The Two Sides of the Civil War
The Union: (Blue)
•Northern States
•Led by Abraham Lincoln
•Anti-slavery (mostly)
The Confederacy: (Gray)
•Southern States
•Led by Jefferson Davis
•Pro slavery
Comparing the North and South
Advantages of the North:
•Larger population
•Better resources
War Aims (goals) of the North:
•Goal for the North was to restore the Union
•Ending slavery WAS NOT one of the original
goals of the war
•In order to meet their goal…the North would
have to invade and fight in the South
Comparing the North and South
Union Strategies:
•The Union Plan was created by General
Winfield Scott
•It was called the Anaconda Plan. The Union
planned to:
•Blockade (close) southern ports
preventing supplies from reaching the
Confederacy and stop the south from
exporting cotton
•Gain control of the entire Mississippi
River splitting the Confederacy in 2 and
blocking supply lines
Comparing the North and South
Union Strategies:
•Anaconda Plan continued….. The Union
planned to:
•Capture Richmond, VA, the Confederate
capital and arrest the Confederate
government.
Comparing the North and South
Advantages of the South:
•Excellent military leaders
•Unstoppable fighting spirit
•Home field advantage….the North had to
conquer the South which means most of the
fighting took place in the South
War Aims (goals) of the South:
•Goal for the South was to establish itself as
an independent nation
Comparing the North and South
Confederate Strategies:
•The Confederate strategy was simple: play
defense:
•Persuade Britain and France to pressure
Lincoln into ending the war
•Keep there territory…hold on to as much
land as possible
•Attack and capture Washington D.C.
Goals and Struggles of both Sides
The Border states:
•Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and
Missouri were on the border of the
Union and the confederacy
•Population of these states were
divided in which side to join
•Slavery was legal in all of these
states
Goals and Struggles of both Sides
•All of these states had important and
strategic locations:
•Missouri: control of the Mississippi river and
access to the West
•Kentucky: controlled the Ohio River and Ohio
Valley
•Delaware: very close to Philadelphia
•Maryland:
•Close to Richmond (Confederate capital)
•Washington D.C. is in Maryland….if it were to
secede the Union government would be
surrounded
Goals and Struggles of both Sides
While Lincoln was able to keep the
border states as part of the Union:
•Many citizens helped the
Confederacy
•Most of the population in these
states opposed the war
Americans Against Americans:
Brother Against Brother:
•Civil War pitted families against each other
•It was not uncommon for families to have sons
fighting for each side
Why they joined:
•Patriotism
•Fight for their cause
•Afraid of being called cowards
•Excitement
•Thought the war would end quickly
Americans Against Americans:
Sizes of the Militaries (1861):
•Confederates (Rebels)
•112,000….900,000 by the end of the war
•Union (Yankees)
•187,000….2.1 million by the end of the war
Americans Against Americans:
Life of a Soldier:
•Civilians and soldiers suffered extreme
hardships
•Soldiers lived in camps…moved
constantly…often saw no action for weeks at
a time
•Sickness was rampant
•Crude medical technology
Early Stages of the War:
First Battle of Bull Run:
•Date: July 21, 1861
•Where: Northern Virginia near the Bull Run
River
•Union troops
•30,000 led by General Irvin McDowell
•Confederate troops:
•20,000 led by General P.G.T. Beauregard
Early Stages of the War:
First Battle of Bull Run:
•The battle
•Hundreds of Washington D.C. citizens
packed picnic lunches and went to watch
•At first, the Yankees were able to drive the
Rebels back…
•In comes General Thomas “Stonewall”
Jackson to reinforce the Rebels and force the
Yankees to retreat
Early Stages of the War:
First Battle of Bull Run:
•The result
•South wins…North in shock
•Lincoln appoints General George B.
