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Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 1
The War Begins
Lincoln Faces a Crisis
• 7 states seceded
before Lincoln
took office
– Spoke of intention
to preserve the
Union in his
inaugural address
• South did not
respond to
Lincoln’s call for
unity
– Already taking
over federal
mints, arms
storehouses, and
forts
Lincoln Faces a Crisis
• Fort Sumter – important
federal post located near
Charleston, South
Carolina (controlled
entrance to Charleston
Harbor)
• March 1861, federal troops
at Fort Sumter were low on
supplies – Lincoln decided
to resupply them rather
than have them give up the
fort
• South Carolina
demanded Union troops
leave; commander
refused
Lincoln Faces a Crisis
(continued)
• Confederate guns
opened fire before
sunrise April 12, 1861 =
beginning of Civil War
• Attack outraged the North
• Lincoln declared the
South in rebellion,
asked state
governments for 75,000
militiamen to put down
the revolt
Choosing Sides
• Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas supported
Lincoln’s call for troops
• Free Northern states remained solidly in the
Union
• Slave states that had not joined the
Confederacy had to choose sides
– Upper South – North Carolina, Tennessee,
Virginia, Arkansas – joined Confederacy after
Lincoln’s call for troops
• Provided CSA with soldiers and industrial resources
Choosing Sides
• Richmond, Virginia
became the capital of
the Confederacy
• Slave states that did not
secede – Delaware,
Kentucky, Maryland and
Missouri – bordered the
North = “border states”
– Important to both sides
– Kentucky and Missouri
controlled key stretches
of Mississippi and Ohio
Rivers
– Federal capital bordered
on three sides by
Maryland
Choosing Sides (continued)
• Slaveholders in Delaware supported
secession but there were few
• Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri – people were
deeply divided
– Troops from Kentucky and Missouri served on both
sides
• Lincoln sent federal troops into Maryland
and western Virginia (whose population was
mostly loyal to the Union)
• People in the counties of western Virginia set
up their own state government – West
Virginia joined the Union in 1863
United States 1861
The Volunteer Spirit
• Neither side was
prepared for war
– Depended heavily on
volunteers
• In border states,
members of same family
often joined opposing
sides
• Civilians raised money,
provided aid for
soldiers and their
families, and ran
emergency hospitals
The Volunteer Spirit
• Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell =
first woman to earn a
medical license
– Helped convince
President Lincoln to form
the U.S. Sanitary
Commission in June
1861
• Sent bandages,
medicines, and food to
Union army camps and
hospitals
The North versus the South
• North’s Advantages
– Much larger population
provided more soldiers
– Had most of nation’s
factories and
shipyards
– Better network of
railways – allowed for
more efficient
transportation
– Able to raise more
money to spend on
war
The North versus the South
• South’s Advantages
– Many skilled officers
– Only needed to
defend itself until
North grew tired;
North had to defeat
southern forces and
occupy large areas of
enemy territory
The North versus the South
• Both sides based military
strategy on strengths
• Union General Winfield
Scott developed the Union’s
basic 2-part strategy
– Wanted to destroy South’s
economy through naval
blockade of Southern
seaports
– Gain control of the
Mississippi River to divide
the Confederacy and cut its
communications
– Many northern leaders called for a
direct attack on Richmond (the
Confederate capital)
The North vs. the South
(continued)
• Confederate
strategy was to
defend its
territory and
wear down
Union’s will to
fight
– Wanted to take
Washington,
D.C.
