Brief Info about the War
War Office Dispatches #1
 Dec. – Feb. 1861 Headline: Seven Southern States
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Secede from Union
In November of 1860 Abraham Lincoln is elected
President of the United States.
South Carolina was the first state to secede.
South Carolina was followed by Mississippi, Alabama,
Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.
Southern delegates met in February of 1861 and set up the
C.S.A.
The C.S.A. Constitution is based on the U.S.
Constitution.
Result: The Rebellious states mean business and have
left the union
War Office Dispatches #2
 Feb. 18, 1861 Headline: Jefferson Davis is new President
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of the C.S.A.
Jefferson Davis, former U.S. senator, is inaugurated C.S.A.
President in Alabama.
In his inaugural speech he claims that the Union twisted
the intentions of the Constitution.
Reunion over the past two months is neither practical or
desirable
Davis chose Alexander Stephens to be his vicepresident.
Result: The CSA appears to have solid leadership in
Davis
Map of the Divided
War Office Dispatches #3
 March 4, 1861 Headline: Abe Lincoln inaugurated 16th
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President
Lincoln and his vice-president Hamlin have watched
the crisis develop for four months.
Eleven Southern States have seceded. Lincoln took office
in unique and dangerous times.
His inaugural ceremony was guarded closely, wary of
assassination attempts.
Not exactly conciliatory in his speech, Lincoln states that
the issue of conflict lies in the South and that he has
no intention of interfering with slavery.
Result: Lincoln has taken office in dangerous times
War Office Dispatches #4
 April 13, 1861 Headline: Rebels Shell Fort Sumter
 Lincoln’s attempt to provision Fort Sumter was seen as
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an act of aggression.
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederates open fire
on Fort Sumter.
The bombardment lasted 34 hours.
After the bombardment, Anderson surrendered to
P.G.T. Beauregard.
Result: “The curtain has fallen on the first act of
the great tragedy of our age”
Bombardment of Sumter
War Office Dispatches #5
 April 15, 1861 Headline: President Lincoln calls for
75000 volunteers
 President Lincoln calls for 75000 volunteers.
 The response was positive in northern states.
 Lincoln request spurred many newspaper editorials.
 Result: Lincoln asked for a few good men…and
gets 75,000
War Office Dispatches #6
 April 18, 1861 Headline: Robert E. Lee turns down
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Union Command
Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee command of the Armies
of the United States.
Robert E. Lee turns down Union command.
He chose to stay loyal to his native state of Virginia.
Although he turned down the Union command he
made it perfectly clear that he is opposed to slavery
and secession.
Result: Lincoln is disappointed – the Union faces a
most formidable general
War Office Dispatches #7
 April 19, 1861 Headline: First casualties of war are
in Baltimore riots.
 They were between Union troops and Southern
sympathizers.
 A Massachusetts Regiment en route to Washington DC
exchanges shots with pro-slavery crowd hoping to
prevent the troops from reaching the Capital
 Eleven citizens and four soldiers were killed.
 Result: Lincoln will have problems recruiting in
the Border States
War Office Dispatches #8
 May 20, 1861 Headline: Richmond, Virginia,
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becomes the new C.S.A. capital.
The capital is moved from Montgomery, Alabama
They moved the capital to get support from Virginia.
Also because it was only 105 miles from Washington
and therefore Washington could be captured to end
the war.
Many battles will be fought between the two capitals.
Result: The CSA Capital is now only 105 miles
from Washington
War Office Dispatches #9
 May 25, 1861 Headline: A Hero’s death helps
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Union secure Alexandria.
The Union has its first authentic hero, Elmer
Ellsworth.
In Alexandria, VA Ellsworth was shot when taking
down the Confederate flag.
Ellsworth led three troops into the city.
Private Francis Brownell avenged his death.
Result: Elmer Ellsworth becomes the first Union
war hero in Alexandria
War Office Dispatches #10
 July 21, 1861 Headline: Confederates feast on the
lunches of Union spectators after victory at Battle
of Bull Run.
 Union troops marched to the cry of "On to
Richmond."
 Jackson's men and Union panic caused the road back
to Washington to swell with fleeing Union troops.
 The battle was fought only 30 miles from Washington.
 Result: The South has won the first major Battle
and confidence is high
War Office Dispatches #11
 Aug. 5, 1861 Headline: the North levies the first
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income tax in United States history.
Congress levies the tax in an attempt to pay for the
expensive & ever-widening war
The law will serve as the mainstay of the treasury
Congress fixes a tax of 3% on incomes in excess of $800
a year.
The tax is necessary to pay for the war.
Result: A drastic and unique tax is necessary and
unpopular.
War Office Dispatches #12
 Aug. 10, 1861 Headline: Wilson Creek Battle
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extends the war into the West.
