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The Civil War
Chapter 16
Choosing Sides
Seven states left the Union
and formed the
Confederacy in February
1861
● Four more states
joined in April: Virginia,
North Carolina,
Tennessee, and
Arkansas
Choosing Sides
The capital was Richmond,
Virginia, about 100 miles
south from the Union’s
capital of Washington D.C.
Choosing Sides
The border states of
Mississippi, Kentucky,
Maryland, and Delaware
started in the Union but
were divided over which
side to support
● They played an
important part in the
war because of their
location, and they
would seriously
damage the North if
they seceded
Choosing Sides
1. Mississippi could control
parts of the MIssissippi
River and major routes
west
2. Kentucky controlled the
Ohio River
Choosing Sides
3. Delaware was close to
the North’s important city of
Philadelphia
4. Maryland was very close
to Richmond, had important
railroad lines, and had the
Union’s capital of
Washington, D.C., within its
borders
Choosing Sides
In April a mob in Baltimore
attacked Northern troops
● Confederate
sympathizers burned
railroad lines and cut
the telegraph line to
Washington, isolating it
Choosing Sides
Lincoln had to be cautious
in his response so as not to
upset the people of the
border states and
especially Maryland
● He ended up arresting
people who supported
secession
Choosing Sides
His approach worked, the
border states remained in
the Union, but many of the
citizens joined Southern
armies
Choosing Sides
Most white Southerners
supported secession, but
people in the Appalachian
region of Tennessee and
Virginia opposed it
Choosing Sides
In Virginia a movement to
secede from the state and
rejoin the Union grew, and
the separate state of West
Virginia joined the Union in
1863
Comparing North and South
Both sides had advantages
and disadvantages, the
following were the North’s
advantages:
1. A larger population
2. More industry
3. More resources
4. A better banking system
to help raise money
Comparing North and South
5. More ships
6. Regular navy members
who were mostly loyal to
the Union
7. A larger and more
efficient railway system
8. Abraham Lincoln’s
dedication, intelligence,
skill, and humanity
Comparing North and South
The following were the
North’s disadvantages:
1. In order to bring the
Southern states back into
the Union it would have to
invade and hold the South
2. Many people believed
the South had a good
chance of winning
Comparing North and South
The following were the
South’s advantages:
1. Strong support for the
war from the white
population
2. Troops fighting on their
own land
3. Superior military
leadership at first (General
Robert E. Lee)
Comparing North and South
The following are the
South’s disadvantages:
1. A smaller population
2. Few factories
Comparing North and South
3. Fewer resource,
including an inferior railroad
system with fewer than half
the miles of track and fewer
trains than the North
4. Belief in state's’ right that
limited a strong central
government’s power
Comparing North and South
War goals were different on
both sides
● The North at first
wanted to bring the
Southern states back
into the union and later
wanted to also end
slavery
Comparing North and South
The Union’s plan had three
parts:
1. Blockade Southern ports
to prevent supplies from
entering and cotton from
being exported
Comparing North and South
2. Gain control of the
Mississippi River to cut
Southern supply lines and
to split the Confederacy
3. Capture Richmond, the
Confederate capital
Comparing North and South
The South’s goal was to
win recognition as an
independent nation so the
South could preserve their
traditional way of life,
including slavery
Comparing North and South
The South’s strategy
included
1. Holding on to as much
territory as possible until
the North tired of fighting
Comparing North and South
2. Having Britain and
France pressure the North
to end the war
3. Sometimes going on the
attack by moving north to
threaten Washington, D.C.,
and other Northern cities
American People at War
Soldiers came from all
walks of life although many
came from farms
● One difficult aspect of
Civil War was that
Americans were
fighting other
Americans
American People at War
The average age was 25
years, but about 40% were
21 or younger
● A soldier’s term was
90 days at first, but
then became longer
when the war did not
end quickly
American People at War
The number of soldiers
from the North and South
differed greatly
● By the summer of
1861, the Confederate
army, also called
Rebels, had about
112, 000 soldiers
American People at War
The Union, or Yankee,
soldiers numbered about
187,000
● By the end of the war,
about 850,000 men
fought for the
Confederacy, and
about 2.1 million men
fought for the Union
American People at War
About 200,000 African
Americans fought for the
Union, and about 10,000
Hispanics fought in the
conflict
American People at War
Both sides expected the
war to end quickly
● Some leaders saw the
war would be a long
one
American People at War
Northern General william
Tecumseh Sherman
predicted a very long war,
and his prediction was
accurate
First Battle of Bull Run
The first major battle of the
Civil War was called the
First Battle of Bull Run
● It was fought in
northern Virginia near
a river called Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run
The Confederates were
victorious
● Union troops attacked
Confederate forces led
by General P.G.T.
