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Chapter 13
The Civil War
Abraham Lincoln -
6'4'' newly elected President
of the Disunited States
Inaugural Address- March 4, 1861
Lincoln speaks directly to the South
The Real Deal
Log Cabin, Rail-splitter, Wrestler
Black Hawke War - 1832
*Self-educated through books;
*Detested slavery;
*Truly believed in America;
Democracy-Capitalism-Freedom
Became a lawyer - through
reading
4 times elected to state legislature
1842 - married Mary Todd
4 Children-
Edward - died as baby
Robert - USA Officer
William - died of Typhoid
"Willy"
(Potomac)
Thomas "Tad"
(Mary Lincoln's Four brothers
served in the Confederate Army)
1846 - elected to US House of Rep
-opposed the expansion of slavery
-opposed Polk's Mexican War with
his "spot resolutions"
(information on location of battles)
Worked as a Whig - Zachary Taylor
Did not get Nominations for US Congress and Senate until the New Republican Party formed and the Lincoln/Douglas
Debates of 1858
Civil Leadership-
Abraham Lincoln was faced with many problems. The northern
states were not united on the task of facing
a Civil War. Problems:
Fort Sumter
Union Officer
- Major Anderson
Confederate Officer - PGT Beauregard
Lincoln did not want to fire the first shot
*
Border States - Slave v Free
Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland,
Delaware and later West Virginia
Lincoln suspended
Habeas Corpus and even declared martial law in MD.
* Congress- Disorganized; uncooperative
Lincoln expands
the size of Army
* Abolitionists- Powerful Voice; not pleased with Lincoln
* American People-Not fully
united on all issues
(eg. preservation of the Union)
Lincoln handled them all with care.
**
Military Potential
North South
23 1. States
11
22 ` 2. Population 9
(millions) 1/3 slave
2.8 3. Army 1.3
(millions)
20,000 4. Railroads 10,000
(miles of track)
330
5. Finance 47
Banking Capital
(in millions)
Question. With the obvious Northern
advantage, how did the
South prolong the war for 5 years?
Answer
1. The South fought a
defensive strategy because they were fighting on home terrain.
They knew the land.
2. The North
had to crush a rebellion the South had to stay alive until the North was tired of fighting.
3. The North
fought to preserve the Union, the South fought to maintain its livelihood and its way of life.
Losing the
war meant losing all.
**The North's initial effort of a blockade, called Anaconda or Conda,
was ineffective
because of the South's long coastline.
The Armies
The Union Army was larger; better equipped; greater
fire-power; better disciplined, however, very inexperienced.
If a battle was lost,
Lincoln was forced
to change leadership.
No stability.
The Confederate Army was smaller
but had more experienced
horsemen and riflemen. They had tactical superiority on the battlefield.
The Southern States organized and prepared
their state militias before secession.
They had consistent strong leadership.
Robert E. Lee was
the most experienced leader of the era.
***Lee was left to do everything himself.
There was no real
organization.
In the South
*President Jefferson Davis
led a Confederate Congress that
did not get along.
Vice-President Alexander Stephens
*There was no real Southern Nationalism.
*Robert E. Lee directed all military maneuvers.
**
***Lincoln began the war as a military
novice and turned into a great war President and strategist.
The North's only truly effective leaders were
Grant
and Sherman (Phil Sheridan)
***
* Both Armies used Native Americans
*Both sides used the
draft but it was possible to buy your way out, get an exemption or hire a $300 substitute.
1861 - 1865
Immigration
Period -Irish, Germ, Eng
20% of Union Army was foreign born
Result-
Military service turned into
a matter of economic class.
1863 - Draft riots in NYC underprivileged anti-black Irish-Am
protested against
buyout policy
Date
Union Confederate
July 1861 186,751 112,040
Jan 1863
918,121 446,622
Jan 1865 959,460 445,203
Diplomacy
Trent Affair
- Confederate Diplomats were removed from British Ship and arrested. (later released)
Alabama - Confederate ship
built in England with an English crew became a formidable force, sinking 64 Union Ships. Later paid 15 mil in Claims
Laird rams - ramming ships with guns made in England were going to the Confederates. Tension high; possible Canadian
invasion
Last minute, they were bought up by British Navy, thus avoiding war with the US.
** Medical
Care of the period virtually inadequate.
Hospitals were primitive;
field care was barbaric;
Dr.
Elizabeth Blackwell, America's first female physician, helped to organize the US Sanitary Commission
nursing care
was at first non-existent.
Many deaths were from poor care and disease, rather then battle. Clara Barton helped turn
nursing into a profession
Added up = High Mortality Rate
**
Important Battles
April 15, 1861
Lincoln calls for 75,000 men/ 90 days
Battle Cry - "On to Richmond"
First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
(1861) McDowell v Johnston. The North thought a quick knockout blow
to the South would be to take its capital city of Richmond. Battle took place 35 miles outside of Washington DC.
Congressmen and spectators watched the battle
Union Army did OK in first encounter
Thomas J. "Stonewall"
Jackson held on until reinforcements came. Inexperienced Union Army scattered
A decisive Southern victory
over
inexperienced Northern Troops.
