Download Chapter 11 – The Civil War 1861-1865

Chapter 11 –
The Civil War
1861-1865
Section 4 –
Devastation and New Freedom
Grant Takes Command
• South’s strategy in 1864 – hold on and hope Lincoln is beat for
President.
• Lincoln new that his chances for reelection depended on how well
the Union did in the battlefield.
• Lincoln put General Ulysses S. Grant in charge of the army (Scott
– McClellan – Pope – McClellan – Burnside – Hooker – Meade –
Grant).
• Grant’s goal was to confront and crush the Confederate army and
end the war before the 1864 election.
• Grant appointed General William Tecumseh Sherman in charge of
the Union troops in the west (replacing Grant).
• Grant new that the South was running short on soldiers and
supplies. He decided to use the North’s superiority in both to wear
down the Confederates and told Sherman to do the same in the
west.
Grant Takes Command,
continued
• Battle of the Wilderness
– May, 1864 – Grant took 115,000 soldiers with him to VA. Lee
had about 64,000 soldiers.
– Grant headed the army toward Richmond, knowing that Lee
would have to fight to try to stop him (why?)
– May and June – they had 3 major battles.
– May 5th and 6th – Battle of the Wilderness – almost exactly the
same spot as the Battle of Chancellorsville (who won that?).
– Fought in a dense forest that caught fire, burning to death many
of the wounded. Because of the smoke, units fired on friendlies
(?). General Longstreet (the general who replaced Stonewall
Jackson) was wounded by his own men only 3 miles from where
Jackson had been shot.
– Grant had many losses. However, instead of retreating (like
every other Union general) he moved his troops around the
Confederates and continued heading South. Union soldiers
were proud that they were not retreating this time.
Grant Takes Command,
continued
• Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor
– Series of clashes over a two week period beginning May 8th near
the small town of Spotsylvania Court House is called the Battle
of Spotsylvania.
– Some parts of the battlefield, Union casualties were piled 4 deep
– Northerners were upset at how many casualties they were
taking. When Lincoln told Grant that, Grant replied that he would
like to continue the course of action if it takes all summer. Grant
moved his army further South. (think how happy Lincoln must
have been!)
– Early June, Battle of Cold Harbor, only 8 miles from Richmond!
– Confederates were behind strong fortifications. Grant launched
two attacks and suffered 7,000 casualties – many in first hour.
– Many Union soldiers pinned their names and addresses on their
uniforms before this battle so they could be identified if killed.
What was this the beginning of?
Grant Takes Command,
continued
• The Siege of Petersburg
– Since he could neither defeat Lee’s army at Cold Harbor, nor get
passed it to attack Richmond, Grant moved his army around
Richmond and attacked Petersburg, which was a railroad center
south of Richmond. (why?)
– The attack failed.
– In less than 2 months, Grant had suffered 65,000 casualties out
of the 115,000 he began with.
– Grant started the Siege of Petersburg. Why did he think that
might work?
– Lee built defenses. Lee could not replace all of his casualties
even though they were far fewer than Grant’s. His goal was to
try to stay where he was and wait for the election.
Grant Takes Command,
continued
• In the Shenandoah
– Summer of 1864, Grant
ordered General Phil
Sheridan to damage all
of the railroads and
crops he can in the
Shenandoah Valley,
since it was a source of
supplies for the
Confederates.
Sheridan did so.
– One of the houses
destroyed was a
relative of Robert E.
Lee.
Sherman in Georgia
• General Sherman moved South from Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the
direction of Atlanta, Georgia.
• Same strategy as Grant’s – if the Confederate army in the West tried to
stop him, he would try to destroy them with his 98,000 soldiers. If they
refused to fight, he would take Atlanta which was an important railroad and
industrial location.
• The Confederate general in the West was Joseph Johnston. His strategy
was similar to Lee’s in the East. He would fight skirmishes against the
Union to try to block their progress but not stay in one place long enough to
be defeated. Goal: Delay Sherman from reaching Atlanta until after the
November election.
• By mid-July, the Union soldiers were a few miles from Atlanta. Confederate
President Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston with General James Hood.
• Hood did exactly what both Davis AND Sherman wanted him to do – he
fought with the Union army. After the Confederate forces lost more than
17,000 of their 62,000 soldier force, General Hood retreated to Atlanta.
• Like Grant at Petersburg, Sherman laid siege to Atlanta. Throughout
August, Sherman’s men bombarded the city. In early September, the
Confederate army withdrew from Atlanta.
Sherman in Georgia, continued
• Sherman’s philosophy:
War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler
it is, the sooner it will be over. (?)
• November, 1864, Sherman began his famous (infamous?) march to
the sea. He began it by evacuating Atlanta and burning it.
• They went on a 300 mile path of destruction across Georgia. The
troops destroyed bridges, factories, railroad lines. They took and
killed livestock. Grain that had been harvested to send to
Confederate troops fed the Union troops instead.
• As they approached the city of Savannah, Georgia, the Confederate
force there fled.
• 12/21/64 – Sherman’s troops enter Savannah without a fight.
