Chapter 21 The Furnace of Civil War 1861-1865

1. Chapter 21The Furnace of Civil War1861-1865 My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. -Abraham Lincoln, 1862

2. First Battle of Bull Run • First major battle of war • Occurred at Manassas Junction, a railroad center in northern Virginia • Union troops, under General Irvin McDowell, unprepared • Confederate reinforcements arrived (1st time troops moved by train) • Thomas J. Jackson, leading company of Virginians, rallied his troops, earning the nickname, “Stonewall” • Disastrous Union defeat • Effects • Union casualties: 2900; Confederate casualties: 2000 • Convinced the North that a long war was inevitable • Gave the Confederacy false confidence

3. David G. Farragut Ulysses S. Grant

4. War at Sea • The Blockade • Union established blockade of all Southern ports in April 1861, successfully sealing off all but 2 southern ports by 1862 • South resorted to blockade runners to get through the blockade • New Orleans (1862) • David G. Farragut was given command of Union naval force and set out to take control of city • Intense barrage • Farragut’s ships slipped into New Orleans, where Union forces captured the city • Capture of New Orleans put the South’s largest city, and a center of trade, in U.S. hands • Cut off flow off goods down the Mississippi River

5. Monitor vs. Merrimack • Confederates reconditioned an old U.S. warship, renaming it the Virginia • Plated with old iron railroad rails • Threatened Union blockade • Destroyed two wooden ships in Chesapeake Bay • Union ironclad, the Monitor (‘Yankee cheese box on a raft’), arrived in March 1862 to challenge the Confederate ship • Battle lasted four hours, with neither ship gaining the advantage • Presence of the Monitor prevented the South from breaking the Union blockade • First battle of ironclad ships in world history • Doomed wooden warships

6. War in the West • Forts Henry and Donelson (1862) • General Ulysses Grant in command of Union forces • Seized control of Ft. Donelson on the Cumberland River and Ft. Henry, the Confederacy’s main fort on the Tennessee River • Placed all of Kentucky and most of western Tennessee in Union hands • When asked by Confederate general for terms, he demanded “unconditional and immediate surrender”, earning himself the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant • Shiloh (1862) • Grant moved to cut South’s rail line at Corinth, Mississippi • Confederates launched surprise attack near Shiloh Church near Pittsburgh Landing • Confederates were winning, but Grant was able to bring in reinforcements from the river • Grant forced Confederate surrender, resulting in a Union victory • Bloodiest single battle of the war up to that point (worse was to come) with 13000 Union casualties and 11000 Confederate casualties • Murfreesboro (1864) • General Braxton Bragg led Confederate army against Union’s General William Rosecrans • Union lines attempted to cut Confederate rail lines at Chattanooga but fell back • Battle ended with no winner, but Union reinforcements forced Bragg to retreat

7. War in the East • Peninsular Campaign (1862) • General George McClellan planned to attack in Virginia where James and York Rivers form a peninsula, then move to Richmond • Moved too slowly, allowing Confederates to strengthen position, and Confederate General Joseph Johnston inflicted heavy losses • Seven Days’ Battles (6/1862) • General Robert E. Lee assumed command and led attacks against McClellan in Virginia • Forced McClellan to retreat • Losses totaled more than 30,000 casualties and Lincoln ordered McClellan back to Washington • Second Battle of Bull Run (8/1862) • Lee moved to attack McClellan’s retreating army • Met near Manassas Junction • South won again, coming within 20 miles of Washington, D.C.

8. Antietam • General Robert E. Lee decided that it was time to invade the North • Believed that victory on Union soil would convince U.S. to negotiate peace and help gain European intervention • Hoped victory would help Peace Democrats win upcoming Congressional elections • Lee ordered troops to gather near Sharpsburg, Maryland • McClellan had no idea where Confederate army was • Discovered Lee’s plans wrapped around a bundle of cigars in an abandoned camp • Pursued Confederate army • Battle began at Antietam Creek in September 1862 • Also called Battle of Sharpsburg • Union had 75000 troops with 25000 in reserve; Confederacy had 40000 troops • Union victoryat great cost • Bloodiest single day of the Civil War with 12000 Union casualties and 14000 Confederate casualties • Importance • British decided to delay decision on support of Confederacy • South lost best chance for international recognition • Lincoln decided that the time had come to end slavery in the South

9. Antietam

10. Emancipation Proclamation • Question of Slavery • Democrats opposed ending slavery • Republicans divided on the issue • Feared alienating Border States • Believed restoring Union should be first priority • Many convinced by mounting casualties and length of war that South needed to be punished • Emancipation Proclamation • Effective January 1, 1863 • Freed slaves in states at war with the Union • Did not end slavery in Border States • Did not free slaves in Confederate areas under Union control (New Orleans, etc.) • Transformed the war into a conflict to end slavery • Ended any real chance for Britain to accept Confederacy

