Transcript The Civil War in the East 1864-1865

The Civil War in the
East
1864-1865
The war becomes one of attrition as
General Grant comes East to pound
Lee’s army into submission
Grant takes command
• General Grant creates a master
plan for the Union to destroy
the Confederacy. All Union
forces will work together for
victory.
• Union industrial strength and
population advantages will be
maximized.
• The Union will break the back
of the Confederacy by
destroying the home front.
The Overland Campaign
• Grant moves into the
Wilderness
• Terrible and bloody
fighting
• The Union forces are
stopped
• Grant does not retreat
but rather moves south
to get around Lee’s
army
Spotsylvania Court House
• Twelve days of
butchery
• General Sedgwick is
killed by sharpshooter
• The Bloody Angle
fighting lasts 18 hours
• Grant moves south
Cold Harbor, June 1864
• Bloody disaster for the
North
• “Not war but murder.”
The Siege of Petersburg
• The Federals almost took
the town in June 1864, but
since they did not take the
town, both sides were
condemned to a long siege.
• Federals try to blow up the
Confederate lines at “The
Crater”- a terrible failure.
• Petersburg controlled the
railroad line into
Richmond. If Petersburg
fell, then Richmond fell.
Life in the trenches
• The trenches were hot, dusty, muddy, cold and miserable.
• If men raised their head above the trench line they were killed by
snipers.
• As the months rolled on, the Confederates starved and froze.
• The Union kept trying to cut off the rail lines, so eventually the
trenches stretched over 25 miles.
The Shenandoah Valley Campaign
of 1864
• Jubal Early, C.S.A., tries to
clear the Shenandoah
Valley of Federals.
• The Confederates actually
get to the outskirts of
Washington, D.C.
• Phil Sheridan, U.S., routs
the Southerners on
October, 1864.
• The loss of the Valley is a
fatal blow to the
Confederacy.
Sheridan burns the Valley
• Scorched earth
policy
• Little organized
Confederate
resistance
• Guerilla warfare
and bushwhacking
The Fall of Petersburg and Richmond
• The Confederate army starves in the trenches of Petersburg over the
winter
• Lee tries to break out but the Union forces are too strong
• Grant counter attacks and breaks the Southern defenses
• Lee evacuates Petersburg and Richmond
• Richmond burns
• Confederates try to escape
Appomattox Court House
• April 9, 1865 Grant and
Sheridan cut off the
Confederates
• Southerners attack but fail to
break Union lines
• Lee knows that it is hopeless
and he asks for terms
• Lee and Grant meet at the
home of Wilbur McLean in
Appomattox Village
• Confederates will be paroled
• Lee surrenders
Lincoln is Assassinated
• April 14, 1865
• Ford’s Theatre
• “Our American
Cousin”
• John Wilkes Booth
• Conspiracy
• Lincoln’s dreams
• “Now he belongs to
the ages”