Given the rate of desertions from southern armies at the end of the war, if Jefferson Davis and other confederate political leaders had taken to the hills to fight a continuing guerrilla war, the southerners themselves just might well had "taken care of the problem" before too long.
the desertions happened MAINLY because it was obvious to many that the war was over in all but name.
had there been mass executions by the damnyankees, the number of bluebellies killed from ambush would have been MASSIVE, especially if a leader like 'ole Nate Forrest called for a guerrilla war.
free dixie,sw