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The American Civil War, part 2. Strategy, battles, assessments, trivia.
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The American Civil War, part 2 Strategy, battles, assessments, trivia
When the cautious McClellan failed to follow up on Antietam, he was replaced by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. Burnside was soon defeated at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, when over twelve thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded during repeated futile frontal assaults against Mary's Heights. After the battle, Burnside was replaced by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker. Hooker, too, proved unable to defeat Lee's army; despite outnumbering the Confederates by more than two to one, he was humiliated in the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. He was replaced by Maj. Gen. George Meade during Lee's second invasion of the North, in June. The Battle of Chancellorsville, with Stonewall Jackson getting killed in the foreground. Oops.
Chancellorsville -- pure carnage The battle was fought under terrible conditions. Soldiers tended to get lost in the impenetrable maze of undergrowth, and many fires started during the course of the battle. Reports of wounded men being burned alive were common. Lee, despite being outnumbered by a ratio of about five to two, won arguably his greatest victory of the war. But he paid a terrible price for it. With only 52,000 infantry engaged, he suffered more than 13,000 casualties, losing some 25% of his force--men that the Confederacy, with its limited manpower, could not replace. Just as seriously, he lost several top generals, most notably Stonewall Jackson, his most aggressive field commander, who was shot on accident by his own troops. Hooker, who began the campaign believing he had "80 chances in 100 to be successful", lost the battle through miscommunications, the incompetence of some of his leading generals and through some serious errors of his own. Among other mistakes, he erred in his disposition of forces; some 40,000 men of the Army of the Potomac scarcely fired a shot. Of the 90,000 Union men who bore the brunt of the fighting, just over 17,000 fell in battle, a casualty rate much lower than Lee's. The actual fighting showed the Union army had become as formidable in battle as Lee's heretofore unbeatable legions. Despite this, the Union was shocked by the defeat. Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying, "My God! My God! What will the country say?” Hooker was relieved of command on June 28, just before the Battle of Gettysburg.
Gettysburg, 1863 This was the logical conclusion of Lee’s strategy to “take the fight to the North.” He decided to invade the Union to draw the North into a climactic battle that would destroy public confidence in Lincoln’s administration--perhaps even make the President lose in the next election and thus bring a Democrat into office (who would probably have more sympathy for the Confederacy and would work out a truce.) More books and movies and have been made about this battle than any other in the Civil War. Lee lost here and basically destroyed the Army of Northern Virginia as an effective force for the rest of the war. It saved Lincoln’s presidency and guaranteed an eventual Union victory.
Gettysburg For those of you interested in “strategery”--the two armies kind of blundered into each other near the Pennsylvania village of Gettysburg. Luckily, the Union Army grabbed the heights, which meant that any Confederate charge would have to be uphill, and into cannon fire. Nonetheless, the Confederates charged, frequently, despite some divisions losing up to 80% of their men. Both sides fought to allow time for reinforcements to arrive. Interestingly, Col. Abner Doubleday, who “invented” baseball, was a commander for the North here.
Gettysburg The most famous part of the battle came on the 3rd day, when Lee decided to throw the bulk of his Army of Northern Virginia against the center of the Union lines. The Confederates had to walk nearly a mile of open ground in the face of direct gunfire to reach the Union lines. This became known as Pickett’s Charge, as Pickett was one of the three major generals ordered forward that day by Lee.
Gettysburg The destruction was incredible. Over the 50% of the 12,500 men in the charge were casualties, including all 13 of Pickett’s field commanders. When Lee told Pickett to rally his division for the defense, Pickett allegedly replied, "General Lee, I have no division.” The battle destroyed the Southern hopes for any offensive attack in the future, as Lee was forced to retreat and fight defensive actions while trying to rebuild his shattered army. That is called rolling the dice, and Lee crapped out. Some historians think Lee lost his mind, or at least never quite recovered emotionally, from the loss The victory saved Lincoln, who might have lost the 1864 election to his democratic opponent, his former commander, George McClellan, who was running on a peace platform.
Southerners have never forgotten this battle--especially Pickett’s Charge. In the 1920s, Southern novelist William Faulkner wrote, “For every Southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it's still not yet two o'clock on that July afternoon in 1863, the brigades are in position behind the rail fence, the guns are laid and ready in the woods and the furled flags are already loosened to break out and Pickett himself with his long oiled ringlets and his hat in one hand probably and his sword in the other looking up the hill waiting for Longstreet to give the word and it's all in the balance, it hasn't happened yet, it hasn't even begun yet, it not only hasn't begun yet but there is still time for it not to begin against that position and those circumstances which made more men than Garnett and Kemper and Armistead and Wilcox look grave yet it's going to begin, we all know that, we have come too far with too much at stake and that moment doesn't need even a fourteen-year-old boy to think This time. Maybe this time with all this much to lose than all this much to gain: Pennsylvania, Maryland, the world, the golden dome of Washington itself to crown with desperate and unbelievable victory the desperate gamble, the cast made two years ago.”
