ECOMUN’19

JCC: AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

STUDY GUIDE

Letter from the Secretary General

Distinguished Participants,

It is my greatest honor to welcome you all to the 7th annual session of Izmir University of

Economics Model United Nations Conference, ECOMUN 2019. My name is Batuhan Akyazı

and I will be serving as the Secretary-General of the conference.

Since its first session held in 2012, ECOMUN has always been one of the biggest leaps in the

career of many MUN enthusiasts. Providing a perfect environment for intermediate and

advanced participants, ECOMUN also builds up a solid basis for MUN progression in İzmir.

Being prepared for absolute perfectionists by the top-notch professionals, ECOMUN shines

gloriously, waiting for your participation.

Thanks to the creative excellence of my Deputy Secretary-General Birgül Bican Kutlu, we

managed to prepare you 7 original committees that we hope will broaden your horizon. We are

more than sure that ECOMUN family under the wings of our organizational virtuoso

Director-General Gizem İkiz and her advisor Seray Güderel will let us enjoy another great

ECOMUN experience.

We are looking forward to seeing you in ECOMUN ’19 held between 22-26 July 2019. Let us

feel the Aegean difference!

Sincerely,

Batuhan AKYAZI

Secretary-General of Izmir University of Economics Model United Nations 2019

Letter from the Under Secretary Generals

Esteemed members of JCC : American Civil War, honorable guests and observers,

First of all, We would like to welcome you all to Ecomun 2019. We each started our mun

careers different times but their collision was when we all attended the same conference

back in April, 2018 since then we have attended many conferences together over the

course of one and a half years. We were always interested in special committees,

specifically crisis committees. We love doing historical crisis committees because it

allows us to change history and make it our own. Members of the committees such as this

one always amazes us, you never know what they might do if you give them the

opportunity to be creative and free.

We met Batuhan Akyazı and Bican Kutlu in different periods of our mun careers, though

it didn’t affect the bond the bond that we have created with them. We are honored to be

of this conference and excited to simulate a committee such as this one.

Our committee will start from the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and move

forward from that point. Altering the course of history starts from this point. We expect

the members of this committee to be creative and be free on their actions. Anything you

read in the study guide hasn’t happened at the beginning of the conference, we all expect

you to understand that, not everything you read might happen the same way that they did

throughout history. Your actions and decisions might change them. So don’t be hesitant

and have fun!

Achieve Greatness in Chaos!

Barış Sarıahmet & Efe Saraç & Levent Özel

Under Secretaries General

Table of Contents

- Introduction to the Civil War

- Trigger Events of the Civil War

+ The Peculiar Institution

+ The Missouri Compromise

+ Nat Tuners’ Rebellion

+ The Wilmot Proviso

+ The Compromise of 1850

+ Uncle Tom’s Cabin

+ Bleeding Kansas

+ Dred Scott v. Sanford

+ Lincoln - Douglas Debates

+ John Brown’s Raid

+ Abraham Lincoln’s Election

+ The Battle of Fort Sumter

- Causes of the Civil War

- Slavery in the United States

+ Importation of Slaves

+ Fugitive Slave Clause

+ Three-Fifths Compromise

- States’ Rights

- The Economy of the North and the South

+ Overview

+ Comparison of Produced Goods

+ Foreign Trade & Tariffs

- Westward Expansion

- Important Battles of the American Civil War

+ Battle of Bull Run

+ Battle of Glorieta Pass

+ Battle of Antietam

+ Battle of Chancellorsville

+ Battle of Gettysburg

+ Siege of Vicksburg

- Foreign Policies of the United States

- Situation in the Congress

- Federal Military of the U.S.A.

+ United States Army

● Ethnic Composition

+ United States Navy

+ United States Marine Corps

+ United States Revenue Cutter Service

- Military of the C.S.A.

+ Confederate States Army

+ Confederate States Navy

+ Confederate States Marine Corps

- Locations of Strategic and Logistical Importance

+ Railroads

+ Ports

+ Forts

+ Cities and Towns

+ Rivers

- Technology and Weapons

+ Telegraph

+ Aerial Reconnaissance

+ Railroads

+ Rifles and the Minie Bullet

+ The Gatling Gun

+ Ironclad Warships

+ Naval Mines and Submarines

- References

Introduction to the Civil War

The Civil War which also known as the “ War Between the States ” was fought between

the Union States ( Northern States ) and the Confederate States ( Southern States ) around

1861 to 1865. The official start of the Civil War was on the 12th of April, 1861, the day

that Confederate forces barraged Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay which belong to Union

forces.

Mid 19th Century was an era of monumental prosperity for the United States of America

with it, it brought the economical differences between the country’s northern and

southern regions. The second phase of the Industrial revolution starting in America

specifically in the Northern region led the Northern states to shift their economic

dependence more to mechanized textile manufacturing and small-scale farming to go

along with, while the Southern region’s economical structure was still based on

large-scale farming that depended on the labor of black slaves, they were specifically

used to produce cotton and tobacco due to the hard labor that these products required.

The United States Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, which allowed all

new provinces to slavery by afferming the rule of popular sovereignty over congressional

edict. Pro and anti slavery states fought vigoriously in “Bleeding Kansas”, meanwhile

opposition to the act impelled the formation of a new politicial body called the

Republican Party, the newly established party was opposing to the slavery’s extension

into the western territorries. The last straw to start the civil war was the election of the

Republican Party candidate Abraham Lincoln in 1860, which led to many Southern states

to secede from the Union. Within 3 months seven southern states; South Carolina,

Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas has seceded from the

United States.

During the civil war, even though the exact number is unknown, the soldiers that lost

their lives from battling one another or to starvation, accidents and diseases. The number

is to be believed that it was between 640.000 to 700.000 soldiers in total divided as

360.000 union soldiers and 260.000 confederate forces. From the American Revolution to

the Civil war during the nation’s wars approximately 1.264.000 American soldiers have

lost their lives. Not so long ago that with the Vietnam war death toll for the American

soldiers surpassed on overseas to the ones that died on American soil.

Trigger Events of the Civil War

The Peculiar Institution | 1619 - 1865 : the term was used by the white southerners for

slavery. Slavery ashored in to North America at the same time as the Spanish and English

colonists of the 17th and the 18th centuries, numbers close to as 645.000 Africans were

imported over the 250 years that the instituion was legal. Although slavery at no time in

the history survived without any quarrel. Between 1735 to 1750 the British colony of

Georgia was the first to ban slavery where as in the other 12 states it stayed legal. With

American Revolution coming to an end, Northern states gradually passed emancipation

laws and factional division began to increase as the Southern States came to be more

committed to slavery each day. Thomas Jefferson once stated it as a “ necessary evil ” to

keep a stabilized economy, proponents of slavery progressively changed their oratory to

something that defined slavery as a benevolent Christian institution that favored all

parties associated with the institution; slaves, slave owners and non-slave holding whites.

John C. Calhoun retained the terms “ peculiar labor ” of the South in 1828 and the “

peculiar domestic institution ” in 1830. The term has become commonly used in the

1830s just as the abolitionist supporters of William Lloyd Garrison started criticizing

slavery. Its implicit meaning was suggesting that the slavery in the United States was

contrasting from the cruel slavery systems that were present in other countries in addition

to that the southern slavery was no burden to the ones that were living in the northern

states.

The Missouri Compromise | 1820 : The prosperity years of the nation following the

1803 Louisiana Purchase, Congress was urged to form a policy in order to navigate the

spread of slavery into the new western territory. When Missouri applied for statehood as

a slave state, it kindled a rather disturbing debate. The expansion of slavery intercalary

caused a broader morality issue and the addition of pro-slavery Missouri legislators

would grant the pro-slavery faction a Congressional majority. In the end, Congress signed

in on a series of arrangements that later was known as the “ Missouri Compromise ”.

