Download UNIT 111 THE CIVIL WAR

UNIT 111 THE CIVIL WAR
I. The War Begins
A. Between Peace and War
1. Lincoln would not take office until
March 4, 1861.
2. James Buchanan would have to deal
with the secession crisis.
a. All efforts at compromise were
done at the Congressional level. All failed.
b. Buchanan did not try to hold any
Federal property in the Confederate states.
1) A confederacy is a group of
independent states where the central
government has only limited power. This
arrangement would hurt the South’s war
efforts.
3. Fort Sumter is located in Charleston
Harbor, South Carolina and it did not fall
into Confederate hands.
a. National attention was focused on
Ft. Sumter.
b. The fort is commanded by Major
Robert Anderson with 100 men.
1) On Christmas eve, a friend of
Anderson’s allowed he and his men to take
a boat to the fort from Charleston to escape
capture.
c. Buchanan tried to supply the fort
with an unarmed merchant ship The Star of
the West,but it was driven off by cannon
fire by cadets from The Citadel.
1) Today, the outstanding cadet in
his class receives the “Star of the West”
award.
B. The Confederate States of America
1. Montgomery, Alabama is chosen as
the capital of the Confederate States of
America. CSA.
a. It is made up of the Deep South or
The Cotton States.
2. The CSA constitution is almost a
copy of the Federal Constitution except in
two major ways.
a. The new country was a confederacy
not a union.
b. The constitution mentioned slavery
and guaranteed the rights of the citizens to
own slaves and the Confederate congress
was forbidden to pass any laws denying the
right to own slaves.
c. The Confederate constitution was to
be the “Supreme law of the land.”
1) The CSA president would serve a
one six year term.
2) Two-thirds of Congress must
approve any spending bill.
3) The constitution could be
amended with 2/3’s of the states approval
instead of the ¾’s required in the Federal
constitution.
C. Jefferson Davis
1. The delegates at the Montgomery
elected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi
president of the CSA. Alexander Stephens
of Georgia is elected Vice President of the
CSA.
a. Davis is a graduate of West Point.
b. Brierfield is his plantation in
Mississippi
c. Varina Davis his wife-“The Forgotten
First Lady.”
d. 1845 Davis is elected to the House of
Representatives.
e. He serves with distinction in the
Mexican War.
f. In 1847 he is elected to the U.S.
Senate.
g. In 1853 he is named Secretary of War
under President Franklin Pierce.
h. He is a hard worker, but does not get
along with people. His feelings are hurt
easily by criticism.
D. Lincoln Becomes President
1. Lincoln puts many of his opponents
from the 1860 election into his cabinet
including William Seward as Secretary of
State.
2. Lincoln’s first inaugural address tries
to address the raw tension between North
and South.
3. Lincoln points out that secession is
illegal but he still won’t send troops south to
bring them back into the Union.
4. Lincoln wants to negotiate with the
South as friends.
E. The Firing on Ft. Sumter
1. Lincoln asks Governor Pickens of
South Carolina for permission to send food
to Ft. Sumter.
2. Lincoln knows Pickens will refer the
question to Jefferson Davis and Lincoln
wants Davis to fire the first shot of the war.
3. This puts Davis into a corner just as
Lincoln hoped. If Davis allows Lincoln if
he lets Lincoln send food to Ft. Sumter it
will make Davis look weak. If he stops the
re-supply Davis will have started the Civil
War.
4. The CSA forces in Charleston are
commanded by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard.
Davis orders him to fire on Ft. Sumter at
4:30 am on April 12th if Anderson doesn’t
surrender the fort.
5. Major Robert Anderson, commander of
Ft. Sumter was in South Carolina to help
build Ft. Sumter. He was a student of
Beauregard’s at West Point and he was an
expert at placing of artillery.
6. When Anderson’s ammunition was
low, he surrendered the fort.
a. The die-hard secessionist Edmund
Ruffian of Virginia is said to have fired the
first cannon.
II. Raising the Armies
A. More States Secede
1. After the attack on Ft. Sumter, four
more states secede from the Union.
a. Virginia
b. North
Carolina
c. Tennessee
d. Arkansas
2. The CSA capital moves to Richmond,
Virginia.
3. These four states seceded because
Lincoln had called for 75,000 three-month
volunteers to put down the rebellion.
4. The first unit to arrive is from
Schuylkill County and they are known as
The First Defenders.
a. While the First Defenders were
marching through Baltimore, Nicholas
Biddle of Pottsville, a black orderly, was
hit on the head with a brick. He is the first
man to shed blood in the Civil War.
b. In Baltimore, the owner of a hotel
took down the U.S. flag and Col. Stephen
Ellsworth of New York, is killed trying to
retrieve the flag. He is the first man to die
in the Civil War.
B. Robert E. Lee
1. Robert Edward Lee was Lincoln’s first
choice to lead the Union Army.
2. Lee’s Qualifications
a. He captured John Brown at Harpers
Ferry
b. Lee owned no slaves and did not
believe in secession.
c. He is married to George
Washington’s step-great granddaughter.
d. He graduate at the top of his class at
West Point
e. Lee performed brilliantly in the
Mexican War. He would use many of the
tactics in the Civil War that he learned
during the Mexican War.
f. Lee turns down Lincoln
1) “How can I raise my sword against
Virginia.”
