The American Civil War 1861-1865

The American Civil War1861-1865

President Abraham Lincoln

Ulysses S. Grant

William T. Sherman

George B. McClellan

Union Commanders

President Jefferson Davis

Robert E. Lee

T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson

Braxton Bragg

Joseph E. Johnston

Albert S. Johnston

Confederate Commanders

European nations thought the CSA would win.

The last time someone conquered this much land was Napoleon in 1812.

European Thoughts?

***Before the Civil War, America was thought of as a powerless and “third rate nation” to European nations and other world powers. After the Civil War America’s Army and Navy grew so large and so fast that it impressed and scared world powers as a legitimate and powerful nation***

Fighting Styles of the Civil War!!!

Winfield Scott’s idea.

Start of war = 42 ships for 3000 miles of coastline…?

By end of the war = 700 ships, able to stop over half of the C.S.A. shipments and supply ships.

Stops “King Cotton”

Food shortages, riots

South’s StrategyPrepare and wait (wanted to go in peace); defensive war

War of attrition – wear down enemy; failed to realize that the North had more resources

Stopped exports of cotton; Europe turned to Egypt and India

Tactics and TechnologyGenerals trained in European warfare of having masses of troops charge

New rifles and artillery were more accurate and deadly; bullet shaped ammunition and rifling

Artillery could fire shells and canisters

Commanders were slow to change tactics

April 12, 1861 Confederate forces attack Fort Sumter, S.C. and shelled it for 33 straight hours.

Only one man died on each side, from misfiring cannons.

After this, Lincoln calls out the USA military

Reaction to Ft. SumterVirginia, North Carolina,

Tennessee, and Arkansas joined the Confederacy

Border States stay neutral

July 21, 1861General Irvin McDowell-NorthGeneral P.G.T. Beauregard-SouthRailroad used to move troopsGen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

refuses to give upSightseers watch; North fleesCasualties: North 2900; South 2000

Results? Both sides realize their troops need a LOT more training

The First Battle of Bull Run(Manassas)(July 1861)

War in the West• General George

McClellen (USA); ordered to build and train the army

• General Ulysses S. Grant led Northern Army in the West to try to seize the Mississippi River

Forts Henry and Donelson

• Used gunboats• Both forts in Tennessee fell to

Grant• Nashville fell• Grant moved farther south

toward Mississippi

Battle of Shiloh• General Johnston (South)

attacked Grant (North) at Shiloh in Mississippi

• Grant was reinforced by Buell and defeated Johnston’s army, killing him

• 13,000 Northern /11,000 Southern casualties

Mississippi River• Naval squadron under David Farragut

seized New Orleans for the Union• He captured Baton Rouge, La and

Natchez, MS• Took Memphis, TN on June 6, 1862• Only Vicksburg, MS and Port Hudson,

LA remained for the North to capture to split the Confederacy

War in the East• Monitor and the Merrimack• Merrimack was wooden ship

with iron plates bolted on• Merrimack damaged three

wooden ships• Wooden navies now obsolete

Battle of Antietam• Lee invaded Maryland, hoping for

European support– Battle plans leaked!

• McClellan delayed; Sept. 17, 1862• North lost 12,000 and Lee 14,000;

retreated to VA; As Lee withdrew, McClellan did not attack

• Bloodiest day of war ever

Peninsular Campaign• Confederates destroyed

Merrimack to keep it from being captured by the North

• McClellan was too cautious• Moved army east of Richmond• Heavy casualties in the Battle

of Seven Pines

South Attacks• Lee attacks McClellan in the Seven

days’ Battles; McClellan retreats• Second Battle of Bull Run: General

John Pope put in charge of Northern Army

• Jackson attacked from the rear and Lee from the front, defeating Pope

• McClellan returns to command

Meade Vs. LeeTurning Point in the war for the Union.Last time South invades the North and it’s the

only time General Lee is really defeated.3 day battle. The union lost the first two days

but won the third day.

Gettysburg, PA (July 1863)

Gettysburg1st Day of Battle 3rd Day of Battle

GettysburgBloodiest battle of warUnion had 23,000 casualtiesSouth had 28,000 casualtiesJuly 4, 1863, Lee retreats to

Virginia

July 3, 1863Lee opens with artillery

barrage15,000 Confederates attackPickett’s Charge; cut up by

Northern artillery; ½ casualties

If you like wars, battles, and strategy… read a former Summer Reading title

for the on-levels… Killer Angels

Michael ShaaraTalks about the battle of

Gettysburg from the perspective of the major generals on both

sides…

Gettysburg Address• Nov. 19, 1863• President Lincoln explained the meaning of the Civil War in his own words…

• Has become an iconic representation of American thought

• Note: Lincoln was a HUGE fan of George Washington – listen for several GW and TJ phrases…

ONLY KNOWN PHOTOS OF LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG = 2

“Fourscore 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 battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who died here that the nation might live.

This we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have hallowed 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 rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation 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."

