Clement L. Vallandigham

Notorious among the Copperheads was a sometime congressman from Ohio, Clement L. Vallandigham. This unique character possessed brilliant oratorical gifts and unusual talents for stirring up trouble. A pro-southerner , he demanded an end to the "wicked and cruel" war. The Ohio courts were open, and he should have been tried for sedition. But he was convicted by military tribunal in 1863 for treasonable utterances and was then sentenced to prison. Lincoln decided that if Vallandigham liked the Confederates so much, he ought to be banished to their lines. This was done.Vallandigham , however, was not silenced and left to Canada were he ran for governorship of Ohio, but did not pull sufficient votes. He later returned to his own state where he was not later prosecuted. Vallandigham's actions inspired Edward Hale to write his moving story of Philip Nolan, The Man Without a Country, which helped stimulate devotion to the Union.