The U.S. Civil War
Blue vs. Gray
North vs. South in 1861
Advantages
?
?
Disadvantages
?
?
Rating the North and the South
Resources: North and South
Overview
of
the North’s
Civil War
Strategy:
“Anaconda”
Plan
Northern Strategy
Expected a short war
GOAL: To re-unite the
Union
Winfield Scott proposes a
plan
Anaconda Plan
• Economic Starvation –
Blockade the South
• Divide the Confederacy –
Control the Mississippi
River
• Capture the Capital –
Richmond, VA
Southern Strategy
Win by not losing
* Fight a defensive war – avoid major battles
* Extend the war to gain support of European
nations (France & Great Britain) who depend on
“King Cotton”
* Strong military leaders give the South a chance
The Union & Confederacy in 1861
Lincoln’s Generals
Winfield Scott
Irwin McDowell
George McClellan
Joseph Hooker
Ambrose Burnside
Ulysses S. Grant
George Meade
George McClellan,
Again!
McClellan: I Can Do It All!
The Leader of the Confederacy
Pres. Jefferson Davis
The Confederate Generals
“Stonewall” Jackson
Nathan Bedford
Forrest
George Pickett
Jeb Stuart
James Longstreet
Robert E. Lee
Americans Expect a Short War
• Bull Run
– Bull Run—first battle, near Washington, D.C.; Confederate victory
• This battle shows both sides that the war will not be short.
– Thomas J. Jackson called Stonewall Jackson for firm stand in battle
Britain Remains Neutral
• Britain Pursues Its Own Interests
– Britain has cotton inventory, new sources; does not need
South
– Needs Northern wheat, corn; chooses neutrality
• The Trent Affair
– Confederate diplomats travel on Trent to get British,
French support
– U.S. Navy arrests them; Lincoln frees them, averts war with
Britain
• Almost brings Britain into the war.
The War for the Capitals
• “On to Richmond”
– McClellan waits to attack Confederate capital, Richmond; drills troops
for 5 months
– Spring 1862, Robert E. Lee takes command of Southern army
• Lee, McClellan fight Seven Days’ Battle; Union leaves
Richmond area
– Lee shows the advantage of military leadership for the Confederacy.
– The confederacy in the east is very successful, even though they are
outnumber, and outmatched
The War for the Capitals
• Antietam
• Lee wins the Second Battle of Bull Run; marches into Maryland !!!!!
• Lee, McClellan clash at Antietam—bloodiest single-day battle in
American History!!!!!!!
• Battle a standoff; Confederates retreat; McClellan does not pursue
• Lincoln fires McClellan
Battle of Antietam
“Bloodiest Single Day of the War”
September 17, 1862
23,000 casualties
What is the message of this sculpture?
The Republican Party Opposes Slavery
• Many Northerners who opposed slavery joined
the Republican Party.
• Abolitionists – wanted to end ALL slavery.
• However, not all Northern whites agreed. The
majority of Northern whites were prejudiced
against African Americans (free/slave).
• BUT…the majority of Northern whites did NOT
want slavery to spread westward into new
territories.
Emancipation in 1863
The
Emancipation
Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation
•
•
By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, President
Lincoln makes slavery the focus of the war.
Terms of the Proclamation:
1) frees slaves in the Confederate states
2) does NOT apply to areas occupied by the Union or states
where slavery is permitted in the Union – (such as the border
states of Missouri and Kentucky)
3) Discourages Britain from supporting/joining the Confederacy
Both Sides Face Political Problems
• Dealing with Dissent
• Lincoln suspends habeas corpus:
– order to bring accused to court, explain charges
– (Copperheads – anti-war N Democrats among those arrested)
– Seizes telegraph offices to prevent subversion
• Confederate President Davis denounces Lincoln’s action
– Then suspends habeas corpus in South also
• Lincoln’s action in dramatically expanding presidential powers
to meet a crisis in wartime “emergency powers” sets
precedent for future presidents
Both Sides Face Political Problems
• Conscription
–
–
–
–
Casualties, desertions lead to conscription—draft to serve in army
Both armies allow draftees to hire substitutes to serve for them
Planters with more than 20 slaves exempted
90% eligible Southerners serve; 92% Northern soldiers volunteer
• Draft Riots
– White workers fear Southern blacks will come North, compete for jobs
– Angry at having to free slaves, mobs rampage through New York City
– Also rioted because the rich did not have to fight. (Substitutes)
Buy Your Way Out of Military Service
Bottom Rail on Top – Disc 3
The War Affects Regional Economies
• FOOD SHORTAGES in the South
– Food shortages from lost manpower,
Northern occupation, loss of slaves
– Blockade creates other shortages;
some Confederates trade with enemy
• ECONOMY BOOM in the North
–
–
–
–
Industries that supply army boom; some contractors cheat and profit
Wages do not keep up with prices; workers’ standard of living drops
Women replace men on farms, city jobs, government jobs
Congress establishes first income tax on earnings to pay for war
Soldiers Suffer on Both Sides
• More soldiers died from Dysentery (diarrhea) than
were killed in battle
• Lived in unsanitary camp conditions (epidemics easily
spread) wash hands 1/day, bathe 1/week
• 75% of surgeries were amputations (saw often used
on 1 person after another w/o sanitizing)
- fingers the most amputated body part
Soldiers Suffer on Both Sides
• Prisons
– Andersonville—worst Confederate prison (in Georgia)
– Conditions so bad that Major (warden) Henry Wirz is tried,
convicted, hanged for war crimes from Andersonville
– no shelter, sanitation, little food
– 1/3 of prisoners die
– Northern prisons more space, food, shelter
Vicksburg Under Siege
• Grant Wins at Vicksburg
– Confederate Vicksburg prevents Union from
controlling Mississippi
– Spring 1863, Union destroys MS rail lines, sacks
Jackson
– Grant begins siege in May
– Starving Confederates surrender on July 4
– Confederacy completely divided
Armies Clash at Gettysburg
• Prelude to Gettysburg
In May 1863, South defeats North at Chancellorsville
– Stonewall Jackson mistakenly shot by own troops
– dies 8 days later of pneumonia
Armies Clash at Gettysburg
• Three-day battle at Gettysburg devastates/cripples the
South…
1) Union (Meade) and Confederate (Lee)
2) vicious artillery fire
3) on 3rd day, Lee retreats and Meade stays behind
• Staggering losses on both sides
• This is the turning point in the war
51,000 casualties
at Gettysburg
(killed, wounded, captured, and missing)
Mary was hysterical
that Taddie was ill
in bed and Abraham
was thinking of
going to Gettysburg.
