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CHAPTER 16 – THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Section Two – The War in the East BUILDING BACKGROUND – The shots fired at Fort Sumter made the war a reality. Neither the North nor the South was really prepared. Each side had some advantagesmore industry and railroads in the North, a military tradition in the South. The war in the East centered in the region around the two capitals: Washington D.C. and Richmond, Virginia. WAR IN VIRGINIA -Impatient politicians in Washington, D.C. wanted a victory in Northern Virginia and pushed to have Northern troops invade. **Lincoln ordered General Irvin McDowell to take his 35,000 troops from Washington, D.C. toward the Confederate capital, Richmond. -McDowell, placed in command by General Winfield Scott (now 74 years old), claimed his men weren’t ready for battle and that they lacked discipline. ** Lincoln agreed with McDowell, but stated, “You are green, it is true, but they are green also; you are all green alike.” -His troops first day march on July 16 was extremely hot and they were only able to cover FIVE miles and McDowell complained his men couldn’t even stay focused even on that short march. -Approximately 22,000 Southern troops under the command of General Pierre G.T. Beauregard were camped outside the town of Manassas Junction, Virginia which was an important railroad station. ** Manassas Junction is approximately 25 miles Southwest from the Union Capital of Washington, D.C. -General Beauregard had requested reinforcements from the commanding Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston who had been fighting against Union troops further to the west -Johnston arrived on July 19 & 20 with 10,000 more Confederate troops equaling the number of Union’s troops. ** The actual battle took place on July 21, 1861 next to Bull Run Creek which was just north of Manassas Junction. ** During the continued fighting the Union troops crossed Bull Run Creek and drove back the left side of the Confederate line, but one Confederate unit stood firm. -Confederate General Barnard Elliot Bee said to General Thomas Jackson of Virginia, “They are driving us.” -General Jackson responded, “Then sir, we will give them the bayonet!” ** Bee yelled out to his men, “There is Jackson standing like a STONE WALL! Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Rally behind the Virginians!” * This is how Jackson got the nickname of ‘STONE WALL” -Jackson later said to his troops, “Reserve your fire until they come within 50 yards! Then fire and give them the bayonet! And when you charge, yell like furies!" -Around 4:00 p.m., the South received enough reinforcements and attacked the North while letting out a blood-curdling scream known as the “REBEL YELL”. -Union troops started their retreat in an orderly manner back toward Washington, when they came across the carriages of the wealthy citizens and Congressmen who brought their families to picnic and watch the battle. -Over crowding on the roads and bridges of both troops and citizens led to panic and the soldiers ran back to Washington. -The Confederate troops under Beauregard and Johnston probably could have continued north and taken Washington, D.C, but their troops were very disorganized. ** This first major battle of the Civil War is called the First Battle of Bull Run and was won by the Confederacy. ** It is also known as the First Battle of Manassas Junction, by the South. ** The reason many of these battles have two names is the Confederacy named the battles after the nearest settlement, town, home or church. **The Union named their battles after the nearest body of water. -Casualties were quite light compared to later Civil War battles, the North lost 3,000 (460 dead) men and the South lost about 2,000 (387 dead). -It was the largest and deadliest battle in American History up to this point, however. ** A casualty is not just a death… ** It is a combination of the dead, wounded, captured and missing. ** This victory thrilled the South and shocked the North. ** Many in the South thought the war was over. ** The North, now knew, that Victory was not going to be an easy task. MORE BATTLES IN VIRGINIA ** The North now understood it had underestimated the South and that the war was going to take more time. Lincoln called for 500,000 volunteers. ** After losing the Battle of Bull Run, Lincoln replaced General McDowell with General George B. McClellan as the leader of the Union Army in the East. -McClellan put together a force of 100,000 and worked to restore their confidence and organized them