C. North Versus South
1. The South
a. There are 9 million people in the
South, almost 4 million are slaves.
1) The South could only draw upon
1,280,000 men between the age of 15 and
50 to fill its ranks.
2) “The twenty nigger rule.”-a man
could not join the army if he owned 20 or
more slaves.
3) Many southern soldiers complained,
“ a rich man’s war, a poor man’s fight.”
b. The South had lest than 10% of the
nation’s factories.
1) The Tredegar Iron Works in
Richmond was the only factory able to
produce rolling stock.
a) locomotives
b) cannons
c) shells and bullets-“minie balls”
c. The South had no major railroad lines
1) Different railroad gauges in each
state.
d. The South had to raise money, an
army, and navy.
e. The Southern Advantages
1) They were defending their
homeland. This gave them the advantage
of interior lines.
2) At the start of the war, the South
had better generals.
2. The North
a. The north had 23 million people with
thousands arriving from Germany and
Ireland every month. This will prove to be
a great advantage as the war dragged on.
b. Over 90% of the nation’s factories
were in the north and also, valuable mines
and other mineral deposits.
1) The Dupont family will make a
fortune making reliable gunpowder for the
north.
a) The south will have to dry urine in
order to obtain a vital component of
gunpowder-niter.
c. The north had a large and organized
railway system with the potential for
building more. Harrisburg becomes the
most important railway hub in the north.
d. The North had a government and
military in place.
D. The First Modern War
1. Both sides learned the art of war at
West Point-the U.S. Military Academy.
2. Both sides used the tactics of
Napoleon.
a. A massive artillery bombardment
followed by a frontal attack.
3. By the time of the Civil War, the
weapons had advanced far beyond the
tactics.
a. The minie ball and a rifled barrel
caused great bodily damage and were
accurate up to a half mile.
b. The artillery was more accurate and
deadly.
1) Canister shell most deadly weapon
during the war.
4. Each army was organized into three
separate units.
a. Cavalry
b. Artillery
c. Infantry
1) company-100 men
2) regiment-ten companies or 1,000
men
3) brigade-3 to 4 regiments or 4,000
men
4) division-3 to 5 brigades or 12,000
to
20,000 men.
5) corps-2 to 3 divisions or 20,000 to
40,000 men
5. Army Life
a. Billy Yank
b. Johnny Reb
c. Most common food was called
hardtack. It was about three times thicker
than a present day cracker and hard as a
rock. During the war the South craved
coffee which the north had in great supply,
and the North craved southern tobacco
which the South had in great supply.
d. Both sides loved music. Robert E.
Lee said he could not imagine an army
without music. Only exception was U.S.
Grant. “I know two tunes, one is Yankee
Doodle, and the other ain’t.”
1) Favorite songs
a) Dixie-unofficial national anthem
of the South.
b) Bonnie Blue Flag-in honor of
South Carolina
c) Battle Cry of Freedom-both sides
although with slightly different lyrics.
d) Battle Hymn of the Republic
written by Julia Ward Howe, favorite of
the North.
e) Marching Through Georgia-the
North
f) Home Sweet Home-favorite of
both sides. One side or the other would
play it before bedtime on the battlefield.
e. It was the most literate army in U.S.
history.
f. More men would die of camp diseases
than wounds.
g. Brother against brother.
h. Sutlers-merchants that traveled with
the army to sell them items the army did
not supply. These items were sold at a
very inflated price. A private in the army
was paid 13.00 a month.
i. Total War
1) War would be made on a country’s
infrastructure and the civilians themselves.
2) The most successful generals in the
war would be the ones to abandon the
Napoleonic tactics.
a) U.S. Grant-the North
b) William Tecumseh Sherman-the
North
c) James Longstreet-the South
d) Nathan Bedford Forrest-the South
3) By 1863, both sides saw the
advantages of building earthworks or
occupying the high ground. You needed a
4 to 1 advantage in numbers to drive a
force off of a high position.
4) A good Civil War soldier could get
off three rounds, or shots, every minute.
E. From Bull Run to Richmond
1. The Anaconda Plan
a. The plan is drawn up by an 84 year
old General Winfield Scott.
b. The plan consists of
1) A naval blockade of the South
2) Control the Mississippi River
3) Capture Richmond
c. This plan would eventually win the
war for the Union.
d. The only change would be by 1864,
Lee’s army, not Richmond would be the
objective.
2. The First Battle of Bull Run
a. The Northern newspapers are
screaming “on to Richmond.”
b. By July 1861, the 90 day enlistments
are about to run out for the North.
c. General Irwin McDowell is command
of the Union forces.
d. Neither army is prepared for war.
1) The Confederate army grew out of
the states’ militia system-especially after
John Brown’s Raid.
2) McDowell tells Lincoln that his men
are too green. Lincoln replies, “You are
both equally green.”
e. Lincoln orders McDowell to attack
Richmond.
1) The Union army’s movement is
picked up by a Confederate spy in
Washington and is relayed to CSA
commanders in Richmond.
2) McDowell moves south towards
Richmond with 30,000 men.