• Sherman’s telegraph to Lincoln: I beg to present you, as a
Christmas gift, the city of Savannah.
The Election of 1864
• Lincoln predicted he was going to be badly beaten in his reelection
campaign of 1864.
• He had a challenge from within his own party – John C. Fremont (?).
The Radical Republicans got him to run because Lincoln was
against punishing the South. Fremont eventually withdrew.
• Republicans changed their name to the Union Party and dropped
Lincoln’s first vice-president, Hannibal Hamlin, and nominated
Andrew Johnson, a pro-Union southerner who was a Democrat, for
vice-president.
• Democrats nominated General George McClellan (who was happy
to run against the guy who fired him twice). Many of McClellan’s
troops loved him, and Lincoln feared he would get the support of the
troops. McClellan promised he would negotiate an end to the war.
• Sherman’s capture of Atlanta changed politics in the North.
Because they thought victory was close, they did not want to
negotiate. On election day, Lincoln won easily, getting 212 out of
233 electoral votes.
A New Birth of Freedom
• February, 1865, Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment, at
Lincoln’s request (remember, he did not believe he had the constitutional
authority to ban slavery – this changed the Constitution):
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for
crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
• In Lincoln’s second inaugural speech, he laid the groundwork to bring the
Union together without punishing the South.
. . . It may seem strange than any men should dare ask a just God’s
assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s
faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. . . . Fondly do we
hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may
speedily pass away. . . . With malice toward none, with charity for
all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us
strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s
wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his
widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a
just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
The End of the War
•
•
•
•
•
•
February, 1865 – Sherman’s troops left Savannah, Georgia and
headed north toward South Carolina. Why is South Carolina
important?
As the troops approached S. Carolina, one Union soldier wrote: Here
is where the treason began and, by God, here is where it shall end.
There had been very little fighting in either Carolina. Sherman was
heading to join his forces with Grant’s at Petersburg. He had two
goals:
1. Destroy the South’s remaining resources, and
2. Crush the Southerner’s will to fight.
Sherman accomplished both goals. Confederate army kept retreating.
Sherman’s army was more vicious than they had been to Georgia.
One example: In Georgia, very few homes were burned in the march
to the sea. In South Carolina, very few homes were spared.
The night that the Union army moved into Columbia (S. Carolina’s
state capital), half the city burned to the ground. (nobody took
credit/blame)
Once the Union army left South Carolina and entered North Carolina,
they stopped destroying civilian property.
The End of the War, continued
• Surrender at Appomattox
– Confederate army defending Richmond had shrunk to 35,000
soldiers, who were starving
– April 2nd – Lee decided to try to sneak around Grant’s army and join
up with Johnston’s army, which was retreating in front of Sherman.
– Grant’s army kept cutting off Lee’s way towards Johnston.
– April 9th – Lee’s army arrived at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
They were surrounded by Grant’s army.
– Some of Lee’s officers suggested that the remaining Confederate
troops scatter and fight as guerillas – soldiers in small groups who
use surprise raids and hit-and-run tactics. One of the most important
decisions in the war for the sake of the Union, was Lee’s decision to
reject this suggestion. (?)
– Finally, Lee concluded, “There is nothing left for me to do but go and
see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths.”
– Keep in mind history to this point – what was Lee expecting?
The End of the War, continued
• Surrender at Appomattox, continued
– Lee and Grant met at a private home in town owned by Wilmer
McLean. The McLeans had moved there because they had
been living in Manassas and some of the opening shots of the
Battle of Bull Run had landed in his yard. He wanted to move
away from the war so he moved to Appomattox Court House.
– Lee dressed in his dress uniform because he thought he might
be taken off and hung.
– Grant offered generous terms for surrender (doing what he felt
Lincoln wanted him to do)
• Southern soldiers could take their horses, mules and
weapons and go home
• They would not be treated as traitors as long as they obeyed
the laws
– When Lee mounted his horse to leave, Grant saluted him
– Union army started celebrating by shooting artillery salutes –
Grant stopped them saying he did not want them to be happy at
the distress of the Southerners because “the rebels are our
countrymen again.”
Lincoln is Assassinated
• Lincoln did not live to see the actual end of the war. Although Lee had
surrendered, there were still other armies out there and Jefferson Davis
was on the run urging the military to do what Lee had rejected – start a
guerilla war. It took until several weeks in May for the soldiers to
surrender and for the Union to capture Jefferson Davis.
• From 1864-1865, a group of conspirators had been working on a plan to
kidnap the President and hold him hostage for the release of
Confederate prisoners of war. Those plans did not work. This group
was led by John Wilkes Booth, who was a famous actor.
• Booth finally changed the plan to kill top Union officials.
• Booth assassinated the President in Ford’s Theater on April 14. (Died
next day)
• One of Booth’s accomplices chickened out of killing VP Johnson.
• Another accomplice stabbed Secretary of State Seward and seriously
wounded him.
• April 26th – Booth was killed by a gunshot as the Virginia barn he was in
was burning down and surrounded by Union soldiers.