Chapter 15: The Civil War

Objectives: 1) Outline the issues held by both governments. 2) Compare current implements of war to those of the Civil War. 3) Differentiate amongst decisive battles throughout the war. 4) Calculate the casualties experienced by both sides and the nation.

Taking Sides

Lincoln considered Fort Sumter’s surrender a cue to raise a national army. To accomplish this, he asked each of the

Union states to assemble their militias.

On April 17th Virginia seceded; Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina soon followed.

Who’s Side Are You On?Union

Maine New Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Connecticut Rhode Island New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan Wisconsin Iowa Minnesota Kansas

Confederacy Texas Louisiana Mississippi Arkansas Tennessee North Carolina Virginia Alabama Georgia Florida South Carolina

Border States Delaware Maryland West Virginia Kentucky Missouri

Make Up Your Mind Already!

Border States – slave state that did not secede from the Union.

Most of these had strong ties to both governments. They ideologically agreed with the South, while their economic interests lied with the North.

Kentucky declared itself neutral but quickly declared sided with the Union after it was invaded by Confederate troops.

Martial Law

Temporary rule by military authorities, imposed on a civilian population especially in time of war or when civil authority has broken down.

The law imposed on an occupied territory by occupying military forces.

(American Heritage Dictionary)

Measuring Up

North More experienced

generals More people More factories More money Possible foreign

aid Access to the

Northern Mississippi

South More land Defensive

positioning More trained troops Slave population Cotton

Plan of Attack

Lincoln hoped to avoid as much bloodshed as possible.

First set up a naval blockade around southern seaports preventing ships from coming in or leaving.

Next he secured the Northern half of the Mississippi to stop any supplies from being sent south.

Finally Union General planned to surround troops in the Confederate capital of Richmond, VA.

Old Enough for War

Soldiers on both sides were as young as 14. Nearly 4,000 Union troops were 16 or younger.

(Morris Gallery of the CumberlandPortrait of a boy soldier, Nashville, Tennessee, ca. 1860-1865)

First Battle of Bull Run

Approximately 30,000 Union troops under General Irvin McDowell marched into Richmond with the intent of capturing the capital.

The Confederate Army met the Union troops at a creek known as Bull Run on July 21, 1861.

General Thomas Jackson waited with his troops for McDowell’s men to make the first move. (Earning him the nickname “Stonewall”)

The Confederates gained control and the inexperienced Union troops had no choice but to retreat.

McDowell v. Jackson

Dad and sister died of typhoid fever and mom was left with three small children and a lot of debt.

Mom remarried and then died giving birth to a half brother. Stepfather disowned the three oldest children. They went to live with their uncles.

He taught a slave to read (illegal). And then he became a teacher before moving on to West Point.

Taught at Virginia Military Institute.

Military historians consider Jackson to be one of the most gifted tactical commanders in United States history.

(U.S. Library of Congress)

McDowell v. Jackson Graduated from and taught at West Point

before serving in the Mexican-American War.

His strategy during the First Battle of Bull Run was complex and his troops were not experienced enough to carry it out effectively. After the defeat at Bull Run, he was replaced by General George McClellan.

He managed to regain some of his glory at Cedar Mountain; however, he was blamed for the disaster at the Second Battle at Bull Run.

Later he testified against General Porter, who

would be court-martialed for insubordination. In 1879, when Porter's conviction was overturned, McDowell's reputation was soiled by accusations of perjury in his self-serving testimony.

(National Archives)

New War Technology

While rifles and cannons remained the main implements of war during this time, range and loading time was improved.

Most significant was the development of ironclad ships which could withstand cannon fire.

Ironclad Warships The U.S. Navy at the time the war broke out had no ironclads.

The bulk of the Navy remained loyal to the Union, so the Confederate Congress voted to spend $2 million in May 1861 to buy ironclads from overseas.