3) The Union commanders have a good
battle plan, but it is too complicated for
young and inexperienced troops
f. The southern troops were commanded
by Gen. PGT Beauregard. Beauregard
knows of the Union plans to attack.
g. The Union appears to be winning and
the Confederates retreat up Henry Hill.
1) On the crest of Henry Hill CSA Gen.
Thomas J. Jackson, a former instructor at
VMI, holds his brigade and meets the
Union attack.
2) Gen. Jackson’s men hold and General
Bee of Georgia yells to his men, “Look at
Jackson’s Virginians standing like a
stonewall, rally behind the Virginians.”
3) Gen. Bee was killed a few moments
later. But a legend had been born here.
The South’s first great hero-“Stonewall”
Jackson.
g. Southern reinforcements arrive by train
led by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and drive
the Union back.
1) As the Union forces are retreating, an
ammunition wagon explodes on a bridge
sending the Union army into a panic. They
retreat to Washington and begin building
forts around the city.
h. Odd Facts about the battle
1) Both sides wore blue uniforms
2) First time a railroad used in a battle
and it was the difference in the CSA victory.
3) The USA flag and the CSA national
flag in the smoke and haze of battle looked
similar and it made it hard to identify units.
The CSA would change from a “national
flag” to a “battle flag.”
4) Wig-wag signaling, a early form of
semaphore was used for the first time.
5) This battle put an end to the illusion of
a “90 day war.”
6) The defeat demoralizes the North.
7) The CSA victory causes the South to
underestimate the North.
1. The First Battle of Bull Run is called the
First Battle of Manassas by the South.
a. The North tended to name battles for
the nearest river or body of water.
b. The South named battles for the nearest
town.
c. Exceptions
1) The Battle of Shiloh-both sides named
it for a small church on the battle field not
the nearby Tennessee River. The South
choose not to name the battle Pittsburg
Landing after the nearby town.
2) The Battle of Stones River was
referred to by both sides as the Battle of
Murfreesboro the nearby town.
3) Civil War battles names were the
ones the North selected because they were
the winners and wrote the first histories of
the war.
d. After Bull Run
1) Gen. George McClellan is put in
command of the Union Army.
2) He names it the Army of the Potomac
3) McClellan is a great organizer and is
loved by his men. He does not want to
make this war a slaughter.
4) His only problem is that he is slow
and cautious.
5) He employed Allen Pinkerton as an
intelligence agent.
F. War in the West
1. Divide the Confederacy, cut off
Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.
2. The two most unlikeliest leaders
emerge in the Union Army in the
West.
a. Ulysses S. Grant and William
Tecumseh Sherman.
1) Grant is called a “drunk”
2) Sherman considered “insane”
Sherman’s brother is an influential senator.
3. Grant captures Ft. Henry on the
Tennessee River and Ft. Donelson on the
Cumberland River. Both of these rivers
flow into the Mississippi River and will
enable Grant to penetrate deep into the
South and open up the Mississippi.
4. The Battle of Shiloh April 6, 1862
a. Grant’s objective is the rail center at
Cornith, Mississippi. He camps his army
along the Tennessee River near Pittsburg
Landing, Tennessee.
b. The commander of the CSA is Gen.
Albert Sydney Johnston one of the South’s
best generals. He was selected to lead the
expedition that ended the Mormon War.
c. Johnston’s army is made up mostly of
new recruits who are also using brand new
muskets that they are not used to.
d. Grant’s army is surprised early in the
morning due to Gen. Sherman not believing
the reports by his pickets that the enemy is
close.
e. The Union army is routed and form a
defensive area called by the CSA as the
“Hornets Nest.” Union Gen. Prentiss is able
to hold off many CSA attacks and buy time
for Union reinforcements.
f. The Death of Gen. Johnston-while
leading a final charge against the “Hornets
Nest,” Johnston is wounded and bleeds to
death. His command is turned over to Gen.
P.G.T. Beauregard who does not press the
attack against the Union trapped along the
Tennessee River. He telegraphs Richmond
he has won a great victory when in fact,
Grant is being reinforced all during the
night and will counterattack next morning.
g. Grant drives the CSA back and the
CSA retreats deep into Mississippi.
h. Grant is accused of being drunk, but he
was not. Lincoln told to fire Grant. He
replies,
“I can’t. This man fights.”
i. How Shiloh Changed the War.
a) Both sides had over 10,000 casualties.
b) CSA battle flag used for the first time.
c) Rebel Yell heard for the first time.
d) A young writer, Samuel Clemens
deserts the CSA army.
e) A Union general, Lew Wallace will go
on to write one of the most famous novels
of all time Ben Hur.
f. Bloody Pond-where both sides
wounded went for a drink of water.
g. Shiloh will be the model for the rest of
the Civil War’s battles-larger armies with
many casualties.
G. War in the East 1862
1. The Battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks
a. Gen. McClellan moves his massive
army by ship to the bottle of the James
Peninsula and slowly moves up the
peninsula.
b. He is opposed by CSA Gen. Joseph E.
Johnston.
c. Johnston slows the Union advance by:
1) “Quaker guns”-painted telegraph
poles made to look like cannons.
