If the Confederate troops were that close behind, it would have been idiotic for the Yankee general to NOT order the removal of the pontoon bridge.
I wonder what Party affiliation Davis was - five to one he was a Democrat.
The article, as all such articles do, implies that Sherman and other Army officials were providing “reparations” to compensate ex-slaves for their oppression.
In actual fact, all the army provided was “possessory titles,” not absolute titles for permanent ownership.
IOW, they were intended as a temporary measure to settle the blacks in situations where they could support themselves rather than being parasites on the army. It was never intended to be a permanent measure, unless of course Congress so decided. The Army had no authority to make permanent disposition of title to land, espcially after the war ended.
40 Acres and a Mule was disallowed by Lincoln in the first place. Sherman was waay out of line.
This had nothing to do with reparations, except what revisionists have created whole cloth. The issue wasn’t
reparations for the former slaves... the issue was to get an economy going that could support 40 acres and a mule participants. And there wasn’t an economy to support it- which is why the slaves sought whatever work they could get.
Anyone who says Stanton was concerned about slaves is delusional. Stanton cared about the control of the labor force, particularly on the Westward railroad expansion. Stanton is not well liked, to the point that there are claims from both sides that he arranged the death of Lincoln- utilizing his real work— running agents against the South and turning agents to work for him. The man was a disgrace and one greedy bastard.
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