through drill(practice), that he hoped would allow them to defeat the Confederates. ** In November 1861, when General Winfield Scott retired, Lincoln made McClellan the General-in-Chief of the entire Union Army not just the Army of the Potomac. -Lincoln thought this might be too much responsibility for one man, but McClellan said, “I can do it all.” -McClellan’s nicknames were, “Little Mac” and “The Little Napoleon” ** Lincoln kept encouraging McClellan to attack Richmond, but McClellan kept saying they needed more drill. ** Lincoln who was very frustrated and said he (McClellan) “had a case of the slows.” -Lincoln also stated at a meeting on January 10, "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time.” -McClellan did not care much for President Lincoln who he had known when he was a lawyer for the Illinois Central Railroad before the war. -McClellan privately made comments about Lincoln such as, “The President is nothing more than a well-meaning baboon.” -He later wrote in a letter to his wife, "I went to the White House shortly after tea where I found 'the original gorilla,' about as intelligent as ever. What a specimen to be at the head of our affairs now!" ** McClellan finally decided to attack Richmond in the spring of 1862. Union General George B. McClellan was born December 23, 1826 in Philadelphia, PA and died October 29, 1885 after suffering a heart attack at 58 in Orange, NJ. He graduated West Point, 2nd of 59 in his class of 1846. He ran for President in 1864 and served as the Governor of New Jersey from 1878-1881. -McClellan decided to bring in his army by ocean and then come in on a strip of land between the James and York Rivers in the Southeast instead of attacking in a direct manner which would be expected. ** These attacks were part of the “Peninsular Campaign”. -Battles fought as part of this campaign were Fort Monroe (March 17), Yorktown (April 5), Williamsburg (May 5), West Point (May 7) and Seven Pines (May 31). ** One of the last battles of the Peninsular Campaign was the Battle of Seven Pines or the Battle of Fair Oaks on May 31-June 1, 1862. ** This battle took place just outside of the Confederate Capital of Richmond, a mere six miles. -Federal casualties were 5,031 - 790 killed. Confederate casualties were 6,134 - 980 killed. -General Joseph E. Johnston was injured in the battle and that gave Confederate President Jefferson Davis a chance to replace him as the lead commander. ** His replacement as the leader of the Army of Northern Virginia (Southern Army) was President Davis’s military adviser General Robert E. Lee -Lee, you should remember, served in the Mexican-American War and led troops at John Brown’s Harper’s Ferry Rebellion. -Lee was known to take risks and make very unpredictable moves to keep the Union off balance. ** Lee ordered J.E.B. Stuart to take 1000 members of his cavalry (soldiers on horseback) to ride around McClellan’s forces and spy to see how many soldiers he had and to find out their locations. -It took about 3 days to complete the ride and Stuart lost only 1 man. -Lee decided to attack McClellan’s 100,000 troops combining his army and Jackson’s reinforcements (total of the two was about 95,000) who had been fighting a series of battles in the Shenandoah Valley. ** They fought from June 25 till July 1, 1862, with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia suffering heavy casualties, but McClellan retreated thinking his forces were way outnumbered. -The North suffered about 15,800 (1,734 dead) casualties while the South lost about 20,000 (3,494 dead) soldiers. ** The key of this battle, was that Richmond(just south of the fighting), the Confederate capital was spared. ** These battles were called the Seven Day’s Battles, because they lasted for 1 week (Seven Days). *Manassas Junction This shows, just how close(4 miles) the Seven Days’ Battles were really fought to Richmond, the Confederate capital. -McClellan asked for reinforcements from Lincoln and the new General-in-Chief, Henry W. Halleck to be able to try and take Richmond again, but they weren’t sure he would actually use them. -Halleck sent him 20,000 reinforcements, but then decided to have him pull out, realizing the Peninsular Campaign had been a failure. **It is very possible that if McClellan had attacked Richmond again with reinforcements, the capital could have been taken and the war would have been over, but it did not occur. **Lincoln was extremely frustrated and ordered General John Pope to attack Richmond from Washington. **On August 25, Lee sent General Jackson to move in behind General Pope who was commanding