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He could easily have been hanged for treason under the law.

Nah, he was covered under the 14th Amendment. Trying him and the rest of the bunch would have violated their protections under the 5th Amendment so that's why it never came about.

True. I believe General Grant strongly opposed any treason trials for the members of the ANV, as he had covered that with his parole when teh ANV collapsed.

But it's really hard to suggest, as you say, that Brown was guilty of treason against Virginia any more than say German soldiers were guilty of treason against France or Russia in WWII.

Lee's acts were clearly treasonous, there's no doubt of that.

But he helped immolate his own army, so maybe it all worked out for the best. Same thing with Hood. He wrecked his own army.

Hmmmmmmm......Hood was from Kentucky. Kentucky remained in the Union. I wonder if the neo-rebs would say the same thing applies to Hood, as it did to Brown.

But if one thing has come out on this thread in the last week or so, it was the vindictiveness of the CSA and the mercy of the USA.

Even if you take the 3 examples that RaginCagun said, the CSA hanged more people for treason in one day than the USA has in 226 years.

Walt

I don't know how Grant felt of the subject but it was actually Chief Justice Chase that put an end to the whole idea when he made it clear that he would toss out any convictions on the 14th Amendment grounds. You know, George Pickett was appointed to West Point from Illinois. Does that mean that Illinois could have hanged him as a traitor, too?

Lee's acts were clearly treasonous, there's no doubt of that.

Trolling again, Wlat? If you're losing at the table, kick it over, shoot out the lights, and start a big fistfight? Is that it?

Bobby Lee was no more a traitor than George Bush is. He resigned his commission in good order, like Longstreet did, and went with his State. He was of the opinion that secession wasn't a good idea (Braxton Bragg thought the same before the issue was forced), but he went with Virginia because they were his People.

That's a kind of principled loyalty you'd never understand, so I won't bother to explain it to you. But he never waged war on his own, in order to receive high rank from a constitutional adventurer the way Admiral Farragut did, or some other prominent Union generals we could talk about.