1846-1877
•
•
•
•
Chapter 15: The Nation Breaking Apart
Chapter 16: The Civil War Begins
Chapter 17: The Tide of War Turns
Chapter 18: Reconstruction
The Civil War represented the greatest threat to the
survival of the American republic in our history. Why we
fought, how the Union won, and how we rebuilt the
nation remain enduring matters of discussion and
debate.
Lesson 1: War Erupts
• Lesson 1: War Erupts
• Lesson 2: Life in the Army
• Lesson 3: No End in Sight
What events, leaders, and strategies shaped the early
years of the war?
What were the strategies of the North and the South?
• Fort Sumter: Union fort in the harbor of Charleston,
South Carolina
• Confederacy: Nation formed by Southern states
• Robert E. Lee: Confederate general, commander of
the Army of Northern Virginia
• Anaconda Plan: Union strategy to defeat the
Confederacy
• Southerners expected a short war that they would easily win
• Northerners expected the same!
• Americans slowly realized the war would be long and
difficult.
• South took control of the
Union’s federal forts
• Fort Sumter ran out of
supplies
• If Lincoln sent supplies… he
risked war
• If Lincoln surrendered the
fort… he would be giving
in to the rebels
• He decided to send
supplies and notify the
Confederacy
• Confederate leaders
decided to attack the fort
before the supplies arrived
• April 12, 1861
•
•
•
•
Confederate troops open fired
34 hours of shooting
Union troops surrendered
No one was killed
• This marked the start of the
Civil War
• Lincoln asked Union states to provide 75,000 militiamen for 90
days to put down the uprising
• A militia is a group of individuals who are civilians that are called for in
emergency situations
• The Northern states responded with enthusiasm
• The upper South responded with defiance
• Soon additional states seceded
• Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas
• Not all slave states seceded
• Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri
•
•
•
•
= Union States
= Slave State not seceding
= Confederate State
= Territory/Not State
• Virginia was very important to the South
•
•
•
•
Rich
Populous (many people)
Confederacy moved their capital to Richmond
Home of Robert E. Lee
• Lee resigned from the US army and joined the Confederacy
• After Virginia seceded
• People wondered about the border states
• Their locations and resources were important
• All stayed with the Union
• Later, the western counties of Virginia broke away and formed the
new state of West Virginia and joined the Union
• In total: 24 Union states and 11 Confederate states
Confederacy
• Started with a defensive
strategy
• Hoped to gain allies with
Great Britain and France
because of their
dependence on cotton
• They did not join
• Did invade the North a
couple times
Union
• Strategy was offensive
• Invade and conquer
• Anaconda Plan
• Designed to strangle the
South’s economy like a giant
anaconda snake squeezing its
prey
• Naval blockade of the South’s
coastline
• Control the Mississippi River
(would split the Confederacy
in two)
• Capture Confederate capital
(Richmond, VA)
Union
Confederacy
• Strengths
• Large area
• Good generals
• Soldiers were fighting to
protect their homeland
• Weaknesses
• Small population
• 5.5 million free; 3.5 slaves
• Few factories
• Fewer railroads
• No naval power
• Strengths
•
•
•
•
Large population (22 million)
85% of nation’s factories
70% or nations railroads
Strong navy
• Weaknesses
• Depended on long supply lines
• Fewer good military leaders
• Soldiers were fighting an offensive war
• People called for an attack on Richmond, VA
• The Union army would have to defeat the Confederate troops at
Manassas, VA first
• July 16, 1861
• Union forces marched to Manassas
• Troops were joined by hundred of spectators who expected a quick and
entertaining battle
• Union forces attacked at Bull Run
• Confederate troops were driven back
• But….
• A regiment led by Thomas J. Jackson stopped the Union troops
• “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall!”
• Nicknamed “Stonewall” Jackson
• Confederate troops charged while letting out the “rebel yell”
• Union soldiers ran for their lives and spectators were shocked
• Confederacy won
• Casualties
• 2,700 for the North
• 2,000 for the South
• It became obvious that this would be a deadly war.
Some showed up as early as 3 am to tailgate
in their coach-and-fours, drink champagne,
and grill cucumber sandwiches.
• Three points became clear
• The fighting would be bloody
• The war would not be over quickly
• Southern soldiers would fight fiercely to defend the Confederacy
• After Bull Run, Lincoln realized the 90-day militias were no
match for Confederate forces
• He sent them home and called for a real army of 500,000
volunteers for 3 years
• He appointed George McClellan as Commander of the Union
army
• What were the strategies of the North and the
South?
Lesson 2: Life in the Army
• Lesson 1: War Erupts
• Lesson 2: Life in the Army
• Lesson 3: No End in Sight
What events, leaders, and strategies shaped the early
years of the war?
What difficulties did soldiers face?
• Enlist: To join the armed forces
• Hygiene: Conditions and practices that often promote
health
“I am glad that Jim has not joined any [regiment]
and I hope he never will. I would not have him go
for all my pay; it would be very improbable that
we could both go through this war and come out
unharmed. Let him come here and see the
thousands with their arms and legs cut off, or if
that won’t do, let him go as I did the other day
through Frederick hospitals and see how little
account a man’s life and limbs are held in by
others.
