* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Civil War Overview
Battle of Harpers Ferry wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Island Number Ten wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Malvern Hill wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Wilson's Creek wikipedia , lookup
Second Battle of Corinth wikipedia , lookup
East Tennessee bridge burnings wikipedia , lookup
Cavalry in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Antietam wikipedia , lookup
Tennessee in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Battle of New Bern wikipedia , lookup
Capture of New Orleans wikipedia , lookup
Baltimore riot of 1861 wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Fort Pillow wikipedia , lookup
Ulysses S. Grant and the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Anaconda Plan wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Lewis's Farm wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Gaines's Mill wikipedia , lookup
First Battle of Bull Run wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Shiloh wikipedia , lookup
South Carolina in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Seven Pines wikipedia , lookup
Eastern Theater of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Maryland Campaign wikipedia , lookup
Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps wikipedia , lookup
Alabama in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
United States presidential election, 1860 wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Cedar Creek wikipedia , lookup
Opposition to the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Western Theater of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Battle of Namozine Church wikipedia , lookup
Hampton Roads Conference wikipedia , lookup
Virginia in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Issues of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Conclusion of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
United Kingdom and the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Georgia in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Border states (American Civil War) wikipedia , lookup
Civil War Overview The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861 when forces of the Confederate States of America fired upon the United States forces at Fort Sumter, which was in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Although one could point to the growing divide between the Northern region of the country and that of the South because of sectionalism, governmental philosophy, and economic differences, all of the differences between North and South boiled down to one central issue; slavery. The “virtual divide” between the North and South became an actual divide shortly after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Lincoln was a Republican; the party platform included the abolition of slavery. Even though Lincoln himself was a moderate on the issue, pledging to leave slavery alone where it already existed (but not allow it to expand), the South saw Lincoln’s election as a signal to leave the United States and form a new country. South Carolina was the first state to secede, followed quickly by 6 other states (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas). These states moved quickly to re-organize into the Confederate States of America (CSA). After Fort Sumter, 4 additional states seceded (North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas), forming the final 11-state confederation. Perhaps of even greater importance, several slave states stayed with the Union and did NOT secede. These became known as “the border states” and included Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware. Even stranger, when Virginia seceded from the Union, a sizeable portion of Virginia seceded from Virginia, forming the free state of West Virginia! On paper, the North held a massive advantage. It had three times the population of the South, over 90% of the country’s manufacturing capacity, twice as much rail lines and telegraph wire, most of the banking and financial strength of the country, more weapons and ammunition, and the moral “high ground.” However, the South had strengths it called upon as well; most of the gifted military commanders in the country were Southern. The eventual commander of the Army of Northern Virginia (the largest Confederate army), Robert E. Lee, was first approached by President Lincoln and asked to lead the Union army. Lee balked, stating that he would have to wait until he knew the fate of Virginia because he would not fight against “his country.” Others, including Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and James Longstreet, were equally revered in the US Army before the war. Also, most of the war was fought on Southern soil, which gave the South several advantages; they knew the terrain, knew who was loyal and who was a Unionist, and put them in a position of defending their homes and families. Also, fighting on the defensive is much easier and less costly than fighting an offensive battle. Since the North fought mostly on the offensive, the casualties experienced by the Union were much greater than those of the Confederacy. Union commanders established a plan for the defeat of the CSA; they would surround and squeeze the South into submission like a gigantic snake. The plan, called The Anaconda Plan, consisted of three parts: 1. Use the massive superiority of the Union navy to blockade southern ports so they could not export goods for sale or import weapons or ammunition (important since the South had little or no industry and could not manufacture weapons itself); 2. Take control of the Mississippi River and cut the South in half (doing so would prevent the western CSA from aiding the eastern half of the country and keep the Mississippi from being used to aid Confederate troop or material movement); and 3. Attack and capture the CSA capital, Richmond, Virginia. Capturing Richmond would “cut the head off of the snake” and scatter the leadership of the Confederacy. The early part of the war went mostly in favor of the South. The Battle of Bull Run (called the Battle of Manassas