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Unit 5
The Nation Torn Apart
Chapter 17: Torn by War
I. Preparing for War -With flags held high, both sides marched off to war. Most felt
certain that a single, gallant battle would resolve the issue.
A. A Nation Divided
1. Each side was convinced of the justice of its cause.
a) Southerners believed that they had the right to leave the Union.
b) Northerners believed that they had to fight to save the Union.
2. Choosing sides was most difficult in the eight slave states that were still
in the Union in April 1861.
a) Four of these states - Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and
Arkansas- quickly joined the Confederacy.
b) But in the remaining states- Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and
Maryland- many citizens favored the Union.
B. The Two Sides
1. The South - Strengths
a) Key advantage- fighting a defensive war. It was up to the North to
attack and defeat the South.
b) Strong motivation- defending their homeland.
c) Had skills (hunting, riding horses) that made them good soldiers.
d) Wealthy young men often went to military school.
e) Before the Civil War, many of the best officers in the United
States Army were from the South.
2. The South - Weaknesses
a) Had few factories to produce weapons, railroad tracks, and other
vital supplies.
b) Had few railroads to move troops and supplies.
c) Had very few warships and a small commercial fleet.
d) Only about 9 million people lived in the Confederacy, compared with
22 million in the Union. More than one-third of the Southern
population was made up of slaves.
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3. The North - Strengths
a) The North had almost four times as many free citizens.
b) Industry was the North's greatest resource. It made 90% of the
nation’s manufactured goods.
c) Had more than 70% of the nation's rail lines.
d) Had a strong navy with a large fleet of private trading ships.
4. The North - Weaknesses
a) To bring the South back into the Union, northern soldiers had to
conquer a huge area.
b) Instead of defending their homes, they were invading unfamiliar
land.
C. Wartime Leaders
1. President Davis (Confederacy)
a) Many people thought that Davis was a stronger leader than Lincoln.
b) Attended West Point, and served as an officer in the Mexican War.
c) Served as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce.
d) Widely respected for his honesty and courage.
e) He did not like to turn over to others the details of day to day
military planning. - He wasted time arguing with his advisers.
2. President Lincoln (Union)
a) Had little experience in politics or military matters.
b) In time, he became a patient but strong leader, and a fine military
planner.
c) He accepted criticism and advice from his advisers.
3. Choosing Sides - After Fort Sumter fell, army officers in the South had
to make a choice. They could stay in the Union army and fight against their
home states, or they could join the Confederate forces.
a) Robert E. Lee - Although he disliked slavery, and had opposed
secession, he could not fight against his home state of Virginia.
b) When President Lincoln asked Lee to command the Union army he
turned Lincoln down.
c) Lee later became commander of the Confederate army.
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II. The Struggle Begins
A. Strategies for Victory – Fighting during the Civil War took place in three
major areas: the East, the West, and at sea.
1. Union Plans (Anaconda Plan)
a) Planned to blockade southern ports – cut off the South’s supply of
manufactured goods from Europe.
b) In the West –planned to seize control over the Mississippi River –
so they could not use the river to supply its troops. It would also
separate Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana from the rest of the
Confederacy.
c) In the East – Union generals wanted to seize Richmond, Virginia,
and capture the Confederate government headquartered there.
2. Confederate Plans
a) The South’s plan – stay at home and fight a defensive war.
b) They believed that the northerners would tire. If the War became
unpopular in the North, President Lincoln would have to give up the
effort to bring the South back into the Union.
B. Forward to Richmond!
1. A clash of untrained troops.
a) July 21, 1861 – Union soldiers left Washington, D.C. for Richmond
b) They had barely left Washington, however, when they clashed with
Confederates.
c) The Battle of Bull Run took place near a small stream in Virginia.
d) Southern troops did not turn and run as expected. Inspired by
General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson, they held their ground.
e) The Union troops eventually retreated.
f) The battle showed that the soldiers on both sides needed training.
It also showed that it would be a long and bloody war.
2. After the disaster at Bull Run, President Lincoln appointed General
George McClellan as commander of the Union armies.
a) He organized and trained the troops.
b) He was cautious, and delayed sending the troops into battle.
c) March 1862 – McClellan and most of the Union army sailed down
the Potomac River for Richmond.
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d) General Lee learned of the Union plans so he sent Stonewall
Jackson and his troops north to threaten Washington. This
prevented Lincoln from sending the rest of his troops to help
McClellan.
e) Cautious as usual, McClellan decided to retreat.
