The American Civil War
Part Two:
Soldiers, Battles, and a Divided
Nations
GPS SS8H6b
We will state the importance of key events of
the Civil War to include Antietam,
Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg,
Chickamauga, the Union blockade of
Georgia's coast, Sherman’s Atlanta
Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea,
and Andersonville.
How did the Union and the Confederacy
Compare with each other?
Strengths of each side
UNION
► Superior number of
population, factories,
manufacturing
weapons, railroads,
etc.
► Out produce in food
crops
► Controlled 80% of
bank money
► Organized military
and technology
CONFEDERACY
1. Best Generals (Lee
and Jackson)
2. Soldiers more
experienced with
outdoors, guns, and
horses
3. Fighting to protect
their homes
4. Patriotic spirit and
confidence
Georgia in 1861
a. Agriculture: By 1860 there were 68,000 farms in GA.
Produced 700,000 bales of cotton in 1860.
Only 3,500 farms (5%) were of 500 acres or more.
b. Slavery: 460,000 slaves (4 million in South total)
Only 236 Georgians owned more than 100 slaves and 60
percent had no slaves at all.
Over half of the wealth of Georgia ($400 million) was in
the value of slaves as property
c. Railroads: 1,226 miles of railroads
Main lines were Savannah to Macon to Atlanta;
Montgomery, AL to Atlanta to Augusta; Chattanooga to
Atlanta
1840s Atlanta first called Terminus (end of line
Chattanooga to Chattahoochee River)
Confederate Railroads
Map Search
1-Battle of Antietam; 2-Battle of Gettysburg; 3-Battle of
Chickamauga; 4-Atlanta Campaign; 5-Andersonville; 6Sherman’s March to the Sea; 7-Battle of Shiloh
8-Seige of Vicksburg; 9-Battle of Chancellorsville
10-Richmond (Capital of Confederacy)
11-Washington D.C. (Capital of Union)
12-Milledgville (Capital of Georgia)
^-^-^-^-^--Union Blockade of the South
+++++++Major Railroads of Georgia
Military Objectives in 1861
UNION
1. Preserve the Union
2. “Anaconda Plan”
a. Divide the
Confederacy in two via
the Mississippi River
b. Capture Richmond
c. Capture important
transportation centers
(Atlanta) and ports
d. Union Blockade
(nothing coming in or
out)
CONFEDERACY
1. Maintain
Independence!!!
2. Offensive Defense
3. “Cotton Diplomacy”
Hope European powers
will:
a. Break the Northern
blockade
b. Join the side of the
South against the
North
4. Test Northern public
opinion’s will to fight
Daily Lives of Civilians and Soldiers during the Civil War (SS8H6b)
1. How were the daily lives of Southerners affected by the Union Blockade?
They couldn’t import sugar and coffee. Cotton and tobacco couldn’t be shipped out. Limited
amount of meat.
Do to limited supply of food prices rose dramatically ex. Salt used to be one cent a pound before
war now it is fifty cents, flour 200 dollars a barrel also shoes were a hundred dollars a pair.
People resorted to using curtains and carpets to make clothes used animal skins for shoes
Limited med supply confederate soldiers had to do without guns and uniforms people had very
little wood or coal to heat their homes
2. Nickname for a Union soldier was Billy Yank, and the nickname for a Confederate soldier was
Johnny Rebel.
3. What were the average daily rations for a Union soldier?
20 oz. of beef, 18 of flour, 2.5 of dried beans, 1.6 of coffee, 2.4 of sugar,.64 of salt
What rations for a Confederate soldier? And why who they have very little?
1.4lbs of bacon 18oz. of flour 10lbs of rice small amount of dried beans and fruit
4. The color of the Union uniforms was blue and the typical Confederate soldier wore grey
colored uniforms.
