Chapter 11

The Civil War

Goals

• North (Union & Yankees)

= Preserve the Union

• Uncommitted States- Delaware- Kentucky- Missouri- Maryland *

• South (Confederacy & Rebels)

= Independence

Preparations

• North• Less than 17,000

soldiers• 1/3 of officers fought

for Confederacy• ½ of Naval Ships

usable

• South• No army or navy• Solely dependent on

state militias

Resources

• North• More states• Larger population• Manufacturing• Army, navy, and

merchant marine

• South• Military tradition• “King Cotton” =

European support• Short war would

benefit the South

Governments

• North- Lincoln stretches presidential powers

• Martial law imposed• Opening of private mail• Arrests war protesters• Suspends writ of habeas

corpus

• Opposition to Lincoln- Copperheads- Peace Democrats- Radicals- aggressive war to end slavery

• South• Confederation of sovereign

states• No power to tax• Could not interfere with state

activities• Could not interfere with slavery• Legislative = Confederate

Congress• Judicial = Supreme Court• Executive = One six year term

(Jefferson Davis & VP Alexander Stephens)

Economies

• North• Wheat #1 export• Railroad system• Manufacturing

(helped North become wealthy during the war)

• South• Tobacco had little

value• Cotton used only as a

bargaining chip• Food production• Industrial expansion

(Tredegar Iron Works-Richmond, VA)

Raising $

• North• Borrowing – sold war

bonds to the public• Taxation – income tax,

excise tax on whiskey, business tax, Morrill Tariff Act- raised import duties by 25%

• Paper $ = Greenbacks• National Banking Act

- created and protected $- Eliminated state banks

• South• Taxation = less than 1%• Loans = $150 million in

bonds• Paper $ - $700 million in

currency notes

• Inflation ratesN – 80%S – 9000%

Advantages

• North• Population = 22

million• Manufacturing and

food production• Railroad• Civilian leadership

• South• Defense of home soil• Leadership of officers• Experience with guns

and horses• “King Cotton” – 80%

of European cotton came from South

A War of Firsts1. Railroad2. Ironclad Ships (Monitor and Merrimac)3. Machine Gun4. Repeating Rifles5. Trenches and Fortifications6. Landmines7. Naval torpedoes8. Portable Telegraphs9. Balloon Reconnaissance missions10. 1st US draft11. Use of Black Troops (54th Massachusetts)12. 1st photo13. 1st medal of honor

= led to massive casualties

Battles

• Fort Sumter – April 12, 1861

- first shots fired to start the Civil War

- Symbol of Union power

result: Confederate victory, but united the North

Bull Run (Manassas Junction)

• Union victory = capture Richmond, VA

• “Picnic Battle”

• Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson turns tide

Result: Confederate victory and proves to Lincoln he will need a large well trained army

Anaconda Plan-Winfield Scott

- Army of Potomac led by “Tardy” George McClellan

1. Eastern Campaign – take Richmond, VA

2. Western Campaign – Drive Confederacy from Mississippi using gunboats = split the South

3. Blockade Confederate coast – cut off commercial lifeline with Europe

Monitor v. Merrimac

• March 1862, off coast of VA near Hampton Roads

• First battle between ironclad ships in American history

• Result: Draw

Shiloh

• April 6, 1862• Ulysses Grant invades western Tennessee in

February & captures Fort Henry and Fort Donelson (“Unconditional Surrender” Grant)

• Ambushed at the crossroads• Result: Union victory and Confederacy unable to

hold onto Mississippi Valley• Lessons Learned

1. Need for divisional commanders, trenches and forts

2. People give up any hope for a quick victory

Naval Blockade

• Spring 1862 David Farragut (N) captures New Orleans and Baton Rouge

• Result: Confederacy only holds onto Vicksburg and Port Hudson in the west

Peninsula Campaign

• Robert E. Lee (S) prevents McClellan from capturing Richmond

• Lincoln replaces McClellan with General John Pope

2nd Bull Run

• August 1862

• Lee defeats Pope at Manassas Junction

• Result: Confederate victory and Pope replaced by McClellan

Antietam* Turning Point?

• September 17, 1862• South shifts to offensive strategy• McClellan finds Lee’s secret plans• McClellan cuts Lee off at Sharpsburg, MD near

Antietam Creek• Bloodiest single day battle in US History• Result: Union victory, McClellan fired and

replaced by Ambrose Burnside, Britain and France postpone recognizing the Confederacy, Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation

British Neutrality?

Trent Incident 1861

• British diplomats (James Mason & John Sidell) captured by Union warship

• British send 8,000 troops to Canada

Confederate Warships Built in England

• Alabama – caused $419 million in damage to Union

Disliked Slavery

Lincoln Changes Cause of War

1. Bloody Fighting

2. Slavery Helped Confederacy War Effort

3. Diplomatic Relations with Britain

Emancipation ProclamationJan. 1, 1863

1. Slaves behind Confederate lines set free

2. Broadened base of war

3. Gained support from Britain

4. Recruitment of African Americans soldiers (54th & 55th regiments)

Prisons

1. Andersonville, GA – Confederate

2. Camp Douglas (Elmira, NY) - Union

Fredericksburg

• Dec. 13, 1862

• Result: Ambrose Burnside defeated by Confederates

• Burnside replaced by Joseph Hooker

Chancellorsville

• May 1863

• Stonewall Jackson fatally wounded by one of his own men

• Result: Confederate victory, Hooker replaced by George Meade

• Lee moves into Pennsylvania

Gettysburg

• July 1-3, 1863 “Turning Point”• Union – Cemetery Ridge and Little Round Top• Confederates – Seminary Ridge• “Shoe Battle”• “Pickett’s Charge” (General George Pickett)• Result: Union victory, Lee never poses a threat

to the Union, and Meade is replaced by Ulysses S. Grant in March 1864

Gettysburg Address

• Nov. 19, 1863

• Lincoln gives speech dedicating a national cemetery to the fallen soldiers of Gettysburg (2 minutes long)

Vicksburg

• July 4, 1863

• Result: Grant takes Vicksburg, MS cutting the Confederacy in half

• Named commander of the Union Army

• “Butcher Grant”

Sherman’s March to the Sea

• Fall 1863 (Tennessee to Savannah, GA)

• William T. Sherman changes the history of modern warfare by attacking civilian centers

• “War is hell.” “To realize what war is, one should follow in our tracks.”

Lincoln’s Re-election 1864

• Lincoln (National Union Party)

VS.

• George McClellan (Democrat)

- Lincoln changes name of Republican Party for more support

- Re-elected and Andrew Johnson elected VP

Lee’s Surrender

• April 9, 1865

• Appomattox Courthouse Richmond, VA

• “Let them have their horses to plow with, and, if you like, their guns to shoot crows with. I want no one punished.”

- President Lincoln

Lincoln’s Assassination

• April 14, 1865

• Shot by John Wilkes Booth while watching the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater

• Mourned by all in the country