civil war notes….
Civil War…..
When the war started in the spring of 1861, neither side, really, expected the conflict to last very long; nor did either side expect many casualties…… after fort Sumter fell(april 14th), both presidents called for about 90,000 volunteers to serve for 90 days…… there was one voice up north which warned lincoln about what to expect in the coming conflict: winfield scott.
For Lincoln, the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) on July 21(4600 combined casualties) began to change his thoughts about the war….he called for an additional 500,000 men to serve for 3 years….and he began to put together a real army and navy….. George McClellan was named to command the Union Army in the East (refer to map from class…..) McClellan was an excellent organizer; he will spend the next months putting together an excellent fighting machine.
Out west, union forces were maneuvering in Kentucky and Missouri…..
1862
In Washington, dc, Lincoln watched McClellan train and organize…..Lincoln argued with his own party about how to run the war…..he resisted the call to emancipate all slaves and arm them…..
In February (16th) Ulysses Grant (US) captured the key confederate fort, donelson, which opened up the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to the union (see map). Grant captured 13,000 confederate soldiers)
Grant will lead an army along the Tennessee River towards Corinth, MS (see map), while another force goes for Nashville and a third goes for Memphis…..
Grant will let down his guard as he crosses the Tennessee at the small town of Pittsburg Landing, TN…..he will be attacked there by a confederate army commanded by Albert S. Johnston…..this will be called the Battle of Shiloh (named for a church nearby which served as a hospital…..some will call it the Battle of Pittsburg Landing)….April 6: William T. Sherman (US) will command the troops which are attacked at dawn by the confederates….Grant will react and feed reinforcements into the battle all day…..the confederate commander, Johnston, was shot and bled to death…..he was shot right behind the knee and his riding boot filled with blood…..had they found his wound soon enough, he could have been saved easily!! By nightfall, the battle is in stalemate….. April 7: confederates attack again and are routed….Grant pushed them south…… RESULT: 25,000 combined casualties….shocking…..the whole nation was stunned by these numbers…..farm fields were covered with dead bodies…..thousands of wounded men screamed and bled and writhed in agony…..Grant was relieved of command by his boss, General Halleck…..Lincoln, though, heard about Grant and put him back in command…..
Grant: “I saw an open field, in our possession on the second day [April 7], over which the Confederates had made repeated charges the day before, so covered with dead that it would have been possible to walk across the clearing, in any direction, stepping on dead bodies, without a foot touching the ground.”
April 25….union navy captures New Orleans….May 30, union army captures Corinth….June 6, union army captures Memphis….Confederates in deep trouble out west……
MEANWHILE, IN THE EAST….. McClellan (US) has been sitting and planning…..but begins to move in late spring….
The Peninsular Campaign…..the union will try to take Richmond from the south, up the Yorktown peninsula (see map)….a second union army will move south through the Shenandoah Valley towards Richmond……a good plan…….. Joseph Eggleston Johnston commands the rebel force at Richmond….
McClellan (US) moves slowly up the peninsula…he has about 100,000 men….. May 31 Battle of Seven Pines….just south of Richmond……Johnston wounded, Robert E. Lee placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia (confederate)…..lee will hold McClellan while Stonewall Jackson (CSA) goes north and with 16,000 men destroys the union army of 60,000 men in the Shenandoah Valley….then
The Seven Days’ Battle…..lee will attack and drive McClellan back down the peninsula…..lee will lose 20,000 men and McClellan will lose 15,000…..June 25-July 1………..
Lee then will take his army and move north….Jackson and another confederate general, Longstreet, will defeat a union army in the Second Battle of Bull Run……Union loses 16,000, confederates lose 9,200…..
Lee then will cross the Potomac into Maryland…..wanders around and sends a Corps to Harper’s Ferry to raid the arsenal……McClellan emerges from hiding and moves toward Lee…..Lee takes his army to the small town of Sharpsburg….a stream runs along the town….Antietam Creek…..September 17, 1862: Battle of Antietam……bloodiest day in US history……..McClellan fights poorly…..does not coordinate his attacks….lee is brilliant as are his generals…..McClellan loses 13,000 men out of about 90,000….lee loses 13,000 out of about 40,000…..
McClellan sits and watches Lee retreat to Virginia…..Lincoln will fire McClellan……..but
The Emancipation Proclamation is announced soon after the battle……September 22…
Lincoln: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union, without freeing any slave I would do it….if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would do that. What I do about slavery… I do because I believe it helps to save the Union….”
Proclamation: inspired by Frederick Douglass…….. union will recruit free Blacks and use them as combat soldiers……Douglass’s own sons will volunteer……. Union armies will free slaves in any county which is in rebellion…….the war now has become one of society against society…..union armies will be fighting the south and not just southern armies…..the Anaconda Plan is in effect now….. Slavery in Maryland, Delaware, Missouri and Kentucky (as well as Washington, dc) is left legal…..
