Civil War
By Will Downs
The Civil War started in 1861. It started because slaves were an issue
for the country. The Union didn’t have slaves and they wanted them
out of the whole United States. Many of the Southern the states said
they would secede from the Union if Lincoln became President. The
Union had more men and supplies. 11 states in all seceded from the
United States of America, beginning with South Carolina in 1861.
www.historynet.com/civilwar
The war started in Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Luckily
only one person was killed. But during the surrender to
the Conferdates, A cannon accidently shot and killed
Private Daniel Hough. This was the beginning of a very
long war.
www.civil-war.net/
Although the war started in Fort Sumter, there were
many other places the civil war happened. Three of
the bloodiest battles were Battle of Gettysburg,
Battle of Chickamauga, and the Battle of Antietam.
The battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day in
American history. It was worse than 9/11 and D-Day
in 1944.
www.history.com/topics/American-civil-war.
The Civil War lasted much longer than
expected. Many people thought it would last
shorter than a year. But, It lasted from 1861
to 1865. Why did the Civil War last so long?
CivilWar.com/history
At the beginning of the Civil War, 22 million people lived in the North and 9 million people (4
million of whom were slaves) lived in the South. The North also had more money, more
factories, more horses, more railroads, and more food. These advantages made the United
States much more powerful than the Confederate States. However, the Confederates were
fighting defensively and their soldiers and generals frequently proved to be more skilled than
their northern counterparts, allowing them to mount a stubborn resistance to the United
States.
www.historynet.com/civil-war
It wasn’t very hard to choose a side for the Civil War. If you
were from the South, you usually fought for the South. If you
were from the North, you usually fought for the North. If you
were African American you fought for the North. 10% of the
Union army by wars end was made up of African Americans.
www.historynet.com/civil-war
Why are there alternate names for the battles? There
are alternate names for the battles because the
northern commanders named it after the nearest
landmark like a river and the southern commanders
named it after the nearest city or town. For example,
the North would call the battle Shiloh and the South
would call it Pittsburg Landing. This battle occurred in
April of 1862.
CivilWar.com/history
The Union Army was a force made up of different countries. We often hear
about Irish Soldiers, but the Union ranks included Germans, such as the
Steuben Volunteers. Other immigrant soldiers were, French, Italian, Polish,
English, Scottish. In fact, one in four regiments contained a majority of
foreigners.
www.historynet.com/civilwar
There was around 3 million that fought in the
Civil War and 620,000 total died. Most of the
people died from disease. Like dysentery and
typhoid. Farm boys were more likely to die from
disease. They were not used to being crowded
together like city people. 350,000 people died
from disease during the war. Accidents were the
least amount of deaths.
www.history.com/topics/American-civil-war.
The lives of the soldiers during the Civil War were really
bad. They had to eat bacon, stale biscuits and hardtack
most of the time and had to cook their own food. Their
uniforms were raggedy after being in camp for a long time.
They didn’t bathe very much either.
www.civil-war.net/history
Civil War medicine was not advanced compared to the 21st century. If
you got shot in the arm or leg, you usually got that limb amputated.
They amputated it because they didn’t want the limb to get infected
and kill you. If you were wounded in the chest or stomach, you usually
died. Below is a bone saw for amputating limbs. Video
www.history.com/topics/American-civil-war.
Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest battles in
American history. It was General Lee vs.
General George Meade. The Union army of the
Potomac defeated Lee’s Army of Northern
Virginia and he fled back across Potomac River,
In July of 1863.
CivilWar.com/history
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is
one of the most famous
speeches ever by a President. It
was only two minutes long and
some people thought it was
poor at first but turned out to
be one of the best speeches
best speeches ever.
http://www.civilwar.com/resources/government/148338-gettysburg-address.html
After four years of conflict, Confederate armies surrendered to the United
States in April of 1865. General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant in
Appomattox, Virginia. The war bankrupted the South, left its roads, farms, and
factories destroyed, and all but wiped out an entire generation of men. More
men died in the Civil War, more than any other war in American history. The
southern states were occupied by Union soldiers, rebuilt, and eventually readmitted to the United States over the course of twenty years known as
Reconstruction.
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/end-of-war/
Abraham Lincoln was a very successful war time
President who led the country through the Civil
War. Fun Fact- Grace Bedell wrote to Lincoln
telling him to grow a beard. She was 12 years
old.
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettys
burg.htm