 In December 1863, Bramlette addressed the General Assembly, declaring that the state had fulfilled its quota of soldiers for the Union army.January 4 of the following year, he proclaimed that rebel sympathizers would be held responsible for all guerrilla raids in the state, and specified stiff fines and imprisonment for anyone found to be aiding the guerrillas.Although Bramlette assumed the governorship as a staunch supporter of the Union cause, within a year he issued a proclamation that he would "bloodily baptize the state into the Confederacy".