The Civil War
Civil War Terminology
The United States of
America
The Confederate
States of America
Known as:
-The Union
-The North
-Yankees
-Federals (as in
Federal
Government)
Known as:
-The Confederacy
-The South
-Dixie
-Rebels
-Johnny Rebs
Why fight?
-Preserve the Union
-Free the Slaves (1863 on)
Why fight?
-Fighting war of
Independence
-Preserve their “Rights”
11 Southern states
seceded from the
Union. South Carolina
was the first. Followed
by Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana,
and Texas.
After the firing on Fort
Sumter in Charleston,
S.C., Arkansas, North
Carolina, Virginia, and
Tennessee also
seceded.
4 slaves states did not secede. Missouri, Kentucky,
Maryland, and Delaware. The states became known as
“Border States.” Although technically loyal to the Union,
many people from these states fought for the
Confederacy. The Confederacy also claimed these
states as part their country along with parts of New
Mexico.
The first shots of the Civil
War: Fort Sumter 4/12/1861
•Federal Troops in
Charleston, South Carolina at
Fort Sumter in Charleston
harbor refused to surrender
the fort.
•So on April 12, 1861,
Confederate cannon began
firing at Fort Sumter, to begin
the Civil War. The fort was
soon destroyed and the
Union Soldiers were forced to
surrender. No one died in the
bloodless beginning to the
bloodiest war in American
History.
IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THE WAR
• President of the United
States during the Civil War
• Against Slavery but was
willing to keep it to preserve
the “Union.”
• Used the army to arrest
many pro-secession
politicians in Maryland so he
could save Washington D.C.
as the U.S. capital.
• President Lincoln’s 4
brother-in-laws were
Confederates.
• He was the 1st president to
wear a beard.
Abraham Lincoln
• President of the
Confederacy during the
Civil War
• The first Capital of the
confederacy was
Montgomery, Alabama.
• When Virginia seceded
the Capital of the
Confederacy was
Richmond, Virginia
Jefferson Davis
• In 1862 Lee took over the
Confederate army.
• Born in Virginia
• Fought for the U.S. in the
Mexican American War.
• Lee privately ridiculed the
Confederacy in letters in
early 1861, denouncing
secession as "revolution"
and a betrayal of the
efforts of the Founding
Fathers.
• Resigned from U.S. army
to join the Confederacy
because Virginia seceded
Robert E. Lee
• Lee was an excellent general and is one of the most
celebrated military figures in American History.
• Military historians continue to pay attention to his
battlefield tactics and his maneuvering in battle.
Lee mounted on his
famous horse
Traveller
• As we shall see Lincoln had a lot
of problems finding good generals
to win the war. Grant was his best
but it took him awhile for Grant to
prove himself.
• Like Lee Grant had fought in
Mexico, but unlike Lee, Grant
came from a humble background
in Ohio and had a drinking
problem. He had even owned a
slave before the war.
• Grant was an excellent general,
relentless and efficient, he
eventually destroyed Lee’s army
and the South.
• He would go on to be the 18th
President of the United States.
U.S. Navy
U.S. Navy
The north used a blockade on Texas and the Gulf coast to stop all
trading of cotton and war supplies. This was called the “Anaconda
Plan”. It was meant to starve and divide the south and not let it
trade with Europe
Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan
A lot of the largest Civil War battles were
fought between the two capital cities,
Washington D.C. and Richmond Virginia.
Battle of Bull Run (called Manassas in the south)
The first battle of the Civil War
•The battle was bloody. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
and his Virginia Confederates held the middle of the line
and chased the Union troops off the battle field giving
the Confederacy a huge first victory.
•Lincoln was extremely embarrassed by the
performance of his army. Just under a combined 1,000
soldiers was killed.
Thomas
“Stonewall”
Jackson, General in
the Civil War,
received his
nickname at Bull
Run.
McClellan and the Army of the Potomac
• After the loss at Bull Run the Union
realized it needed to properly train its
Army to defeat the South.
• Lincoln selected George B.
McClellan to train the Union Army
and invade Virginia.
• He build a huge “Army of the
Potomac”
• McClellan and Lincoln soon started
to hate each other. McClellan though
Lincoln interfered too much in
military matters while Lincoln though
McClellan was too afraid to fight.
• McClellan would run against Lincoln
in the 1864 Presidential election.
George B. McClellan
Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia
• Robert E. Lee took over
the Army of Northern
Virginia in early 1862. He
soon turned into one of the
greatest armies the world
has ever seen.
• Always outnumbered, the
army fought brilliantly and
won battles with excellent
leadership from Lee, and
his subordinate generals
like Stonewall Jackson,
James Longstreet, A.P.
Hill, and John Bell Hood.
The famed Texas Brigade, Texas
soldiers who fought for the Army of
Northern Virginia.
“Texans always move them!”
-Robert E. Lee
Battle of Shiloh
• In Tennessee near an old
church named Shiloh, the
Confederate Army attacked
the Union army led by
Ulysses S. Grant.
The battle was a bloody and
both sides suffered a
combined 20,000
casualties. The Union won
the battle and invaded south
along the Mississippi river.
Battle of Antietam
• Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia
invaded Maryland in attempt to
get the people there to support
the Confederacy.
• McClellan attacked Lee near
Sharpsburg, Maryland.
• Over 25,000 casualties on both
sides in the Battle of Antietam.
• Battle was a draw but forced Lee
to retreat, giving the Union a
much needed victory and Lincoln
the confidence to announce the
Emancipation Proclamation which
legally freed the slaves in the
Confederacy