McClellan to head and organize the Union
Army of the East (The Army of the Potomac)
•Angered Northern war supporters
Early Stages of the War:
War in the West:
•Purpose: control the Mississippi River and all of
its tributaries (smaller rivers flowing into the
Mississippi)
•Leader: General Ulysses S. Grant
•Battles:
•Fort Henry on the Tennessee River (captured
by Grant)
•Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River
(captured by Grant)
Early Stages of the War:
War of the Ironclads:
•Fighting occurred between both sides on the
Atlantic Ocean
•Each side had 12 ironclad : wooden ship
covered in iron
•North: Monitor
•South: Virginia (Merrimac)
The two ships met on March 9, 1861 off the
coast of Virginia
Early Stages of the War:
War of the Ironclads:
•Neither side was able to win as the two ships
could not sink each other
Early Stages of the War:
Battle of Shiloh:
•Date: April 6, 1862
•Where: Pittsburg Landing, MS (Shiloh Church)
•Union troops
•40,000 led by General Ulysses S. Grant
•Confederate troops:
•33,000 led by General P.G.T. Beauregard
Early Stages of the War:
Battle of Shiloh:
•The battle
•Grant and his troops were moving toward
Corinth, MS to take over a railroad junction
•Camped at Pittsburg Landing, 20 miles from
Corinth
•Beauregard launched a surprise attack
•Battle lasted 2 days with some of the most
brutal and bloody fighting of the war
•Union barely wins
Early Stages of the War:
Battle of Shiloh:
•The result
•North wins…but casualties are huge
•Union gained control of Corinth, which led to
a victory in Memphis
Early Stages of the War:
Fall of New Orleans:
•Date: April 5, 1862
•Where: New Orleans, Louisiana
•Union troops
•led by David Farragut took over New
Orleans, the largest city in the South
Early Stages of the War:
Fall of New Orleans :
•The result
•South could no longer use the Mississippi
River to carry its goods out to sea
•Gave the Union almost total control of the
Mississippi River
Early Stages of the War:
War in the East:
•Confederacy, led by Robert E Lee and
Stonewall Jackson had many victories in the
east….the Confederates
•defeated McClellan in the Seven Days’ Battle
•defeated General John Pope in the 2nd Battle
of Bull Run
•defeated General Ambrose Burnside at
Fredricksburg
Early Stages of the War:
War in the East:
•Union also had success in the east…the Union:
•twice stopped Lee from invading the North
•defeated Lee in the Battle of Antietam
Early Stages of the War:
Battle of Antietam:
•Date: September 17, 1862
•Where: Antietam (Sharpsburg, Maryland)
•Union troops
•50,000 led by General McClellan
•Confederate troops:
•42,000 led by General Robert E Lee
Early Stages of the War:
Battle of Antietam:
•The battle
•The Union won a decisive victory, forcing Lee
to abandon plans to invade the North
•This was the deadliest single day of fighting
in the entire war…
•6,000 killed
•17,000 badly wounded
Early Stages of the War:
Battle of Antietam:
•The result
•North Lee is forced to retreat to Virginia
•Union relaxes a little
•Slavery takes center stage
Dealing with Slavery
Emancipation Proclamation:
Lincoln and Slavery:
•Lincoln despised the institution of
slavery
•Did not whole heartedly want the
Civil War to be about ending slavery
•Did not want to move against slavery
because of the border states
Dealing with Slavery
Emancipation Proclamation:
Lincoln decides….
•Constitution did not give Lincoln the
power to end slavery
•It did however give him the power to
take property from an enemy during
time of war
•Antietam gave Lincoln and the Union
the momentum to act on slavery
Dealing with Slavery
Emancipation Proclamation:
•Lincoln announced on September 22,
1862 that he would issue the
Emancipation Proclamation
•The Proclamation freed all
enslaved people in rebel territory on
January 1, 1863
Dealing with Slavery
Emancipation Proclamation:
•did not actually free an enslaved person
•it only applied to slaves in the
Confederacy and Lincoln could not
enforce it
•however, it was the 1st time the
government ever officially stated slavery
was wrong
•if the Union won…Slavery would be
banned
Life During the Civil War
A Different Way Of Life
Life at home: Even those who did not fight
in the war felt its effects:
•Many school aged children had to work to
help support their families
•Many schools were closed
•Schools and churches served as hospitals
A Different Way Of Life
Struggles in the South: Both armies spent
most of their time fighting on Southern soil
•There was an immense (very large)
amount of damage to the south
•Farms were destroyed
•Supplies could not get in
•Food, supplies, and other household
items were in short supply
New Roles For Women
Women on the home front:
•With men gone…women had to
take over
•Ran schools, businesses, farms,
and kept the home front going
