, opts for a crackdown when faced with protests in the early months of 1865. When the crackdown leads to a massacre however, all of Richmond descends into violence, forcing the Junta to flee.
• The Purge: After the October Coup, the Junta acts to purge "Breckinridgites" in the army and government. His cabinet and allies are arrested, Longstreet defects, and Cleburne is killed while trying to escape. However, the purge is not particularly thorough, allowing civil servants that supported Breckinridge to retain their posts.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Both sides engage in it during the war - the Confederates have Jubal Early's raids; the Unionists have Sherman's March to the Sea.
• Reassigned to Antarctica:
  • Simon Cameron, the incompetent and corrupt first Secretary of War, is sent to Russia as an ambassador.
  • Both Breckinridge and Lincoln are fond of sending problematic generals to the Trans-Mississippi front, where the damage they can cause is lessened.
• Red Baron: On the Union side, there are Generals Ulysses S. Grant, known as "Unconditional Surrender" Grant; George H. Thomas, the "Sledgehammer of Lexington"; and John F. Reynolds, the "Victor of Union Mills". On the Confederate side, there is "Stonewall" Jackson, Beauregard is called "the Conqueror of Washington", and Johnston is sometimes known as the "Undaunted Johnston".
• Refuge in Audacity: Burnside manages to take Kennesaw Mountain from the Confederates in spite of its defenses by charging up - taking advantage of the Confederates misplacing their artillery in the haste of fortifying the positions.
• Regretful Traitor: With the shattering defeat at Union Mills, the panic and hysteria over rumors of a slave insurrection and the threat of a Northern army ready to hang traitors and confiscate land drove many Southerners near the frontline to defect in the hopes of saving themselves.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilised: "The Second American Revolution" features many scenes of violent carnage, chief among them the guerrilla war in the Border States and the South, and the "Month of Blood", when the Federal Army bloodily puts down rebellions in New York and Baltimore. This without taking into account the Civil War itself.
• Rousing Speech:
  • Both Breckinridge and Lincoln are capable speakers, who use their talents to further their cause.
  • Just before the Pennsylvania Campaign begins, Lincoln gives a speech before the Army of Susquehanna and reporters to reinvigorate the army and nation's morale.
  • To put an end to the Bread Riots, Breckinridge shows the rioters that he is suffering just like them and declares, "I ask of you no sacrifices except those I am willing to take myself. I won’t leave you alone, I will do all in my power to protect you and give you what you need. But please, don’t let this end in bloodshed.”
• Screw the War, We're Partying: In the aftermath of the coup and Union victories in Mobile and Atlanta, some members of the planter aristocracy hold extravagant parties to distract themselves from the realities of the South's impending defeat.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Longstreet learns of the October Coup, he decides to surrender himself to Grant, knowing that Jackson will have him executed on a whim. He leaves just minutes ahead of a regiment led by Jackson to arrest him.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: General McClellan's timidity in the battlefield comes from, among other things, his fear of losing his reputation. His attitude causes him to lose multiple important battles and the opportunity to crush the main Confederate forces - which leads to him losing his reputation.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran:
  • Many soldiers suffer from PTSD, named "war madness" due to the gorier war. It becomes especially common among those involved in the guerrilla war, such as Ted, an Indiana soldier who suffers consequences to his mental health after fighting guerrillas in Kentucky, both witnessing and committing atrocities.
  • The daughter of Thomas' master in "Somewhere in Georgia" went to the war as a nurse. She returned a few months later, sick and weakened from the horrors she witnessed.
• Shocking Defeat Legacy: Applies to both sides. For the North, the confidence gained after the victories in Maryland and Tennessee is shattered by the gigantic catastrophe of the Nine Days' Battles, the embarrassing rout at Bull Run and the bitter failure of the first Vicksburg Campaign. For the South, the triple defeats of Lexington, Union Mills and Liberty cause mass panic and hysteria. A major factor in this is the major role the USCT played in the battles of Fort Saratoga and Union Mills, which shatters the Southern belief that black soldiers cannot fight and embarrasses the whole raison d’être of the CSA (that African Americans were inferior to the white man).
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Stephen Douglas gives one to James Buchanan while confronting him over his violating of the rights of the people of Kansas. He combines it with Pretender Diss.
  James Buchanan: I desire you to remember that no Democrat ever yet differed from an administration of his own choice without being crushed.
  Stephen Douglas: You are no Jackson.
