Civil War Chronicles: Early Battles & Strategic Maneuvers

1. Early Years of the WarThe Emancipation Proclamation and The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment

2. First Battle of Bull Run • First major battle of Civil War • Fought in northern Virginia • Union had about 30,000 men • Most volunteers; all inexperienced • Confederacy had about 20,000 troops • Yankees held off the Rebels until they rallied & were inspired by General “Stonewall” Jackson troops that came as reinforcements • Union forced to retreat to Washington, D.C.

3. First Battle of Bull Run General Stonewall Jackson

4. A Shock for the North • Outcome of First Bull Run shocked the North, but Lincoln reacted with a call for more volunteers for the army • Northerners woke up to the reality of war • This would be a long conflict • Lincoln appointed General George B. McClellan to head the Union army of the east (or Army of the Potomac) • McClellan began training 150,000 troops

5. War at Sea • Lincoln had ordered a naval blockade of Southern ports to try to prevent the South from exporting its cotton & from importing supplies • Southerners planned to challenge the blockade • The Monitor Versus the Merrimack • Southerners transformed the Merrimack, a former Union warship, by covering it with thick iron plates, and renamed it the Virginia • This ironclad, or warship, went to battle against the Monitor (the Union ironclad), but neither ship would sink • This battle marked a new age in naval warfare

6. Monitor vs. Merrimack

7. War in the West

8. Early Victories for the North • North’s primary goal in the West was to gain control of the Mississippi & Tennessee Rivers • Union operations centered at Cairo, Illinois under General Ulysses S. Grant • Grant was able to capture Fort Henry on Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland • Grant demands an “unconditional surrender” • Grant becomes the North’s new hero • These victories opened a path for Union troops to march into Tennessee, Mississippi, & Alabama and completed the Western portion of the Anaconda Plan

9. Capture of Fort Henry General Grant Fort Donelson

10. Battle of Shiloh • April, 1862 • Fought near Corinth, Mississippi – an important railroad junction • Confederate forces launch surprise attack on morning of April 6, 1862 • Bloodiest battle in the war so far • Union able to defeat the Confederates on second day & win control of Corinth later on May 30 • More than 20,000 casualties (people who are killed or wounded)

11. New Orleans Falls • April 25, 1862 • Union naval forces under David Farragut captured New Orleans, Louisiana, the South’s largest city • At this point, the Union controlled almost the entire Mississippi River • This meant that the Confederacy could no longer use the river to carry its goods to sea and the Confederacy was now divided in half

12. War in the East • General McClellan led army in east • Seven Day’s Battle – series of encounters between Rebels and Yankees • Peninsular Campaign – McClellan moved & readied his troops over several weeks to make an attack on Richmond, Virginia • Lincoln was frustrated by General McClellan • Union troops failed to capture Richmond

13. War in the East, continued • Lincoln orders McClellan & his troops to pull back to northern Virginia • Confederate General Stonewall Jackson moved his troops to attack the supply base at Manassas, VA • Second Battle at Bull Run – August 29, 1862 • Confederate victory & Richmond was no longer threatened

14. Lee Enters Maryland • Following these Southern victories, Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis ordered Lee to launch an offensive (or attack) into Maryland (NW of Washington, D.C.) • In pursuit of Lee’s troops, two Union soldiers found a copy of Lee’s orders for his army • Now McClellan knew exactly what Lee planned to do • He learned that Lee’s army was divided into 4 parts

15. Battle of Antietam • Sept. 17, 1862 • Single bloodiest day of the entire war • 20,000 soldiers dead or wounded • The next day, Lee withdrew his troops which allowed the Union troops to claim victory, even though the battle was a draw • Lincoln is still disappointed with McClellan – He replaces him in November, 1862 • General Ambrose Burnsides takes over the Army of the Potomac

16. Effects of the Battle of Antietam • The British were just about ready to recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation, but the Union victory at Antietam changed their minds • South lost its best chance at gaining international recognition & support • Pres. Lincoln used the battle to take action against slavery

17. Emancipation • Prior to the Battle of Antietam, the Northerners’ main goal is to preserve the Union rather than to end slavery • Pres. Lincoln considered slavery immoral, but was reluctant to move against slavery because of the border states (slave states that remain in the Union) • As the war went on, attitudes toward slavery changed • Northerners thought slavery was helping with war effort in South • Enslaved people were raising crops & digging trenches at army camps

18. Antietam & the Proclamation • Emancipate = to free (from slavery) • Even before the proclamation, more than 100,000 African Americans left slavery for safety of Union • By summer of 1862 Lincoln had decided to free all enslaved African Americans in South….. But he waited for the right time to announce it • Lincoln makes the announcement following Union victory at Antietam • Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863

19. Effects of the Proclamation • It applied only to areas that the Confederacy controlled • No slaves were freed at this point by the Proclamation • It did not free those that lived in slave states that supported the Union • Lincoln hoped that enslaved people would hear about the proclamation & would run from their owners • Help keep the British & the French from supporting the Confederacy – made slavery “the” issue • 1865 – Congress passed the 13th Amendment that legally freed enslaved Americans

20. The 54th Massachusetts • Colonel Robert Gould Shaw enlisted free Black’s as soldiers, with White officers • The regiment was originally assigned manual labor duties, but participated in their first major skirmish on James Island • The regiment volunteered to lead the assault on Fort Wagner a heavily armored sea fort • The bravery of the 54th forced Northerners to see Black soldiers as competent and courageous

23. Summary Paragraphs • On a separate piece of paper write two paragraphs (eight sentences each minimum) • 1. How did the early battles of the war shape the strategies of both the North and South? • 2. How did the Battle of Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation change the purpose of fighting the war and the tide of the war? • Extra Credit: Summarize all the major battles and events listed in the slides