Download The War in Virginia and The West, 1862-1863

The War in Virginia and The
West, 1862-1863
By
Hussam Amer
McClellan
v  McClellan won the battle of Antietam, upon his victory McClellan stopped
Attacking the enemy.
v  McClellan was not attacking general lee’s Army after he has been ordered to
by the president.
Ø  “McClellan had argued that his men could not march twenty miles a day
and fight without full stomachs and new shoes”.
v  This mad Lincoln mad but instead of removing McClellan he gave him new
orders of attack hoping McClellan will bring victory.
Ø  “Lincoln thought if McClellan crossed the Potomac river quickly and get
between the enemy and Richmond he could force lee into the open for a
fight to the finish”.
v  McClellan army finally began crossing the river on October 26, but the army
moved really slowly.
Ø  Because the army of the Potomac moved so slowly “lee was able to
interpose Longstreet’s crops between Richmond and the bluecoats while
Jackson remained in the Shenandoah Valley on McClellan's flank.
McClellan
v  McClellan army finally began crossing the river on October 26, but the
army moved really slowly.
v  Because the army of the Potomac moved so slowly “lee was able to
interpose Longstreet’s crops between Richmond and the bluecoats while
Jackson remained in the Shenandoah Valley on McClellan's flank.
v  After the battle for Lincoln this was the last straw.
v  On November 7, Lincoln replaced McClellan with Burnside.
v  “McClellan farewell to the army was emotional”.
Burnside
•  “Burnside started well, however. Instead
of continuing straight south using the
vulnerable railroad through Manassas as
his supply line, he moved the ponderous
army of 110,000 men with unwonted
speed to Falmouth, across the
Rappahannock from Fredericksburg”.
v  By this move he hoped to secure his
supply line by naval control of the river
flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.
v  Burnside hoped to cross the river and
drive toward Richmond.
v  The draw back to his strategy was the
number of rivers his army had to cross the
Rappahannock from Fredericksburg.
Preparing for Fredericksburg
v By moving quickly, Burnside was able to make it to Falmouth
by November 17.
v Burnside needed to bridge the river did not show up for more
than a week.
v The engineers did not show up due to Burnside unclear
instructions.
Ø “As a result Lee had most of his 75,000 men dug in along
the hills south of the Rappahannock by the time pontoons
arrived.
v This caused a problem because lee was willing to sit there all
winter, but Burnside could not afford to do so.
v Burnside concluded that Lee would expect him to cross above
or below the river.
Preparing for Fredericksburg
v But burn side decided to
cross immediately in the
front, to surprise Lee.
Ø  “Lee was surprised only by
the folly of this move”.
v Lee had Longstreet’s crops
posted along four miles of
high ground overlooking
Fredericksburg.
Ø  “with a sweeping field of fire
over the half-mile of open
fields that attacking troops
would have to cross”.
The Battle of Fredericksburg
December 11-12
v  The Battle of Fredericksburg
began on December 11th and
ended on the 15th.
v  In the morning of December 11th
three blue regiments were sent on
boat to the other side because the
confederate snipers were killing
all the engineers that were setting
up the bridge.
v  When the regiments drove the
snipers away the rest of the army
was able to cross.
v  After the rest of the army crossed
under fire, urban combat in the
city resulted on December 11–12.
The Battle of Fredericksburg
December 13
v The Union Army's futile frontal
attacks against entrenched
Confederate defenders.
v A division of Pennsylvanians
commanded by George Gordon
found a seam in Jackson’s line but
could not take advantage due to
lack of force and confederate
reinforcements.
v Wave after wave of blue solders
poured out of the town toward
Marye’s heights.
The Battle of Fredericksburg
v This waves were broken
50 yards short of the
fence at the base of the
hill, each leaving
hundreds dying or dead.
Ø “Behind the fence stood
four ranks of Georgians
and North Carolinians
loading and shooting so
fast the their firing
achieved the effect of
machine guns”.
The Battle of Fredericksburg
v At the end of the day the Union army had suffered nearly
13,000 casualties and the confederates only took about 5,000
casualties.
v Distraught by the disaster, Burnside wanted personally to lead
a desperation charge the next day, but he came to his senses
and withdrew the army unmolested across the river on the
stormy night of December 15.
v Fredericksburg brought home the horrors of war to northern
more vividly, perhaps, then any previous battle.
v The north because of this defeat wanted to stop fighting and
surrender.
