The Civil War

Confederate States of America

• the seven southernmost seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy (SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, TX) before Lincoln took office

• by this time, Lincoln had been elected but Buchanan was still in office

• VA, AR, TN, and NC seceded from Apr 17 - May 20, 1861

• European powers didn’t acknowledge them because they were mainly abolitionist and weren’t dependent on the South’s cotton

Cornerstone Speech

• Confederacy VP Alexander Stephens delivered this speech in Savannah, GA on Mar 21, 1861

• declared that the Confederate govt was founded on the “great truth” of white supremacy and racial inequality, with slavery as its foundation

• stated that the Confederacy would triumph because govt aligned with nature’s laws

Battle of Fort Sumter

• lying on an island in Charleston Harbor, Fort Sumter was one of two forts still under Union control

• Confederacy demanded that they surrender the fort

• Lincoln was faced with a difficult decision one day after his inauguration: reinforce or surrender? → ended up just sending food

• Jefferson Davis ordered an attack on Apr 12, 1861

• Union surrendered → Confederate victory

Virginia Secedes

• Lincoln issued a call for troops after Fort Sumter and people in the North enlisted in massive numbers

• unwilling to fight against other Southern states → seceded and joined the Confederacy on Apr 17, 1861

• major blow because it was one of the few Southern states with industry and was always front and center of politics

• the following month TN, AR, and NC seceded

• slave states of MO, MD, DE, and KY remained in the Union

Robert E. Lee

• head of the Confederate Army

• willing to use unorthodox tactics

• had opposed secession

• idolized George Washington and married into his family

• offered by Lincoln to lead the Union Army because he graduated from West Point without a single demerit

• chose to fight with VA after they seceded because he didn’t want to fight against his home state → Lincoln seized and confiscated his Arlington estate, turning it into a Union cemetery

Anaconda Plan

General Winfield Scott’s strategy for the Union army

eventually succeeded

1. blockade Southern ports

2. take over MS River and split the Confederacy in two

3. capture Confederate capital (Richmond, VA)

Confederacy’s Strategy

1. defend itself

2. attack or invade the North if the opportunity arose

First Battle of Bull Run / First Manassas

• Jul 21, 1861

• took place near Manassas Railroad Junction and about 25 miles southwest of DC

• public pressure after Fort Sumter led the Union to go on the offensive

• Stonewall Jackson stood ground against Union forces

• Confederate victory → extremely embarrassing defeat for the Union

George McClellan

• after the loss at Bull Run, Lincoln called for 1,000,000 men

• Union army leader in the early years of the Civil War

• appointed by Lincoln to lead the Army of the Potomac

• vain and egotistical

• indecisive on the battlefield → fired after the Battle of Antietam because he failed to pursue Lee

Ulysses S. Grant

• West Point graduate

• capture Confederate Forts Henry and Donelson in TN in early 1862 → prominent in the Western theater of war

• known as “Unconditional Surrender” Grant → surrender with zero terms

• led the Union forces to victory at the Battle of Vicksburg, gaining control of the Mississippi River → later appointed commander of all Union armies by Lincoln

• failed a lot in life before the military and was not a good politician

Battle of Shiloh

• Mar 1862

• Confederates’ “rebel yell” scared/surprised Grant’s troops who were stationed at Shiloh Church, TN

• battle was a draw, but revealed how catastrophic war could become and taught each side valuable strategies (sending scouts for recon, digging trenches, building fortifications)

David Farragut

• flag officer of the U.S. Navy during the Civil War

• led a Union fleet and took the city of New Orleans - major port and hub for slave auctions (Apr 18-29, 1862)

• secured the MS River → part of Anaconda Plan succeeded

Battle of Antietam

• Lee was moving towards DC and won Second Battle of Bull Run on Aug 29-30, 1862 → days later, troops crossed into MD

• Union scout found copy of Lee’s army orders wrapped around some cigars → revealed that Lee’s and Stonewall Jackson’s troops were split for the time being

• Sept 17, 1862 - bloodiest single-day battle in American history

• 23 - 26,000 dead or wounded and Lee lost 25% of his army

• McClellan failed to pursue Lee and Lincoln fired him

Abraham Lincoln

• elected president on Nov 6, 1860 and seven states seceded before he took office

• known for his decisive leadership during the Civil War

• confiscated Lee’s Virginia estate and turned it into a Union cemetery when he decided to fight for the Confederacy

• didn’t believe that the federal government had the power to end slavery and his aim was to save the Union → later realized that emancipation was a military necessity

Emancipation Proclamation

• issued Jan 1, 1863

• only applied to areas outside Union control in open rebellion → didn’t free slaves in border states because Union wanted to keep them

• freed slaves in Confederate states

• significant because of its symbolic importance and gave a moral purpose to the Union cause, essentially transforming the nation

• step towards abolishing slavery

Union Conscription

• 1863 - all men aged 20-45 drafted for 3 years

• people could hire substitutes or pay a $300 fee to avoid conscription

• 92% of 2 million who served in Union Army were volunteers and 180,000 were African Americans

• Union didn’t initially accept Black soldiers but there was massive enlistment after the Emancipation Proclamation