Hello? Shelling population centers ring a bell?
"Lincoln," Henry Grady said, "comprehended within himself all the strength, and gentleness, all the majesty and grace of the republic." He was indeed, the first American, "the sum of Puritan and Cavalier, in whose ardent nature were fused the virtues of both, and in whose great soul the faults of both were lost."
Although President Lincoln clearly held out the hand of forgiveness and reconciliation to the rebels, he was not willing to leave the game with "any card unplayed."
The rebels took the lead in atrocity and immorality. They reaped what they sowed.
Consider this from Jim Epperson's website:
12/24/62: Jefferson Davis issues a proclamation which states (1) White officers of black troops will not be treated as POWs; (2) The black troops themselves will not be treated as POWs; (3) Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler is to be hanged w/o trial immediately upon being captured; (4) No Union officers will be paroled until Butler is caught and hanged. All four of these provisions were violations of the Dix-Hill Cartel.
12/28/62: In response to Davis's proclamation, the Federals end the exchange and parole of Confederate officers.
5/25/63: Non-exchange and parole of Confederate officers is re-affirmed in orders from Halleck to all commanders in the field. This is done largely in respone to the CS Congress passing a law implementing a small variation of Davis's 12/24/62 proclamation.
7/13/63: Secretary of War Stanton orders an end to the exchange and parole of enlisted men. This is done largely because of increasing arguments over the parole provisions of the cartel, and the feeling that this aspect of the agreement is (unfairly) being manipulated by the Confederates to their advantage.
Fall, 1863: Confederates return to service most of the Vicksburg garrison, an act which the Federals claim is not justified by the cartel. This hardens Federal attitudes towards the exchange process. So, as of 1/1/64, the exchange cartel is more or less entirely disrupted, as a result of reasonable objections being made by the Federals...
4/17/64: Lt. Gen. US Grant issues orders that exchanges remain halted until the Confederates compensate the Yankees for the release of the Vicksburg garrison, *and* agree to treat black soldiers equally with white. Grant's role was to confirm a policy already in place, a policy reached as a result of difficulties in managing the cartel. Grant's views on exchange are well-known: He thought it was a bad idea. There's a quote from him to the effect that re-opening exchange might be humanity towards the men in the camps, but keeping it closed was humanity towards the men in the ranks. That's a harsh judgement, but it is no less accurate for being harsh."
http://members.aol.com/jfepperson/causes.html
It was the so-called CSA that brought war in the raw down on their own heads by their cruelty and immorality.
Walt
It is customary to post a barf alert before such.