Teaching Warfare in the Classroom

The DIME Approach to Analyzing the Civil War

What is DIME?

• DIME is an acronym- Diplomacy- Information- Military- Economics

• Advantage- Allows for comparisons and systematic analysis

• Disadvantage- Does not allow for detailed analysis of events

Diplomacy

• Potential Allies – external - Great Britain

- France- A divided America or anti-slavery?

• Key States: - Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia, Delaware

• Potential Allies – internal- Confederacy – “Copperheads” or “Peace Democrats”- Union – Unionists and Blacks

• Intelligence

• Communication (Command and Control)

• Media (public perception)

• Ideology

Information

Information - Intelligence

• The Bureau of Military Information• Confederate Secret Service Bureau• Spies• Code Breaking• Deception• Covert Surveillance• Black Dispatches• Intelligence Overseas

http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/civilwar.pdf

Information – Command and Control

• Civilian Authority

• Communications: Telegraph System

Information - Media

• Northern Press

• Southern Press

• The Constitution

• Abolitionism

• The Gettysburg Address- Equality of the individual at the

expense of the rule of law

- Majority Rule at the expense of

individual liberty

Information - Ideology

• Strategy and Operations

• Technology

• Commanders

• Logistics

• Impact on society

Military

• American Tradition- Revolutionary War (guerrilla)

- Engineering / new technology

• Mexican-American War- Training Ground for commanders

• Napoleonic Wars- Climactic Battles

- Wars of maneuver

Military – Strategy

Military – Grand Strategy

• The Art of War1. Achieving the Objective without Destroying It2. Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness: Striking Where the Enemy is Most Vulnerable3. Deception and Foreknowledge: Winning the Information War4. Speed and Preparation: Moving Swiftly to Overcome Resistance5. Shaping the Enemy: Preparing the Battlefield6. Character-Based Leadership: Leading by Example

To what extent were these principles practiced?

Military – Sun Tzu

• Treaties on Grand Military Operations

1. Strategic initiative

2. Concentration of effort against a portion of the enemy

3. Pursuit of a beaten foe

4. Surprise

5. Line of Operations

Military – Jomini

• On War1. Limited War: Specific Objectives 2. Unlimited War: Overthrow the enemy3. Wars tend to escalate4. Importance of Friction5. Politics should determine the objective (The holy triad)

Military – Clausewitz

“War is nothing but the continuation of policy by other means”

Reason (Government)

Chance (Military)

Primoridal Violence (The People)

Military – Technology

Military - Commanders

Military – Logistics

• Food, clothing, shelter• Bullets and guns• Transportation - Trains• Medicine

- Anesthetics / medicine

- Field Hospitals

- Surgeons

- Nurses

Military - Army Organization

Regiments =400-1000 men, made up of 10 companies; Company = 100 men

Brigade1000-2500 men3-5 Regiments

Brigade1000-2500 men3-5 Regiments

Brigade1000-2500 men3-5 Regiments

Division3000-8000 men

3-5 Brigades

Division3000-8000 men

3-5 Brigades

Division3000-8000 men

3-5 Brigades

Corp8000-20,000 men

3-5 Division

Corp8000-20,000 men

3-5 Division

Corp8000-20,000 men

3-5 Division

Army40,000-80,000 men

2-6 Corps

Regiment

Union level ofOrganization at Bull Run

Confederate level ofOrganization at Bull Run

• Habeas Corpus – Union and Confederacy• 1862 - Militia Act, authorizing black enlistment• Elections in 1864 (majority rule established)• Conscription and Desertions• Emancipation Proclamation• Riots – “a rich man’s war, but a poor man’s fight”

- Bread (South)

- Draft (North)

• Total War – increase in governmental power

Military - Impact

Railroad mileage is from: Chauncey Depew (ed.), One Hundred Years of American Commerce 1795-1895 p 111; For other info see: 1860 US census and Carter, Susan B., ed. The Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition (5 vols), 2006.

Comparison of North and South North South

Total population 22,000,000 9,000,000

White population 22,000,000 5,500,000

Slave population N/A 3,500,000

Soldiers 2,200,000 1,064,000

Railroad miles 21,788 (71%) 8,838 (29%)

Manufactured items 90 percent 10 percent

Firearm production 97 percent 3 percent

Bales of cotton in 1860 Negligible 4.5 million

Bales of cotton in 1864 Negligible 300,000

Pre-war U.S. exports 30 percent 70 percent

Economics - Overview

Economics - Population

Economics - Trade

Economics – Government Revenue

Questions?