Concern over Missouri was a factor in the Battle of
Wilson Creek
The first Battle in the Western Theater of the war
The Confederates won the battle.
Union General Nathaniel Lyon was shot twice in the
heart and later died from the wound.
Result: Nothing is changed – Missouri remains in
the Union Camp.
War Office Dispatches #13
 Nov. 27, 1861 Headline: McClellan named new army
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chief.
General George Brinton McClellan at age 34 is picked
to replace Winfield Scott as General in Chief of the
Union Armies.
He was chosen because of his work with the army of the
Potomac.
His men know him as “Little Mac”. The Union has high
expectations of him.
Result: The Union has high expectations for the
young leader.
War Office Dispatches #14
 March 9, 1862 Headline: Battle between Ironclads
ends in a Draw.
 The Union's Monitor & Confederate’s Merrimac
fight at Hampton Roads, Virginia
 The “gladiators of the Sea” fight for two hours.
 An edge goes to the Union even though the battle
technically ended in a draw.
 Foreshadowing a new kind of modern warfare.
 Result: Wooden ships are now obsolete.
Ironclads- “Submarine-like”
War Office Dispatches #15
 April 7, 1862 Headline: Grant wins the decisive battle at
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Shiloh, Tennessee.
Following earlier victories at Ft. Henry & Ft. Donelson –
Grant moves south.
A surprise Confederate attack by Confederate General
Johnston almost captures Grant’s entire Army
Grant wins the decisive battle at Shiloh, Tennessee - fought
in a full-bloom peach orchard.
Shiloh was the bloodiest battle of the war.
Result: Union has another victory in the west –
Grant’s stature grows.
War Office Dispatches #16
 April 25, 1862 Headline: Admiral Farragut captures
New Orleans for the Union.
 The largest city in the Confederacy has been captured.
 Admiral Farragut captures New Orleans for the Union
with a ten-day battle.
 Result: Union captures key victory and comes
closer to controlling the Mighty Mississippi River
War Office Dispatches #17
 May 20, 1862 Headline: Pres. Lincoln signs The
Federal Homestead Law.
 The Federal Homestead Law permits any citizen over
the age of 21 to own a free plot of over 160 acres - if
they occupy and improve it for five years.
 Many congressmen opposed the law.
 With no Southern opposition the law passed.
 Result: Horace Greeley praised the law as an
opportunity to give “every poor man a home”.
War Office Dispatches #18
Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
 May - June 1862 Headline: Stonewall
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Jackson’s classic offensive highlights
the Shenandoah Valley campaign.
Ordered by Lee to conduct a
“diversionary” operations in the strategic
Shenandoah Valley, Jackson staged a
brilliant campaign.
In 30 days Jackson has achieved immortal
military fame.
His troops marched 350 miles, defeated 3
separate Union armies in five battles,
inflicted twice the casualties, seized
numerous supplies, and wreaked havoc for
the Union everywhere.
Result: Jackson now becomes a
“Legend”.
War Office Dispatches #19
 June 25 – July 1, 1862 Headline: McClellan defeated in
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Seven Days' Battle – Lee could seize the momentum
The battle was fought just east of Richmond.
Over seven days separated the five battles fought by the
same two armies.
McClellan has superior numbers in every engagement. Lee
wins 4 – 1 draw.
McClellan retreated to the James River after losing a.
Mechanicsville, b. Gaine's Mill, c. Savage Station, and d.
Frayer's Farm.
Result: “Little Mac’s” leadership & Union prestige
have dwindled
War Office Dispatches #20
 Aug. 29 - 30, 1862 Headline: Rebs win again at Bull Run
 After 13 months, Bull Run is again the location of a
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Confederate victory.
Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson defeated the northern
commander, John Pope.
The Rebel Yell caused Pope’s army to flee
Pope is discredited and McClellan is reinstated as general.
Result: The way is open for a Confederate invasion of
the North
War Office Dispatches #21
 Aug. – Sept. 1862 Headline: Sioux uprising put down in
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Minnesota
A Sioux uprising led by Chief Little Crow to remove white
settlers from their homes
The Indians killed at least 800 settlers in their raiding.
Colonel Henry Sibley and his state militia stopped the
Sioux.
More than 1500 Sioux were captured and 300 were hung.
Result: Some Union troops are needed to protect the
Frontier
War Office Dispatches #22
 Sept. 17, 1862 Headline: Bloody Antietam gives The Union a
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victory
The Union achieved its first major victory in the East at
Antietam
Lee's Confederates withdrew back into Virginia.
Under McClellan the Union troops have won a crucial if not
decisive victory.
Only days before the battle Union cavalry found a copy of Lee's
orders.
McClellan followed up, but paused before his attack and lost any
advantage
Burnside (father of sideburns) replaces McClellan.