Grant moves to Vicksburg, Mississippi “The key to the Mississippi River” –President LincolnGrant attacks twice and fails. Lays a siege to

Vicksburg.Vicksburg surrenders on July 4, 1862, which splits

the Confederacy in two.Turning Point in the West

Seige of Vicksburg ( May – July 1863)

Disaster for CSA. The South didn’t have any wealth or materials to start a war. Their money was all in land and slaves.

No manufacturing or workers to work and produce goods. All the men were drafted to fight in the South.

The Government and economy were failing with every passing year. Started to just print money. Inflation was at 9000% by the end!

Reason why the South lost the war?

Southern Homefront near the end of the Civil War.

Economy was improving.The U.S. military was becoming very powerful.

Didn’t fight on Northern soil.

Emancipation Proclamation divides populous.

Northern Homefront near the end of the Civil war.

Sherman moves from Chattanooga to Atlanta with 98,000 troops.

J.C. Johnston is the Confederate leader at first, then replaced by John Bell Hood.

Takes Atlanta and marches 250 miles to Savannah, “March to the Sea”

“Total War” tactic.Sherman takes

Savannah and gives it to Lincoln as a “Christmas present.”

Atlanta Campaign: 1864

Very bad move by Sherman. Didn’t want to go around and march away from supply lines so tried to go right through Kennesaw Mountain.

3,ooo Union soldiers died. Sherman then decided to move around Kennesaw Mountain towards Atlanta.

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (June 27, 1864)

Grant Takes CommandLincoln must win battles to

win the election of 1864Grant plans to use North’s

superior population and industry to wear down the South

Election of 1864Lincoln and Andrew

Johnson, Vice PresidentMcClellan, Democrat

Capture of Atlanta helped Lincoln win reelection

Grant moves around Richmond to Petersburg to cut off the supplies to Richmond.

“Battle of the Crater” is fought here first and then Grant later lays siege to the city.

Lee’s Army is almost wiped out and he has to retreat.

Grant follows Lee and after several small battles Grant surrounds Lee at Appomattox Court House, VA April 9, 1865 where Lee surrenders.

Siege of Petersburg and Appomattox Court House

At Appomattox…April 9, 1865 Lee met Grant

and surrenderedGrant offered food and

ordered celebration by Northern troops ended

A Peaceful End

• CSA soldiers were to turn over their rifles, but officers could keep their pistols

• CSA soldiers who had horses could keep them (needed for spring plowing)

• CSA soldiers could return home without being disturbed by U.S. authorities

• “The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again.” (Grant)

• 600,000 Americans died, mostly from disease and wounds.

• The South was in horrible condition. Large portion of the population was dead, land was scourged, buildings and homes are destroyed, and then put under military control for the time being.

• April 14, 1865 Lincoln was assassinated. • Reconstruction discussions began in

Washington D.C.

Life During the War and Pictures from the Field

Southern Politics• Branches and powers of the Confederate

government were similar to those of the US, but special provisions were made for state’s rights and slavery.

• The confederate government had to convince its citizens to sacrifice their personal interests for the common good. Because they had fewer resources than the North, the war effort depended on making the best possible use of what the South had.

• General Lee called for a draft to ensure that enough soldiers would be in the army to fight. In April, 1862, the Confederate congress passed a law stating that all men between 18 and 35 would be required to serve for two years in the military. Services of volunteers were automatically extended for two years at the same time. After the Battle of Antietam, the upper age for the draft became 45 and later it became 50. Owners of more than 20 slaves were excused from serving as well as those who were wealthy enough to hire someone to serve in their place.

• The confederate government sought recognition from the governing powers in Europe, sending representatives to both France and Great Britain in May, 1861. it did NOT receive recognition as an independent country, but did receive some unofficial help from Great Britain.

Southern Economy

• When the Confederate government took over the economy, it determined the amount of production of wool, cotton, and leather and seized control of southern railroads. Farmers were required to contribute one tenth of their produce to the war effort.

• The south faced a scary food shortage. Invading armies disrupted the south’s food growing regions and the draft pulled large numbers of males out of the farming regions. Massive food riots happened all over the south.

• Hardships at home created widespread desertions in the Confederate Army.

Northern Politics• Lincoln had to convince Northerners that

maintaining the Union was worth the sacrifices they were being asked to make.

• British help to the Confederacy strained relations with the United States because of privateering, taking prisoners, and other actions. Lincoln demanded $19 million compensation for British offenses, and relations were upset for more than a decade.

• With Southern Democrats out of Congress, this became the most active period of legislation yet! You should know the following four major pieces of legislation….

Pacific Railroad Act

•Passed in 1862, this allowed for the building of a railroad line from Nebraska to the Pacific Coast

Homestead Act

• Passed in 1862, this gave free government land to all those who were willing to settle on it…

• (Remember Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Far and Away?)

Internal Revenue Act of 1862

• Imposed a 3% tax on the income of those who made $800 or more per year as well as a tax on liquor, tobacco, medicine, and newspaper ads. These all ended when the war was over.

1862 (National Currency Act)

• Congress passes an act that creates a national currency. Not backed by gold, but declared acceptable for legal payment of all public and private debts.