Battle of Fredericksburg December 13, 1862…..union army slaughtered as it tries to scale the hills behind the city……13,000 union casualties……army in despair……Lee: “It is well that war is so terrible—we should grow too fond of it.”
WEST: union army to Chattanooga and Grant begins the Vicksburg Campaign………
1863: south starving….armies underfed…. Blockade is effective and confederate government cannot force states to send food, etc…..
January 1….Proclamation goes into effect….. now the South is in a death struggle….only one side will emerge intact!! Lincoln is very unpopular now in north….Proclamation is not all that popular…..the war now is to free the slaves and destroy the South…..England now will not even consider helping the south…..Confederate Congress rejects a plan to free the slaves in the south……the die is cast…….
Joseph Hooker (US) takes command of union army in D.C. he has a plan: 100,000 men will move to Chancellorsville and cross the Rappahannock while a second army of 28,000 will attack Fredericksburg….the hop is to pin Lee at Fredericksburg and move behind him and crush the Army of northern Virginia….
Lee smells a trap and leaves a small force at Fredericksburg (8,000 under Jubal Early); lee will take about 50,000 to Chancellorsville…..
Battle of Chancellorsville June 30 –May 3: lee attacks Hooker’s army in the Wilderness… massive battle….Hooker will be wounded; Stonewall Jackson, lee’s best general, will be mortally wounded during the battle…..this will cripple Lee’s army the rest of the war…… Hooker is defeated and pushed back across the river, but Lee does not pursue…could have wiped out the union force…..casualties: union lost 17,000 out of about 100,000; confederates lost 13,000 out of about 50,000…..
Jackson’s last words: “Let us cross over the River and rest under the shade of the trees.” Jackson had been a brilliant leader….aggressive, brave and loved…..also a great general…..
MEANWHILE out West
Grant has been trying to get at Vicksburg, the last confederate stronghold on the Mississippi…..city sits on high bluffs overlooking the river; protected by swamps and other streams….Grant will try to attack/storm the city but is driven back…..Grant will spend the spring destroying the land around Vicksburg and taking Jackson…..he will crush another army which was trying to help Vicksburg…..
Mid-May will be ready: surrounds the city and begins a 47 day siege….almost 3,000 cannon/artillery shells will be shot into the city every day for 47 days!!!!!!!!
Siege worries confederates……
BACK IN THE EAST:
Lee takes his battered army north again into Pennsylvania….roams around….a union army follows. The new union commander is George G. Meade “Old Snapping Turtle”
The two armies collide at a small town in south central Pennsylvania…..GETTYSBURG….
The Battle of Gettysburg: June 30, July 1, July 2, July 3…..
New weapon used here by union cavalry…. The Spencer Carbine…. Can shoot 7 shots before you have to reload….. confederates will attack union…. Lee has 65-70,000 soldiers in area…..meade’s army is spread out and will take several days to get to the town….eventually, the union will have around 90,000….
Union army holds the town and Cemetary Ridge…..Round Top and Little Round top are at the far left of the union line; Cemetary and Culp’s Hill are at the far right of the union line…..confederates are on Seminary Ridge….an open area of farm land is between the two armies….about 1-2 miles separate the armies……
July 1: lee attacks both ends of the union line….fierce fighting by the round tops….. confederates take culp’s hill on the right of union army…….
July 2: lee attacks round tops in force….union force comes close to breaking……the union army is stretched very thin by the end of the day….
July 3: lee decides to attack again…..general Longstreet begs him to leave and march behind the union army….. Pickett’s Charge: 13,000 confederate infantry charge straight across the open farm fields at the center of the union line…..about 10,000 are killed/wounded/captured….the rest fall back in disorder….. lee’s army is shattered; meade’s is decimated…..
July 4: lee retreats to Virginia…he lost about 26,000 men; meade lost about 22,000…..worst battle in us history……….
July 4: Grant takes Vicksburg!!! Captured the city and 30,000 confederate soldiers…..south is collapsing….
In the East, both sides will rest and regroup…..
In the West…. Battle of Chickamauga….September 19 and September 20…..35,000 combined casualties
Grant will go to Chattanooga and finish taking that city……
1864:
William Sherman (US): “Three years ago by a little reflection and patience they [South] could have had 100 years of peace and prosperity….Last year they could have saved their slaves, but now it is too late….Next year their lands will be taken….and in another year they may beg in vain for their lives.”
U.S. Grant will be placed in command of all union armies….lincoln knows that Grant is the most capable general he has….has been successful and aggressive since the beginning……
Plan: 1) Wm. Sherman (US) will take an army from Chattanooga to Atlanta….and then perhaps to savannah; 2) A union army will attack Richmond up along the james river….the peninsula….3) a union army will advance down the Shenandoah valley; 4) an army will move on mobile, Alabama; 5) Grant will take an army into Virginia and deal with lee’s army
Grant: “Find out where your enemy is, get at him as soon as you can and strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.”
CSA is in terrible shape…..little food; money is worthless; numbers of soldiers dwindling; only hope is that Lincoln loses the election of 1864…..must hold on…..
Lincoln is running for re-election….promising to finish war….this is very unpopular and he knows it; but, he knows it is the right thing to do…..the Democrats are promising to end the war as soon as their man is elected……former general, George McClellan is running as a democrat against Lincoln!!!! States will begin to vote in the summer…..lincoln figures he will lose the election…… it is up to the generals
Grant v. Lee: May: Grant moves south into the Wilderness….lee is there Battle of the Wilderness May5/6 Grant loses 17,000 lee loses 8,000…..as the battle rages, the soldiers step on and fight among the bones of those killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville…..and the underbrush catches fire……many of the wounded are burned to death …..their screams filled the air…..
Lee figured Grant would retreat….let his guard down…..Grant advances and nearly cuts lee off from Richmond….. Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse May 12: Grant loses 10,000 lee loses 6,000….
Again, Grant advances forcing lee back….to Cold Harbor Battle of Cold Harbor June 3: Grant will regret this battle the rest of his life….he trusted subordinates and lost 6,000 in an hour!!!!!!! Grant loses about 12,000 lee loses 5,000….. Grant then tricks lee and gets behind him….grant faked going to Richmond and instead crossed the James and headed for Petersburg….lee cannot catch him….
Grant is not at the Battle of Petersburg June 15-18…..almost 50,000 union troops are stopped by 10,000 confederates……lee will arrive on the 17th with his force….grant will arrive on the 17/18….. Siege of Petersburg June 18, 1864- April 2, 1865…..Lee is pinned down….his army is out of the war
In one month, Grant has pounded lee and pinned his force down….. Grant will send Philip Sheridan (in September) to destroy the Shenandoah Valley…..nothing is left….. Sheridan brags that if a crow were to fly along the Valley he would have to carry his lunch on his back….farms, homes, livestock, crops, wells…everything which might help the rebel war effort is destroyed…..total war…..
But, a siege was not a stunning victory, and that is what Lincoln had to have….he had to be able to show the voters in the north that the war was won…..
IN THE WEST…..
Sherman(US) moves from Chattanooga towards Atlanta……Joseph Johnston (CSA) opposes him….tough fighting in the mountains…..tough going union infantry now armed with the Henry 17-shot rifle….can fire 17 times before re-loading!!!!! By june 27th, Sherman has reached the chattahootchie river….a few miles north of Atlanta…..fierce fighting along the river…… confederate president jeff davis and others fire Johnston and replace him with john bell hood (who had lost an eye, a leg and the use of an arm so far in the war…..very aggressive and not a good defensive general….)
July 17-20 hood will attack sherman’s army as the union soldiers try to surround Atlanta….confederates lose 20,000 men….too weak now to hold much longer…….horrible decision…..
By the end of july, Lincoln realized he was losing the election…he had his staff preparing to help the democrats when they came into power…..he all but gave up…….
Siege of Atlanta july 31- September 1…..sherman attacks and surrounds the city….. September 1 hood leaves the city….the rebels set on fire the warehouses in the south of Atlanta……Sherman enters the city on September 2….lets the fire consume most of the city…….
This victory is what Lincoln needed…..now the people of the north can see victory….it is just a matter of a few months….lincoln will win re-election
October –december 24….sherman marches to the sea…..his army destroys everything in its path….a 60-mile wide column of union soldiers march 256 miles and crushes Georgia…..Sherman: “I mean to make Georgia howl…” He said he had to show the people what the costs of war are…..
Savannah taken without a fight…..december 24…..sherman will use it as a supply base for his next march…up thru south carolina…….
1865: February 1…Sherman leaves savannah and ruins south Carolina….columbia burned to the ground….it was the birth place of the war……..
April 2-3 lee escapes from Petersburg…..goes west Sheridan stops lee’s 8,000 men at Appomattox courthouse…… grant arrives….lee asks for surrender terms….lee and grant meet face-to-face….grant is very gracious and kind….offers food, medicine, clothing, etc….will not allow his men to celebrate…..lee is stunned by grant’s goodness…grant wants to start healing the wounds which have torn the nation…..
April 14…lincoln goes out for the evening….first real relaxation as president…goes to the theatre….Ford’s Theatre…..is watching “Our American Cousin” John wilkes Booth….. enteres lincoln’s private box and shoots him in the back of the head….booth leaps to stage and escapes….will be killed before he can be brought to trial….. l
Lincoln taken across the street…..will die early on the morning of april 15, 1865……how sad……
Epilogue…
1880….william Sherman giving a speech about the war….he fears that the young men listening are getting the wrong impression about what it was all like…..
“There is many a boy here to-day who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell. You can bear this warning voice to generations yet to come.”
