Ohio Congressman Clement L.Vallandigham,a Southern sympathizer and vocal opponent of the war,was the recognized leader of the

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Clement L. Vallandigham was the recognized leader of the Copperheads, a group of Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and called for a negotiated peace with the Confederacy. They were named after the venomous snake, which strikes without warning, as their critics viewed them as undermining the Union war effort and giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Vallandigham rose to prominence by denouncing President Abraham Lincoln as a tyrant and advocating civil liberties, including freedom of speech and habeas corpus, which he believed were being eroded by the federal government's war policies. However, his extreme rhetoric and actions, such as holding secret peace talks with Confederate agents and calling for soldiers to desert, led to his arrest and exile to the South in 1863.