Civil War Notes - PC\|MAC



Civil War Notes

4.24.12

Main 2 reasons for the Civil War is

a. Slavery

b. States Rights

Union- Abe Lincoln

Confederates- Jefferson Davis

Union Generals- Ulysses S. Grant

William Tecumseh Sherman

Confederate Generals- Robert E. Lee

Stonewall Jackson

Strategies for Victory

Union Plans

a. Blockade the South with the Navy

b. Seize Richmond, VA the Confederate Capitol

c. Seize control of the Mississippi River

Confederate Plans

a. Fight a defensive war in the North

b. Wear down the North’s armies

c. Used money and aide from Europe

Battle of Bull Run

Star of the Battle- Stonewall Jackson

Biggest Moment- the Union soldiers ran off

Turning Point- Stonewall Jackson and his

army from Virginia stood their

ground and fought

Who won? The Confederates

The South took over a Union battleship and put iron all over the ship and renamed it The Virginia. This ship was able to destroy many Union battleships. The boat became known as an Ironclad ship.

The North created an ironclad ship and called it the Monitor.

Battle of Antietam

- Neither side won the battle of Antietam.

- McClellan (Union) was relieved of his duties by President Lincoln b/c he didn’t continue to fight on

- Union Soldiers found Lee’s battle plans

- 23,000 Union and Confederates were killed or wounded

Battle of Fredericksburg

- Robert E. Lee led the Confederates to

victory

Battle of Chancellorsville

- Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson was able to easily defeat the Union in 3 days

- Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own people and he later died.

Battle of Shiloh

- Ulysses S. Grant led the Union troops to victory over the Confederates

- It was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War

Star- Ulysses S. Grant

Turning Point- Was when Grant would not quit and re-enforcements came to help

Biggest Moment- Union had its first victory over the Confederates and was able to move to gain control of the MS River

The Union was able to gain control of Memphis, Tn and New Orleans, LA which gave them control of the MS River

Lincoln’s Goal

- To keep the United States together

Emancipation Proclamation

- Freed all slaves in areas that were captured by Union.

- This was enacted by President Abraham Lincoln.

- No slaves actually gained their freedom until after the Civil Warm

African American Contributions

- Black troops got half the pay of white soldiers

- They served in all black units

- They performed non-combat jobs

- Eventually they got equal pay from the War Department

- Eventually they would find their way to the battlefields to fight

54th Massachusetts Regiments fought with African American Soldiers and were successful in battles

Sergeant William Carney won the first Medal of Honor for African Americans

¼ of the slave population in the South had escaped to FREEDOM!!!

The Hard Life of Soldiers

- Most soldiers were under the age of 21

- They slept on the ground in the rain and snow

- The South drafted boys from age 17-50

- New technologies such as cone shaped bullets and larger cannons were taking shape

- Most emergency hospitals were created on the battlefield and many soldiers limbs were amputated and most soldiers died from disease and infections

Robert E. Lee (Confederate General) commanded the army of Northern Virginia

Ulysses S. Grant (Union General) commanded the army of the Potomac

William Tecumseh Sherman (Union General) invaded Atlanta, Georgia and burned the entire city to the ground. The reason he burned the one of the largest cities in the south was b/c he wanted to break the South’s spirit.

After he burned down Atlanta he moved across the whole state of Georgia burning a path 300 miles long from Atlanta to Savannah, GA. “Sherman’s March to the Sea.”

This march killed the South’s spirit to wage war.

During the time of the Civil War each state in the South printed its own money.

Ulysses S. Grant (Union) moved his army from Shiloh to Corinth, MS chasing Confederate Soldiers.

Grant took his army to Jackson, MS and defeated Confederate forces on his way to Vicksburg, MS.

The Fall of Vicksburg

- The Siege of Vicksburg began in 1863 and many citizens of the town dug into caves in the sides of hills to avoid Union Cannon fire.

- The Union surrounded the town and did not let anyone in or out of the town. That meant no supplies for the citizens.

- Many of the citizens ate rats, squirrels, and other rodents b/c no supplies were allowed into the town by the Union.

- The Union starved out the town until it surrendered on July 4, 1863. To this day the city of Vicksburg does not celebrate July 4th.

- This was a major victory for the Union b/c they now controlled the MS River from top to bottom.

Battle of Gettysburg

- Robert E. Lee took his army north to Pennsylvania and he was met by General Meade (Union) at a town called Gettysburg.

- The battle went back and forth between the two sides until Lee and the army of Northern Virginia made a mistake.

- Lee sent General Pickett (Confederate) to charge the Union Lines and his entire group of soldiers were killed. This charge is know as “Pickett’s last Charge”

- This charge created a hole in the Confederate lines and the Union pushed forward and many Confederate Soldiers retreated.

- The Union won the Battle of Gettysburg and the Confederates that were left retreated back into Virginia with Robert E. Lee.

In 1864 Abraham Lincoln is re-elected which causes more tension in the US

In May of 1864 Grant and his army had began a drive to the capitol of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA

In the meanwhile Lee was able to get victories at Spotsylvania, the Wilderness of Virginia, and Cold Harbor. About 60,000 Union soldiers were killed or wounded.

At the Battle of Petersburg General Lee and General Grant’s army met on the battlefield. The Union would claim victory as the Confederates re-treated.

Lee and his army surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865

Lee wore a formal dress uniform while Grant had a dingy old uniform.

Conditions of the Surrender

a. Confederate soldiers had to give up their guns

b. Soldiers with horses could keep them

c. Each officer was allowed to go home with no bother from US authorities

d. Confederate soldiers were given food

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