5. What items would a Civil War carry in their knapsacks and belts?
Paper to write letters home, pictures, book, utensils and a cup, sewing kit
Cap box, rolled up blanket
6. What types of activities would Civil War soldiers engage in when not in battle?
Play jokes on each other, write letters, read letters, play games such as chess, checkers,
gambling, wood carving, prayer and camp meetings
The Emancipation Proclamation
► Issued
by Abraham Lincoln on September
22, 1862
► Battle of Antietam was the victory Lincoln
needed to make the proclamation public
► Changed the focus of the war from just
“preserving the Union” to
Freeing men from slavery!!!
**Freed slaves only in areas that were in
rebellion against United States
Lincoln’s reasons for the Emancipation
Proclamation
Military
A. Incentive to stop rebellion
B. Use freedmen as soldiers
C. Demoralize Confederate leaders and soldiers
1.
Diplomatically
A. Convince Great Britain and France from joining
on side of Confederacy (or)
B. Recognizing southern independence
2.
Lincoln’s reasons for the Emancipation
Proclamation
C.
Morally
1. Bring the nation in line with the principle in
the Declaration of Independence that “all men
are created equal”
2. Raised the perception of war from political to
moral : not just preserving the Union BUT
making men free!!
3. Speed up the inevitable—slavery will end
someday, so why not NOW!!
4. Lincoln’s own personal convictions
What did it say?
“That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all
persons held as slaves within any State or
designated part of a State the people
whereof shall then be in rebellion against
the United States shall then,
thenceforward, and forever free. . .”
Or in today’s language –if you are still
fighting against the United Sates, you lose
your slaves!!!!
1. Slaves would be freed in the states of: Arkansas,
Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina, and North Carolina
2. Slaves will only be freed in certain part of the
states of Louisiana (southern part and New Orleans)
and Virginia (western Virginia and by Norfolk)
3. Slavery will remain in the border states of
Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and
Tennessee
African-American Soldiers
1. How many African-Americans fought in the Civil
War?
2. What did the 54th Massachusetts felt they had to
prove during the war?
3. What famous battle did they prove themselves as
soldiers?
4. Which black soldier won the Congressional Medal of
Honor?
5. What was the most honored position within an army
unit during the Civil War?
(Information was from Georgia Stories Video Series)
Animated maps of the Battle of
Chickamauga
Civil War in Georgia: 1863
Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20)
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Union western forces planned to secure important railroad center of
Chattanooga, TN. To do so, move to defeat Confederates at
Chickamauga Creek in northern Georgia.
Confederates, lead by General Braxton Bragg, defeats Union army.
Retreat back to Chattanooga and Confederates trap them.
Bragg, however, fails to follow up and attack. Another victory would
have turned the war in the favor of the South (lost at Gettysburg and
Vicksburg two months before)
General U.S. Grant takes over for Union, and defeats Bragg’s army in
November 1863.
Chickamauga seen as “The Last hurrah of the South!”
Civil War In Georgia: 1864
Atlanta Campaign (May to September 1864)
Three Contest in 1864 which will decide the
War
#1 Battles in Virginia
U.S. Grant (Lt. General of the
Army of the Potomac)
Robert E. Lee (General
of the Army of
Northern Virginia)
Three Contests in 1864 which will decide the
War
#2 Battles in Georgia
► General William T.
Sherman
(112, 000 soldiers)
► General
Joseph E.
Johnston
(60,000 soldiers)
Three Contest in 1864 which will decide the
War
#3 Election of 1864
Abraham Lincoln
(Republican Party)
Running for re-election
Emancipation Proclamation
General George B.
McClellan
(Northern Democrats or
“Copperheads” who opposed the
won)
Fired by Lincoln twice
In Spring of 1864, Grant’s and Sherman’s armies
move to defeat the southern armies.
Grant’s objective was to defeat Robert E. Lee and
capture Richmond
Sherman’s objective was to defeat Johnston’s army
in Georgia and capture the industrial and railroad
center of Atlanta.
Abraham Lincoln was running for re-election
and needed one of the two southern armies
defeated, and Richmond or Atlanta
captured.
Why?
Ex-General George McClellan and
Copperheads were feeding off the Northern
citizens who were becoming tried of the
war!!
