# Could Lincoln Have Used Drones to Fight the Rebellion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 23, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113 "2013-05-23T13:10:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/21 "2013-05-24T00:47:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What use are drones against vampires? Rocket propelled stakes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/22 "2013-05-24T03:05:19Z")
Clearly Harry Turtledove needs to write another book. When time traveling South African white supremacists begin supplying automatic rifles to the Confederacy, they find themselves countered by radical black nationalist time travelers who begin supplying cruise missile technology to the Union. It’s _Drones of the North_. ---
**Author:** ![6079smithW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/db5fbb/32.png) [@6079smithW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6079smithW)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/23 "2013-05-24T18:11:47Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Clearly Harry Turtledove needs to write another book. When time traveling South African white supremacists begin supplying automatic rifles to the Confederacy, they find themselves countered by radical black nationalist time travelers who begin supplying cruise missile technology to the Union. It’s _Drones of the North_. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/24 "2013-05-24T18:21:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What use are drones against vampires? There you go - the inevitable Lincoln-drone-vampire movie sequel. > [@Will Farnaby](#): > > Lincoln had no more right to invade the south than Obama has the right to assassinate citizens without evidence. Most people would say that the South seizing federal installations and firing on/capturing a U.S. fort constituted _casus belli_. If Ron Paul had been President at that time, we’d probably still have two separate countries (North and South) abiding peacefully under Libertariatopia. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/25 "2013-05-24T18:27:23Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Lincoln had no more right to invade the south than Obama has the right to assassinate citizens without evidence. They simply assert this power. He didn’t invade the South. The South was part of the United States. It just happened to be ruled by a bunch of ignorant white supremacists who were terrified of having their slaves taken from them. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/26 "2013-05-25T21:15:32Z")
And I actually DO have a problem with the Confederate Flag…it’s the ensign of a treasonous organization, the CSA. I really wish we’d treat the damn thing like Germany does the flag of the Third Reich. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/27 "2013-05-25T21:22:55Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > And I actually DO have a problem with the Confederate Flag…it’s the ensign of a treasonous organization, the CSA. I really wish we’d treat the damn thing like Germany does the flag of the Third Reich. Minor nitpick. It’s actually not the flag of the CSA, but the battle flag of, IIRC, the army of Northern Virginia. The Southern nationalists who get all warm and fuzzy when they see it know so little of their own history they don’t even realize its not the Confederate Flag. ---
**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/28 "2013-05-27T23:40:26Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > If we take the laws of war in place today and transplant them to the 1860’s, could Lincoln have used drones to fight the rebellion (consistent with the laws of war)? Yes. Of course. The only device in the 1860’s that compares to drones is the reconnaissance balloon. I believe these aerial craft carried battery powered telegraph keys for communicating enemy troop movements and logistics. Dunno if they were propelled by hot air or lighter gases. I have not seen any pubs about the Union Signal Corps. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/29 "2013-05-28T02:28:41Z")
They used hydrogen. Hot air is not reliable if you want to hang over the front for a few hours. > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > At that time the use of mines was considered a war crime. In fact, it outraged Sherman(not exactly a pacifist) so much that he used Confederate prisoners as human minesweepers. Beats Farragut using his whole fleet as minesweepers at Mobile Bay. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/30 "2013-05-28T02:34:35Z")
Trivia note: George Custer was one of the officers who went up on balloon missions to recon enemy forces. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/31 "2013-05-28T12:20:49Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > And I actually DO have a problem with the Confederate Flag…it’s the ensign of a treasonous organization, the CSA. I really wish we’d treat the damn thing like Germany does the flag of the Third Reich. > [@Ibn Warraq](#): > > Minor nitpick. It’s actually not the flag of the CSA, but the battle flag of, IIRC, the army of Northern Virginia. The Southern nationalists who get all warm and fuzzy when they see it know so little of their own history they don’t even realize its not the Confederate Flag. The Confederate flag as rendered on the state flag of Mississippi, and formerly on the state flag of Georgia, is the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, which was square, and was subsequently used by other, but not all Confederate armies. The Confederate flag in common usage today is simply this flag rendered as a rectangle, with the same proportions as the U.S. flag. In neither case is it meant to represent the government of the CSA. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/32 "2013-05-28T15:16:53Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > In neither case is it meant to represent the government of the CSA. Uh, what? I’ve talked to lots of people who explicitly intend it to represent the government of the CSA. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/33 "2013-05-28T15:20:49Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Uh, what? I’ve talked to lots of people who explicitly intend it to represent the government of the CSA. The government of the CSA, as opposed to the South itself, or rebellion in general? If you say so. That’s not been my experience, however. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/34 "2013-06-03T00:07:02Z")
> [@6079smithW](#): > > If it’s okay for Lincoln to send the armed forces to kill 260,000 American citizens, without trial, just because they put on the Confederate gray and pointed muskets at us, then what is all the whining about what Pres. Obama has done? Your premise is false. Lincoln still has a lot to answer for about the War of Northern Aggression. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/35 "2013-06-03T03:44:11Z")
Oh, ferchrissake, you’re not one of them, are you. Please tell me this was a whoosh. This “War of Northern Aggression” thing is revisionist poppycock. Ya’ll shot first, making the South the aggressor. While I believe the Northern states should have let the South go and become the third-world cesspool its leaders had their hearts set on, they did kick a much bigger dog and so got what was coming them. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/36 "2013-06-03T03:47:46Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Lincoln had no more right to invade the south What a silly ass idea. What color is your sky? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/37 "2013-06-04T23:47:15Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Once the states in rebellion started firing on federal troops on federal land (Ft Sumter) Lincoln had a duty to quell the treason by force. And he did. The traitorous slavers justifiably got their asses shot up. And their descendents, who are not traitors, get to use the first amendment to mouth off a bunch of lies about how their ancestors were not traitors, slaveholders and that the war was not about slavery, despite the various declarations of secession (sedition) from each state legislature specifically stating that it was about slavery and nothing else. The first amendment does protect political lies by everyone, not just the descendents of traitors. Traitors who loved slavery. And for some reason Southerners don’t get why they are held in contempt by everyone else for their slave and treason talk. The USA troops were on CSA land. The slavers were not traitors. That first amendment stuff is pretty nasty, isn’t it. The war wasn’t about slavery-it was about secession and Lincoln extending/insuring Federal rule, and the supremacy of the USA constitution. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/38 "2013-06-04T23:49:59Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Oh, ferchrissake, you’re not one of them, are you. Please tell me this was a whoosh. > > This “War of Northern Aggression” thing is revisionist poppycock. Ya’ll shot first, making the South the aggressor. While I believe the Northern states should have let the South go and become the third-world cesspool its leaders had their hearts set on, they did kick a much bigger dog and so got what was coming them. The revisionism is on your part, my friend. The South had seceded. The North invaded to resupply Fort Sumter, and the South fired. The first shot was fired by the South, true, but in response to an invasion from the North’s supply boats. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/39 "2013-06-04T23:51:57Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I just saw a band in Missouri recently that had a Confederate flag with the words “If the South would’ve won, we would’ve had it made”\* prominently displayed. I’d say that’s pretty treasonous, wishing the Civil War would have went the other way. You’d say wrong, then. The enemies of the Late Unpleasantness are dead, so, it is impossible to give aid and comfort to them. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113/40 "2013-06-05T00:21:02Z")
Well, considering they were traitors in the first place who were determined to continue OWNING OTHER HUMAN BEINGS, I hardly feel particularly sorry for them. Wish we’d executed every general and Confederate government official instead of coddling them, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113.md?page=3)