The Confederate state and local governments were abolished as the armies of occupation spread over the South, and for a period of four or six months there was no government except that exercised by the commanders of the military garrisons left behind when the armies marched away.

Even before the surrender, the local governments were unable to make their authority respected, and soon after the war ended, parts of the country became infested with outlaws, pretend treasury agents, horse thieves, cattle thieves, and deserters.

Away from the military posts only lynch law could cope with these elements of disorder.
With the aid of the army in the more settled regions, and by extra-legal means elsewhere, the outlaws, thieves, cotton burners, and house burners were brought somewhat under control even before the state governments were reorganized, though the embers of lawlessness continued to smolder.
The relations between the Federal soldiers stationed in the principal towns and the native white population were not, on the whole, so bad as might have been expected.

If the commanding officer were well disposed, there was little danger of friction, though sometimes his troops got out of hand.

The regulars had a better reputation than the volunteers.
The Confederate soldiers were surfeited with fighting, but the "stay-at-home" element was often a cause of trouble.