Mobilization, North and South

• War Fever– Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861

• Lincoln mobilized state militias for 90 days• Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee seceded from

the Union.– The general belief was that the war would be short– War fever led many to volunteer for military service.– The initial enthusiasm for serving faded, leading to drafts

by both the Union and Confederacy(first American draft)• Exceptions allowed by each side. In North, hire substitute. In

South, planters with 20+ slaves exempt

Secession!Secession!

Mobilization, North and South, cont’d.

• The North’s advantage in resources– The North had human and economic advantages

• RR, industry, people, banking, gov’t, Navy– North: 50% of military aged men fought – South: 90% of the eligible population served.

– South: better leadership, defensive war

FIGURE 15–1 A Comparison of the Union and Confederate Control of Key Resources at the Outset of the Civil War

Mobilization, North and South, cont’d.

• Leaders, governments, and strategies– Confederate President:

Jefferson Davis, new gov’t not fully established

– Union President: Abe Lincoln, established gov’t

– Union: blockade South, take Richmond, control Mississippi River

– Confederacy: defensive war, gain European ally, hold out until North quit

Awaiting combat, 1861: Union Soldiers from New York relax at camp awaiting orders to move to the front.

Note the young African American with a broom sitting apart from the soldiers.

The War• The human toll

– The heavy losses in battle changed the soldiers’ view of the war. The early bravado and enthusiasm was replaced by the sobering prospect of death.

– The conditions of medical care did not improve a wounded soldier’s survival chances. Women on both sides played major roles in tending the wounded.

– Disease was a major cause of death: twice as many died from disease as from wounds

– Religion provided some solace to the soldiers.

Early Stages of War

• Confederate victories (1st Bull Run, Peninsular Campaign, 2nd Bull Run)

• Poor Union leadership: Irvin McDowell, George McClellan

• Good Confederate leadership: Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson

• Union success in West due to Ulysses S. Grant

Turning Points, 1862• Antietam: Bloodiest Day

of War– Lee invaded Maryland in

September 1862, hoping to cut railroad links in Pennsylvania.

– Copies of Lee’s orders fell into Union hands and McClellan pursued Lee.

– thousands of casualties, tactical draw, and forced Lee back into Virginia.

– Britain and France abandon plans to recognize the Confederacy

– allowed Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation– At the start, war was to preserve Union, NOT to end slavery– Lincoln and others recognized military advantage of freeing

slaves, freeing the slaves would also appeal to the British.– The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in the

states/areas still in rebellion against the Union.– The proclamation continued slaves running away to Union

camps that had begun earlier.– Of the approximately 180,000 black soldiers and 20,000 black

sailors who fought for the Union, over 80 percent were from the South.

African Americans in the Military

War Transforms the North

• Wartime legislation and politics– Lincoln used executive authority to silence opposition

• suspended the writ of habeas corpus(imprisoned dissenters w/o cause or charges).

– The draft aroused conflicts including the New York Draft Riot that began with an Irish mob protesting the draft.

• The northern economy– wages increased during the war, prices rose higher– Labor unions revived– The northern economy fed, clothed, and armed the Union

soldiers, kept people employed

The Confederacy Disintegrates

• Southern politics– States’ rights was a major obstacle to the development of

central authority. – Dissent increased as war continued

• Calls for peace arose as early as 1863.

• Southern economy– By 1863, the South experienced difficulty feeding its population.

Inflation occurred, bread riots broke out.– As the war progressed, Southern soldiers had threadbare

uniforms with many garments and arms taken from the Union. Their families suffered under similar conditions.

– Many slaves stopped working and abandoned the plantations.– Cotton exports down

Women in the War.

• Northern women– worked in industry.– worked as nurses.(Clara Barton)– The new economic opportunities opened up women’s

options, including admission to higher education.• Southern women

– managed plantations, working in fields alongside slaves. – worked in factories making uniforms and munitions,.– As the war continued, many women helped their deserting

husbands and relatives elude Confederate authorities.

Other rolesSpies• Rose O'Neal Greenhow

- leader in Washington society– Sent secret message to General

Beauregard which caused him to win the battle of Bull Run.

– Jefferson Davis credited her with winning the First Battle of Bull Run.

• imprisoned • Still got messages to the Confederacy

by means of cryptic notes which traveled in unlikely places such as the inside of a woman's hair.

• After her second prison term, she was exiled to the Confederate states

Coconspirator in Lincoln assassination: – Mary Surratt

Frances Clalin served with Federal forces in Missouri.

Soldiers in disguise -Female remains found at Gettysburg and Shiloh -female soldiers discovered when wounded, usually sent home

End of the War

• Union wins: April 1865– Grant leadership– Sherman’s March to Sea– Confederates lack

supplies, men, support

• The Toll of War– Over 600,000 dead

• #1 in American deaths

– Destruction: especially in South

• Cotton trade ruined

– North economic boom– Country torn apart– 4 million freed slaves– Abe Lincoln dead