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The Road to Gettysburg: 1863. Gettysburg Set-Up. Army of Northern VA – Lee Key commanders = Longstreet (Lee’s Key subordinate) Ewell (replaced Stonewall Jackson) A.P Hill Jeb Stuart Cavalry leader. Army of the Potomac
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Gettysburg Set-Up • Army of Northern VA – Lee • Key commanders = • Longstreet (Lee’s Key subordinate) • Ewell (replaced Stonewall Jackson) • A.P Hill • Jeb Stuart Cavalry leader • Army of the Potomac • June 27th Joseph Hooker resigns b/c Lincoln refused to give him additional troops • George G. Meade takes over command • John Buford Cavalry leader
The Road to Gettysburg • Lee crosses the Potomac river above Harper’s Ferry and moves quickly through MD to PA • John Buford and cavalry arrive at Gettysburg • Key defensive location • 10 roads converge – key transportation hub • Strategically great location • Meade is in MD • Prefers to fight a defensive battle • He wants to fight Lee at Pipe Creek • Orders get confused and troops move towards Gettysburg to help Buford
Problems in the South • Runaway inflation – almost 9,000% • Class resentment • Those w/20+ slaves exempt from service • Upper class could afford substitutes • 50,000 were purchased • High desertion rates • 1/4 of the slaves escaped to Union lines – the rest were increasingly disobedient • Peace movements spring up
Northern Society • Decline in sale of products consumed/supplied by South – cotton goods, shoes for slaves, construction • Plentiful jobs but high inflation • Quarter master Dept. single largest U.S. employer w/thousands of manufacturing contracts
Union • Lower paid at first - 54th Massachusetts refuse pay and their officers join protest • Given menial jobs • Segregated units with white officers • A few came from other places besides the North – Canada, Africa, France, escaped from South
Violent attacks on black businesses, orphanages, homes • Also attacked homes of upper-class whites who could afford to pay a substitute to avoid the draft • A reflection of the gap between rich and poor
Changing Roles of Women • South • Clerk jobs • School teachers for the first time • North • Form the backbone of U.S Sanitary Commission – nutrition/1st aid • Professionalization of nursing
Extensive Legislation PassedWithout the South in Congress • 1861 – Morrill Tariff Act • 1862 – Homestead Act - • 1862 – Legal Tender Act • 1862 – Morrill Land Grant Act • 1862 – Emancipation Proclamation • 1863 – Pacific Railway Act • 1863 – National Bank Act
Emancipation • March 1862 – gradual emancipation - states choice • Wanted to colonize African Americans in Caribbean/South America • Confiscation act (1862) take property of anyone supporting the rebellion • September 1862 – Post-Antietam = threat to Confederacy put down arms or lose slaves • Jan 1, 1863 – formal Emancipation Proclamation for Confederate States Only • 1864 Election – Republican Platform contained 13th Amendment proposition
Chickamauga/Chattanooga • September 1863 – November 1863 • If Union can capture Chattanooga they can go down Railroad to Deep South • Union – Army of the Cumberland = Rosecrans • Confederate = Army of TN = Bragg • Initial Confederate victory – Bragg then institutes a siege on Chattanooga where Union has fallen back to • Part of Army of the Potomac arrive in TN • Grant is now in overall command of West – fires Rosecrans
Chattanooga • Another decisive battle for the Union in the West • Chattanooga was now PERMANENTLY in Union Control • November 26th – coincientally the day following the end of the Battle of Chattanooga, was declared as a national day of Thanksgiving by President Lincoln • This date had been set on Oct. 3, 1863 following Gettysburg in the middle of the siege on Chattanooga
Atlanta – July1864 • Atlanta = 2nd most important Confederate city left • Confederacy – Army of TN – Johnston • 60,000 men • Union – Grand Federal Army – Sherman • 100,000 men • Contained the Armies of THE Cumberland, TN, & OH • 10 weeks of fighting following the railroad down to Atlanta • Union forced Johnston back across the Chattahoochie River towards Atlanta
Atlanta Continued • 3 separate battles around Atlanta • Confederates lose each one • Part of Union Army goes South around Atlanta to cut off Southern RR in • Confederates incorrectly believe it’s a diversion • By September 2, 1864 Atlanta is evacuated and in Union control
Types of Warfare Limited War – Make war on armies not armies, civilians, and property Total War – Everything (armies, civilians, property) consumed by the war or involved in it War of Attrition – the side with the greatest resources uses their power to wear down the other side
March to the SeaNov. 1864 – Dec. 1864 • Atlanta to Savannah = 300,000 miles • Tore up the landscape • Property damage emphasized – not harm to civilians • Took livestock, crops, burned factories, homes,etc • Goal was to undermine the morale of the Confederacy and destroy the economy
Sherman’s March Overall • 650,000 Miles • Under 100 marching days • Captured 3 state capitals – GA, SC, NC • Lost less than 600 men
South had abandoned Richmond=capital • Not a courthouse • Unconditional Surrender
John Wilkes Booth – Ford’s Theater • Confederate Sympathizers Conspiracy • Same day as a ceremony at Fort Sumter – Lincoln chose to see a play instead of attending