Transcript Chapter 8

Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 1
The War Begins
Lincoln Faces a Crisis
 7 states seceded before Lincoln took office
Spoke of intention to preserve the Union in his
inaugural address
 South did not respond to Lincoln’s call for unity
Already taking over federal mints, arms
storehouses, and forts
 Fort Sumter – important federal post located
near Charleston, South Carolina (controlled
entrance to Charleston Harbor)
 March 1861, federal troops at Fort Sumter were low
on supplies – Lincoln decided to resupply them
rather than have them give up the fort
 South Carolina demanded Union troops leave;
commander refused
Lincoln Faces a Crisis (continued)
Confederate guns opened fire before
sunrise April 12, 1861 = beginning of
Civil War
Attack outraged the North
Lincoln declared the South in rebellion,
asked state governments for 75,000
militiamen to put down the revolt
Choosing Sides
 Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas supported
Lincoln’s call for troops
 Free Northern states remained solidly in the Union
 Slave states that had not joined the
Confederacy had to choose sides
Upper South – North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia,
Arkansas – joined Confederacy after Lincoln’s call for
troops
 Provided CSA with soldiers and industrial resources
 Richmond, Virginia became the capital
 Slave states that did not secede – Delaware,
Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri – bordered
the North = “border states”
Important to both sides
Kentucky and Missouri controlled key stretches of
Mississippi and Ohio Rivers
Federal capital bordered on three sides by Maryland
Choosing Sides (continued)
 Slaveholders in Delaware supported
secession but there were few
 Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri – people were
deeply divided
Troops from Kentucky and Missouri served on both
sides
 Lincoln sent federal troops into Maryland
and western Virginia (whose population was
mostly loyal to the Union)
 People in the counties of western Virginia set
up their own state government – West
Virginia joined the Union in 1863
United States 1861
The Volunteer Spirit
 Neither side was prepared for war
Depended heavily on volunteers
 In border states, members of same family often
joined opposing sides
 Civilians raised money, provided aid for
soldiers and their families, and ran emergency
hospitals
 Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell = first woman to earn a
medical license
Helped convince President Lincoln to form the U.S.
Sanitary Commission in June 1861
Sent bandages, medicines, and food to Union army
camps and hospitals
The North versus the South
 North’s Advantages
 Much larger population provided more soldiers
 Had most of nation’s factories and shipyards
 Better network of railways – allowed for more efficient
transportation
 Able to raise more money to spend on war
 South’s Advantages
 Many skilled officers
 Only needed to defend itself until North grew tired; North
had to defeat southern forces and occupy large areas of
enemy territory
 Both sides based military strategy on strengths
 Union General Winfield Scott developed the Union’s
basic 2-part strategy
 Wanted to destroy South’s economy through naval blockade
of Southern seaports
 Gain control of the Mississippi River to divide the
Confederacy and cut its communications
The North vs. the South (continued)
 Many northern leaders called for a direct attack
on Richmond (the Confederate capital)
 Confederate strategy was to defend its
territory and wear down Union’s will to fight
Wanted to take Washington, D.C.
