The Furnace of the Civil War
1861-1865
My paramount objective in this
struggle is to save the Union, and is
not either to save or destroy slavery
Lincoln 1862
A short war?
• American public is
naïve about the war
• Abe has army enlist
for ninety days
Bull Run Ends the “Ninety Day War”
• Abe wants to send Union
troops to Manassas
Junction (Bull Run)
• Union ill prepared, but
people want action
• Hoped to have big win to
kill momentum of rebellion
• Naïve about war- people
literally bring picnic
baskets and family to the
battle grounds
Bull Run Ends the “Ninety Day War”
• Northern loss.
• But South doesn’t have enough
troops to advance forward.
• North lost- 3,000
• South lost- 2,000
• North is humiliated. (but
realizes it has to take war
seriously)
• South now feels they can win
the war.
• Whole country begins to realize
the Civil War is going to be a
long bloody battle.
“If General McClellan isn't going to use his army, I'd
like to borrow it for a time.” Abe
Tardy George
• George B. McClellanwest point grad, known
as “Little Napoleon”
takes command of Union
Army
• Perfectionists
• Never wanted to fight,
felt army wasn’t prepared
enough, or south out
numbered him
Peninsula Campaign
• Water approach to
Richmond , 100,000 troops
• Battle of Yorktown – takes
a month due to Confederate
trickery*
• Abe sends reinforcements
to chase Stonewall Jackson,
rather than help GBM
Peninsula Campaign
• Robert E. Lee counter
attack
• Seven Day’s Battle
1862
• Lee stops Union
March
• Union abandoned
Peninsula Campaign
• Union goes to total
war
Total War
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. Suffocate the south through blockade
2. Liberate slaves to undermine south’s economy
3.Cut confederacy in half by getting Miss. River.
4.Rip up south in SC and Georgia
5.Capture Richmond
6. (Grant’s idea) head on competition, grind the
other into submission
The War at Sea
• 1. Anaconda Plan
• Winfield Scott
• At first weak, but gets
stronger as the war
progresses
The War at Sea
• Blockade runners get
rich transporting
supplies, if they live
• South’s two best
chances to beat the
blockade
• Merrimack
• Monitor
• Each are iron clad
ships
nd
2
Bull Run
• Confederates win at
2nd Bull Run
• Lee goes into
Maryland
– Victory here would
earn legitimacy (allies)
– Convince border states
to join
Pivotal Point- Antietam
• Abe reinstates (due to
public demand) GBM
• North will find Robert E.
Lee’s war plans at an
abandoned camp.
• Bloodiest day in American
history.
• Roughly 25,000
Americans wounded
• Northern “Victory” GBM
doesn’t chase confederate
army
Pivotal Point- Antietam
• Europe impressed by
N. power, won’t
support south
• Finally a large N.
victory
• Allows Abe to issue
the emancipation
proclamation 1862
Emancipation Proclamation
• Emancipation
proclamation- “frees”
slaves in the south
• Does not end slavery
in border states loyal
to the Union.
• 0 slaves are freed
• Why did Lincoln do
this?
Emancipation Proclamation
• Frees 0 slaves, because Confederacy has their own
government.
• E of P is a political move
• Most of Europe (Britain) has outlawed slavery, thus
cannot support the pro slavery Confederacy
• Encourages black of the north to join war effort
• Slaves in the south now encouraged to join Union
Army
• War went from preserving the union, to a moral
crusade against slavery
Emancipation Proclamation
• Not all of the N.
supports it
• Democrats gain
influence and power in
mid term elections
• The 13th amendment
ends slavery, not the
EofP
Blacks In the North
• Blacks always in US navy
• Now, despite protests, can
join army
• 180,000 (10% of
enlistment) in the North
• Underpaid, denied
advances, under supplied
Blacks In the North
• Why fight?
