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Ch. 15-16: Beginning of War and Turning Points (Vocabulary)

The North vs. South: Advantages and Disadvantages

  • North Advantages
    • Much larger population
    • Possessed industry and manufacturing capabilities
    • This helped provide money as well as supplies
    • Had more railroad lines, making transportation for troops and supplies easier
    • Overall, the North was wealthier due to revenue from tariffs and stronger banks
  • North Disadvantages
    • The North sometimes had poor military leadership
    • The war was not always popular amongst Northern citizens

The South’s Advantages and Disadvantages

  • South Advantages
    • In many cases, the South had better military leadership and soldiering skills
    • Southerners were defending their own territory in many battles
  • South Disadvantages
    • They did not have a lot of industry and had a very weak government

The First Modern War

  • The South’s Strategy
    • The South originally planned to fight a defensive war
    • They hoped to eventually wear out Union troops to the point where they would be ready to negotiate
  • The North’s Strategy: The Union’s Anaconda Plan
    • Blockade all Confederate ports to cut off supplies
    • Invade the South through the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy

Mobilizing the Troops: First Bull Run (Manassas)

  • First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) occurred in July 1861 on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.
  • The Battle
    • Union troops commanded by Gen. Irvin McDowell
    • Confederate troops commanded by Gen. Joe Johnston
    • It was initially a Union victory until Confederates brought up reinforcements under Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
  • Aftermath
    • Confederates charged and forced Union retreat, but did not pursue to Washington
    • The battle showed the war would be longer and more costly than expected
    • Enlistments dropped and both sides eventually used conscription/drafts
    • CHARGE !!!

The Naval War: New Orleans

  • Union forces commanded by Gen. David Farragut captured the city of New Orleans in April 1862
  • The city was occupied for the rest of the war, which allowed the Union to control the mouth of the Mississippi River

The War in the West

  • The Union Army, under the command of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, moved to take control over the rest of the Mississippi River and the Tennessee River
  • Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing)
    • Occurred in April 1862
    • Confederates led a surprise attack on Grant
  • After reinforcements arrived the next day, Grant pushed back the Confederates
  • Overall results: 13{,}047 casualties
  • This battle shocked both North and South
  • The Union continued to move south
  • This was the first major battle in the West

The War in the East

  • Gen. McDowell was replaced by Gen. George McClellan
    • He planned to capture Richmond, VA, but was overly cautious and reluctant to attack
  • After Confederate Gen. Joe Johnston was wounded, he was replaced by Gen. Robert E. Lee
  • Lee led a series of attacks known as the Seven Days Battles, forcing the Union army out of VA and back to Washington

Antietam

  • Lee convinced Jefferson Davis to let him invade and “liberate” Maryland
  • September 17, 1862 – A set of orders sent to one of Lee’s generals was lost and intercepted by the Union, informing them of Lee’s plan
  • McClellan attacked Lee’s army along Antietam Creek, Maryland
  • Overall results: Technically a draw; Confederates forced to retreat from Maryland, but McClellan did not pursue them
  • Bloodiest single day battle: 23{,}000 dead
  • The Confederacy lost any chance of the British coming in on their side after losing this battle on Union soil

The Emancipation Proclamation

  • At the beginning of the war, President Lincoln aimed to preserve the Union
  • After Antietam, Lincoln made the end of slavery a goal of the war
  • September 22, 1862 – The Emancipation Proclamation was issued
  • Effective January 1, 1863 all slaves in states not occupied by the Union would be free (did not affect slavery in the Border states and initially freed no one)
  • This reframed the war as a crusade against slavery and allowed for African American enlistment in the Union Army

Life During the War: The Wartime Economies

  • The South’s economy suffered due to shortages of supplies and food
  • The North’s economy grew as industries expanded to produce supplies for the war
  • Labor shortages in the North led to more women working outside the home

African Americans in the War

  • The Emancipation Proclamation enabled African Americans to enlist in the Union army
  • About 180{,}000 served, placed in segregated units and often discriminated against
  • Example: the 54^{ ext{th}} Massachusetts

Military Life

  • Soldiers often had little supplies (no blankets, shoes, and little food)
  • Lived in very unsanitary conditions; many died of diseases such as pneumonia, typhoid, and smallpox
  • Doctors did not yet know how germs spread; sterilization and contaminated instruments spread more disease

Women in the War

  • Many women served as nurses during the war; nursing was previously male-dominated
  • Clara Barton, who later founded the American Red Cross
  • Some women disguised themselves as men to fight, e.g., Frances Clayton as "Frances Clalin"

