Download The Civil War

The Civil War
Civil War Timeline
Confederate States of America
Formed
1861
1862
Battle of Shiloh
Confederates defend Vicksburg
Ulysses S. Grant camped in Oxford, almost captured in Holly
Springs
Union
captures New
Orleans and
Natchez
1863
Battle of Champion Hill
Siege of Vicksburg: Confederates surrendered
1864
Civil War
begins with
firing at Fort
Sumter
-Emancipation
Proclamation
-Confederates
defeated at
Gettysburg
-Lincoln initiates
Presidential
Reconstruction
Lincoln
reelected
Union marches through MS
1865
Lincoln assassinated, Johnson
new Pres.
Gen. Lee (Confed.) surrenders
to Gen. Grant (Union)
MS and LA
forces surrender
Union and Confederate Forces
Confederate
• President: Jefferson
Davis
• Generals:
Union
• President: Lincoln
• Generals:
– Ulysses S. Grant
(commander)
– David Farrugut (took New
Orleans and Natchez
– Robert E. Lee
(commander)
– John Pemberton
(commanded Vicksburg)
Northern and Southern Advantages
North:
1. More men.
2. More industry.
3. More railroads.
The North made
97% of the countries
4. Already existing military.
firearms.
South:
1. Fighting to defend their homeland.
2. Knowledge of the terrain (landscape).
Northern and Southern Strategies
North:
1. Capture Richmond, VA, the capital of the
Confederacy.
2. Divide and conquer – split the Confederacy
into three sections.
3. Blockade the south – use their navy to
close southern ports.
South:
1. Hold their own until European countries
come to their aid.
• Union navy blockaded the southern coastline
– Isolated the seaports to prevent any ship from
entering or leaving
• The strategy of the Union was to divide and
conquer
– Isolate the southern railroad system and control
the rivers
– Mississippi was really involved in the Civil War due
to this strategy (we had railroads and the main
RIVER)
Beginning of the war
• Both forces wanted to control the
Mississippi River
• The Union needed to get to Vicksburg to
work to control the river
• Union forces launched a naval attack on
the ports of New Orleans and Memphis
• When the war begins, most people
don’t believe that it will last very
long.
• For the first battle, Battle of Bull
Run, people will actually take
picnics and go watch the battle.
Battle of Shiloh
• Confederate commanders
were ordered to defend the
railroad junction at Corinth
– Grant was on his way!
• Corinth was an important
railroad city; many
important railroads for the
Confederacy intersected at
Corinth
• April 1862- Confederate
forces intercepted Grant’s
forces northeast of Corinth
at Shiloh, TN
• Confederates, under
command of Gen. Johnston
and Gen. Beauregard, had
40,000 men.
• Grant had 45,000
• One of the deadliest
battles- Union troops were
reinforced during the night
– Forced Confederates to
retreat to Corinth
Effects of Shiloh
• The highest ranking general in the
Confederate army: General Johnston was
killed
• Confederates had 11,000 casualties
• Union had 13,000
Now on to Vicksburg…..
• After Shiloh, Grant continues onto Vicksburg
• But why was Vicksburg so important???
– Union: Economic and Military Reasons
– Since the beginning of the Confederacy, commerce between
the midwestern states and the port of New Orleans had been
cut off
– Also, controlling Vicksburg meant you could cut supply lines of
Confederates “Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be
brought to a close until the key is in our pocket.”- Lincoln
– Vicksburg landscape allowed for a great attack high on the
bluffs for anybody on the river… you could shoot down on
someone!
New Orleans falls
• Officer David Farragut(Union) captures New
Orleans in 1862 and then goes on to capture
Natchez the same year.
• After Natchez, he leads a bombardment on
Vicksburg
– Lasts for two months
– He then goes pass Vicksburg to meet with other
naval forces in Memphis… goes back to Vicksburg
– Can not take the city from the river
• Farragut decides to dig a canal around
Vicksburg
– Divert river traffic around the city
– This does not work
– He starts to head back down the Mississippi River
• General Pemberton in control
– His duty for the Confederates was to hold Vicksburg
at all costs
– Issue:
• Vicksburg is cut off by naval forces north and south of
the city
• And Grant is on his way!
Grant in Holly Springs and Oxford
• Nov. 1862, Grant established
a supply depot at Holly
Springs
• He then moves onto Oxford
– The Lyceum, main building on
University Of Mississippi
campus, becomes a hospital
for wounded Union soldiers
• After the battle of Shiloh, just
months before, it served as a
hospital for the Confederates…
the tide is changing
Mrs. Grant almost captured!
• Ulysses S. Grant’s wife and her son came to
spend Christmas with Gen. Grant
• While in Holly Springs, a Confederate unit
attacked and destroyed the supply depot
– Confederate troops were sent to capture Mrs.
Grant
– She had just enough warning that she left the
night before the raid and went to Oxford.
• Grant then decides to move back to Memphis
and move down the Mississippi River
The Landscape of Vicksburg
• River to the West
• The Northeast was filled with swamp land and
rivers
• The South was higher land and was dryer than
the rest of the city
– This is where Grant decides to move his troops in
at… this is risky!
Risky Move!
• March down the Louisiana side of the River
and cross into the South of Vicksburg
– Grant could manually overpower the troops at
Vicksburg
• However, the only way for this to be
successful was for the navy to run their
ships past Vicksburg (passed all the guns
and batteries) and meet Grant in the South.
• This plan was risky because it removed
Grant’s army from its supply lines and the
possibility of losing an entire fleet
• Greater the risk, greater the reward
– To capture Vicksburg meant to cut the
Confederacy in half, cut supplies lines, and open
up Union commerce on the river.
Diversion attacks
• Make the Confederates look the
other way!
• Grierson’s Raid: 1863
– Colonel Grierson and his army were to
travel from Tennessee through
Mississippi into Baton Rouge
• To divert a portion of Pemberton’s army
away from Vicksburg
• And to destroy the railroad lines that
connected Vicksburg with the eastern
part of Confederacy
– As this raid happens, Grant and his
army move down the Louisiana side
of the river
Relief Efforts
• As Grant and other Union forces move
closer to Vicksburg, Jefferson Davis
orders 10,000 troops to reinforce
Pemberton
• Grant learns of the reinforcements that
will travel through Jackson to get to
Vicksburg
– Grant captures Jackson to prevent the
Confederate reinforcements from making it
to Vicksburg
– Grant burns several buildings and destroys
the railroads surrounding Jackson
– After Jackson, Grant and other Union
Generals move toward Vicksburg
Battle of Champion Hill
• In an effort to stop Grant
before Vicksburg, Pemberton
moves troops in between
Vicksburg and Jackson
– Two armies meet at Champion
Hill (outside of Bolton)
– The tide changes three times
during the battle, but in the
end the Confederates are
forced back toward Vicksburg
• This is a mistake for Pemberton!
The final Siege
of Vicksburg
• Pemberton is now surrounded by Union
forces
• Grant waited for the soldiers and citizens of Vicksburg to exhaust
their resources and their will to fight
– Siege= a tactic where armed forces try to capture by surrounding and
preventing supplies from entering
• After 43 days, Grant demands unconditional surrender from
Pemberton
– Pemberton refused the terms
– Grant returns with a less extreme surrender:
• All Confederate troops would be paroled (set free) after they signed an oath to
not fight against Union
• All military supplies were to be surrendered
• Pemberton accepts terms
– July 4th, 1863 Vicksburg formally surrenders to Grant