The Civil War: Initial Strategies, Mobilization, and Early Campaigns

These flashcards cover initial strategies, mobilization efforts, significant military assets and challenges, financing mechanisms, political leadership, and key early battles and technological innovations of the American Civil War.

Anaconda Plan

General Winfield Scott's initial Union strategy to blockade Southern ports, thrust down the Mississippi River, and wait for Southern Unionists to seize power.

Northern Civil War Strategy (Revised)

The refined Union plan involving a blockade of Southern ports, securing border states, and capturing the Confederate capital in Richmond.

Southern Civil War Strategy

The Confederate approach focused on gaining foreign recognition and defending Southern territory until the North became exhausted and ceased fighting.

Northern Draft (1863)

A conscription law passed by the Union allowing wealthy citizens to pay $300 or hire a substitute to avoid military service, which was unpopular among the poor and immigrants.

Southern Draft (1862)

The Confederacy's first draft, conscripting all able-bodied white men aged 18-35 for three years, with exemptions for certain occupations, substitutes, and those with over 20 slaves.

"A rich man's war but a poor man's fight"

A common criticism of the Southern draft system, highlighting how exemptions favored the wealthy slaveholders over non-slaveholding poor men.

Josiah Gorgas

The exceptional head of ordnance for the Confederacy who successfully developed Southern factories like the Tredegar Iron Works, ensuring the South had sufficient arms.

Northern Demographic Advantage (Civil War)

A key Union asset, with 22 million people compared to the Confederacy's 9 million (including 3 million enslaved people), providing more potential soldiers and labor.

Northern Economic Advantage (Civil War)

The Union's control over 90% of the nation's industrial capacity and two-thirds of its railroad mileage, vital for wartime production and logistics.

Southern Political Advantage (Civil War)

A strong sense of unity in the Confederacy around a 'moral narrative' of defending states' rights, their homeland, and a way of life, likening their struggle to the American Revolution.

Southern Military Advantage (Civil War)

Included superior military leadership (e.g., Lee, Jackson), high troop morale, familiarity with the home terrain, and the benefit of fighting defensively on interior lines.

National Bank Act (North)

Legislation passed by the Republican Party during the war to modernize the Union's financial system, which contributed to relatively low inflation in the North.

Southern Inflation (Civil War)

A major financial challenge for the Confederacy, where a loss of confidence in paper money led to its rapid depreciation and runaway inflation.

Radical Republicans

A faction within the Republican Party (including Salmon P. Chase, Charles Sumner, and Thaddeus Stevens) who criticized Lincoln for being too soft on rebels and advocating for stronger emancipation policies.

Jefferson Davis's Leadership Style

The Confederate president's style, described as experienced and commanding, yet he struggled to foster cooperation among the states and made political enemies easily, hampered by the states' rights philosophy.

First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas)

The initial major land engagement of the Civil War in July 1861, resulting in a humiliating Union defeat just 30 miles from Washington D.C., leading to expectations of a longer conflict.

Peninsular Campaign (Spring 1862)

A Union offensive led by General George McClellan, known for his caution, aimed at capturing Richmond by landing forces southeast of the capital, but ultimately defeated by Robert E. Lee in the 'Seven Days' Battles.'

Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas)

A Union defeat in August 1862 that ended Northern hopes of quickly seizing Richmond and consolidated Robert E. Lee's command of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Battle of Antietam (Sept 1862)

The bloodiest single day of the Civil War, fought in Maryland, where McClellan forced Lee's Confederate invasion to a draw; it discouraged British and French recognition of the CSA and allowed Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Border States (Civil War)

Crucial states like Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri that remained in the Union, secured by Lincoln through various means, providing Union access to vital river systems into Confederate territory.

Ulysses S. Grant (Western Theater)

A key Union general who achieved significant victories throughout western Tennessee, notably dominating the upper Mississippi River region during the early war years.

Modern Technology (Civil War)

Innovations such as railroads, the telegraph, mass-produced weapons, joint army-navy tactics, ironclads, and rifled guns/artillery that significantly impacted the conduct of warfare.

Rifled Guns/Artillery

Advanced weaponry with a range of 400 yards that made traditional infantry charges less effective, necessitating the development of trenches and adapting cavalry for reconnaissance and raids.

Civil War Disease Casualties

The primary cause of death for soldiers on both sides, with diseases like gangrene, tetanus, typhoid, malaria, and dysentery killing two soldiers for every one killed in battle.

Andersonville

An infamous Confederate POW camp in Georgia where thousands of Union soldiers died each month due to severe overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, leading to the execution of its commander, Henry Wirz, after the war.

Union Blockade

A naval strategy implemented by the Union to prevent goods from entering or leaving Southern ports, aiming to cripple the Confederate economy, which was sometimes circumvented by 'blockade runners'.

Ironclads

Revolutionary warships shielded with iron plates, exemplified by the Union's USS Monitor and the Confederacy's CSS Merrimack, which clashed in March 1862.

CSS H.L. Hunley

A Confederate submarine that achieved the first successful sinking of an enemy warship, a Union blockade vessel, though it also sank itself in the process.