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The Civil War: 1861 - 1865
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THE CIVIL WAR: 1861 - 1865
- CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
- RICHMOND, VA
- STONEWALL JACKSON
- DRAFT
- CONFEDERACY
- ANACONDA PLAN
- DOROTHEA DIX
- HABEUS CORPUS
- CIVIL WAR
- ROSE O'NEAL GREENHOW
- CLARA BARTON
- GETTYSBURG
- JEFFERSON DAVIS
- MANASSAS
- GEN. ULYSSES S. GRANT
ADDRESS
- GEN. ROBERT E. LEE
- BATTLE OF BULL RUN
- EMANCIPATION
- 54TH MASS.
- PERPETUAL
- GEN. THOMAS JACKSON
- EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
INFANTRY
I Preparing for War
- The time came to choose sides.
- The nation was at war!
- Remember: Early 1861 = 7 Southern states had seceded fr the Union.
- 6 of these 7 met and formed the Confederate States of America.
- The men who fought for the Confederacy were proud defenders of "Southern Rights" & ''Southern Independence."
- Northerners said there were only Patriots or Traitors.
- Border States That Joined the Confederacy: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina
- Neutral Border State: (many fought for the North, while others the South) Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, & Missouri
- The Civil War (a conflict between two ppl in one country) had begun.
- The war divided the states and families.
- brother agst brother
- President Lincoln's response to the attack on Fort Sumter was quick and clear.
- 75,000 volunteers = came forward to preserve the Union
- Jefferson Davis, the newly elected President of the Confederacy, called for volunteers to defend the South.
- Both sides hoped for a quick victory.
- Many Northerners felt the South only had resources for a short war.
- Southerners believed they could easily whip any army Lincoln sent south.
A) Strengths and Weaknesses of the North
1) Strengths
- North began w/impressive strengths.
- Population: Strength = 22 million
- richer / more technologically advanced
- 90% of the nation's manufacturing and most of its banks
- geographic advantages
- more farms to provide food for troops
- most of country's iron, coal, copper, & gold
- controlled seas
- controlled 21,000 miles of railroad tracks which allowed troops & supplies to be transported
2) Weaknesses
- military leadership
- start of war = 1/3 of nation's military officers resigned and returned to their homes in the South
- During much of the war, Lincoln searched for effective generals who could lead the Union to victory.
B) Strengths and Weaknesses of the South
1) Strengths
- felt confident of victory
- knew the North would have to invade and conquer the South and they didn't know the land
- South was very huge
- North would need a much larger navy to seal off the long southern coastline and prevent the South fr importing
weapons and supplies fr Europe
- geographic obstacles
- North faced the challenge of subduing ppl who believed they were defending their liberty, homes, and traditions.
- South could win by simply defending its territory until northerners grew tired of fighting.
- GREATEST STRENGTH: military leadership
The Civil War: 1861 - 1865
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- Most of America's best military officers were southerners who chose to fight for the Confederacy.
- not an easy decision for all
- General Robert E. Lee was opposed to slavery and secession, but decided that he could not fight agst his native VA.
- Lee resigned fr the U.S. Army to become the commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces.
2) Weaknesses
- Population: Weakness = 9 million
- MAIN WEAKNESS: an economy that could not support a long war
- few factories to produce guns and other military supplies
- could trade cotton for war material fr Europe
- BUT: Union ships could sharply reduce this trade w/blockades of Southern ports
- serious transportation problems
- lacked (not enough of) the RR network needed to haul goods over long distances
- most rail lines were short and went only to seaport towns
- supplies = carried by wagon fr the RR to the troops
- as war dragged on = horses and mules were in short supply
- most money was invested in land and slaves
- Confederate govt = printed paper money to finance the war effort
- BUT, AS THESE PAPER DOLLARS FLOODED THE South, their value quickly dropped.
C) Abraham Lincoln versus Jefferson Davis
- North's GREATEST ADVANTAGE: President Abraham Lincoln
- He NEVER wavered fr his belief that the Union was "perpetual" – never to be broken.
- Southern President Jefferson Davis was JUST as devoted to the secessionist cause.
- However, Davis was never able to form a strong, single nation out of 11 stubbornly independent states.
- Both men spoke often of the American Revolution.
1) Lincoln
- born in KY = Feb. 12, 1809 / poor
- mother died while he was young / schooling – did not amount to a year
- but loved knowledge / loved to read
- 21 when moved to Illinois / held many jobs / read law books in the evening
- eventually became a lawyer before entering politics
- 6' 4" / dark, sunken eyes / sad looked
- patient, thoughtful, and tolerant of others / good sense of humor
2) Davis
- born in KY / grew up on a small plantation in Mississippi
- attended the military academy at West Point, New York
- fought in the Mexican War
- served as Secretary of War under Prs. Franklin Pierce
- When secession occurred, he was a U.S. senator representing Mississippi.