2) “Fake Marching Formations”-the
same men kept marching through a clearing
in the trees and Allen Pinkerton keeps
counting them and tells McClellan he is
greatly outnumber. McClellan asks
Washington for more men. Lincoln
remarks, “McClellan has a bad case of the
slows.”
d. As McClellan gets closer to
Richmond, Johnston attacks him and there
is great loss of life on both sides both the
battle ends in a draw.
e. Gen. Johnston is badly wounded and
will be out of action for months.
f. Johnston is replaced by Robert E. Lee
2. The Seven Days Before Richmond
a. Lee renames the CSA army in the east
the Army of Northern Virginia.
b. Lee builds fortifications around
Richmond and attacks McClellan’s divided
army.
c. Gen. Lee drives the Union Army back
down the James Peninsula to Harrison
Landing where his ships will withdraw his
army. This is accomplished by Lee through
4 different battles.
d. McClellan leaves a force at Malvern
Hill to protect his retreat and Lee attacks it
and is stopped with a great loss of men and
the Army of the Potomac is allowed to
escape.
e. Even though Lee drives back a much
larger army than his, The Seven Days
Before Richmond costs Lee a terrible price
in men killed, wounded and captured.
3. The Battle of Hampton Roads
a. The CSA builds an ironclad ship from
the old Merrimac that was scuttled at
Norfolk and renames it the CSS Virginia.
b. The CSS Virginia attacks and sinks
one Union ship and disables two others.
1) Through the work of spies, the North
knows the South was building an ironclad
and rushed to build its’ own.
c. The next day, the USS Monitor arrives.
1) Gideon Welles the US Secretary of
the Navy had her built.
2) John Ericsson designed it and
supervised its’ building. Story of its
construction.
d. The battle between the Virginia and the
Monitor is a draw with the Virginia
withdrawing because of damage to her
structure when she is caught on a sand bar.
The Virginia is later scuttled.
e. The Battle of Hampton Roads ends the
era of the wooden ship.
1) A foreign observer stated, “ In one
day, all the navies of the world are made
obsolete.”
IV. The Civil War and the Economy
A. Behind the Union Lines
1. The invention of the mechanical
reaper by Cyrus McCormick frees up
many men for the Union Army.
2. Wartime inflation causes prices to
rise.
a. inflation-a rise in price levels
resulting from an increase in the
amount of money in circulation or a
decrease in the amount of goods
available for sale.
b. Greenbacks-paper money issued by
the U.S. Treasury to help finance the
war when the supply of gold and
silver decreased.
3. Northern opponents of the war were
called Copperheads.
a. Most Copperheads were democratic
b. The names of some Copperhead
organization.
1) The Knights of the Golden Circle
2) Sons of Liberty
a) There was suspected
Copperhead activity in the
Coal Regions of Northeast
Pennsylvania.
c. Their leader was a congressman
from Ohio named Clement L.
Vallandigham.
1) Lincoln had him deported to the
South, but returned to the U. S.
through Canada.
4. Lincoln suspended the right of habeas
corpus in some areas especially in
Maryland.
a. Habeas Corpus-you must be
informed of the crimes you have
been arrested for in a timely manner.
b. Chief Justice Roger Taney of
Maryland complained to Lincoln
about this suspension of civil rights
and Lincoln asked him if he would
like to spend the rest of the war in
prison.
B. The Blockade-by 1862 the Federal
blockade extended from Virginia to
Texas. The supplies coming from
Europe were vital to the South.
1. Blockade runners-the South purchased
fast ships from the Jonathan B. Laird
Shipyard in Liverpool, England. These
were the:
a. CSS Florida
b. CSS Shenandoah
c. CSS Alabama
2. These ships were manned by English
crews until they reached the island of
Bermuda. Here, they were turned over to
the CSA and were mounted with guns
Bermuda became the favorite destination
of the Confederate blockade runners.
a. The Laird Rams were a weapon that
might have won the war for the South. It
was an ironclad ship that had mounted
guns with the range of over seven miles. It
has had an iron prow for ramming ships.
This ship also looked like a conventional
ship. The Laird Company built two rams
and they could anchor off the coast of any
Northern city and fire on it and still be out
of range of the shore batteries. It could
also destroy any wooden ship used in the
blockade.
1) The US ambassador to The Court of
St. James, was Charles Francis Adams. He
became good friends with Prince Albert
the husband of Queen Victoria. Prince
Albert persuaded the Laird Company to
sell the rams to the Dutch navy.
3. The CSS Hunley was the first
successful submarine. It sank the USS
Housitanic outside Charleston Harbor. It
disappeared after the sinking and was
found about ten years ago with the remains
of the crew still inside.
4. The Trent Incident
a. A Union warship stopped the British
steamer RMS Trent bound for London.
b. Two Confederate diplomats, James
Mason and John Slidell who boared the
ship in Cuba were seized.
c. U.S. naval captain Wilkes was hailed
as a hero at home but the British were
outraged over the incident and were calling
for war.
d. Secretary of State William Seward
wanted to invade Canada but President
Lincoln said,”One war at a time Mr.
Seward, one war at a time.”
e. Lincoln apologized to the British and
the issue was dropped. Britain and France
were not ready to commit to the
Confederacy because of the sticky issue of
slavery.