11. African American Soldiers • Emancipation Proclamation allowed blacks to enlist in the Union army • 180,000 blacks served in Union army during the Civil War (about 9%) • 10,000 to 15,000 blacks served in the Navy (about 10 to 12%) • 54th Massachusetts • One of the 1st African American regiments organized • Extreme heroism proved that African Americans were good soldiers • African American Contribution • Afforded blacks right to prove patriotism and claim citizenship • African American soldiers received 22 Congressional Medals of Honor • Confederate Soldiers • Did not enlist slaves until last year of war • Slaves were forced to provide labor for war-connected activities

12. 54th Massachusetts

13. The Tide of War Turns Battle of Vicksburg • Strategic Location • Vicksburg located on east bank of Mississippi River • It was last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi • Union victory would cut the Confederacy in two • Grierson’s Raid • Troops under leadership of Ben Grierson conducted series of raids to distract Confederates from Vicksburg • Grant moved quickly into position south of city, then moved east to capture Jackson • Ordered troops to live off the land by foraging • Siege of Vicksburg • Grant attacked in May 1863 • Defenses were so strong that Grant was forced to lay siege to the city – cutting it off from food and supplies while under constant bombardment – until defenders surrendered (Confederates forced to eat rats and mules) • July 4, 1863 the city surrendered, cutting the South in two parts and giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River

14. Road to Gettysburg • Battle of Fredericksburg (12/1862) • General Ambrose Burnside replaced the fired McClellan for Union army (McClellan had allowed Lee to regroup after Antietam) • Burnside launched attack against Confederates in Fredericksburg, Virginia • Confederates held superior position in hills above the town (Confederates called it “Burnside’s Slaughter Pen”) • Union losses totaled more than 12,000 men to minimal Confederate losses • Burnside was replaced by General Joseph Hooker • Battle of Chancellorsville (5/1863) • Hooker moved troops in an attempt to get better position against Lee at Fredericksburg • Lee divided his forces and attacked Hooker’s troops at Chancellorsville • Stonewall Jackson – Lee’s ‘right arm’ • Led group to reconnoiter the enemy position and was shot by Confederate patrol when returning to camp • Left arm was amputated but Jackson died 8 days later, probably from infection (some say from pneumonia) • Union forced to retreat

15. Gettysburg • Robert E. Lee planned another attack on northern soil after success at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville • Lincoln replaced Hooker with General George Meade • Confederate troops converged on Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, hoping to intercept a shipment of shoes • Union army (by accident) positioned themselves atop a ridge • Took place over three days - July 1, 1863 to July 3, 1863 • Confederates pushed Union troops out of Gettysburg, and main forces for both armies rushed to the scene • 92,000 Union soldiers faced 76,000 Confederates • Outcome was in doubt until the very end of the battle

16. Pickett’s Charge • Lee ordered massive assault on July 3, 1863 • General George Pickett and General A.P. Hill took 15,000 men in an attempt to break through the Union line • 5th Alabama Battalion participated in the charge, losing @ 48% of men • Union troops stationed on Cemetery Ridge opened fire, killing 7,000 men in less than half an hour • Remaining troops were overpowered by Union forces

17. Effects of Gettysburg • Marked the turning point of the war • Broke the heart of the Confederate cause • Last real chance for the South to win the war • Along with loss at Vicksburg (the following day), scale of diplomacy tipped conclusively to the North • Britain stopped sale of Laird rams • France killed sale of six naval vessels to the Richmond government

18. Chickamauga and Chattanooga • Confederate army forced out of Chattanooga by General William Rosecrans and his army • Confederates regrouped near Chickamauga Creek in north Georgia • General Braxton Bragg’s forces attacked Union army and Rosecrans was forced to retreat back to Chattanooga • Confederacy laid siege on Chattanooga • Grant was transferred to eastern Tennessee theater to organize Union forces • Union won series of engagements in November 1863 at Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, forcing Confederate retreat • Chattanooga was restored to Union control, paving the way for an invasion into Georgia – the heart of the Confederacy • Grant was made general in chief of entire Union army and promoted to Lieutenant General (a rank not held since George Washington)

