Transcript Battles of the Civil War

Battles of the Civil War
Great Bull:
A Great Awakening
The Union’s war strategy had three steps:
1. Surround the South by land and sea to cut off its
trade
2. Divide the Confederacy into sections so they
could not help each other
3. Capture Richmond, the capital of the
Confederacy and destroy the rebel government
Bull Run
• In July of 1861, Union troops met in
Washington to march to Richmond. They
expected an easy victory.
• The Confederates had been warned about the
Union’s attack by Rose Greenhow, a spy.
(She smuggled the message inside a
little girl’s curls.)
Bull Run
• At first, Union victory
seemed certain. But
Confederates refused to
give way.
• They said General Jackson
and his Virginian army stood
like a stone wall. Giving the
nickname “Stonewall
Jackson.”
• Jackson urged his men to let
out a rebel yell, which
unnerved inexperienced
Union soldiers.
Battle of Bull Run
• The Battle of Bull Run was a smashing victory for
the South. For the North, it was a shocking blow.
• Lincoln and his generals now realized that ending
the rebellion would be neither quick nor easy.
Women in the War
• In both the North and the South, as men went
off to war, women to their places on the home
front.
• Women worked in factories, nurses, teachers,
government workers.
Women in War
Women also served the military as:
• Messengers
• Smugglers
• Spies
• Guides
• nurses
Civil War Battles
In 1861, the Union navy launched it
blockade of southern ports.
The Confederacy asked Britain to help
protecting its ships. The British refused.
As a result, the South could not export its
cotton to Europe nor import much needed
supplies.
Battle of Antietam
• In September of 1862, General Robert E. Lee
did the unexpected. He sent his troops across
the Potomac River into Maryland.
Battle of Antietam
General Lee hoped that a victory might
persuade Maryland to join the Confederacy.
Battle of Antietam
• All day long, the Union’s troops led by General
McClellan pounded Lee’s badly outnumbered
troops.
Battle of Antietam
Although Antietam was a Union victory, the battle
was the deadliest battle of the war
Union: 70,00 troops
2,100 killed
10,300 wounded
Confederates: 52,000 troops
2,770 killed
11,000 wounded
The New Realities of War
• During the Civil War, improved weapons made
killing from a distance much easier
• Unfortunately, medical care was not as
advanced as weaponry.
The New Realities of War
• Doctors had no understanding of how
infections spread.
• Surgeons did not wash their hands between
patients
• Far more soldiers died of disease and infection
than from battle
Battle of Gettysburg-
The Emancipation Proclamation:
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln declared slaves
in all Confederate states to be free.
The Draft
By 1862, both sides had run out of soldiers. The
Confederacy and the Union passed draft laws.
Under both laws, a drafted man could avoid the
army by paying a substitute to take his place.
Battle of Vicksburg
• Vicksburg, Mississippi sat high on a bluff in a hairpin turn
of the Mississippi River
The South
could easily defend it
with a few well placed
cannons.
An army, on foot, would be needed to attack Vicksburg
Battle of Vicksburg
General Grant and the Union troops
battled for six weeks before finally
taking control of Vicksburg
Battle of Vicksburg
• Low on food and supplies, Vicksburg
surrendered.
• The Mississippi was a Union waterway and the
South was divided
Problems on the Confederate
Home Front
As the war raged on, life in the
south became grim
Imported good disappeared from
stores and crops could not be sold
Problems on the Confederate Home
Front
• Invading Union armies
destroyed crops so the
people of the south
often went hungry.
• Northern troops cut
railroad lines, making it
difficult to move food
and supplies
Problems on the Confederate Home
Front
By 1864, southern troops were receiving letters
with pleas from their families:
“We have nothing in the house to eat. I don’t
want you to stop fighting those Yankees….but
try and get off and come home and fix us all up
some….”
It was hard to ignore such pleas. Many soldiers
deserted the army and went home.
Fort Wagner: African Americans Join
the War
• In 1862, Congress voted
to allow African
Americans to join the
Union army
• About 180,000 African
Americans joined. Many
had been former slaves.
African Americans Join the War
The 54th Massachusetts Regiment
Massachusetts was one of the first states to
organize a black regiment
African American
After three months
Of training,
they were
sent to South
Carolina to take part
in an attack on
Fort Wagner
African Americans in the War
The assault of Fort Wagner was an impossible
mission.
To reach the fort, troops had to cross 200 yards
of open beach.
Nearly half of the 54th regiment was killed
African Americans in the War
• Black soldiers often
received little training,
poor equipment, and
less pay than white
soldiers.
• If captured, they risked
death or enslavement
Total War
• General Grant believed:
“The art of war is simple
enough. Find out where
your enemy is. Get at
him as soon as you can.
Strike him as hard and
as often as you can, and
then keep moving.”
Total War
In May, 1863, Grant invaded Virginia with a force of
more than 100,000 men
After clashing with Lee’s troops, he lost more than
18,00 men in two days of battle
Total War
• By the time his forces reached Petersburg, VA,
Grant’s losses equaled Lee’s entire army
• The difference was that Grant had reinforcements
and Lee did not
Total War
• General Sherman left
Tennessee for Georgia with
orders to “inflict all the
damage you can against
their war resources.”
• The Union trooped
destroyed crops, killed
livestock, burned homes,
and ripped up railroad lines
Total War
• After burning Atlanta,
Sherman marched his
army towards
Savannah.
• He promised to “make
Georgia howl.”
Total War
• As they marched through
Georgia, Sherman’s troops
destroyed everything they found
of value:
•
Fields were trampled or burned
•
Houses were robbed
•
Hay and food supplies were
burned
•
Roads were lined with dead
horses, hogs and cattle that they
could not carry away
The End at Appomattox
• For nine months,
Grant’s forces battled
Lee for control of
Richmond.
• On April 2, 1865, Union
troops finally broke the
Confederate line and
marched into Richmond
The End at Appomattox
• Grant’s soldiers quickly
moved to surround Lee’s
army.
• General Lee told his officers,
• “There is nothing left for me
to do but go and see
General Grant, and I would
rather die a thousand
deaths.”
The End at Appomattox
• On April 9, 1865, General Lee, in full dress
uniform arrived in the village of Appomatox
Courthouse to surrender to Grant
The End at Appamatox
Grant’s terms of surrender were generous:
1. Confederate soldiers could
go home if they promised
to no longer fight
2. Confederate soldiers could
take their horses and
mules home with them for
spring plowing
End at Appamattox
3. Confederate officers
could keep their sword
and weapons
4. Grant ordered food
sent to Lee’s starving
army
End at Appamattox
As General Lee returned to his headquarters,
Unions troops began to shoot their guns and
cheer wildly!
General Grant ordered his troops to stop, saying,
“The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen
again!”