Beauregard
First Battle of Bull Run
Next, the Rebels rallied
under General Thomas
“Stonewall” Jackson’s
reinforcement troops and
counterattacked the
Yankees
First Battle of Bull Run
Then, the Union army
retreated back to
Washington, D.C., first in
an orderly fashion and then
in a panic
First Battle of Bull Run
The Confederate victory
shocked the North
● Northerners realized
that the war could be a
long, hard, and costly
one
First Battle of Bull Run
Abraham Lincoln signed
two bills requesting a total
of one million army
volunteers to serve for
three years
First Battle of Bull Run
He also appointed General
B. McClellan to head the
Union army of the East
called the Army of the
Potomac
War at Sea
Lincoln ordered a blockade
of Southern ports to
prevent the South from
exporting its cotton and
importing necessary
supplies such as guns,
ammunition, and food
War at Sea
It did not close off all
Southern trade, but it did
reduce trade by two-thirds
● Over time the North
also built more ships to
better enforce the
blockade
War at Sea
A new era in naval warfare
began when the North's
Monitor and the South’s
Merrimack, renamed
Virginia, exchanged fire in
March 1862
War at Sea
Both ships were wooden
ships covered with thick
iron plates, making them
sturdy and hard to sink
● The Union was the
victor because the
Merrimack never again
threatened Northern
ships
War in the West
The main goal of the North
was to gain control of the
Mississippi and Tennessee
Rivers in the west to make
it hard for the South to
transport goods
War in the West
The North had early
victories in 1862 under the
command of Ulysses S.
Grant
1. Grant captured Fort
Henry on the Tennessee
River in Feb 1862
2. Grant also captured Fort
Donelson on the
Cumberland River ten days
later
War in the West
3. The control of the lower
Tennessee River allowed
Union troops to march into
Tennessee, Mississippi,
and Alabama
4. The Union victories also
drove the Confederacy out
of Kentucky, a state that
the South had hoped they
would be able to persuade
to secede
War in the West
Another major battle in the
West, the Battle of Shiloh,
saw the Union win a narrow
victory
● A very bloody two-day
battle with 20,000
casualties on both
sides ended with
Union forces gaining
control of Corinth,
Mississippi, on May
30, 1862, and
Memphis, Tennessee,
on June 6
War in the West
1. The fighting began on
April 6 when Confederate
forces led a surprise attack
on Union troops, and the
Confederacy drove Grant
and his troops back to the
Tennessee River
War in the West
2. The second day the
Union forces defeated the
Confederacy with the help
of 25,00 troops from
Nashville and shelling from
gunboats on the river, and
the Confederacy withdrew
from Corinth
War in the West
The North won another
important victory on April
25, 1862, with the capture
of New Orleans, under the
command of David
Farragut’s naval forces
● The capture meant
that Confederacy could
not longer use the
Mississippi River to
carry its crops to sea
War in the East
The war in the East was
not as successful for the
Union
● The union’s goal of
capturing the
Confederate capital of
Richmond, VA, was
never met
War in the East
The Southern strategy of
making the North tired of
fighting seemed to be
working
1. General McClellan did
not act promptly on
Lincoln’s orders to advance
directly to Richmond
War in the East
●
Instead, he took his
troops on a several
week circular route by
ship known as the
Peninsular Campaign
to a peninsula between
the York and James
Rivers southeast of the
city
War in the East
2. When the Union and
Confederate forces finally
met in June, known as the
Seven Day’s Battle,
Confederate General
Robert E. Lee took
command
● He eventually drove
the Yankees back to
the James River
War in the East
Richmond was never
captured, and the
Confederates were only 20
miles away from
Washington D.C.