On October 12, 1861 the C.S.S. Manassas, a converted tugboat, became the first ironclad to enter battle, when she rammed a U.S. Navy steam sloop.

In February 1862, the much larger C.S.S. Virginia joined the Confederate Navy, having been built on the remains of the steam frigate U.S.S. Merrimack.

By this time the Union had completed seven ironclad gunboats and was about to complete the U.S.S. Monitor, an innovative design proposed by the Swedish inventor John Ericsson.

Monitor v. Merrimack On March 9, 1862, the first battle between ironclads took place.

The smaller U.S.S. Monitor was able to outmaneuver C.S.S. Virginia, but both were significantly damaged.

Finally, Monitor retreated after its captain was hit by gunpowder in his eyes while looking through the pilothouse's peepholes. They soon returned and the captain of Virginia, thought it best to retreat to tend to the damages.

While some historians claim that the Virginia retreated, the battle was actually a draw, but the Union blockade remained.

During the next two months, the Virginia took several passes around the port where the Monitor was docked, but the Monitor’s captain was under orders not to engage. Neither ironclad was ever to fight again.

McClellan Takes Command

Lincoln replaced McDowell with McClellan following his defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.

McClellan spent months training troops but took an expeditionary force to evaluate the Confederate position at Richmond.

The Confederates pushed the few troops McClellan brought with him back.

Lee split his troops and sent some to Maryland and left some in Virginia.

General George B. McClellan (1862)

Battle of Antietam

Was fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland and is considered the first major battle in the Civil War to take place on Northern soil.

Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Union Army to a standstill.

In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout September 18, while removing his wounded south of the river.

Battle of Antietam

Despite having superiority of numbers, McClellan's attacks failed to destroy Lee's army.

Nevertheless, Lee's invasion of Maryland was ended, and he was able to withdraw his army back to Virginia without interference from the cautious McClellan.

It was the bloodiest single-day of battle in American history, with almost 23,000 casualties.

Battle of Shiloh

After a series of naval battles the Union was able to take control of the Mississippi River in February 1862.

On April 6 and April 7, 1862, Confederate forces under General Albert Sidney Johnston launched a surprise attack against Grant’s Army and came very close to defeating them.

The Confederate battle lines became confused during fighting, and

Grant's men fell back into a slightly sunken road, nicknamed the "Hornet's Nest", which was defended by two other Union divisions.

This provided critical time for the rest of the Union line to stabilize their men and to evaluate their strategy for fending off the Confederate Army.

Reinforcements turned the tide the next morning, when he and Grant launched a counterattack along the entire line. The Confederates were forced to retreat, ending their hopes that they could block the Union invasion of northern Mississippi.

Albert Sidney Johnston died during the first day of fighting.

Battle of Shiloh

The Confederacy lost 11,000 troops.

The Union lost 13,000, but gained control of western Tennessee and another portion of the Mississippi River.

On April 26, a Union fleet entered the Gulf of Mexico and took New Orleans under the direction of David Farragut.

The Union now controlled the majority of the river.

David Farragut Was the first senior

officer of the U.S. Navy. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and full admiral of the Navy.

He is remembered in popular culture for his possibly apocryphal order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, usually paraphrased: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!".

Emancipation Proclamation

Consisted of two executive orders issued by Abraham Lincoln. 1) Declared the freedom of all slaves in such territory of the

Confederate States of America as did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863.

2) Enumerated the specific territories where it applied.

The Emancipation Proclamation was widely attacked at the time as freeing only the slaves over which the Union had no power, but in practice, it committed the Union to ending slavery, which was controversial in the North.

It was not a law passed by Congress, but an executive order empowered, as Lincoln wrote, by his position as "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy" under Article II, section 2 of the United States Constitution.

Emancipation Proclamation The proclamation did not free any slaves in the border states

or any southern territory already under Union control.

It directly affected only those slaves that had already escaped to the Union side, but as the Union armies conquered the Confederacy, thousands of slaves were freed each day until nearly all (an estimated 4 million) were freed by July of 1865.

After the war there was concern that the proclamation, as a war measure, had not made the elimination of slavery permanent.

Several states had prohibited slavery, but some slavery continued to exist in Kentucky and Delaware, until the entire institution was finally wiped out by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment on December 18, 1865.

Impact of the Proclamation

Changed the perspectives of people on both sides of the war. Northerners took Lincoln’s lead in comparing the war to a

crusade to do God’s work.

Southerners had to defend their economy and traditional way of life by separating themselves from the “evils” of slavery.

This also removed any possibility for foreign aid being extended to the South. Most European countries had abolished their slavery systems

more than 50 years earlier. Poland (1768), France (1794) and Russia (1861)

African Americans In the War Approximately 180,000 African Americans

comprising 163 units served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and many more African Americans served in the Union Navy.

On July 17, 1862, Congress passed two acts allowing the enlistment of African Americans, but official enrollment occurred only after the September, 1862 issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

In general, white soldiers and officers believed that black men lacked the courage to fight and fight well.

African Americans In the War

Company E, 4th US Colored Infantry at Fort Lincoln

(African American Military History)

African Americans In the War In October, 1862, African American

soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers silenced their critics by repulsing attacking Confederates at the battle of Island Mound, Missouri.

African American soldiers participated in every major campaign of 1864-1865 except Sherman's invasion of Georgia.

African American soldiers made up 10% of the Union Army. Losses among African Americans were high, approximately one-third of all African Americans enrolled in the military lost their lives during the Civil War.

Divisions in the South

Areas where the plantation system was used and where there was a large slave population tended to show stronger support for the war.

Most of the people in Georgia, for example, disagreed with the war. Ironically, Georgia was one of the states that endured the most damage as a result of the fighting.

Several states sent only a few men to fight for the Confederacy and vehemently opposed a draft.

Divisions in the North

While many supported ending slavery, there were a large number of Northerners that believed Lincoln “forced” Southern secession and eventually the war.

The Emancipation Proclamation was seen by many as an abuse of power.

Northern Politicians who opposed the war were known as Copperheads.

Copperheads

The name Copperheads was given to them by the Republicans, because of the copper liberty-head coins they wore as badges. They were also called "Peace Democrats" and "Butternuts" (for the

color of the Confederate uniforms).

They wanted Lincoln and the Republicans removed from power, because he was “a tyrant who was destroying American republican values with his despotic and arbitrary actions”.

Some Copperheads tried to persuade Union soldiers to desert. They talked of helping Confederate prisoners of war seize their camps and escape.

Some historians have argued that they were simply people who fiercely resisted modernization and wanted to return to the old ways.

Copperheads

Copperheads were suspected of disloyalty, and Lincoln often had their leaders arrested and held for months in military prisons without trial.

The sentiments of Copperheads attracted Southerners who had settled north of the Ohio River, the poor, and merchants who had lost profitable Southern trade.

Copperheads did well in local and state elections in 1862, especially in New York, and won majorities in the legislatures of Illinois and Indiana.

The Copperhead coalition included many Irish American Catholics in eastern cities, mill towns and mining camps (especially in the Pennsylvania coal fields). They were also numerous in German Catholic areas of the Midwest,

especially Wisconsin.

Copperheads were most numerous in border areas, including southern parts of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.

Conscription

Following the heavy losses seen in those first few battles, thousands of Union and Confederate troops deserted the military.

In order to keep fighting, both sides instituted a draft.

Many saw these laws as unfair as they allowed people with “excessive responsibilities” to stay out of the war.

In July 1863 there was a huge riot among blue collar workers in New York City over the issue.

Chapter 15 Mini-Quiz

Directions: Circle the letter of the phrase that best completes each of the statements below.

1) African Americans were officially allowed to join the Union Army followinga. the Emancipation Proclamation.b. the election of Lincoln as President. the passage of the 13th Amendment. the repeal of the Federal Fugitive Slave Act.

