Explain the effect of Sarat's assassination of the General at Halfway Branch.

After Sarat shoots the Four-Star General Joseph Weiland, his son, Joseph Weiland, Jr. becomes head of the War Department and vows to stop the southern insurrectionists, making more incursions south of the Tennessee line and rounding up as many people as possible for questioning. Weiland, Jr.'s military push against the South is the first step in the eradication of the rebels.