- firm believer in states' rights
- resigned his seat in the Senate when Mississippi left the Union
- tall, lean, intense
- served in the Confederacy out of a sense of duty
- felt the South was fighting for the same freedom cherished by America's founders
II Bull Run: A Great Awakening
- Spring 1861: Pres. Lincoln and Gen. Winfield Scott = planned the Union's war strategy
- Step 1) surround the South by land and sea to cut off its trade
- Step 2) divide the Confederacy into sections so that one rebel region could not help another
- Step 3) capture Richmond, VA, the capital of the Confederacy
- destroy the rebel govt.
- known as the Anaconda Plan b/c it resembled the crushing death grip of an anaconda snake
A) Rose Greenhow's Dilemma
- Most northerners, however, believed that the war could be won w/a single Union assault on Richmond.
- 1861: 1,000s of volunteers poured into Washington, D.C., shouting, "On to Richmond!"
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- Eager troops were watched carefully by an attractive young widow and Washington social leader named Rose O'Neal
Greenhow.
- She was a strong supporter of the southern cause.
- used her friendship w/govt officials to learn just when and how the Union planned to attack Richmond
- had to find a way to deliver this info to Confederate leaders w/out being caught
- used coded messages (see pic in chpt 22)
- was arrested for spying shortly after the Battle of Bull Run.
- kept under guard in her home / still smuggled military secrets to the Confederates
- next year = allowed to move to the South, where Pres. Jefferson Davis welcomed her as a hero
B) The Battle of Bull Run
- July morning: long lines of Union soldiers marched out of Washington heading for Richmond
- singing and cheering as they marched
- parties of politicians and society ppl: followed the army to add to excitement
- wanted to see the end of the rebellion
- Greenhow had managed to warn southern military of Union plans
- smuggled a coded note to them in the curls of a young girl
- Southern troops were waiting for the Union forces as they approached Manassas, a small town on the way to Richmond.
- 2 armies met at a creek known as Bull Run
- At first: Union victory looked certain
- But, Confederate Gen. Thomas Jackson refused to give in.
- Another Southern general saw Jackson standing firm, just like a stone wall.
- This is how he got the name Stonewall Jackson.
- The rebel lines held firm until reinforcements arrived.
- Jackson told his troops to "yell like fury" as they charged the Union forces.
- The sound & fury of this charge unnerved the inexperienced Union troops, who fled in panic back to Washington.
- BULL RUN = MAJOR VICTORY FOR SOUTH
- Lincoln and his generals now realized that ending the rebellion would not be easy.
C) Women Support the War
- Both troops – North and South – worked over the next yr to build and train large armies
- As men went off to war, women took their places on the home front.
- Wives and mothers supported their families by running farms and businesses.
- Many went to work for the 1st time in factories.
- Others found jobs as nurses, teachers, and govt. workers.
- also served as the military forces on both sides as messengers, guides, scouts, smugglers, soldiers, and spies
- volunteered to help tend sick and wounded soldiers
- medical care = very poor
- surgeries = performed W/OUT anesthetics
- 1,000s of soldiers died fr infections or disease
- but nurses never quit trying to help
1) Dorothea Dix
- already well-known for her efforts to improve the treatment of the mentally ill
- appointed director of the Union army's nursing service
- insisted that ALL female nurses be over 30 yrs old, plain in appearance, physically strong, and willing to do
unpleasant work
- rules were very strict / earned the nickname: Dragon Dix
- 2) Clara Barton
- nurse / followed Union armies into battle / tended troops where they fell
- known as THE FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS / nicknamed: The Angel of the Battlefield
III Antietam: A Bloody Affair
- Union began to put the Anaconda Plan into effect after their loss at Bull Run.
A) The Union Blockade
- 1861: Union navy launched its blockade of Southern ports
The Civil War: 1861 - 1865
- By end of the yr: most Southern ports = closed to foreign ships
- Confederacy asked Britain for help in protecting its ships due to the blockade shutting down the ports.
- Britain = REFUSED this request
- RESULT: South could not export its cotton to Europe / could not import needed supplies
B) Dividing the Confederacy
- Early, 1862: Union forces moved to divide the Confederacy by gaining control of the Mississippi River
- April: Union admiral David Farragut led 46 Union ships up the Miss. Riv. to New Orleans
- LARGEST AMERICAN FLEET EVER ASSEMBLED!!