C. The Draft
a. In the South it was being called “Rich
man’s war, but a poor man’s fight.”
b. Draft Riots erupted in the North. Irish
immigrants in New York City killed over
500 freed blacks on a three day rampage
that had to be put down by Union troops.
c. In the coalfields of Schuylkill County
around Minersville the Irish would not
report when drafted. Lincoln wanting to
avoid another New York, told draft
officials to make it look like Schuylkill
County fulfilled its draft quota.
d. Bread Riots
1. Because of wartime inflation, the
ordinary citizen in the South could not
afford the necessities of life. Flour was 75
times more expensive in the beginning of
1863 as it was when the war started.
2. The worst riot was in Richmond,
Virginia, but also spread to other cities. It
would be a problem in the South for the
rest of the war.
D. Slaves
1. The Union considered slaves captured
as contrabands and could be used in the
Northern war effort.
a. The 54th Massachusetts was the first
all black regiment.
b. It was caommanded by Col. Robert
Gould Shaw and fought bravely in the
assault at Battery Wagner in South
Carolina.
c. The movie Glory is about their brave
exploits.
2. Runaway slaves were called “John
Henry’s and often tagged along with the
Union Army.
E. Prisoner of War Camps
1. Early in the war, they was a prisoner
of war exchange system in place.
2. Two events made this process break
down.
a. Confederate rarely would take black
Union soldiers prisoner. Ft. Pillow
Massacre committed by CSA Gen. Nathan
Bedford Forrest.
b. By 1864, Gen. Grant did not want to
exchange prisoners because Grant could
knew he could get more soldiers but the
South could not.
1. Southern Prisons
a. Libby Prison in Richmond for
Union officers.
b. Andersonville in Georgia. This was
considered the worst POW camp.
Thousands of Union prisoners died there of
disease and starvation but, the
Confederates couln’t feed themselves. It
was built to hold 10,000 but had 0ver
40,000 prisoners.
c. The newspaper expression deadline
came from Andersonville.
d. The camp’s commander Major Wirz
was the only Confederate hanged for a war
crime after the war.
4. Northern Prisons
a. Elmira, New York-as bad as
Andersonville but the misery was caused
intentionally.
b. Camp Douglas in Chicago was the
same. The Union guards inflicted as much
misery as they could.
c. Sandusky, Ohio Johnson’s Island in
Lake Erie was a prison for Confederate
officers.
V. The War in the East 1862-1864
A. The Second Battle of Bull Run
1. Union Gen. John Pope-came from
the West. Told the Army of the Potomac
that they were used to see the backs of their
enemy.
2. Told his men “My headquarters are
in my saddle.” His men quickly learned that
is where his brains are.
3. Stonewall Jackson attacks him, and
just before Jackson is overcome, Longstreet
arrives with the rest of the Army of
Northern Virginia and Pope flees.
4. It is a great victory for Lee and the
South.
B. The Battle of Antietam Sept. 17th, 1862.
1. Pope is relieved of command and
George B. McClellan is put back into
command of the Army of the Potomac.
2. Lee only has about half his army. He
wants to get the war out of Virginia for the
harvest.
a. Longstreet is sent to North Carolina
to get fodder and fresh horses.
3. Lee believes a victory in the North
will bring England and France into the war
on the side of the South.
Lee also divides his army which is a very
risky move. He sends Stonewall Jackson to
Harpers Ferry to capture the Union army
there as well as supplies. He sends another
part of his army to try and recruit soldiers
for his army.
4. Lee believes that by entering
Maryland that many will flock to join his
army. The bands play “Maryland, My
Maryland” as they enter towns, but when
the people see his dirty and barefoot army,
the people close their shutters and lock their
doors.
5. The Legend of Barbara Fritchie
a. Frederick, Maryland-as the
Confederates are marching through
Frederick they notice the Stars and Strips
flying from a second story window.
b. Stonewall orders that the women
remove the flag. She refuses, and Jackson
orders a cannon ready to fire on the
women’s house.
c. She replies, “Shoot if you must this
old grey head, but spare your country’s flag
she said.” Jackson orders his men to move
on.
6. Lost Order #191-Lee wrote out his
orders for his division commanders. One
was left behind and discovered by Union
soldiers. When McClellan received these he
said, “If I can’t whip Bobby Lee now, I
never will.”
When Lee’s scouts noticed McClellan
moving faster than usual, Lee knew
something was up, and told his army to
unite along the Antietam Creek at
Sharpsburg, Maryland.
7. With Lee’s army still missing
Jackson’s Corps, McClellan delays
attacking for a day. This will prove costly.
8. The Union, with superior forces begin
the attack. Instead of the whole army
attacking at once, They go in division at a
time. This allows Lee to keep shifting
soldiers to critical parts of the battlefield.
9. The CSA center near the Dunker
Church almost falls. Thousands of both
sides are killed in the Sunken Road. The
fighting now shifts to the left.
10. Burnsides Bridge-The Union kept
trying to cross this bridge that got its’ name
from the Union general who kept attacking
it. Finally, Gen. Ambrose Burnside gets
across and is about to flank Lee’s army and
destroy it. Lee has no more soldiers to deal
with this newest threat.
