Download Early Years of the War

Early Years of the War
and
The Emancipation
Proclamation
Chapter 13, Section 2 & 3
The American Journey,
Glencoe
First Battle of Bull Run
First major battle of Civil War
Fought in northern Virginia
Union had about 30,000 men
– Most volunteers; all inexperienced
Confederacy had about 20,000 troops
Yankees held off the Rebels until they rallied
& were inspired by General “Stonewall”
Jackson troops that came as reinforcements
Union forced to retreat to Washington, D.C.
First Battle of Bull Run
General
Stonewall
Jackson
A Shock for the North
Outcome of First Bull Run
shocked the North, but
Lincoln reacted with a call for
more volunteers for the army
Northerners woke up to the
reality of war
– This would be a long conflict
Lincoln appointed General
George B. McClellan to head
the Union army of the east (or
Army of the Potomac)
McClellan began training
150,000 troops
War at Sea
Lincoln had ordered a naval blockade of
Southern ports to try to prevent the South from
exporting its cotton & from importing supplies
Southerners planned to challenge the blockade
The Monitor Versus the Merrimack
– Southerners transformed the Merrimack, a former
Union warship, by covering it with thick iron plates,
and renamed it the Virginia
– This ironclad, or warship, went to battle against the
Monitor (the Union ironclad), but neither ship would
sink
– This battle marked a new age in naval warfare
Monitor vs. Merrimack
War in the West
Early Victories for the North
North’s primary goal in the West was to gain
control the Mississippi & Tennessee Rivers
Union operations centered at Cairo, Illinois under
General Ulysses S. Grant
Grant was able to capture Fort Henry on
Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the
Cumberland
Grant demands an “unconditional surrender”
Grant becomes the North’s new hero
These victories opened a path for Union troops
to march into Tennessee, Mississippi, & Alabama
Capture of Fort Henry
General Grant
Fort Donelson
Battle of Shiloh
April, 1862
Fought near Corinth, Mississippi – an important
railroad junction
Confederate forces launch surprise attack on
morning of April 6, 1862
Bloodiest battle in the war so far
Union able to defeat the Confederates on
second day & win control of Corinth later on May
30
More than 20,000 casualties (people who are
killed or wounded)
New Orleans Falls
April 25, 1862
Union naval forces under
David Farragut captured
New Orleans, Louisiana,
the South’s largest city
This meant that the
Confederacy could no
longer use the river to carry
its goods to sea
At this point, the Union
controlled almost the entire
Mississippi River
War in the East
General McClellan led army in east
Peninsular Campaign – McClellan
moved & readied his troops over
several weeks to make an attack
on Richmond, Virginia
Lincoln was frustrated by General
McClellan
– He was not an aggressive general
General Robert E. Lee
commanded the Rebels
Seven Day’s Battle – series of
encounters between Rebels and
Yankees
Union troops failed to capture
Richmond
War in the East, continued
Lincoln orders McClellan & his troops to
pull back to northern Virginia
Confederate General Stonewall Jackson
moved his troops to attack the supply base
at Manassas, VA
Second Battle at Bull Run – August 29,
1862
Confederate victory & Richmond was no
longer threatened
Lee Enters Maryland
Following these Southern
victories, Confederate Pres.
Jefferson Davis ordered Lee to
launch an offensive (or attack)
into Maryland (NW of
Washington, D.C.)
In pursuit of Lee’s troops, two
Union soldiers found a copy of
Lee’s orders for his army
Now McClellan knew exactly
what Lee planned to do
– He learned that Lee’s army was
divided into 4 parts
Battle of Antietam
Sept. 17, 1862
Single bloodiest day of the
entire war
20,000 soldiers dead or
wounded
The next day, Lee withdrew
his troops which allowed the
Union troops to claim victory
Lincoln is still disappointed
with McClellan – He replaces
him in November, 1862
– General Ambrose Burnsides takes
over the Army of the Potomac
Effects of the Battle of Antietam
The British were just about ready
to recognize the Confederacy as
an independent nation, but the
Union victory at Antietam changed
their minds
– South lost its best chance at gaining
international recognition & support
Pres. Lincoln used the battle to
take action against slavery
Emancipation
Prior to the Battle of Antietam, the Northerners’
main goal is to preserve the Union rather than to
end slavery
Pres. Lincoln considered slavery immoral, but
was reluctant to move against slavery because
of the border states (slave states that remain in the Union)
As the war went on, attitudes toward slavery
changed
Northerners thought slavery was helping with
war effort in South
– Enslaved people were raising crops & digging
trenches at army camps
Antietam & the Proclamation
Emancipate = to free
Even before the proclamation,
more than 100,000 African
Americans left slavery for safety
of Union
By summer of 1862 Lincoln had
decided to free all enslaved
African Americans in South…..
But he waited for the right time to
announce it
Lincoln makes the announcement
following Union victory at
Antietam
Lincoln signed the Emancipation
Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863
Effects of the Proclamation
It applied only to areas that the
Confederacy controlled
No slaves were freed at this point
by the Proclamation
It did not free those that lived in
slave states that supported the
Union
Lincoln hoped that enslaved people
would hear about the proclamation
& would run from their owners
Help keep the British & the French
from supporting the Confederacy –
made slavery “the” issue
1865 – Congress passed the 13th
Amendment that truly freed
enslaved Americans
Questions
1. Why was control of the Mississippi River
important?
2. What was the importance of the Union
victory at the Battle of Antietam?
3. What did the Emancipation Proclamation
do?
4. What did the 13th Amendment do that the
Emancipation Proclamation did not do?