• The Siege:
  • The fate of Port Hudson, which was too strong and too well fortified for Burnside to take it in a direct assault. Its importance as an outpost on the Mississippi is heightened as Vicksburg is abandoned by Pemberton, meaning it's the last Confederate fort blocking Union traffic in the Mississippi. The commander expects A.S. Johnston to come to his aid, but Johnston's army is demolished at the Battle of Liberty. Down to just skinned rats, the garrison surrenders upon hearing the news.
  • Both Atlanta and Mobile are placed under siege following the summer campaigns where Thomas and Sherman, respectively, drove the Confederate defenders to the gates of the cities. The sieges see both cities bombarded heavily, which causes great suffering among the civilian population, with artillery impacts that kill dozens and force the amputation of limbs, even from children. Both cities eventually fall, forcing the Confederate government to admit their defeat is at hand.
  • The Army of the Susquehanna manages to make an audacious move and push the Army of Northern Virginia south, allowing them to start besieging Petersburg and Richmond. The former ends up becoming the place where Lee dies.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • There are many instances where this heavily affects the war effort of both the Union and the rebels. Most particularly, attempts by the Confederate government to force states to actually put together the resources needed to make war get stymied by said states' refusal to accept that their survival depends on it. For example, when Breckinridge attempts to initiate an impressment of slaves to bolster up defensive construction efforts, the slavers repeatedly state that they'd rather see the Union come and free everyone than let the Confederate government infringe on their "rights".
  • After the October Coup, Breckinridge's policies to increase food production are revoked, with many planters choosing to keep part of their harvests for themselves and burn the rest... so they can have land for cotton or other cash crops.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The man who assassinated Lyman Trumbull only appears in the first chapter and is not seen again. Yet, his actions end up modifying history.
• Sore Loser: What's the South's answer when their preferred candidate loses the 1860 elections? Secede and start a bloody war.
• Spared, but Not Forgiven: Even though the USCT have every reason to enact revenge against the Confederate soldiers, especially Stonewall Jackson's corps which massacred Black soldiers at both Harper's Ferry and North Anna, they refuse to massacre the surrendering rebel soldiers after they defeat them at the Overland Campaign, earning praise for their mercy and humanity.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Stonewall Jackson and Albert Sydney Johnston are still alive as of 1864, whereas Johnston died at Shiloh and Jackson at Chancellorsville in OTL. Downplayed with Jackson, who dies in the last battle of the war.
  • On the Union side, John Reynolds and Nathaniel Lyon also survive, becoming the leader of the Army of the Susquehanna and the General in-chief, respectively. Ultimately downplayed, as both Lyon and Reynolds are killed in John Wilkes Booth's assassination attempt. Philip Kearny (deceased in the Battle of Chantilly in 1862) is likewise still alive and kicking in 1864, helping lead the Army of the Shenandoah into battle.
  • Lincoln's son Willy is explicitly stated to survive.
• The Starscream:
  • Though neither of them is evil, General Schofield desires Thomas' post as commander of the Army of the Cumberland and with it being the main Union general in the Georgia Front. To accomplish this objective, Schofield conspires against Thomas and sends reports to the government claiming he's incompetent and slow.
  • Cheatham has to deal with Hood's own insubordination, with Hood constantly criticizing Cheatham's strategy and sending letters to Richmond where he argues for bolder generalship and more attacks.
• Stuff Blowing Up: The riots in both Baltimore and New York start with explosions.
• Team Switzerland: Attempted by Kentucky, which tries to declare itself neutral at the start of the war. Its strategic importance means that this doesn't last, and, when General Leonidas Polk invades the state, they finally side with the Union.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • Bragg has a horrible relationship with his commanders, who detest him and are sometimes outright insubordinate. This helps explain his defeat at Lexington.
  • Following the Emancipation Proclamation, the commanders of the Army of the Susquehanna are divided between those who oppose it and those who are in favor. The lack of cooperation helped Lee defeat them decisively, because McClellan was hesitant to aid "abolitionist generals".
• Titled After the Song: Many chapters are titled after Civil War songs, such as The Battle Cry of Freedom or Lincoln and Liberty.
• Token Good Teammate: Downplayed by James Longstreet, who we know will become a Republican in favor of black Civil Rights. Nonetheless, he is still willing to fight for a rebellion to keep slavery, and his advocacy still lies in the future.
• Underestimating Badassery: Due to his plain looks and unpretentious demeanor, Grant appears more of a country bumpkin than a fighting general to both friends and foe. Moreover, when Grant moves his headquarters to Virginia, Confederate officers dismissed him as a bumbling butcher. Grant proceeds to drive Lee's army all the way back to the gates of Richmond and Petersburg in eight days and besiege the cities, Lee's worst fears.