Missouri was accepted as a slave state and Maine was declared as a free state, keeping

the Congressional balance. Borders were established by drawing a line through the

unincorporated Western territories along the 36°30' parallel, separating the north and

south as free and slave states.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion | 1831 : Nat Turner was a slave that inflamed an uprising that

reached over to several plantations in southern Virginia on August,1831. Turner and

close to seventy cohorts killed almost sixty white people. After two days of terror the

rebellion has come to an end with the deployment of militia infantry and artillery.

Including Turner, fifty-five slaves were executed for their part in the insurgency. Close to

two hundred more slaves were lynched by frantic mobsters. Even though small-scale

slave uprisings were common in the American South, the one the Nat Turner caused was

the certainly the bloodiest one. Virginia lawmakers answer to the rebellion was the roll

back on the few rights that the slaves and free black people had. Their right to education

was provoked and the right to assemble was limited to almost nothing.

The Wilmot Proviso | 1846 - 1850 : It was a segment of legislation that was put forward

by David Wilmot at the end of the Mexican-American War. If it were to pass by

Congress, it would have outlawed slavery in regions obtained by the United States when

the war ended, which consisted of most of the Southwest and extended all the way to

California. Wilmot fought two years for his proviso. He went to lengths and tried to pass

it as a rider on existing bills, proposed it on its own and even attempted to attach it to the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. None of them passed, but the tension of the debate circling

the Proviso prompted the first legitimate controversy on secession.

The Compromise of 1850 | 1850 : Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas achieved to pull

forward a shaky accord after the national relations aggravated over the Wilmot Proviso

with the Compromise of 1850. The compromise permitted the state of California to

become a free-state and did not regulate slavery in the rest of the Mexican cession, while

reinforcing the Fugitive Slave Act, a legislation that forced Northerners to capture and

return the escaped slaves to the South. Even though the agreement succeeded on

reprieving clashes between the North and South, did close to nothing to address, and in

addition increased the disparity that divided the United States. By pressuring

non-slaveholders to participate in the institution, it led an increase on the polarization

among the centrist citizens.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin | 1852 : was the second-best-selling book in America in the 19th

century, coming after the Bible. The popularity that the book received put the issue of

slavery on the table for the few that left unmoved after decades of legislative conflict.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s study on slave life was a cultural sensation, Northerners were

moved by the truths that this book laid on their lap, meanwhile the Southerners protested

that Stowe’s work was scandalous.

Bleeding Kansas | 1854 - 1859 : In 1854 Kansas and Nebraska were appointed as

territories after the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the congress, setting the stage for

“ Bleeding Kansas ” by the espousal of popular sovereignty. The popular sovereignty

meant that, the residents would decide whether the state would be free or enslaved. To

alter to course of the votings settlers from the North and the South came to Kansas, with

the aspiration of swelling the numbers of the votes in their favor. Opposing ideas pouring

into the city caused their passions to inflame and violent activities started to unravel. John

Brown who was an abolitionist came to Kansas to fight against the pro-slavery forces in

the fall of 1855. In May 1856, Brown and his allies five pro-slavery settlers as a reaction

to the sacking of Lawrence by border ruffians from Missouri whose only victim was an

abolitionist printing press. The territory was no stranger to violence as it started in the

early 1855 but after the Sack of Lawrence and the Pottawatomie Creek Massacre, it

initiated a war between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces. Even though the clash

was between the forces were scattered and unorganized, it caused terror and unrest in the

region. President Buchanan’s interference to appease the violence by supporting the

Lecompton Constitution, his determined backing of this constitution caused a political

crisis among the Democratic Party and prolonged the sectional tensions. Clash between

the opposing sides receded in 1859, the belligerent parties forged a brittle peace, though it

wasn't before more than 50 settlers had been killed.

Dred Scott v. Sanford | 1857 : Dred Scott was a slave that aimed to gain his freedom by

suing the state. After some heat on the case, it ascended to the level of the Supreme

Court, where he was ruled by the justices, as a slave, Dred Scott was a property thus he

did not have any of the legal rights or recognitions given to a human being. Supreme

Court’s decision on Dred Scott , the case was referred to as the “ The Dred Scott Decision

” after the ruling, menaced over the political landscape that would completely reshape it,

which was preventing a civil war. The federal government was trying to regulate the

institution where as the law was saying that slaves were being categorized as simple

property which made the federal government’s authority look equivocal.

Lincoln - Douglas Debates | 1858 : Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas came across

with a threat for his seat from someone, in that time wasn’t known much, one term

former congressmen and “ prairie lawyer ” Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and Douglas faced

each other in seven public debates across the state of Illinois, they mostly debated upon

the most belligerent issue of the antebellum era, which was slavery. Even though Douglas

won the senate race, the debates made way for Lincoln on the national arena and set up

his nomination for presidency in 1860. On the other side, the debates estranged Douglas

further from the Southern wing of the Democratic Party and his arguments on the debates

cost him the presidency on the 1860 elections.

John Brown’s Raid | 1859 : Abolitionist John Brown stood behind violent actions

against the South to end slavery, his actions took a big part in starting the Civil War.

Brown came back to the North after the Pottawatomie Massacre during the Bleeding

Kansas and conspired something more damaging to the South. John Brown and his 19

supporters, carrying “ Beecher’s Bibles ”, carried out a raid to the federal armory and

arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in october,1859. The goal was to capture and

confiscate the arms and give them to the local slaves to start an armed insurrection. U.S.

Marines, led by Col. Robert Lee, stopped the rebellion. On October 27, Brown was put

on trial for treason against the state of Virginia, he was convicted and hanged in Charles

Town on December 2.

Abraham Lincoln’s Election | 1860 : Abraham Lincoln was elected as the president by

a significant margin in 1860 despite not being included on many Southern ballots. As a

Republican, his party’s anti-slavery outlook struck fear into many Southerners. On

December 20, 1860, bit over a month after the polls closed, South Carolina seceded from

the Union. Six more states followed by the spring of 1861.

The Battle of Fort Sumter | 1861 : After the secession, many federal forts, that also

contained Fort Sumter in South Carolina, they all became outposts in a hostile land.

Abraham Lincoln made an execute decision to send supplies to the surrounded garrisons.

Confederate warships turned back the supplies that were sent to Fort Sumter and

bombarded the stronghold for 34 hours straight, the garrison surrendered on April 14. On

April 15, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to join the Northern army. Unwilling to

contribute troops, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee dissolved their ties

to the federal government.

Causes of the Civil War

It is mostly believe that slavery was the only cause that led to the start of the civil war,

although its contribution can not be overlooked, there are still plenty other reasons that

had a part in on of the bloodiest wars of the American history.

Industry vs. Farming : Most of the economical structure of the Northern States switched

to industry from farming in the mid 1800s. Many Northerners started to work and live in

the big cities such as; New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Where as, the Southern States

kept their old school economical dependence in large scale farming which was depended

on slave labor.

States’ Rights : The States’ Rights issue was not a recent topic in the American history.

The issue kept its controversial status since the Constitution was first written, the

arguments on how much power the state should have against how much federal

government should have. The Southern states were in a belief that the federal government

was deducting their rights and powers.

Expansion : With United States expansion to the west of North America, each joining

new states changed the power dynamic between the North and the South. Southern states

become unrested regarding that they would lose all their rights. Thus, each new state

were seen as a frontline for both sides to keep their influence over the federal

government.

Slavery : Most of South’s issues were embedded with slavery. They were depended on

slavery for labor to work the fields. The Northerners considered slavery as wrong and

evil. They were addressed as abolitionists, demanding that slavery should be illegal

throughout the United States. John Brown, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and

Harriet Beecher Stowe whom were all abolitionists started to persuade more people each

day that the slavery is evil. Their factions caused fear among the Southerners that their

way of life would come to an end.

Bleeding Kansas : The first actual fight between the Northern settlers and Southern

settlers took place in Kansas. After the passage of Kansas - Nebraska Act in 1854, which

permitted the citizens to vote on whether they want to be a slave state or a free state. Both

sides supporters flooded the region fought over the issue for years. Considerable number

of people were killed during the skirmishes, which gave the conflict the name “ Bleeding

Kansas ”. In the end Kansas entered the Union as a free state in 1861.