Lincoln himself was ill and was quarantined
for nearly 3 weeks upon returning.
Lincoln’s valet
died from
scarlet fever
after returning
from
Gettysburg.
The White House
Transcontinental railroad issues...
Sensitive diplomatic affairs...
Preparation of message to Congress...
Key elections in Maryland...
Visits from state government officials...
Public order in Louisiana...
Developing Reconstruction plans...
“...his public duties are so pressing...”
Gen. Meade at the Rappahannock...
Selecting commanders for USCT...
Efforts to invade Texas...
Dispute with Gen. Rosencrans...
Gen. Burnside’s retreat to Knoxville...
Gen. Sherman on the march...
Attempted retaking of Ft. Sumter...
Gen. Grant ready
attack
Chattanooga...
ThetoWar
Department
The War Department
Fewer than 300 words
Only 9 sentences
Less than 3 minutes
The Gettysburg Address
• The Memorial Ceremony
– November 1863, ceremony held to dedicate cemetery in
Gettysburg and honors dead soldiers
– Edward Everett, noted speaker, gives flowery two-hour
speech
– Lincoln’s two-minute Gettysburg Address asserts unity of
U.S.
– Speech calls for living to dedicate selves to preserving the
Union and freedom
The Confederacy Wears Down
• Sherman’s March to the Sea
• Sept, 1864:
1) Sherman takes Atlanta
- not much of a fight, Atlanta mostly vacant
2) Sherman cuts wide path (60 miles) of destruction
across Georgia towards Savannah
3) By December, takes Savannah and moves up to SC
- even more destruction in SC
The Confederacy Wears Down
• Grant and Lee in Virginia
• Grant’s strategy:
1) immobilize Lee in Virginia while Sherman raids
Georgia
2) May 1864-April 1865, Grant and Lee fight many
battles
- heavy losses on both sides
- North can replace soldiers – South cannot!
The Confederacy Wears Down
• Confederate Morale
– South unable to attack; hopes to get armistice
– Civilian morale plummets
– Discord in government
• Grant Appoints Sherman
– March 1864, Lincoln appoints Grant commander of all Union armies
– Grant appoints William Tecumseh Sherman commander of Mississippi
division [West]
Grant, Sherman believe in total war
to destroy South’s will to fight
Sherman’s
“March
to the
Sea”
through
Georgia,
1864
“Uncle Billy”
1864 Election
Pres. Lincoln (R)
George McClellan (D)
Key Players
•
•
•
•
Ulysses S. Grant - NORTH
Fought in the war with
Mexico
Started Civil War as a
volunteer
Lincoln promotes him
Becomes eighteenth
president
Robert E. Lee - SOUTH
• Aristocrat – father served
under George Washington
• Believed slavery was evil
• Loyal to his beloved Virginia
Surrender at Appomattox
April 9, 1865
Casualties on Both Sides
Why was the Civil War so deadly?
• Considered the 1st Modern War
– New Weapons
• Long-range artillery
• Accurate rifles
– Old tactics
• Fighting in straight lines
• Attacking in close formation
– Medical Procedures
• Little knowledge of bacteria and infection
Civil War Casualties
in Comparison to Other Wars
The Costs of the War
•
Costs of the War
1) Hundreds of thousands dead, wounded; lives
disrupted
•
•
Union troops killed 360,000
Confederate troops killed 260,000
2) Financially, war costs the government an
estimated $3.3 billion
The War Changes Lives
• New Birth of Freedom
1) 1865: 13th Amendment abolishes slavery in all
states
• Civilians Follow New Paths
1) Some soldiers stay in army, others are civilians,
many go west
Ford’s Theater (April 14, 1865)
The Assassin
John Wilkes Booth
The Assassination
WANTED!!!
Now He Belongs to the Ages!
THE EXECUTION