Section44 Wartime Governments

As you read, look for: • the governments in Louisiana during the war, and • the end of the war.

During the war, Louisiana actually had two state governments. The Confeder- ate government controlled all of the state outside the Union lines. That gov- ernment had to relocate several times to avoid capture by the Union army. Government in Union-Occupied Louisiana After New Orleans was captured, President Lincoln worked to restore a loyal government to the state. According to Lincoln’s plan, once 10 percent of the voters signed a loyalty oath, an election could be held. People loyal to the Union soon formed political associations and began preparing for elections. Lincoln directed General Banks to hold an election in occupied Louisiana as soon as possible. He wanted to show that the state, and the other seceded states, could easily return to the Union. Only those who had signed loyalty oaths were allowed to vote in that election. In February 1864, Michael J. Hahn was elected the governor of Louisiana for the Union-occupied region. He replaced Colonel George F. Shepley, who had been the military governor. The elected government worked with the military commanders in occupied Louisiana. During the war, this was the state govern- ment recognized by the United States.

Top: Colonel George F. Government in Confederate Louisiana Shepley served as military The state government for Confederate Louisiana faced challenging obstacles. governor of occupied The capital was moved several times—from Baton Rouge to Opelousas to Shreve- Louisiana. Above: Michael J. port—to avoid federal troops. Hahn of New Orleans was The most urgent problem for Confederate Louisiana was funding for the war. the first elected governor of This need for money made life in Louisiana even more difficult. First, the Con- occupied Louisiana. federacy sold bonds to raise money. When this voluntary approach to raising money no longer worked, an income tax was established. Still later, a tax-in-kind re- quired that 10 percent of every crop be given to the Confederate government. These economic problems made it almost impossible to provide for the needs of the people and support the war effort. The governor who was elected to head Confederate Louisiana in 1863 won the gratitude of the people at that time and

338 Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict the respect of historians today. Henry Watkins Allen was an injured Confederate officer who took charge of the state when the fall of the Confederacy already seemed likely. His creative and practical programs kept Louisiana from starving and lessened the suffering. Governor Allen called for relief (financial aid) for soldiers’ de- pendents and pensions for wounded soldiers. He wanted to control the manufacture and importation of liquor, because he believed the corn was better used to feed people and livestock than to make whiskey. He set up a factory to make medicine at the old Mount Lebanon College in Webster Parish. He kept the trade routes to Mexico open and imported the medicine that could not be made. Cotton “cards” were made and distributed so that cotton could be carded (cleaned and combed), spun, and woven. This helped with the shortage of cloth that could no longer be imported. By this time, Louisiana was almost entirely cut off from the rest of the Confederacy. Allen told the Confederate government that he needed to take care of the people of Louisiana and could no longer refuse to sell the cotton to Europe. He financed his state aid by buying cotton and sending it through Texas to the blockade run- ners at Galveston. State stores provided what the people needed. The War Ends On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confed- erate army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The Confederate forces west of the Mississippi surrendered in Above: This plaster cast was Shreveport in June. More than six hundred Civil War battle, engagement, and used to make the statue skirmish sites mark the map of Louisiana. of Governor Henry Watkins Governor Allen led the troubled state through the last days of the war. He Allen that stands in the told the former Confederates to “submit to the inevitable” and “begin life anew.” State Capitol. These words foreshadow the years to come.

Check for UnderstandingUnderstanding ✓✓ Lagniappe

1. What were the two state governments in Louisiana during After the war, Governor the war? Allen left the United States 2. What part of the state was under the control of the for exile in Mexico, Confederate state government? as did other high-ranking 3. Why did President Lincoln want General Banks to hold an Confederate officials. election in occupied Louisiana as soon as possible?  4. Name two ways Governor Allen helped the Confederate civilians.

Section 4 Wartime Governments 339   MeetingMeeting ExpectationsExpectations  The Burning ofof Alexandria    

A view of Alexandria during the Civil War. A Union officer left the following account of the 1. Is this a primary source or a secondary source? burning of Alexandria as the Union army left the Explain your answer. region following the Red River Campaign. Read his 2. A biased account is a one-sided account. Do you words and then answer the questions that follow. think this soldier’s account is biased or unbiased? Why? Cows went bellowing through the street. Chickens flew out from 3. What did the soldier mean when he said, yards and fell in the streets with their feathers scorching on “Thieves were everywhere, and some of them them. A dog with his busy tail on fire ran howling through, were soldiers”? What does this tell you about turning to snap at the fire as he ran. There is no use trying to this soldier’s opinion of stealing from civilians? tell about the sights I saw and the sounds of distress I heard. 4. What specific phrases from the officer’s writing It cannot be told and could hardly be believed if it were told. show that he was sympathetic to the people of Crowds of people, men, women, children and soldiers, were Alexandria? running with all they could carry, when the heat would be- 5. Why do you think he wrote such detail in his come unbearable, and dropping all, they would flee for their diary? lives, leaving everything but their bodies to burn. Over the 6. We rely on diaries and other written sources to levee the sights and sounds were harrowing. Thousands of help us learn more about people during the Civil people, mostly women, children and old men, were wringing War. Written information gives us a picture of their hands as they stood by the little piles of what was left of the details of history. Today, fewer people write all their worldly possessions. Thieves were everywhere, and letters and keep diaries. How do you think this some of them were soldiers. will affect the study of history in the future? 340 Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict