Civil War - Outline #4 – Chapters
16-17
C. Summer of 1861 =both armies
marched off with flags flying and
drums beating, each expecting to
win and to win quickly (in time they
would realized no quick victory was
in site)
+ Fighting would take place in 3
main areas, the southeast, the
southwest, and at sea.
1. Union Strategy (3 stages)
a.
Blockade Southern ports,
cutting off any supplies from
Europe
b.
Seize Richmond, VA
Take the capital and the
government, the war may end
earlier
c.
Take control of the Mississippi
River
Keep supplies down, cut the
CSA in half
A Union Gunboat, Part of the
Blockade of the South
2. Confederate Strategy =
Fight a defensive war
hoped North would tire of war
hoped the North would get rid of
Lincoln
a. What was the South
relying upon? Why?
Counted on European supplies
and recognize South as an
independent country
use commerce, in exchange for
their cotton
Union Strategy
Control river systems and split the
Confederacy in half and isolate the 3
sections.
Union Leaders:
General Ulysses S. Grant
Union Army:
Army of the West
Confederate Strategy
Fight a defensive war and drive Union
out of South
USA General
Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Leader:
Several different generals
Confederate Army:
Army of Tennessee
3. Battle of Bull Run = on July
21, 1861, untrained troops from
both sides met here in Virginia.
Battle of Manassas – the South
named battles after nearest town,
the North named battles after the
nearest body of water
Battle of Bull Run
st
(1 Manassas), July, 1861
Lincoln sent 30,000
inexperienced
soldiers to fight at
Bull Run.
a. How did the citizens come
prepared to the battle? Why
were they disappointed?
Followed the army from DC,
festive, many brought picnic
baskets of food and drink
Disappointed that the
Southerners did not turn and
run
b. Who was the Southern
hero and why?
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson,
the Commandant from VMI with
his recently trained cadets
Jackson held his ground “like a
stone wall” and stopped the
CSA retreat
c. What may have happened
if the Southern troops pursued
the fleeing Northern troops?
The might have been able to
capture the USA capital,
causing havoc amongst the
North
Battle of Bull Run
st
(1 Manassas), July, 1861
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Northern troops were pushed back to D.C.
South won this battle but “lost the war”.
WHY? Failed to capture Washington, D.C.
Would never be so close to Washington, D.C.
d. What did the battle show
each side?
The war was to be long and
very bloody
soldier needed training
4. Union General George
McClellan =
Appointed commander of the
Union Army (Army of the
Potomac) after the loss at Bull
Run
superb organizer, transformed
inexperienced recruits into
trained soldiers
General
George B.
McClellan
a. Too Cautious =
Delayed leading troops into
battle
Lincoln was losing patience,
forced McClellan to fight
always worried about the
numbers (did not want to be
outnumbered, wanted
guaranteed victories)
b. McClellan’s push on
Richmond (sum up) =
March 1862, moved out of DC
towards Richmond
CSA Lee launched
counterattacks, USA McClellan
abandoned attacks later
CSA Lee sent CSA “Stonewall”
Jackson to march on DC,
keeping Union reserves in DC
Peninsula
Campaign,
1862
Union Blockade = with the possession of the
majority of the naval ships, the Union
enforced a blockade on
the South (not letting goods in or out of
the South, attempting to starve and
financially break the South). Blockade
Runners were used by the South to
counter the problem the blockade
presented. The runners were small fast
boats that would slip through the
blockades, bringing in the necessary
supplies.
1. How successful was the
blockade eventually?
Trade to Southern ports
dropped by more than 90%
CSA tried to break the blockade
with ironclads
2. The Merrimac versus the
Monitor
a. The Merrimac / Virginia =
The CSA took the abandoned Union
warship, the Merrimac (run aground) and
added it to their fleet (renamed the
Virginia)
CSA covered the wood with 4 inch thick
metal plates
Promptly destroyed 2 Union boats and
ran 3 others aground
Union ships could not penetrate the steel
b. Describe the battle =
The Union countered with their own
ironclad, the Monitor
Both boats were not seriously damaged
and left in a draw
South considered this a victory due to
not losing
The CSA Virginia was later sunk by the
CSA, did not want the Union to take it
over after the fall of Norfolk
Merrimack Versus the Monitor
c. How did this battle change
naval warfare?
Now navies were to be made of
metal
Union built an additional 50
ironclads
South never had another
serious naval threat during the
war
E. Lee on the Offensive = Lee, the
Southern Commander, in September
1862, advanced his troops into
Maryland. Lee felt a Confederate
victory on Northern soil would be a great
blow to the North’s morale.Unfortunately
for Lee, Union General McClellan found
out his plans when a careless
Confederate general had left Lee’s
plans behind at an abandoned
Confederate campsite.
+ What was Lee’s military
belief?
Thought a victory on Northern
soil would be a blow to the
Northern morale
1. Battle of Antietam (sum up) =
McClellan was again slow to act,
attacking days later, Sept 17,
1862
23,000 Union and CSA soldiers
killed or wounded
McClellan was again slow to
act, attacking days later, Sept
17, 1862
23,000 Union and CSA soldiers
were killed or wounded
a. Antietam Winner?
Lee retreated at night on September
18, CSA’s army survived, Union
McClellan did not pursue
North claimed victory due to CSA
retreat
Lincoln was upset, McClellan did not
pursue
McClellan is replaced by Ambrose
Burnside
Dead Soldiers after Antietam
2. Battle of Fredericksburg
(sum up) =
December 1862, CSA Lee dug in
on a crest of a hill outside
Fredericksburg, VA
CSA mowed downed wave after
wave of Union troops
one of the worst Union defeats,
13,000 Union dead, only 5,000
CSA
3. Battle of Chancellorsville
(sum up) =
May of 1863, CSA Lee and CSA
Stonewall Jackson
outmaneuvered Union forces in
Chancellorsville, VA in thick
woods
CSA defeated the Union forces
in the 3 day battle
a. Lee’s response, “I have
lost my right arm” =
During the battle, CSA sentries
(lookouts) thought approaching
troops were Union troops
Mistakenly shot Stonewall
Jackson, who died days later
F. Grant in the West = While the
Union commander McClellan moved
slowly against Lee, Union General
Ulysses S. Grant moved much more
quickly and deadly towards the
Union goal of taking the Mississippi
River (dividing the Confederacy).
Grant’s forces took Forts Henry and
Donelson in Tennessee, forts that
guarded important tributaries of the
Mississippi.
Theater/Battles 1862
1. Battle of Shiloh (sum up the
situation and the first day) =
Shiloh, village on the
Tennessee River
April 6, US Grant is surprised by
CSA troops and driven back to
the river
a. The second day and
results =
With reinforcements, US Grant
beat back the CSA troops
one of the bloodiest conflicts of the
war
Grant knew he had the numbers,
willing to lose large number of men
for victory (Lincoln starting to take
notice of Grant)
2. What Union goal was
achieved and how (in addition to
the victory at Shiloh)?
While Union Grant was fighting at Shiloh,
the Union Navy was gaining control of
other portions of the Mississippi
New Orleans, LA, and Memphis, TN soon
fell
the South could no longer use the river as
a supply line
Split the CSA in half