- Union forces headed by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant = began moving south toward the Mississippi fr Illinois
- 1862: Grant won a series of victories that put KY and much of TN under Union control
- Grant refused to accept any battle outcome other than unconditional (total) surrender.
- nickname: Unconditional Surrender Grant
C) Attacking Richmond
- Same Yr: Union Gen. George McClellan = sent 100,000 men by ship to capture Richmond
- thought victory was certain
- Confederate troops = outnumbered
- still stopped the Union attack in a series of well-fought battles
- once more = Richmond was saved
D) The Battle of Antietam
- Gen. Robert E. Lee (Commander of Confederate forces) did the unexpected!
- sent his troops across the Potomac River into Maryland – a slave state that remained in the Union
- hoped this show of strength might persuade MD to join the Confederacy
- hoped a Confederate victory on Union soil would convince European nations to support the South
- September 1862: Confederate and Union armies met near Sharpsburg along the Antietam Creek
- McClellan's troops pounded Lee's badly outnumbered forces.
- Next day: Lee pulled back to VA
- McClellan: said Antietam = Union victory
- Others: defeat for both sides
- Of 75,000 Union troops who fought = 2,100 killed
- Another 10,300 wounded or missing
- Of 52,000 confederates who fought = 2,770 lost their lives
- 11,000 wounded or missing
- 1Day Fighting: MORE AMERICANS KILLED THAN IN THE WAR OF 1812 & the MEXICAN WAR COMBINED
- BLOODIEST DAY OF THE WAR!
E) The New Realities of War
1) Weapons
- reflected the new realities of warfare
- PREVIOUSLY: battles had been won in hand-to-hand combat using bayonets
- During CIVIL WAR: improved weapons made killing at a distance much easier
- RIFLES: replaced muskets = accurate over long distances
- Improved CANNONS and ARTILLERY: easier for armies to rain down death on forces some distance away
- Armies could meet, fight, bleed, and part w/out either side winning a clear victory.
2) Medical Care
- not as advanced
- doctors had no understanding of the causes of infections
- surgeons operated in dirty hospital tents w/basic instruments
- few bothered to wash their hands between patients
- infections spread rapidly fr patient to patient
- death rate was so awful that soldiers often refused medical care
- HOWEVER = more soldiers died of diseases than wounds
- Unsanitary (unclean) conditions in army camps were so bad that about three men died of typhoid, pneumonia, and
other diseases for every one who died in battle.
IV Gettysburg: A Turning Point
- No one actually won the Battle of Antietam, but, it was enough of a victory for Lincoln to take first steps toward
ending slavery.
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The Civil War: 1861 - 1865
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- When the war began, Lincoln had resisted pleas fr abolitionists to make emancipation, or the freeing of slaves, a
reason for fighting the Confederacy.
- HE opposed slavery / said purpose of war: "… to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery"
A) The Emancipation Proclamation
- As the war dragged on, Lincoln changed his mind.
- Declaring an end to slavery would discourage Europeans who opposed slavery fr assisting the Confederacy.
- Freeing slaves could also deprive the Confederacy of a large part of its workforce.
- January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation = declared slaves in all Confederate states to be free.
- proclamation = formal order / had little immediate effect on slavery
- Confederate states simply ignored the document.
- Slaves living in the states loyal to the Union were not affected.
- This proclamation changed the war into a crusade for freedom for many in the North.
B) The Draft
- Meanwhile, both the North and South had run out of volunteers to fill their armies.
- 1862: Confederacy passed the nation's first draft law = system for requiring citizens to join their country's armed forces
- said: all white men aged 18 – 35 could be called for three yrs of military service
- 1 yr later: North drafted men ages 20 – 45
- Both Laws: a drafted man could avoid the army by paying a substitute to take his place
- Some said: "this is a rich man's war and a poor man's fight"
C) The Battle of Gettysburg
- both sides: getting tired of war
- Summer 1863: Lee felt confident enough to risk another invasion of the North
- hoped to capture a northern city and help convince the weary North to seek peace
- Union & Confederate troops met on July 1, 1863, west of Gettysburg, PA.
- Union troops: 90,000 = occupied Cemetery Ridge
- Confederate: 75,000 = gathered behind Seminary Ridge, about a mile to the west
- Rebels tried to find weak spots in Union position
- Union lines held firm
- 3rd day: Lee ordered an all-out attack on the center of the Union line
- 15,000 rebels charged across the low ground separating the troops
- ones who made it to Cemetery Ridge = struck down in hand-to-hand combat
- Losses were HUGE! / Union: 17,500 killed / Confederates: 23,000 killed or wounded
- Lee lost about 1/3 of his army / withdrew to VA
- fr then on = only waged attacks on Southern soil
D) Opposition on the Union Home Front
- Lincoln = glad Union won Gettysburg
- BUT: still faced problems at home
- Many Northerners began to oppose the war.
