This cartoon was published in Harper’s Weekly on November 4, 1864. Click here for additional information about this particular cartoon.
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I think it’s interesting that the cartoon was triggered by a controversial letter written by Governor Allen of Louisiana, endorsing the enlistment and arming of slaves. The timing coincides with the transition for command of Union forces in the Gulf from a Massachusetts politician, Nathaniel Banks, to General Canby, a career soldier. The cartoon also coincided with Lincoln’s reelection. New Orleans and Savannah represented the bulk of the Confederacy’s urban population.
I’ve been reading Andrew Marvel’s account of Andersonville: The Last Depot. He points out that in 1864 the prison population of Andersonville made it the Confederacy’s fifth largest city, though at times the census exceeded that of the fourth largest, Mobile. Richmond was third. Atlanta didn’t even register. It was just a train station and a few warehouses.
There’s no question that Confederate slaves played an enormous role in establishing and maintaining this metropolis. The smart move on the part of the Confederacy would have been to offer each of the captured Union soldiers forty acres and the hand of a war widow. They could have made Andersonville a permanent fixture instead of an election year boom town. Hearts and minds.
Kevin, I got a good laugh out of that !! Very good cartoon. Things haven’t changed much.