The Gettysburg Address After learning of the slaughter, Lincoln strove for some way to make sense of it. The result is one of the greatest speeches in American history--with the last sentence carved into stone at Lincoln’s memorial in DC. “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.”
As an aside, the Gettysburg Address was recently turned into a powerpoint presentation by a media critic in order to prove how lame powerpoint presentations are. Here’s the link…Enjoy...http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/
Other strategies As you saw, Lincoln was forced to fight big battles for public opinion, while Lee was doing the same in order to force an end to the war. The result was bloodshed on an epic scale, and inconclusive victories and losses. In terms of strategies, the battles of the Anaconda plan were more important in terms of their consequences: Vicksburg & Shiloh
Vicksburg While the horrors of Gettysburg were beginning, the first major victory for the Anaconda plan had just occurred. US Grant led the North across the Mississippi River and into the state of Mississippi, where he bottled up a Confederate army in the city of Vicksburg, which lay on the heights above the river. Grant tried several direct attacks, all of which failed at a horrendous cost for the Union. Thus, he settled for a siege, while periodically bombing the city, killing civilians and Confederate soldiers alike. The eventual surrender by the Confederate division there sealed Union control of the Mississippi River.
Vicksburg Look how fun the battle was! “All through June, the Union dug lines parallel to and approaching the rebel lines. Soldiers could not poke their heads up above their works for fear of snipers. It was a sport for Union troops to poke a hat above the works on a rod, betting on how many rebel bullets would pierce it in a given time. Pemberton, the Confederate commander, was boxed in with lots of inedible munitions and little food. The poor diet was showing on the Confederate soldiers. By the end of June, half were out sick or hospitalized. Scurvy, malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, and other diseases cut their ranks. At least one city resident had to stay up at night to keep starving soldiers out of his vegetable garden. The constant shelling did not bother him as much as the loss of his food. As the siege wore on, fewer and fewer horses, mules, and dogs were seen wandering about Vicksburg. Shoe leather became a last resort of sustenance for many adults.”
Shiloh, 1863 Shiloh is connected to the Vicksburg campaign in that the Confederate Army was unable to relieve the river city due to their loss here. “Shiloh” is a Hebrew word meaning “Place of Peace.” It is also the title of a Neil Diamond song. There may be a connection, but I’ve never figured it out.
Shiloh, 1863 The two-day battle of Shiloh, the costliest in U.S. history up to that time, resulted in the defeat of the Confederate army and combined with Vicksburg, effectively cut the Confederate army in half. Union casualties were 13,047 (1,754 killed, 8,408 wounded, and 2,885 missing); Grant's army bore the brunt of the fighting over the two days, with casualties of 1,513 killed, 6,601 wounded, and 2,830 missing or captured. Confederate casualties were 10,699 (1,728 killed, 8,012 wounded, and 959 missing or captured). This total of 23,746 men represented more than the American battle-related casualties of the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Mexican-American War combined. Both sides were shocked at the carnage. None suspected that three more years of such bloodshed remained in the war and that eight larger and bloodier battles were yet to come. Grant came to realize that his prediction of one great battle bringing the war to a close was probably not destined to happen. The war would continue, at great cost in casualties and resources, until the Confederacy succumbed or the Union was divided.
The March through Georgia, 1864 Grant and Lincoln searched for a way to bring the war to a close. Grant developed the “Scorched Earth” doctrine, which meant bringing the reality of the war home to Southern civilians, as well crippling the South’s ability to supply its armies. A series of bloody battles brought the Union Army into Georgia and into control of Atlanta. Grant then dispatched his best commander, William T. Sherman, with orders to burn everything on his way to Savannah, on the Atlantic Ocean. "There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell.” --William T. Sherman
Sherman ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian infrastructure along their path. This policy is often also referred to as total war. The recent reelection of President Abraham Lincoln ensured that short-term political pressure would not be applied to restrain these tactics. A second objective of the campaign was more traditional. Grant's armies in Virginia continued to be in a stalemate against Robert E. Lee's army, besieged in Petersburg, Virginia. By moving in Lee's rear, performing a massive turning movement against him, Sherman could possibly increase pressure on Lee, allowing Grant the opportunity to break through, or at least keep Southern reinforcements away from Virginia. The campaign was designed to be similar to Grant's innovative and successful Vicksburg Campaign, in that Sherman's armies would reduce their need for traditional supply lines by "living off the land" after their 20 days of rations were consumed. Foragers, known as "bummers", would provide food seized from local farms for the Army while they destroyed the railroads and the manufacturing and agricultural infrastructure of the state. The twisted and broken railroad rails that the troops wrapped around tree trunks and left behind became known as "Sherman's neckties". Since the army would be out of touch with the North throughout the campaign, Sherman gave explicit orders regarding the conduct of the campaign, only allowing his soldiers to attack civilians if they themselves were attacked.
An picture from 1865, showing the effects of total war in South Carolina.
