Chapter 11: The Civil War

1. Chapter 11: The Civil War Big Picture: The civil War resulted in freedom for some 4 million enslaved people and the preservation of a nation. The costs were staggering—more than 600,000 lives lost and about $5 billion in property damaged or destroyed.

2. Chapter 11 Section 1: Preparing for War Main Idea: The attack on Fort Sumter led both the North and the South to prepare for war in earnest.

3. The Fall of Fort Sumter Crisis • Commander of the fort, Robert Anderson sent urgent message to Lincoln March 5 • Confederate leaders demanded he surrender or face attack • Fort supplies were running low, they need help! • What to do? • Surrender – shows south the north does not want a war; some northerners did not want to treat them as a separate legitimate nation • Lincoln would not surrender, told Confederates he would only send food and other nonmilitary supplies to fort—how would President Davis respond?

4. Attack • Davis decides to act before provisions arrive • Tells commanding officer to order an evacuation and if they refuse, to proceed to reduce [destroy] it • April 12, Confederate artillery opened fire on fort • Fort’s defenses were no match and they surrendered the next day • April 14 US flag was replaced with southern flag

5. The Rush to War and Border States Response to Ft. Sumter Border States • President Lincoln calls 75,000 volunteers to serve for 90 days to put down rebellion • Northerners rush to enlist • 8 slave states that remained in the Union had to choose sides • Southern states were enraged • In April, Virginia seceded • In May, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina followed • What about border states—slaveholding states that remained in the Union and formed border with the Confederacy • Delaware • Very few slaves and slaveholders, remains loyal to Union • Maryland • Most critical as it surrounded D.C. • Pro-secessionist burned bridges and cut telegraph wires  Lincoln sent federal troops to guard sites and put parts of the state under martial law • Missouri • Could control lower Mississippi River • Lincoln sends troops to help pro-Union gov’t stay in control of state • Kentucky • Control of some 700 miles of Ohio River meant Union open to threat • No matter what side they chose, people were fighting on both sides

6. Goals and Strategies North South • Goal: fight to save the Union (patriotic), not settle the slavery issue • Strategies (The Anaconda Plan): • Blockade southern ports • Union gunboats down the Mississippi to cut the Confederacy in two • Goal: to be left alone with slavery unchanged • Strategies: • Hold the invading armies off until they tire out and withdraw (defensive war) • Cotton Diplomacy – if war disrupted cotton supply to Great Britain and France, both nations would come to their aid to restore the cotton trade

7. Advantages and Disadvantages North South • Advantages • Larger population • Industry supported manufacturing • Larger railroad network • Strong leader in Lincoln • Well-organized navy • Disadvantages • Offensive war, had to take the war to them • Advantages • Defensive war, opposition comes to us • Knowledge of the area, used to conditions, supplies closer • Fighting for their survival and way of life • Strong military leaders (i.e. Robert E. Lee) • Disadvantages • Far fewer resources than the north

8. Chapter 11 Section 2: Fighting Erupts Main Idea: Widespread fighting occurred during the first two years of the Civil War.

9. The Major Battles Begin • General McDowell warned President Lincoln that Union army was not ready • 90-day enlistment almost up • No real training and not used to marching • Lincoln notes they are all “green” [inexperienced] the South included

10. First Battle of Bull Run • Armies could not carry out plans, battle became a chaotic free-for-all • At first Union troops push Confederates back • Virginia soldiers led by Gen. Thomas Jackson rushed onto field and stopped Union advancement ~ “There stands Jackson like a stone wall!” “Rally behind the Virginians!” ~ Stonewall Jackson had earned his famous nickname • Union soldiers begin to fall back and Confederates do not push ahead • Ended hopes for a short war • Lincoln called for more volunteers willing to serve for 3 years • Replaced McDowell with George McClellan

11. A New War: Technology and Devices • Bullet-shaped ammunition rather than round ball • Spiral groove inside gun barrel • New reloading system • cannonballs replaced by shrapnel • Observation balloons to direct artillery fire • First use of camouflage • Machine guns, wire entanglement, flamethrowers, and gas shells • Telegraph allows quick communication • Railroads move large numbers of troops

12. Ironclads • Armored gunboats, covered with heavy iron plates up to 3” thick • Nearly invincible to Confederate cannon fire • Critical to the North’s campaign for the Mississippi River

13. Ulysses S. Grant • Union general in command of the west • Takes Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in quick surrenders • Grant would accept “No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender…” • Capture of both forts caused a sensation in both North and South; 2 major rivers vulnerable to attack in the Confederacy

