 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
Confusion reigned in North and
South
 Pres. 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 ground
2. Created anger in North
3. Created “war fever” in South
4. Va. And 4 more states seceded
NORTH
1.Size
23 States
2.Population 22 mil (4 mil. Men)
3.Railroads
4.Money
5.Industry
SOUTH
11 States
9 mil (1.2 mil
men)
20,000 mi., 96% of 9,000 mi.
RR equip
$189 million
$47 million
$56 million in gold $27 mil. (gold)
4/5 nation’s
1/5 nation’s ind.
industry
NORTH
SOUTH
6.Agriculture
Grew 2/3
nation’s food
Mostly cotton
7.Leaders
Lincoln (strong) Davis (weak)
8.Military
Leaders
Poor Generals
9.Enlisted
Few skilled
Good riders and
riders, few good shots. Owned
shots
guns
Strong (most
US Generals
and officers)
 1st Major Battle- July 1861
 Location – 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.
 Tactics – equipment, methods, and
manpower changed during the war.
 Manpower:
 Started with volunteers
 Later had to draft (Lincoln 1st US President
to draft-1863)
 Troops organized by state
 No uniforms in beginning – later went to
blue and grey
 Infantry – Cavalry and Artillery
 Weapons –
 Guns and muskets in the beginning
 Rifles 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)
 Civil War Medicine
 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.
2.
3.
Must think defensively
No easy victories; 23,000 dead
Beginning of South’s failure to hold the
Mississippi River.
Part 2 - Naval Blockade
a. Successful in blocking regular
shipping
b. Blockade Runners – good but
small
c. Union captured New Orleans
Inside the
Hunley
Part 3 - Eastern Campaign – to
capture Richmond
(Confederacy Capital)
a. Peninsula Campaign- Virginia
McClellan (cautious) vs. Lee
(Bold & brilliant)
b. Second Bull Run – South won
Sept. 1862 Antietam (Md.) – South
on Offensive
1. Lee’s plans found by McClellan’s Army
2. McClellan won but didn’t follow
through.
3. Bloodiest single day of war; 22,000
dead
4. Lincoln fired McClellan
Antietam,
Marylandsingle
bloodiest day
of the war
 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”
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
 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 SUPPORT
 GAVE THE WAR A MORAL CRUSADE
Turning Point of the War
Gettysburg (Pa.) – won July 4, 1863
a. 3 day battle – 51,000 dead,
wounded, or missing
b. North won, the South lost too
many
c. Only the 2nd time the South
went North to fight
Gettysburg Address – Lincoln’s
two minute speech.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gettysb
urgaddress.htm
a. Stated a new purpose – to end
slavery
b. 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.”
Vicksburg – won July 4,
1863
a. 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
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.
1.
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 Changes
1. “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.
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
Death of Lincoln
1. 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.
1. Lincoln wanted a mild
reconstruction plan (forgiving)
2. The Radical Republicans wanted a
harsh reconstruction plan to punish
the South.