For more details refer to the “ Bleeding Kansas | 1854 - 1859 ” in Trigger Events of the

Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln : It was after that Abraham Lincoln was elected president, Southern

States had enough. He was a part of the new political party called “ Republican Party ”,

which was anti-slavery. Even though he wasn’t on the ballot of ten Southern states, he

was elected President of the United States. Coming to a conclusion from Abraham

Lincoln being against slavery, they believed he was also against the South.

Secession : After the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, most of the Southern

states didn’t want to be a part of the United States. With South Carolina being the first to

leave, eleven states followed. They formed the Confederate States of America. Abraham

Lincoln believed that they had no right to leave the United States and form a new federal

government. To stop the South from leaving, he sent in the troops and so the Civil War

begun.

Slavery in the United States

Between the 18th and 19th centuries, slavery was a legitimate institution of human chattel

enslavement, for the most part enslaved folks were consisted of African and African

Americans. Slavery was legal in all Thirteen Colonies at the Declaration of Independence

in 1776, the institution continued to exist in half of the states until 1865. Even though

words “ slave ” or “ slavery ” were never in the constitutional law, their counterparts

were clearly indicating that the Constitution was not prohibiting slavery, it was quietly

permitting slavery. Throughout the British colonial time in America, slavery was present

in all the colonies. Individuals who were enslaved in North were mostly working as

house servants, artisans, laborers and craftsmen. Many men worked on the docks and in

shipping. On the other hand, slaves were also used as agricultural laborers in farm

ensembles, with the inclusion of areas in upstate New York and Long Island,

Connecticut, and New Jersey. In a population of 2.170 million people by 1770, there

were 397.924 Black slaves included in this number. Distribution of them was unequal. In

New England there were 14.867 where they made the 2.7% of the population; in the

mid-Atlantic provinces 34.679 which was 6% of the population and 19.000 ( 11% ) in

New York. In the Southern Colonies there were 347.378 roughly equal to 31% of the

population.

The maltreatment on slaves mostly included rape and the sexual abuse of women. In

historical Southern culture the sexual abuse of slaves was partially entrenched due to

slaves being viewed as property. When Virginia adopted the legal doctrine “ partus

sequitur ventrem '' sexual encounters among white men and black women were regulated

by segregating children of slave mothers as slaves in any case of their father’s race or

status. A population of mixed-race offspring was grown notably in the Upper South due

to interactions of white men and black women. Nevertheless Southern society shows their

abomination against miscegenation and it was a crime for white women and black men to

have intercourse due to it seen as damaging to racial purity.

Importation of Slaves : Section 9 of Article I forbade the Federal government from

preventing the importation of slaves before January 1, 1808.

Fugitive Slave Clause : As a protection for slavery, the delegates approved Section 2 of

Article IV, which prohibited states from freeing slaves who fled to them from another

state, and required the return of chattel property to owners.

Three-Fifths Compromise : Section 2 of Article I designated "other persons" (slaves) to

be added to the total of the state's free population, at the rate of three-fifths of their total

number, to establish the state's official population for the purposes of apportionment of

Congressional representation and federal taxation. This disproportionately strengthened

the political power of Southern representatives, as three-fifths of the (non-voting) slave

population was counted for Congressional apportionment.

States’ Rights

In a nutshell, the term States' Rights is being used for the power struggle between the

federal government and the states. Advocates of the states’ rights put greater trust in

regional authorities than the national ones by emphasizing that local authorities are more

capable of responding to the problems of the local people than the national governments.

They also believe that a state could protect the individual rights way better than the

federal government. After the 13 colonies declared their independence from Great Britain

in 1776, they regarded themselves as sovereign states. Articles of Confederation has been

signed & entered into force. That agreement created a central government, but it was

weak in terms of authority over the nation in comparison with the states'. Those states

created their laws and attempted to make foreign trade deals with other countries. That

situation made European powers to see the United States weak. Following that, at the

beginning of 1786, Shay’s Rebellion occurred. Shay’s Rebellion is a series of attacks on

government properties in Massachusetts to protest the high taxes applied to farmers by

the state. The applied taxes were even higher than the taxes applied by The Great Britain

before the American Revolution. When people failed to pay their taxes, Boston

authorities started to arrest them, and that ignited the rebellion. It took its name from

Daniel Shay, who is a Revolution veteran. He marched with 600 men to shut down the

court in Springfield, and he became successful. After that march to the court and other

attacks, Federalists emphasized Articles of Confederation created a weak federal

government which failed to manage and secure the nation and started to advocate for a

stronger federal government. Following the Shay’s Rebellion, to create “more perfect”

union, Articles of Confederation nullified, and The United States Constitution has entered

into force. There are two critical clauses in the US Constitution regarding the states’

rights: Amendment IX & Amendment X. The Ninth Amendment states, “The

enumeration in the Constitution,of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or

disparage others retained by the people.” In other words it is impossible to list all of the

rights in a single constituent instrument, and it would be dangerous if the government is

not bound by the rights which were not granted directly by the people from the US

Constitution. The Tenth Amendment states, ”The powers not delegated to the United

States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states

respectively, or to the people.” In other terms, if there is a power which is not granted to

the federal government, is granted to states or the people. These two amendments assured

the states to keep their autonomy. Writers of the constitution refrained from abolishing

slavery in the constitution to make every state the ratify the instrument. As it mentioned

in the section "Westward Expansion" when the United States expanded its soil towards

the west and with the establishment of new states, the question of, will the federal

government allow or abolish slavery in the newly established states has arisen. Abraham

Lincoln, the presidential candidate of the Republican Party, was against the expansion of

slavery into the new states. When elections of 1860 held, his name was even not on the

election polls in some southern states. He won that election by sweeping the north. His

presidency made the Southern States to feel that the federal government will bypass

states' rights, intervene the authority of the state and abolish slavery and caused the

Southern States to secede from the union.

The Economy of The North and The South

Overview

To understand the economy of the United States before The Civil War, it is crucial to

emphasize the significance of geography' impact over the nation. The North's climate was

cold, therefore its soil was not eligible for agricultural production that much. Therefore,

The North was eager to industrialize its production like. Eventually, the spark of

industrialization has spread to The North and it changed the socio-economic situation

drastically. The ratio of laborers working agricultural sector dropped from 70% to 40%.

In the year 1860, 25% of The North was living in urban areas. Large cities such as New

York hosted approximately 800,000 people at that time. With the start of industrialization

in The North, the necessity for slave labor was on the verge of ending. At the end of the

day, slavery replaced itself with European immigrant labor force. 7 out of 8 immigrants

settled in the north of the country due to more job openings and two-thirds of the nation'

railroads being in the north of the country. Also, the population of The North reached

approximately 23 Million in the late 1850’. On the other hand, The South had a warm

climate and fertile soil. As a matter, of course, the economy of the South was based on

agriculture and industrial production was at a so much lesser level than The North. And

the building-block of the agriculture-based economy was plantations and slavery. In total

384,000 of 1.6 million families owned slaves in The South. Most of them owned less than

20 slaves and could be regarded as farmers instead of planters. There were about 10.000

large plantations where slaves were mostly being used. Around 3.000 of those plantations

were extremely big and each of them was a workplace for 50-100 slaves. The slaves who

did not work in the plantations (approximately 1 Million) mostly worked in homes,

industry, construction, lumbering or transportation. The South's non-industrialized

economy did not cause much disadvantages against the north because the economic value

of the slaves exceeded the net worth of the nation's factories, banks and railroads

combined. When Eli Whitney invented the cotton ‘gin in 1793. Cotton production

became extremely profitable in the South. It is important to bear in mind that 1860 the

cotton prices were an all-time high. As mentioned before the industrial capacity in The

North exceeded The South. The North had 5 times more factories and 10 times more

factory workers than The South. In addition, The North contained 90% of the whole

nation's skilled workers. Also, mechanization in agriculture made 1 Northern farmer to

make 6 slaves' work in one day. The numbers mentioned above explains the fact that the

North having the 90% of the nation's capital and The South having only 10%. It is

important to bear in mind that The South had a population of 9 Million and

approximately one-third out of 9 Million were slaves.

