The Struggle Begins

1. The Struggle Begins Chapter 16, Section 2

2. Strategies for Victory • Fighting during the Civil war took place in three major areas, the East, the West and at Sea

3. Union Plans • Planned to blockade southern ports • To cut off the South’s supply of manufactured goods by halting its trade with Europe • In the west the Union planned to seize control of the Mississippi River • Keep the South from using the river to supply its troops • Separate Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana from the rest of the Confederacy

4. Union Plans • In the East Union generals wanted to seize Richmond, Virginia and capture the confederate headquarters.

5. Confederate plans • The confederate army would stay at home and fight a defensive war • Northerners would tire of fighting • Lincoln would have to give up the effort to bring the South back into the Union

6. Confederate plans • Counted on European money and supplies to help fight the war • Cotton was important to textile mills in England and other countries • Confederate thought European nations would recognize the South as an independent nation and continue buying southern cotton

7. Forward to Richmond A clash of untrained troops • Responding to public pressure Lincoln launched an attack on Richmond Virginia • Union troops clashed with the Confederates near a small stream called Bull Run in Virginia

8. Forward to Richmond • Hundreds of Washingtonians rode out to watch the battle, many with picnic baskets • Spectators were disappointed to see southern troops did not turn and run like expected • General Thomas Jackson held his ground like a “stone wall” • From then he was know as Stone Wall Jackson

9. A Union Retreat • Confederates did not pursue the fleeing army • Stayed behind to gather the gear thrown away by the Union troops • Battle of Bull run showed both sides that their soldiers needed training and the war would be long and bloody

10. “All quiet along the Potomac” • After the disaster at Bull Run President Lincoln appointed General George McClellan as commander of the Union army • In 6 months he transformed a mob of raw recruits into an army of untrained soldiers

11. “All quiet along the Potomac • He was cautious • Delayed leading troops in to battle • So long so that the president snapped “ if McClellan is not using the army I should like to borrow it”

12. A Cautious Move on Richmond • Match 1862 McClellan and most of the Union army left Washington by steamboat and sailed down the Potomac River for Richmond • Inching their way toward the Confederate capital

13. A Cautious Move on Richmond • Robert E. Lee launched a series of attacks • He sent Stone Wall Jackson north to threaten Washington • This prevented Lincoln from sending the rest of the Union army to help McClellan • McClellan decide to abandon the attack and retreated

14. Naval Action • Union ships had blockaded southern ports • Blockade runners slipped through the blockade bringing in everything from matches to guns

15. Naval Action • The blockade became more effective • Trade through ports dropped 90% • Merrimack: Union abandoned warship that the South covered in iron plates 4 inches thick • South used it in battle against the Union navy • Monitor: Union’s own ironclads • Neither ship seriously damaged the other and both withdrew

16. Naval Action • Ironclad ships changed naval warfare • Both sides rushed to build more • South never mounted a serious attack against the Union navy

17. Antietam • September 1862 General Lee took the offensive and marched troops North into Maryland • Wanted to have a victory in northern soil to hamper their morale • A Confederate messenger lost Lee’s battle plans • Two Union soldiers found them and turned them over to McClellan

18. Antietam • McClellan was slow to act • Finally attacked Lee’s main force at Antietam • In a day more than 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded • Lee withdrew troops and McClellan did not pursue them

19. Antietam • Neither side won a clear victory at the battle of Antietam • Because Lee withdrew his troops, the North claimed the victory

20. Winning the Mississippi • General Ulysses S. Grant began moving toward gaining control of the Mississippi • February 1862 Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee • Guarder two important tributaries of the Mississippi

21. Shiloh • Battle of Shiloh: Grant pushed South to Shiloh located on top of the Tennessee River • Grant was surprised by Confederate forces

22. Shiloh • One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War • More Americans were killed or wounded then in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War combined

23. The fall of Vicksburg • April 1862 Union gunboats captured New Orleans and other boats seized Memphis, Tennessee • Union now controlled both ends of the River • South could no longer use the Mississippi

24. The fall of Vicksburg • The North could not safely use the river either • Confederates still held Vicksburg, Mississippi • Sat on a cliff high above the River • Canons could reach boats on the River

25. The fall of Vicksburg • 1863 Grant’s forces tried and tried to capture Vicksburg • After 6 weeks Vicksburg finally surrendered

26. The fall of Vicksburg • Union had achieved two of its goals • Naval blockades cut of the South’s trade with Europe • Took control of the Mississippi River • Splitting the Confederacy in two.