Vicksburg Falls

  • By 1863, the Union had captured almost all of the Mississippi River
  • Vicksburg, MS, was the last Confederate position on the river
  • The Union laid siege to Vicksburg for several months
  • Vicksburg finally surrendered on July 4, 1863

The Road to Gettysburg: Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville

  • After Union Gen. McClellan allowed Confederates to slip away, Lincoln replaced him with Gen. Ambrose Burnside

Fredericksburg (December 1862)

  • Union casualties were higher; Union troops suffered more than twice as many casualties as Confederate troops

After Fredericksburg: Hooker and Chancellorsville

  • Lincoln replaced Burnside with Gen. Joseph Hooker
  • Chancellorsville (May 1863) – Lee’s forces attacked Hooker’s troops in the dense woods known as the Wilderness near Chancellorsville, VA
  • Lee defeated the Union forces by dividing his troops; Hooker was forced to retreat
  • Heavy casualties at Chancellorsville, including Gen. Stonewall Jackson
  • Jackson’s arm had to be amputated after being wounded; infection led to his death a week later
  • Upon learning of Jackson’s injury, Lee reportedly said: “He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right.”
  • Encouraged by this victory, Lee decided to invade the North, moving toward Gettysburg in PA

Gettysburg: Day by Day (July 1–3, 1863)

  • Day 1 (July 1) – Confederates ran into Union troops and forced the Union army to retreat to the hills south of Gettysburg
  • Day 2 (July 2) – Lee attacked the ends of the Union lines (e.g., Little Round Top) but could not dislodge them
  • Day 3 (July 3) – Pickett’s Charge – a massive assault on the Union center, a huge failure; about one-third of Pickett’s men were killed or wounded
  • Gettysburg is considered a major turning point because it restored the Union’s confidence and marked the South’s last major offensive attempt on northern soil
  • On July 4, 1863 the South left northern soil for the last time

The Gettysburg Address

  • November 1863 – Lincoln’s speech at the dedication of a cemetery at Gettysburg
  • Lincoln framed the war as a struggle for “a new birth of freedom”

Final Phases of the War

  • Grant secures Tennessee; after gaining control of the Mississippi River, the Union moved to capture Chattanooga, TN, which opened the way for an invasion of Georgia
  • Lincoln promoted Ulysses S. Grant to commander of all Union forces

Grant vs. Lee

  • U.S. Grant was reassigned to Virginia to defeat Lee’s army
  • Grant engaged Lee almost constantly, in campaigns known for attritional warfare (e.g., The Wilderness, Cold Harbor)

Sherman’s March to the Sea

  • November 1864 – Sherman’s troops marched from Atlanta to Savannah, GA, destroying everything in their path (roughly 60 miles wide)
  • Savannah captured in December 1864
  • Sherman then turned north and marched through South Carolina to join Grant in Virginia

The South Surrenders

  • Lee realized his army did not have enough supplies or manpower to continue
  • He withdrew from Petersburg and surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, VA on April 9, 1865

The War was Over

  • Terms of surrender: Soldiers were allowed to go free and keep their weapons if they agreed not to fight again

The Aftermath

  • The war strengthened the federal government over the states
  • It ended slavery
  • It also raised questions about how to deal with the defeated southern states and the status of ex-slaves

Social and Political Changes during the Civil War

  • Habeas Corpus
    • Guaranteed that a person could not be imprisoned without appearing in court
    • President Lincoln declared martial law in Maryland and suspended the right of habeas corpus after Confederate sympathizers attacked Union troops in Baltimore
  • Drafted – forced to serve in the military; first time in U.S. history during the Civil War

Land and Education Acts

  • Homestead Act
    • Anyone who cultivates 160 acres of land for five years would receive title to that land from the government
    • Accelerated the settlement of the West
  • Morrill Land Grant Act
    • Gave each state thousands of acres of land
    • Each state had to use this land to fund at least one public university

Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment

  • Emancipation Proclamation – see above
  • 13th Amendment added to the Constitution to abolish slavery

Cost of the War

  • North
    • Inflation rose due to money printing; total cost of the war reached 1.3{,}000{,}000{,}000 (1.3 trillion in modern terms; historically written as 1.3 billion in the era’s context but the slide states 1.3 billion dollars)
    • Union victory and restoration of the nation
    • Over 360{,}000 Union soldiers died
  • South
    • Lost slave-based economy; slavery abolished in the Confederacy’s economic system
    • Over 258{,}000 Confederate soldiers died
    • The South was devastated