• March 1863 – Lincoln passes a draft law requiring all men between the ages of 20 and 45 to serve unless they could pay the government $300 or hire someone to take their place.

• In some places, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, the legal protection requiring that a court determine if a person is lawfully imprisoned. During the war, more than 13,000 people who objected to the war were put in prison without trial.

Northern Economy

• War hurt industries that depended on the south for cotton

• All other industries were ok – the north had farms, factories, etc. to subsist without the South.

• Some people made their profits greater by selling faulty supplies to the Union army – hats that dissolved in the rain, clothes made from compressed rags, shoes with cardboard soles, etc.

• The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in areas of rebellion on January 1, 1863.

• Contraband – during the war, those seized and captured items can be used by the capturing side for their war effort. By capturing slaves, the US Army freed them (as their new “owner,” they could do what they wanted) and they became soldiers in the American army.

• African American soldiers – served with white sailors on ships, but had their own regiments on land. In total, African Americans accounted for 10% of the US Army during the Civil War.

Pictures from the War…

“Ambrotype”

“Tintype”

Matthew Brady’s Photographic Outfit in the Field Near Petersburg

Officers and Ladies on the porch of Garrison House, Fort Monroe, Virginia, 1864

Refugee Family Leaving War Area with Belongings on a Cart

Private of the 4th Michigan Infantry

Confederate Private Edmund Ruffin

Portrait of Union General Ambrose Burnside

A Company of Michigan Zouaves

Union Soldiers playing dominoes

Federal Observation Balloon, Intrepid, Being Inflated

Balloon observing battle of Antietam

Allan Pinkerton, Head of McClellan’s Secret Service and His Men

Allan Pinkerton, Abraham

Lincoln, and General John A.

McClernand at Antietam,

1862

Confederate “Quaker” Guns

13” Mortar “Dictator” Near Petersburg, Virginia

Confederate Napoleon Gun Used in the Unsuccessful Defense of Atlanta

20 Pound Parrot Rifled Guns of the 1st NY Battery Near Richmond,

June 1862

railroad gun and crew

Nurses and Officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission

Wounded Soldiers Being Tended in the Field After the Battle of

Chancellorsville

Ambulance Drivers and Ambulances at Harewood

Hospital, Washington,

D.C.

Confederate Wounded at Smith’s Barn after the Battle of Antietam

Field Hospital after the Battle at Savage Station

Hospital Tents in the Rear of Douglas Hospital

Amputation Being Performed in a Hospital Tent, Gettysburg, PA

Ward in Carver General Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Embalming Surgeon at Work on a Soldier’s Body

African Americans Collecting Bones from Exposed Graves from Previous Battle, Cold Harbor, VA, April 1865

Prisoners Receiving Rations At Andersonville Prison, Georgia

A Recently Released Federal Prisoner

Doctors Examining a Recently Released Federal Prisoner

Reading the Death Warrant to Captain Wirz on the Scaffold

surrender at Appomattox – Thomas Nast

Lincoln Assassin, John Wilkes Booth

Lewis Payne, the Conspirator who Attacked Secretary Seward

Execution of Four Persons Condemned as Conspirators

Lincoln’s Funeral Procession Down Pennsylvania Avenue

The Great Locomotive Chase!

The General & Kennesaw make history….

It continued to serve the Confederate cause, speeding food, supplies, and reinforcements to northwest Georgia to counter Sherman's invasion of Georgia. At the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, it was used to carry wounded soldiers back to Atlanta. Sherman's forces kept coming, however, and when it became clear that Atlanta was lost, Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood ordered the burning of five locomotives (including the General), 81 rail cars of ammunition, and other war supplies to keep them out of the Union hands.

What happened to the General after the chase?

• Amazingly, though badly damaged, the General had a second life. It was given back to the Western & Atlantic Railroad, which restored the engine to working order and placed it back in service.

• The General became a favorite feature at some of the annual encampments of survivors of Andrews' Raiders and the Union Army. Around 1889, the General and Texas were both pulled out service and condemned. However, three years later, after an enterprising reporter found the rusting engines and publicized their plight, they were both restored. The General subsequently became a featured locomotive at the World Columbian Exposition of 1893, making the trip from Georgia to Chicago under its own power.

• Union Station in Chattanooga became the General's permanent home in 1911, although the locomotive was still transported to numerous expositions. In 1933, the General was exhibited at the Century of Progress Exposition; in 1939, it was requested for the New York World's Fair. In 1972, it found its permanent home in Kennesaw’s Civil War Museum.

• Although the General's saga was well known in Georgia, it was Walt Disney's 1956 movie, "The Great Locomotive Chase," that helped make it one of the most famous locomotives in American history.

Commemorative stamps have been issues in many countries honoring The General… These are from Nigeria, Suriname, and

the island of Vaitupu in the Pacific Ocean nation of Tuvalu

Books and Movies…

A Cheerios Box with a giveaway model of one of three trains… It

was an advertisement for the release of Disney’s colorized

version of The Great Locomotive Chase in theatres…

The Movie release also supported a series of cartoons in the Sunday papers…