14. Battle of Shiloh • April 6, 1862 • Confederates attacked Union troops camped at Shiloh Church • After hours of fighting Confederates had pushed Union forces back; Grant does not retreat • Next day Union forces doubled pushed Confederates back; by 2:30 pm the battle was over • Bloodiest fighting yet seen • Ended northern hopes that rebellion would collapse on its own • Opened way for Union forces to split the Confederacy and gain complete control of the Mississippi River

15. The War in the East Peninsula Campaign Second Battle of Bull Run • March 1862, General McClellan moved his large army • Came upon small number of Confederates at Yorktown, but delayed attack to ask for more troops • Lincoln denied and advised him to act now, he did not • May 31 Confederates turned and attacked the Union forces divided by a river • No winners, heavy losses on both sides • August 29, Lee lured General Pope into battle near Manassas, almost the same ground where McDowell was beaten a year before • With Pope’s defeat, Lincoln put McClellan back in command (“We must use what tools we have.”) • Morale in the north is at an all time low • Confederates believed a victory on Union soil might prompt the North to ask for peace

16. The Union is Invaded Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg • McClellan is again indecisive and delayed orders for 16 hours, so Confederates were able to organize their defenses • September 17, 1862 • Time and time again Union forces charged defenses to no avail • Bloodiest single-day battle • Combined loss of 23,000 (Lee lost 1/3 of his numbers) • McClellan did not push forward the next day • Lincoln relieved him of duty a second and final time • General Burnside orders frontal attack of Confederates • December 13, 1862, men were ordered 14 times to charge • Only the approach of darkness and pleas of his commanders halted the slaughter • More than 13,000 men (twice the number of Lee’s troops) lost • Further destroyed Northern morale

17. Chapter 11 Section 3: The War Behind the Lines Main Idea: The Civil War created hardships,, challenges , and opportunities for people in the North and the South

18. The Emancipation Proclamation • Northern attitudes change in regards to “just” saving the Union • January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in all areas that were in rebellion against the United States • Reactions were mixed: • Upset Northern abolitionists because it allowed slavery to continue in the states not in rebellion • It also did not apply to the areas of the Confederacy that had already been conquered by Union forces • Some northerners feared increased competition for jobs • Some believed it would help shorten the war • Great Britain felt Lincoln had not gone far enough

19. African Americans and the War • Huge contributions in the South • Working on the farms and plantations provided food for soldiers as well as releasing white males from labor to join the army • Served in noncombat jobs like cooking, nursing, driving wagons, building defenses • Escaped slaves were often times hired by Union army to drive wagons, build forts, serve as guides, etc. • African American soldiers served in segregated units usually commanded by white officers • At first they were mainly used for labor and guard duty • In May and July of 1863 African American regiments fought heroically in attacks at Port Hudson and Fort Wagoner • Nearly 180,000 served in the Union armies • By the end of the war black troops had served in some 200 battles and more than 38,000 died serving the Union

21. Life in the Military • Most troops did not die on the battlefield or wounds suffered there • Disease was by far the greatest killer of soldiers • No such thing as vaccinations and antibiotics-diseases spread rapidly in camp • Some soldiers were sickened by poor sanitation and polluted water supplies • Civil War doctors knew nothing about bacteria and the spread of them • Most wounds ended in amputation • 75% of time was spend in camp • Conditions were poor; either too muddy or too dry • Soldiers crammed into tents designed for far fewer, sometimes even forced to sleep on ground • Up early in the morning for breakfast, daily drills and chores • Ate well at first but supplies will dwindle

22. Life on the Home Front North South • March 1863, Union turns to the draft to find more soldiers • Draft fueled antiwar movement • Opposition to war was led by Democratic Party in Congress, known as Copperheads • Lincoln suspended habeas corpus across entire country in September 1862 • Few factories, little ability to manufacture needed goods • Food production dropped • Costs of everyday items soared • Confederate government printed huge sums of paper money • Borrowed money and sold bonds (fought the war on credit) • April 1862, Confederate Congress enacted the first military draft

23. Women in the Civil War • Several hundred disguised themselves as men and enlisted in the army • Few served as spies • Took over farms, plantations, stores, and other businesses while men served in armies • Worked as bankers and steamboat captains • Worked in factories to make clothes, shoes, and other supplies • Formed societies to gather and send supplies to their armies • Began serving as nurses and tending to soldiers on the battlefields

24. Chapter 11 Section 4: The War continues Main Idea: Important fighting occurred in all sections of the country as well as at sea.

