An Overview of the Civil War

The War Between The States…“the Crossroads of our being” as a

nation and a people…Shelby Foote

Setting the Stage…

The Deep South• Prior to the Civil War,

life in the deep South was a non-mechanized age, in which slaves were vital to an economy based on cotton production.

• Plantation owners were the South’s social aristocrats.

The Industrial North

• The North’s mills and factories were family-operated. The owners wanted high tariffs as protection against goods from abroad, while the South favored low tariffs to encourage export of its cotton and tobacco.

The Cotton Gin

• Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, increased the profit in cotton growing. This in turn increased the demand for slaves to work in expanding cotton fields.

The United States in 1820

• Forty years before the Civil War, the nation was already divided. Southern states were referred to as slave states because slavery was permitted.

• Northern states, where slavery was forbidden, were called free states.

• As the country expanded westward, the question of balance between free and slave states became an increasingly contested issue.

The Compromise of 1850

• The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state and ended the slave trade in the District of Columbia. The territories of Utah and New Mexico could decide the issue of slavery.

The Caning of Sumner

• Charles Sumner, an anti-slavery Senator from Massachusetts, was assaulted in the Senate Chamber on May 22, 1856 by Preston Brooks, A Representative from South Carolina, because of a speech he had made two days before. This incident added to the discontent.

The Underground Railroad• The Underground Railroad

was a name given to a system in the Northern states before the Civil War by which escaped slaves were secretly helped to safety and freedom in the North. It was called the Underground Railroad because its activities had to be conducted in secret and because railroad terms were used.

The Underground Railroad

• Harriet Beecher Stowe gained first-hand knowledge of fugitive slaves through her contact with the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, did much to arouse Northern sympathy for the plight of the slaves. Above: Slaves hide in small spaces/rooms below the

main floor of a house.

John Brown• On October 16, 1859,

John Brown and 21 others attacked the United States arsenal and rifle works at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), with the intention of seizing weapons and arming slaves for an uprising. He was hung for treason on December 2, 1859. The nation was divided in their fear and admiration of him.

Dred Scott• Dred Scot was a slave

whose master took him from the slave state of Missouri into free territory in the Louisiana Purchase. After his master’s death, Scott sued for his freedom and the Supreme Court refused to give it to him. This angered abolitionists and pleased slaveholders.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• Debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas during the Illinois Senatorial election of 1858 served to make Lincoln a national figure. He lost the Senate Election, but two years later he defeated Douglas for the Presidency.

Abraham Lincoln Becomes President

• In 1860, when Lincoln was elected President, the country was split between slave states and free states.

• The people in the South felt that it was the States’ responsibility to deal with matter of slavery and other issues. They did not feel that this was the Federal Government’s responsibility.

• The election of Lincoln, a strong man committed to the preservation of the Union, convinced the South that their vital interests were being threatened.

Jefferson Davis Leads the South

• On December 20, 1860, South Carolina broke away form the Union. This was followed by Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and later…Texas breaking away as well.

• Many Northerners believed that Secession was an act of treason and that the Union should be preserved at all costs.

• On February 9, 1961, delegates from six of the seceded states met in Montgomery Alabama and elected Jefferson Davis Provisional President of the Confederate States.

The War Begins…Some Highlights

Attack on Fort Sumter

• Confederate shells burst over Fort Sumter, a Union stronghold in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Confederates opened fire before dawn on April 12, 1861. Thirty-four hours later, the federal troops surrendered – and the Civil War had begun.

War…A Noble Undertaking• Virginia and three other states

soon joined the Confederate cause as the South’s capital was moved to Richmond.

• Both sides mustered all their resources, attracting men who were willing to sacrifice everything for God and their principles…marching into battle for this noble undertaking of honor and glory.

Jackson Gets His Nickname…Manassas…the First Bull Run

• This is the scene at Manassas, Virginia, during the first major battle of the war (First Bull Run) on July 21, 1861. The Southerners held their ground as Confederate General Bee pointed to General Thomas J. Jackson on the distant hill and cried: “There stands Jackson like a stone wall!”

• The South sent the Union Army scurrying back to Washington.

War turned out to be blood, and pain and death.

The Monitor and the Merrimac

• The first battle in history between ironclad ships occurred on March 9, 1862, at Hampton Roads, Virginia. John Ericson, a Swedish immigrant, completed the Union’s Monitor just in time to get it into battle and save a Union fleet from the Confederate Merrimac.

• Both sides claimed victory in the battle.

Here, John Ericson is shown with Admiral David Dixon Porter who successfully ran the confederate batteries at Vicksburg in 1863.