- Major Peter Vredenburgh
• Majority of soldiers were 18-30 years old
• Some were as young as 11
• Some were as old as 83
•
•
•
•
On both sides, men rushed to enlist
German and Irish immigrants also joined
At the beginning, African Americans were not allowed to fight
Throughout the war
• About 2 million served in the Union Army
• Less than 1 million served in the Confederate Army
•
•
•
•
Volunteers were sent to training camp
Union soldiers were given blue uniforms
Confederate soldiers wore gray or yellowish-brown
Clothing, shoes, and food grew scarce as the war went on
• Advances in military technology brought many casualties
• Medical technologies were poor and filthy conditions
spread disease
• Camps were dirty and smelled of garbage and latrines
•
•
•
•
Soldiers often did not bathe or wash their clothing
Flea infestation
Poor hygiene spread disease
Doctors often performed surgery without washing their
hands
• Because of these conditions, more men died from disease
than on the battlefield
• War was difficult for all soldiers, but the worst for prisoners
• Prisoners faced terrible conditions
•
•
•
•
Many died of sickness and exposure to severe weather
Little shelter
Drinking water could come from a creek that was also a sewer
Others died from starvation and disease
• Improvements had huge effects on the war
• Rifles and Minié Balls
• Rifle has a grooved barrel that spins the bullet
• Minié ball expands upon firing
• Could shoot farther and more accurately than muskets
• Changes in Naval Warfare
• Ironclads were warships covered with iron
• Faster and better protected
• Famous Ironclad Battle
• Union’s the Monitor fought Confederate’s the Merrimac
• Neither side won
• Despite new technology, neither side was able to defeat the
other in the first two years of the war
What difficulties did soldiers face?
Lesson 3: No End in Sight
• Lesson 1: War Erupts
• Lesson 2: Life in the Army
• Lesson 3: No End in Sight
What events, leaders, and strategies shaped the early
years of war?
What were some important victories of the North and
South?
• Ulysses S. Grant: Union general who won battles in
the west
• Battle of Shiloh: Bloody battle in Tennessee won by
Grant
• William Tecumseh Sherman: Union general at the
Battle of Shiloh
• Battle of Antietam: Battle in Maryland that ended
Lee’s first invasion of the North
• George McClellan was the current Union general in
the East
• The Union had just lost at Bull Run
• McClellan restored the soldiers’ confidence and spent time
organizing and training them
• He was reluctant to attack Richmond and spent more time
training the troops
• Ulysses S. Grant was the current Union general in the
West
• Grant’s strategy: “Find out where your enemy is. Get at
him as soon as you can. Strike at him as hard as you can,
and keep moving on.”
• In February 1862, Grant used ironclads to capture to
Confederate river forts in Tennessee
• The Union gunboats could now travel as far as Alabama
by river
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Grant followed troops into Mississippi
Confederates surprise attacked Union troops near Shiloh Church
This was the fiercest fighting in the war so far
Union general, William Tecumseh Sherman, had 3 horses shot
out from under him
Each side believed they would win in the morning
Terrible thunderstorms during the night
During the night, Union reinforcements arrived
Grant led an attack at dawn and forced the Southern troops to
retreat
Casualties
• Union: 13,000 (about 1/5 of the 65,000)
• Confederate: 11,000 (about ¼ of the 41,000)
• Many people in the North wanted Lincoln to fire Grant because
of the high casualties
• April 25, 1862: Union fleet led by Admiral Farragut captured
New Orleans (the largest city in the South)
• Farragut’s ships had to run through cannon fire and dodge
burning rafts in order to reach the city
• This was a heavy blow to the South
• “New Orleans gone – and with it the Confederacy. Are we not cut in two?
– Mary Chesnut (South Carolinian)
• The Union was well on its way to achieving their goal of cutting the
Confederacy in two
• Confederacy still controlled the heavily armed fort at Vicksburg
• June 1862: Lee takes charge of the army of
Northern Virginia
• June 25-July 1, 1862- Seven Days’ Battle
• Sent men to spy on General McClellan who reported their position
• Lee attacked McClellan’s army for a week
• The number of casualties was horrific
• Union: 15,849
• Confederacy: around 20,000
• Although the Confederates suffered more losses, the Union was forced to
retreat
• The Union plan to capture Richmond had failed
• Confederates won again at Bull Run
• Union troops were pushed back to Washington
• Lee had ended the Union threat to Virginia
• Renewed the Confederate hopes of winning the war
• Because of recent victories, Lee decided to go on the offensive
• Invaded Maryland in September 1862
• Reasons:
•
•
•
•
Hoped a victory in the North would force Lincoln into peace talks
Invasion would give Virginian farmers a rest during harvest season
Confederates could plunder, or steal from, Northern farms for food
Show that the Confederacy could win the war, which could convince
European nations to side with the South
• Lee drew up a plan for his invasion of the North
• A Confederate officer accidentally left a copy of the battle
plans wrapped around 3 cigars at a campsite
• Union troops passed through and found the plans
• The captured plans gave McClellan a chance to stop Lee
• McClellan went on the attack, but moved slowly
• September 17, 1862 at Antietam Creek, Maryland
• Lee and McClellan clashed
• Bloodiest day in American history
“Again and again… by charges and counter-charges, this portion of the
field was lost and recovered, until the green corn that grew upon it
looked as if it had been struck by a storm of bloody hail… From
sheer exhaustion, both sides, like battered and bleeding athletes,
seemed willing to rest.”
- John B. Gordon (Confederate officer)
• Neither side had gained any ground by nightfall
• The only difference was that 23,000 men were dead or wounded
• Lee lost almost ¼ of his army, withdrew to Virginia
• The cautious McClellan did not follow, missing a chance to finish off
the crippled Southern army
• Lincoln was so frustrated that he fired McClellan
What were some important victories of the North and
South?
What events, leaders, and strategies shaped the early
years of the war?