Chapter 16

The Civil War1861 - 1865

Essential Question

•In what ways did the Civil War transform the nation?

I. The War Begins

• - Lincoln pleads with the South to reunite the Union – no need for bloodshed or violence

• “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.”

• Fort Sumter – a federal fort in South Carolina – was running short of supplies

• Lincoln says that a ship coming down to the fort only has food – no weapons or soldiers!

Outbreak of War

• Confederate President Jefferson Davis decides that fort protects Charleston (an important city) and must not stay in Northern hands

• Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard asks for the fort’s surrender – Major Robert Anderson refuses and the Confederates open fire on April 12, 1861

• Anderson surrenders 30 hours later – the Civil War begins!

Lincoln’s War Plan (Anaconda Plan)1. Hold on to the border states that still had slavery (Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware)2. Suspend the right of Habeas Corpus: protects people from being held in prison unlawfully3. Placed Missouri under Martial Law: rule by the Army to keep it in the Union4. Placed a naval blockade of the South to prevent imports to or exports from Confederate ports5. To capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, a way of ending the war early by capturing its main city6. Wanted control of the Mississippi River to split the Confederacy into two and control its major waterway

Resources for War

• North (Federal/Union)– Twice the farmland– 85% of nation’s factories– 92% of manufactured

goods– 71% of nation’s railroads– A navy– Twice the population

• South (Confederate/Rebel)– Nation’s best military

leaders– Fighting a defensive war

on their soil– Cotton diplomacy: Great

Britain would support Confederacy because they needed the South’s cotton

Training the Soldiers

• North = blue• South = brownish gray• Many soldiers were

volunteers with no idea how to fight – many were young

• Springfield and Enfield rifles

• Two-person tents

Life for Soldiers

• Old style fighting produced massive casualties

• No medicines to stop infection or disease

• Many soldiers had arms and legs amputated without painkillers

• Prison camps were tightly packed, horrible, starvation, disease

II. War in the East• Virginia– First Battle of Bull Run

- Union General = Irvin McDowell- Confederate Generals = Pierre Beauregard and

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson– Manassas, Virginia – July 21, 1861– Congressmen and senators came to watch the battle and

have a picnic, very sure about a Union victory– Confederates defeat the Union – soldiers run into

congressmen and senators during retreat– KEY: shocked Northerners into realizing this will not be a

short war and gave the Confederates a false sense of confidence

Virginia – Peninsular Campaign– Union General George

McClellan – Confederate General

Robert E. Lee – May – June, 1862– McClellan attempts to

capture Richmond by invading southern Virginia

– McClellan stopped by Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston at the Seven Days’ Battles

Virginia – Second Battle of Bull Run

• Union General John Pope

• Confederate General Robert E. Lee

• August 29, 1862• Manassas, Virginia• Lee surprises Pope at

the Second Battle at Bull Run – many Union casualties

Battle of Antietam

– Union General George McClellan vs. Confederate General Robert E. Lee

– Antietam Creek, Maryland – September 17, 1862

– Lee planned on invading the North to capture Washington, D.C. and solicit aid from France and England

Battle of Antietam

– Bloodiest single day of the war – 24,000 casualties – a draw

– More casualties than the Revolution, War of 1812, and Mexican War combined

– KEY: battle ends Lee’s advance to the North and ends chances for foreign aid

Clash of the Ironclads

• Ironclads: ships heavily armored with iron

– Confederates create the C.S.S. Virginia from the hull of an old ship called the Merrimac

– New ship would destroy the Union blockade

Clash of the Ironclads

• Union creates their own iron ship – the U.S.S. Monitor

– Norfolk Harbor – March 9, 1862

– Both ships battle to a draw– KEY: Iron ships would

replace wooden ones – changed naval warfare forever

III. War in the West

• The Battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson – Union General Ulysses S.

