The “Playas” and Battles of the Civil War

1. The “Playas” and Battles of the Civil War Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, William T. Sherman, and Jefferson Davis at Fort Sumter, Antietam, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Atlanta

2. Important Northern Generals • General Ulysses Grant • led Northern Army in the West to try to seize the Mississippi River; was selected by Lincoln as commander of Union troops • Early victories include capture of Fort Donelson and Fort Henry • Unconditional surrender Grant • Plagued by rumors of drinking due to frequent migraine headaches • believed that taking down the Confederate armies was most important to the war effort, and to that end, set out to track down and destroy General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia • Lee surrenders in April 1865 at the Appomattox Courthouse • Grant allowed Lee's men to keep their horses and return to their homes, taking none of them as prisoners of war

3. Important Northern Generals • William Tecumseh Sherman • was appointed to take Georgia and split the Confederacy • Fought in the first battle of Bull run where the Union was badly defeated • Became pessimistic • Complained about lack of provisions • Was put on leave and the media declared him “insane” • Fought with Grant at Shiloh and Vicksburg • They became “besties” • In September 1864, William T. Sherman took Atlanta and burned it to the ground. • Began his celebrated "March to the Sea," ripping through Georgia with a 60-mile-wide path of total destruction. • Sherman understood that to win the war and save the Union, his Army would have to break the South's will to fight.

4. Important Southern Generals • Robert E. Lee • Trained at West Point • Top student • Became Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia • Known as a crafty, smart soldier • Well liked by his troops • Was asked by Lincoln to serve as Union general, but refused saying his allegiance was first with Virginia • gave the Confederacy a crucial victory at Second Manassas. • courted disaster when he tried to cross the Potomac, just barely escaping at the bloody battle known as Antietam. In it, nearly 14,000 of his men were captured, wounded or killed. • From July 1 to July 3, 1863, Lee's forces suffered another round of heavy casualties in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The three-day stand-off, known as the Battle of Gettysburg, almost destroyed his army, ending Lee's invasion of the North and helping to turn the war around for the Union

5. Important Southern Generals • Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson • Also attended West Point • Popular, intelligent instructor at VMI • Well liked by troops • A very religious man who did not believe in fighting on Sundays • It was at the First Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861 • Jackson earned his famous nickname, Stonewall when Jackson charged his army ahead to bridge a gap in the defensive line against a Union attack, General Barnard E. Bee, impressed, exclaimed, "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.“ • He defended western Virginia against the Union Army’s invasion. • After leading the Confederate Army to several victories, Jackson was ordered to join General Robert E. Lee’s army in 1862. • Joining Lee in the Peninsula, Jackson continued to fight in defense of Virginia. • Jackson achieved a whole new level of success at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863, when he struck General John Hooker’s Army of the Potomac from the rear • On May 2, 1863, Jackson was accidentally shot by friendly fire

6. President of the Confederate States of America • Jefferson Davis • named president of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861. • In way over his head • Often plagued with talk of impeachment • Suffered from nervous disorders • On May 10, 1865, he was captured by Union forces near Irwinville, Georgia, and charged with treason. • Davis was imprisoned at Fort Monroe in Virginia from May 22, 1865, to May 13, 1867, before being released on bail paid partly by abolitionist Horace Greely.

7. Fort Sumter, South Carolina • Seceding states seized all federal property in their borders • Lincoln sent an expedition to provide provisions • SC saw it as an act of aggression • April 12, 1861, SC cannons fired on the fort • The fort surrendered after 34 hours of bombardment • The fighting united the North and Lincoln could now wage war on the Confederacy • Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and N. Carolina all join the South

8. Antietam, Maryland • Robert E. Lee was emboldened by successes at Richmond and the Second Battle of Bull Run • He marched into Maryland, September 17, 1862 • Hoped a win here would encourage foreign intervention and seduce the border states • Union soldiers found a copy of Lee’s battle plans • General McClellan halted Lee at Antietam in a bitter and bloody battle that ended in a draw • McClellan is removed from command for not following Lee to finish him • Most decisive battle of the Civil War • Confederates were never so close to victory again • French and Brits were about to come to the aid of the South • Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation shortly thereafter

9. Vicksburg, Mississippi • Best fought campaign of the War • Union forces commanded by General Grant • Fort is captured on July 4, 1863 • Fort Vicksburg (at the mouth of the Mississippi River) was the South’s last lifeline to the western sources of supply, which were now cut off • Victory came the day after Confederate defeat at Gettysburg • Reopening the Mississippi River helped to quell the peace agitation of the Ohio River Valley states whose trade had been disrupted by Southern control of the River • Britain and France back out on deals for ships and aid to the Confederacy

10. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania • Lee wants to win a great victory on Northern soil to take pressure off of the siege at Vicksburg • He marches his troops toward Maryland • A Confederate foraging party enters the town of Gettysburg looking for shoes and encounter Union cavalry • Main forces quickly converge • On day 1 (July 1,1863) Confederates push Union forces out of the town and onto the high ground • On day 2, Lee orders an assault on the left and right flanks of the Union army • Union forces outnumbered the Confederates and pushed off the attack • On day 3, Lee staked everything on one final attack at Cemetery Ridge. • Ordered General Pickett’s troops to charge across an open field into Union artillery. • General Longstreet was supposed to assist Pickett’s forces, but Longstreet believed the frontal assault was a death sentence and did not follow orders • Barely half of Pickett’s 14,000 men returned

11. Battle for Atlanta • Sherman doggedly pursued Joe Johnston’s Confederates through Georgia toward Atlanta • Sherman loved “toe to toe” war whereas Johnston preferred to retreat • President Davis replaced Johnston with John B. Hood • Hood’s arm was crippled and he lost a leg and had to be strapped to his horse • Hood strikes Sherman’s army 3 times from Atlanta but loses each time • Sherman circles the city and forces Hood to evacuate on September 1, 1864 • Sherman resolves to make all of Georgia howl • He wanted to whip the rebels and humble their pride • He burns Atlanta and then marches toward Savannah with his troops destroying any livestock or crops • His soldiers displayed incredible acts of brutality in Sherman’s march to the sea • On December 21, Sherman captures Savannah and offers it to Lincoln as a Christmas gift • He then moved across the river to that “hell hole of secession” South Carolina • More than a dozen town are torched