(Too many killed; Is the Union worth it?)
By July 1864
the fate of the Union looked bad!!
WHY??
Lee and Grant fought to a tie, and both
armies entrenched around St. Petersburg
and Richmond, VA
Northern public perceived Grant as a
“butcher” by sacrificing too many soldiers
Robert E. Lee is “unstoppable” and cannot
be defeated!!
► In
Georgia, Sherman’s and Johnston’s armies
fight to a stalemate outside of Atlanta.
► Although outnumbered and out gunned,
a. Johnston plays a defensive campaign and
refuses to attack
b. Forces Sherman to attack and lose men (such
as, Kennesaw Mountain where 3,000 died or
wounded)
c. Burns bridges and blocks roads to slow
Sherman’s advance towards Atlanta
► As
a result, the Northern public perceives
Lincoln’s war strategies as a failure
► The cities of Atlanta and Richmond can
never be captured
► The war is going “NO WHERE!!”
► Copperheads and Democrats promise an
end to the war, allow the Confederacy
their independence, and void the
Emancipation Proclamation if McClellan is
elected as President to replace Lincoln!!!
► So
all the Confederacy has to do is to hold
onto their positions and maintain the
stalemates outside of Atlanta and
Richmond until November’s 1864
Presidential election.
BUT—did that happen?
NO!! Someone changed all that!!
Ironically, the
Confederacy’s own
President, Jefferson
Davis fires Johnston
as commander of the
southern troops in
Georgia
Why?
1. Wanted a General
who attacked
2. Personality conflict
with Johnston
Now What?
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John Bell Hood, new commander of southern army in GA,
leads series of “foolish” and overconfident attack on
Sherman’s in July and August 1864.
Over 12,000 irreplaceable troops are lost, and eventually
had to leave Atlanta on September 1st!!
The Consequences
Lincoln gets his victory and is re-elected (The war will go
on.)
South loses an important transportation and industrial
center (Cannot supply Lee’s troops in Virginia)
Opens the door for Sherman to wage Total War in
Georgia
Georgia Stories: Battle of Jonesboro
Sherman’s March to the Sea:
A Tragic Example of Total War
In November 15, 1864, General Sherman started out to capture
Savannah, GA.
He also wanted to wage “total war” on the South (military and civilians).
Why?
a. Break down what economic and transportation resources the South
still had.
b. Punish the South for leaving the Union
c. Break the spirit of its people and bring war to a quick end.
Breaking off all communication with Washington, Sherman lead 65,000
Union troops on a path of destruction on innocent citizens
For five weeks, Sherman’s army burnt farms, plantation homes, and confiscated
most food supplies.
Describe this picture. Who is involved? And what
are they doing?
His troops left “Sherman sentinels”
which were burnt homes with only the
chimneys standing
They also left “Sherman neckties” which
were rails torn up, heated and then wrapped
around trees
Oh God, the time of trial has come!“
Personal Account of Sherman’s March
Dolly Sumner Lunt was born in Maine in 1817. She moved to Georgia as a
young woman to join her married sister. She became a school teacher
in Covington, Ga. where she met and married Thomas Burge, a
plantation owner.When her husband died in 1858, Dolly was left alone
to manage the plantation and its slaves. Dolly kept a diary of her
experiences and we join her story as Sherman's army approaches her
home:
November 19, 1864
Slept in my clothes last night, as I heard that the Yankees went to
neighbor Montgomery's on Thursday night at one o'clock, searched
his house, drank his wine, and took his money and valuables. As we
were not disturbed, I walked after breakfast, with Sadai [the
narrator's 9-year-old daughter], up to Mr. Joe Perry's, my nearest
neighbor, where the Yankees were yesterday.
Saw Mrs. Laura [Perry] in the road surrounded by her children, seeming to be looking for
some one. She said she was looking for her husband, that old Mrs. Perry had just sent her
word that the Yankees went to James Perry's the night before, plundered his house, and
drove off all his stock, and that she must drive hers into the old fields. Before we were
done talking, up came Joe and Jim Perry from their hiding-place. Jim was very much
excited. Happening to turn and look behind, as we stood there, I saw some blue-coats
coming down the hill. Jim immediately raised his gun, swearing he would kill them
anyhow.