• Prove manhood
• Advances towards
earning citizenship
• When captured, south
treats them like
revolting slaves
• Fort Pillow Massacre
Blacks in the South
• Month before end of war,
Confederates allow blacks
to enlist
• Before hand slaves either
served as assistances in
battle, or kept farm running
• “Homeguards” confederate
soldiers who stayed home
to prevent slave rebellions
More Battles
• Ambrose Burnside
replaces GBM
• Crappy leader, foolish
assault at
Fredericksburg
• North gets slaughtered
• Called “Burnside’s
Slaughter Pen”
More Battles
• Joseph E. Hooker takes
control of Union Army
• Battle of Chancellorsville
• 5 day battle
• Shooting creates a forest
fire.
• At night a confederate
soldier will accidentally
shoot Stonewall Jackson,
which will result in his
death.
• Confederate victory, but
death of Stonewall will be
a huge moral killer.
Battle of Gettysburg 1863
• Lee, hopes to ride
momentum and gain
foreign help
• Union general George
Meade
• Each side experiences
roughly 23,000 deaths and
casualties.
• Bloodiest battle in
American History
• Picket’s charge
• South’s will is broken
Gettysburg Address
• 4 months later
Abraham Lincoln
delivers Gettysburg
address- urging the
union to stay together.
• Not major impact at
the time
• Now one of most
famous speeches in
US history
The War out West
• Ulysses Grant= Union
commander
• Captured Fort Henry
and Fort Donelson (N.
Tenn.)
– Impact 1. Establishes “
unconditional
surrender”
– Opens gateway to
Tenn. And Georgia
The War out West
• Battle of ShilohNorthern victory, but
war in west will be
costly
– Grant get labeled
butcher and Drunk
The War Out West
• Battle of Vicksburg
• N. victory
• Two days after
Gettysburg huge
momentum for N.
• Surrounds and traps city
for 2 months.
• The union now has full
control of the Mississippi
River.
Sherman Scorches Georgia
• Grant moved to the East
• William T. Sherman
• Total war to Georgia
known as Sherman’s march
• Sherman’s “blue bellies”
life off the land, and
destroy what they do not
use
• Psychological Warfare
Sherman Scorches Georgia
Sherman Scorches Georgia
• Major Confederate
desertions after
“Shermanizing” the
area
• Field Order 15- 40
Acres and a Mule
• Issued by Sherman,
will be revoked by
Andrew Johnson
Politics of War
• Problems within the Rep.
Party
• Congressional Committee
on the Conduct of Warlead by Sec. of Treasury
Salmon Chase
• Resented Abe’s expansion
of presidential powers
during war
Politics of War
• Democrat split
• War democrats support Abe
• Copperheads= democrats
against Abe- fight against
war anyway possible
• Call Abe “Illinois Ape”
who is fighting the “Nigger
War”
The Election of 1864
• Reps join War
Democrats to force
Union Party
• Abe’s running mate =
Andrew Johnson, from
Tenn. Had slaves at
beginning of wardone to appease
border states
The Election of 1864
• Democrats select
“Little Mac”- George
B. McClellan
The Election of 1864
• Northern victories
inspire faith in Abe
• Allows soldiers to
vote
• “Bayonet vote” helps
age secure victory
Grant Outlasts Lee
• Grant, great at logistics,
willing to fight regardless
of lives lost
• Wilderness Campaign
• Grant does some crazy
battles, seen as suicidal (
Cold Harbor)
• Blood and guts fighting,
“Grant the Butcher”
Grant Outlasts Lee
• 1865 Surrender at
Appomattox
Courthouse
• Abe tours Richmond
after the battle
• Newly freed slaves
call him “ Father
Abraham”
The South Lost their best postwar
friend
• 5 days after surrender
• At Ford’s Theater
• Assassination by John
Wilkes Booth
• Part of a much larger
plot to unravel the
federal government
Results of Abe’s Death
• Whole nation is saddened
• Most in south want peace
• North now angry again at
the south
• Abe planned on healing the
Union’s wounds, his death
just made the wound larger
Price of War
• 700,000 dead
• Roughly 15 billion
dollars in damage ( not
including pensions)
• Pro- democratic
experiment survived
the war of brothers