Union forces at Manassas and waiting for McClellan’s troops to arrive so they could join together and force a fight against the Confederates. -Just before daybreak on August 27, Jackson swept in to Manassas to capture and destroy a large Union supply depot. ** Later that evening Jackson pulled back toward the First Bull Run battlefield and took up a great defensive position on Stony Ridge. ** The fighting began on August 28 when Jackson attacked Pope and the fighting was extremely brutal. -Both armies stood no further than 80 yards apart and simply stood and exchanged volleys in the old-fashioned Napoleonic style with soldiers lined up shoulder-to-shoulder firing at each other. ** Jackson could not win a decisive battle even though he had superior numbers, but he did achieve a strategic move which was to get Pope’s attention and make him focus on Jackson. -Pope thought that Jackson was retreating the night of the 28th, but Jackson just retreated back to his spot at Stony Ridge. -Pope was convinced that Jackson was trapped and attacked him with a majority of his forces on August 29, sending in McClellan’s reinforcements as quickly as they trickled in. ** General James Longstreet had now joined Jackson’s troops and took up on Jackson’s right flank. -On August 30, General Pope began his attacks around 10:00 am, but each one was repelled. -It appeared that Pope did not pay attention to Longstreet being there. -General Lee and General Longstreet decided to have Longstreet’s 25,000 men attack the left flank of General Pope’s forces at Henry Hill House. - The problem was it was about 1½ to 2 mile hike through the bushes, ridges, streams and heavily wooded areas. -They divided the men into five separate divisions and relied upon each division commanders initiative. **Longstreet’s attack sent the Union forces retreating back to Washington, D.C. and again they had lost at Bull Run giving the South a major victory. **This battle was known as the 2nd Battle of Bull Run or the 2nd Battle of Manassas Junction. **The Confederacy had now regained almost all of Virginia and was closer to Washington, D.C. -Casualties for the North numbered about 16,000 (1,724 dead) and for the South about 9,000 (1,481 dead.) BATTLE OF ANTIETAM ** Lee decided to attack the North, while they were down on their spirits following their losses. -He wrote Davis to tell him he was attacking, but did not wait for Davis to respond about whether or not it was okay to do so. ** He crossed into Maryland with his army of about 40,000 in early September, 1862. ** He attacked the North for several reasons. **a) Lee believed if he could win a battle in the North, Lincoln might decide a war wasn’t worth it and talk peace. **b) He thought an attack North would let the Southern farmers have a break during harvest time and they could get food from the Northern farms. **c) He believed a Confederate victory in the North would finally bring Britain and France forward as supporters since they were ready to recognize the Confederates as their own nation anyhow. -Lee drew up plans about what he wanted to do while there at a campsite in Maryland. ** One of the Confederate officers at the meeting, accidentally left a copy of the battle plans wrapped around the three cigars at the campsite by mistake. -The Union forces found them and gave Lee’s plans to McClellan. **Lee decided to split his men and send about half with Jackson to go and capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia from Union forces. **McClellan and his 90,000 men got ready to attack Lee, but as usual he didn’t attack right away and gave Jackson time to get back and reinforce Lee. **On September 17, 1862, McClellan launched a series of attacks at Lee’s forces at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. -Union General Joseph Hooker started to send in his men at 6:30, but he saw the glimmering of the bayonets from Jackson’s men standing in Miller’s cornfield and instead called for the artillery unit to shoot its cannons before sending land troops. "In the time I am writing," Hooker reported, "every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before." **The cornfield exchanged hands between Union and Confederate forces about 7 times – Lee is said to have called it, “Artillery Hell” -Fighting at Miller’s Cornfield was brutal, lasting about 4 hours with General Hooker destroying Stonewall Jackson’s forces during this early fighting. **Confederate General A.P. Hill finally arrived with reinforcements for Lee and saved his army from being destroyed. ** Neither side gained much in this battle except for a lot of