Whether the accounts are exaggerated or not, Southerners still tell stories about the atrocities carried out by Northern soldiers, from looting, to “slave stealing,” to rape, to murder. After 4 years of war, who’s to say the Northern soldiers weren’t incapable of venting their anger on the people they saw as responsible for the war. As Sherman said, “War is hell.” Secession Hall in Charleston, South Carolina
But here’s something interesting: from his general order regarding soldier conduct: “VII. Negroes who are able-bodied and can be of service to the several columns may be taken along, but each army commander will bear in mind that the question of supplies is a very important one and that his first duty is to see to them who bear arms...” In other words, this raised the question of what to do with slaves who would be freed by the march of the Union Army. Sherman was worried they would burden the Army, so he issued what became known as Field Order no. 15, or, “the twenty acres and a mule” rule. It was meant to settle the slaves where they were, rather than have them move North or get in the way of the Army. And the freed slaves began to set themselves up as property owners almost immediately. This will have big repercussions later.
The End of the War (?) Despite a series of bloody battles in Virginia in which Grant took horrific losses, the success of Sherman’s march meant the South was doomed, as he was now able to swing up from the deep south and attack Lee to his rear. Lee realized the inevitability of defeat and formally surrendered at Appomattox in 1865.
Casualties: Confederacy: 93,000 killed in action 258,000 total dead 137,000+ wounded Union: 110,000 killed in action 360,000 total dead (from disease, etc.) 275,200 wounded “The war accounted for more casualties than all other U.S. wars combined. The causes of the war, the reasons for its outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of lingering controversy even today. The main results of the war were the restoration and strengthening of the Union (mainly by permanently ending the issue of secession), and the end of slavery in the United States. About 4 million black slaves were freed in 1865. Based on 1860 census figures, 8 percent of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6 percent in the North and an extraordinary 18 percent in the South.”
Lincoln’s Assassination. There was one last casualty of the war. After winning re-election, Lincoln hoped to be able to bring about a reconciliation between the North and the South. He never had the chance. He was murdered by an actor named John Wilkes Booth, who was romantically sympathetic to the Confederacy, and who shouted “Thus die tyrants” moments after shooting Lincoln in the back of the head. Lincoln remains the 2nd most popular president in US history.
Lost Cause? Many whites in the South consider the Civil War to have been a romantic struggle against Northern oppression. They use the Confederacy to evoke images of manliness, independence, military valor, and in many cases, white supremacy. Some Southern states openly fly the Confederate flag over federal buildings A political organization named “the League of the South” openly advocates secession, limited immigration, and a return to Christian fundamentalism.
Images from a pro-Confederate flag rally Nazis always seem to sneak into these things
Some of the main tenets of the Lost Cause movement were that: ▪ Confederate generals such as Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson represented the virtues of Southern nobility, as opposed to most Northern generals, who were characterized as possessing low moral standards, and who subjected the Southern civilian population to such indignities as Sherman's March to the Sea. ▪ Losses on the battlefield were inevitable due to Northern superiority in resources and manpower. ▪ Losses were also the result of betrayal and incompetence on the part of certain subordinates of General Lee. ▪ Defense of States' rights, rather than preservation of chattel slavery, was the primary cause that led eleven Southern states to secede from the Union, thus precipitating the war. ▪ Secession was a justifiable constitutional response to Northern cultural and economic aggressions against the Southern way of life.
“Let Us Have Peace” from 1920. Who looks like the victor here?
“Contemporary historians are largely unsympathetic to such arguments. For example, in relation to the assertion that the war was about states' rights rather than slavery, historian Kenneth M. Stampp claimed that each side supported states' rights or federal power only when it was convenient to do so. Stampp also mentioned Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens' A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States as an example of a Southern leader who said that slavery was the "cornerstone of the Confederacy" when the war began and then said that the war was not about slavery but states' rights after Southern defeat. Stampp said that Stephens became one of the most ardent defenders of the 'Lost Cause' theory. Similarly, historian William C. Davis explained the Confederate Constitution's protection of slavery at the national level as follows: “To the old Union they had said that the Federal power had no authority to interfere with slavery issues in a state. To their new nation they would declare that the state had no power to interfere with a federal protection of slavery. Of all the many testimonials to the fact that slavery, and not states rights, really lay at the heart of their movement, this was the most eloquent of all.”
What did Southerners at the time think of the Civil War? Here’s another corrective to the Lost Cause belief… For the following Texas secession map, answer the following questions: Was the vote for secession unanimous? How overwhelming was the vote for secession? Is there a pattern among the counties that voted for secession, and those that voted against? 3. What’s your best explanation for that pattern? Hint--think back to some of the conflicts we saw among colonial populations in the British Colonies, and think also about the geographic dispersal of slaves.
So here’s the question---if the Lost Cause isn’t really about “the truth” of the Civil War, then what are all these people protesting about? What’s the meaning of the Confederate flag?Stay tuned…