11. At the last minute, CSA Gen. A.P.
Hill arrives with 4,500 men and saves the
CSA.
12. This battle was described by one
soldier the day the sun moved backwards. It
still is the bloodiest and most costly in
human lives. More men died at Antietam
than at Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and 9/11.
13. Matthew Brady the Civil War
photographer took pictures here and
displayed them in his New York office to
show the real horrors of war.
14. Thomas Nast, famous cartoonist for
Harper’s Weekly drew pictures of the battle.
In Dec. 1862, on the cover of Harper’s
Weekly he will draw Santa Claus as we
know him today.
15. The North considers
Antietam a victory but
McClellan does not pursue
Lee and Lincoln fires him
for good.
C. The Emancipation Proclamation
1. Lincoln wanted to issue this earlier,
but Secretary of State William Seward said
he should wait for a Union victory.
2. After Antietam, Lincoln issues the
Emancipation Proclamation.
3. After January 1, 1863, all slaves
living in the states that seceded are now
free.
4. This did not apply to the border
states.
5. Lincoln freed the slaves where he
couldn’t, and didn’t free the slaves where he
could.
6. This declaration made a great
impression in Europe. They now viewed
the war as one to free the slaves. No
European country would ally itself with a
Confederacy with the institution of slavery.
7. Lincoln has now changed the aim of
the war from preserving the Union to
freeing the slaves.
D. The Battle of Fredericksburg
1. Gen. Ambrose Burnside replaces
McClellan as commandeered of the Army
of the Potomac.
2. He wants to capture Richmond by way
of Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock
River.
3. Burnside beat Lee to Fredericksburg
but couldn’t cross the river because the few
soldiers there destroyed all the bridges.
4. The pontoon bridges Burnside was
promised didn’t arrive for ten days. This
gave Lee plenty of time to set up great
defensive positions, especially on the high
ground behind the town on Marye’s
Heights.
5. When Burnside attacked it was a
slaughter. Thousands of men attacked up
the hill and were driven back. A great CSA
victory.
6. Professor Loew’s balloon used for
observation here.
7. Burnside tried to attack Lee again
down river but the roads were terrible. This
is known as his “Mud March.”
8. Burnside-“sideburns.”
E. Chancellorsville, May 1863
1. Gen. Ambrose Burnside is replaced by
Gen. “Fignting Joe” Hooker.
a. Most likely the term for prostitute, a
“hooker” had its origins here.
2. Gen. Lee once again is without
Longstreet’s corps which is down south
gathering supplies. Lee has barely 40,000
men. Hooker has over 120,000 men
3. Hooker places his army across the
Rappahannock near the Chancellor House
along a seven mile front and prepares to
attack Lee.
4. Stonewall Jackson proposes to take his
corps and march 26 miles around Hookers
line and attack him on his extreme right
which is “in the air.” This means there is no
natural barrier next to the end of the line
like a river or another geographic feature.
a. This is a great risk. Jackson could be
detected along his march and be attacked.
Lee was barely a mile from the Chancellor
House with less than 15,000 men and an
attack by Hooker could destroy him. Lee
took the chance.
b. The most famous painting in the South
is that of Lee and Jackson sitting on a
cracker barrel discussing this plan. It is
entitled “The Last Meeting.”
5. Jackson completes his move around the
Union lines and attacks Hooker on the flank
and drives the Union lines back towards the
Chancellor House in a panic.
a. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson is
shot and wounded by his own men by
mistake.
b. Jackson loses his left arm and dies a
week later. “Let us cross over the river, and
sit under the shade of the tree.”
c. Lee says, Jackson has lost his left arm,
but I have lost my right hand of the army.
6. The battle of Chancellorsville showed
Lee’s great skill at maneuvering troops.
F. Gettysburg
1. Once again Lee wanted to take the
army into northern territory. He feels if he
can capture Philadelphia, Harrisburg, or
Baltimore it will bring England into the war
on the side of the South.
2. Lee starts to move north but his cavalry
commander J.E.B. Stuart loses contact with
Lee and the Army of the Potomac.
3. When Lee crosses into Pennsylvania his
army is scattered into three corps. Lee
learns from a man by the name of Harrison
who was hired by Longstreet that the Union
army was less than 2 hours away from Lee’s
army. Lee orders his army to consolidate
near Gettysburg because so many roads
came into that town
4. First Day
a. The Confederates are delayed west of
town by Federal cavalry under Gen.
Jonathan Buford.
b. As the Union army arrives on the field
Gen. John Reynolds is killed.
c. By nightfall, the CSA occupies
Gettysburg.
5. Second Day
a. The Confederates line extends along
Seminary Ridge named for the Lutheran
Theological Seminary located there.
b. The Union line goes from Culps and
Cemetery Ridge ending at The Round Tops.
c. The fighting goes from Devil’s Den, up
Little Round Top, through the Wheatfield
and along Cemetery Ridge. Lee cannot
break the Union line. At sunset the CSA
attacks Cemetery and Culps Hill with little
success.
6. The Third Day
a. Lee attacks the center of the Union
line. This is known as Pickett’s Charge. It
fails and Lee retreats back to Virginia.
b. Virginia Wade was killed on the third
day of the battle, the only civilian killed.
