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Civil War Erupts
First Shots fired
at
Fort Sumter
• Located in the harbor of
•
•
Charleston South Carolina
Most Federal forts were
being taken over by the
Rebels.
President Lincoln had to
make a decision
– Supply Fort Sumter
– Take no action
Fort Sumter
• Southern Rebels decided
•
•
•
to attack the fort before
reinforcements could
arrive.
Battle lasted for 34 hours
The Fort was surrendered
to the South
No one was killed
Lincoln calls out the militia
• Two days following Fort Sumter 75,000
enlist for 90 days to put down the uprising
• Southern leaders respond with anger and
within 2 weeks Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, and Arkansas seceded.
The Confederate Strategy
• Didn’t want to invade the North just
wanted to be independent.
– “All we asked is to be let alone”
• King Cotton
– South thought since Southern Cotton
was so important in the European
markets that France and Britain would
aide in their desire for independence
The Confederate Strategy
• They would withhold cotton from the
market.
– Europe had enough from the year before
– Didn’t want to get involved in an American
War
• As the war moved on they decided to
take a more offensive role.
Union Strategy
• The Anaconda Plan
– How does an anaconda
kill it’s prey?
• Constricts it until it
dies
– The plan was to smother
the Confederate
economy forcing them
back into the Union. Set
up a Blockade
– Biggest problem is that it
would take some time to
work
General George McClellan
• 1st General of the Union Army during the
Civil War
• He was an engineer and meticulous
planner
– Biggest problem with cautiously planning his
moves is that he moved to slow!!!
• He would be fired for a more reckless and
offensive Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
• 2nd General of the Union Army during the Civil
War
– Was a failure in many ventures I in life
• War Strategy:
– “Find out where your enemy is,
get at him as soon as you can
strike at him as hard as you can, and keep
moving on.”
Why was Grant more successful than McClellan in
Lincoln’s eyes?
Ulysses S. Grant
• Led the battle in the West
– Tennessee to Alabama
– Won battles at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson
• These victories opened the travel of the Tennessee River as
far as Alabama.
• He would also lead the troops at the Battle of Shiloh,
•
which was the bloodiest battle early on in the War
Many wanted President Lincoln to replace Grant because
of the high casualties
– Lincoln replied, "I can't spare this man--he
fights."
Robert E. Lee
• Career military leader
• Graduated 2nd in his class at West Point
• Was very much against slavery and
secession.
– “I cannot raise my hand against my
birthplace, my home, my children.”
• Would Command the Confederate Army
• Though the Confederates lost, many still
regard him as the best Gen. of the Civil
War.
Those who fought
• Soldiers were between
•
•
•
•
•
the ages of 18-30 yrs old
½ the soldiers were
farmers
Immigrants German and
Irish
In the beginning neither
the north or south
accepted African
Americans
2 million Union
1 million Confederate
Military Technology
• Rifle- a gun with a
•
grooved barrel
causing the bullet to
spin
Ironclads- warship
covered in iron.
– Most famous was the
Merrimack from
Virginia
1st Battle of Bull Run/Manassas
• The battle was won by the Confederates
• General Thomas J. Jackson “Stonewall”
• Confederates would attack with a blood
curdling yell known as the “Rebel Yell”
• Rebels felt the war was over!
• Union realizes that they have under
estimated their opponents
Battle of Shiloh
• April 1862
• Near Shiloh Church
– Southern Tennessee
– Along the Tennessee River
• Early on in the War it was one of the Bloodiest
battles
Battle of Shiloh
• Union
– William T. Sherman
• Has 3 horses shot out
from under him.
• Casualties:
– 13,000
• Both sides anticipated
victory but the Union
would force the
Confederate troops to
retreat.
• Confederate
– Gen. Albert S. Johnston
• Shot and Killed in action
– Gen. P.T. Beauregard
• Takes Command
– Casualties:
– 11,000 of 41,000
Bloody Antietam
• September 17, 1862
– Near… Sharpsburg, Maryland
• Casualties:
– 25,000
• Lee lost 1/3 of his fighting force
• McClellan did not pursue to finish off the
Confederate force.
Bloody Antietam
• Results…
– The casualty rate was so high that there was
no clear winner.
• President Lincoln will be furious that Gen.
McClellan doesn’t pursue Gen. Lee
– McClellan will be fired at the conclusion of the
Battle.