1) - Some Northern Democrats were far more interested in restoring peace than in saving the Union OR ending slavery.
- Northern Republicans called them "Copperheads."
2) - Other Northerners were sympathetic to the Southern cause.
- A pro-slavery mob attacked Union soldiers marching thru Maryland.
- Lincoln sent in troops.
- also used his constitutional pwr to suspend the right of habeus corpus = a written order fr a court that gives a person the
right to trial before being jailed
- National Emergency: citizens no longer had the right to a trial before being jailed if suspected of disloyalty
E) Draft Riots
- Union draft passed just 2 months after Emancipation Proclamation
- created opposition to the war
- Some Northerners resented being forced to fight to end slavery.
- Others protested that the new law "converts the Republic into one grand military dictatorship."
- 1863: federal govt. began calling up men to fight
The Civil War: 1861 - 1865
- A riot broke out in New York City.
- draft offices burned / fought w/police
- special targets: African Americans
- almost 100 black NYers = died in mob attacks
- troops fr Gettysburg = had to come restore order
F) Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
- 4 months after draft riots = Lincoln goes to Gettysburg
- invited to speak at the dedication of a new cemetery for men who died during the Gettysburg battle
- wrote his speech on the way there
- speech became known as The Gettysburg Address
- very moving to both North and South
V Vicksburg: A Besieged City
- Civil War: a war of many technological firsts
- 1st Am. war to use RRs to move troops and keep them supplied
- 1st war to use telegraphs to communicate w/distant armies
- 1st conflict to be recorded in photographs
- 1st to see combat between armor-plated steamships
A) The Merimac and the Monitor
- both ships were made into "iron-clad" vessels
- North and South realized that these were better than just wooden ships
- South never could produce enough vessels to stop the blockade their harbors by the North
B) Control of the Mississippi
- Iron-clads were also part of the Union's campaign to divide the South by taking control of the Mississippi River.
- New Orleans was ceased in 1862.
- Union army moved up the Mississippi to capture Baton Rouge and Natchez.
- Other Union ships gained control of Memphis, TN.
- ** Union now controlled both ends of the Mississippi.
- South: could no longer move men or materials up/down the river.
- ** BUT: Neither could the North b/c the South controlled Vicksburg, Mississippi
C) Vicksburg
- town located on a bluff above a hairpin turn in the Miss. River
- easy to defend / difficult to capture
-** Whoever held Vicksburg could , w/a few well-placed cannons, control movement on the Miss.
- May 1863: Gen. Grant battled his way to Vicksburg
- 6 weeks of fighting
- Union troops buried toward the city in trenches and tunnels.
- Ppl in V-burg dug caves into the hillsides for protection.
- To survive: ate horses, mules, and bread made of corn and dried peas
- V-burg surrendered on July 4, 1863
- ** Confederacy was now divided!!!
D) Problems on the Confederate Home Front
- As war waged on, life in the South became grim.
- Due to the blockade, imported goods disappeared fr stores.
- What WAS there was extremely expensive.
- unable to sell tobacco and cotton due to blockades
- planted food crops instead
- Many were hungry.
- Union armies: invaded and destroyed crops, cut rail lines, etc.
- difficult to move food and supplies to southern cities and army camps
- clothing wore out
- made due w/patches and rough, homespun cloth
- 1864: southern troops were receiving letters about their families being hungry and in need at home
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The Civil War: 1861 - 1865
- Many found it hard to resist going home to help – even if it meant deserting their units.
VI Fort Wagner: African Americans Join the War
- Early in the war, abolitionists urged Congress to recruit African Americans for the army.
- At first – most Northerners referred it as the "white man's war"
- 1862: opened up to black recruits
- 186,000 African Ams – many former slaves – joined the Union army
- Another 30,000 joined the U. navy
A) The Massachusetts 54th Regiment
- Mass. = one of the first states to organize black regiments
- Most Famous: 54th Massachusetts Infantry
- commanded by Col. Robert Gould Shaw
- 2 of the men were Frederick Douglass' sons
- paid less than white soldiers
- protested unequal treatment by refusing to accept any pay at all
- At Lincoln's urging, Congress approved to give them equal pay.
