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When Abraham Lincoln was on his way to be inaugurated as the nation’s 16th President, he received the news that Jefferson Davis had been chosen as the President of the Confederate States of America and that seven Southern States had left the Union in protest of his election.
Inaugural Address Lincoln still thought that he could prevent the war... He pleaded to keep the Union. He promised that Union forces would not be used to maintain the Union. He promised the South that he would not interfere with slavery in those states where it already existed.
Within weeks of Lincoln’s speech, the South gave him their answer... • The South captured all but four federal garrisons (forts where troops are housed) in the South...
The only southern garrisons left under Union control were: • Fort Jefferson • Fort Pickens • Fort Taylor • Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter – the Start of the War At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861 Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. 36 hours later, a white flag waved over the fort.
The Civil War Had Begun... • 10,000 Battle Sites • 7 Future Presidents Would Fight • Slavery Was Abolished • 620,000 Americans Would Die
Lincoln Calls the Remaining Garrisons When Lincoln heard of the fall of Fort Sumter he called for volunteers (75,000) to put down the rebellion and protect Washington.
War Strategies Confederate/South Blockade Runners (Private Ships that would slip around the blockade at great speed). On land, they hoped to wear down the Union. At sea, swift raiders (fast, lightly armed ships) captured Union merchant ships. King Cotton Diplomacy– felt that Great Britain and France needed the South’s cotton supply and hoped they would aide the Confederacy side. Union/North Blockade all Confederate ports with Ironclad (Armored Ships) Anaconda Plan – to capture the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in half leaving Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana stranded. Capture the Confederate Capital of Richmond, Virginia. Destroy Confederate armies on the battlefields. Destroy the South’s land so that the Southern civilians would stop supporting the war.
Union Generals Ulysses S. Grant William T. Sherman
Confederate Generals Stonewall Jackson Robert E. Lee
