16.1 War Erupts

1. 16.1 War Erupts FIRST SHOTS AT FORT SUMTER • As Southern states seceded, they took control of any forts in the area. • Fort Sumter was one of these. • Union troops were still there after South Carolina seceded, but they were running out of supplies so Lincoln was going to send more.

2. South Carolina wanted to gain control of the fort before the supplies arrived, so on APRIL 12, 1861, guns from the short opened up on it. • Union forces were forced to surrender, but no one was killed. • This is considered the beginning of the Civil War.

3. Lincoln Calls Out the Militia • After the surrender of Fort Sumter, Lincoln asked the northern states to provide 75,000 men for 90 days to put down the southern “uprising”. • In most northern states, citizens responded well to this, but in the upper Southern states like Kentucky, people were angry about the call for men. • In fact, this call for troops caused more southern states to secede: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

4. As each state withdrew, men from that state would rush to enlist in the Southern army. • Virginia was a big help to the Confederacy because it was wealthy and populous (and close to DC). • The capitol of the Confederacy was moved to Richmond, Virginia, and Robert E. Lee (from Virginia)resigned from the U.S. military so that he could command Southern forces.

5. Choosing Sides • Border states included Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri and they were important because of their resources. • Maryland was especially important because Washington, D.C. is there and if Maryland seceded, then D.C. would be cut off from the Union.

6. Pro-Union leaders gained control of Maryland and so it stayed in the Union, and Missouri and Delaware stayed as well. • In Virginia Northern troops helped a western area break off from the rest of the state and this is how we got West Virginia.

7. Strengths and Weaknesses • Union: manpower, resources, factories, railroads, naval power and shipyards, established government and outstanding leadership at president • Confederacy: outstanding military leadership, fighting a defensive war which means that Northern supply lines will be long, purpose for fighting-defending their home

8. Union Strategy • (starve them out) • The offensive strategy was based on Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan which was designed to strangle the South’s economy. • They used a naval blockade of the South’s coastline and control of the Mississippi River (split the Confederacy in two).

9. Confederate Strategy • (wait them out) • It started out as a defensive position and they hoped the North would simply grow tired of the war. • They were hoping that their trade of cotton with Europe would bring the European countries (especially England) to their aid.

10. The cotton angle did not work because the European warehouses were full from a bumper crop the year before. • Europeans did not want to become involved in the fight. (they are hoping the U.S. will tear itself apart and then…bammo! They can pick up the pieces.) • After a while, the Southern strategy changed so that they tried to win big, decisive victories in order to demoralize the North.

11. Battle of Bull Run • This was an attempt by the Union forces to capture Richmond, the capital of the South. • In order to get to Richmond, forces would have to defeat Confederates at Manassas, Virginia which was a railway hub. • On July 21, Gen. Irvin McDowell (North) clashed with Gen. Pierre Beauregard (South) near a little creek called Bull Run.

12. Fresh Southern troops arrived and the Confederates launched a counter attack which broke the Union troops. • This battle made Lincoln realize that the war would not be over in 90 days and he called for a real army of 500,000 troops which would be enlisted for 3 years.