• General George McClellan was placed in command of the Federal Army of the Potomac. He was an expert organizer but a reluctant fighter. His massive army of 105,000 troops moved towards Richmond in the Spring of 1862. At the end of May, he was poised on the city’s outskirts.

General George McClellan

Robert E. Lee

• Robert E. Lee, son of a Revolutionary War hero, replaced General Johnston near the end of the Battle of Seven Pines.

• He was known for his character and intelligence, as well as his military ability.

• He had turned down command of the Northern armies at the beginning of the war and was described by some as the most capable commander in America.

Southern Military Leaders

• Among these were Ambrose Hill and John B. Hood, two of Robert E. Lee’s best infantry commanders. Earl Van Dorn fought along the Mississippi. Stand Waite, a Cherokee, fought in the Indian territory.

During the American Civil War, there were more than 400 men who served as Generals in the Confederate army.

Admiral David G. Farragut

• A great Union naval officer and leader was Admiral David G. Farragut.

• He forced the surrender of New Orleans, the South’s Largest city, in April of 1862.

Lee’s Campaign …1862• Lee reorganized his forces and launched an

offensive campaign. He drove back McClellan’s army while Jackson defeated Northern forces in the Shenandoah Valley.

• Lincoln put all the Federal armies under the command of General W. Halleck, who ordered McClellan to abandon his Peninsula Campaign and join forces with General John Pope’s army in northern Virginia.

• However, before the two Union armies could unite, Lee moved his army north of Richmond and shattered Pope’s army at the Battle of Second Manassas.

Second Bull Run or Manassas

Lee’s Campaign Continues…• Lee then moved his army across the

Potomac River unto Maryland, heading for Pennsylvania. He thought he might win a major battle and turn the Fall Congressional elections against Lincoln enough to win Southern independence.

• “Stonewall” Jackson captured Harpers Ferry and 10,000 Northern troops.

• However, he lost a copy of Lee’s orders which were discovered and delivered to McClellan.

• McClellan hesitated and gave Lee time to prepare for battle.

Harper’s Ferry

Lee’s Campaign Continues…

• The two armies met on September 17, 1862 near Sharpsburg, Maryland and fought the Battle of Antietam.

• It was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War with more than 26,000 casualties.

• The battle ended the 1862 Confederate attempt to invade the North.

• Lee then slipped across the Potomac River into Virginia before McClellan could attack the next day.

The Emancipation Proclamation

The Federal army’s success at turning back the Confederate invasion gave President Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the Confederacy’s slaves to be free. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in pro-Union states like Delaware and Missouri. However, it made ending slavery a Northern war goal, and encouraged the 13th Amendment that would end slavery in 1865.

From Servant to Serviceman

• Known only as Jackson, this young Confederate servant became a Union drummer.

• Until 1862, the Militia Act of 1792 had barred nonwhites from service in the U.S. Army. They could, however, serve in the Navy. Ironically, the first black Civil War soldiers enlisted on the Confederate side.

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry

• After emancipation, many slaves left their owners and escaped to Union camps. Thousands joined the Union forces, like these members of the 54th Massachusetts (Colored) Infantry. The North’s first volunteer black regiment was made up of former slaves and freedman. The officers, however, were white.

Teaching Freed Slaves• Women on both sides played

important roles during the war. This one teaches young freed slaves to read.

• In addition to teaching, women worked as recruiting agents, fund-raisers, organizers, and nurses.

• Women endured great hardships. While men were off fighting the war, women were forced to become wage earners.

• The war also brought the issues of women’s rights to the forefront.

Clara Barton

• Clara Barton was called the ‘Angel of the Battlefields’. She followed the Union troops into battle, ministering to the wounded and the sick. Through her efforts, the American Red Cross was founded.

Rose Greenhow

• Rose Greenhow was the most famous Southern spy. She was a Washington society leader who gathered information at social affairs and, as shown here, passed it on to Southern messengers.

Belle Boyd

• Belle Boyd was a Southern spy whose information helped “Stonewall” Jackson outwit the Union several times. Here, she is shown shooting a Union soldier in her mother’s home.

The North Replaces Generals

• Lincoln searched for a Northern general who could match Lee. He replaced McClellan with General Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 13, 1862.

• Lincoln then replaced Burnside with General Joseph Hooker.

• During the Civil War, over 500 men served as Generals in the Union army.

Chancellorsville…1863

• In May, 1863, Hooker took his army of 134,000 troops and tried a maneuver to threaten Lee’s outnumbered army.

• Meanwhile, Lee divided his troops on a forced march, to launch a surprise attack that shattered Hooker’s army.

• The Battle of Chancellorsville was Lee’s greatest victory.