C. Naval Action
1. Early in the war, Union ships blockaded southern ports.
a) Blockade runners -At first southerners slipped through the
blockades in small fast ships.
b) In time the blockade became more effective. Trade through
southern ports dropped more tan 90%.
c) The South tried to break the blockade by building an ironclad ship
out of the Merrimack, a warship abandoned by the Union.
d) March 8, 1862 – the Confederacy sent the Merrimack(CSS
Virginia) into battle – it sunk one ship, drove another aground, and
forced a third to surrender.
e) The Union responded by building its own ironclads. One of these,
the Monitor, went head to head with the Merrimack. In the end,
they could not destroy each other so they both withdrew.
f) Ironclad ships changed naval warfare.
g) The South failed to launch a serious attack against the Union navy.
The Union blockade held throughout the war.
D. Antietam
1. In September 1862, General Lee took the offensive and marched his
troops north into Maryland.
a) He believed that a southern victory on northern soil would be a
great blow to the morale of the North.
b) A Confederate messenger lost Lee’s battle plans. They were found
by two Union soldiers and given to General McClellan.
c) McClellan was still slow to act. He finally attacked Lee’s main force
at Antietam on September 17.
d) After a day long battle, Lee ordered his troops to slip back into
Virginia. More than 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were
killed or wounded.
e) Neither side won a clear victory at the Battle of Antietam, but
because Lee ordered the withdrawal of his troops, the North
claimed victory.
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E. Fredericksburg
1. December 1862 - Union General Ambrose Burnside led Union forces
toward Richmond.
a) Lee and his troops met them in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
b) After the 2 sides traded fire, Lee told his troops to fall back.
They hid on top of a hill overlooking Fredericksburg.
c) When the Union began to advance, the confederate guns mowed
them down.
d) Six times Burnside ordered his men to charge, and six times they
were mowed down.
e) The battle was one of the Union’s worst defeats.
F. Winning the Mississippi
1. February 1862, Union General Ulysses S. Grant captured fort Henry
and Fort Donelson in Tennessee. These Confederate forts guarded two
important tributaries of the Mississippi.
a) Grant now pushed south to Shiloh, a small village on the Tennessee
River.
b) April 6 – Grant was surprised by Confederate forces. Only after
reinforcements arrived was Grant able to beat back the enemy.
c) The Battle of Shiloh was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil
War.
2. While Grant was fighting at Shiloh, the Union navy moved to gain control
of the Mississippi River.
a) April 1862 – Union gunboats captured the city of New Orleans.
Other ships seized Memphis, Tennessee.
b) The Union now controlled both ends of the river. The South could
no longer use the river as a supply line.
c) However, the North could not use the river either because the
Confederates still held Vicksburg, Mississippi.
d) Vicksburg sat high on a cliff above the river. Cannons there could
shell boats traveling on the river.
e) Early 1863 – Grant’s troops tried again and again to seize
Vicksburg. After a six-week siege, Vicksburg finally surrendered
on July 4, 1863.
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III. Freedom
A. Forever Free – The Civil War began as a war to preserve the Union, not as a war
to end slavery.
1. Addressing the issue of slavery- By mid 1862, Lincoln came to believe
that he could save the Union only by broadening the goals of the war. He
decided to free enslaved African Americans living in the Confederacy.
a) Slaves would not be freed in the border states. He wanted to
weaken the Confederacy without angering slave owners in the
Union.
b) Nor would slaves be freed in Confederate lands that had already
been captured by the Union, such as New Orleans.
2. Lincoln was not sure whether most northerners would support freedom
for enslaved African Americans.
a) He hoped to introduce the idea slowly by limiting it to the
territory controlled by the Confederacy.
b) He waited for a Union victory (Antietam) to announce his plan. He
did not want Americans to think he was freeing the slaves as a last,
desperate effort to save a losing cause.
3. Issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.
a) September 22, 1862 – Lincoln issues a preliminary proclamation. It
warned that anyone held as a slave in a state still in rebellion against
the United States would be emancipated.
b) Emancipate –to set free.
c) January 1, 1863 – Lincoln issued the formal Emancipation Proclamation.
d) Since the rebelling states were not under Union control, no slaves
actually gained freedom on January 1, 1863.
e) NOW Union troops were fighting to end slavery as well as to save the
Union.
f) Europeans applauded the proclamation – it became less likely that they
would help the Confederacy.
g) It also prompted a wave of support for the Union from free African
Americans.
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B. African Americans in the War
1. When the war began, thousands of free African Americans volunteered
to fight for the Union.
a) At first, federal law forbade African Americans to serve as
soldiers.
b) 1862 – Congress repealed the law – both free African Americans
and escaped slaves enlisted in the Union army.
c) At first, black troops made only half the pay of white soldiers.
d) They were assigned to all black unit commanded by white officers.
e) About 200,000 served, nearly 40,000 died.
