Download THE CIVIL WAR 1861-1864

THE CIVIL WAR
1861-1864
THE UNION IS DISSOLVED

Seven states have
seceded
 South Carolina
 Mississippi
 Florida
 Alabama
 Georgia
 Louisiana
 Texas
THE FIRST SHOTS FIRED- FORT SUMTER
Fort Sumter, South Carolina
 Union General- Anderson
 Confederate General- Beauregard
 Union troops at Fort Sumter completely
surrounded by Confederate forces, Union
troops running out of food and water
 Confederate army wants them to leave- warns
they will begin to fire if no surrender in one hour
 After hours of attack on the Fort, Anderson
realizes they have zero possibility of surviving
this, he surrenders
 No deaths thanks to Anderson’s efforts to keep
his men safe

Fort
Sumter
CIVIL WAR HAS BEGUN
 Some
states had not chosen a
side
 Virginia
 Arkansas
 Tennessee
 North Carolina
 All secede from the Union, total
states in Confederacy is now up
to 11
 West Virginia created, remained
with the Union
AMERICA AT THE BEGINNING OF
THE WAR
Purple States: Free- The
Union
Green States: Popular
Sovereignty, territories
Red: Newly formed
West Virginia
Gray: Slave states- The
Confederacy
SOUTHERN LEADERS

President- Jefferson Davis

Cabinet- each state represented however the representatives were
not competent

Confederate Capital- Richmond, VA

Confederate States of America have their own money
NORTH V SOUTH STRENGTHS
NORTH
 Population: 22
Million
 Leadership:
Abraham Lincoln
 Military Supplies
 Resources
SOUTH
 Resources-
cotton,
donkeys
 Defensive fighting- closer
to home, better soldiers,
knowledge of the land
 Population- 9.5 million,
however 3.5 were slaves
 Most important: better
generals
SOUTHERN
STRATEGYFIGHT
DEFENSIVELY
NORTHERN STRATEGY- 3 PRONGANACONDA PLAN

“strangling” the South

Army of the Potomac
 Not
successful until Grant takes
command

Western Front
 Successful
under Sherman & Grant—
divide the south

Naval Blockade
 Choke
off the South and prevent
France and England from Joining the
South
BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR
WEAPONS

Breech-Loaded Riffle

Gatling Gun- 350 rounds a minute

Telegraph

Ironclad ships
WEAPONS




Submarines
Grenades
Hot air balloons
Rapid movement of troops
via R.R.
MEDICINE- NURSE TOOLKIT
BULL RUN

Union- McDowell and Patterson

Confederacy- Johnston and Beauregard

South thought another Southern win would
force the Union to surrender

North thought if they took the capital the
South would surrender

Unexperienced army under McDowell
pressured to fight Beauregard at Bull Run

Patterson to attack Johnston so
Beauregard would have a difficult time
getting reinforcements
BULL RUN

Both sides faced difficulties

Union- too detailed of plan for young, inexperienced army to play out

Confederates- difficult time communicating with one another

General Thomas Jackson earns the nickname ‘Stonewall’ for the
famous battle at Henry House Hill, holding back the Union army

Johnston was able to avoid Patterson and came to the aid of
Jackson

Patterson made little difference and the Union army retreated

Major win for the South- confidence.

Causalities



Union- 2896 with 460 killed
Confederates- 1982 with 387 killed
Shortly after, Lincoln authorizes enlistment of 500,000 more troops
BULL RUN
BATTLE OF IRONCLADS- MONITOR
AND MERRIMACK
Ironclad- war ship made of iron.
Previous warships made of wood
 Merrimack- Union ship captured and
rebuilt by Confederates, renamed the
Virginia
 Monitor- Union ironclad
 Initially the Merrimack (Virginia) fought
Union wooden ships. All cannon balls
shot at the ship bounced off
 The next day the Monitor arrived
 Battle ended in stalemate because
neither ship could sink the other
 Significance- naval warfare changed

THE GENERALS
Ulysses S. Grant

Graduated West Point 1843

Rank 21 in class of 39

Fought in Mexican
American War

General of the Union Army

Later goes on to become
18th President

‘No terms except
unconditional and
immediate surrender’
Robert E. Lee
Graduated West Point
1829
 Rank 2 in class of 46
 Fought in Civil War
 Returned as
superintendent of West
Point
 Refused to command
Union forces because it
would be against his
home state, Virginia

BATTLE OF SHILOH

April 1862

Tennessee

Western Theater

Kentucky was secured

Confederates in western
Tennessee retreated

Union army sets up camp & waits
for reinforcements

Confederates surprise attack the
Union before extra help arrives

Initially successful
BATTLE OF SHILOH

Hornet’s Nest

Union army holds strong to the
Confederates and is able to comeback

Confederates lose General Johnson

Union aid arrives

Confederates forced to retreat being
completely outnumbered

Both sides suffered casualties
(wounded, dead, or missing)

Union 13,000

Confederates 10,000

Bloodiest battle of the war
CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS

To block off the South the Union
planned to take the Mississippi River

Came up through the mouth of the
River- through the Gulf- to take New
Orleans

Taking hold of the river would split the
South and stop supplies from coming in
through Mexico as well

A Naval blockade around the South
was stopping trade with Europecrippling the South

Easily able to take the city, getting
through a small resistance
SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN
South got a chance to
fight in the North.
North escaped in the
night after a
bombardment from
Southern forces- losing
too many men
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

The Confederacy was on the offense. After winning
at Second Battle of Bull Run, they continued to fight
in the North- Maryland

Politically, if they ran through Maryland all the way to
Pennsylvania, it would convince Britain and France
to recognize them as their own country and take
their side

McClellan did not use his entire force, Lee did in an
attempt to defeat the Union force.

