Transcript The Civil War

1861-1865
 After Abraham Lincoln was elected president in the
1860 election, angry delegates in South Carolina voted
to secede from the United States on December 20,
1860.
 On April 12, 1861 Confederate troops fired on Fort
Sumter in Charleston, SC.
 After 33 hours of heavy firing, Union troops
surrendered to the Confederates.
 Although no one was killed at Fort Sumter, it marked
the beginning of the Civil War.
 Following Fort Sumter, many southern states followed
South Carolina and seceded from the United States in
1861. “Rebels” (Gray uniforms)
 President: Jefferson Davis
 Capital: Richmond, VA
 The Confederate States of America included:
 South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina,
Tennessee
 Although many of their citizens fought for the south,
there were 4 border states that continued to use slave
labor who remained in the Union.
 The border states included:
 Delaware
 Maryland
 Kentucky
 Missouri
 The states remaining loyal to the United States were
called the Union. “Yankees” (Blue uniforms)
 President: Abraham Lincoln
 Capital: Washington, D.C.
 These states included:
 California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin
 Population: 22 million
 Richer and more technologically advanced
 Home to 90% of the nation’s manufacturing
 More farms than the south (to provide food for troops)
 Contained most of the country’s iron, coal, copper, and
gold
 Controlled the seas (ports)
 21,000 miles of railroad
 Weakness: 1/3 of United States military officers were
southerners
 Population: 9 million (4 million-slaves)
 Large amount of land and coastline to invade
 Southern pride (felt they were defending their liberty,




homes, and traditions)
Strong military leadership (Robert E. Lee)
Weaknesses: Mississippi River divided the South
Southern economy could not support a long war (few
factories to produce supplies/guns)
Transportation shortfall (few railroads, roads)
 In July 1861, Southern troops surprised Union soldiers







heading to Richmond, VA at a creek called Bull Run.
At first, Union victory looked certain.
Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and
his Virginia regiment refused to give up.
“Look, there is Jackson with his Virginians, standing
like a stone wall.”
The rebels held their ground until reinforcements
could arrive.
Jackson told his men to “yell like furies” as they
charged the Union forces.
This approach caused the inexperienced Union
soldiers to flee in panic back to Washington, D.C.
It was a big victory for the South.
 In 1861, the Union navy launched its blockade of
southern ports.
 As the blockade shut down most of the southern ports,
the Confederacy asked Great Britain for help in
protecting its ships.
 Britain refused.
 As a result, the South could not export cotton to
Europe, nor could it import needed supplies.
 Union forces moved to gain control of the Mississippi





River in 1862.
Union Admiral David Farragut led 46 Union ships up
the Mississippi River to New Orleans.
Because of the overwhelming force, the city
surrendered without a shot being fired.
Meanwhile, Union General Ulysses S. Grant led troops
south from Illinois to gain more control of the
Mississippi.
In 1862, Grant won a series of victories that put
Kentucky and much of Tennessee under Union
control.
Grant refused to accept any battle outcome besides
“unconditional surrender.”
 On September 17, 1862, Robert E. Lee sent troops





across the Potomac River into the border state of
Maryland to persuade them to join the Confederacy.
Confederate and Union troops (led by General
McClellan) met at Sharpsburg near Antietam Creek.
McClellan’s troops outnumbered Lee’s troops, which
led to Lee retreating back to Virginia.
Of the 75,000 Union troops who fought at Antietam
about 2,100 were killed and 10,000 were wounded.
Of the 52,000 Confederate troops, 2,770 were killed
and 11,000 were wounded.
It was the bloodiest day of the Civil War. (More
Americans killed than the War of 1812 and Mexican
War combined!)
 On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation. Emancipation: freeing of
slaves
 The proclamation declared slaves in all Confederate
states to be free.
 The announcement had little immediate effect on
slavery because the South simply ignored the
document.
 Slaves living in states loyal to the Union were not
affected by the Emancipation Proclamation.
 General Lee felt confident enough to try to invade the





north again on July 1, 1863.
The Union and Confederate armies met briefly during
a skirmish just west of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
After 2 days of holding ground, General Lee ordered
an all-out attack on the center of the Union line.
Cannons, gunfire, and hand-to-hand combat broke
out among the troops.
Losses to both armies were staggering: More than
17,500 Union soldiers and 23,000 Confederate soldiers
were killed or wounded in three days of battle.
Lee withdrew to Virginia, where he would only wage a
defensive war on southern soil.
 The Union wanted to split the Confederacy in half by





controlling the Mississippi River.
The town of Vicksburg was easy to defend and difficult
to capture. Whoever controlled Vicksburg could
control the movement on the Mississippi River.
In May 1863, General Grant commanded his troops to
fire at Vicksburg. For 6 weeks, gunboats shelled the
city while Grant’s troops attacked by land.
The people of Vicksburg dug caves into the hillsides
for protection.
Running low on food and supplies, Vicksburg
surrendered on July 3, 1863.
TURNING POINT FOR THE NORTH!!! The
Confederacy was divided!!
 On November 19,1863, thousands gathered for the
dedication of the new burial ground resulting from the
Battle of Gettysburg.
 After an hour-long speech by another speaker,
President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, a
very brief speech that echoed the Declaration of
Independence.
 In May 1864, U.S. Grant invaded Virginia with a force of





more than 100,000 men.
Lee’s army of 60,000 met them in a dense forest known as
“The Wilderness.”
In 2 days Grant lost 18,000 men, but he refused to retreat.
Grant believed in total war—war on the enemy’s will to fight
and its ability to support an army.
Grant ordered total war on Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley,
saying, “Let that valley be so left that crows flying over it will
have to carry their rations with them.”
That September, Grant’s army, under the command of
General Sherman, reached Atlanta, the South’s most
important rail and manufacturing center, and set the city on
fire.
 In November of 1864, Lincoln was reelected as




President of the United States.
After burning Atlanta, Sherman marched toward
Savannah, promising to “make Georgia howl.”
His purpose was to destroy the last untouched supply
base for the Confederacy.
As they marched through Georgia, Sherman’s troops
destroyed everything of value: fields, houses, hay,
food, livestock. Everything within the 60-mile wide
path was destroyed.
Sherman captured Savannah, Georgia, where he then
turned north to destroy all opposition in the Carolinas.
 For 9 months, Grant’s forces battled Lee’s army at
Petersburg, the gateway to Richmond.
 On April 1, 1865,Union forces finally broke through
Confederate lines to capture the city and then
marched onto Richmond.
 Grant’s soldiers quickly surrounded Lee’s army.
 On April 9, 1865, General Lee arrived in the village of
Appomattox Courthouse to surrender his army to
General Grant.
 Lee accepted Grant’s generous terms of surrender.
 Confederate soldiers could go home if they promised to
no longer fight.
 They could take their own horses and mules needed for
spring plowing..
 Food was sent to Lee’s half-starved men.
 The Civil War was over—with over 620,000 Americans
dead and thousands injured permanently.
 Just 5 days after the surrender, President Lincoln was
shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in
Washington D.C. on April 14, 1865. He died the next
day.