2. The 54th Massachusetts Regiment
a) The 54th attacked Fort Wagner near Charleston in the summer of
1863. Under heavy fire, nearly 100 soldiers forced their way into
the fort and engaged the Confederate troops in hand-to-hand
combat. Almost half of the regiment was killed.
b) The courage of the 54th and other regiments helped win respect
for African American soldiers.
3. Behind Confederate lines.
a) As news of the emancipation reached the South, enslaved African
Americans found it hard to hide their joy.
b) Many slowed down their work. This was one way to undermine the
South’s war effort.
c) They knew that when the Union troops arrived in their area, they
would be free.
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IV. Hardships of War.
A. The Blue and the Gray.
1. Soldiers on each side came up with nicknames for the enemy.
a) Union – Blues or Billy Yanks.
b) Confederacy – Grays or Johnny Rebs.
2. The Test of Battle.
a) Soldiers on both sides were young (under 21).
b) Spent long hours drilling and marching.
c) Slept on the ground even in the rain and the snow.
d) New recruits were called “fresh fish.”
3. Deadly weapons – New technology led to the horror of Civil War Battles.
a) Cone shaped bullets made riffles twice as accurate.
b) New cannons hit targets several miles away.
c) As a result, one fourth or more of the soldiers in most battles
became casualties.
d) Casualty- killed or seriously wounded.
4. Crude medical care.
a) Surgeons routinely cut off the injured arms and legs the wounded.
b) Many minor wounds became infected. Without medicine to fight
infection, many of the wounded died.
c) Diseases, such as Malaria, and Pneumonia, swept through camps
sometimes killing more men than guns or cannons.
5.
Prison Camps – On both sides, prisoners of war faced appalling
conditions.
a) At Andersonville, a camp in Georgia, more than one Union prisoner
out of three died of starvation or disease.
B. Discord in the North
1. Not everyone in the North supported the war.
a) Some thought the South should be able to leave the Union.
b) Others wanted to call a peace conference.
c) Supporters of the war called these people copperheads.
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2. Filling the Ranks – By 1863, with no end in sight, northerners became
discouraged.
a) There were not enough volunteers for the Union army.
b) The Union had been giving $100 bounties, or payments, to men who
enlisted. Now it was raised to $300.
c) 1863 – Congress passed the draft law. The draft required all ablebodied men between the ages of 20 and 45 to serve in the military
if they were called.
d) A man could avoid the draft by paying the government $300, or by
hiring somebody to serve in his place.
e) Began to see it as “a rich man’s war, and a poor man’s fight.”
3. Riots in Cities – The draft law went into effect a few months after
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
a) Some northerners believed that they were being forced to fight to
end slavery.
b) Riots broke out in several cities.
c) NY – 74 people were killed in one riot.
d) Lincoln suspended habeas corpus several times.
e) Habeas corpus – the right to have a hearing before being jailed.
C. Trouble in the Confederacy
1. In some areas of the South, such as Tennessee, citizens opposed the war.
a) Many resisted paying taxes to the central government.
b) Also passed a draft law – Men who owned or supervised more than
20 slaves did not have to serve in the army.
c) This caused much resentment among the South’s small farmers.
D. War Boosts Northern Economy
1. 1861 – Congress passed the nations first income tax law.
a) Also raised money by taxing luxuries like carriages, jewelry, and
billiard tables.
b) Issued bonds.
c)
2. Rising prices - The Union still did not have enough money to pay for the
war.
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a) Printed $400 million in paper money.
b) This led to inflation, a rise in prices caused by an increase in the
amount of money in circulation.
c) Prices of goods nearly doubled.
3. An Economic Boost
a) Demand for clothing, shoes, guns, brought a boom to many northern
industries.
b) Profiteers – overcharged the government for goods desperately
needed for the war.
E. Hard Times in the South.
1. The Confederate army passed an income tax as well as a tax-in-kind.
a) Tax–in-kind –required farmers to turn over one tenth of their
crops to the government.
b) Also printed money – inflation.
2. Jefferson Davis halted cotton shipments to Britain, hoping that Britain
would side with the South in order to get cotton.
a) Backfired – Britain bought more cotton from Egypt.
3. Effects of the blockade.
a) Created severe shortages for both soldiers and civilians.
b) Famine spread.
c) Spent most of their money on weapons. However, the blockade
kept most from being delivered.
d) Union armies ripped up railroad tracks – they had few parts to
make repairs.
F. Women at War
1. Women took over jobs as men left for battle.
a) A few women disguised themselves as men a fought in battle.
b) Worked as nurses.
c) Clara Barton – Founder of the American Red Cross.
G. Chancellorsville
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1. May 1863 -The battle was fought in a thickly wooded ground near
Chancellorsville, Virginia.
a) Lee and Stonewall Jackson defeated the Union troops in 3 days.
b) Although the South won the battle it suffered a severe loss.
