from New York Herald Tribune, December 10, 1863:
The war is over. A formal treaty of peace was signed in Washington and went into effect at midnight, December 10. The salient points of the agreement:
* US cedes the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri to the Confederacy
* US capital to be temporarily located in Philadelphia, pending final decision on a new location
* US to pay an unspecified amount of damages to Confederacy for destruction of property in CSA territory (primarily along the Mississippi and in Northern Virginia)
* West Virginia to be admitted as a US state
* Indian Territory to be annexed to the Confederacy
* Abraham Lincoln to be removed as President of the United States. he will be released from CS custody on January 1
MAP OF THE U.S. & C.S. AS OF 1/1/1870
DK. BLUE - US States
LT. BLUE - US Territories
DK. GRAY - CS States
LT. GRAY - CS Territories
St. Louis, Missouri, December 21, 1863:
Nine-year-old Jack Gleason stood beside his parents and watched as the United States flag was lowered from the State Building in St. Louis. His mother, holding the hand of Jack's brother Will, cried softly. His father wore a stoic expression that Jack had come to recognize as subdued anger.
Will, just five years old, stared at the grey-coated Confederate soldiers who stood at attention as the flag came down, where the familiar blue-coated Union troops also waited at attention.
"Who are they, Jacky," Will asked, pointing at the Confederates.
"They're Confederate soldiers, Will," Jack said quietly.
"What's a ... federate?"
"We are now, I reckon," Jack said in reply.
Hearing this, Will tore his hand away from his mother and ran towards the soldiers, bumping into one who was in the process of attaching the Confederate flag to the flagpole. The mostly white flag fluttered to the ground. The eyes of most of the onlookers widened. From somewhere in the crowd a man snickered.
The soldier spun and backhanded Will in the face, knocking the boy to the ground beside the flag. He immediately began wailing.
Jack ran forward, a step ahead of his father, whose stoic look had given way to the familiar reddening of his neck and face that presaged an eruption of what Jack's mother called "his Irish."
"How dare you sir!" Jack's father shouted. The soldier drew his pistol.
"Holster that sidearm, Lieutenant!" a new voice bellowed.
Jack looked up as a large white horse stepped between the Gleason family and the Confederate honor guard. The man on the horse wore the same grey uniform as the other soldiers, but had a sword strapped to his belt. This meant he was an officer, Jack knew - the bluecoat officers also wore swords.
The man stepped down off his horse and handed the reins to one of the other greycoats. He bent down and scooped Will off the ground, handing him to Jack's father. "Apologies, sir," he said in a thick accent.
The red in his father's neck began to fade and Jack relaxed. The officer extended his hand. "I am Colonel Daniel Hundley of the 31st Alabama Infantry. Please accept my apologies. I know your boy meant no disrespect."
Jack's father swallowed and shook Hundley's hand. "Thank you sir."
Jack stepped forward. "Sir, it was my fault. Willie ran up to your men when I told him we were Confederates now too."
Hundley smiled. "My thanks for the explanation, young man. And yes, you are all Confederates now - or at least you will be once you take the loyalty oath. You are otherwise welcome to pack your belongings and cross the river if you'd prefer to remain in United States territory."