What if the South had of implemented a "black-flag" strategy...

The Confederacy had a chance of victory in 1862. This fell into two possibilities, the Union growing tied of the war or European intervention. After the end of 1862 the Confederate path to victory was narrow and getting narrower. In 1863 the odds of Europe intervening were probably gone and this left the North growing tired of the war and giving up the fight. The reelection of Lincoln in 1864 insured the Confederacy would lose. By the time Sherman began his March to the Sea the Confederacy had two options, negotiate a peace, or lose the war. By December of 1864 the Confederacy had little to negotiate with. I believe your black-flag tactics would have had little effect on the outcome of the war, but could well have brought a very hard time after the war for the South. Lincoln and the Union was not going to give the Confederacy everything the Confederacy wanted in 1865.
But the pattern of guerrilla warfare and all the problems with accomplishing any success would have been already been worked through and established and rather than surrender just keep on fighting a guerrilla war which could become exciting with the advance of new weapons...and finally weapons of mass destruction...
 
Donr, I've got to hand it to you - you are persistent, sir.

Where are any 19th century WMDs going to come from within a Confederacy that, by this point, had almost no manufacturing capacity and even less infrastructure to move it to the target areas? Any new weapons developed during a posited insurgency would have been manufactured almost exclusively in the North.

I continue to not see this. Sorry sir.
 
Donr, I've got to hand it to you - you are persistent, sir.

Where are any 19th century WMDs going to come from within a Confederacy that, by this point, had almost no manufacturing capacity and even less infrastructure to move it to the target areas? Any new weapons developed during a posited insurgency would have been manufactured almost exclusively in the North.

I continue to not see this. Sorry sir.

I don't know...I think Sherman must have created termites of mass destruction with all those naked chimneys left in his wake...:smile:
 
Morgan's Raid, Lawrence, and Chambersburg didn't seem to have any negative impact on Union morale.

Indeed, these could be used by Unionists to oppose the copperheads (who wanted a negotiated peace). For example, here is an article from the Gallipolis Journal, Aug. 4, 1864, page 2, col. 6:

The news of the rebel attack on Chambersburg Pa. and its destruction by fire will be read with interest. Our readers can comprehend the result of copperhead sympathy. The district is represented in Congress by one Coffroth who as far as practicable rendered himself conspicuous only by his unblushing sympathy with the rebels, and open and active opposition to every measure of the Government to overcome them.

As his reward the splendid mansion of his brother in law (a good Union man) with all its contents is burned, and his family forced to flee for their lives. Such are the fruits of Copperheadism. Such they must be everywhere, so long as the are allowed to preach there pernicious doctrines through the press, in our Legislative halls, and on our streets.

An election is to be held in the 2d inst., in that State, to decide upon giving soldiers in the field a right to vote. This vote would of course carry the state next fall largely for Lincoln. The election on Tuesday, if all had remained quiet, would undoubtedly grant the soldiers this right. This invasion comes in the nick of time. Whilst loyal men will fly to the defence of the State with bullets, copperheads will stay at home and by ballots deprive the soldier of the right of suffrage, and thereby increase their chances to carry the State in the fall.

We do not say that McCausland was specially invited there to burn Chambersburg. Oh! not at all. But a slight demonstration of that kind would prove of great value just before election day. And they received it. Now let us see the result of the election.​

The result was that the soldiers were allowed to vote.
 
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I have to wonder if high-profile terrorist guerrilla warfare might have triggered Britain to finally intervene in the war, but against the South rather than for it?
 
Boy,
In this "what if" situation I would assume these men would come out of existing cavalry units / new volunteers and form a "special" unit separate from the the other cavalry...I do not know the protocol to do this officially....special forces...
Maybe they could have got some ninjas from Japan. Or Cossacks from Russia. Or Sith Lords from a galaxy far, far away.

What if they got Godzilla? Or, I'm thinking outside the box here, a couple of those nasty Aliens.
 
Boy,

Maybe they could have got some ninjas from Japan. Or Cossacks from Russia. Or Sith Lords from a galaxy far, far away.

What if they got Godzilla? Or, I'm thinking outside the box here, a couple of those nasty Aliens.

Heck, let's really get serious, build a time machine and go forward and bring back nukes, nuclear subs, tanks, b52 bombers, napalm, nerve and other poisonous gases, cluster bombs, Apache helicopters, drones...

"Me thinks the rebels have acquired more weapons...that last town they wiped out they not only flattened the town but everything for miles around...the whole county...and every living thing around the area is dropping dead..."

"I knew it, I knew it, the British have finally come in on their side..."
 
The only time the black-flag warfare could have worked was in 1861 to 1863. This was the period that the south had the means to conduct this successfully. I am not sure it would have succeeded and not sure that the South would have attempted it because they still wanted to gain British and French support and they would have had to judge if this helped or hurt that effort.
 
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To an extent . The Germans also would set up their own local COIN troops in each occupied country. The Milice of France being a prime example. The Germans would take care to establish good relations with at least a section of a given poulation.
Leftyhunter

Speaking of COIN soldiers, had the rebellion resorted to partisan warfare after its armies were defeated the Freedmen and southern Unionists could've made first rate COIN soldiers.
 
What if the South had of implemented a "black-flag" strategy right after Sherman started plundering civilians in the deep South -- would this have immediately brought the negotiators from both the North and South together and ended the war with each country going its separate ways? (By "black-flag" strategy I mean have Confederate cavalry raid the North and totally looting and burning every city, farm and house to the ground in their path and killing on the spot any civilian found and whatever wasn't destroyed haul it back down to the South.)

You mean pulling the old number six on them. That's where we go ridin' into town, a whompin' and a whoopin'....
 
Speaking of COIN soldiers, had the rebellion resorted to partisan warfare after its armies were defeated the Freedmen and southern Unionists could've made first rate COIN soldiers.
Absolutely true. The Reconstruction Arkansas State Militia composed mostly of ex Unionist soldiers with a few ex Confederates did defeat the KKK.
The book " a history of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas" by Walter Monk
A former MSM Colonel gives more details.
Former Confederate general James Longstreet did lead black militia against white racist paramilitaries in Louisiana but it didn't work out. I don't have the details.
Reconstruction was a good idea poorly resourced and led.
Leftyhunter
 
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