New Roles For Women
Treating the Sick and Wounded:
•The Civil War was the first time
women served as nurses
•Famous women:
•Mary Edwards Walker: first women
army surgeon and won the
Congressional Medal of Honor
• Dorthea Dix: became an army
nurse and then recruited large
numbers of women to serve
New Roles For Women
•Famous women:
•Clara Barton: nurse…famous for
her work with wounded
soldiers…would form the ________
• Sally Tompkins: established a
hospital in Richmond for wounded
soldiers
New Roles For Women
Female Spies and Soldiers:
•Female soldiers: women disguised
themselves as men and became soldiers
•Women served as spies in for both the
Union and the Confederacy
Prison Camps and Field Hospitals
Prison Camps
•Andersonville Prison:
•Confederate prison located near
Atlanta, GA
•Was meant to hold 10,000 prisoners,
but by August 1864 it had 30,000
•Prisoners slept in shallow holes dug
into the ground
•Prisoners were given 1 teaspoon of
salt, 3 tablespoons of beans, and eight
ounces of cornmeal to eat each day
Prison Camps and Field Hospitals
Prison Camps
•Andersonville Prison:
•Drinking and cooking water came
from a nearby stream that also
served as a sewer
•About 13,000 Union soldiers died
at Andersonville, most from disease
Prison Camps and Field Hospitals
Prison Camps
•Elmira Prison:
•Union prison located in Elmira,
New York
•Confederate soldiers were forced
to spend cold New York winter
outside with no blankets or warm
clothes
Prison Camps and Field Hospitals
Prison Camps
•Elmira Prison:
•Hospital was in a flooded
basement that also served as a
sewer
•1/4 of all prisoners at Elmira died
Prison Camps and Field Hospitals
Field Hospitals
•Doctors traveled with soldiers and
operated on the battlefield
•Disease such was a constant threat
•Many soldiers died from disease
before ever seeing battle
Political and Economic Change
Political Change:
•Lincoln suspends habeas corpus:
• Constitution said the President can
suspend habeas corpus in times of
rebellion
•Opponents of the war in the North were
jailed for treason
• Draft Laws
•Confederate government passed a draft
law in 1862
•Union government passed a draft law in
1863
Political and Economic Change
Economic Effects:
•Both the North and South were strained
for money
•Each side paid for the war by
•Borrowing money through the sale
of war bonds
•Imposed new taxes, including
income tax
•Printed money….Union money was
call greenbacks
Weak Union Generals
Union Generals were weak and
costing the Union victories:
•General Major George McClellan:
•Very well prepared and strategic
•Reluctant (hesitant) in engaging the
enemy
•Made Lincoln mad when he refused
Lincoln’s order to follow and destroy
Lee’s troops after Antietam
•He is replaced as the head of the Union
forces by General Ambrose B. Burnside
Weak Union Generals
Union Generals were weak and
costing the Union victories:
•General Major Ambrose Burnside:
•Put in charge after McClellan angered
Lincoln
•Very aggressive but not a strategic or
logical thinker
•Lack of thinking lost him the battle of
Fredericksburg and his position
•He is replaced as the head of the Union
forces by Major General Joseph Hooker
Weak Union Generals
Union Generals were weak and
costing the Union victories:
•General Major Joseph Hooker:
•Put in charge after Burnside was
humiliated at Fredericksburg
•Very aggressive and a thinker but not
great at follow through
•Lack of follow through lost him the
battle of Chancellorsville and his
position
•He is replaced as the head of the Union
forces by Major General George Mead
War Rages: Southern Victories
Battle of Fredericksburg:
•December 13, 1862, Fredericksburg,
Virginia
•Confederates: 72,500 led by Robert
E. Lee
•Union: 114,000 led by General
Ambrose Burnside
War Rages: Southern Victories
Battle of Fredericksburg:
•After Antietam, Lee moved his troops
back into Virginia
•Union’s Ambrose decided to march
his troops towards Richmond and
attack the Confederate capital.
•Lee in his men were waiting at
Fredericksburg.
•Lee moved his forces to the hills and
had them dig trenches to fire down on
the enemy…
War Rages: Southern Victories
Battle of Fredericksburg:
•On December 13, 1862 Burnside
ordered his troops to attack…
•Lee’s troop attacked from the
trenches in the hill destroying Union
troops
•Lee solidifies is position in Virginia
and Burnside resigns
War Rages: Southern Victories
Battle of Chancellorsville:
•April 30-May 16,1863
Chancellorsville, Virginia
•Confederates: 60,892 led by Robert
E. Lee
•Union: 133,00 led by General George
Hooker
War Rages: Southern Victories
Battle of Chancellorsville:
•After Fredericksburg, Lee decided to
split his troops keeping some in
Fredericksburg and sending some to
Chancellorsville
•Union’s Hooker had also split his
troops in Virginia.
