October 13, 1863: Vallandigham Loses Bid for Governor

Almost Chosen People

I have always thought that the Copperhead Movement in the North, those Northerners who believed that war to preserve the Union was wicked and/or futile, had a great deal of potential strength and it is something of a puzzle as to why it did not have a greater impact on the War.  One reason is that the Copperhead political leadership tended to be second raters at best.  A case in point is Clement Vallandigham, a Congressman of Ohio, and most definitely the most famous Copperhead.

Ironically a personal friend of Edwin Stanton before the War, Vallandigham served for one term in the Ohio legislature before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1858, after a disputed election loss in 1856.  Re-elected to the House in 1860, he became famous throughout the nation for his fiery speeches opposing the war policies of the Lincoln administration and condemned what he viewed as the administration’s infringement on civil liberties.  Vallandigham lost…

View original post 567 more words