Download Chapter 11 – The Civil War 1861-1865

Chapter 11 –
The Civil War
1861-1865
Section 3 –
The Tide of War Turns
• Setting the scene
– Picture a Civil War battle – smoke, gunfire, chaos, rifles firing, artillery
shooting, dust. Question: How did commanders communicate with
their soldiers? How did soldiers know when to advance, when to
retreat, or even where their units were?
Victories for General Lee
• When McClellan did not follow Lee south right after Antietam (against
Lincoln’s orders), Lincoln again removed McClellan and replaced him with
General Ambrose Burnside (Scott – McClellan – Pope – McClellan –
Burnside). The general was better known for his thick whiskers (?) than
for his ability as a military strategist.
• Battle of Fredericksburg – Burnside knew McClellan was fired for being
cautious so he marched straight into VA with 122,000 soldiers. Lee had
79,000 and spread his troops on a ridge near Fredericksburg. Instead of
crossing the river out of range of Confederate artillery, Burnside crossed
right in front of them saying that it will surprise the enemy. Burnside
ordered charge after charge at the Confederates. End of day: 13,000
Union casualties; 5,000 Confederate casualties. Burnside quit as
commander.
Victories for General Lee,
continued
• After Burnside’s resignation, Lincoln appointed General Joe
“Fighting Joe” Hooker. (Scott – McClellan – Pope – McClellan –
Burnside – Hooker).
• Battle of Chancellorsville – Hooker’s plan was to circle around
behind Lee’s men at Fredericksburg and attack from behind.
Confederate cavalry discovered the Union forces camped out at
Chancellorsville (about 10 miles west of Fredericksburg). Lee
divided his men and sent about 40,000 towards Chancellorsville and
surprised Hooker and his men, who retreated into the woods and set
up defenses. Lee divided his troops again, sending Stonewall
Jackson and 26,000 troops to surprise Hooker from the rear. The
move was successful and Jackson could have completely defeated
the Union army if night hadn’t arrived. That night Jackson went out
to scout the Union army. Coming back into camp, his own soldiers
mistook him for an attacking Northern soldier and shot him.
Eventually he died from his wounds. Large loss to South.
The Battle of Gettysburg
•
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•
•
•
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After Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Northern leaders started
talking about making peace with the South and rumors circulated that
Lincoln would resign.
June, 1863 – Lee marched his forces North. Was looking for:
1. Supplies
2. Major Confederate victory on Northern soil
Union army moved North to stay between Lee and Washington.
July 1, 1863 – Confederate troops entered Gettysburg, PA, looking for
shoes. They ran into a Union cavalry unit and a small fight started that
led to the largest battle ever fought in North America.
Less than a week earlier, Lincoln had replaced Hooker with General
George Meade. (Scott – McClellan – Pope – McClellan – Burnside –
Hooker – Meade)
The noise of the skirmish brought units from both sides. Each army
took up positions on a series of hills stretching about 4 miles south of
Gettysburg. The center of the Union forces was a hill called Cemetary
Ridge. The center of the Confederate forces was a hill called
Seminary Ridge. In between was a large field of several hundred
yards.
The Battle of Gettysburg,
continued
• After the death of
Jackson, General
James Longstreet
became Lee’s 2nd in
command. Lee was
confident.
• Longstreet advised
NOT to attack so strong
a Union position.
• Despite the advice, Lee
ordered Longstreet to
attack the southern end
of the Union line the
next morning.
•
The Battle of Gettysburg, continued
July 2, 1863
– Longstreet was not ready to attack until 4
p.m., which allowed Meade time to bring
in reinforcements.
– Battle continued until early evening.
– Some Alabama soldiers noticed a large
hill in the Union position, Little Round
Top, was not defended. They rushed to
capture it because it would be a perfect
place to launch artillery attacks on the
Union forces. But Union commanders
had also noticed it was undefended and
sent Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, a
college professor before the war, and 350
Maine soldiers to take the hill. They got
there just before the Confederates and
defended it against repeated attacks until
they were out of ammunition.
Chamberlain then ordered a bayonet
charge. The Confederates were
surprised and retreated down the hill.
Union lines remained the same.
The Battle of Gettysburg,
continued
• July 3, 1863
– Morning – brief Confederate attack on the northern part of the
Union line.
– Quiet.
– Early afternoon, about 150 Confederate cannons began the
heaviest artillery barrage of the war. This was a prelude to a
Confederate attack on the center of the Union position. Again,
Longstreet advised against it and again, Lee overruled him.
– After 2 hours, the Union artillery stopped returning fire to save
ammunition. Longstreet thought that the Union artillery had
been destroyed so he ordered the direct attack to begin.
– Northern soldiers on Cemetery Ridge saw 15,000 Confederate
soldiers, in 3 lines one mile long, heading towards them. Pickett
was one of the generals in charge (Pickett’s charge)
– As the Confederates marched across the mile of open ground,
Union artillery started firing on them. When the Southern troops
got to within 200 yards, the Union soldiers started firing.
The Battle of Gettysburg,
continued
• July 3rd, continued
– Only a few hundred Confederates
reached the Union lines.
– Hand to hand combat.
– In about 30 minutes, it was over.
– Half of the Confederate soldiers
survived this attack
– Quote of the day – Lee told
Pickett to reform his division in
case Meade counterattacked.
“General Lee, I have no division.”
• 23,000 Northern casualties
• 28,000 Southern casualties
• July 4th – Confederacy retreats to
Virginia
Vicksburg
Vicksburg, continued
• When the siege (?) began, 300 Union cannons opened fire on Vicksburg
from both land and water. Averaged 2800 shells PER DAY for about 6
weeks.
• To avoid being killed, residents of Vicksburg dug caves in hills and even
furnished some and brought their slaves to serve them.
• Because no food could get in, residents ate their horses, mules and dogs.
Butcher shops sold rats.
• By late June, Confederate soldiers were being fed one biscuit and one
piece of bacon PER DAY. On July 4, 30,000 Confederate troops marched
out of Vicksburg and surrendered (thinking they could get their best terms
for surrender on Independence Day).
The Importance of 1863
• 1863 had begun poorly for the North. However, the 4th of July was the
happiest one for the North since 1776:
– Freed slaves could celebrate
– Battle of Gettysburg ended
– Vicksburg siege ended (4 days later North had control of Mississippi
River – why was that important?)
The Gettysburg Address
• November 19, 1863 – 15,000 people gathered at
Gettysburg to dedicate a cemetery to honor Union
soldiers who died at the battle.
• Featured speaker was Edward Everett, the most famous
public speaker at the time.
• President Lincoln invited to give “a few appropriate
remarks”
• Everett spoke for 2 hours.
• Lincoln gave a 2 minute speech that is now known as
the Gettysburg Address.
• Edward Everett said the next day that he wished he
could have come as close “to the central idea of the
occasion in two hours” as Lincoln did in two minutes.
The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this
continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a
great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived,
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great
battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a
final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation
might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we
can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
struggled, here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add
or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say
here, but can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work
which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be
here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they
here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly
resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation
shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.