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The War Between the States
aka – The American Civil War
The Proper Name
The Congressional Record of March 2, 1928, reports Senate
joint resolution No. 41 wherein Congress recognized the
title "War Between The States" as proper:
"A War was waged from 1861 to 1865 between two organized governments: the
United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. These were the
official titles of the contending parties.
"It was not a "Civil War", as it was not fought between two parties within the same
government.
"It was not a "War of Secession", for the Southern States seceded without a thought
of war. The right of a State to secede had never been questioned.
"It was not a "War of Rebellion" for sovereign, independent States, co-equal, can
not rebel against each other.
"It was a "War between the States", because twenty-two non-seceding States made
war upon eleven seceding States to coerce them back into the Union of States. It
was not until after the surrender of 1865 that secession was decided to be
unconstitutional."
The Road to War
The Election of 1860 - With the ascension of the
Republican party to power, Southerners feared a
legislative attack on their society
Dec. 20, 1860 - South Carolina seceded
Feb., 1861 - Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida,
Louisiana, and Texas secede
April 15, 1861 - Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and
Tennessee secede
After Fort Sumter
After Lincoln’s call for troops
The Road To War
War Aims:
North - Restore the Union
South - Achieve independence
Strategy:
North - Take the offensive. Achieve war aim by
conquest, subjugation & complete military victory
South - Stand on defense. Avoid defeat until
Northern population tires of war. Seek
European recognition
The Road to War
Correlation of Forces:
Population size - Advantage: North
Financial strength - Advantage: North
Industrial strength - Advantage: North
Political strength - Advantage: North
Political unity - Advantage: Draw
The imponderables - ?
The Road to War
Production Capacity
The Eastern Theater
The Western Theater
The Trans-Mississippi Theater
Strategies
Northern strategy
Achieve military victory through a process of
annihilation and exhaustion.
Southern strategy
Avoid military defeat while seeking a solution
diplomatically.
Strategies
North Strategy
Achieve military victory through a process of annihilation and exhaustion.
1. Seal off the eastern seaboard
2. Seal off the Mississippi River
3. Seal off the northern border with massive
armies.
4. Large scale raids to destroy enemy’s logistical
base (added later by Grant)
Key Tasks of the USA
1. Control the Mississippi River
2. Liberate East Tennessee
3. Wage incessant military activity in Virginia
a. Primary goal - destroy Army of Northern
Virginia
b. Secondary goal - capture Richmond
4. Maintain effective blockade
Strategies
Southern strategy
Avoid military defeat while seeking a diplomatic solution.
1. Should South stand on defensive or attack?
2. Which theater of war was most vital?
3. Davis wavered
Key Tasks of the CSA
1. Avoid destruction of the army
2. Prevent deep penetrations
3. Convince England that the South can win
4. Demoralize the northern population
War in the East
1861 - 1862
War in the West
1862
Battle of Hampton Roads
9 March 1862
War in the East
1862
Strategic Balance
1862
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln: “If I could save the Union without
freeing any slave, I would do it; if I could save the
Union by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; If I could
do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would
also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored
race, I do because I believe it helps save the Union.”
William Seward (Sec. State): “We show our sympathy
with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot
reach them, and holding them in bondage where we
can set them free.”
Emancipation Proclamation
That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all
persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be
in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free;
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as
Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion,
and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do order and designate as the
States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the
United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes …) Mississippi,
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight
counties designated as West Virginia, and also …
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the
armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man
vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military
necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lee’s Invasion Goals
1863
Get fighting out of Virginia and away from Richmond
Relieve pressures on armies in Tennessee and Mississippi
Acquire badly needed food and supplies
Hoped decisive victory on northern soil would lead to
recognition by England
Hoped to demoralize North so South could present peace
proposal
Battle of Gettysburg
1 – 3 July 1863
The Mississippi Valley
Strategic Balance
1863