Comparison of produced goods.

In the year 1860, 90% of the nation’s manufacturing output came from The North. With

industrialization, The North produced 17 times more cotton and textile products, 32 times

more firearms, 20 times more pig iron than the South. At the end of the day, these

numbers are normal since in the year 1860 40% of The North and 84% of The South

were engaged in agricultural production. As mentioned above The North used machinery

in agriculture, therefore, in the year 1860 The North produced seven-eighths of the oats,

four-fifths of its wheat and half of the nation’s corn.

Foreign Trade & Tariffs

Tariffs were taxes placed on certain imported goods. The US Congress was mostly

divided into two when it comes to tariffs. Northern Congressmen mostly supported tariffs

because they believed that when they raise the tariffs on certain imported goods

American customers will prefer to buy the domestically produced counterpart of the

subject product due to its cheapness in comparison with the imported one. On the other

hand, Southern Congressmen opposed to tariffs because it would cause serious harm

because The South’s economy was import-oriented and primarily British may raise the

prices of the exported goods to the United States as a response. The most important

foreign trade commodities in exports were cotton, wheat and flour and tobacco. United

States earned $191,800.000, $19,500,000 and $15,900,000 in year 1860 for the products

listed above respectively. And the most important imports were woolens, cotton

manufactures, sugar and coffee. United States paid $43,100,000, $33,200,000,

$21,800,000, $31,000,000 respectively in order to import the products mentioned above

in the year 1860. At the year 1860, the biggest three trade partners of the United States

were the United Kingdom, France, Cuba and British North America. The bilateral trade

volume of the countries listed above with the United States were $340,000,000,

$105,000,000, $46,000,000 and $46,000,000 respectively.

Westward Expansion

Westward expansion is a movement of the American settlers to the west of the continent

in the light of "Manifest Destiny" in the 1800s. The term “Manifest Destiny” is a belief

that American settlers were destined to expand United States territory across North and

the West of the continent and was used first by the editor of The United States Magazine,

and Democratic Review, John O'Sullivan in his essay which was published in 1845. The

magazine served as a propaganda organ of the Democratic Party, and that slogan became

the motto of the Democrats. He argued the necessity of annexation of Texas after its

independence from Mexico and Oregon Country (today Oregon, Washington and Idaho)

which was being ruled by the British.

“the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which

Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated

self-government entrusted to us.”

John O’Sullivan, 1845

Before John O’Sullivan published his essay, the first solid step for the Westward

Expansion was already taken by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 when he purchased

the area known as the Louisiana Territory at that time from France for 15 Million Dollars.

The size of the acquired territory was 828,000 square miles, and it nearly doubled the size

of the United States.

Oregon Country, after The British Empire withdrawing its troops from the territory was

annexed by the United States 1846. When Texas won its independence from Mexico in

1836, Texans petitioned for US annexation . Eventually, the US has annexed Texas.

Mexico considered this as an act of war and after some confrontations of the US Army

and Mexican Army near the border, by the demand of President James Folk, the US

Congress to declare war against Mexico. The war ended with American victory in 1848,

and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo has signed. By that treaty, Mexico relinquished its

all claims over Texas, gave 55% of its land including present-day California, Arizona,

Colorado, Nevada and Utah. On the other hand, River Rio Grande became the

US-Mexican Border. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce engaged in negotiations with

Mexicans for Gadsden Territory. Negotiations took short due to Mexican Government’

urgently need of money. The US paid 10 Million Dollars and gained 30,000 square miles

of land from Mexico. After aforementioned events new states has been established and

started to enter the Union. It is also important to bear in mind that the question of whether

new states are going to be free states or slave-state arisen and started to take an important

part in American politics

IMPORTANT BATTLES OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas)

Even though the official beginning of the Civil War was the shelling of Fort Sumter by

Confederate troops on April 12, 1861, the real ground war began with the Battle of Bull

Run, fought in Virginia just miles from Washington DC, on July 21, 1861. The popular

sentiment led President Lincoln to order Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, commander

of the Union army in Northern Virginia, to attack the Confederate forces commanded by

Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard, which held a relatively strong position along Bull

Run, just northeast of Manassas Junction. The goal was to make quickly defeat the

Confederate army, open the way to Richmond, the Confederate capital, and end the war.

At the outset of the battle, the two generals had the same idea of outflanking their

opponent. The Confederate forces were hindered by miscommunication while the Union

units had an overly complex battle plan which they couldn't follow. The battle started out

with minor skirmishes, followed by a Union artillery bombardment across Bull Run. The

Union Army gained the upper hand, pushing the Confederates back for a bit, but the

Southern soldiers finally stopped the Union advance after taking a defensive position atop

Henry House Hill. This was also the place where the Virginia Brigade's general Thomas

J. Jackson was bestowed his nom de guerre (war name) ''Stonewall'' by Brigadier General

Bernard Bee who died during this battle for his brigades amazing defensive discipline.

By the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements, arriving from the Shenandoah Valley

extended the Confederate line and broke the Union right flank, as Virginia Cavalry

charged and routed a New York Brigade. This break in the line confused the rest of the

Union army and before long, a total retreat order was given. Some Southern cavalry units

gave chase to the retreating Union Army with artillery support but the Confederate Army

itself was disorganized and too fatigued to pursue their enemy. The broken Union Army

reached Washington by the next day. General McDowell was relieved of command and

replaced by McClellan.

Battle of Glorieta Pass

Unlike the grand battles of the East with tens or hundreds of thousands of soldiers, the

Battle of Glorieta Pass was very small but very important at the same time. When the

Civil War started, the far Western territories of the United States were scarcely populated

and largely unsettled. As the West grew, the two sides tried to exert their own influence

into the new territories and states. The Glorieta Pass, in the state that is now called New

Mexico was a strategic location at the Southern tip of the Santa Fe Trail that if taken

would have allowed the Confederate Army to assault Fort Union and afterwards march

all the way to California with little opposition. California would have provided the

Confederates with untouchable ports and arable land, which the Union could not afford to

lose.

On the morning of March 26th, 1862, Union Major Chivington led more than 400 troops

to the pass and at noon began an assault on the 200-300 Texans led by Major Pyron

holding one end of the pass. Although Texan artillery threw the Union troops back at

first, Chivington managed to flank the Texans, driving them back into the pass where

they caught and flanked them again, breaking the line and charging his cavalry at the

retreating Texans, capturing the rearguard of Pyron's forces. The next day reinforcements

arrived for both sides. The remaining Texans joined Lt. Col. Scurry's troops, making a

Confederate force of about 1100 men, while the Union Colonel Slough arrived with

almost 900 troops and with the addition of Chivington's force totaled about 1200-1300

men. The Union forces attacked before noon but were thrown back and counterattacked

by the Confederates several times, during the battle Chivington's force broke off and

attacked the Confederate camp, destroying their supplies and stealing their animals.

When the Union forces retreated, the Confederates thought they were victorious but later

found out their supplies were destroyed. This forced the Confederates to retreat to Santa

Fe, starting the long march back to San Antonio, Texas. With this battle, the Confederate

hopes of reaching the Western territories and states was crushed and the Battle of

Glorieta Pass became a turning point in the war.

Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg)

By September 1862, President Lincoln and the Union had become increasingly frustrated

of the constant losses they have been enduring for the two years of the war. The Federal

Army of the Potomac under the command of General McClellan had proven incapable of

defeating the Confederate Army who now had a new leader in General Lee. Lee had

launched a brutal campaign not long after taking command, aimed at invading

Pennsylvania and Maryland and breaking the rail network of the Union. With the

presidential election looming in the United States, Lee thought that making life harder for

the Union citizens would drive them to vote out Lincoln and elect a new government that

would be willing to negotiate and leave the Confederacy alone. This was of course just

the opposite of what Lincoln wanted which led to the Battle of Antietam.