Result: Lincoln could use this victory for political &
diplomatic advantages
War Office Dispatches #23
 Dec. 13, 1862 Headline: Union disaster at
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Fredericksburg; Burnside replaced.
The Confederates earn victory at Fredericksburg, Va., on
the Rappahannock River.
Lee's troops defended the city from a line of fortified hills
called Marye's Heights.
12000 Federals, led by General Burnside, were massacred as
they attacked the hills.
Gen. Ambrose Burnside is replace by “Fighting Joe” Joseph
Hooker
Result: Another Union battlefield disaster forces
Lincoln to change Generals once again.
War Office Dispatches #24
 Jan. 1, 1863 Headline: President Lincoln issues the
Emancipation Proclamation.
 Declares that all slaves in rebellious states are free
from bondage.
 The proclamation did not free many slaves until later
when regions of the Confederacy were liberated by
Union troops.
 Did not free any slaves in the loyal states.
 Result: Legally, this action began the movement
to END SLAVERY in the U.S.
War Office Dispatches #25
 March 3, 1863 Headline: President Lincoln signs first
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Draft Law
Lincoln signs the first ever Draft Law.
The law places liability on all males between the ages of 20
and 45.
Those physically or mentally unfit, have certain
dependents, or are felons are exempted.
Someone could also hire a substitute or purchase his way
out for $300.
Result: The new draft law insures a strong Union
military force.
War Office Dispatches #26
 May 4, 1863 Headline: Lee wins a saddened victory
at Chancellorsville.
 Rebel forces struck boldly and achieved success at the
four-day battle at Chancellorsville, Virginia.
 Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own men and died
from pneumonia eight days later.
 Result: Perhaps Lee’s greatest victory is extremely
costly – Jackson is gone losing a valuable leader
and hero.
War Office Dispatches #27
 July 1 - 4, 1863 Headline: Gettysburg is crucial
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Union victory – Lee withdraws
Union forces win the crucial victory at Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania.
The loss to Union forces comes two months after the
triumph at Chancellorsville.
13,000 Confederates under General George Pickett
charged Cemetery Ridge
Result: Lee’s invasion of the North is over, the
Confederacy would never again step foot in the
Union.
War Office Dispatches #28
 May 4, 1863 Headline: The Mississippi fortress of
Vicksburg falls to Grant.
 The fortress of Vicksburg in Mississippi falls to Grant.
 After a one-year siege of the fortress, General Grant
accepts the surrender on July 4.
 Result: The Battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg
have buoyed the spirits of the Union. The South
has been cut in half. Lee is in retreat in the East.
War Office Dispatches #29
 July 13, 1863 Headline: Draft riots erupt in New York
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City.
The Riots last 3 days – were touched off when the names of
the first draftees were announced July 11.
In reaction to the Nation's first draft law protest and
outbreaks of violence have occurred in virtually every
Northern State.
Southern sympathizers have an amazingly strong hatred
for the president.
Result: The Union’s war effort seems hampered by the
protests against conscription
War Office Dispatches #30
 Sept. 19-20, 1863 Headline: Confederates win savage
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battle at Chickamauga Creek, in Georgia.
Needing to win decisively after losing at Gettysburg and
Vicksburg, Confederate troops under General Bragg beat
Union troops at Chickamauga Creek, in Georgia.
The victory gains some ground for the Confederacy.
The only highlight of the battle for the Union was the
steadfastness of the Union's General George Thomas, now
called the “Rock of Chickamauga”.
Colonel Eli Lilly introduces the concept of “Mounted
Infantry”
Result: Confederate’s victory slows down the Union
juggernaut.
War Office Dispatches #31
 Oct. 3, 1863 Headline: President Lincoln issues the
Thanksgiving Proclamation.
 Lincoln issues the Thanksgiving Proclamation for the
last Thursday in November of 1863.
 The President called for a day of observance for a day
of thanks.
 The tradition of Thanksgiving began nearly 250 years
ago with the Pilgrims in Massachusetts.
 Result: Americans in the North pause and give
thanks for their blessings
War Office Dispatches #32
 Nov. 19, 1863 Headline: Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg
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Address.
Lincoln, determined to make the battlefield site "hallowed
ground," delivers the Gettysburg Address at the small
Pennsylvania town.
Four months prior to his speech the titanic clash between
blue and gray took place.
Lincoln followed featured speaker Edward Everest.
Result: Lincoln delivers the most famous American
Speech (only 272 words). He captures “the Union’s
Noble Cause” with great eloquence.
Gettysburg Address
 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. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met
on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that
field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation
might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
 But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not
hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little
note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did
here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work
which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to
be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the
last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall
not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth.
War Office Dispatches #33
 Nov. 23-25, 1863 Headline: Union forces win at
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Chattanooga.