Stonewall Jackson was mistaken for a Union soldier and
accidentally shot by one of his own officers. He died several days
later.
H. Lee meets Meade at Gettysburg
1. Lee decided to keep the Union off balance by moving north into
Pennsylvania.
a) He hoped to surprise the Union.
b) If successful, he would head for Washington D.C.
2. July 1, 1863
a) Confederate and Union soldiers stumbled across each other at
Gettysburg.
b) Fighting begins.
c) Confederates drove Union forces out of town.
d) Overnight more troops arrived for both sides.
e) Union troops took strong positions on Cemetery Ridge.
3. July 2, 1863
a) General James Longstreet, one of Lee’s best generals, thought
that the Union position looked too strong to risk a battle. Lee’s
mind was made up, he wanted to attack.
b) He ordered an attack on both ends of the long Union line.
c) Southern troops fought hard and suffered heavy casualties.
d) The Union line was not broken.
4. July 3, 1863
a) Longstreet again argued that Lee should not attack and instead
move his troops south to a more favorable position.
b) Lee was determined to attack.
c) Pickett’s Charge – Lee ordered 15,000 men under General George
Pickett to charge the center of the Union line.
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d) Cannon’s fired to try and soften up the Union line. Then at 3:00 PM
the order was given to charge.
e) Union rifles opened fire. Row after row of Confederates dropped
to the ground.
f) The charge failed. Lee had no choice but to retreat.
5. Turning point
a) The Confederates would never again invade the North.
I. Honoring the Dead at Gettysburg
1. The Battle of Gettysburg left more than 50,000 dead or wounded.
a) November 19, 1863 northerners held a ceremony to dedicate the
cemetery where the soldiers were buried.
b) President Lincoln attended. At the time he was not very popular.
c) Lincoln then made his famous speech, the Gettysburg Address. (only
3 minutes long)
2. Gettysburg Address
a) He said the Civil War was a test of whether a democratic nation
could survive.
b) He reminded Americans that all men are created equal.
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V. Victory at Appomattox
A. Total War
1. 1864 – Lincoln appointed Grant, who was continuing to win battles in the
West, commander of the Union forces.
a) Grant had a plan for ending the war.
b) He sent General Phillip Sheridan and his cavalry into the rich
farmland of the Shenandoah Valley.
c) Grant instructed him to destroy whatever he could not consume, so
there would be nothing the enemy could use.
2. Marching Through Georgia
a) Grant also sent William Tecumseh Sherman to capture Atlanta,
Georgia.
b) He had orders to destroy anything useful.
c) When they captured Atlanta, they burnt it to the ground.
d) Sherman then began his march to the sea.
e) His troops burned barns homes and factories.
3. A New Type of Combat.
a) Total War – In the past, only soldiers were involved in wars. In
total war, civilians in the South suffered the same hardships as
the soldiers.
b) Everyone was affected as the army destroyed food and equipment
that might be useful to the enemy.
B. Lincoln is Re-elected.
1. 1864 – Lincoln runs for reelection.
a) Democrats nominate General George McClellan.
b) When Sherman took Atlanta, the North rallied behind Lincoln.
c) Lincoln is reelected.
C. The War Ends
1. Grant had begun a drive to capture Richmond in May 1864.
a) Lee and Grant fought a series of costly battles.
b) Grant suffers 60,000 casualties in a single month in the battles of
the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor.
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c) Still, he pressed on. He new he could replace soldiers and supplies
and the South could not.
2. To prevent further losses, Lee dug in at Petersburg, near Richmond.
a) Here, Grant kept Lee under siege for nine months.
b) With a fresh supply of troops, Grant took Petersburg on April 2,
1865. The same day Richmond fell.
3. Lee surrenders
a) Lee knew his men would be slaughtered if he kept fighting.
b) On April 9, Lee surrendered in a town called Appomatox
Courthouse.
c) Grant offered the Confederate Army generous terms of
surrender.
d) Soldiers were required to turn over there rifles, but officers were
allowed to keep their pistols.
e) Soldiers who had horses could keep them.
f) Grant knew southerners would need horses for their spring
plowing.
D. A Turning Point in American History
1. The toll the Civil War took on the nation was immense.
a) More than 360,000 Union soldiers and 250,000 American soldiers
lost their lives.
b) The war cost about $20 billion.
2. Positive changes
a) Millions of slaves were now free.
b) The idea of a state seceding from the Union was dead. As a
result, the power of the federal government grew.
3. A long a difficult struggle still laid ahead.
a) Bringing the southern states back into the Union would take careful
planning.
b) A difficult struggle for equality still laid ahead for many.
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