- sent to South Carolina to take part in an attack on Fort Wagner
- feared that they might be captured and sold into slavery
- had to w/draw after almost ½ of the men were lost
B) African Americans at War
- bravery at Fort Wagner = earned them respect
- During the war = 166 Af. Am regiments fought nearly 500 battles
- often received little training, poor equipment, and less pay than white soldiers
- risked death or enslavement if captured
Fought w/great courage to save the Union and end slavery
VII Appomattox: Total War Brings an End
- 1st yrs of war: Lincoln searched for the right leader
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Grant's views: "The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike
him as hard and as often as your can and keep moving on."
- Grant mapped out a plan for ending the war using these tactics.
- needed to capture Richmond from Lee
- Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman would lead a second army into GA to take Atlanta.
A) On to Richmond
- May 1864: Grant invaded VA w/a force of more than 100,000 men
- Lee: 60,000 men
- 2 days of fierce fighting = Grant lost 18,000 men
- followed Lee's army to Cold Harbor
- lost 7,000 men in 15 minutes
- reached Petersburg (RR center 20 miles south of Richmond) = Grant's losses almost equaled Lee's entire army
- reinforced army w/fresh troops
- Lee could not
B) Total War
- Grant believed in total war: war on the enemy's will to fight & its ability to support an army
- Grant's army = stuck in northern VA
- Grant sent another regiment to wage total war in VA's Shenandoah Valley
- May 1864: Gen. Sherman was sent fr TN to GA to destroy Atlanta's most imp rail and manufacturing center
- They set the city ablaze!
C) The Re-election of Lincoln
- South felt they needed to make sure Lincoln was NOT re-elected if they were to have any chance of winning.
- Northern Democrats: nominated Gen. George McClellan to run agst Lincoln
- He wanted an end to the war.
- Lincoln doubted he would be re-elected.
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The Civil War: 1861 - 1865
- Grant = stuck in northern VA
- Sheridan = destroyed the Shenandoah Valley
- Sherman = captured Atlanta
- These victories changed northern view of Lincoln and his prospects for ending the war.
- Nov. = Lincoln was re-elected
D) Sherman's March through Georgia
- After burning Atlanta, Sherman marched his army toward Savannah.
- Purpose: Destroy the last untouched supply base for the Confederacy
- destroyed everything of value along the way
- burned houses, crops, killed animals, etc.
- December 1864: Sherman captured Savannah, GA
- turned towards the Carolinas and destroyed everything along the pathway there
- reached Raleigh, NC by March 1865
- waited for Grant's final attack on Richmond
E) The End at Appomattox
- April 1, 1865: Union forces finally broke thru Confederate lines to capture the city
- 2 days later: Union troops marched into Richmond, VA
- Grant's soldiers moved quickly to surround Lee's army.
- As badly as he hated to do so, Gen. Lee knew he must go see Gen. Grant.
- April 9, 1865: in full dress uniform, Gen. Lee arrived at Wilmer McLean's house in the village of Appomattox
Courthouse
- ** there to surrender his army to Gen. Grant
- Union general met him in a mud-splattered, crumpled uniform
- Grant's terms of surrender were generous: Confederate soldiers could go home if they promised to fight no more.
- could take their own horses and mules to have for spring plowing
- officers: could keep swords and weapons
- ordered food to be sent to Lee's half-starved men
- Lee accepted the terms.
- As Lee returned to his headquarters, Union troops began to shoot their guns and cheer wildly.
- Grant told them to stop celebrating.
- "The war is over," he said, "the rebels are our countrymen again."
F) "Touched by Fire"
- The entire nation had been touched by fire from 1861 – 1865.
- Many compared the Civil War to a great furnace that burned away one country and forged a new one in its place.
- In this new country, neither slavery nor the right to secession had any place.
- Lincoln said: "The Union is a single whole – not a collection of sovereign states."
- Before the war, Americans tended to say "the United States are"; afterwards they said, "the Unites States is."
- Billions of dollars had been spend on the conflict.
- Almost EVERY family had lost a family member(s) and/or friends.
- More than 620,000 men died.
- Thousands more came home missing arms and/or legs.
- It would take generations for the South to recover fr the environmental destruction brought on by the war.
- crops = ruined
- South's livestock = destroyed
- Civil War = the first modern war
- 1st War to use the technology of the Industrial Revolution: RRs, telegraph, armored ships, more accurate/destructive
weaponry
- Also called the "Total War" = war between whole societies – not just uniformed armies
- CW = left many issues unsettled
- In yrs to come, many in the South tried to re-create their vanished way of life.
- Secession and slavery were gone, BUT conflicts over states' rights & the status of Af. Ams. Would continue long into
the future.
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