On September 16, 1862, Maj. Gen. McClellan's Union Army of the Potomac confronted

Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Sharpsburg, Maryland. At the dawn of September 17,

Hooker's Union Corps attacked Lee's left flank, starting the Battle of Antietam and the

single bloodiest day in American history. Again and again the Union attacked and again

and again the Confederates drew them back and counterattacked across Miller's Field and

the West Woods. Even though the Union forces massively outnumbered the

Confederates, Stonewall Jackson and his troops would hold their positions near the

Dunker Church. In the center, the Union Army temporarily broke the Confederate line at

the Sunken Road but couldn't take advantage.

As the hours passed, Maj. Gen. Burnside's corps advanced under a hail of rifle and

artillery fire and crossed the stone bridge over Antietam Creek and attacked the

Confederate right flank, at the breaking point for the Confederate Army, A.P. Hill's

division arrived from Harper's Ferry and counterattacked the right flank, driving Burnside

back and saving the day for the Army of Northern Virginia. Apart from some skirmishes

throughout the evening and the following morning, this counterattack was the last large

action of the battle.

During the battle, despite having a two to one advantage, McClellan didn't commit his

entire force, while Lee did. McClellan also didn't pursue the wounded Confederate Army

across the Potomac, giving them the chance to live to fight another day. Lincoln was

furious with these decisions, he still claimed victory as the Confederate Army was pushed

out of Maryland, but McClellan was relieved of command and replaced by Maj. Gen.

Burnside. But this ''Victory'' gave him the opportunity to deliver the Emancipation

Proclamation, changing the geopolitical course of the war.

Battle of Chancellorsville

After the appointment of Maj. Gen. Burnside, he led his troops into slaughter several

times culminating in the Battle of Fredericksburg where he ordered his men to assault a

heavily fortified stone wall several times. The battle was a stunning loss and the

momentum gained from the Battle of Antietam was completely lost. Burnside was

transferred to the Western theater as a punishment and was replaced by Maj. Gen.

Hooker. Hooker renovated the Union Army and in late April managed to outmaneuver

General Lee and closed in on Chancellorsville.

On May 1st, Lee, realizing he was outmaneuvered, quickly gathered his army and ordered

his regiments to push Hooker into the wilderness. This battle would see Lee and

Stonewall Jackson collaboration as the two men conceived their greatest plan yet. On

May 2nd, Stonewall took the bulk of the Confederate Army, crossed the enemy's front and

swung around behind them. This left Lee to defend his position with very small number

of troops, but he managed to hold off Hooker's attacks throughout the day. By 5 p.m.

Stonewall completed his circuit and unleashed thirty thousand troops to the right-rear

flank of the Union Army. They shattered the 11th Federal Corps and pushed the Union

Army several miles. But this great charge would cost Stonewall Jackson his life, as his

unit was mistaken for a Union brigade and was fired upon by the Army of Northern

Virginia, killing him and several of his men.

But his death wasn't in vain. Hooker abandoned his strategic location and his army was

smashed by Confederate artillery fire as the Southern troops charged. Hooker himself

was almost killed by an artillery shell. By the mid-morning of May 3rd, Southern infantry

smashed through the final resistance and took Chancellorsville. Lee would rush to the

Battle of Salem Church on the same day and return on the 4th to ensure final victory at

Chancellorsville. But the death of Stonewall Jackson would be a major loss to the

Confederacy.

Battle of Gettysburg

After his astounding victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in May 1863,

General Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia in its second invasion of the North. The

Gettysburg Campaign. With his army in high spirits, Lee intended to collect supplies in

the abundant Pennsylvania farmland and take the fighting away from war-ravaged

Virginia. He wanted to threaten Northern cities, weaken the North's appetite for war and,

especially, win a major battle on Northern soil and strengthen the peace movement in the

North.

Ordered by President Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Hooker moved his Union Army of the

Potomac in pursuit but was relieved of command just three days before the battle.

Hooker's successor, Maj. Gen. Meade, moved northward, keeping his army between Lee

and Washington, D.C. When Lee learned that Meade was in Pennsylvania, he

concentrated his army around Gettysburg.

The skirmishes began on the last days of June and the two armies finally met on the 1st of

July. Union Cavalry under Brig. Gen. Buford slowed the Confederate advance until

Union infantry arrived. However, Generals Hill and Ewell of the Confederacy reached

the area and with their thirty thousand troops, pushed the twenty thousand strong Union

force down from Gettysburg and onto Culp's Hill and East Cemetery Hill.

On the second day, the Union took defensive positions along a set of hills south of

Gettysburg with ninety thousand men, consecutively they were outmaneuvered by a

smaller Confederate force of seventy thousand. On the afternoon of July 2, Lee launched

a heavy assault on the Union left flank, and fierce fighting raged at Devil's Den, Little

Round Top, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard and Cemetery Ridge. On the Union right,

demonstrations escalated into full-scale assaults on Culp's Hill and East Cemetery Hill.

Although the Confederates gained ground, the Union defenders still held strong positions

by the end of the day.

On July 3, fighting resumed on Culp's Hill, and cavalry battles raged to the east and

south, but the main event was a dramatic infantry assault by 12,000 Confederates against

the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Pickett's Charge was repulsed by Union

rifle and artillery fire, at great losses to the Confederate army. Lee led his army on a

torturous retreat back to Virginia. As many as 51,000 soldiers from both armies were

killed, wounded, captured or missing in the three-day battle. Four months after the battle,

President Lincoln used the dedication ceremony for Gettysburg's Soldiers National

Cemetery to honor the fallen Union soldiers and redefine the purpose of the war in his

historic Gettysburg Address.

Siege of Vicksburg

As Lee marched north, Grant stayed put, keeping pressure on Vicksburg. It had been a

long slog to get this far, and Grant’s efforts to move on Vicksburg during the fall and

winter had not been successful. In the spring he enacted a brazen plan to march his troops

down the western side of the river, cross the Mississippi and assault the city.

Beginning in late April, Union Army and Navy forces led several attacks designed to

pave the way for a clear shot at Vicksburg. In late April 1863, Grant undertook a new and

bold campaign against Vicksburg and the Confederate defenders under John Pemberton.

After conducting a surprise landing below Vicksburg at Bruinsburg, Mississippi, Grant’s

forces moved rapidly inland, pushing back the threat posed by Joseph E. Johnston’s

forces near Jackson. Once his rear was clear, Grant again turned his sights on Vicksburg.

Union victories at Champion Hill and Big Black Bridge weakened Pemberton’s forces,

leaving the Confederate chief with no alternative but to retreat to Vicksburg's defenses.

The Federals assailed the Rebel stronghold on May 19 and 22 but were repulsed with

such great loss that Grant determined to lay siege to the city to avoid further loss of life.

Soldiers and civilians alike endured the privations of siege warfare for 47 days before the

surrender of Pemberton’s forces on July 4, 1863. With the Mississippi River now firmly

in Union hands, the Confederacy's fate was all but sealed.

The fall of Vicksburg came on the very same day Lee retreated from Gettysburg. This

one-two punch of devastating wins in both the Eastern and Western theaters provided a

needed shot of adrenaline for the U.S. government and Lincoln’s popularity. He would

win reelection in 1864, an event that had seemed unlikely up until this point. But the

taking of Vicksburg provided much more than just a morale boost for the United States.

The Union now had control of the Mississippi and could freely move troops and supplies

along its length. The future of the Confederacy was now in serious peril.

+ Other Notable Battles for Further Research:

- Battle of Fort Sumter

- Battle of Shiloh

- Second Battle of Bull Run

- Battles of Chattanooga

- Battle of Atlanta

- Battle of Appomattox Station and Court House

Foreign Policies of the United States | 1830 - 1865

Between 1830 - 1860, the United States sought a policy of expansion based on "manifest

destiny," the philosophy was that Americans were destined to expand their nation across

the whole continent. The United States even showed their willingness to go to war to

secure new territories. At the same time, they managed to negotiate an agreement with

Great Britain to assure the safety of the Oregon Country, acquiring the valuable territory

south of it, consisting of California and its important Pacific harbors, required the use of

force, and in 1845, the United States embarked on its first offensive war by invading

Mexico. Adding to that advancing westward, the United States also continued to grow

economically through investment in foreign markets and international trade. With these

growing commercial interests, they developed a larger navy and increased international

presence. The United States started to turn to the Pacific for new economic opportunities,

establishing a presence in China, and opening Japan and Korea to western commercial

interests.