Treatment of African American soldiers in the Union Army could best be described as exemplary.1) comparable to that of Caucasian American soldiers.a. unequal and discriminatory.b. cruel and unusual.

Chapter 15 Mini-Quiz3) Approximately one out of every _____ enlisted African American soldiers lost his

life in the Civil War.a. 15b. 8c. 6d. 3

4) More than half of the citizens in the State of _______ disagreed with the war.a. Alabama3) Georgiaa. Arkansasb. Florida

a. Some Copperheads tried to convince Union soldiers to leave their posts in the military or a. fight for the Confederacy3) enlista. desertb. rebel

The Economy

Because Northern factories had converted to producing war goods and many of the “regular” workers had gone off to war, the country began experiencing a severe depression.

In order to finance the war the Federal government began taxing income which led the government to put more money into the system and further pushed up the cost of everyday goods (inflation).

Due to the blockade, the south quickly started running out of supplies and food.

Southern production almost completely stopped without raw materials and a solid labor force.

Inflation

A persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money, caused by an increase in available currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services.

~American Heritage Dictionary

Women in the Civil War

At least 400 women joined the Union and Confederate Armies. Others became distinguished spies in the war.

Many women were forced to tend the fields and to take over the family businesses in order to feed their families.

Professions previously closed to women were temporarily opened (education, medicine, clerical work, etc.)

Dorothea Dix Dix traveled from New Hampshire to Louisiana,

documenting the condition of persons with mental illnesses, publishing letters to state legislatures, and devoting enormous personal energy to working with committees to draft the appropriations bills needed to build asylums.

She was instrumental in the founding of the first public mental hospital in Pennsylvania, the Harrisburg State Hospital, and later in establishing its library and reading room in 1853.

During the Civil War, Dix was appointed Superintendent of Army Nurses. She was gradually relieved of real responsibility and would consider this chapter in her career a failure.

Her nurses provided what was often the only care available in the field to Confederate wounded.

Over 5000 Confederate wounded were left behind, when Robert E. Lee retreated from Gettysburg, who were then treated by Dix's nurses.

U.S. Library of Congress

Elizabeth Blackwell

After the death of her father, she took up a career in teaching in Kentucky, to make money to pay for medical school.

She became active in the anti-slavery movement and later became involved in the Women’s Rights Movement via her two sister-in-laws.

On January 11, 1849, she became the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, graduating at the top of her class.

Barred from practice in most hospitals she decided to go to Paris, France to train.

When the American Civil War began, she trained nurses, and in 1868 she founded a Women's Medical College at the Infirmary to formally train women, physicians, and doctors.

National Institute of Health

Clara Barton After the First Battle of Bull Run, Barton established

an agency to obtain and distribute supplies to wounded soldiers.

In July 1862, she obtained permission to travel behind the lines, eventually reaching some of the grimmest battlefields of the war.

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln placed Barton in charge of the search for the missing men of the Union army. While engaged in this work she traced the fate of 30,000 men.

She published lists of names in newspapers and exchanged letters with soldiers' families.

She later became an activist for Veterans’ Rights, the Women’s Suffrage Movement and black civil rights.

She would go on to found the American Red Cross.

Clara Barton circa 1865 by Mathew Brady, Washington, D.C.

Battle of Fredericksburg

In December 1862, General Ambrose Burnside replaced McClellan and met Lee’s troops at Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The Union lost 13,000 casualties while the Confederates lost only 5,000.

It was a solid win for Lee and the Confederates.

Battle of Chancellorsville

Burnside was replaced by General Joseph Hooker (“Fighting Joe”).

In May 1863 they met Lee at Chancellorsville.

The Confederates had half as many men as the Union.

Although they won the battle, they lost Stonewall Jackson when he was shot and later died (May 10, 1863) .