The North vs. the South
(continued)
• Davis was a demanding
leader, went through 6
Secretaries of War in 4 years
• Davis and other
Confederate leaders tried
to win foreign allies
(particularly Great Britain)
through “cotton
diplomacy” – did not work
– Based on Southern belief that
British government would
support them because cotton
was important to British textile
industry (did not work because
British had large supply
stockpiled when war began)
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 2
The War in the East
Two Armies Meet
• First Battle of Bull Run
(Manassas) = first
major clash of Union
and Confederate
armies (July 1861)
– General Irvin McDowell
led 35,000 barely trained
troops from Washington
toward Richmond
• Two sides met 30 miles
outside DC near
Manassas Junction, VA
Two Armies Meet
• 35,000 Confederates
lined Bull Run Creek
– Unit led by General
Thomas “Stonewall”
Jackson held firmly in
place
• Union army driven
back; retreated to DC
– Confederates may have
captured capital if not
so tired and
disorganized
• Defeat broke Union’s
hopes of winning the
war quickly and easily
More Battles in Virginia
• Lincoln sent General George B. McClellan
back into VA to capture Richmond
– Camped near Yorktown, did not attack because
thought his troops were outnumbered (gave
Confederacy time to strengthen Richmond’s
defenses)
• McClellan took Yorktown; clashed with
Confederates near Richmond
• Davis put General Robert E. Lee in charge in
VA in June 1862
– Most talented officer on either side
– Lincoln had asked him to join the Union in 1861 but
he chose to remain loyal to his home (south)
More Battles in Virginia
(continued)
• Lee strengthened
positions during
summer of 1862
– Began attacking, hoping
to push McClellan away
from Richmond (Seven
Days’ Battles) – it
worked
• Lincoln ordered
General John Pope to
advance directly on
Richmond from DC
More Battles in Virginia (continued)
• Lee sent Jackson’s
troops around Pope’s
right side; Lee’s forces
took left side = 2nd
Battle of Bull Run
– Pope’s army fell apart
• By August 1862, Lee
had pushed most of
Union forces out of
Virginia
– Took war to the North
The Battle of Antietam
• Confederate leaders hoped victory on Northern soil
would break Union’s spirit and convince European
powers to help the south
• September 4, 1862 Confederate soldiers entered
Maryland
• Union soldiers found copy of Lee’s battle plan;
General McClellan used to plan counterattack
The Battle of Antietam
• Battle of Antietam –
September 17, 1862 – armies
met along Antietam Creek
– Union lost more than
12,000; Confederates more
than 13,000
– Bloodiest single-day battle
of the war (Union won)
• Antietam cost Lee many
troops and stopped northern
advance
• McClellan allowed Lee to
retreat to Virginia; replaced two
months later – Lincoln tired of
delays
The War at Sea
• Union controlled sea
• North had most of U.S. Navy’s
small fleet and enough
industry to build more ships
• Union navy blockaded the
South
– cut off southern trade and
hurt the economy
• South used blockade runners
(small fast ships) to outrun
larger Union warships to reach
trading ports
– Could not make up for loss of
trade
The War at Sea
• Confederacy turned to new type
of warship – the ironclad (heavily
armored with iron)
– Turned a captured Union ship
into an ironclad, renamed
Virginia – successful in sinking
several wooden warships at
Hampton Roads, VA (access to
important waterway)
• Monitor – Union navy’s ironclad
– Unusual feature – revolving gun
turret
– Powerful guns and thick plating
• Monitor met Virginia back at
Hampton Roads, VA – forced the
Virginia to withdraw
– saved the Union fleet, kept the
blockade going
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 3
The War in the West
Western Strategy
• Union strategy focused on controlling the
Mississippi River
– Would allow the North to cut the eastern states of
Confederacy off from important sources of food
production in western states of AK, LA and TX
– Union army would also be able to attack South’s
communication and trade network
• By February 1862, Union forces had captured
Nashville
– Controlled KY and much of TN
– Advanced south along the Tennessee River
toward Mississippi
Western Strategy
• Ulysses S. Grant =
most important
figure in the war in
the west
– Volunteered to serve
in the Union army
Western Strategy (continued)
• Battle of Shiloh – April 6, 1862 –
Confederates caught Grant by surprise,
pushed him back
– Grant launched counterattack after
reinforcements arrived on April 7
– Confederates retreated, Union had greater
control of the Mississippi River valley
– One of the first major battles of the war
Fighting for the Mississippi River
• Grant and other Union
commanders wanted to
capture key southern
positions along the
Mississippi
• Union navy would first
try to take the port of
New Orleans (largest city
in the South)
– Union could then send
forces up the Mississippi
to join Grant’s advancing
army from the north
Fighting for the Mississippi River
• Two forts guarded the approach to New Orleans
from the Gulf of Mexico
– David Farragut could not defeat them so he
sailed past them to capture the port of New
Orleans (April 29, 1862)
• Sailed up the Mississippi, took Baton Rouge and
Natchez – only Vicksburg stood in his way
• Southern defenders of Vicksburg had an important
advantage – city’s high bluffs overlooking the river
– Allowed Confederates (under John C. Pemberton) to cover
the area with heavy guns)
Fighting for the Mississippi River
(continued)
• General Grant blocked
Confederate reinforcements
from reaching Vicksburg in
the spring of 1863
• Siege of Vicksburg –
Union troops surrounded
the city for about 6 weeks
– Starving residents and
Confederate soldiers
resorted to eating horses,
dogs, rats, etc.