19. Sherman’s March to the Sea • William Tecumseh Sherman given task of conquering Georgia in 1864 • Captured Atlanta in September and burned the city in November • Led troops out of Atlanta toward Savannah • Total War • Purpose was to destroy South’s ability and desire to wage war (“make Georgia howl”) by waging war on their homes and families • Sherman allowed his soldiers only a knapsack, blanket, gun, and canteen – no food • Forced them to live off the land • Path of Destruction • Burned 60 mile wide swath from Atlanta to Savannah • Destroyed everything they could not use or take with them • Christmas Gift for Lincoln • Mayor of Savannah surrendered as Sherman approached • Sherman spared the city • Telegraphed Lincoln, offering the city of Savannah as a “present for Christmas”

20. Party Politics in the North • Congressional Committee on Conduct of War • Created in 1861 to investigate allegations of misconduct • Formed by ‘radical’ Republicans who resented Lincoln’s expansion of presidential power • Leading critic of Lincoln was Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase • War Democrats • Supported Civil War • Hoped to restore Union to prewar conditions, including slavery • Peace Democrats • Wanted to seek terms with the South • Did not support the war or Lincoln • Copperheads • Violently opposed Civil War • Openly obstructed war effort – attacked draft, Lincoln, emancipation • Mustered considerable political strength in parts of Midwest • The Man Without a Country was inspired by Ohio Copperhead Clement Vallandigham and helped stimulate devotion to Union

21. Election of 1864 • Republican Party joined with War Democrats and temporarily became known as the Union Party • Lincoln nominated, but barely • Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee War Democrat, was chosen as Lincoln’s running mate • Democrats nominated General George McClellan • Lincoln’s reelection looked doubtful until a series of Northern victories – Mobile Bay, Atlanta, etc. – boosted voter confidence • Many Northern soldiers were allowed to come home to vote • Lincoln won 212 electoral votes to McClellan’s 21, but the popular vote was much closer (McClellan received 45%)

22. Grant vs. Lee • Wilderness Campaign (1864) • Grant fought series of campaigns against Lee in Virginia • Both sides suffered huge casualties (Union & Confederates both suffered @ 50,000) • Woods caught fire during battle • Spotsylvania (1864) • Grant attacked Lee’s forces • Lasted 11 days, with soldiers fighting hand-to-hand combat • Confederate lines held • Cold Harbor (1864) • Grant moved forces against Lee’s army, which occupied an almost impregnable position • Union soldiers advanced, many with their names and addresses pinned to their backs • Grant’s army was beaten badly (stated that “I regret this assault more than any one I have ever ordered”) • Resulted in an outcry against Grant (people called him “Grant the Butcher”) • Siege of Petersburg (1864-1865) • Grant hoped to cut the only remaining rail line to Richmond • Confederates had dug trenches to protect city • Union put the city under siege and forced a surrender at the Battle of Five Forks

23. Union Victories Sweep the South • Battle of Mobile Bay (1864) • David Farragut took ships past the forts defending Mobile Bay • Mine (called torpedoes) blew up a Union ship, bringing the advance into the bay to a halt right in front of the forts’ guns • Farragut cried, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” and with his own ship, led the way • Confederate fleet destroyed, eliminating the last Southern port in the Gulf of Mexico • Nashville (1864) • Union army destroyed the Confederates • Completed Union conquest of Tennessee

24. The War Ends • Peace Talks • Confederate leaders attempted to negotiate peace between the “two countries” in February 1865 • Lincoln met with Confederate representatives aboard a Union ship off the coast of Virginia • Lincoln refused to accept anything short of Union and emancipation • Appomattox Courthouse • Confederate forces under leadership of Robert E. Lee were cornered by Union troops led by Grant at Appomattox Courthouse • Richmond had fallen into Union hands • Lee said, “There is nothing left for me to do but go and see…Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths • Grant offered generous terms of surrender on April 9,1865

25. Lincoln, the Martyr • Five days after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford’s Theater • Booth was part of a conspiracy that planned to kill not only President, but also Vice President and Secretary of State • Booth killed; other conspirators charged and convicted (4 were hanged) • Impact of Lincoln’s Death • South, originally glad at Lincoln’s death, eventually realized what a catastrophe it was • Reconstruction became painful ordeal for the South

26. The Cost of War • Death Toll • Over 600,000 men died in action or of disease • More than 1 million killed or wounded • Damages • $15 billion(+) direct monetary cost of war • Continuing costs of pensions and interest on debt from war • Intangible costs included dislocations, wasted energies, lowered ethics, burning hates, etc. incalculable • Federal Power • Power of federal government over states strengthened • States’ rights crushed • Ideas of nullification and secession buried forever • Preserved the idea of democracy as a “long enduring” concept • Inspiration to Other Countries • English Reform Bill of 1867 made Great Britain a true political democracy • Right of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness guaranteed to people around the world, but especially to former slaves