"The organization of federal units of black soldiers, comprised of both escaped slaves and free men, was taken as an outrage. It struck a raw nerve, never far off in the southern psyche. Fear of a slave insurrection. The prospect of African American men in blue uniforms was taken as an extreme provocation, so much so that it was proposed in the Confederate congress, and endorsed by General Beauregard, the hero of Fort Sumter, that all Federals captured, black or white, should be summarily executed. This proposal was never adopted, but the Confederate congress did eventually pass, in May 1863, a proclamation instructing President Jefferson Davis to exercise 'full and ample retaliation' against the north for arming black soldiers. Finally, there was simple revenge. The Union army's shelling of Fredericksburg several months before had been a particular sore point, that festered for months as the Confederate army went into winter quarters nearby. One officer, determined to fix the destruction there in his mind's eye, made a special visit to that town one last time before setting out on the road north into Maryland and Pennsylvania."
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Democratic Party (United States) politiciansMilitary personnel from KentuckyPoliticians from KentuckyPoliticians from MississippiConfederates
Original Language: English
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Sources
Andy Hall, "We have received provocation enough..." (1 July 2013), Dead Confederates: A Civil War Era Blog.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis
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Jefferson Davis
1808 – 1889
US-amerikanischer Politiker
46 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Jefferson Davis →
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