11.1 The Civil War Begins

Essential QuestionsWhat were the North’s and the South’s strategies to win the war?

What were some of the reasons that the war was longer and deadlier than people predicted?

Lincoln’s Union

• March 4, 1861 – Lincoln’s Inauguration, 7 states seceded: TX, LA, MISS, ALA, GA, FL, SC

• Lincoln’s inaugural address: “Physically speaking, we cannot separate.”

• Why?

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Charleston Harbor S.C.. Bombardment of Fort Sumter.

Ft. Sumter: Cause & Effects

CAUSES:• Geography: Fort was in mouth of harbor of

Charleston, SC• Time: Fort needed more provisions to hold on

• What was Lincoln’s dilemma??

Fort Sumter FlagNote that there are 33 stars. Why is that important?

Ft. Sumter• April 12, 1861: Confederates

bombard Ft. Sumter• Federal garrison surrenders

after 36 hours• NORTH:

• unifies and settles in for a long fight

• volunteers enlist• blockade begins

• SOUTH: • Becomes aggressor• boosts overconfidence

• BORDER STATES: • First blood drawn by South -

stay with the Union

Whose War? War for What?

• After Sumter: Who goes next?ARK, TENN, NC, AND VA

• Richmond, VA is capital of Confederacy• BORDER STATES:

MD, DEL, W.VA, KY, MO, Indian Territory• What about West Virginia??• Lincoln suspends habeas corpus in MD – Baltimore

is site of first blood spilt in war.

•Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers. •Why such a small number?

Lincoln’s Cause: UNION, NOT ABOLITION. WHY?

Lincoln cannot lose Southern Ohio, Indiana, & Illinois NOR the Border States!

“I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we cannot hold Missouri, nor, I think, Maryland. These all against us. And the job on our hands is too large for us. We would as well consent to separation at once, including surrender of this capital.”

Unionists of East Tennessee swearing by the flagLike the citizens in western Virginia, people in eastern Tennessee remained faithful to the Union. Men like those shown here swore allegiance to the United States flag and tried to split the state in two--one rebel and the other loyal--but Confederate troops put a stop to their efforts. (Library of Congress)

Unionists of East Tennessee swearing by the flag

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http://www.sewanee.edu/faculty/Willis/Civil_War/tables/BorderPop1860.html

Balance of Power

SOUTH• Defensive Strategy• Better officers• Military Culture• Limited transportation• Limited manufacturing• Limited population (slave

revolution?)

NORTH• Offensive Strategy• Incompetent/Hesitant

Officers• Urban culture• Extensive ports&

transportation system• Extensive Manufacturing• Immigration/Population

booming

Total Population

Free Males

Wealth Produced

Industrial Workers

Factory Production

Textile Production

Firearms Production

Railroad Mileage

Iron Production

Coal Production

Livestock

Farm Acreage

Wheat

Corn

Cotton

Merchant Ship Tonnage

Naval Ship Tonnage

71

81

75

92

91

93

97

71

94

97

60

75

81

67

4

90

96

29

19

25

8

9

7

3

29

6

3

40

25

19

33

96

10

4

% Northern % Southern

Which side has the obvious Economic Advantage?

Which Categories are most important advantages?

WAR STRATEGIES

THE NORTH’S “ANACONDA” PLAN

1. Naval blockade of Southern ports

2. Control the Mississippi and split Confederacy in two

3. Capture Richmond, the Confederate Capital

THE SOUTH’S PLAN

1. Fight a defensive war2. Secure recognition and

support from Europe3. Negotiate an armistice

Scott's Great SnakeGeneral Winfield Scott's scheme to surround the South and await a seizure of power by southern Unionists drew scorn from critics who called it the Anaconda plan. In this lithograph, the "great snake" prepares to thrust down the Mississippi, seal off the Confederacy, and crush it. (Library of Congress)

Scott's Great Snake

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Bull Run (1st Manassas) July 21, 1861

• Optimism runs high, on both sides……

• Lincoln calls up militia for 90 days– Many Expect a short,

bloodless, war

• Union outnumbers South….but….– Why does the South win?– Stonewall Jackson

• Humiliating retreat to DC…

EFFECTS:

1. Lincoln calls for 500,000 men with 3 year enlistments…What does that mean?War will not be short or bloodless

3. Lincoln replaces McDowell and appoints…….

George McClellan commander.

McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign

• 1861: George B. McClellan given command of Army of the Potomac

• ***Good organizer and drillmaster – VERY CAUTIOUS• trained troops well, popular with them

• Spring 1862: McClellan moves, finally, on Richmond• Union stalls at Richmond, routed in Lee’s counter-

attack, the Seven Day’s BattlesHOW WOULD A VICTORY FOR McCLELLAN HAVE

CHANGED THE WAR?

Map: McClellan's Campaign

McClellan's CampaignThe water route chosen by McClellan to threaten Richmond during the peninsular campaign .

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Robert E. Lee

Lee takes command of Confederate forces after Johnson is wounded at Richmond during the Peninsular Campaign. Responsible for aggressive Southern strategy during Seven Days Battles.

Both General Grant and General Lee were West Point graduates and had served in the U.S. Army during the War with Mexico. Their bloody battles against each other in 1864 stirred northern revulsion to the war even as they brought its end in sight. (National Archives)

Robert E. Lee

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EFFECTS OF PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN

• McClellan removed from command• Hardens North’s resolve• Move toward total war• Embrace Anaconda Plan and Emancipation

as strategies (vs. moral decisions)• Invade Mississippi and Ohio rivers,

spreading war to the west and deep south

War in the West

• Ulysses S. Grant surprises all, seizing control of western rivers with gunboats, securing Tennessee and Kentucky

• Shiloh, hotly contested battle for West, brings Grant national attention

• Admiral David G. Farragut captures New Orleans for North, moves up Mississippi.– New Orleans- Falls on May 1st 1862

Anaconda Plan is beginning to work!

Forts Henry & Donelson

• Ft. Henry- February 6, 1862– Strategic fort on Tennessee River– Captured by Grant

• Ft. Donelson-Sieged February 11-16, 1862– Southern Fort on Cumberland River

• Gun boats on the rivers aided Union forces • Effect?

– Mississippi River was open to Union Forces

Shiloh

• April 6-7, 1862• Confederates undertake surprise attack against Grant• Looks like Grant will lose but is able to fall back and regroup forces

– Confederate General Sidney Johnson is killed- Considered the best General in the United States before the War

• April 7- Re-enforced Union troops counter attack and defeat the Confederates

• Effects-– Northern control of Tennessee– 23,746 casualties – Use of Scouts and trench warfare becomes common place

Map: The Anaconda Plan and the Battle of Antietam

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Second Bull Run (2nd Manassas)

• After Richmond defeat McClellan replaced by Gen. Pope as commander of Army of the Potomac

• Lee moves north toward Washington, DC• Gen. Pope engages Lee at Second Bull Run, August 29-30, 1862, and is crushed.• Lee and Army of Northern Virginia move into MD, hoping to stir rebellion.• MD stays neutral• Armies meet at Antietam Creek, Maryland on Sept. 17, 1862

Map: The War in the East, 1861-1862

The War in the East, 1861-1862Union advances on Richmond were turned back at Fredericksburg and the Seven Days' Battles, and the Confederacy's invasion of Union territory was stopped at Antietam. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Antietam, September 17, 1862

• McClellan returned to command• Lee swings north and crosses the Potomac• Lee’s battle plans are discovered, showing his division of

forces; McClellan does not act on info for 18 hours!• It is the bloodiest day of the war: 23,000

(2x the number of dead and wounded on D-Day)• Is it McClellan’s greatest blunder? Could have ended

war?

AntietamIn the photograph of Antietam, dead rebel gunners lie next to the wreckage of their battery. (Library of Congress)

Antietam

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Antietam dead, Confederates lined for burialThis photograph of corpses awaiting burial was one of ninety-five taken by Mathew Brady and his assistants of the Antietam battlefield, the bloodiest single day of the war. It was the first time Americans had seen war depicted so realistically. When Brady's photographs went on display in New York in 1862, throngs of people waited in line to see them. (Library of Congress)

Antietam dead, Confederates lined for burial

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