Atzerodt and Powell were arrested not far from where their respective crimes were committed. The angry populace of DC made sure of that, and death sentences were practically assured from the moment they were in handcuffs. Booth, however, was missing. President Foster rushed to organize the biggest manhunt in American history. After his swearing in, he offered one hundred thousand dollars cash for anyone who got Booth alive and a further ten thousand dollars for any information on the conspirators. Within two days, most people even tangentially involved in the assassinations were in cuffs and awaiting a speedy trial.
On April 23rd, the bodies of Lincoln, Seward, and Johnson were part of the largest funeral procession in American history. Millions of people turned out to catch a glimpse as each body completed a slow, solemn march to each decedent’s hometown. Three trains were sent off in different directions; New York, Tennessee, and Illinois. Every newspaper in the north, Republican leaning or Democratic leaning, paid their respects. In fact, many southern newspapers would do the same, identifying the time as one of sorrow. When news of the assassinations reached the remaining confederate soldiers and officials, reactions were mixed. Some saw it as dishonorable, and in the coming weeks many commanders surrendered. Others, however, saw the assassinations as a blessing.
From “Lincoln”
by Jack Howe, published 2002
Despite the surrender of General Lee, few considered that to be the moment the American Civil War ended. Many confederate soldiers saw the Triple Calamity as a total decapitation of the US government, and some were determined to continue the fight. This became clear to Stanton and the War Department after the Battle of Columbus on April 16th. Up until this point, the Federal Government loudly relayed orders to union divisions throughout the south that even though it was a time of mourning, it was also a time of vengeance. These telegraphs were probably a mistake as Confederate generals would also relay the information to their soldiers on the 15th and 16th. General James H. Wilson had been given an order to capture one of the last Confederate supply hubs at Columbus, Georgia. He had ninety-five hundred men at his command outnumbering Confederate General Howell Cobbs’ garrison three to one. Yet Wilson and his men didn't capture Columbus on the 16th. They were repelled at least two times before they finally took the city on the 18th with heavy casualties. All things considered that should've been an easy battle with no less than a hundred losses.
The Confederate garrison had learned of the Triple Calamity mere hours before the battle began. It appears that a combination of Union sadness and Confederate lifted spirits cost one thousand Union lives for a small town. When that news was relayed back to DC along with reports of supply line attacks and near constant calvary raids, it became clear that the war would be continuing in some form or another for some time.
From “The Final Months: American Civil War April-September”
By Lindsey Beck, Published 1955
Aside from the manhunt for Booth, President Foster had a lot on his docket. First, he needed a new Secretary of State to begin the special election process. Luckily, there wasn’t a lot of suspense as to who that would be. The current assistant SoS was Frederick Seward, who had been injured in a pistol whipping given to him by his father’s assassin. Foster saw him as the perfect choice and appointed him to the vacancy. Within a week the Senate overwhelmingly approved him. Frederick had little time to mourn. After his appointment was confirmed, he informed the States that a special election was to be held on the first Tuesday of November and thus preparations needed to begin.
President Foster was rapidly approached by many political figures in congress who wanted to know his views on reconstruction. Foster himself was a moderate and hoped to follow the example of Lincoln. This infuriated many radical Republicans who believed that Foster was nothing more than a lame duck. They weren't exactly incorrect, Foster himself hoped to kick all these issues down the road until the next president was inaugurated. He had no real intention of doing anything meaningful other than to stop the government from collapsing. He essentially moved to mollify everyone. Did the Confederate states commit suicide and forfeit their right to statehood? Foster said maybe. Can former Confederate states participate in the special election? Foster said, absolutely not. This didn't sit well with congress.
One thing Foster did want to achieve with all speed was the end of the war. On April 20th he met with General Ulysses S. Grant, hoping to be able to declare the war over. If so, he could say anyone still holding up arms was committing full treason and wouldn't be eligible for post war amnesty. Grant told the President that he probably couldn't take that action until General Sherman received a full surrender from General Joseph E. Johnston's 30,000 men in North Carolina.
From “The President No One Voted For”
by Kieren Hutchinson, published 1982
On April 23rd, General Johnston informed his general staff of his intent to agree to General Sherman's final terms of unconditional surrender. About half of his staff agreed, while half certainly did not. After a lot of back and forth, Johnston, sick of the war, left the camp with around 18,000 of the soldiers and accepted the terms of Sherman. He then warned the union general that around 12,000 men wouldn't accept the offer.
By May 15th, the 12,000 was whittled down to around 8,200. Sherman thought he could have a surrender by the end of May, but with extreme pressure from the War Department and under the encouragement of General Grant, Sherman gave a final deadline of May 20th. If the 8,000 didn't surrender unconditionally by that day, there would be a battle. This further reduced the number of holdouts to 6,000, and after a quick skirmish near Greensboro, the Department of Tennessee fully surrendered. The last official day of the war is considered to be May 21st.
When news of the surrender reached Jefferson Davis and his few remaining cabinet members, one final meeting was held at a friend’s house in Georgia, and he officially declared the dissolution of the Confederate government. Along with Secretary of War John Breckinridge, Davis had put together a small army that continued fighting for around a month. His last act before attempting to flee to Europe was to order them to surrender. However, both Davis and Breckinridge were caught on May 25th, and both men were taken to a jail cell in Maryland.
Fighting would continue until mid-September, despite the fact that President Foster had declared an end to the war by saying, "Any citizen maintaining a rebellion against the United States by July 4th is nothing more than a looter or raider and shall be dealt with as one." After the 4th, news of confederate skirmishes had mostly stopped circulating as well. Most eyes were now on the upcoming election.
From The Final Months: American Civil War April-September
By Lindsey Beck, Published 1955
After declaring the end of the war, the President took a more concrete stance on Reconstruction. He made it clear that re-admission to the Union was none of his business as it wouldn't be happening before the special election anyway. In the meantime, he followed congressional advice and set up a plan to establish basic military districts. [2] Foster assured the people of the south these districts were temporary. On July 30th, he offered amnesty to any soldier in the confederate army whose personal property didn't exceed $15,000. He made it clear that pardons for confederate officers were to be on a case-to-case basis (though he did offer Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston pardons for their timely surrenders.) Foster also announced that the federal government would be prosecuting certain confederate congressmen, Jefferson Davis, and his cabinet. Attorney General Bates prepared a mobilization of the Justice Department.
Controversially, President Foster shut down Sherman's “thirty acres and a mule” plan. "No major moves such as Sherman's redistribution should be carried out until after the election." He ensured that the War Department had strong oversight over the military districts to ensure they were only keeping the peace and not much more. In tandem with allies in the moderate republican and democratic caucuses, Foster made sure every military district would have an elected council of local unionists to help advise the military administrations.
Even today, many people criticize Foster's early reconstruction. It's clear that he didn't want to micromanage the process, in large part because he didn’t want to be president. The Foster reconstruction instead delegated rebuilding to Congress, the Department of Justice, the Department of War, and anyone else he could find to keep the nation afloat until March 4 1866.
From RECONSTRUCTION: A Complete History
by Doris Goodman, published 1999
[1]: Essentially what happened in the real Battle of Columbus
[2]: Roughly the same borders as the districts established in OTL. I'll go in more depth about each one after the special election.
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