Eleven states seceded from the United States to establish the Confederate States of

America and in 1861, in the next four years, the United States battled the Confederate

States to reclaim their control over those territories. During the Civil War the

Confederacy repeatedly sought international support for their agenda, repeatedly calling

upon foreign dependence, on their cotton exports to attain them. The Union side aimed to

prevent other nations from recognizing the Confederacy as a legitimate nation and from

getting involved in the Civil War. In an attempt to starve the Confederate economy and to

cut it off from its international supporters, the Union engaged in a blockade of

Confederate ports, a move that was of questionable legality in international law. Despite

the Confederacy's significant international commercial ties, the lack of definitive military

victories for the South and the success of Union efforts to link the Confederacy with the

institution of slavery ultimately prevented any of the European powers from officially

recognizing or supporting the South.

Situation in the Congress

The thirty-seventh United States Congress met during the first two years of Lincoln’s

presidency and United States Senate’s role was crucial during the American Civil War.

Even though the war is told mostly from President Abraham Lincoln’s perspective and

his brothers in the arm, the Congress was already facing war-related issues before

Abraham Lincoln took office. The major conflict among the president and Congress was

found in the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Right after the firing on Fort

Sumter, the Congress was teeming with the US Army.

Border states and Texas was still represented in Congress in March 1861. President

Buchanan called the Senate into a special session. Before long the meeting was

adjourned, Fort Sumter was attacked. Lincoln called Congress into an emergency

meeting on July 4, 1861. Members taking their seats had been elected before the

retirement crisis, throughout the establishment of the Confederate government, and

following Fort Sumter.

On April 19, 1861, the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment started to take up residence and

eventually 4,000 troops occupied the Senate Chamber building. Following resignations

and exiles occasioned by the discharge of the Civil War, five states had some degree of

dual representation in the U.S and the C.S. Congresses. Congress authorised Members

elected appearing in these five as Unionist, Democratic, Constitutional Unionist and

Republican.

15 April 1861, three days after the assault on Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln

declared a proclamation calling forth the state armies, to the sum of 75,000 troops, in

order to defeat the rebellion. In preparation for the occasional summertime assembly,

senators were involved in a variety of war-related activities—renewing support, forming

the military, crafting vital legislation, and managing constituent inquiries. Abraham

Lincoln's preparatory Emancipation Proclamation was declared on September 22, 1862.

It became the main issue before the society in the midterm elections that year for the 38th

Congress. But Republican majorities in both houses held, and the Republicans really

expanded their majority in the Senate. The Senate Chamber was a temporary

headquarters while the Capitol is serving as an emergency hospital to provide medical

aid. After the Second Battle of Bull Run, in 1862, the Union Army used the Capitol for

the wounded soldiers.

In the following 4 years, the Senate confronted many crises since it had to conduct its

legislative responsibilities and also to supervise executive acts.

In the Reconstruction years, the Senate debated upon liberation, civil rights and the rights

of the Southern states’ and their representation. The senators suggested amendments to

guarantee citizenship rights.

FEDERAL MILITARY OF THE U.S.A ( UNION MILITARY )

United States Army

The Union Army or formally known as the United States Army was the fighting force

responsible for land warfare in the Federal Military. The Union Army was essential to the

existence of the Federal States or the Union States. Before the war began, the Union

Army was a fully professional fighting force, made up of regular soldiers who had

volunteered for service in the military and numbered only 16,367 men including 1,108

commissioned officers, 20% of whom resigned and joined the Confederate Military. With

the start of the war, the Union Army was further expanded and strengthened with the new

volunteers and draftees (conscripts). The new draftee soldiers had low morale and little

training as they were forced to be in the military to swell up the ranks. However, the

Union Army had some good leaders and elite units within its structure as well as the

advantage of industrialization and numbers. 102 previous Army officers also rejoined the

Union Army, these include: Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman.

The U.S. Army consisted of ten regiments (350-400 soldiers) of infantry, four

of artilleries, two of cavalry, two of dragoons (A type of Cavalry that can also fight as

line infantry), and three of mounted infantries. The regiments were scattered widely. Of

the 197 companies (34-40 soldiers) in the army, 179 occupied 79 isolated posts in

the West, and the remaining 18 manned garrisons east of the Mississippi River, mostly

along the Canada–United States border and on the Atlantic coast.

With the declaration of secession by the Southern States, President Lincoln demanded the

Union States to raise an army of 75,000 for three months to put down the ''rebellion''.

This call led to four of the border states seceding to the Confederacy. On July 22, 1861,

the Union Congress approved and authorized subsidy to allow and support a volunteer

army of up to 500,000 men to the cause.

The call for volunteers initially was easily met by patriotic Northerners, abolitionists, and

even immigrants who enlisted for a steady income and meals. Over

10,000 Germans in New York and Pennsylvania immediately responded to Lincoln's call,

and the French were also quick to volunteer. As more men were needed, however, the

number of volunteers fell and both money bounties and forced conscription had to be

turned to. Nevertheless, between April 1861 and April 1865, at least 2,128,948 men

served in the Union Army, of whom the majority were volunteers.

Throughout the war, just like the overall advantage in numbers, the Union Army held the

advantage of having more trained and professional military officers as most of the West

Point graduates fought for the Union and the West Point Military Academy continued to

graduate more fresh officers than the Confederate academies could. (Hattaway & Jones,

1991)

Several men served as generals-in-chief of the Union Army throughout its existence but

for our cabinet we have only chosen the most significant of them; Ulysses S. Grant as the

permanent holder of the spot. (He might be replaced during the conference due to several

reasons.)

Ethnic Composition : While the bulk of the Union Army (45.4%) was made up of

native-born Caucasian-Americans, there was a significant number of immigrant

Europeans (30.7%), African-Americans (9.5%) and men of other ethnicities and

nationalities (7%) such as Native Americans, Mexicans and Jews in its ranks (7.4%

unknown). (Sanitary Commission Report , 1869)

United States Navy

The Union Navy, formally known as the United States Navy was the primary naval

fighting force of the Federal Government of the United States of America. At the start of

the war, the Union Navy had 42 ships in commission. Another 48 were laid up and listed

as available for service as soon as crews could be assembled and trained, but few were

appropriate for the task at hand. The main mission of the USN during the Civil War was

to blockade Confederate ports and if possible conduct small scale naval invasions by

taking over weakly defended ports and forts along the coast. To do these missions The

USN operated in conjunction with its ''sister branch'': United States Marine Corps.

During the war the USN was renovated, with the sailing ships almost all being replaced

with or converted to steam ships, the wooden hulls were at first strengthened and

supplemented by iron or steel plates and later ships were made entirely of metal. The old

style of put as many guns on the side as possible was replaced by putting larger guns in

fewer numbers, sometimes even using turrets or sponsons to give the weapons a greater

firing arc.

Lincoln’s navy played an important role in a series of coastal and amphibious operations,

some in conjunction with the Federal army. As early as November 7, 1861, a Federal

flotilla under Samuel Francis du Pont seized Port Royal, South Carolina, and another

squadron under Louis M. Goldsborough assisted Burnside’s army in capturing Roanoke

Island and New Bern on the North Carolina littoral in February–March 1862. Such

actions would be repeated by the USN throughout the war. (Hassler & Weber, n.d.)

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps was the naval infantry contingent of the Federal

Government. Working together with the U.S. Navy, the U.S.M.C participated in blockade

duty as well as invasion of Southern coastal territories. In 1861, the Corps’ total strength

numbered just 63 officers and 1,712 enlisted personnel.

