Download Chapter 23

1861-1865
By: Rejina Koshy &
Sharona Shimunova
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In April 15, 1861 President Lincoln issued a call to the states for 75,000 militiamen
expecting the war to last no more than 90 days. “On to Richmond!” was their
optimistic cry.
Although the Union army was ill prepared for battle, the press and public urged
for action to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond.
In July 1861 the Union army marched from Washington D.C., to attack the
Confederate forces at Bull Run in Virginia.
The battle went well at first, however the Confederate army under General
Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson counterattacked sending the inexperienced Union
troops in a panic back to Washington.
The “military panic” at Bull Run had many political and physiological
consequences.
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It inflated a dangerous overconfidence amongst the South Confederate
states.
Because the Confederate troops felt that the war was surely over,
southern enlistments fell sharply, and preparations for conflict were
slackened.
That military panic at Bull Run ended the illusion of a short war and
promoted the myth that the Rebels were invincible in battle. This
compelled the Union troops to buckle down and prepare for war.
It set the stage that war would be waged not only for the cause of the
Union but for the abolitionist ideal of emancipation.
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General George B. McClellan- the new commander of the Union
army of the Potomac, which was the force near Washington.
“Tardy George” as he was known by many insisted that his
troops be given a long period of training and discipline before
going into battle.
After many delays he The Army of Potomac invaded Virginia in
March 1862.
The Peninsula Campaign- McClellan decided on a water-borne
approach to Richmond which lies on a narrow peninsula formed
by the James and York Rivers. The Union army advanced
toward the Confederate capital
The Union army was unsuccessful as Confederate commander
General Robert E. Lee pushed the Union forces back to sea.
The Union forces abandoned the Peninsula Campaign as a costly
failure and McClellan was replaced.
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General in Chief Winfield Scott
devised a three-part strategy for
winning a long war.
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ANACONDA PLAN- Blockade
southern ports to suffocate the South and
cut it off from essential supplies.
LIBERATION- Liberate the slaves
CONTROL OF MISSISSIPPI- Divide
the Confederacy in half by taking control
of the Mississippi River backbone.
TAKE CONTROL OF RICHMONDRaise a Confederate army of 500,000 to
take over Richmond.
Blockading of the Southern ports was
simplified by concentration on docks
where bales of cotton were unloaded.
The blockade was profitable as the
growing scarcity of Southern goods
drove prices skyward.
The Yankee captains and Northern
Navy seized British freighters that
were stocked with war supplies
destined for the Confederacy.
The Union troops at the docks had to
counter resistance by the Confederates,
such as the Confederate warship
Merrimack which destroyed two
wooden ships of the Union navy in the
Virginia waters of Chesapeake Bay.
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At the Second Battle of Bull Run of 1862 Robert E. Lee of the Confederate army
stoke Pope’s army in northern Virginia sending the Union army backward to Bull
Run.
Lee then led his army across the Potomac and into the Union state of Maryland. Lee
hoped that if they would win this battle in the north, then Britain would recognize
and support the Confederacy.
In 1862, before Lee initiated the Antietam Battle McClellan’s troops found a copy of
Lee’s battle plans that was dropped by a careless Confederate officer.
The Union army intercepted the invading Confederates at Antietam Creek in the
Maryland town of Sharpsburg. This became the bloodiest single day of combat of the
entire war.
Lee’s Confederate army was able to retreat to Virginia.
EFFECT: a- The union displayed unexpected power
b- The Antietam was the long waited victory that Lincoln needed to launch
his Emancipation Proclamation
c- Confederates defeat stopped the Confederates from recognition and aid
from a foreign power.
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CONSEQUENCES:
 The Proclamation committed to the policy of
abolition in the South, and enlarged the purpose of the
war.
Union armies were now fighting against slavery and
not just for secession and rebellion.
Thousands of slaves, learning of the proclamation
went to join the Union armies and abandoning their
plantations.
Opposition mounted in the North against supporting
an “abolition war” . Many agreed to fight for union not
against slavery.
The proclamation authorized recruitment of freed
slaves as Union soldiers.
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July 1862 after the Battle of Antietam,
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation
of 1863 declared that the slaves in the
states that were at war with the United
States were “forever free”
The Blacks in the loyal Border States
were not affected, nor were those in
specific conquered area in the South.
The announcement of Lincoln’s
proclamation was delayed until he was
able to receive full support from the
conservative northerners.
He encouraged border states to come
up with plans for emancipating slaves
and he was even willing to compensate
the owners of slaves.
Lincoln’s goal was not to liberate
slaves but to strengthen the moral
cause of the Union at home and abroad.
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Lincoln replaced McClellan with a more aggressive General Ambrose Burnside.
In December 1862- the Union army under Burnside attacked the Confederate general Lee’s army
at Fredericksburg, Virginia. This was known as the Fredericksburg Battle.
The Union army suffered immense losses. This war signified the magnitude of the war where no
prospect of military victory was seen for either side.
Then in 1864, Lincoln had finally found a general who could fight and win having; General
Ulysses S. Grant.
 In early 1864, Lincoln made him commander of all the Union armies.
 Grant’s strategy was to wear down the southern armies and destroy their vital
lines of supply.