– Pemberton surrendered on
July 4, 1863 giving the Union
control of the Mississippi
The Far West
• Fighting took place in Arkansas, Missouri, along
the Texas coast and in New Mexico
• Little or no fighting took place in California
– Strongly pro-Union
• Confederates marched into New Mexico from
Texas (August, 1861)
– Defeated by Union at Glorieta Pass near Santa
Fe
– Ended Confederate hopes of controlling the
Southwest
• Confederates tried to take Missouri
– Union forces turned them back in attempt to seize
the federal arsenal at St. Louis
The Far West (continued)
• Battle of Pea Ridge – Union
forces vs. pro-Confederate
Missourians in Northwestern
Arkansas
– American Indians (mainly
Cherokee) fought on Confederate
side – hoped Confederate leaders
would give them greater
independence
• Also, slavery legal in Indian
Territory; some Indian slaveholders
supported Confederacy
– Union forces won – gave them
upper hand in Missouri
• Pro-Confederate units continued to
attack Union forts and raid towns;
forced Union to keep valuable
troops in area
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 4
Life During the War
Freeing the Slaves
• Lincoln supported freeing slaves if it would help the
north win the war
• Other arguments for ending:
– Punish southern slaveholders for role in causing war
– Argued continuing slavery would lead to future conflict between
north and south
• Lincoln faced problems concerning emancipation:
– Feared northern prejudice against African Americans
might weaken support for the war if emancipation became
a Union goal
– Afraid some northerners would consider slaves property that
southerners had the right to keep
– constitution did not give the president the power to end slavery
in the U.S.
Freeing the Slaves
• Lincoln issued a
military order
freeing slaves only
in areas controlled
by the Confederacy
– Felt his authority
did not apply to
loyal, slaveholding
border states (did
not want to make
them angry)
Freeing the Slaves (continued)
• Lincoln issued the
Emancipation
Proclamation on
September 22, 1862
following the Union
victory at the Battle of
Antietam
– Called for all slaves in
Confederate states to be
freed
– Encouraged southern
slaves to escape when
they heard Union troops
nearby (hurt southern
economy and
Confederate war effort)
Freeing the Slaves (continued)
• African Americans and
northerners praised the
Emancipation
Proclamation; received
popular support from
Britain and France
• Many northern
Democrats opposed it –
wanted to restore Union,
not end slavery
• A few abolitionists
argued Lincoln had not
gone far enough
African Americans and the War
• Question of whether or not
to allow African Americans
in the military troubled many
northern leaders
• Saw practical reason for
enlistment – Union needed
soldiers
• Allowed to volunteer as
laborers beginning in July
1862
• War department gave
contrabands (escaped slaves)
right to join Union army
African Americans and the War
• 54th Massachusetts Infantry –
one such African American unit
– Played key role in attack on
South Carolina’s Fort Wagner
– Became most famous A.A.
unit of the war
• About 180,000 A.A. served
during the war
• Fought bravely despite
discrimination
– Received less pay than white
soldiers
– Usually led by whites
– Confederates often killed
A.A. POWs or sold them into
slavery
Problems in the North
• North upset by length of war
and increasing number of
casualties
• Group of northern
Democrats –
“Copperheads” – began to
speak out against the war
– Many were mid-westerners
who sympathized with the
South; objected to abolition
and wanted war to end
• Lincoln believed
Copperheads threatened
war effort
– Suspended right of habeas
corpus to stop them – Union
officials could put enemies
in jail without evidence or
trial (angered Democrats)
Problems in the North
• March 1863 – Congress
passed a law allowing
men to be drafted into
military service
– Wealthy could buy way
out
– Copperheads argued its
unfair to force unwilling
white men to fight for
freedom of slaves
• Riots targeted A.A. and
draft officials in NYC in
July 1863
– Many were poor
immigrants afraid of
losing jobs to freed A.A.
