Download Chapter 17, Lesson 2 Notes

Chapter 17, Lesson 2- Early Years of the War
I.
WAR ON LAND AND AT SEA
1. April 1861 - Lincoln announced blockade of all Confederate ports
II.
FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN
1. July 21 – Union troops, commanded by General Irvin McDowell attacked Confederate force
led by General P.G.T. Beauregard
i. Virginia near small river called Bull Run
ii. Spectators watched from a few miles away
iii. Initially Yankees drove Confederates back
iv. Rebels under General Thomas Jackson holding his position "like a stone wall"
2. Union troops retreated
3. Lincoln named General George B. McClellan to head Union army in East
4. Battle showed that this was not going to be quick or easy; Lincoln signed two bills
requesting 1 million soldiers to serve for three years
III.
CONTROL OF THE WEST
1. Union goal - control the Mississippi River and its tributaries
i. Tributaries – small rivers that fed it
2. Prevent Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas from supplying the eastern Confederacy
3. Union forces captured Fort Henry (Tennessee River)
i. Naval commander Andrew Foote and army general Ulysses S. Grant led assault
4. Grant and Foote moved against Fort Donelson (Cumberland River)
5. Confederates have to surrender
IV.
A BATTLE BETWEEN IRONCLADS
1. Merrimack - damaged frigate abandoned by the Union
i. Confederates rebuilt covered it with iron – Ironclad named the Virginia
2. Virginia attacked Union ships in Chesapeake Bay
i. Fear it would destroy Union navy, steam up Potomac River, and bombard
Washington, D.C.
3. The Monitor – Union ironclad – met up with Virginia
i. Neither ship won but raised spirits in both North and South
V.
THE BATTLE OF SHILOH
1. April 6 - Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard led Confederate forces in a
surprise attack
2. Battle lasted two days
3. Victory for Union but with heavy losses
4. Corinth – May 30 – Union army occupied
5. June 6 - Memphis, Tennessee - fell to Union forces
VI.
CAPTURING NEW ORLEANS
1. April 25, 1862 - Union naval forces - David Farragut captured New Orleans, Louisiana
i. Largest city in South
ii. Capture meant Confederacy could no longer use Mississippi River to carry goods
iii. Left Vicksburg, Mississippi, as only major obstacle to Union's strategy in West
VII.
WAR IN THE EASTERN STATES
1. Richmond, Virginia - Confederate armies fought hard to defend
VIII. CONFEDERATE VICTORIES
1. Southern victories in East - largely result of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson’s
leadership
i. knew the terrain
ii. could move forces quickly
iii. experts at inspiring troops
iv. Confederate forces defeated much larger Union forces
2. Seven Days’ Battle - General George B. McClellan defeated
3. General John Pope - Second Battle of Bull Run
4. General Ambrose Burnside at Fredericksburg
5. May 1863 - Chancellorsville, Virginia - Lee's army defeated a Union force twice its size
6. Mood in Union grew grim
IX.
LEE INVADES MARYLAND
1. Jefferson Davis urged Lee to move troops into western Maryland
i. Goal - move into Pennsylvania and bring war deeper into North
X.
THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM
1. Lee split army into four parts
2. September 17, 1862 - two sides met at Antietam
i. Key victory for Union
ii. Deadliest single day of fighting in war
iii. Lee retreated to Virginia after battle
iv. Strategy of invading North failed
XI.
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
1. Lincoln viewed Civil War as battle for Union, not fight against slavery
2. As war went on - Lincoln changed thought about role of slavery in war
XII.
THE DEBATE OVER ENDING SLAVERY
1. Lincoln hesitated to move against slavery for fear of losing border states
2. Abolitionists urged Lincoln to make war fight to end slavery
i. Described slavery as a moral wrong that needed to be abolished
ii. Slavery was root of divisions between North and South
iii. Britain and France would be less willing to support South
XIII. A CALL FOR EMANCIPATION
1. Constitution allowed Lincoln to take property from an enemy in wartime
2. September 22, 1862 - Emancipation Proclamation
i. Decree freed all enslaved people in rebel-held territory on January 1, 1863
ii. Did not change lives of all enslaved people overnight
1. Enslaved people living in border states remained in bondage
2. Others remained under control of holders in South until Union victory freed
them
3. Emancipation Proclamation had a strong impact because government declared slavery to be
wrong