 Grant's most significant triumphs was in Tennessee where he opened the
gateway to the important regions in Tennessee, Georgia and the heart of Dixie.
 Grant won a series of battles in 1863, and eventually cleared out the Confederates
which opened way to an invasion into Georgia.
Another general, General William Tecumseh Sherman was made in charge of the conquest of
Georgia where he was supposed to destroy the supplies destined for the Confederate army and to
weaken the morale of the men in the South.
 He led his army through a “March through Georgia”
 Captured and burned Atlanta in 1864, left his supply base, lived off the country,
and rose at Savannah on the sea
 Sherman’s enemies, Blue Bellies, burned buildings leaving only the blackened
chimneys; tore railroad rails, heated them and twisted them into “iron
doughnuts” and “Sherman’s hairpins”
 Seized Savannah, went north to South Carolina as Columbia, the capital, burst
to flames
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Battle of Gettysburg- General Lee decided to invade
the North again through Pennsylvania, which he
hoped would encourage foreign intervention and
force the North to call for peace.
 July 1, 1863, the southern army surprised
the Union troops at Gettysburg in southern
Pennsylvania.
 This was the most crucial battle of the war
and the most bloodiest with over 50,000
dead.
 Unfortunately for the Confederate, the
victory at Gettysburg belonged to the
Union and Lee’s troops retreated to
Virginia, finally called truce.
Battle of Vicksburg- In the West in 1863, the Union
forces under Grant had won over New Orleans and
most of the Mississippi River, however not all.
 The Union’s objective was to gain control of
all of the Mississippi River. So they
attempted to gain control of the fortress
Vicksburg.
 Vicksburg was essential for the South
because it was the South’s guard protecting
the lifeline to the western sources of supply.
 Grant was given command of Union forces
attacking Vicksburg, Vicksburg
surrendered on July 4, 1863 & five days
later Port Hudson fell.
 Union victory allowed trade to flourish
again by reopening the Mississippi River.
Both victories tipped the diplomatic scales in favor of
the North, and also killed all hope of foreign help.
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The Election of 1864 fell in midst of war- Lincoln’s role was doubted for even his own party
distrusted his ability of abolition.
Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War formed in late 1861
» dominated by radical Republicans who resented the expansion of
presidential power in wartime and pressed Lincoln on emancipation
Northern Democrats were another danger to Union
» Leader Stephen A. Douglas died of typhoid fever seven weeks after war
began
» Democrats were divided; “War Democrats” supported Lincoln’s
administration, “Peace Democrats” did not
» Copperheads were extremely obstructed war through attacks against the
draft, against Lincoln and against emancipation. They obtained support
from southern parts such as Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. For example
Clement L. Vallandigham- congressman from Ohio who stirred trouble &
was a great orator; southern partisan who demanded end to war
In the Election of 1864, Lincoln won support from the Republican Party but was threatened by the
Peace Democrats and the Copperheads.
» Although Lincoln was renominated, most favored Secretary of treasury
Salmon Chase.
» Lincoln accused of lacking force, over-ready to compromise, and not
winning the war but he was still nominated by Union party
» running mate ex-tailor Andrew Johnson, loyal War Democrat from
Tennessee, both southerners and copperheads disliked both candidates
therefore General McClellan was elected
As balloting day neared: Admiral Farragut captured Mobile, Alabama; General Sherman seized
Atlanta; General Sheridan held Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and Lincoln’s triumphs were
crushing the spirits of the Confederates
Although The Lincoln-Johnson ticket won 212 electoral votes to the Democrats’ 21, ending up in
Lincoln’s success, Johnson received the majority of the popular votes.
THE END OF THE WAR
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The Union Blockade; which was combined with Sherman’s march of destruction and
the spread of hunger by controlling the Mississippi River weakened the South.
Finally it was time to march and destroy the Confederate capital of Richmond.
After Gettysburg, Grant was brought in from West over Meades who failed to defeat
Lee, therefore Lincoln called upon Grant who struck Richmond and met with Lee in a
series of battles in the Wilderness of Virginia in May & June of 1864
• June 3, 1864: Grant ordered frontal assault on Cold Harbor- brutal but
necessary
Northern troops captured Richmond and cornered Lee at Appomattox Court which
is a house in Virginia.
• At this time the Confederate government tried to negotiate for peace but
Lincoln would accept nothing but restoration of the Union.
• In April 1865, after Lee was cornered, the Confederates officially
surrendered.
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Lincoln delivered one of his greatest speeches- his
second inaugural speech.
• He urged that the South be treated nicely
“with malice toward none; with charity for
all.”
• April 14, 1865- John Wilkes Booth shot
Lincoln on the head.
• Booth was an embittered southern
sympathizer who shot the president as he
was entering a Theater in Washington.
• his nobler qualities stood out more than his
shortcoming
• His assassination led to increases bitterness
in the North
AFTERMATH OF THE WAR:
• Civil War affected many aspects of America
• thousands of men were killed, there were
unborn babies, costs rose to $15 billion
which did not include pensions and interests
on national debt
• English Reform Bill of 1867 was passed
two years after Civil War, under which Britain
became a true political democracy
• Slaves began to gain their freedom and
rights & the nation was united politically
• Emancipation was the groundwork, and a
united and democratic United States was
free to fulfill it destiny as the dominant
republic of the hemisphere, later the world