Grant captures Confederate forts Henry and Donelson on the Cumberland River in Tennessee

– Wants to capture the Mississippi River

– “Unconditional Surrender” Grant

Battle of Shiloh

• Shiloh, Tennessee – April 6-7, 1862

• KEY: Grant is determined not to retreat and drives the Confederates toward the Mississippi River

• Shiloh was the bloodiest battle in the West

• Earns Grant the reputation of being a “butcher”

The Fall of New Orleans

• Largest city in the Confederacy and gateway to Mississippi River

• Admiral David Farragut disguised his ships with mud and trees to race past two forts guarding New Orleans

• Captured the city on April 29, 1862

Siege of Vicksburg

• Union General Ulysses S. Grant led a siege (surround) at Vicksburg, a Mississippi River outpost – starved the citizens of the city

• Vicksburg surrendered on July 4, 1863

• KEY: A turning point – Mississippi River now in Union hands

IV. Daily Life During the War

• Emancipation Proclamation:– Lincoln needed the proclamation to • Deprive the South of their labor force• Keep foreign nations out of the war• End slavery issue once and for all• Issued after the Battle of Antietam to avoid appearing

desperate

KEY: the Proclamation freed slaves in REBELLING states and changed a focus of the war to freeing the slaves

African Americans in the War• African Americans could join after

the Proclamation – 186,000 enlisted – contrabands: escaped slaves who could join the Union Army

• Black soldiers were discriminated against by white soldiers, including less pay

• 1863 – black soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment attack Confederate Fort Wagner, South Carolina – the fort was never taken and the 54th lost half its men

Opposition to the War

• President Jefferson Davis lacked the cooperation of other Confederate states for much needed soldiers and supplies

• Riots over the Draft, a system that requires men to serve in the military, occurred in both the North and South – could avoid the draft IF you had $300 or hired a substitute

• Copperheads: Northerners who sympathized with the South and opposed abolition

Life as a Civilian

• Once the war started, women in both North and South took over family farms and businesses

• Others became nurses to help the wounded, both in hospitals and on battlefields

• Clara Barton: founder of the American Red Cross

V. The Tide of War Turns

Battle of FredericksburgDecember, 1862 – Lee defeats Union General Ambrose Burnside at Fredericksburg, Virginia

Battle of ChancellorsvilleMay, 1863 – Lee defeats Union General Joseph Hooker at Chancellorsville, Virginia

“Stonewall” Jackson is Killed

• Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was shot by his own men

• He was the best soldier in the Confederate army

• KEY: Lee decides to again invade the North with the hope that foreign nations will enter the war

Battle of Gettysburg

• Day 1 – July 1, 1863– Confederate raiding party

runs into Union cavalry – fighting starts

– Union soldiers under General George Meade entrench themselves on Cemetery Ridge and Culp’s Hill

– Confederate soldiers occupy positions on Seminary Hill

Battle of Gettysburg

• Day 2 – July 2, 1863– Lee orders attack on

Union left side by Little Round Top

– Confederates stopped at Little Round Top by Union Colonel Joshua Chamberlain

– Union positions hold strong against other Confederate attacks

Battle of Gettysburg

• Day 3 – July 3, 1863– Lee decides to attack the

center of Union lines at Cemetery Ridge

– Sends General George Pickett to attack – “Pickett’s Charge”

– Confederates soundly defeated – retreat to Virginia the next day

– The major turning point of the Civil War

Aftermath of Gettysburg

• Lee’s troops never again launch an attack in the North

• Ends chances of foreign aid for the South

• November 19, 1863, Lincoln issues The Gettysburg Address: praised the bravery of Union soldiers and renewed his commitment to winning the war

Wilderness Campaign in the East

• Grant named commander of all Union forces in 1864, brought East to take on Lee

• Wilderness Campaign: series battles designed to capture Richmond

• Grant suffers heavy losses, but continues to push through Virginia knowing Lee could not replace his losses

Sherman Strikes the South

• Union General Sherman captures Atlanta on Sept. 2, 1864 – Sherman marches to Savannah, leaving a path of destruction – then moves north to Virginia

• Total War: destroying civilian and economic resources

• Sherman’s destruction of the South created a lot of resentment

Total War - Richmond

The South Surrenders• Union troops capture Richmond

on April 3, 1865• Lee decides that further fighting

would be useless – on April 9, 1865, Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia

• Grant allows Lee’s soldiers to keep their horses, and gives Confederates some food

• Cost of the War: Union was saved – 620,000 men died – bloodiest war in the history of the nation

Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan

• Lincoln wanted to forgive rather than punish the South

• A former Confederate state could enter the Union again if:– 10% of the population takes a loyalty oath – new

government elected– They ratified the 13th Amendment to the

Constitution which abolished slavery

Lincoln’s Assassination

• On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated– Place: Ford’s Theater,

Washington, D.C.– Assassin: John Wilkes

Booth– Result: The North blames

the South for the war and Lincoln’s death – “The South must be punished!”