 Davis was a demanding leader, went through 6
Secretaries of War in 4 years
 Davis and other Confederate leaders tried to
win foreign allies (particularly Great Britain)
through “cotton diplomacy” – did not work
Based on Southern belief that British government
would support them because cotton was important
to British textile industry (did not work because
British had large supply stockpiled when war
began)
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 2
The War in the East
Two Armies Meet
 First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) = first
major clash of Union and Confederate armies
(July 1861)
General Irvin McDowell led 35,000 barely trained
troops from Washington toward Richmond
 Two sides met 30 miles outside DC near
Manassas Junction, VA
 35,000 Confederates lined Bull Run Creek
Unit led by General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson held
firmly in place
 Union army driven back; retreated to DC
Confederates may have captured capital if not so tired
and disorganized
 Defeat broke Union’s hopes of winning the war
quickly and easily
More Battles in Virginia
 Lincoln sent General George B. McClellan
back into VA to capture Richmond
Camped near Yorktown, did not attack because thought
his troops were outnumbered (gave Confederacy time to
strengthen Richmond’s defenses)
 McClellan took Yorktown; clashed with
Confederates near Richmond
 Davis put General Robert E. Lee in charge in
VA in June 1862
Most talented officer on either side
Lincoln had asked him to join the Union in 1861 but he
chose to remain loyal to his home (south)
More Battles in Virginia (continued)
 Lee strengthened positions during summer of
1862
Began attacking, hoping to push McClellan away from
Richmond (Seven Days’ Battles) – it worked
 Lincoln ordered General John Pope to
advance directly on Richmond from DC
 Lee sent Jackson’s troops around Pope’s right
side; Lee’s forces took left side = 2nd Battle of
Bull Run
Pope’s army fell apart
 By August 1862, Lee had pushed most of
Union forces out of Virginia
Took war to the North
The Battle of Antietam
 Confederate leaders hoped victory on Northern soil
would break Union’s spirit and convince European
powers to help the south
 September 4, 1862 Confederate soldiers entered
Maryland
 Union soldiers found copy of Lee’s battle plan;
General McClellan used to plan counterattack
 Battle of Antietam – September 17, 1862 – armies met
along Antietam Creek
 Union lost more than 12,000; Confederates more than 13,000
 Bloodiest single-day battle of the war (Union won)
 Antietam cost Lee many troops and stopped northern
advance
 McClellan allowed Lee to retreat to Virginia; replaced two
months later – Lincoln tired of delays
The War at Sea
 Union controlled sea
 North had most of U.S. Navy’s small fleet and enough
industry to build more ships
 Union navy blockaded the South
 cut off southern trade and hurt the economy
 South used blockade runners (small fast ships) to
outrun larger Union warships to reach trading ports
 Could not make up for loss of trade
 Confederacy turned to new type of warship – the
ironclad (heavily armored with iron)
 Turned a captured Union ship into an ironclad, renamed
Virginia – successful in sinking several wooden warships at
Hampton Roads, VA (access to important waterway)
 Monitor – Union navy’s ironclad
 Unusual feature – revolving gun turret
 Powerful guns and thick plating
 Monitor met Virginia back at Hampton Roads, VA –
forced the Virginia to withdraw
 saved the Union fleet, kept the blockade going
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 3
The War in the West
Western Strategy
 Union strategy focused on controlling the
Mississippi River
Would allow the North to cut the eastern states of
Confederacy off from important sources of food
production in western states of AK, LA and TX
Union army would also be able to attack South’s
communication and trade network
 Ulysses S. Grant = most important figure in
the war in the west
Volunteered to serve in the Union army
 By February 1862, Union forces had captured
Nashville
Controlled KY and much of TN
Advanced south along the Tennessee River toward
Mississippi
Western Strategy (continued)
Battle of Shiloh – April 6, 1862 –
Confederates caught Grant by surprise,
pushed him back
Grant launched counterattack after
reinforcements arrived on April 7
Confederates retreated, Union had greater
control of the Mississippi River valley
One of the first major battles of the war
Fighting for the Mississippi River
 Grant and other Union commanders wanted to capture
key southern positions along the Mississippi
 Union navy would first try to take the port of New
Orleans (largest city in the South)
Union could then send forces up the Mississippi to join
Grant’s advancing army from the north
 Two forts guarded the approach to New Orleans
from the Gulf of Mexico
David Farragut could not defeat them so he sailed
past them to capture the port of New Orleans (April
29, 1862)
 Sailed up the Mississippi, took Baton Rouge and
Natchez – only Vicksburg stood in his way
 Southern defenders of Vicksburg had an important
advantage – city’s high bluffs overlooking the river
 Allowed Confederates (under John C. Pemberton) to cover the
area with heavy guns)
Fighting for the Mississippi River
(continued)
General Grant blocked Confederate
reinforcements from reaching Vicksburg in
the spring of 1863
Siege of Vicksburg – Union troops
surrounded the city for about 6 weeks
Starving residents and Confederate soldiers
resorted to eating horses, dogs, rats, etc.