7. On November 19th, 1863 President
Lincoln was there to help dedicate the new
Soldiers Cemetery.
a. The main speaker, Edward Evretts
spoke for 2 and ½ hours.
b. Lincoln spoke for 2 and ½ minutes but
it became the greatest speech in American
history-The Gettysburg Address.
c. The Gettysburg Address changed the
war aim of the Union for a third time.
Lincoln said we were fighting the war to
preserve democracy.
VI. The War in the West
A. Battle of Pea Ridge or Elkhorn
Tavern
1. It was fought in Northern Arkansas
and it kept the Confederate forces out of
Missouri.
a. St. Louis was very pro-Union but
the countryside was pro-Confederate.
B. The Battle of Perryville—CSA
General Braxton Bragg invaded Kentucky,
which ended her neutrality, was stopped by
the Union at the Battle of Perryville.
1. April 1862, Union Admiral David
Faragut ran past the fortifications in the
lower Mississippi and captured the city of
New Orleans the South’s largest and most
important city.
C. The Battle of Murfreesboro
1. Union called it the Battle of Stones
River.
2. Union forces at Murfreesboro were
commanded on the field by General George
Thomas, a native of Virginia.
3. The battle, which was fought on
Dec. 31, 1862, was a draw, but CSA Gen.
Braxton Bragg gave up on trying to hold on
to Murfreesboro and retreated into Northern
Alabama.
4. The oldest Civil War monument on
any field is the Hazen Memorial, is found
on the Murfreesboro Battlefield.
D. The Seige of Vicksburg 1863
1. Grant moves on Vicksburg-a
stronghold on the Mississippi River.
2. Grant keeps recrossing the river until
he gets the CSA out in the open and drives
them back into the city of Vicksburg.
3. The CSA commander Gen. John C.
Pemberton, a Pennsylvania native, is
surrounded in the city.
4. Vicksburg is the subject of constant
and the city is running out of supplies.
5. To save his army and the civilians,
Pemberton surrenders to Grant on July 4th,
1863. Mississippi will not celebrate
Independence Day until World War II.
6. The CSA is now divided in two.
Grant wires Lincoln, “ The Father of Waters
now flows unvexed to the Sea.”
7. A few days later, Port Hudson,
Louisiana, falls to the Union. It is the last
CSA fort on the Mississippi.
E. Chattanooga
1. The Battle of Chickamauqua
a. The CSA Gen. Braxton Bragg,
reinforced with Gen. James Longstreet’s
Corps from the Army of Northern Virginia,
attacks the Union army outside of
Chattanooga, Tennessee along the
Chickamaqua River.
b. Chickamaqua is a Cherokee word
that means “River of blood.”
c. In Grant’s absence, the Union army
is surprised and is saved from destruction by
Gen. George Thomas who makes a gallant
stand while the rest of the army retreats into
Chattanooga. For this action, Thomas is
known as “The Rock of Chickamaqua.”
d. The Union army is now besieged in
Chattanooga like the CSA was in
Vicksburg. Rations in the Union army are
cut to one quarter. Chattanooga is
surrounded by high mountains.
e. Grant returns and establishes “The
Cracker Line” through a small mountain
pass and supplies the Union army.
2. The Battle of the Clouds
a. Grant decides to break out of
Chattanooga by attacking the Confederates
on Missionary Ridge and Lookout
Mountain.
b. The CSA is badly beaten and retreat
into northern Georgia.
c. CSA Gen. Braxton Bragg is replaced
by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.
3. Grant is promoted to Lt. General of the
entire Union army and heads east to travel
with the Army of the Potomac.
4. Sherman replaces Grant as the Union
commander in the West.
5. The Union Army in the West is known
as the Army of the Cumberland.
VII. War in the East 1864-1865
1. The Battle of the Wilderness May 1864
a. Grant quickly realizes that Lee’s
army and not Richmond is the main
objective in order to win the war.
b. Grant wants to fight Lee’s army in an
open battlefield but Lee won’t fall for it.
c. Lee goes into The Wilderness and
Grant attacks him there in a tangle of thick
forests and thick undergrowth.
d. Grant losses 18,000 men and wept in
his tent.
e. CSA Gen. Longstreet is wounded in
the neck.
f. Hundreds of the wounded on the
battle field burn to death as sparks from the
guns ignite the dry underbrush.
2. The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
a. Lee anticipates Grant’s next move and
beats him to the junction of roads at
Spotsylvania.
b. The battle is fought during a terrible
thunderstorm. At the center of the CSA
line, known as The Mule Shoe,” the dead
are piled eight feet high.
c. Grant losses another 12,000 men.
3. The Battle of Cold Harbor
a. Lee guesses again where Grant is
headed and digs his army in with great
protection. Rifle pits, albatis, and dirt make
any attack impossible.
b. Grant attacks and losses 7,000 men in
45 minutes. He orders a second attack and
it is driven back with great loss of life.
1) Grant is now being called a
“butcher” in the Northern papers.
c. In one month of fighting, Grant has
lost 55,000 men to Lee’s 31,000. Grant can
replace his losses, but Lee cannot. After the
Battle of Cold Harbor, with replacements
arriving, he has more men than he when he
started the campaign.