Southern Struggles
• Naval blockade took heavy toll – did
not have enough supplies
• Value of Confederate money fell as
southern exports dropped
• Price of food, clothing, and medicine
soared
• Severe shortages caused unrest
– Food riots in many cities
• Newspapers ordered not to report – Davis feared
news would embarrass southerners and
encourage north to keep fighting
Southern Struggles (continued)
• Government of Confederacy faced
problems – officials disagreed on many
issues
• Controversy over new draft law
– Southern draft did not apply to men who
held many slaves – rule angered poor
white southerners
• Hatred of the draft and some pro-Union
feelings in rural areas led to protests;
some even took up arms against
Confederate officials
Life on the Home Front
• People too young or old
for military service
worked in factories, on
farms, and other areas
• Women played
important role in
providing medical care
for soldiers
• Dorothea Dix headed
more than 3000 women
who served as paid
nurses in the Union
army
Life on the Home Front
• Clara Barton worked
as a volunteer,
organizing the
collection of medicine
and supplies for
delivery to Union
troops on the
battlefield
– Work formed the basis
for what would become
the American Red Cross
– Known as the “angel of
the battlefield”
Life on the Home Front
(continued)
• Soldiers spent weeks in
uncomfortable and unhealthy
camps
– Faced bad weather, disease, and
unsafe food
– Twice as many soldiers died of
disease than died in combat
• Military prisoners suffered
greatly
– Worst conditions were at
Andersonville in southwestern
Georgia
• Thousands of Union soldiers held
there with no shelter and little food
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 5
The Tide of the War Turns
The Battle of Gettysburg
• May 1863 Lee’s troops
defeated larger Union
force near town of
Chancellorsville, then
won at Fredericksburg
(both in VA)
– Stonewall Jackson
accidentally shot by own
troops at Chancellorsville
The Battle of Gettysburg
• Victories encouraged Lee to launch
another offensive into Union territory
– Goals = break Union will to fight; capture
much needed supplies
– Hoped another victory would turn tide of war
in Confederate favor
• Mid-June 1863 Lee cut across northern
Maryland into southern Pennsylvania
(gathered near Gettysburg)
The Battle of Gettysburg
(continued)
• Confederate raiding party went to
Gettysburg for supplies (July 1, 1863) –
attacked by Union soldiers
• Battle of Gettysburg – 75,000
Confederates vs. 90,000 Union soldiers
– Pickett’s Charge – led by General George
Picket – up Cemetery Ridge (occupied by
Union)
• Disaster; fewer than ½ reached the top
A Turning Point
• Lee retreated from Gettysburg to Virginia
• Gettysburg was a turning point – Lee would
never again launch an attack onto northern
soil
• Union victory at Gettysburg = same day as
Grant’s capture of Vicksburg
– Made north believe Confederacy could be
defeated
• Union casualties at Gettysburg more than
23,000; Confederate more than 28,000
A Turning Point
• Lincoln delivered
the Gettysburg
Address (November
19, 1863)
– Short; one of most
famous speeches in
American history
– Stressed
importance of
liberty, equality and
democratic ideals
Grant’s Drive to Richmond
• Lincoln was impressed
with Grant’s successes
at Vicksburg and in
west
– Brought Grant east
• Grant forced Lee to fight
a series of battles that
stretched the
Confederate soldiers and
supplies to the limit
Grant’s Drive to Richmond
• Wilderness Campaign – 100,000 Union
troops vs. 70,000 Confederates
– Clashed northwest of Richmond
– Grant ordered Meade southeast to Spotsylvania
– Union pressed Confederates back to just north of
Richmond
– Battle of Cold Harbor – 10 miles northeast of
Richmond
• Grant’s worst defeat of campaign, ended Grant’s
plans to advance on Confederate capital
• Union suffered high losses in Wilderness
Campaign; twice as many as opponent
Grant’s Drive to Richmond
Grant continued aggressive strategy
– Knew he was getting additional soldiers; Lee
running low on troops
• Grant moved south of Richmond (after Cold
Harbor)
– Hoped to take key railroad junction at
Petersburg, VA
• Lee’s army formed solid defense
• Grant called off attack; prepared to lay siege
to Petersburg
• Grant winning the war, but had not captured
Richmond
– Discouraging for Lincoln
Sherman Strikes the South
• Lincoln needed a
victory to help him
win re-election in
1864
• General William
Tecumseh Sherman
carried out Union
plan to destroy
southern railroads
and industries
Sherman Strikes the South
• Spring of 1864, Sherman marched south from
Tennessee
– Goal was to take Atlanta
– Troops drove back Confederate forces trying to protect the
city
• Retreated as Sherman held city under siege
– Atlanta fell to Sherman September 2, 1864
• Loss of Atlanta cost the South an important railroad
link and center of industry
• Showed northerners that progress was being made in
defeating the South
• Success helped convince voters to re-elect Lincoln
in a landslide
• Sherman’s next attack = port city of Savannah
Georgia
Sherman Strikes the South
• March to the Sea – Sherman
waged “total war”
(destroying both civilian
and military resources)
– Felt total war would ruin
South’s economy and
ability to fight
– Ordered troops to destroy
railways, bridges, crops,
livestock, and other
resources; burned
plantations, freed slaves
• Sherman’s army reached
Savannah on December 10,
1864
The South Surrenders
• Early April, Sherman closed in on last
Confederate defenders in North Carolina
• Grant broke through Confederate
defenses at Petersburg
• April 2, Lee forced to retreat from
Richmond
• 2nd week of April 1865, Grant had
surrounded Lee’s army and demanded its
surrender
The South Surrenders
• Lee trapped in small town of
Appomattox Courthouse
• Union and Confederate
leaders met Palm Sunday
April 9, 1865
– Lee signed surrender
documents
• Civil War had deep lasting
effects
– Almost 620,000 Americans
lost their lives
– Most costly conflict in
American history