After their first taste of combat at the Battle of Bull Run where they performed as poorly

as the rest of the Union Army, the Marines in late November 1861, together with sailors

of the USN landed a reconnaissance in force from the US Flag at Tybee Island, Georgia,

to occupy the Lighthouse and Martello Tower on the northern end of the island. It would

later be the Army base for bombardment of Fort Pulaski.

In April and May 1862, Union Marines participated in the capture and occupation of New

Orleans and the occupation of Baton Rouge, Louisiana signal events in the war that

helped secure Union control of the lower Mississippi River basin and denied the

Confederacy a major port and naval base on the Gulf coast.

United States Revenue Cutter Service

In 1790 Alexander Hamilton formed the Revenue Cutter Service for the express purpose

of enforcing the customs laws. Its job was to protect merchant ships in and around major

ports, and to thus ensure not only the safe transport of goods with regard to looting and

piracy, but also to oversee that proper tariffs were collected on trade goods. In contrast,

the other armed services are prohibited by law from conducting law enforcement

activities, except as authorized by Congress on a limited basis. (Posse Comitatus Act)

By 1860, the Revenue Cutter Service’s fleet was spread across the nation, with cutters

stationed in every major American seaport. After the presidential election of Abraham

Lincoln, the nation began splitting apart. During these months, men in the service like

their counterparts in the Navy and the Army had to choose between serving the federal

government or with the seceding Southern states, so the service lost most of its cutters in

the South. For example, the captain of the Mobile-based cutter Lewis Cass turned over

his vessel to state authorities, forcing his officers and crew to travel overland through

Secessionist territory to reach the North.

As with all wars, the Civil War had a transformative effect on the military services. The

war transformed the Revenue Cutter Service from a collection of obsolete sailing vessels

to a primarily steam-driven fleet of cutters. The important operations supported by cutters

also cemented the role of the service in such missions as convoy duty, blockade

operations, port security, coastal patrol and brown-water combat operations. These

missions remained core competencies of the Coast Guard in future combat operations.

The Civil War operations of the service also reinforced the U.S. Revenue Cutter

Service’s reputation as a legitimate branch of the U.S. military.

MILITARY OF THE C.S.A ( CONFEDERATE MILITARY )

Confederate States Army

On 19 February 1861, President Jefferson Davis appointed Leroy P. Walker

of Alabama secretary of war of the newly formed Confederate States of America, the first

of the five men to serve in that troubled office and on 6th of March, the Confederate

Congress authorized an army of 100,000 volunteers to serve for twelve months. In May

1861, following the outbreak of war, Congress authorized the further enlistment of as

many as 400,000 volunteers for three‐year terms.

The white male population of the eleven Confederate states, aged fifteen to thirty‐nine,

was approximately 1 million. The best estimates of total Confederate enlistments range

from 850,000 to 900,000. Less than 2,000 men served in the regular army; nearly all were

in the Provisional army, a force intended to be disbanded at the end of the war.

As martial enthusiasm waned in late 1861, the Confederate government was forced to

resort to conscription for the first national draft in American history. On 16 April 1862,

the Confederate Congress enacted the First Conscription Act, which declared all

able‐bodied, unmarried white men between the ages of eighteen and thirty‐five liable

for the draft. The Second Conscription Act of September 1862 and the Third

Conscription Act adopted seventeen months later, extended the ages of liability from

seventeen to fifty, although exemptions greatly weakened the draft law. The stigma of

conscription induced potential draftees to volunteer before they were called, so that only

82,000 were actually conscripted. These conscripts were low on morale and training, and

as they made a much larger percentage of the Confederate Army than the Union

conscripts made up theirs, the Confederate was comparatively weaker in terms of pure

fighting capability for most of the war.

The Provisional Army of the Confederate States (PACS) began organizing on April

27. Virtually all regular, volunteer, and conscripted men preferred to enter this

organization since officers could achieve a higher rank in the Provisional Army than they

could in the Regular Army. If the war had ended successfully for them, the Confederates

intended that the PACS would be disbanded, leaving only the ACSA.

The Army of the Confederate States of America (ACSA) was the regular army and

was authorized to include 15,015 men, including 744 officers, but this level was never

achieved. The men serving in the highest rank as Confederate States generals, such

as Samuel Cooper and Robert E. Lee, were enrolled in the ACSA to ensure that they

outranked all militia officers. ACSA ultimately existed only on paper. The organization

of the ACSA did not proceed beyond the appointment and confirmation of some officers.

Three state regiments were later denominated "Confederate" regiments, but this appears

to have had no practical effect on the organization of a regular Confederate Army and no

real effect on the regiments themselves.

Because of the destruction of any central repository of records in Richmond in 1865 and

the comparatively poor record-keeping of the time, there can be no definitive number that

represents the strength of the Confederate States Army. Estimates range from 500,000 to

2,000,000 men who were involved at any time during the war. Reports from the War

Department began at the end of 1861 (326,768 men), 1862 (449,439), 1863 (464,646),

1864 (400,787), and "last reports" (358,692). Estimates of enlistments throughout the war

were 1,227,890 to 1,406,180.

The army did not have a formal overall military commander, or general in chief, until late

in the war. The Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, himself a former U.S. Army

officer and U.S. Secretary of War, served as commander-in-chief and provided the

strategic direction for Confederate land and naval forces. Lee was formally designated

general in chief by an act of Congress (January 23, 1865) and served in this capacity from

January 31 to April 9, 1865. In our cabinet, Lee, as the most significant person to hold

this position will be the permanent holder of the position. (This might change due to

several reasons.)

The C.S. Army was composed of independent armies and military departments that were

constituted, renamed, and disbanded as needs arose, particularly in reaction to offensives

launched by the United States. These major units were generally named after states or

geographic regions (in comparison to the U.S. Army's custom of naming armies after

rivers). Armies were usually commanded by full generals (there were seven in the C.S.

Army) or lieutenant generals.

Confederate States Navy

The Confederate Navy was set up at the outbreak of the Civil War as the primary naval

fighting force of the Confederate States. It was mostly made up of captured or seceded

Union ships. The Confederate Navy had a few warships yet could never confront the

Union on the open sea. Although there were numerous sea battles between the North and

the South, none were to involve more than two ships at a time. The Rebel navy was,

effectively non-existent.

The Confederates relied on stealth and merchant ship piracy. The South had some friends

though, overseas, supposedly, neutral, that would supply the Rebels with a few warships.  The French and the English supplied the bulk of the warships that the South had at its

disposal. One in particular, The CSS “Florida”, was built in Liverpool in 1862. The

Union had set up a blockade that was seemingly impervious to any shipping activities

from Europe. The South got the CSS Florida through and after retrofitting guns and

armor, the battleship created havoc on Union vessels. Commercial or military, the ships

supplied from Europe were spruced up by the Rebels and were some of the best

destroyers of the war. The combination of French and English sea-building skills,

coupled with a great sense of ingenuity, helped make the Southern navy a minor force at

sea.

Yet still, to face the Union, the Confederacy had to industrialize, which it was able to do.

Industrialization allowed the South to take advantage of, as well as contribute to,

revolutionary changes that were occurring in naval warfare. The Confederacy would

combat test mines (torpedoes), submarines, semi-submersibles, and rifled cannon

(Brooke guns) during the war. But the modern weapon in which the C.S. Navy initially

placed its greatest faith was the armored ship, and by war’s end it had commissioned and

put into action a veritable fleet of ironclads. (Still, 2014)

Deficiencies in industrial strength, scarcities in raw materials and skilled labor, and the

overwhelming numbers of Union vessels express in naval terms the same disadvantages

that helped to defeat Confederate armies. In ships, they were outnumbered more than

three to one; in enlisted ranks, more than ten to one; yet the Confederate navy employed

technologies that, in time, became essential to naval warfare. (Oxford University, 2000)

Confederate States Marine Corps

The Confederate States Marine Corps was the naval infantry contingent of the

Confederate States. The Confederate States Marine Corps (CSMC) was established by

the Congress of the Confederate States on 16 March 1861. Confederate Marine

headquarters was located at Ft. Darling near Richmond, Va. The CSMC was modeled

after the United States Marine Corps, which was not surprising since many of its officers

were U.S. Marines, who resigned their commissions to “go south.”

