Dr. Lipsett - US HISTORY I – D,E,F BLOCKS – Spring 2014
RESEARCH PAPER – THE US CIVIL WAR
-You will be given a primary source document related to a battle from the US Civil War. You will read
and study the document, and then use it as the basis for a research paper. This assignment will have
several steps.
-FIRST, read your primary source and answer the following questions. (This will count as a homework
assignment. It is due Thursday May 15.)
1) Who is the author of this document?
2) When was it written?
3) For what purpose do you think it was written?
4) What is the main idea of this document?
5) Name one person, event, or idea mentioned in this document that you will research further.
-SECOND, you should collect information for at least 3 other outside sources for your paper. At least
one must come from a book. These sources should be listed in proper MLA format in a bibliography at
the end of your final paper. Also, you should include in-text citations whenever necessary. As you work,
keep track of your sources below. (You must show me a list of 3 sources by the end of class Friday May
16.)
SOURCE #1 __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
SOURCE #2 __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
SOURCE #3 __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
ADDITIONAL SOURCES _________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
-THIRD, take notes on your event. Be sure to identify the information listed below. Make a notation to
remind yourself which source you used for each set of facts. (Notes are due Friday May 23.)
WHEN AND WHERE DID THIS BATTLE TAKE PLACE?
WHO WAS INVOLVED? (How many troops? Who were the leaders?)
WHAT HAPPENED? (Who won? What did they gain? What were the losses?)
HOW DID THIS AFFECT THE WAR?/WHY WAS THIS BATTLE IMPORTANT?
-FOURTH, come up with a thesis statement for your paper. Try to answer the question of why this
battle was significant. Then use the form below to plan out your essay. (Your Thesis/Outline are due
Thursday May 29.)
I. THESIS STATEMENT:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
II. First Main Point: ____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
A. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
B. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
C. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
III. Second Main Point:__________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
A. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
B. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
C. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
IV. Third Main Point: ___________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
A. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
B. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
C. Supporting Fact: ______________________________________________________________
-FIFTH, use your notes and outline to write your paper. Your final paper should be AT LEAST 5
paragraphs long, typed, double-spaced, 12 point font. (Your final paper is due MONDAY JUNE 9.)
Telegram Announcing the
Surrender of Fort Sumter
APRIL 13, 1861
The following is the transcript of the telegraph sent by Major Robert Anderson announcing the surrender of
Fort Sumter.
SS. BALTIC. OFF SANDY HOOK APR. EIGHTEENTH. TEN THIRTY A.M. . VIA
NEW YORK. . HON.S.CAMERSON. SECY.WAR. WASHN. HAVING DEFENDED
FORT SUMTER FOR THIRTY HOURS UNTIL THE QUARTERS WERE
ENTIRELY BURNED THE MAIN GATES DESTRAOYED BY FIRE. THE GORGE WALLS
SERIOUSLY INJURED. THE MAGAZINE SURROUNDED BY FLAMES AND ITS
DOOR CLOSED FROM THE EFFECTS OF HEAT. FOUR BARRELLS AND THREE
CARTRIDGES OF POWDER ONLY BEING AVAILABLE AND NO PROVISIONS
REMAINING BUT PORT. I ACCEPT TERMS OF EVACUATION OFFERED BY
GENERAL BEAUREGARD BEING ON SAME OFFERED BY HIM ON THE ELEVENTH
INST. PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES AND MARCHED
OUT OF THE FORT SUNDAY AFTERNOON THE FOURTEENTH INST. WITH
COLORS FLYING AND DRUNMS BEATING. BRINGING AWAY COMPANY AND
PRIVATE PROPERTY AND SALUTING MY FLAG WITH FIFTY GUNS. ROBERT
ANDERSON. MAJOR FIRST ARTILLERY. COMMANDING.
SHERMAN’S MARCH TO THE SEA
The following is a telegram sent by General Sherman to President Lincoln
concerning the progress of Sherman's 'March to the Sea.' The success of this
campaign helped clinch the 1864 election for Lincoln.
SAVANNAH, GA., December 22, 1864
(Via Fort Monroe 6.45 p.m. 25th)
His Excellency President LINCOLN:
I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of
ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton.
W.T. Sherman,
Major General.
BATTLE OF FT. DONELSON
U.S. Grant to Gen. Buckner
FEBRUARY 16, 1862
The following is in reply to a note sent by Gen. Buckner, the commanding officer inside Fort Donelson, to Gen.