Pemberton surrendered on July 4, 1863
giving the Union control of the Mississippi
The Far West
 Fighting took place in Arkansas, Missouri, along
the Texas coast and in New Mexico
 Little or no fighting took place in California
Strongly pro-Union
 Confederates marched into New Mexico from
Texas (August, 1861)
Defeated by Union at Glorieta Pass near Santa Fe
Ended Confederate hopes of controlling the
Southwest
 Confederates tried to take Missouri
Union forces turned them back in attempt to seize the
federal arsenal at St. Louis
The Far West (continued)
 Battle of Pea Ridge – Union forces vs. proConfederate Missourians in Northwestern
Arkansas
American Indians (mainly Cherokee) fought on
Confederate side – hoped Confederate leaders
would give them greater independence
 Also, slavery legal in Indian Territory; some Indian
slaveholders supported Confederacy
Union forces won – gave them upper hand in
Missouri
 Pro-Confederate units continued to attack Union
forts and raid towns; forced Union to keep
valuable troops in area
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 4
Life During the War
Freeing the Slaves
 Lincoln supported freeing slaves if it would help the
north win the war
 Other arguments for ending:
 Punish southern slaveholders for role in causing war
 Argued continuing slavery would lead to future conflict between
north and south
 Lincoln faced problems concerning emancipation:
 Feared northern prejudice against African Americans might
weaken support for the war if emancipation became a Union
goal
 Afraid some northerners would consider slaves property that
southerners had the right to keep
 constitution did not give the president the power to end slavery in
the U.S.
 Lincoln issued a military order freeing slaves only in
areas controlled by the Confederacy
 Felt his authority did not apply to loyal, slaveholding border
states (did not want to make them angry)
Freeing the Slaves (continued)
 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on
September 22, 1862 following the Union victory at
the Battle of Antietam
 Called for all slaves in Confederate states to be freed
 Encouraged southern slaves to escape when they heard Union
troops nearby (hurt southern economy and Confederate war
effort)
 African Americans and northerners praised the
Emancipation Proclamation; received popular
support from Britain and France
 Many northern Democrats opposed it – wanted to
restore Union, not end slavery
 A few abolitionists argued Lincoln had not gone far
enough
African Americans and the War
 Question of whether or not to allow African Americans
in the military troubled many northern leaders
 Saw practical reason for enlistment – Union needed
soldiers
 Allowed to volunteer as laborers beginning in July 1862
 War department gave contrabands (escaped slaves) right
to join Union army
 54th Massachusetts Infantry – one such African
American unit
 Played key role in attack on South Carolina’s Fort Wagner
 Became most famous A.A. unit of the war
 About 180,000 A.A. served during the war
 Fought bravely despite discrimination
 Received less pay than white soldiers
 Usually led by whites
 Confederates often killed A.A. POWs or sold them into slavery
Problems in the North
 North upset by length of war and increasing number of
casualties
 Group of northern Democrats – “Copperheads” –
began to speak out against the war
 Many were mid-westerners who sympathized with the South;
objected to abolition and wanted war to end
 Lincoln believed Copperheads threatened war effort
 Suspended right of habeas corpus to stop them – Union
officials could put enemies in jail without evidence or trial
(angered Democrats)
 March 1863 – Congress passed a law allowing men
to be drafted into military service
 Wealthy could buy way out
 Copperheads argued its unfair to force unwilling white men to
fight for freedom of slaves
 Riots targeted A.A. and draft officials in NYC in July
1863
 Many were poor immigrants afraid of losing jobs to freed
A.A.
