A New Birth of Freedom: The Civil War, 1861-1865

14.1 The First Modern War

Map

The Two Combatants

• Union many advantages– 22M people vs 9M (3.3M) slaves– Manufacturing, railroads, wealth

• Confederate advantages– Very large country– Soldiers highly motivated

• Patriotism high on both sides

Soldiers

• By 1865 men who served– Union 2M– Confederacy 900,000

• The Draft begins in 1862

• Union – farm boys, shopkeepers, artisans, city workers

• Confederacy – small farmers, slaveowning officers

Technology of War

• Railroads vital – Junctions like Atlanta & Petersburg targets

• Ironclads – revolutionize naval warfare– 1862 Monitor vs. Merrimac

• Telegraph, observation balloons, hand grenades, submarines

The Rifle

• Grooved barrel = accuracy

• Deadly at 600 yards

• 620,000 men died = 5M today

• New tactics– Heavy fortifications– Elaborate trenches– Advantage defense (Southern armies)

POW Camps & Disease

• Primitive medical care killed

• Measles, dysentery, malaria, typhus killed

• 50,000 men die in military prisons– Starvation & disease– 13,000 Union men at Andersonville, GA

The Public and the War

• Propaganda efforts to mobilize public opinion– Pictures, music, pamphlets– Dem. treason, war crimes, – Confederacy does the same

• Newspapers print battle results & casualties

Photography

• Infant art form – brought the war home

• 1862 shocking battlefield images– Antietam & many more

• Mathew Brady corps of photographers– Fame & wealth– Art into business

Mobilizing Resources

• 1861 both sides unprepared

• No national railroad gauge

• No national banking system

• No tax system

• No accurate map of the southern states

• Navy too small to blockade south

• Union becomes best fed and supplied army in history of world

• Confederacy has shortages – Food, uniforms, shoes– Managed to manufacture own weapons

• Union generals fail to capitalize – Officers not trained to lead– Wrong plan

The War Begins

• In The East the Union goal capture Richmond– 100 mile corridor between DC & Richmond– Army of the Potomac

• 1st Bull Run July 1861– Confederate victory– Shattered belief war would be quick– 800 men die– “Stonewall” Jackson

Gen. Geo. McClellan

• Assumes command of A of P

• Turned volunteers in to soldiers

• Wouldn’t fight• Overestimated enemy

size• Democrat• Hopped a compromise

would end war• Tried to save lives

The War in the East, 1862

• June ’62 McClellan begins Peninsula Campaign– 100,000 vs. Lee’s Army of Northern VA – Lee stops McClellan in Seven Day’s

Campaign– w/drew to DC

• Aug ’62 Confederate victory at 2nd Bull Run

Robert E. Lee

• Robert E. Lee son of Rev. hero turns down Lincolns offer to run Union Army.

• Army of Northern VA

Lee Goes North

• Bring border states in

• Persuade England & France to recognize South

• Influence fall elections

• Maybe capture DC

Battle of Antietam, MD

• Sept. 17, 1862

• McClellan repels Lee

• 4,300 (6300) died, 18,000 wounded

• More die than in any other day in US history

• Last victory in East for some time

Thomas Bailey AumackHazlet NJ

McClellan Replaced

• Nov, 7, 1862• Lincoln says, “If you

don’t want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while”

• Gen. Ambrose Burnside - AoP

Fredricksburg, VA

• Dec. ’62

• Gen. Ambrose Burnside AoP

• Defeated badly by Lee

• “It was not a fight, it was a massacre”

The War in the West

• Ulysses S. Grant successful in TN

• Unsuccessful civilian, but good at war

• Feb. ’62 Ft. Henry & Ft. Donelson

• Survived surprise at Shiloh– Bloody fist fight – 2 days– Union 13,000 kwm – Con. 10,000 kwm

• Apr. ’62 Adm. David Farragut captures NO– South’s largest city

Ft. Henry & Ft. Donelson

• Feb. 6, 16th • TN• “Unconditional

Surrender” Grant• First Victories