25. The Civil War at Sea Blockade Runners The Monitor and the Merrimack • Slipping through, or “running” the Union blockade was pretty easy in the beginning • By the summer of 1862, however, more Union ships had been obtained and blockade became tighter • The South depended on blockade runners, built for speed, to get past Union ships • USS Merrimack was captured by Confederates, covered with thick iron plates and renamed the Virginia • Word reached the north who then rushed to make their own ironclad • March 9, 1862, the Monitor arrived off the coast of Virginia • The two ships fought for hours, neither able to do any serious damage, no clear winner, but changed the face of naval warfare

26. The Battle of Chancellorsville • General Hooker leaves troops to distract Lee while moving other troops west and south to surprise the rebels from behind • Lee expected this and marched west leaving a few soldiers behind to it appear they remained • May 2, 1863-Jackson’s troops charged out of the woods at Hooker’s troops as they cooked dinner in their camps • Battle lasted 2 more days (17,000 Union casualties and 13,000 rebels) • Lee’s greatest and most brilliant victory, northern morale sunk lower • Lee decides to invade the Northagain

27. The Battle of Gettysburg • Lincoln replaced the indecisive Hooker with General George Meade • Three-day battle (July 1-4, 1863) in PA, largest battle ever fought in N. America • Union defenses were broken through, but the 20th Maine made a heroic defense at Little Round Top • Lee ordered 15,000 fresh troops to attack the center; his commanding officers disagreed • Pickett’s Charge led to the death of over half his regiment • Lee retreated the next day

28. The Siege of Vicksburg • April 1863 Grant moves toward Vicksburg winning 5 battles in 17 days • In May, Grant began a siege to starve Vicksburg and 32,000 defenders as well as constant shelling on the city • July 4 the Confederate commander at Vicksburg surrendered the city and his army of 31,000 troops

29. The Chattanooga Campaign • September 1863 the Battle of Chickamauga resulted in a Union campaign to capture Chattanooga (railroad center on GA-TN border) • By November 1863 Grant’s victories gave him the control and an important first step in Grant’s plan to invade Georgia

30. Chapter 11 Section 5: The final Phase Main Idea: Southerners continued to hope for victory in 1864, but military and political events caused those hopes to fade.

31. Grant takes Command • President Lincoln believed he finally had a general who could crush the Confederates • March 1864, Lincoln brought Grant to Washington and gave him command of the Union armies • General William T. Sherman was given command of the western front • Election of 1864 was upon them • Lee does not necessarily want to win the battles but make the cost of fighting so high that Lincoln would lose the election • Grant hoped to end the war before November • Grant pushes toward Richmond to cut off supplies to Confederates, Lee was content to dig in and wait for the election

32. Sherman on the move • Sherman marched troops toward Atlanta, important southern manufacturing and transportation center • Sherman laid siege on Atlanta, shelling the city daily with his artillery, finally able to close the last railroad line forcing Confederate troops out of the city on September 1 • Allowed Lincoln to defeat McClellan easily in the election • Lincoln’s victory also enabled Congress to pass the 13th Amendment to end slavery in the US • Finally passed the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865 • Ratified by states and became part of the Constitution in December 1865

33. Sherman’s March • After the election, Sherman set out with 60,000 troops to march across GA and capture Savannah • Sherman burned much of Atlanta as they left • Sherman’s March to the Sea cut a destruction 300 miles long and 50-60 miles wide across • Slaughtered livestock, destroyed crops, tore up railroad tracks, looted homes and businesses • His tactics were designed to show that Union armies could now do as they wished in the South – further resistance was futile • Arrived outside Savannah December 10, commander surrendered by December 21 • In January 1865, Sherman brought his army north into SC • Few private homes were destroyed in GA, few in SC escaped destruction

34. The fall of Richmond • April 2, 1865 Grant broke through Lee’s defenses without waiting for Sherman • Confederate leaders fled the city and Union troops entered Richmond the next day • Lee tried to escape to join another force retreating from Sherman’s forces in NC • Union forces surrounded the Confederates at the town of Appomattox Court House, VA

35. Surrender at Appomattox • Lee and Grant met in a home on Sunday, April 9 • They chatted about the days of the Mexican-American War • Grant presented terms of surrender Lee’s troops only had to turn over weapons and leave • Grant offered food to starving troops and ordered guns silenced in Union camps • Last of Confederate forces surrender on May 26, 1865