Transcript AH 21

The Furnace of Civil War
1861-1865
Chapter 21
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It might have been called The Boys' War.
Authorities differ, and statistics bristle in the
controversy, but this is the offering of the Photographic
History of the Civil War:
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More than 2,000,000 Federal soldiers were twenty-one
or under (of a total of some 2,700,000)More than 1,000,000 were eighteen or under.
About 800,000 were seventeen or under.
About 200,000 were sixteen or under.
About 100,000 were fifteen or under.
Three hundred were thirteen or under-most of these
fifers or drummers, but regularly enrolled, and
sometimes fighters.
Twenty-five were ten or under.
Bull Run Ends the “Ninety Day War”
Took place during summer of 1861
 North expected a quick victory
Northern soldiers were not well prepared for battle
 Lincoln decided to attack Bull Run (Manassas)
Reasons:
-To demonstrate superiority of Union Arms
-Might lead to the capture of Richmond
Taking Richmond would discredit secession
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“Yell like furies”
Confederate soldiers
would use the yell during
charges to intimidate the
enemy and boost their
own morale, although the
yell had other uses. The
exact sound of the yell is
unknown and the subject
of much speculation and
debate. Likewise, the
origin of the yell is
uncertain.
Bull Run Ends the “Ninety Day War”
(continued)
Stonewall Jackson and troops defeated the
northerners
-Southerners felt the war was over (enlistment
would drop off)
-Northerners gained a more realistic view of the
war
-Northern general was fired - Irvin McDowell
Union casualties were 460 killed, 1,124 wounded,
and 1,312 missing or captured; Confederate
casualties were 387 killed, 1,582 wounded, and
13 missing.
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On July 9, 1861, and July
16, 1861, Greenhow
passed secret messages
to Confederate General
P.G.T. Beauregard
containing critical
information regarding the
First Battle of Bull Run
and the plans of Union
General Irvin McDowell
“Tardy George” McClellan and the
Peninsula Campaign
George McClellan-given command of the
Army of the Potomac
 West point graduate
 Expert in warfare
 Consistently believed he was outnumbered
 Drilled his army instead of attacking
 Slow to move
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“Tardy George” McClellan and the
Peninsula Campaign
“Tardy George” McClellan and the
Peninsula Campaign (continued)
Spring of 1862- McClellan launched the
Peninsula Campaign
-Waterborne campaign to take over
Richmond
-Would use York and James River to take
over Richmond
 Lincoln had to send McClellan’s
reinforcements to fight Stonewall in
Shenandoah
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“Tardy George” McClellan and the
Peninsula Campaign (continued)
Jeb Stuart’s stalled McClellan in Richmond
 Robert E. Lee launched a counterattackthe Seven Day’s Battle
 McClellan would be temporarily laid off as
commander
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“Tardy George” McClellan and the
Peninsula Campaign (continued)
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1)
2)
Had union taken Richmond slavery would
have survived for sometime
Also, Lincoln changed his position on the
war and began drafting the
Emancipation Proclamation
Union opted for total war
Suffocate the South
Liberate the slaves –undermines
economy
“Tardy George” McClellan and the
Peninsula Campaign (continued)
3) Cut Confederacy in half by taking control
of Mississippi River
4) Send troops through Georgia and
Carolinas
5) Capture Richmond
6) Engage enemy’s main strength and grind
it into submission
The Pivotal Point: Antietam
Summer 1862
 After defeating McClellan in the Peninsula
Campaign and second bull run, Lee tried to take
Maryland
 Reasons:
-Felt the South could not win a long war
-Win over Border States
-Gain international credibility
-Destroy the North’s will to fight
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The Pivotal Point: Antietam
(continued)
McClellan was restored to command by
Lincoln
 Closest South would ever be to victory
 British and French governments were on
the verge of diplomatic talks which would
have angered North
 Union displayed unexpected power
 Union found Lee’s attack plan
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“ Here is a plan with which, if I can
not whip Bobby Lee, I will be
willing to go home”
-George McClellan
The Pivotal Point: Antietam
(continued)
Battle was a draw but moral victory for the North
 McClellan failed to pursue Lee and the withdrawing
troops
 Lincoln knew he wouldn’t be able to invade the South
 Antietam was the single bloodiest day of the war
Union-12,401 casualties with 2,108 dead- Confederate
casualties were 10,318 with 1,546 dead
 January 1, 1863 the Emancipation proclamation would
be issued
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War at Sea
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Blacks Battle for Bondage
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As man power ran low, the War department
enlisted blacks
180,000 blacks, mostly from the slave states
fought in the war
Southerners put captured black soldiers to death
rather than POWs
Bulk of slaves did nothing after issuing of the
Emancipation Proclamation
At the end of the war, half a million slaves
abandoned their plantations
Lee’s Last Lunge at Gettysburg
Lee decided to invade the north in Pennsylvania
after defeating General Burnside in
Fredericksburg, VA
 Jeb Stuart was nowhere to be found
 Stonewall died at Battle of Chancellorsville
 Lee had to concentrate forces in Gettysburg
-Victory in North would strengthen peace talks in
North
-South still held out hope for foreign intervention
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Lee’s Last Lunge at Gettysburg
Union General Meade held the high
ground despite losing the first day of
battle
 Lee knew more union troops were coming
but stayed despite being told not to
 Pickett’s Charge – day three General
Pickett charged and his army was
slaughtered
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Lee’s Last Lunge at Gettysburg
Meade allowed Lee to get away and didn’t
pursue them
-Much to the dismay of Lincoln
 Gettysburg Address
 The symbolic overall victory of the Civil
War
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The War in the West
Grant- worked in his father’s leather store
before start of war
 Average west point graduate
 Brought new perspective to fighting the
war
-Kill the armies, not occupy cities
 Won battle of Vicksburg
-Gave north control of the Mississippi
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The War in the West
This cut off Confederacy ties in East and
west
 France cuts off a deal to sell Conf. 6 naval
vessels
 Created severe economic pain for South
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Sherman Scorches Georgia
Grant won a series of battles in Tennessee and
cleared it out of Confederate soldiers
 Gave way to Sherman to invade Georgia
 Sherman-believed in total war
 He and his unruly men set fire and destroyed
everything in sight
-Demoralized Southern morale
-Destroyed southern railroad system
-Weakened local economy
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Sherman Scorches Georgia
Took control of Atlanta and handed
Lincoln Savannah on Christmas day
 Destroyed South Carolina even more
because it was the heart of the secession
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The Politics of War
Election of 1864
Democrats nominated McClellan and ran
off the platform that the war was a failure
 Andrew Johnson-Lincoln’s running mate
who had once been a small slave owner
-formed Union Party
 Reelection looked bad until victories in
Atlanta and Virginia
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Grant Outlasts Lee
Grant engaged Lee in a series of battles in
the Wilderness of Virginia
 Grant lost 50,000 men (2 for 1 strategy)North could afford it
 Grant cornered Lee at the Appomattox
courthouse in Virginia, April 1865
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“Thank God I would live to see
this.”
-Lincoln, who would die 5 days later
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Aftermath of the Nightmare
600,000 dead
 15 billion dollars
 Nullification and secession were laid to
rest
 Great English reform bill of 1867-Britain
became a true political democracy
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