Download Gettysburg Address – Lincoln describes the Civil

CRISIS, CIVIL WAR, AND RECONSTRUCTION III
UNIT 7
CIVIL WAR: LEAVING SCARS OF WAR
The Emancipation Proclamation proved to be a political turning point in the war, forcing the morality of slavery to the
forefront of the conflict and allowing black to join Union forces. However, a military turning point was needed to
begin ending the bloody war. In the summer of 1863, the Union would be granted not one, but two victories that
would prove to be the military turning points needed for a Union victory.
54th Massachusetts regiment - the first all African American Union regiment to fight in the war
In Virginia, pro and anti-slavery views led to deep division within the state. In the summer of 1863, the western
counties seceded from Virginia to be admitted to the Union in 1863 as West Virginia.
MILITARY TURNING POINTS
Gen. Lee invaded the North attempting to win a major victory that would force the Union to give up or bring in foreign
help to the Confederacy.
Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863) – Gen. Lee invades Pennsylvania engaging in a three day battle which became
the turning point of the Civil War (23,000 U cas. {Meade}, 23,000 C cas. {Lee})
Pickett’s Charge – on the third day, Lee ordered an assault on the Union soldiers entrench behind a small
stone wall  Lee’s biggest mistake
- Union victory proved Gen. Lee and the Confederacy could be beaten
Gettysburg Address – Lincoln describes the Civil War as a struggle to preserve a nation that was dedicated
to liberty, and equality at a ceremonial dedication of the battlefield
Battle of Vicksburg (July 1863) – the day after the Battle of Gettysburg ended, a seven-week siege to conquer the
Confederates last stronghold on the Mississippi River at Vicksburg which ends in a Union victory (5,000 U
cas. {Grant}, 32,500 C cas. {Pemberton})
- gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi River thus completing the second phase of the
Anaconda Plan
- the victory at Vicksburg along with the earlier victory at Shiloh established Gen. Grant as a great general
Finally confident that he had found an aggressive general who could compete with Gen. Lee, Lincoln appointed Gen.
Grant as the supreme commander of all Union forces. Gen. Grant then turned his attention to the long-frustrated Union
effort to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia
- he devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of the Confederacy from multiple
directions:
 attack Lee near Richmond;
 invade the Shenandoah Valley
 invade Georgia and capture Atlanta
 take out railroad supply lines in West Virginia
 capture Mobile, Alabama.
TOTAL WAR
Grant was the first general to attempt such a coordinated strategy in the war and the first to understand the concepts of
total war
total war – a war in which the destruction of an enemy's economic infrastructure that supplied its armies
was as important as tactical victories on the battlefield.
After taking Chattanooga, the “Gateway to the South”, Grant sends Gen. William T. Sherman in an attempt to take
Atlanta and march into the heartland of the South.  Sherman comments that he can make the march and will “make
Georgia howl”!
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Atlanta Campaign (May-September 1864) – Gen. William T. Sherman marches an army south of Chattanooga
and lays siege to Atlanta, which falls after nearly three months
Sherman’s March to the Sea - Sherman used total war on his march through Georgia living off the land
and destroying crops, livestock, civilian infrastructure he could not use carving a sixty-mile path of
destruction
Battle of Mobil Bay (Aug 1864) – Adm. Farragut advances on the last Confederate controlled port taking the port
city in three weeks thus completing the blockade of the South and preventing precious war materials to enter
the Confederacy
Election of 1864 - the Republicans re-nominate Abraham Lincoln and the Democrats nominate Gen. George B.
McClellan.
 McClellan received support from Copperheads (Democrats that opposed the war), but not enough to
outweigh Lincoln’s 55% of the popular vote spurred on by Sherman burning of Atlanta and the taking of
Mobile, Alabama
In the final stages of the war, Gen. Grant relentlessly pursues Gen. Lee through Virginia engaging in numerous battles.
Overland Campaign (May-June 1864) – a series of 12 battles in Virginia between Gen. Grant and Gen. Lee’s
forces (55,000 U cas. {Grant}, 32,500 C cas. {Lee})
- 12 battles, included Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor where 7,000 lives were lost in one hour
- although the Union loses were staggering compared to the Confederates, earning Gen. Grant the
nickname “the Butcher”, it was a strategic victory for the Union with Gen. Grant forcing Gen. Lee into a
position he couldn’t win by slowly depleting his numbers
- Approaching Richmond, Gen. Grant took position near the last stronghold between Grant and Richmond
at Petersburg forcing Gen. Lee to attempt to defend the city
Siege of Petersburg (June 1864-March 1865) – a ten-month siege of the last major city on the way to Richmond
where trench warfare drags out the campaign
- when city supply lines are finally cut, Gen. Lee is forced to withdraw away from Richmond leaving it
defenseless trying to catch a break from Gen. Grant  the Union takes both Petersburg and Richmond
Surrender at Appomattox Court House (April 1865) – relentlessly pursued by Gen. Grant, Gen. Lee is forced to
surrender to Gen. Grant, which militarily ends the Civil War
RECONSTRUCTION AND HEALING THE NATION
Lincoln believed that Reconstruction was not a matter of punishing the South, but quickly restoring legitimate state
governments that were loyal to the Union in the Southern states.
Lincoln’s Plan – amnesty to all who swore an oath of allegiance to the United States (except high-ranking officers
or those who committed war crimes)
- once 10% of the state’s voters had done so they could restore new state governments
Lincoln’s assassination – only five days after Lee surrendered to Grant, Lincoln attended a play at Ford’s Theatre in
Washington D.C. where John Wilkes Booth shoot the president
- Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated
- with Lincoln dead, Reconstruction would take a more severe direction
With Lincoln now dead, shot by a Southern Confederate sympathizer, the process of Reconstruction would be placed
in the hands of radical Republicans in Congress and take on a much more server direction.
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