His death was a severe setback for the Confederacy, affecting not only its military prospects, but the morale of its army and the general public; as Jackson lay dying, General Robert E. Lee sent a message to Jackson through Chaplain Lacy, saying "Give General Jackson my affectionate regards, and say to him: he has lost his left arm but I my right."

Battle of Gettysburg

Hooker was replaced by General George Meade.

The Confederates went into Pennsylvania looking for shoes. Most of the army had been barefoot for some time due to the shortage caused by the naval blockade.

The Confederate plan had been to ransack a supply center that had been rumored to be just beyond the Pennsylvania border.

Unfortunately, some of Meade’s army were downtown that day and fired on the small group of Confederate soldiers that had gone in for the shoes.

Once Lee learned of this he sent in reinforcements; the Confederates pushed the Union back through town by evening.

Battle of Gettysburg (Pickett’s Charge)

The Union had 85,000 troops stationed at Cemetery Ridge.

The Confederacy had 75,000 troops stationed a mile away at Seminary Ridge.

On July 3, 1863 Lee ordered an “all-out attack” on the Union line.

General George E. Pickett led the charge of 15,000 Confederate troops straight at the Union Line.

In all, 7,500 were killed or wounded and only a few hundred made it to the Union line.

In just 3 days, the Confederacy had more than 28,000 casualties and the Union had 23,000. The Union pushes the remaining troops back and wins.

Battle at Vicksburg

Grant and his army executed a siege on Vicksburg Mississippi; one of the last remaining cities that was loyal to the Confederacy.

They took the town by force, holding the people “hostage” and forcing a surrender.

At the same time that the Confederate Army was retreating from Gettysburg, they surrendered at Vicksburg.

A few days later Port Hudson Louisiana also surrendered. Finally giving the Union total control of the Mississippi.

Both events were MAJOR victories for the Union Army. These will lead to the quick conclusion of the war.

The Gettysburg Address

Was given on November 19, 1863 at the cite of the battlefield at Gettysburg.

The press anticipated a lengthy speech about the state of the war and how it was going to be stopped; instead they got a two minute speech about peace and charity.

Press photographers only had time to snap one (known) picture of Lincoln as he spoke.

Lincoln described the slow end of the war as a “birth of new freedom”.

The five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address differ in a number of details and also differ from contemporary newspaper reprints of the speech.

The Gettysburg Address

Lincoln and his speech have made several appearances in pop culture; from politics to cartoons.

Martin Luther King Jr. quoted the speech in his famous “I Have a Dream” which he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice."

The Gettysburg Address This is the only version to which Lincoln affixed his signature, and the last he is known to have written.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Siege of Richmond After Vicksburg, Grant was made commander of the

Union Army.

He attacked Richmond, the Confederate capital, directly but lost 55,000 men in the process with little success.

His next plan was to force a surrender by implementing the same tactic he had used at Vicksburg.

Grant stationed his troops at Petersburg, a few miles south, and waited for the Confederates to run out of supplies before attacking.

March to the Sea

While Grant waited outside Richmond, General William Tecumseh Sherman marched towards Atlanta (September 2, 1864).

As one of the last untouched Confederate cities, Atlanta had escaped many of the horrors of war up until this point.

Sherman implemented the concept of total war and burnt the city to the ground. Left a path of devastation 60 miles wide (Roughly

from here to Independence Hall in Philadelphia) from Atlanta towards the Atlantic Ocean.

Surrender at Appomattox

The siege at Richmond had succeeded! On April 2, 1865 Grant’s troops broke through Lee’s defenses and finally took Richmond.

Lee attempted to retreat, but on April 9th he officially surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

“In Lincoln’s second Inaugural Address he asked Americans to forgive and forget.” (book)

Costs of the War

The war produced about 970,000 casualties (3% of the population), including approximately 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease.

The war accounted for more casualties than all other U.S. wars combined.

Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6% in the North and an extraordinary 18% in the South.