Union = 70,000

Confederacy = 40,000

When night fell on September 17, 1862 20,000+ men
lay dead and wounded

The following day, Lee continued to fight, however
he ultimately had to retreat back into Virginia.
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

Not exactly a win for either side
considering how many men were lost,
the Union claims a win since the South
was forced to retreat

The North could have ended the war
there if McClellan used the rest of his
men

GB and France still refused to
recognize the South as an
independent country

Politically Lincoln knew he had to do
something to turn the tide of the war

The Bloodiest Day of the War— one
body had 57 bullets

Victory Needed to allow for the
Emancipation Proclamation
LINCOLN VISITS ANTIETAM
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

‘All persons held as slaves within rebellious
states are, and henceforth shall be free’

Announced in September 1862- active
January 1863

Southern States only- does NOT affect border
states

Would be meaningless without a Union win

Allowed for free African American men to
fight with the North

Stopped the slave aid in the South- slaves
were used to build forts and produced food

Definitely made the war about slavery,
ensuring that France and GB would NOT
support the South
CONSCRIPTION

Number of volunteers lowers, both sides issue a DRAFT

North- all males 20-45

Could be exempted by paying $300 or finding a replacement

Poor Northerners exploded with outrage that basically rich
people got out of serving

South- had fewer inhabitants than the North, also needed to
enable the draft
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE

1- Battle of Fredericksburg

2- Lee divides his forces into 3

3- Outflank the Union forces

The Union put up more of a fight than
anticipated

South had to keep regrouping

Eventually the Union was forced to
retreat

Casualties

Union 13,000

Confederates 10,000 & Stonewall Jackson shot
BATTLE OF FREDRICKSBURG

Disaster for the Union

South was able to stand strong even though they were
outnumbered



Union- 106,000

Confederate- 72,500
Union had more casualties than the Confederate forces

Union- 12,700

Confederate- 5,300
Low point for the Union
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG

Union wanted to take Vicksburg to cut off the South
from receiving supplies from the West

Union brought 35,000 men compared the to
Confederates 18,000 men

Siege took roughly a month. The Confederates were
locked in to the city and would be difficult to defeat.

Union continuously bombed the city, knowing
eventually the opposing army would run out of food
and other supplies

The city being cut off from supplies, began eating
whatever was available- horses, dogs, cats, rats, and
tree bark.

Malnutrition= diseases

Win to the Union gives more control over the
Mississippi
GETTYSBURG

Confederates lead by Robert E Lee and General Longstreet

Union lead by General Meade

July 1-3 1863

July 1- armies are gathering. Confederates force a Union retreat- could
have finished them but took too long to gather together and the Union
fortified

July 2- Both sides heavily armed Union 94,000 and Confederates 72,000.
Union won the day despite both sides taking heavy losses- Little Round
Top

July 3- Lee went full force- Pickett’s charge- 12,500 men. Half the men
were injured or killed, Lee forced to retreat.

Gen Meade and his men were too exhausted to finish the war
GETTYSBURG

Union forces- 82,289
Casualties: 23,049

Confederate forces- 75,000
Casualties: 28,063

569 tons of ammunition discharged during the three day battle

One civilian killed during the battle- went through a horse

Civilians were left to clean up the dead bodies and care for the
wounded= diseases, infection, unsanitary conditions
GETTYSBURG
GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

Nov 1963

Only a page and a half, roughly two minutes long

Initially went unnoticed

Known today as one of the most moving pieces in oratory history
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on 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 on a great battle-field of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, 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
it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. 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 gave the last full measure of devotion—
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for
the people, shall not perish from the earth
SHERMAN’S MARCH TO THE SEA

One of the Union’s best generals during the
American Civil War (1861-1865),

William T. Sherman marched an army (100,000
strong) through the South, destroying the last of
its economic resources through GA

Waged an economic war against civilians

Lived off the land they marched through

Were instructed to destroy everything in their
path- huge blow to the South’s economy

Estimated $100 million worth of damages in 1864
dollars!
SHERMAN’S MARCH TO THE SEA
APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE

On April 9, 1865

Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union
general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in
Virginia.

Grant: Merciful at the courthouse. Arrives late, worn, dusty,
and ragged. Felt “sad and depressed” about the
Confederate surrender

LEE: Professional: on time, freshly shaved, courtly, and clean

Terms of the surrender: Men allowed to return home with their
horse or mule, turn over their rifles. Men also given foodmany were very hungry. More than the Confederate army
could ask for even though surrendering was very difficult
ANDERSONVILLE

1864-1865 in Georgia

Confederate Prison

Supposed to have wooden barracks
however lumber was expensive= makeshift
beds out of wood and blankets under open
skies

No trees, one little stream, urine- 26 thousand
gallons a day.

Built to hold 10,000- became quickly
overpopulated by three times that amount.
Held roughly 45,000 with 13,000 dead

Never enough food, virtually half the
population almost always ill, violence
between the guards and prisoners

Wirz –commandant-only man hung for his
crimes-Not even J.Davis
ELMIRA CAMP
Union
POW Camp
Made to house 5,000ended up with 12,000
Lack of food,
medicine, many got
various illnesses
¼ inmates died
LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION

On April 14, 1865

Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

Actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln
in the head

The President dies the next day, April 15, at 7:20 AM.
JOHN WILKES BOOTH

Confederate sympathizer

Initially planned to kidnap
Lincoln, but that plan
failed so he resorted to
killing him

Ran out of the theater,
escaped on horseback

Caught in a barn and shot
when he refused to
surrender

Conspirators were later
caught and hung
ANDREW JOHNSON