“Stonewall” Jackson Mortally Wounded

• The Battle of Chancellorsville came at a severe cost to the South…

• “Stonewall” Jackson was fatally wounded in there on May 2, 1863. In a daring and successful surprise attack, Jackson was mortally wounded by fire from his own men’s guns.

Gettysburg …1863• After Chancellorsville, Lee again led

his army northward toward Pennsylvania, hoping for a great victory on Northern soil that would earn official recognition of the Confederacy by the European nations.

• Lee lost the three-day battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) which was the largest battle ever fought in North America.

• Gettysburg proved to be the turning point of the War Between the States, costing Lee 28,000 casualties he could not afford.

Jennie Wade

• The only Gettysburg citizen killed during the three day battle at Gettysburg was twenty year-old Mary Virginia ‘Jenny’ Wade. Jennie is shown here kneading dough to make bread, just before the fatal bullet pierced two doors to kill her.

The Gettysburg Address

• On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln dedicated the new national cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield.

• In his famous speech, the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln urged Northerners to focus on restoring the Union…“…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, for the people, shall not perish form the earth.”

Ulysses S. Grant• Union General Ulysses S. Grant rose to

prominence after a series of victories in the west …Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga.

• His strategy of “unconditional surrender” became linked with his name.

• In March of 1864, he came east, where Lincoln promoted him to commander of the Union armies.

• He implemented a strategy of total war against the South, which would finally succeed in bringing down the Confederacy.

• Grant became the nation’s 18th President in 1869.

Sherman’s March To The Sea

• In November of 1864, soon after Lincoln’s reelection, Union General Tecumseh Sherman and his troops left Atlanta, Georgia in flames.

• From there, they headed eastward to the sea, cutting a 60-mile-wide path of destruction across Georgia.

• His troops burned bridges and buildings, tearing up rail lines and destroying everything in their path.

• They captured Savannah in December and then moved on to the Carolinas. The Confederacy was finished but the war dragged on.

Surrender At Appomattox

• General Grant and his officers watch as General Lee signs surrender terms in the tiny village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. Lee’s secretary, Lt. Col. Charles Marshall, stands beside him. Less than a week before, Union troops had entered Richmond. Lee had retreated here, pursued by Grant. Lee’s surrender officially marked the war’s end, although some fighting still continued.

Richmond• In 1865, citizens of Richmond

wandered as if stunned through the rubble of the Confederate capital.

• Confederate troops had burned much of the city to keep ammunition and supplies out of the Union’s hands.

• The Civil War destroyed huge areas of the South – cities, towns, farms, and plantations.

• The task of reunification…of making the bitterly divided nation whole again, was going to be as hard to as war.

Lincoln’s Assassination

• On April 14, 1865, southern sympathizer and actor, John Wilkes Booth, fired a fatal shot into the head of President Lincoln as Lincoln, along with his wife and friends, watched a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

• Lincoln was taken to a house across the street, where he died the next morning.

• Booth escaped but was tracked down and shot 11 days later.

Glossaryabolitionists: advocacy of doing away with slavery.

arsenal: a place for making and storing military equipment.

assaulted: violently attacked.

caning: to strike blows with a cane.

casualties: military persons lost through death, injury, sickness or capture.

compromise: a settlement of differences reached by mutual concessions.

conducted: directed.

Confederate: The southern states that seceded from the United States (Union) in 1860-1861.

confederate batteries: a grouping of Southern artillery.

cotton gin: Eli Whitney’s mechanical invention. It removed seeds from cotton

debates: to discuss a question by considering opposing arguments.

export: to send merchandise to a foreign countries.

federal: union armies.

infantry: soldiers trained armed, and equipped to fight on foot.

invention: something created for the first time.

ironclad ships: ships covered with iron plating.

kneading: to work and press into a mass with the hands.

mills: factories.

ministering: giving aid or service.

mortally: causing death…fatal.

mustered: to assemble.

non-mechanized: work done by hand, rather than by machine.

tariffs: a schedule of duties/taxes imposed by a government upon imported goods.

treason: the offense of attempting to overthrow the government of one’s country or of assisting its enemies in war.

Secession: to withdraw from an political party…in this case, states withdrawing from the United States.

Supreme Court: The highest Court/Judicial system in America.

surrendered: giving up/ yielding to the power of another.

Underground Railroad: a system whereby escaped slaves were secretly helped to safety and freedom in the North.

uprising: a revolt.

Glossary

Bibliography

Flato, Charles, The Golden Book of the Civil War, New, York, New York: Golden Press, 1960

Gragg, Todd, The Civil War 1861-1865, San Francisco, Ca.: Travel Time Products

The Gettysburg Campaign, The National Civil War Wax Museum, Gettysburg, Pa.

The National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., 1996