The CSMC initially was authorized 45 officers and 944 enlisted men, which was

increased on 24 Sept. 1862, to 1,026 enlisted men. However, the Corps’ “foxhole”

strength never reached the authorization, maxing out somewhat below 550 Marines. Its

first and only Commandant, Colonel Lloyd J. Beali, was a West Point graduate and

former U.S. Army paymaster. Although he served as a Dragoon in the Black Hawk and

Seminole Wars and in the Mexican-American War, he was primarily an administrator for

the CSMC and never led Marines in combat.

Early in the war, the CSMC was broken into squad-sized units to serve in major warships

and for special operations. Confederate Marines participated in the capture of USS

Underwriter and USS Water Witch and an attack to free Confederate prisoners of war

being held at Point Lookout, Md. At the end of the war, most of the surviving

Confederate Marines gathered together in Richmond, Va., in support of the last desperate

defenses of the South. Marines in Virginia were part of General Richard S. Ewell’s

Corps, which fought with distinction at the Battle of Sayler’s Creek, the last major battle

before the surrender of Lee’s army at Appomattox Court House.

LOCATIONS OF STRATEGIC AND LOGISTICAL IMPORTANCE

Railroads : The American Civil War saw many innovations in military warfare. One of

the most significant was the use and strategic importance of railroads in moving troops

and supplies to the armies. In 1860, the United States had 200 railroads and 30,000 miles

of rail, with 21,000 in the North. In the under industrialized South, the Confederacy had

one-third of the freight cars, one-fifth of the locomotives, one eighth of rail production,

one tenth of the telegraph stations, and one twenty fourth of locomotive production.

The railroads are going to be the most important strategic resources for both cabinets.

New Railroads and associated equipment can be and should be built by both sides

throughout the war. Railroads should be defended and if possible taken from the enemy

as locations of utmost importance.

Map of Eastern Railroads in 1861

Ports : During the Civil War, Union forces established a blockade of Confederate ports

designed to prevent the export of cotton and the smuggling of war materiel into the

Confederacy. The blockade, although somewhat porous, was an important economic

policy that successfully prevented Confederate access to weapons that the industrialized

North could produce for itself. The U.S. Government successfully convinced foreign

governments to view the blockade as a legitimate tool of war. It was less successful at

preventing the smuggling of cotton, weapons, and other materiel from Confederate ports

to transfer points in Mexico, the Bahamas, and Cuba, as this trade remained profitable for

foreign merchants in those regions and elsewhere.

Ports, just like railroads are both strategical and logistical hubs and are incredibly

important for the war effort. New ports can not be constructed, however existing ones can

be destroyed/damaged and rebuilt/repaired. Ports should be defended and if possible

taken from the enemy at any chance.

The East Coast Port Cities in the U.S. and the captured ports of the Confederacy:

Forts : Forts are the most important defensive structures that each side possesses. Taking

a fort is a perilous and time-consuming job. These fortified buildings can hold out against

armies with smaller numbers of men and are strategically placed in order to cut off an

army's advance towards a bigger target such as a city, port, railroad networks and

important roads. Both sides have quite a large number of forts in their possession and will

undoubtedly need to use them and even build new ones if necessary.

Cities and Towns : Cities and towns are your major population, commerce and

production centers. Losing any of them will result in bad consequences both internally

within your own states and externally in the war as general. Major cities like port cities,

state capitals and faction capitals are incredibly important and should not be lost to the

enemy as it will have very large consequences for your cabinets.

The United States at the offset of the Civil War

Rivers : Rivers are strategically and logistically important locations because of the

proximity of major population centers to them and also their tactical importance in

battles. When you're making battle plans, you should consider the rivers nearby as they

will provide you with natural barriers which you can use to your advantage. Rivers can

also be used for logistical purposes by setting up bridges and ferries to facilitate the

transport of troops and goods between your territories.

Map of major rivers in the United States

TECHNOLOGY AND WEAPONS

Telegraph

The telegraph was invented by Samuel Morse in 1844, and telegraph wires soon sprang

up all along the East Coast. During the war, 15,000 miles of telegraph cable was laid

purely for military purposes. Mobile telegraph wagons reported and received

communications from just behind the frontline. President Lincoln would regularly visit

the Telegraph Office to get the latest news. The telegraph also enabled news sources to

report on the war in a timely fashion, leading to an entirely new headache for the

government: how to handle the media.

Aerial Reconnaissance

Both sides used hot air balloons for aerial reconnaissance of battlefields during the Civil

War. A Balloon Corps was established by President Lincoln early on. The maiden voyage

of the first official Union balloon occurred in late August 1861. Balloon operators used

another wartime innovation, the telegraph, to let commanders on the ground know of

Confederates movements. This allowed Union guns to be repositioned and fired

accurately at troops more than three miles away-a first in military history. (History

Detectives S.I., n.d.)

Railroads

The Civil War was the first war to use railroads, encouraged by President

Lincoln — himself a former railroad lawyer — who understood how vital they

were for moving men and supplies. The North had a distinct advantage, with

superior infrastructure (20,000 miles of track), better equipment and their own

locomotive factory. Whereas the South had just 9,000 miles of track and had

converted its locomotive works into an armament factory. The trains allowed

generals to move their soldiers, supplies and armaments to where they were

most needed. Rail centers and railroad infrastructure soon became targets for

attack. (History Detectives S.I., n.d.)

Rifles and the Minie Bullet

Prior to the Civil War, most combatants used smooth-bore muskets which had a

maximum range of about 300 feet. However, shortly before the start of the war, the

invention of rifling (grooves in the musket barrel) meant bullets could spin and travel up

to 900 feet. This was an important defensive development and increased the range and

accuracy of muskets.

The Minie bullet made defense even safer. When used in the rifled musket it spun faster,

traveled further and was five times more accurate than any single-man weapon. Able to

kill at half a mile, it was the largest contributor to battle wounds (more than 90%). The

Civil War also became the first major war where repeater rifles were used. These repeater

rifles would have a tube which stored pistol caliber bullets and with a hand lever fed them

into the chamber, allowing for wildly increased rates of fire. These rifles were expensive

so only elite units used them. (History Detectives S.I., n.d.)

The Gatling Gun

The ancestor of the modern machine gun, it was the most successful of several rapid-fire

guns that were born before the war. Richard Gatling invented the gun in the hopes that a

weapon so catastrophic in its damage would convince men to stop waging war.

Unfortunately, its efficiency in killing only made the war deadlier. It was not used

extensively during the Civil War. (History Detectives S.I., n.d.)

Ironclad Warships

At the start of the Civil War the North had a distinct naval advantage as the South didn't

have a dedicated Navy. Both recognized the importance of armor-cladding their ships.

The first engagement between two iron-clad ships was between the USS Monitor and the

CSS Virginia. The first fight between ironclad ships of war happened in Hampton Roads,

March 9, 1862.

These ironclads revolutionized naval warfare and started a whole new era on the seas

were wooden ships of war became obsolete almost overnight and the age of metal on the

seas began.

Naval Mines and Submarines

Naval mines were developed by the Confederates in the hopes of counteracting the

Union's blockades of Southern ports. Mines and later, torpedoes, were very effective

sinking 40 Union ships. The success of these mines led to the creation of landmines and

grenades that would be used in later wars.

Gabriel Rains designed these widely-used mines by modifying beer kegs. He added

contact points around the barrel’s middle, attached conical ends to streamline the shape,

and filled the body with gunpowder. Confederates fastened keg mines to river bottoms.

When a vessel touched any of the contact points on the mine’s midsection, the pressure

triggered a chemical primer to detonate the mine.

The Civil War also saw the first successful torpedo attack by a submarine on an enemy

ship. When on February 17, 1864, the CSS Hunley, sailed into Charleston Harbor and

drove its spar torpedo into the hull of the USS Housatonic without being noticed.

However, the explosion sunk both the Union ship and the Confederate submarine.

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