•Lee also sent a third troop, led by
Jackson, to block Hookers troop on
the side
War Rages: Southern Victories
Battle of Chancellorsville:
•Unknown to Hooker, Jackson’s
troops turned and attacked him in the
rear
•Hooker is sandwiched between Lee
and Jackson
War Rages: Southern Victories
Battle of Chancellorsville:
•Hooker is left with no choice but to
retreat
•Jackson was shot in the arm by
another Confederate soldier
•His left arm was amputated and he
died a week later
African Americans in the War
African Americans in the South:
•Confederate leaders did not want to
arm slaves
•Afraid salves would attack
Confederate soldiers or start a revolt
African Americans in the War
African Americans in the North:
•Lincoln originally did not want to
enlist African Americans out of fear
the border states would get mad
•By 1862…the north needed soldiers
so they allowed the formation of
African American regiments
•By the end of the war, African
Americans made up 10% of the Union
Army
African Americans in the War
54th Massachusetts :
•One of the first and fiercest all black
regiments
•Fought on the Front lines for the
Union at Ft. Wagner in South Carolina
•Nearly 300 members of the regiment
were killed, but the regiment would
not give up
•Shaw was killed fighting along side
his men….body was thrown in a ditch
Turning the Tide of War:
The Union Gains Command
The Tide of War Turns
Spring 1863 :
•Confederates were winning the war
as well as the support of Britain and
France
•Britain and France missed southern
cotton
•Confederate victories at Vicksburg and
Chancellorsville had the two countries
thinking the South might win the war
•Confederates wanted Britain and
France to send money and supplies
The Tide of War Turns
Gettysburg:
•July 1-4, 1863, Gettysburg
Pennsylvania
•Confederates: 71,000 led by Robert
E. Lee
•Union: 96,000 led by General George
G. Mead
The Tide of War Turns
Gettysburg:
•The fighting at Gettysburg was an
accident
•Lee and his troops were in the area
looking for supplies
•Lee did not want to fight Union
forces in an unfamiliar area
The Tide of War Turns
Gettysburg:
•Union troops were hiding in a section
of high ground called Cemetery Ridge
•Confederates tried to drive the Union
forces from the hills named Round
Top and Little Round Top
•Union forces were able to hold their
position
The Tide of War Turns
Gettysburg:
•After holding the hills, Mead decided
he was going to retreat
•Lee had other plans…attack and
destroy Union troops
•Lee started by ordering 140 cannons
to be shot at Union lines
•He then ordered the Confederate
troops commanded by General
George Pickett to attack the Union’s
center line at Cemetery Ridge
The Tide of War Turns
Gettysburg:
•Attack became known as Pickett’s
charge…
•At first, the plan worked…Picket broke the
first line of Union defense…
•However, the Union was able to hound
ground and win…over ¾ of the
Confederates that started the attack were
killed or wounded
The Tide of War Turns
Gettysburg:
•Lee retreats from Gettysburg on July 4,
1863
•Union wins Gettysburg….23,000
causalities
•Confederacy suffered 25,000 casualties
•Confederacy lost any hope of gaining the
support of France and Britain
•More casualties occurred at Gettysburg
then any other battle
•This battle marked the turning point in the
war
The Tide of War Turns
The Siege of Vicksburg:
•April-July, 1863, Vicksburg, Mississippi
•Vicksburg was an important river city
•Confederates: 33,000 led John C
Pemberton
•Union: 77,000 led by General Ulysses S.
Grant
The Tide of War Turns
The Siege of Vicksburg:
•Grant began his attack on Vicksburg in
April of 1863
•In May, he began a siege (military blockade)
of Vicksburg preventing food and supplies
from reaching the Confederates in Vicksburg
•Grant was helped by Union ships who fired
mortar (explosives) on the city
The Tide of War Turns
The Siege of Vicksburg:
•Fighting was brutal
•Both sides suffer heavy casualties….
•Union: 10,000
•Confederate: 9,000
•Many died from disease or starvation
•Union was able to hang on and take
Vicksburg
The Tide of War Turns
The Gettysburg Address:
•November 19, 1863
•Speech given by Lincoln to honor the
dead on both sides at Gettysburg
•Speech was 272 words long and took
only 2 minutes to deliver.
