A Right to Kill Traitors: Revenge and Racial Strife in the American Civil War West (1863-1865)

John Ringquist

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A Right to Kill Traitors: Revenge and Racial Strife in the American Civil War West (1863-1865)

In: Exploring the Facets of Revenge

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John Ringquist

John Ringquist
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 45–54

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848880894_006

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Race relations during the American Civil War were not resolved in a neat, tidy or legal manner. Confederate military defeats in the Civil War western theatre generated intense wellsprings of hate toward the soldiers and officers of the United States Coloured Regiments. When Confederates took revenge on their perceived tormentors: rebellious slaves and their insidious abolitionist allies, their methods shocked observers with the degree of savagery. However revenge seldom ends with a single act, and victims exact their own retribution, thus generating a cycle of violence that is difficult to break. The American Civil War west, especially the Indian Territory, Arkansas, and Missouri, was the stage for several incidents of ‘Black Flag’ warfare in which rules of ‘civilized’ warfare were flouted in the name of revenge. The skirmishes of Sherwood, Missouri and Flat Rock, Indian Territory, as well as the battles of Poison Springs and Jenkins’ Ferry contain all the elements of revenge, and exceeded the boundaries of accepted conventions; the massacre of wounded prisoners, execution of unarmed civilians, and refusal to honour surrenders make these episodes of revenge stand out for their brutality. Confederates dealt with defeats by Union forces by extracting revenge against United States Coloured troops, a class of men who both defied racial conventions and constituted a vital factor in Union victories.

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Exploring the Facets of Revenge

E-Book ISBN:: 9781848880894

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 08 Apr 2012

Subjects
- Literature and Cultural Studies
  - Comparative Studies & World Literature
- Social Sciences
  - Cultural Studies

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A Right to Kill Traitors: Revenge and Racial Strife in the American Civil War West (1863-1865)

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Exploring the Facets of Revenge

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