Download CW Basics

Let’s look at the numbers…
War
Participants
Deaths in service
American
Revolution
290,000
4,000
Civil War
3,213,000
620,000
World War I
4,744,000
116,000
World War II
16,535,000
420,000
Korean War
6,807,000
55,000
Vietnam War
9,200,000
109,000
*What – is the Civil War
What is a civil war?
- a war between opposing groups of citizens in the same country
Union names for the war
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The Civil War
The Southern Rebellion
The War of Abolition
The War Against Slavery
Confederate names for the war
• The War for States’ Rights
• The War for Southern
Independence
• The Yankee Invasion
Civil War Basics
• April 12, 1861 - April 9, 1865
(Ft. Sumter, SC)
(Appomattox Court House, VA)
• Two sides: Union (United States of America)
(North); Confederacy (Confederate States of
America) (South)
• Fought on two fronts: East (coast) and
West (Mississippi River)
• Winner: Union
Civil War Basics
• Why?
– Keep the Union together (Lincoln)
– States’ Rights (strong state govt.; weaker
federal govt. – limit the ability to end slavery
throughout the country)
• Turning Point:
• Strategy:
Gettysburg, PA (East/NE)
Vicksburg, MS (West)
Ft. Wagner, SC (East/SE)
North – Scott’s Great Snake
South – Defensive War
Recruiting an Army
Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve as
soldiers in a campaign to squash the Southern
rebellion. By the end of 1861, 527,000 volunteers
had joined the Union Army.
Despite preparing for a defensive war, Davis too,
made a call for troops. “We seek no conquest, all
we ask is to be let alone.” By the end of 1861,
258,000 men had joined the Confederate Army.
Volunteer Armies
Northerners believed they needed to fight to
save the Union (united is better/stronger, stick together, end
slavery, safe from capture, North economically benefited from the South, etc.).
Southerners believed they were fighting a war
of independence (states’ rights, for slavery, for foreign trade
without tariffs, etc.) similar to the American
Revolution.
Men on both sides were eager to enlist…
The sides………
• Blue- North
Union Army – United States of America, Federal
Army, Yankee Army, Northern Army, or Army
of the “river” (Potomac, Cumberland,
Tennessee)
• Gray- South
Confederate Army – Confederate States of
America, The Confederates, Rebel Army, or
Army of the “land mass” (Northern Virginia,
Tennessee)
“We shall crush out this rebellion as
an elephant would trample on a
mouse.”
Both sides believed the
war would end quickly.
“Just throw three or four [bomb] shells
among those blue-bellied Yankees
and they’ll scatter like sheep.”
As the war dragged on……
• Public support dwindled and so did the
number of volunteers
• By the spring of 1862 the Confederacy
passed its first conscription act and by
1863 the Union was forced into doing the
same. This required all able bodied men
between 18 and 35 to serve if called (later
draft ages 17-50).
Leaders
• North- President Lincoln had very little
military or national political experience, but
proved to be a good leader
• South- President Davis was thought to be
a stronger president because he went to
West Point and was a former Secretary of
War
Finding a General
Following the quick attack and defeat at Fort Sumter, Lincoln
asked Robert E. Lee to lead the Union Army. When Virginia
seceded (spring 1861), Lee’s loyalty remained with his home
state not the Union. He declined the offer and later became
commander of the Confederate Army.
Lee commands the South in all major battles in the Northern
Virginia Area and could arguably be the best General of the
entire war.
In the end, Lee will eventually surrender to General Ulysses S.
Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, VA to end the war.
After the war, Lee is stripped of US citizenship which was
restored to in 1975 (105 years after his death). Ironically his
homestead property in Virginia has been made into the
county’s most prestigious military cemeteries….Arlington
National Cemetery.
Lincoln had trouble finding a good
General
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Winfield Scott
George B. McClellan
Henry W. Halleck
Ulysses S. Grant
The Civil War consisted of nearly 10,500 battles, engagements, and other military actions including
nearly 50 major battles and about 100 others that had major significance.
Plans
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The South’s plan was simple….defense,
defense, defense!
The North’s plan…the Anaconda Plan (Scott’s
Great Snake)…wrap around the south and
suffocate it like a snake!
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Seal off the coast with a naval blockade
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Protect the Union Capitol: Washington, D.C.
Capture Confederate Capitol: Richmond, Virginia
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Conquer the Mississippi River
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Squeeze/Suffocate the South to submission