'No, don't!' said I, and ran home as fast as I could, with Sadai.
I could hear them cry, 'Halt! Halt!' and their guns went off in quick succession. Oh God, the
time of trial has come!
A man passed on his way to Covington. I halloed to him, asking him if he did not know the
Yankees were coming.
'No - are they?'
'Yes,' said I; 'they are not three hundred yards from here.'
'Sure enough,' said he. 'Well, I'll not go. I don't want them to get my horse.' And although
within hearing of their guns, he would stop and look for them. Blissful ignorance! Not
knowing, not hearing, he has not suffered the suspense, the fear, that I have for the past
forty-eight hours. I walked to the gate. There they came filing up.
I hastened back to my frightened servants and told them that they had better hide, and
then went back to the gate to claim protection and a guard. But like demons they rush in!
My yards are full.
To my smoke-house, my dairy, pantry, kitchen, and cellar, like famished wolves they come,
breaking locks and whatever is in their way. The thousand pounds of meat in my smokehouse is gone in a twinkling, my flour, my meat, my lard, butter, eggs, pickles of various
kinds - both in vinegar and brine - wine, jars, and jugs are all gone. My eighteen fat turkeys,
my hens, chickens, and fowls, my young pigs, are shot down in my yard and hunted as if
they were rebels themselves. Utterly powerless I ran out and appealed to the guard.
'I cannot help you, Madam; it is orders.'
...Alas! little did I think while trying to save my house from plunder and fire that they were
forcing my boys [slaves] from home at the point of the bayonet. One, Newton, jumped into
bed in his cabin, and declared himself sick. Another crawled under the floor, - a lame boy he
was, - but they pulled him out, placed him on a horse, and drove him off. Mid, poor Mid! The
last I saw of him, a man had him going around the garden, looking, as I thought, for my
sheep, as he was my shepherd. Jack came crying to me, the big tears coursing down his
cheeks, saying they were making him go. I said:
'Stay in my room.'
But a man followed in, cursing him and threatening to shoot him if he did not go; so poor
Jack had to yield.
...
Sherman himself and a greater portion of his army passed my house that day. All day, as the
sad moments rolled on, were they passing not only in front of my house, but from behind;
they tore down my garden palings, made a road through my back-yard and lot field, driving
their stock and riding through, tearing down my fences and desolating my home - wantonly
doing it when there was no necessity for it.
...As night drew its sable curtains around us, the heavens from every point were lit up with
flames from burning buildings. Dinnerless and supperless as we were, it was nothing in
comparison with the fear of being driven out homeless to the dreary woods. Nothing to eat!
I could give my guard no supper, so he left us.
My Heavenly Father alone saved me from the destructive fire. My carriage-house had in it
eight bales of cotton, with my carriage, buggy, and harness. On top of the cotton were some
carded cotton rolls, a hundred pounds or more. These were thrown out of the blanket in
which they were, and a large twist of the rolls taken and set on fire, and thrown into the
boat of my carriage, which was close up to the cotton bales. Thanks to my God, the cotton
only burned over, and then went out. Shall I ever forget the deliverance?
November 20, 1864.
About ten o'clock they had all passed save one, who came in and wanted coffee made,
which was done, and he, too, went on. A few minutes elapsed, and two couriers riding
rapidly passed back. Then, presently, more soldiers came by, and this ended the passing of
Sherman's army by my place, leaving me poorer by thirty thousand dollars than I was
yesterday morning. And a much stronger Rebel!"
Andersonville
How many soldiers were imprisoned at Andersonville
prison?
What did prisoners used for shelters?
What were the men called who stole from other
prisoners?
What did the small stream in the middle of
Andersonville prison double as?
5. How many men died at Andersonville?
(Information from Georgia Stories Video Series)