by the South), was won by Confederate forces. Early in the battle, it appeared as though a Union victory was sure, but retreating Confederate forces were bolstered by Confederate General Thomas Jackson, who held his ground despite what appeared to be a lost cause. Another Confederate commander, General Bernard Bee, looked across the battlefield and exclaimed “Look! There’s General Jackson and his Virginians, standing like a stone wall!” Jackson rallied his troops, led a counter attack, and routed the Union forces. He was known as “Stonewall” Jackson from that day forward. Lincoln replaced aging General Winfield Scott and picked George McClellan to lead Union forces. McClellan trained the raw recruits and formed them into an effective fighting force, but little union success was seen in the Eastern theatre of the war until much later. In the west, the Union was having better luck; General Ulysses S. Grant commanded Union forces to victory at forts Henry and Donnellson. He then followed up with a bloody but decisive Union victory at Pittsburg Landing Tennessee at a place called Shiloh, giving the Union control of the Tennessee River and the upper Mississippi River. The Battle of Shiloh caused Grant’s star to rise, and the Union Army, especially the Commander-in-Chief Abraham Lincoln, was taking notice. Meanwhile, back east, Robert E. Lee’s army of Northern Virginia, bolstered by unprecedented success, made its first invasion of the North, meeting McClellan’s Army of the Potomac in Maryland at a place called Antietam Creek. The ensuing battle, the Battle of Antietam (September 16, 1862), was the bloodiest single day of fighting in American history, but the North claimed victory because Lee was forced to retreat, giving Abraham Lincoln the victory he’d been waiting for and an opportunity to release a new Union policy; the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln’s proclamation had several purposes: First of all, Union commanders were overrun with escaped slaves. By law, they were required to return these slaves to their owners, but most were refusing to do so. Instead, they claimed them as “war contraband” and used their labor to help build bridges, roads, railroads, fortifications, etc. Since Lincoln did not want to jail his commanders, the Emancipation Proclamation made it legal to keep runaway slaves and not return them. Secondly, the CSA had been courting the European powers, trying to gain aid in their fight. Since European countries had done away with slavery several decades before, making the war about the eradication of slavery made siding with the South out of the question. Lincoln’s Proclamation declared the slaves of the South “now, henceforth, and forever free,”* but the proclamation did not include ALL slaves. Only the slaves in states currently in rebellion (the CSA) and territory not under Union control were freed. This meant that slaves of the Border states and the areas of the CSA that were under Union control were NOT freed! 1863 was a better year for the Union; Grant followed up his victory at Shiloh by laying siege to Vicksburg on May 18, 1863. Largely because of Grant’s stranglehold on Vicksburg (and Lee’s desire to force Grant to leave Vicksburg to relieve Gettysburg) and the importance of the installation to the CSA, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia once again invaded the North, attacking the forces of George Gordon Meade and his Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1863. The battle raged on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, culminating with Pickett’s Charge, a charge in which General George Pickett’s entire brigade was annihilated. The three day Battle of Gettysburg was the deadliest battle in American history, with 50,000 soldiers from both sides either killed or wounded. Gettysburg proves to be costly indeed for the Confederacy; Lee never again invades the North and loses men and material that he cannot replace, and forcing a dejected army to fight on the defensive for the remainder of the war. One day later (July 4, 1863), Vicksburg surrendered to Grant, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River. The Siege of Vicksburg brought phase 2 of Anaconda to fruition; phase 3 yet to come! *See 13th Amendment Below After Vicksburg, Lincoln had seen enough. He needed Grant to take control of all of the armies of the United States, so Grant left George Meade in command of the Army of the Potomac, but went to Washington to lead and coordinate the forces of the Union, especially those who faced the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee. Grant left his right-hand commander, William Tecumseh Sherman, to lead the Army of the West, the position he himself had just vacated. Grant and Sherman decided it was time to make the war as painful for the South as possible, the hope being to end it as quickly as possible. Between them, they devised a strategy they called “Total War,” which involved attacking not only the troops of the enemy, but also any private property that may aid the war effort of the enemy. As Grant took off for Washington, Sherman outfitted his new army for a campaign into the deep South, the aim being to take Atlanta. Convinced by the Vicksburg Campaign that it was possible to supply food and forage (food for the animals) for an army “off the land,” Sherman detached himself from his supply lines and marched across Georgia, facing the Army of Joe Johnston in his attempt to take Atlanta (a key Southern manufacturing center and railroad hub). Atlanta fell to Sherman on September 2, 1864, just in time to assure the re-election of Abraham Lincoln, who needed just such a piece of good news at just such a time! Sherman continued after burning Atlanta and destroying its many warehouses and rail lines, and took off for Savannah on the coast. In many ways, “Sherman’s March to the Sea” broke the back of the South and destroyed any will that was left to fight, along with much of the supplies and materials necessary to do so. As Sherman marched north to meet up with Grant (who’s army had besieged the outskirts of Richmond, a town called Petersburg, for nearly 6 months), Lee was forced to evacuate Richmond, leaving