The Civil War 1861-1865

The Confederacy -the southern states

1. Feb. 1861 – Confederate States of America

2. Confederate Constitution similar to U.S. but: Each state sovereign

(independent) Right to own slaves

guaranteed 3. Jefferson Davis is President

Jefferson Davis-

President of the

Confederacy

Confusion reigned in North and SouthPres. Buchanan didn’t do anything

Southerners took over Federal property – courthouses, post offices, and forts

Most Northerners didn’t react one way or another

The Union is broken and the War begins

Firing on Ft. Sumter (Charleston, S.C.) April 1861

1. Confederates demanded surrender, Union refused so SC militia fired. *This was seen as an attack on the USA.

2. Result:1. Eliminated middle ground2. Created anger in North3. Created “war fever” in South4. Va. And 4 more states seceded

The CIVIL WAR (1861-1865)

Ft. Sumter before the war

Fort Sumter today

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

Secession Map

Advantages and DisadvantagesNORTH SOUTH

1.Size 23 States 11 States2.Population 22 mil (4 mil. Men) 9 mil (1.2 mil

men)3.Railroads 20,000 mi., 96% of

RR equip9,000 mi.

4.Money $189 million$56 million in gold

$47 million$27 mil. (gold)

5.Industry 4/5 nation’s industry

1/5 nation’s ind.

Advantages and DisadvantagesNORTH SOUTH

6.Agriculture Grew 2/3 nation’s food

Mostly cotton

7.Leaders Lincoln (strong) Davis (weak)

8.Military Leaders

Poor Generals Strong (most US Generals and officers)

9.Enlisted Few skilled riders, few good shots

Good riders and shots. Owned guns

1st Major Battle- July 1861Location – Va., west of Washington DC

Result – South won. “Stonewall Jackson”-Thomas Jackson

Significance – showed that the war would not be easy or quick. Boosted Southern morale.

Bull Run (1st Manassas)

Manassas

“Stonewall” Jackson (CSA)

Tactics – equipment, methods, and manpower changed during the war.

Manpower: Started with volunteersLater had to draft (Lincoln 1st US

President to draft-1863)Troops organized by stateNo uniforms in beginning – later

went to blue and greyInfantry – Cavalry and Artillery

A Modern War

A Modern War Weapons –

Guns and muskets in the beginningRifles later which were more accurate

at greater distances (not effective in frontal charges)- minie ball

Cavalry – less important as rifles became more accurate

Warships – used ironclads Examples: Monitor vs. Virginia (Merrimac)

CSS Merrimac- ironclad ship

CSS Merrimac

USS Monitor - ironclad ship

USS Monitor

Medicine

Civil War Medicine

Clara Barton The American humanitarian Clara Barton was the founder of the American Red Cross

Strategies Anaconda Plan – Union 3 Part

Strategy Part 1- Western Campaign – to

divide Confed. and control Mississippi River

Shiloh (Tenn.) March 1862– bloody battle, Union won but learned:

1. Must think defensively2. No easy victories; 23,000 dead3. Beginning of South’s failure to hold the

Mississippi River.

A Modern War

Part 2 - Naval Blockadea. Successful in blocking

regular shippingb. Blockade Runners – good

but smallc. Union captured New

Orleans

H.L. Hunley

The Hunley

Inside the Hunley

Bringing Up the Hunley

The Hunley Crew

Dixon’s Gold Coin

Part 3 - Eastern Campaign – to capture Richmond (Confederacy Capital)

a. Peninsula Campaign- VirginiaMcClellan (cautious) vs. Lee (Bold & brilliant)

b. Second Bull Run – South won

George B. McClellan (USA) vs. Robert E. Lee (CSA)

Sept. 1862 Antietam (Md.) – South on Offensive1. Lee’s plans found by McClellan’s Army2. McClellan won but didn’t follow through.3. Bloodiest single day of war; 22,000 dead4. Lincoln fired McClellan

Antietam, Maryland- single bloodiest day of the war

Lincoln at Antietam

Dead at Antietam

1862- law said they could serve but only after the Emancipation Proclamation did they enlist in large numbers

By the end of the war- nearly 10% of Union troops were black

Suffered discrimination and higher death rates

Example- The 54th Mass. Regiment –the movie “Glory”

African Americans in the War

Manpower diminishes in the South

1. Fredericksburg, Va. – The Union lost 13,000 and the South lost 5,300; South wins

2. Chancellorsville, Va. – South lost 12,000 but still won; Stonewall Jackson

3. South could not replace the losses, but the North could

Tide Turns North - 1863

Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It stated that all slaves BEHIND enemy lines were FREE.IT DID NOT IMMEDIATELY FREE THE

SLAVES! IT HELPED GAIN BRITISH SUPPORTGAVE THE WAR A MORAL CRUSADE

Emancipation Proclamation

Turning Point of the WarGettysburg (Pa.) – won July 4,

1863a.3 day battle – 51,000 dead,

wounded, or missingb.North won, the South lost

too manyc. Only the 2nd time the South

went North to fight

Tide Turns North - 1863

Gettysburg

Gettysburg: Then ….

And now:

Gettysburg Address – Lincoln’s two minute speech. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gettysburgaddress.htma. Stated a new purpose – to

end slaveryb. Gov’t. created a National

Cemetery, b/c so many dead were left unburied.

“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.”

Lincoln’s Gettysburg address:

Vicksburg – won July 4, 1863a. Southern supply town

of Vicksburg (on Miss. River) was under siege and cut off from all supplies

b. After this victory, U.S. Grant (Union General) was named the Commander of the Union forces

Tide Turns North - 1863

1. Conditions were terrible, especially in the South

2. Northerners starved in Southern prisons

3. Southerners froze or died of pneumonia in Northern prisons

4. Andersonville – worst prison (Georgia), the Commandant hanged as a war criminal after the war.

Prisons

Andersonville Prison (Confederate)

Andersonville Prisoner

Andersonville Cemetery - 13,000 prisoners died there

Lincoln’s Reelection 1864 1864

1. Lincoln’s popularity increases with Union victories

2. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address – “Bind up the nation’s wounds.”

Union Strategy Changes1. “Grind Up Resources” – burn and

destroy anything of use to the South

2. Best example of this is “Sherman’s March to the Sea” – Sherman (Union Gen.) called this “total war” – the goal was to demoralize and completely destroy the South. He marched from Atlanta to Savannah leaving a path of devastation.

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Sherman!!!

Sherman’s “Sentinels” and “Neckties”

Columbia after Sherman

War Ends– Richmond is evacuated and

burned– Lee surrenders to Grant at

Appomattox Court House (Va.) on Apr. 9 1865

– Terms of surrender were generous

– 13th Amendment passed – made slavery illegal

Appomattox Courthouse, Va.

Death of Lincoln1. The assassin was John Wilkes

Booth, unemployed actor and Southern sympathizer

2. Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater and died on April 15, 1865.

John Wilkes Booth

Ford’s Theater

Reconstruction

1. Lincoln wanted a mild reconstruction plan (forgiving)

2. The Radical Republicans wanted a harsh reconstruction plan to punish the South.

Reconstruction: Pres. vs Congress