•Four score and seven years ago…
The Tide of War Turns
A New Union Strategy: Total War:
•By 1864…Union forces surrounded the
south
•Union controlled the Mississippi River
•Western confederates were cut off
•Confederacy could not get supplies
The Tide of War Turns
A New Union Strategy: Total War:
•Ulysses S. Grant takes charge
•Lincoln put Grant in charge of Union
troops in March, 1864
•Grant was a brilliant soldier
The Tide of War Turns
A New Union Strategy: Total War:
•Ulysses S. Grant :Total War
•Grant’s plan was to attack the
Confederacy from all sides, destroying
Confederate forces
•Grant would move his troops towards
Richmond, while General Sherman
would attack the deep south
•Two would meet in Richmond to
destroy the capital
The Tide of War Turns
A New Union Strategy: Total War:
•The Wilderness Campaign:
•The Wilderness was an area of dense
woods that lay between Washington
D.C. and Richmond
•Fighting began on May 5, 1864 and
lasted 6 weeks
•Union troops: 100,000 led by Ulysses
S. Grant
•Confederate troops: 60,000 led by
Robert E. Lee
The Tide of War Turns
A New Union Strategy: Total War:
•The Wilderness Campaign:
•“blind and bloody hunt to the death”
•Troops had to fight through thick,
heavy , tangled trees
•Forest fires burned 200 wounded men
alive
•Grant was eventually successful, but
at a huge cost for both sides
The Tide of War Turns
A New Union Strategy: Total War:
•The Wilderness Campaign:
•17,000 Union casualties in the
Wilderness, 50,00 total in the next 30
days
•50-60,000 Confederate casualties
The Tide of War Turns
A New Union Strategy: Total War:
•Sherman In Georgia:
•Sherman arrives in Georgia in early
July
•Face off against Confederate General
John Hood
•Hood’s forces put up a tough fight,
but finally had to abandon Atlanta on
September 1, 1864
The Tide of War Turns
A New Union Strategy: Total War:
•David Farragut takes Mobile Bay
•David Farragut was the highest
ranking official in the navy
•Moved his ships into Mobile Bay even
though they were being fired on from
both sides an torpedoed
•Strategy was a success…he took
Mobile Bay, the last Confederate port
East of the Mississippi
The Tide of War Turns
The Presidential Election of 1864:
•Confederates hoped Lincoln would lose
•Bring an end to the war
•Recognize the Confederacy as an
independent nation
The Tide of War Turns
The Presidential Election of 1864:
•Mobile Bay and Fall of Atlanta:
•Northerners begin to believe that they
can win the war
•Lincoln wins easily with 55% of the
popular vote
The Tide of War Turns
The Presidential Election of 1864:
•Mobile Bay and Fall of Atlanta:
•Northerners begin to believe that they
can win the war
•Lincoln wins easily with 55% of the
popular vote
The Tide of War Turns
The Presidential Election of 1864:
•13th Amendment:
•Lincoln views his reelection as a sign
that voters want to permanently end
slavery
•Lincoln helps pass the 13th
Amendment (January 31, 1865)
banning slavery in the United States
The War Ends:
Union On the Move:
•General Sherman’s March to the Sea:
•After taking Atlanta, Sherman and his
men become destroyers
•Sherman orders the burning of
Atlanta before he leaves to make sure
all Confederate supporters are
devastated and unable to help
The War Ends:
Union On the Move:
•General Sherman’s March to the Sea:
•Sherman’s men the marched from
Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia to take
over the sea port in Savannah
•Sherman and his troops burned cities
and farms along the way, destroying
anything that was useful to the
Confederates
The War Ends:
Union On the Move:
•General Sherman’s March to the Sea:
•Sherman’s march was a huge success
and he was able to meet up with Grant
near Richmond as the Union prepared
to attack and destroy the Confederate
capital
The War Ends:
Union On the Move:
•The Fall of Richmond:
•Grant and his troops did not even
have to do any heavy fighting to take
Richmond
•As the Union drew near, the
Confederates set weapons on fire, and
Jefferson Davis and the Confederate
government fled Richmond
The War Ends:
Union On the Move:
•The Fall of Richmond:
•Grant and his troops did not even
have to do any heavy fighting to take
Richmond
•As the Union drew near, the
Confederates set weapons on fire, and
Jefferson Davis and the Confederate
government fled Richmond
The War Ends:
Union On the Move:
•Surrender at Appomattox:
•After the fall of Richmond, Lee was
determined to continue fighting
•After the Union captured a train car
carrying supplies and food for Lee’s
troops, he surrendered
The War Ends:
Union On the Move:
•Surrender at Appomattox:
•Lee and Grant met face to face in the
Virginia town of Appomattox Court
House
•Grant was a true gentleman…insisted
Lee be treated with the respect and
prestige befitting a General
The War Ends:
Union On the Move:
•Surrender at Appomattox:
•Grant offered the following terms of
surrender:
•Lee’s soldiers could keep small firearms,
officers could keep horses
•No Union soldiers would disturb the
Confederate soldiers as they made their
way home
•Grant gave Lee 25,000 rations to feed his
troops