4. The Battle and Siege of Petersburg.
a. Grant surprises Lee and moves South
again. He tells Lincoln he will fight it out
along this line all summer. Petersburg is ten
miles south of the James River and
Richmond.
b. Lee correctly concludes that if Grant
gets south of the James, it will be only a
matter of time before his army will be
beaten and Richmond will fall.
c. Grant’s army beats Lee to Petersburg
but Grants generals wait for a day before
they attack. When the Union army arrived,
Petersburg was held by about 4,000
invalids, old men, and kids. Lost chance for
Grant to end the war.
d. Lee’ army arrives and Petersburg turn
into a siege with both sides digging
elaborate trenches. Grant will stretch Lee’s
lines for 23 miles around Petersburg.
1) The Battle of the Crater
a) Col. Henry Pleasants of the 48th PA,
a regiment from Schuylkill County goes to
Gen. Burnside with a plan to dig a mine
tunnel under the Confederate lines. The 48th
PA is compromised mostly of coal miners
and Pleasants is a mining engineer.
b) Burnside informs Grant of the plan
and he approves it. He says,”It sounds
insane, but it will give the men something to
do.”
c) The plan is to place explosives at the
end of the tunnel and blow a hole in the
enemy line and put three divisions in the
opening of the ine.
d) When the tunnel is finished, the
explosion occurs but the hole is too deep.
Instead of running around the hole, the
Union troops go into it. After the
Confederates recovered from the shock of
the explosion, the Union troops were
slaughtered in the crater.
5. The End in the East
a. Lee can no longer stay in Petersburg
because his last railroad line is cut and he
has no more food. Men are deserting by the
hundreds daily.
b. He informs President Davis that is
going to break out of Petersburg and try to
link up with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in
North Carolina. He will need food to make
the trip. At Danville, VA. A train with
supplies is waiting for him but it is
ammunition, not food. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart is
killed at Yellow Tavern and A.P. Hill is
killed at Five Forks.
c. Gen. Phil Sheridan is right on Lee’s rear
and his front is now blocked as well. With
his men surrounded, and starving he agrees
to meet with Gen. Grant. Lee said, “I would
rather die a thousand deaths than do this.”
They agree to meet at Appomattox Court
House at the home of Wilmer McClean.
d. Grant gives Lee very generous terms
and Lee accepts them. The war is over in
the East.
It can be said the war started in the front
yard of Wilmer McClean and ended in his
parlor.
VIII The War in the West
A. Atlanta
1. Sherman invades Georgia and CSA
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston is slowly retreating
southward to try and get Gen. Sherman to
attack him in a good defensive position.
a. The Battle of Kennesaw MountainSherman attacks Johnston and is beaten
back, Sherman will not do this again and
countinues his flanking move southward.
2. As the CSA gets closer to Atlanta,
Richmond feels Johnston is not doing
enough and they replace him with Gen.
John Bell Hood. Hood is aggressive and
will attack the Union Army. This was the
break that Sherman was hoping for. With
Grant stuck outside Petersburg and Sherman
stalled outside of Atlanta, it does not look
like Lincoln will win the Election of 1864
against George B. McClellan.
a. The Battles of Peachtree Creek, Ezra’s
Church, Hood attacks the Union Army and
is defeated. After one more battle at Dalton,
Georgia, Hood abandons Atlanta. With the
fall of Atlanta, Lincoln is elected president
again.
3. After burning Atlanta, Sherman begins
his “March to the Sea.” He cuts a 40 mile
wide path of destruction from Atlanta to
Savannah.
a. “War is Hell.”-Gen. Sherman.
b. Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.”
c. “I beg to offer Savannah as a Christmas
gift.”
d. “I will make Georgia Howl.”
4. Sherman spares Savannah and marches
north to South Carolina. He is especially
harsh in South Carolina because the seeds of
secession were planted there. He spares
Charleston but burns every other major city
and town.
5. Hood marches north to try and get
Sherman to follow him. Sherman doesn’t.
a. The Battle of Franklin, Tennessee
1) Hood tries a “Pickett’s Charge” at
Franklin and nine Confederate generals are
killed. Hood’s army is destroyed and Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston is put back into
command of the CSA in the West.
6. Nathan Bedford Forrest
a. He was a genius Confederate calvary
commander in the west. He attracts large
numbers of Union men because he is
destroying supply lines, and threatening key
supply depots and cutting telegraph lines.
Forrest arose from poverty to a millionaire
and raised and out fitted his own calvary
unit of 1,000-1,500 men. He was called by
the Union “The Devil Himself.”
7. North Carolina
a. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston has an army of
50,000 men and Sherman pursues him
through North Carolina.
b. The last large battle of the war is fought
at Bentonville, North Carolina with great
loss on both sides.
c. The day after Lincoln’s assassination,
Johnston surrenders to Sherman. Sherman
receives the same terms Grant gave Lee at
Appomattox Court House.
8. The Sultana Disaster-an overloaded
steamship mostly with Union prisoners from
Andersonville, explodes in the Mississippi.
More people were killed in the Sultana
Disaster than on the RMS Titanic.