• Vigilante Execution: Both Unionist and Confederate guerrillas take upon them to execute any and all perceived traitors to their sections. Many mock trials followed by swift and brutal executions took place during the New York riots.
• War Is Glorious: Deconstructed. This is the expectation for many soldiers and civilians as the war begins. This is shown in the side stories; soldiers like James and Jordan Shaw and civilians like Richmond Andrew and Mary all see the war as an endeavor with a glorious cause. However, after enduring the terrors of battle and seeing the terrible aftermath, the costs overshadow the glory. Yet, many soldiers find the resolve to fight out for their cause and the fallen are said to have "died gloriously".
• War Is Hell: This American Civil War is much bloodier and features a lot more suffering on both sides.
• Washington D.C. Invasion: The Confederates begin the war by taking Washington DC.
• We ARE Struggling Together:
  • Despite the fact that both sides know that war will decide the fate of their nation, there's political infighting within both governments and both armies. In the Union, the serious battlefield reverses in late 1862 sees the War Unionists discredited and the National Democracy party is taken over by the pro-peace Copperheads. The Copperheads insist that dropping emancipation as a war goal will be sufficient to coerce the Confederacy to accept reunion and outright attempt to subvert the government's authority.
  • Political infighting is frequent within the Army of the Susquehanna, with generals joining cliques and conspiring for their superior's command. At first, the Army of the Susquehanna was divided between the McClellan and anti-McClellan cliques. After Reynolds' ascension to command, the infighting stops... until Reynolds is killed during the Red Night. The generals immediately break into cliques again, this time split between the Conservative and Radical cliques. Additionally, in the summer 1864 campaign, Grant and Hancock start off with frosty relations, which get worse over time, culminating in outright insubordination by Hancock.
  • In the Confederacy, after the disastrous setbacks of 1863, the Confederate politicians broke into two camps: the pro-Breckinridge Confederate National Party and the anti-Breckinridge "Tories" or "Reconstructionists". While both factions (with a few exceptions in the latter camp) are seeking to ensure that the Confederacy remains independent, the latter camp is opposed to many of the measures taken by Breckinridge. The October Coup only worsens things, as the new government undoes many of Breckinridge's policies, making things worse for the lot. For example, the state governments are given leave to do whatever they want: North Carolina keeps a large supply of uniforms, blankets and shoe leather for their militias, and Georgia's governor recalls the militias attached to the Army of Georgia.
  • The Army of Tennessee also suffers from infighting, with commanders (Bragg, Johnston and Cheatham) facing opposition from their subordinates. Johnston gets the worst of it, with his subordinates outright ignoring him at Marietta.
• We Have Reserves: Played with. No Union general is really callous or willing to sacrifice troops, but they are aware of the fact that the Union can afford to replace its losses. The result is that most of the time, the Union suffers twice the Confederate casualties, but soon enough all men are replaced. The most salient example is how the Army of the Susquehanna lost close to half of its numbers during the Peninsula Campaign, but it's able to replace them all quite quickly.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: After the Month of Blood, the Union League clubs, once simple Republican debate clubs and printing societies, are transformed into a paramilitary organization focused on stamping out disloyalty and defending the gains of the war even if it means resorting to illegal and extralegal measures. Lincoln and other Republican leaders are appalled by the violence, but choose not to take action since their goals are aligned even if the methods were misguided.
• Wham Episode: Chapter 53, "We're Going to Be Wiped Off the Earth". In the aftermath of Atlanta's and Mobile's fall, Breckinridge proposes the impressment of slaves as soldiers, seeing this as the only way to win. Then Lee is killed in an otherwise meaningless skirmish, and Breckinridge is couped by his own generals.
• What a Senseless Waste of Human Life: Grant's reaction to the final battle of the war, particularly since he had offered Jackson a chance to honorably surrender and preserve the lives of his soldiers, but Jackson chose instead to ignore the offer and fight the Army of the Susquehanna.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Many Confederate officers escape to other countries after Unionist victory is unavoidable, and remain in exile for the rest of their lives, wanting to return but knowing they can't without risking being subjected to justice.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: This view is commonly held by both the Union and the Confederacy for the guerillas fighting for their respective sides. As mentioned by Richmond Andrew in the side-story "A Mississippi Guerilla", Confederate guerillas are seen by many Southerners as heroes despite the atrocities committed onto alleged Unionist neighbors, freed African-Americans and unarmed Union soldiers. At the same time, the Union is willing to turn a blind eye to atrocities committed by Unionist guerillas onto Southern civilians.