Southern Struggles
Naval blockade took heavy toll – did
not have enough supplies
Value of Confederate money fell as
southern exports dropped
Price of food, clothing, and medicine
soared
Severe shortages caused unrest
Food riots in many cities
Newspapers ordered not to report – Davis feared
news would embarrass southerners and
encourage north to keep fighting
Southern Struggles (continued)
Government of Confederacy faced
problems – officials disagreed on many
issues
Controversy over new draft law
Southern draft did not apply to men who
held many slaves – rule angered poor white
southerners
Hatred of the draft and some pro-Union
feelings in rural areas led to protests;
some even took up arms against
Confederate officials
Life on the Home Front
 People too young or old for military service
worked in factories, on farms, and other areas
 Women played important role in providing
medical care for soldiers
 Dorothea Dix headed more than 3000 women
who served as paid nurses in the Union army
 Clara Barton worked as a volunteer,
organizing the collection of medicine and
supplies for delivery to Union troops on the
battlefield
Work formed the basis for what would become the
American Red Cross
Life on the Home Front (continued)
 Soldiers spent weeks in uncomfortable and
unhealthy camps
Faced bad weather, disease, and unsafe food
Twice as many soldiers died of disease than died in
combat
 Military prisoners suffered greatly
Worst conditions were at Andersonville in
southwestern Georgia
Thousands of Union soldiers held there with no
shelter and little food
Chapter 19
The Civil War
(1861-1865)
Section 5
The Tide of the War Turns
The Battle of Gettysburg
 May 1863 Lee’s troops defeated larger Union
force near town of Chancellorsville, then won at
Fredericksburg (both in VA)
Stonewall Jackson accidentally shot by own troops at
Chancellorsville
 Victories encouraged Lee to launch another
offensive into Union territory
Goals = break Union will to fight; capture much
needed supplies
Hoped another victory would turn tide of war in
Confederate favor
 Mid-June 1863 Lee cut across northern
Maryland into southern Pennsylvania
(gathered near Gettysburg)
The Battle of Gettysburg (continued)
Confederate raiding party went to
Gettysburg for supplies (July 1, 1863) –
attacked by Union soldiers
Battle of Gettysburg – 75,000
Confederates vs. 90,000 Union soldiers
Pickett’s Charge – led by General George
Picket – up Cemetery Ridge (occupied by
Union)
Disaster; fewer than ½ reached the top
A Turning Point
 Lee retreated from Gettysburg to Virginia
 Gettysburg was a turning point – Lee would
never again launch an attack onto northern
soil
 Union victory at Gettysburg = same day as
Grant’s capture of Vicksburg
Made north believe Confederacy could be defeated
 Union casualties at Gettysburg more than
23,000; Confederate more than 28,000
 Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address
(November 19, 1863)
Short; one of most famous speeches in American
history
Stressed importance of liberty, equality and
democratic ideals
Grant’s Drive to Richmond
 Lincoln was impressed with Grant’s
successes at Vicksburg and in west
Brought Grant east
 Grant forced Lee to fight a series of battles that
stretched the Confederate soldiers and supplies
to the limit
 Wilderness Campaign – 100,000 Union
troops vs. 70,000 Confederates
Clashed northwest of Richmond
Grant ordered Meade southeast to Spotsylvania
Union pressed Confederates back to just north of
Richmond
 Battle of Cold Harbor – 10 miles northeast of
Richmond
 Grant’s worst defeat of campaign, ended Grant’s
plans to advance on Confederate capital
Grant’s Drive to Richmond (continued)
 Union suffered high losses in Wilderness
Campaign; twice as many as opponent
 Grant continued aggressive strategy
Knew he was getting additional soldiers; Lee running
low on troops
 Grant moved south of Richmond (after Cold
Harbor)
Hoped to take key railroad junction at Petersburg,
VA
 Lee’s army formed solid defense
 Grant called off attack; prepared to lay siege
to Petersburg
 Grant winning the war, but had not captured
Richmond
Discouraging for Lincoln
Sherman Strikes the South
 Lincoln needed a victory to help him win re-election in
1864
 General William Tecumseh Sherman carried out Union
plan to destroy southern railroads and industries
 Spring of 1864, Sherman marched south from
Tennessee
 Goal was to take Atlanta
 Troops drove back Confederate forces trying to protect the city
 Retreated as Sherman held city under siege
 Atlanta fell to Sherman September 2, 1864
 Loss of Atlanta cost the South an important railroad link
and center of industry
 Showed northerners that progress was being made in
defeating the South
 Success helped convince voters to re-elect Lincoln in a
landslide
Sherman Strikes the South (continued)
 Sherman’s next attack = port city of
Savannah Georgia
 March to the Sea – Sherman waged “total
war” (destroying both civilian and military
resources)
Felt total war would ruin South’s economy and
ability to fight
Ordered troops to destroy railways, bridges, crops,
livestock, and other resources; burned plantations,
freed slaves
 Sherman’s army reached Savannah on
December 10, 1864
The South Surrenders
 Early April, Sherman closed in on last Confederate
defenders in North Carolina
 Grant broke through Confederate defenses at
Petersburg
 April 2, Lee forced to retreat from Richmond
 2nd week of April 1865, Grant had surrounded Lee’s army
and demanded its surrender
 Lee trapped in small town of Appomattox Courthouse
 Union and Confederate leaders met Palm Sunday April
9, 1865
 Lee signed surrender documents
 Civil War had deep lasting effects
 Almost 620,000 Americans lost their lives
 Most costly conflict in American history