*
George B. McClellan
is given command of the Army of the Potomac
Peninsula Campaign (James and York Rivers)- Lincoln gives him orders to move on Richmond.
McClellan is slow
to react as Jeb Stuart's Calvary rode around his infantry and Jackson out maneuvered him.
Lee launched a brilliant
but bloody counter-attack
(Seven Days Battle)stopping McClellan from taking Richmond
Results: Three more Years
of War
**
Second Battle of Bull Run (1862)
Pope v Lee and Jackson. Pope replaced George B. McClellan
and set a course to attack Richmond. He was defeated at Bull Run, and McClellan replaced him. Southern victory.
Lee
pushes into Maryland, looking for support in the Border State
Battle of Shiloh (1862)
Grant v Johnston-
Heavy losses on both sides, North-13,000,
South-11,000
A Grant victory at Pittsburg Landing.
Grant
now realized that the only way to defeat the South was not by a knockout blow but by continuous battles and total domination.
Farragut Captures New Orleans(1862)
Farragut disobeyed orders and captured the city by sinking 11 southern
ships. Taking New Orleans cut off the Western supply lines by choking off the Gulf. Major Union
Victory.
Monitor
v Merrimac(Virginia)(1862)
Battle of the Ironclads.
Changed Naval warfare forever - Draw
Antietam
(1862) Lee v McClellan
Battle was really a draw but could have been a Union Victory if McClellan acted quickly.
(He discovered Lee's Battle Plans)
2700 southern dead, 2100 northern dead.
South almost received recognition
from England.
Lincoln, however, claimed it a victory. On Sept 23, 1862 he issued a preliminary Emancipation
Proclamation.
He used the victory to issue the following Jan, the
Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
Freeing
all slaves, that were really freed when the Union Army liberated a plantation. He gave the already war weary Union a victory
in the East.
Purpose: to keep England out of the war and making a Southern alliance.
He also created
world-wide sentiment versus slavery.
Fredericksburg Dec. 1862
Lee v Burnside - More than ten thousand Union
soldiers were killed or wounded in a southern victory
Chancellorsville May. 1863
Hooker v Jackson -
Lee
sent Stonewall to attack the Union flank.
Southern victory
but Stonewall Jackson is killed by his own sentry
Siege of Vicksburg (July 4,1863) Grant's western campaigns are successful. Vicksburg is the supply house
for the Confederate Army. Union victory
Battle of Gettysburg(July 1-3, 1863)
Meade v Lee (minus Stonewall
Jackson who was accidentally shot by his own sentry)
165,000 men fought The Greatest Battle of the Western Hemisphere.Lee
desperately needed a victory.
Northern Artillery proved to be overwhelming. Lee backs off and regroups to fight again.
Union victory
Sherman's March to the Sea - General Sherman killed the South's ability to wage war by destroying
everything in his path and burning the city of Atlanta.
Wilderness Campaign - June, 1864
Engaging
Lee in a series of encounters, Grant steadily attacked each Confederate stronghold with gory success on his way to Richmond
Appomattox- April 1865
Lee is cornered, finally surrenders
**
Wartime Diplomacy
Anger at British festered even after the Civil War. A Confederate raid on Vermont Banks after War
Irish-Americans
retaliated by launching revenge raids on British in Canada
British Parliament established the Dominion of Canada in
1867 to strengthen it against a US threat
1863 - Napoleon III of France dispatched an army to occupy Mexico
City. Maximilian becomes Emperor
(clear violation of Monroe Doctrine)
US was pre-occupied with Civil War
After War - Secretary of State William Seward was stern and forceful, Napoleon backed down and Maximilian stood
alone.
Politics at Home
Democratic Party divided into War Democrats and Peace Democrats (Copperheads
openly obstructed war)
Ohio Rep Clement L. Vallandigham
Election of 1864
Lincoln faced a tough election
He became a fusion candidate
(supported by War Democrats and Rep)
He ran under the Union Party with
Tenn. Slave-holder Andrew Johnson
Reelection was doubtful, but
* Farragut captured Mobile, Ala
* Sherman
seized Atlanta
· Sheridan lay waste to Shenandoah, VA
Electoral Vote 212 - 21
Popular Vote % 55/45
Economics of War
North - Morrill Tariff Act
Union Greenbacks inadequately supported by gold
(.39/1.00)
Bonds over 2 billion
(through Jay Cooke and Co.)
National Banking System
South
- 10% tax on Farm produce
(dried up quickly)
Bonds (400 million)
Poorly backed Confederate "blue-backed"
paper money
(high inflation)
"Shoddy" Millionaires - profiteered off fortunes of War
Causalities
Union - 300,000
Confederacy -300,000
The Significance of The
Civil War
a) 1st modern war in world history
Telegraph; Armored Ships;
Repeating Guns; Trench Warfare
b) Total War - everyone was involved and focused on the task of destroying your enemies ability to wage war
Results:
a) Slavery was abolished
b) Union was restored
c) Industrial Capitalism
triumphed
over Agrarianism
Cotton Capitalism lost out to Industrial Capitalism
****
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