the town to the Union. Grant’s army caught up with the severely depleted Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, where Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865. Nine days later, Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. Several days later, Johnston’s army surrendered to Sherman; the Civil War was essentially over. Additional Key Elements That Effected the Outcome of the Civil War 1. The Re-Election of Abraham Lincoln – The Civil War brought the rebellious southern states back into the Union AND ended slavery, but these outcomes were in doubt unless Abraham Lincoln were re-elected in 1864. Lincoln’s opponent, Democrat George McClellan (Yes, the same General whom Lincoln had replaced after disappointing results during 1861/62) promised to negotiate peace with the South and end the war if he were elected. McClellan sided with the “Copperheads,” who were Congressional Democrats against the war. Lincoln promised to bring the war to a successful conclusion (i.e., win it!) and end slavery. Such being the case, we can today in many ways thank William T. Sherman and his victory in Atlanta for the re-election of Lincoln, the re-unification of the country, and the end to slavery! 2. The 13th Amendment – In early 1865, Lincoln has a problem. It appears that the war is coming to an end (a good thing!), but his Emancipation Proclamation is only in force as long as he exercises his war powers. In other words, the slaves are free as long as he can hold them as war contraband, but what happens to them when the war is over? Will he be forced to return them to slavery as the law demands? Lincoln needs a change in the Constitution, so he pushes for passage of the 13th Amendment, which makes slavery illegal in the United States. Congress passes the 13th Amendment on January 31st, 1865 and it is ratified by the necessary number of states on December 6, 1865, 8 months after Lincoln’s death. 3. Technology – Weapons and other technology played a key role during the war. Transportation, communication, weapons, and military innovation all aided both sides during the war, but especially the Union. In transportation, railroads and steamboats played a pivotal role in the movement of troops and supplies. Union commanders strung telegraph lines and relayed messages to one another and Washington in almost real time, allowing troops and supplies to be allocated quickly and effectively. Rifled muskets were used for the first time in real numbers and a percussion cap replaced the loading of powder in the breach, so rifles could be fired much more quickly than before. Both Union and Confederate troops were armed with a new bullet called the “Minnie Ball.” The Minnie Ball could be loaded quickly; it was conical in shape, giving it much better aerodynamics in flight. Made of soft lead, it essentially shattered when it contacted its target, causing massive injuries that were most often fatal. Minnie Ball wounds to the extremities most often caused so much damage that surgeon had little choice but to amputate the effected limb. Before war’s end, repeating rifles were also introduced. When issued to Sherman’s troops, Confederate adversaries remarked that Sherman’s troops “could load their weapons on Sunday and fire all week long” without reloading! Though issued on a limited basis, Gatling guns (the first “machine gun”) were also introduced during the war. The first “ironclad” vessels were introduced by both sides at approximately the same time, making ships impervious to cannon fire. Ironclad vessels could now run past a shore battery without fear of being sunk while simultaneously delivering withering fire of their own! As mentioned, the concept of “Total War” was also introduced at this time as commanders recognized the importance of depriving the enemy of material support during war time from domestic sources and sapping the will to fight as homes/businesses of the enemy were destroyed. 4. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln – Only 5 days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender, John Wilkes Booth murdered President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Booth thought he was striking a blow that would reinvigorate the South and turn the tide of the war (not all Confederate forces had yet surrendered), but he did not realize that any hope for a relatively quick and painless reconstruction process died with Lincoln. In 1863, Lincoln had forwarded what he called the “10% Plan.” In Lincoln’s plan, only 10% of a state’s citizen’s would have to swear allegiance to the Union and the state had to outlaw slavery in order for that state to be readmitted to the Union. Subsequent reconstruction plans offered by Lincoln’s successors were very much more stringent and punitive. 5. Congress didn’t sit on its hands while the war was going on – While the war was going on, Congress was busy passing other significant legislation. In 1862 alone, they passed the Morrill Act, the Homestead Act, and the Pacific Railway Act. The Homestead Act granted land to individuals who were at least 21, had never fought against the Union, and promised to farm the land for at least 5 years; the Morrill Act granted land to states for the formation of colleges and universities within those states, and the Pacific Railway Act authorized the issuance of government bonds and the distribution of public lands for the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. 6. Interesting oddity – Wilbur McClean of Mannassas Virginia was a little too close to the first major battle of the Civil War; a cannonball broke through a front room in his home and destroyed his kitchen, so he moved to a sleepy little town about 30 miles west of there where he hoped he would be out of harm’s way. Four years later, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant sat down in McClean’s front room and signed the instrument of surrender for the Army of Northern Virginia; the war quite literally started in Mclean’s front yard and ended in his parlor! Battles of the Civil War to Know (for sure!) Remember “Full Big Smiles Are Very Good Always” – Fort Sumter; Bull Run; Shiloh; Antietam; Vicksburg; Gettysburg; and Appomattox Courthouse.