Battle of Stones River
v  The Battle of Stones River was
fought from December 31,1862 to
January 2, 1863 in Middle of
Tennessee.
v  On December 31, 1862,
advancing forces under Union
general William Rosecrans fought
a pitched battle with Braxton
Bragg’s Army of Tennessee on the
outskirts of Murfreesboro,
Tennessee.
v  On December 30, each of the
commanders planned to attack his
opponents right flank.
Battle of Stones River
v  “Both generals formed plans of attack, but Bragg struck first,
pulverizing the Union right flank with two veteran divisions”.
v  “False reports indicating a Union retreat kept Bragg in place on
January 1, but January 2 dawned with Rosecrans stubbornly holding
his ground”.
v  “Bragg ordered John Breckinridge and his division to charge the
Union left late in the afternoon”.
v  “Breckinridge’s men crossed an open field and nearly achieved a
victory, but massed artillery broke up the assault”.
v  Although the battle to that point had been a tactical draw, the arrival
of Union reinforcements made Bragg’s position untenable.
v  He retreated on January 3, granting the North a valuable strategic
victory.
Chancellorsville
v The Battle of
Chancellorsville, fought
from April 30 to May 6,
1863, is widely considered
to be Confederate Robert E.
Lee’s greatest victory during
the American Civil War.
v Facing an enemy force
nearly twice the size of his
own, Lee daringly split his
troops in two, confronting
and surprising Union Joseph
Hooker.
v  This victory would come at a cost
homas “Stonewall” Jackson, one
of Lee’s most trusted generals,
was mortally wounded by
friendly fire during the battle and
later dead.
Vicksburg Campaign
v  “It is one of the more remarkable
campaigns of the American Civil War”.
v  Grant and his Union soldiers had been
trying to wrest away the strategic
Confederate river fortress of Vicksburg,
Mississippi.
v  Previous, direct attempts to take this
important town high above the
Mississippi River were blocked by
confederates.
v  After crossing the Mississippi River on
April 30, 1863, General Ulysses S.
Grant's Union Army of the Tennessee
waged a fighting campaign of maneuver
to isolate the city of Vicksburg and the
Confederates defending it.
Under Siege
v  On May 19 and 22, Grant
launched a series of frontal
assaults against Pemberton's
fortifications, suffering heavy
losses.
v  Because he failed to take the city
Grant lay siege to the city.
v  Ordering his men to dig a series
of trenches, also called
"approaches" to the Confederate
works.
v  For 47 days, the Union
bombarded the city while the
Confederate soldiers and civilians
alike suffered the hardships of
siege warfare.
v  On July 4, Pemberton surrendered
his army to Grant, ending the
siege.
v  Confederacy army now has been
cut in half.
Document Analysis
Mr. President:
You have been fully informed that [the] rebel army is
in [our] front, with the purpose of overwhelming us
by attacking our positions or reducing us by blocking
our river communications. I cannot but regard our
condition as critical, and I earnestly desire, in view of
possible contingencies, to lay before your excellency,
for your private consideration, my general views
concerning the existing state of the rebellion,
although they do not strictly relate to the situation of
this army or strictly come within the scope of my
official duties. These views amount to convictions,
and are deeply impressed upon my mind and heart.
Our cause must never be abandoned; it is the cause of
free institutions and self-government. The
Constitution and the Union must be preserved,
whatever may be the cost in time, treasure, and blood.
If secession is successful other dissolutions are
clearly to be seen in the future. Let neither military
disaster, political faction, nor foreign war shake your
settled purpose to enforce the equal operation of the
laws of the United States upon the people of every
state.
Origin: Primary source document.
Authentic from George B. McClellan
Peninsula Campaign letter (1862)
Purpose: to inform the president that
the rebels are advancing.
Value: it is a letter and it shows what
movements the rebels are making
Limitation: it is bias because they are
trying to tell the president what to do
to stop them.
Work Cited
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http://www.nps.gov/stri/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stones_River
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/stones-river.html
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/vicksburg-campaign/
http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/298782?
terms=civil+war++McClellan
•  http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/vicksburg/maps/vicksburgmap.html