casualties. (From The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion and the Antietam Battlefield Board) ** a) Northern forces suffered about 12,400 lost men and the South about 10,320. ** b) 2100 Northerners and 1550 Southerners lost their life during the battle and approximately 3000 more will die from the injuries they received later. -Let’s look at these deaths compared Operation Freedom which started in Iraq in 2003 and stands at 4,409. ** It was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War with more deaths in this battle than all American deaths in the American Revolution, War of 1812 and Mexican-American War combined. ** It was called the Battle of Antietam Creek or Sharpsburg -Six generals died during the battle – three from each side and twelve generals were injured during the battle – six from each side. -Most of the black and white photographs we will see coming up were taken two days after the Battle of Antietam Creek by Alexander Gardener who was a ** 41 year old photographer that worked for Matthew Brady. -Brady owned a photography studio in Washington, D.C. -This was the first time that photographs had ever been taken at a battlefield before the dead were buried. -McClellan and his Union forces might have been able to finish off Lee at this point, but he was again, being too cautious. ** Lincoln was tired of McClellan’s leadership at this point and fired him as the commander of the Army of the Potomac in November of 1862. ** His replacement was General Ambrose E. Burnside, who had done so poorly at Burnside Bridge. Equestrian Monument at Burnside Park in Providence, Rhode Island. BREAKING THE UNION’S BLOCKADE -The Union navy had most of the experienced naval officers, the most ships and the industry to build more ships. THE UNION’S NAVAL STRATEGY ** The Union blockade of the Southern ports mostly prevented the South from selling or receiving goods and severely damaged the South’s economy. ** This blockade was hard to manage because there were thousands of miles from Virginia to Texas and the South used smaller, quicker ships to avoid the large Union warships. -These blockade runners made trips to the Bahamas or Nassau for Confederate supplies, but they came nowhere close to making up for the lost trade with European countries. CLASH OF THE IRONCLADS ** Prior to the Civil War, all ships had been made of wood. ** During this war ships began to be covered with iron plates. ** These ships were called ironclads as they were heavily armored with iron. -The South, began the war with no navy at all, but the goal of the Confederate Secretary of the Navy, Stephen R. Mallory, was to have a small navy of the ironclad type. ** They began by placing iron plates on a Union steamship called the Merrimack, that the Confederates raised from the bottom of the sea when the Union left the Norfolk naval base. ** The Merrimack was renamed the CSS Virginia by the Confederacy. ** To combat the Virginia, the Union built a ship called the USS Monitor, designed by a Swedish born engineer named John Ericsson. -The U.S. Secretary of Navy begged Ericsson to build some kind of ship to challenge the CSS Virginia and he agreed. ** It was small, with only two guns on a revolving gun tower and was covered with a very thick metal plating. -On March 8, 1862 the CSS Virginia pulled into Hampton Harbor, VA and sunk the Union’s most powerful ship, the TWENTY-FOUR-GUN, USS Cumberland and then ran the USS Minnesota aground. -Two hundred and fifty Union sailors had died in these battles and the Confederate navy ruled the sea for a day. ** On Sunday, March 9, that will change when the USS Monitor pulled into the harbor and will meet the CSS Virginia in a memorable fight. ** The USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia fired on each other for about four and half hours. -They fought so close to one another that five times the two ships collided. ** Neither ship could damage the other and basically ended in a draw, even though the Virginia retreated back into the James River. ** This saved the rest of the Union fleet, but it also kept the Union navy from being able to use the James River to get to Richmond. -Believe it or not, these battles were the last time the USS Virginia was used. -Two months later as the Confederacy was losing Norfolk, Virginia and had to retreat, they chose to blow-up the Virginia to keep her out of Union hands. **This fight signaled a major change in naval warfare and a switch from ships powered by wind and sails to a new kind of warship. -Europe and the rest of world watched as they realized that their navies were now obsolete.