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Ch. 21
The Civil War
Bull Run
 Bull Run (Manassas
Junction), 30 miles south
of Washington
 Assumed a quick strike
would knock out South
 July 21,1861
 Picnickers
 “Stonewall” Jackson
 The Great Skedaddle
 Consequences
McClellan And The Peninsula
Campaign
 George McClellan—”Young
Napoleon”
 Strengths and Weaknesses
 McClellan’s slow creep down
the Chesapeake
 Seven Day’s Battle
 Robert E. Lee
 McClellan’s Retreat
Anaconda Plan
 Union plan has six components:
 Suffocate the south by blockading the
coast
 Liberate the slaves and thus undermine
southern economy
 Cut the South in half by seizing control of
the Mississippi
 Chop the confederacy into pieces by
sending troops through the Carolinas
and Georgia
 Decapitate it by seizing Richmond
 Wage war of attrition and attack the
southern main forces with Bigger Union
forces. South can’t afford to lose troops
at 1-1 ratio.
ART OF WAR
 By 1860 had been huge
technological leaps in
weaponry.
 Rifled barrels
 Minie ball
 Tactics had to change, but most
of the officers didn’t adjust
early.
 entrenched defensive
fortifications were supreme.
 Change in how Calvary used.
 Artillery used defensively to
mow down attackers during a
charge and to soften up
defenders before attacking.
Second Bull Run—8/29/62
 Pope v. Lee and Jackson
 Day 1, Pope attempts a frontal assault and is
repulsed.
 Day 2, Longstreet has his troops laid out in an
open V. Pope attacks up the middle and is
mauled.
 16,000 Federal casualties compared to 9,000
Confederate casualties.
 Pope is relieved of command and sent to Minn.
to fight the Indians. McClellan placed back into
command.
Antietam 9/17/1862
 Lee’s thrust into Maryland
 Purpose
 The cigar problem
 McClelland fails to act aggressively. Draw in
fact, win technically, but tactical defeat for Union.
 9/17/62 Bloodiest single day of the war.
Confed. 14,000 cas.; Union 12,500
 Consequences
 Prevents Southern recognition
 McClellan relieved of command
 Allows for Emancipation Proclamation 9/23/1862
Emancipation Proclamation
 What it said
 Thousands of slaves flocked to the invading
Union armies.
 Lincoln’s goal
 Eliminated any real possibility of a negotiated
peace.
 Abolitionists reaction.
 Rise of the Copperheads.
 Europe reaction
 Prevents negotiated peace.
Fredericksburg
 Gen. Burnside,
 Confed. have fortified positions at top of
ridge. Burnside orders repeated frontal
charges. Union troops are slaughtered. More
than 10,000 casualties.
 12,700 Union Cas. to 5,300 Confed. Casualties.
Biggest disparity of casualties of any Major
Civil War battle.
 Lincoln replaces Burnside with Hooker.
 Winter of 62-63 is low point for the Union.
Chancellorsville
 May 1863. “Fighting”
Joe Hooker takes over
from Burnside and is
beaten at
Chancellorsville.
 17000 Union Casualties.
13,000 Confed.
 Jackson’s night march
 The fall of Jackson
Gettysburg
 Lee’s Plan
 Meade is replacing Hooker
 Terrain
 Culp’s Hill, Little Round Top,
Big Round Top




Day 1 July 1, 1863
Day 2 Outcome still in doubt
Day 3 Pickett’s Charge
Lee forced to retreat back
across the Potomac.
 28,000 Confed. Casualties;
23,000 Union Causalities.
War in the West
 Western Strategy
 Grant
 Shiloh
 Vicksburg
Sherman’s March on Georgia
 Grant goes to the East
and Sherman takes over
in West
 Capture of Atlanta
 Slash and Burn
Campaign
 Total War
 Captures Savannah
Christmas 1864
Destruction of the city is
vicious
Politics of War
 Election of 1864
 Split of Democrats
 Union Party
 Andrew Johnson
 Democrats—George
McClellan
 Timely victories in Georgia
 Lincoln Wins 55-45
Grant Outlasts Lee
 Grant advantage and strategy
 5/64 Grant repeatedly tries to jump a march on
Lee and get around his right. Lee forced to
continually retreat to meet these threats.
 (5/64) Battle of the Wilderness –
U=18,000Casualties; Confed. 9000 Casualties
 Spotsylvania--Union suffers 12,000 Casualties
Confed. 8,000
Cold Harbor
 Cold Harbor—6/64. Union attacks fortified Confederate
position. 7,000 Union Casualties in about 7 min.
 In one month, Grant looses 50,000 (Wilderness to
Cold Harbor; ½ as many as lost by that army in the
prior 3 years)
 Grant drives Lee back to Petersburg. Lee builds
trenches and fortifications. Grant has to lay in siege.
Grant is in miles of Richmond, but can’t get at Lee. Seige
lasts for 9 months.
 Northern troops captured Richmond and cornered Lee at
Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia in 1865.
 “The war is over the rebels are our countrymen again.”
The Martyrdom Of Lincoln
 Five days after Lee’s surrender, Lincoln shot by
John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in
Washington on April 14, 1865.
 Lincoln dies at the height of the Union Cause
 Ultimately, Lincoln’s death was bad for the
south.
 Lincoln’s Legacy.