War in the East
1. McClellan’s army was
pushed back, but it was
larger than Lee’s and still
closer to Richmond
● When McClellan did
not renew his attack
toward Richmond,
Lincoln ordered him to
Northern Virginia to
join Major General
John Pope’s troops
War in the East
2. Stonewall Jackson’s
troops met Lee’s army and
were attacked by Pope’s
troops on August 29 at Bull
Run
● The Second Battle of
Bull Run was won by
the Confederacy
War in the East
Another major battle, the
Battle of Antietam occurred
on Sep 17
● Both armies suffered
severe losses, but
neither was destroyed;
General Lee withdrew
to Virginia, so the
Union claimed victory
War in the East
Additionally Lincoln used
the battle to change
northern war aims and take
action against slavery
War in the East
1. Lee’s army marched into
Maryland in Sept 1862, and
McClellan with his 80,000
troops moved slowly after
them
War in the East
●
After a McClellan
soldier found a copy of
Lee’s orders,
McClellan knew Lee’s
plan, but because he
was so cautious and
acted so slowly, Lee
was able to gather his
forces along the
Antietam Creek
War in the East
2. On Sep 17 the bloodiest
day of the war saw close to
6,000 soldiers dead or
dying and another 17,000
seriously wounded
War in the East
3. The next day Lee
withdrew, and McClellan
refused to obey Lincoln’s
order to pursue Lee,
Lincoln replaced McClellan
with General Ambrose
Burnside as commander of
the Army of the Potomac
Emanicpation
The North’s original war
goal was to preserve the
Union rather than to
destroy slavery
● Lincoln and other
Republican leaders
had stated they would
act only to prevent the
expansion of slavery
Emanicpation
Lincoln was hesitant to
move against slavery
because of the border
states
● He did not want to
divide the people and
make the war less
popular
Emanicpation
As the war went on, many
Northerners thought that
slavery was helping the war
effort in the South
● Anything that
weakened slavery
weakened the
Confederacy in the
North’s view
Emanicpation
In 1861 and 1862,
Congress passed laws that
freed enslaved people who
were held by people active
in the rebellion against the
Union
● Some African
Americans escaped
slavery by going into
territory held by the
Union army
Emanicpation
Lincoln decided to take
action on slavery
● He thought that as
president he should be
the one to make the
decision to end slavery
no Congress
Emanicpation
On January 1, 1863,
Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation
● It said that “all persons
held as slaves within
any state . . . in
rebellion against the
United States, shall be
then, thenceforward,
and forever free.”
Emanicpation
There were several effects
of the proclamation:
1. It did not actually free
anyone; the 13th
Amendment, ratified by
Congress in 1865, truly
freed enslaved Americans
Emanicpation
2. Lincoln hoped that word
of the proclamation would
encourage enslaved people
to run away
● Before the
Emancipation
Proclamation, about
100,000 African
Americans left for the
safety of the Union
Emanicpation
3. Northern African
Americans were pleased by
the decree
4. Because Britain and
France opposed slavery,
they decided to withhold
recognition of the
Confederation
African Americans in the War
African Americans helped
the war effort in the North
and South
● In the North, African
Americans were not
permitted to serve as
soldiers at the
beginning of the war
African Americans in the War
However, the Union navy
accepted them, and others,
such as Harriet Tubman of
the Underground Railroad,
were able to help the North
as spies or guides behind
Confederate lines
African Americans in the War
In 1862, African Americans
were allowed to serve in
the Union army
● Both free African
Americans and those
who escaped slavery
enlisted
African Americans in the War
By the end of the war,
African American
volunteers made up almost
10% of the Union army and
18% of the navy
● ~200,000 African
Americans served and
37,000 died defending
the Union
African Americans in the War
African American regiments
were separate from the rst
of the Union army
● Most command
officers were white,
regardless after protest
about unequal pay,
African American and
white soldiers received
the same pay in 1864
African Americans in the War
The 54th Massachusetts
led by white abolitionists
was on of the most famous
African American regiments
● Their bravery in a
battle against the
Confederate fort near
Charleston, South
Carolina, in July 1863,
won respect for African
American troops
African Americans in the War
African Americans did not
serve in the Confederate
military at first because
white Southerners were
afraid of a slave rebellion
● Near the end of the
war, though, the
Confederacy needed
men
African Americans in the War
The Confederate Congress
passed a law in 1865 to
enlist enslaved people
● The law did not include
automatic freedom just
because of service,
and the war ended
before any regiments
were organized
African Americans in the War
People had different
attitudes toward African
Americans as soldiers
● Lincoln’s opponents
criticized the use of
African American
soldiers
African Americans in the War
Many white Southerners
were also outraged and
threatened to execute any
they captured and did
execute some
African Americans in the War
Enslaved workers were
overjoyed to see African
American soldiers in the
Union army