The Civil War: 1861 – 1865



The Civil War: 1861 – 1865

Chapter 21

Civil War: conflict between two peoples in one country

• 1860, November: Lincoln voted President

• 1860, December: South Carolina secedes or leaves the union. Six more southern states followed

• 1861, March 4: Lincoln becomes President

• 1861, April 12: South Carolina opens fire on Fort Sumter/ Civil War begins

• United States of America: Northern States = 21 states

o Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri

• Confederate States of America: Southern States = 11 states

o Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas

Preparing For War

• Both sides thought it would be a quick and easy war

• Both sides were wrong / War lasted 4 years

President of the United States: Abraham Lincoln

North Strengths North Weaknesses

1. #1 strength: President Abraham Lincoln 1. lacked military leadership

2. larger population of people 22 million people 2. city dwellers who never rode a horse

3. more ships or held a gun

4. much, much more mills and factories 3. unprepared for war armed forces not

90 % of manufacturing in north well trained

5. many more miles of railroad track 4. no uniforms to begin / later blue

which was a MAJOR resource in modern

warfare for the first time during Civil War

21,000 miles of railroad lines

6. most of US gold & wealth in north

7. Every ship in the U.S. Navy (90)

President of the Confederate States: Jefferson Davis

South Strengths South Weaknesses

#1 strength: Military Leadership 1. greatest weakness = economy

1. people used to outdoor life 2. never had enough food or clothing

2. knew how to ride horses 3. only 9,000 miles of railroad track

3. Southerners had to defend families and home 4. fewer people than the north

5. Fighting defensive war in their own territory only 9 million people compared

to 22 million in the north

• Lincoln’s “Anaconda Plan”: for winning the war:

1. surround the south by land and sea to cut off it’s trade / blockade of southern ports to cut off shipping

2. divided confederacy into sections so they could not help each other and weaken the confederacy

3. Capture the capital of the south, Richmond, Virginia and destroy the rebel government.

• Called the Anaconda Plan because it was like the crushing death grip of an anaconda snake.

For specific details on the Battles of the Civil War see attached table.

1861, July Battle of Bull Run: First battle of the war

1862, April Battle of Shiloh

1862, June/July Battles of the Seven Days

1862, September Battle of Antietam: Bloodiest battle of the war

1863, January Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln

▪ Declared all slaves in the Confederate States to be free

▪ Up to this point Lincoln saw the purpose of the war to preserve the union.

▪ He changed his mind after the Battle of Antietam

▪ “Slavery must die so that the nation might live.”

▪ Gave north new cause to fight: crusade for freedom

▪ No impact on the South / slaves were not freed

▪ Kept foreign nations from helping the south

1863, July Battle of Gettysburg: TURNING POINT OF THE WAR!

1863, May – July Vicksburg Campaign / Siege of Vicksburg by North 47 days

1864, March Grant put in charge of all Union forces in the North:

1864, May Grant heads his troops to capture Richmond, Virginia

(takes 10 months of fighting)

1864, September Grant sends northern troops under Sherman to capture and burn Atlanta, Georgia

1864, November Abraham Lincoln reelected President (Sherman’s capture of Atlanta helps)

1864, November Sherman of the north began his march through Georgia

▪ Total War: Grant’s philosophy toward war: inflict all the damage you can against their war resources

▪ Cut off enemies supply lines

▪ Used guerilla warfare

▪ Destroyed the south

▪ After burning Atlanta in Sept. Sherman heads across Georgia to Savannah destroying everything they found of value 50 mile wide line for 200 miles

1864, December Sherman captures Savannah

1865, March Sherman reaches Raleigh, North Carolina, marching and destroying 425 miles in 50 days from Savannah. There he waits for Grant’s final attack on Richmond.

1865, April Grant breaks through to capture Richmond

1865, April 9th General Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia

A Noble Surrender: Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia

• General Robert E. Lee, in full dress uniform, surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant

• Local home (Wilmer McLean) in the village of Appomattox Courthouse

• Grants terms of surrender designed to end the war without causing further suffering or hatred.

o Confederate soldiers allowed to go home/ promise not to fight

o They could take their own horses and mules

o Officers could keep their sword and weapons

o Fed all the confederate soldiers who were starving

Dates continued for those curious souls:

1865, April 14 Abraham Lincoln was assassinated 5 days after surrender at Appomotax

1865, April 26 Johnston surrendered to Sherman

1865, May 4 Confederate forces in Alabama & Mississippi surrendered.

1865, May 11 Jefferson Davis was captured.

1865, May 26 The last Confederate troops surrendered.

620,000 + soldiers died in the Civil War.

Additional info:

Battery: a set of guns or other heavy artillery used in war

First American War to:

• Use Railroads to move troops and keep them supplied

• Use telegraphs to communicate with distant armies

• Use Photographs to record what happened

• See combat between armor-plated steamships:

o Merrimac or Virginia (south) and the Monitor(north)

• Use trenches

• Use hot air balloons for spying

• Use “Total War” / modern warfare / destroy enemy’s economy

New Realities of War:

• Past wars fought in hand-to-hand combat using bayonets

• Civil War: improved weapons made killing at a distance easier

• Rifles replaced muskets/ more accurate and could shoot farther

• Improved cannons and artillery rained down death on forces far away

• Medical care not as advanced

• No understanding of causes of infections

• Surgeons operated in dirty tents, used same instruments without cleaning, never washed

• More men died of disease in hospitals than of their wounds

• 3 men died of diseases for every 1 man on the battlefield

African Americans Join the War:

• 1862: Congress allows black recruits to enlist: 186,000 enlist in army, 30,00 enlist in navy

• Most famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry: fought bravely at Fort Wagner

• 166 Black regiments fought nearly 500 battles to save the Union and end slavery.

Women Support the War:

• women take over family farms and businesses

• serve in military: messengers, guides, scouts, soldiers, spies, smugglers

• took care of sick and wounded in military encampments and military hospitals

• Clara Barton: nurse that followed armies into battle / founder of American Red Cross/ known as the “Angel of Mercy”.

• Rose O’Neil – Southern woman who lived in Washington D.C. and acted as a spy for the south

• Elizabeth Blackwell: First woman doctor/ northerner / before war no one would hire her / during war was hired to head sanitary commission.

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