Grant, appealing for an armistice and terms for surrender.
Sir: Yours of this date proposing Armistice, and appointment of Commissioners, to settle terms of
Capitulation is just received. No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be
accepted.
I propose to move immediately upon your works.
I am Sir: very respectfully
Your obt. sevt.
U.S. Grant
Brig. Gen.
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
"Well, it is all over now. The battle is lost, and many of us are prisoners, many are dead, many wounded, bleeding
and dying. Your Soldier lives and mourns and but for you, my darling, he would rather, a million times rather, be
back there with his dead, to sleep for all time in an unknown grave."
Major General George Pickett, CSA, to his fiancée, July 4, 1863
-----------------------"I always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."
Attributed to Major General George Pickett when asked why the Confederates were defeated at Gettysburg
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM (SHARPSBURG)
September 26, 1862 (In a hospital near the Battlefield of Antietam)
Dear Wife,
Thinking perhaps that you would like to hear from me. I now have a few moments in writing to you to
let you know of an accident which happened to me on the evening of the 18th. One of the 135 P.V.
boys accidentily shot me through the back. The ball passed through my lungs and lodged some where
and is in me yet. I suffered considerable pain for the few first days but now I am more comfortable
now and am not in much pain. Our brigaid did not get along from Washington soon enough to be
engaged in the Battle of the day before. There was a hard fought battle and many lives lost on both
sides but I think the loss of the Rebels were more than double our loss. I hope that you will not grow
uneasy about me for I am doing as well as can be and have good care for brother William is with me
taking care of me and as soon as I get well enough I am coming home and to be with you again, I do
not want you to write until you hear from me again for a letter would not come through. I am now 10
miles from Middletown Md and as soon as we get moved I will write to you to let you know where we
are moved to. As I do not think of any thing more that will interest you I will bring this letter to a close
and write to you again in a few days.
From your affectionate and loving husband,
Erred Fowles
FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN
Samuel J. English was a Corporal in Company D of the Second Rhode Island Volunteers. Shortly after
the battle he wrote his mother a letter describing his experience. We join his story in the early
morning hours before the battle:
"Sunday, the 21st about 2 o'clock the drums beat the assembly, and in ten minutes we were on our
march for Bull Run having heard the enemy were waiting to receive us, our troops then numbering 25
or 30 thousand which were divided into three columns ours under Col Hunter taking the right through
a thick woods. About eleven o'clock as our pickets were advancing through the woods a volley was
poured in upon them from behind a fence thickly covered with brush; the pickets after returning the
shots returned to our regiment and we advanced double quick time yelling like so many devils.
On our arrival into the open field I saw I should judge three or four thousand rebels retreating for a
dense woods, firing as they retreated, while from another part of the woods a perfect hail storm of
bullets, round shot and shell was poured upon us, tearing through our ranks and scattering death and
confusion everywhere; but with a yell and a roar we charged upon them driving them again into the
woods with fearful loss. In the mean time our battery came up to our support and commenced hurling
destruction among the rebels.
BATTLE OF VICKSBURG
One of the Union’s top military objectives was to gain control of the Mississippi River, and
thereby split the Confederacy in two. General Ulysses S. Grant took up this challenge late in
1862 but was frustrated for several months by the rebel defenses of Vicksburg, Mississippi. In
mid-April 1863, Grant undertook a series of naval and infantry maneuvers that moved more than
30,000 troops into Vicksburg’s rear. This directive reflects Grant’s genius for military strategy as
well as the fortitude that led Lincoln to believe in 1864 that he had at last found a general who
would not let him down.
EXCERPT FROM SOURCE:
. . . Vicksburg is so strong by nature and so well fortified that sufficient force cannot be brought
to bear against it to carry it by storm against the present Garrison. It must be taken by a regular
siege or by starving out the Garrison. I have all the force necessary for this if my rear was not
threatened.
It is now certain that Jo Johnston has already collected a force from twenty to twenty-five
thousand strong at Jackson & Canton and is using every effort to increase it to forty thousand.
With this he will undoubtedly attack Harris Bluff and compell me to abandon the investment of
the City if not reinforced before he can get here. I want your District striped to the very lowest
possible standard. You can be in no possible danger for the time it will be necessary to keep
their troops away. All points in West Tennessee North of the Memphis & Charleston road, if
necessary, can be abandoned entirely. West Kentucky may be reduced to a small Garrison at
Paducah and Columbus.