Union troops led by General George Thomas swept up
Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain to win a crushing
battle against General Bragg and his Rebel forces.
Union soldiers heroically scaled Missionary Ridge without
official orders from General Grant, and then they took the
ridge in one hour.
The battle took place near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Result: The Union has captured the KEY Southern
railroad hub and is in position to split the South
again.
War Office Dispatches #34
 March 10, 1864 Headline: The Command of all Union
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Armies given to Grant.
After suffering through incompetent generals, President
Lincoln has appointed Ulysses Grant to command all
armies of the United States.
Prior to his appointment, Grant had received his
commission as lieutenant general.
Grant was unable to visit Washington for his appointment
because he was visiting the Army of the Potomac.
Result: The appointment rallies the Union public &
Soldiers alike.
War Office Dispatches #35
 June 9, 1864 Headline: Lincoln nominated for second
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term
Delegates to the National Union Convention nominate
Abraham Lincoln for their Candidate for president.
Republicans and some War Democrats over looked Vice
President, Hannibal Hamlin and chose Andrew Johnson as
Lincoln's running mate.
The party's platform includes putting down the
Confederate rebellion and a constitutional amendment
ending slavery.
Result: The President has the support of his party to
continue the mission.
War Office Dispatches #36
 June 10, 1864 Headline: The Confederacy expands
the draft.
 Realizing that their ranks are being depleted by an
unplanned, prolonged war, the Confederacy expanded
the draft.
 Men between the ages of 17 and 50 were then drafted.
Even younger boys and older men are now required to
support the South's cause.
 Result: Even younger boys and older men are now
required to support the South's cause
War Office Dispatches #37
 Aug. 31, 1864 Headline: The Democrats Party choose
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General McClellan to oppose Lincoln
The Democratic Party met in Chicago and nominates
General McClellan to oppose Lincoln in the November
presidential election.
They also chose George H. Pendleton to be McClellan's
running mate.
Their platform included a demand to immediately end the
war and restore the Union.
Result: Lincoln will face one of his most popular
generals in the fall election.
War Office Dispatches #38
 Sept. 1, 1864 Headline: Sherman captures Atlanta “the
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Jewell of the South”
General Sherman led Union troops into Atlanta, Georgia,
and captured the key city.
The victory has lifted the spirits of the weary northern
soldiers.
Rebel forces evacuated the city on September 1, 1864
Sherman had shelled the city for days.
Result: Sherman begins in Atlanta on his “march to
the sea”.
War Office Dispatches #39
 Feb. 3, 1865 Headline: Lincoln meets with Rebel
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leaders on River Queen.
With the war's end in sight, Lincoln goes to Hampton
Roads, Virginia, to meet Confederate leaders.
As the five men sat in the salon of the River Queen, Lincoln
told rebel leaders that the only way that real peace could be
considered is if Confederate states realized the national
authority of the United States.
He also stated that the C.S.A. was never a separated nation.
Result: This meeting was to no avail, the rebel forces
will fight on.
War Office Dispatches #40
 Mar. 4, 1865 Headline: Lincoln promises no malice at
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second inaugural.
Lincoln offered peace in his inaugural address to the
nation.
He also mentioned that the war is winding down to a
Union victory. He wants to have the union restored as soon
as possible.
He stated, "With malice toward none; with charity for
all...let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up
the Nation's wounds."
Result: A forgiving Union leader, hoping to restore the
union, Lincoln takes office.
War Office Dispatches #41
 April 3, 1865 Headline: Federals take Petersburg;
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occupy Richmond.
Union soldiers under General Grant captured the area
around Petersburg and Richmond.
Sixty thousand Union troops lost their lives in the ninemonth siege of Petersburg.
Davis was informed while in church and evacuated before
11 a.m.
On Monday April 3, 1865, Union troops entered and
occupied Richmond.
Result: Grant wins and another costly battle for the
Confederacy.
War Office Dispatches #42
 April 5, 1865 Headline: Lincoln tours Rebel Capital.
 President Lincoln took a tour of the Confederate
capital and walked to the C.S.A. "White House."
 Crowds cheered him on as he walked through the area
that Davis had evacuated recently.
 He returned to the ship that had brought him down
the James River, the Malvem.
 Result: Lee’s under supplied army retreats to the
west in hopes of joining with Johnston.
War Office Dispatches #43
 April 9, 1865 Headline: Lee surrenders to Grant.
 Lee surrendered at the home of Wilmer McLean at
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Appomattox Court House.
The three-hour meeting took place on Palm Sunday.
Lee agreed to surrender the Confederate Army, turning
over of Rebel arms and supplies.
The Rebels were allowed to keep their private horses
and arms, and Lee did not surrender his sword.
Result: Lee's surrender at Appomattox ends
organized confederate fighting.