* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Civil War Packet File - Northwest ISD Moodle
Battle of Fort Donelson wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Appomattox Station wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Sailor's Creek wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Big Bethel wikipedia , lookup
Arkansas in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Malvern Hill wikipedia , lookup
Kentucky in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Ulysses S. Grant and the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
United States presidential election, 1860 wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Roanoke Island wikipedia , lookup
Tennessee in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Red River Campaign wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Antietam wikipedia , lookup
East Tennessee bridge burnings wikipedia , lookup
Opposition to the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Port Royal wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Hampton Roads wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Wilson's Creek wikipedia , lookup
Issues of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Baltimore riot of 1861 wikipedia , lookup
Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps wikipedia , lookup
Economy of the Confederate States of America wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Island Number Ten wikipedia , lookup
Fort Fisher wikipedia , lookup
Capture of New Orleans wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Shiloh wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Seven Pines wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Lewis's Farm wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Cedar Creek wikipedia , lookup
South Carolina in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Gaines's Mill wikipedia , lookup
Western Theater of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
First Battle of Bull Run wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Fort Pillow wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Namozine Church wikipedia , lookup
Anaconda Plan wikipedia , lookup
Alabama in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Virginia in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Battle of New Bern wikipedia , lookup
Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Georgia in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
United Kingdom and the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Border states (American Civil War) wikipedia , lookup
Union (American Civil War) wikipedia , lookup
A HOUSE DIVIDED---CIVIL WAR 1861-1865 The Election of Lincoln as president in 1860 was a turning point in relations between the North and the South. The South felt they no longer had a voice in national events or policies. The South feared that Congress would take this opportunity to abolish slaver and deny them their states’ rights. Before Lincoln took the oath of office in March 1861, Southern states began to take steps to leave the Union. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the U.S. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas soon followed it. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas would later join these states in April of 1861. Many hoped that a civil war could be avoided. On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter South Carolina. The first shots at Fort Sumter showed that the efforts at compromise were a failure. While no one was injured during this skirmish, Union forces were forced to surrender the fort to the Confederacy. The Civil War had begun. Soon the country was preparing for war. Lincoln called 75, 000 volunteers to serve the Union. His Confederate counterpart, Jefferson Davis, called for volunteers as well. President Lincoln and General Winfield Scott sat down and talked strategy. The result of this conversation was the Anaconda Plan (named for its resemblance to the death grip executed by this South American snake). Step 1 required a blockade surrounding the South by land and water to cut off its trade. In Step 2, the goal was to take control of the Mississippi River and divide the South into two regions so that neither side could help the other. Step 3 required the capture of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy. The Union would also rely on its superior advantages of population, transportation and manufacturing resources to win the war. Although the North was stronger, Southerners were motivated to fight to uphold their way of life. The Confederacy did have an advantage with military experience. The South would fight a defensive war with the hope that they would gain the support of cotton starved European Nations like Great Britain. Union blockades of southern ports led to a unique change in naval warfare, the ironclad ship. Confederates took an abandoned ship, the Merrimac, and outfitted it with iron plates so that it could go to battle with the Union ships that blockaded the coast. With the success of the Merrimac, the Union struck back with its own ironclad, the Monitor. Despite a skirmish between these two ships, which ended in a draw, the Union blockade held throughout the war. Updated 06/21/02 1 Many Northeners felt that the rebellion could be crushed with the capture of the Confederate capital of Richmond. Union troops gathered in Washington, D.C. and prepared to march to Richmond. At a Virginia creek known as Bull Run, Union forces clashed with Southern forces on July 21, 1861. A group of politicians and society folks watched as the rebel lines held firm against the Union attack. The inexperienced Union soldiers would flee the battlefield in a panic. Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson forced the Union army to retreat in shame. Bull Run was an overwhelming victory for the South. For the North, it 1. was a shocking blow. Any conceptions that this rebellion would end quickly were completely wiped out. This was going to be a long and bloody war. The Union war plan called on the North gaining control of the Mississippi River. General Ulysses S. Grant turned his attention to achieving this goal. Grant moved on to Shiloh, a town where the Tennessee River flows into the Mississippi. At Shiloh on April 6, 1862, Grant was able to defeat the Confederate forces and gain control of the northern Mississippi River. But the price of victory was steep. New advancements in weapon technology made the death toll rise higher than any war in human history. One general said “This is not war, this is murder.” The new Minnie Ball bullets were accurate at much greater distances. Troops charging at enemy lines would be fired upon with more accuracy, producing higher death tolls. Disease and infections ultimately led to more deaths in the hospitals than on the battlefield. In September 1862, General Lee went on the offensive against Union forces by marching his troops into Maryland. Lee believed a Confederate victory in the North would crush the enemy’s morale. But luck was not on Lee’s side. His battle plans were lost and then retrieved by the enemy. On September 17, Union forces led by George McClellan pounded the severely outnumbered Confederate forces led by Robert E. Lee. Under cover of darkness, Lee and his troops slipped back across the Virginia border on September 18. Antietam was the single bloodiest day of battle in American history with 24,000 casualties and 6,000 dead. Both sides suffered severe losses. Robert E. Lee retreated to Virginia, but to Lincoln’s disappointment, Union General McClellan did not pursue his forces. President Lincoln needed a Union victory so he could issue the Emancipation Proclamation. The Union victory at Antietam gave him the perfect opportunity. While Lincoln originally believed he did not have the power to end slavery, he now believed he should do so to give the war a moral purpose. He only freed the slaves in Confederate States, not in the loyal Border States. With the announcement, Great Britain and France shied away from the Confederacy. Updated 06/21/02 2 In spite of several defeats, the South was not ready to throw in the towel. Lee was willing to risk another invasion of the North in hopes of capturing a city and convincing the enemy to seek peace. Union and Confederate troops met up at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1863. After three days of fighting, both sides faced great losses. But Robert E. Lee lost a third of his army and was forced to withdraw back to Virginia on July 4. This would mark the last time the Confederacy would ever invade the North. For the remainder of the war, the South was only able to fight defensively. The war had reached its turning point. Several months later, Lincoln attended a ceremony dedicating the cemetery at the battle site. While Lincoln was not the main speaker, he used the occasion to give his noteworthy speech, the Gettysburg Address. In this speech, he honored the dead and reaffirmed the American ideals established in the Constitution. While the Battle of Gettysburg was being fought in Pennsylvania, Union forces under General Grant were moving on the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, as they tried to gain complete control of the Mississippi River. For six weeks, the Confederacy was able to hold off the Union siege (a prolonged attack on a fortified place by an army in order to capture it) that bombarded them on land and on the river by building trenches in the bluffs overlooking the river. Once food and supplies were gone, the Confederate forces surrendered on July 4, 1863. The Confederacy was now divided in two and another turning point in the war had been reached. Many minorities also fought for the Union cause. Philip Bazaar (Hispanic) was a Navy seaman who was awarded the United States' highest military award, the Medal of Honor — for having distinguished himself during the battle for Fort Fisher. William Harvey Carney was an African American soldier in the famous 54th Massachusetts. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Fort Wagner. Several. women played a significant role in the War. Clara Barton was a nurse who created the American Red Cross to help wounded soldiers. Barton was known as the “Angle of the Battlefield” for her work as a nurse on the battlefield. Julia Ward Howe wrote the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” which was sung by Union troops on their way to battle. Grant believed in total warfare (war on the enemy’s will to fight and its ability to support an army). Therefore, he sent orders to his generals to inflict all the damage they could on the enemy’s war resources. General William Tecumseh Sherman reached Atlanta (the South’s most important rail and manufacturing center) in September 1864, and promptly tore up railroads, cut telegraph lines burned down farms, businesses and villages After burning Atlanta, Sherman continued on his march to the sea through Georgia and into the Carolinas destroying everything in sight. By the end of October, a steady path of destruction through the three states was complete. All focus then turned to Richmond. After nine months of battering Lee’s forces, Grant’s army was able to break through Confederate lines to capture the capital city. Lee escaped but several days later on April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Both generals signed the document of surrender. The war was finally over! The Civil War was the deadliest war in American History. Almost 700,000 died and another 500,000 were wounded. The nation was saved but at a huge cost. Reconstructing the union 06/21/02 wouldUpdated not be easy. 3 Fill in the missing parts of the Battle Chart from the information you just read. Date Battle April 12, 1861 Fort Sumter July 21, 1861 1st Bull Run (Virginia) Victor Confederacy Significance beginning of the Civil War Shiloh (Tennessee) September 17-18, 1862 Antietam (Maryland) July 1- 4, 1863 Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) July 4, 1863 (6 weeks) Vicksburg (Mississippi) Sherman’s March (Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina) April 9, 1865 Updated 06/21/02 Appomattox Courthouse (Virginia) 4 Updated 1/25/02 5