The Civil War 1861-1865

1. The Civil War1861-1865

2. The war begins • Lincoln inaugurated March 1861 • Unclear how he would respond to SC & the other 6 states • He assured southerners that he had no intention of interfering with slavery • He warned that no state had the right to secede

3. “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.” --Abraham Lincoln, Inauguration speech.

5. Fort Sumter • 2 forts in the South were still occupied by Federal troops • One was Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC • Lincoln chose to send supplies to the fort & allow SC to decide whether or not to allow it • Confederates began bombarding Ft. Sumter on April 12, 1861

6. President Abraham Lincoln’s reaction • Acted as no other president had before him • Often acting without approval of Congress • Claim such action as necessary “as indispensable to the public safety.”

7. Lincoln • Called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the insurrection • 90 day enlistment period • Authorized spending for the war • Suspended the writ of habeas corpus • Congress was not in session when Lincoln did these things

8. The South’s Reaction • After Ft. Sumter 4 other southern states seceded • Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, & Arkansas • The capital was moved to Richmond, VA • 4 slaveholding states remained in the Union • Border states: • Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, & Delaware

9. Border States • Keeping the border states in the Union was imperative to Lincoln • Loss of these states would have increased the population of the CS by 50% • These states were strategically important for the war • Lincoln was reluctant to push for emancipation fearing alienation of these states

10. Civil War Names • The War Between the States • The War for Southern Independence • Mr. Lincoln’s War • The Southern Rebellion • The War of the Rebellion • The Second War for Independence • The War to Suppress Yankee Arrogance • The War Against Northern Aggression • The War of the Southern Planters • The War for the Union • The War for Southern Freedom • The Lost Cause

11. Civil War Nicknames • Confederate States of America • The South, CS, CSA, Rebels, Confederates, Johnny Reb, Secesh • SC, NC, GA, FL, MS, AL, TN, AK, VA, TX, & LA • United States of America • The North, US, USA, Yankees, Billy Yank, Federals, Bluebellies

12. First Modern War • Rifled muskets • Telegraph • Ironclad ships • Submarines • Total warfare • Workable machine gun • Aerial reconnaissance • Field trenches • Photography of battle • Repeating rifles • Bugle call “Taps” • Income tax

13. Military Advantages • CS • Fight a defensive war • Move troops shorter distances • Long coast difficult to blockade • Experienced military leaders • US • Population: 22 million vs. 5.5 million • 2.5:1; free males 4.4:1 • 800,000 immigrants • Freed slaves • US Navy

14. Economic Advantages • CS • Hoped overseas demand for cotton would draw support from foreign powers, esp. the U.K. • US • Controlled most of the banking & capital of the US • Wealth produced 3:1 (factory production: 10:1) • 85% of all factories & manufactured goods • Transportation (railroad mileage: 7:1) • 70% of railroads • 65% of farmland

15. Political Advantages • The North • Well established strong central government • Strong leadership of Abraham Lincoln • The South • Hurt by it’s own ideology of state’s rights • Lacked a strong central government • Hoped that the North would turn on Lincoln & get tired of the war

16. Strategies • Northern strategy • Capture Richmond • Occupy border states • Divide the CS in two by taking control of Mississippi River • Blockade southern ports & cut off supply line to South • Anaconda Plan • Southern strategy • Capture Washington, D.C. • Control border states • Gain support of England • Theatres • Western theatre • Eastern theatre

17. Confederate States of America

18. C.S.A. • Constitution modeled after U.S. Constitution • One 6-year term for president & v.p. • President had item veto power • Congress could not pass protective tariffs or fund internal improvements • Foreign slave trade was prohibited • Pres. Davis struggled to increase power of the presidency during the war; state governors resisted • The CS faced serious shortage of money during the war—issued more than $1 billion in paper money • Worth less than 2 cents by end of the war

19. Civil War Battles • South named battles after town or settlement • Battle of Manassas • North named battles after nearest water • Battle of Bull Run

20. Civil War Battles • First Bull Run (US) or First Manassas (CS), Virginia (July 1861) • First battle of the Civil War, July 1861 • “On to Richmond” • Believed it would be a short war • US Gen. Irvin McDowell vs. CS Gen. Joseph Johnston • US troops initially winning • CS counterattack led by Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson sends US fleeing back to Washington, DC • Ended the illusion of a short war • Peninsula Campaign (March 1862) • Gen. George McClellan replaced Gen. McDowell • Pressured to make a move invaded Virginia • Stopped by Gen. Robert E. Lee & was ordered back after 5 mos. • Replaced by Gen. John Pope

21. Battle of Mill Springs • Mill Springs, Kentucky, January 19, 1862 • US Gen. George Thomas vs. CS Gen. George Crittenden • Confederates defeated & forced out of Kentucky • CS General Felix Zollicoffer killed • Enabled US to carry war into Tennessee

22. Civil War Battles • Ft. Henry & Ft. Donelson, Kentucky, February 1862 • US Gen. U.S. Grant captured both forts • “Unconditional Surrender” Grant

23. Civil War Battles • Monitor vs. Merrimac (March 1862) • Clash of the Ironclads

24. Shiloh, Tennessee (April 6-7, 1862) • US Gen. Grant vs. CS Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston & Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard • Gen. Johnston mortally wounded • US victory after reinforcements arrived under Gen. Buell • US casualties 13,000, CS casualties 11,000 • Second Manassas or Second Bull Run, VA, (August 1862) • CS Gen. Lee vs. US Gen. Pope • CS victory

25. Antietam, Maryland (September 22, 1862) • Lee’s first advance into northern territory • Hoped a victory in the North would gain recognition & support from Britain • US Gen. McClellan was once again in command • Knew CS plans b/c a CS gen. had dropped them • Single bloodiest day in American military history • Over 22,000 killed or wounded • US claims victory after CS army retreats to VA • McClellan replaced by Lincoln for not pursuing Lee—”bad case of the slows” • Replaced by Gen. Ambrose Burnside • Lincoln uses victory to issue Emancipation Proclamation

26. Battle of FredericksburgDecember 1862 • US Gen. Burnside vs. CS Gen. Lee • Burnside recklessly attacks entrenched CS army • 12,000 US casualties vs. 5,000 CS casualties • Robert E. Lee: "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."

27. Perryville, KY (October 8, 1862) • CS Gen. Braxton Bragg vs. US Gen. Don Carlos Buell • CS offensive into Kentucky • US victory

28. Foreign Affairs • CS needed foreign support • Counting on Britain & France’s dependence on “King Cotton” • British aristocracy wanted American democracy to fail • Why Cotton Diplomacy failed • Europe found other sources of cotton • Wool & linen also used as alternatives • CS defeat at Antietam • Emancipation Proclamation

29. Trent Affair • CS diplomats James Mason & John Slidell on a mission to Britain aboard British steamer the Trent • US warship stopped the Trent, removed Mason & Trent, & brought them to the US as POWs • Britain demanded their release & threatened war • Lincoln acquiesced • They went to Britain; their mission failed

30. Confederate raiders • CS purchased warships from Britain • CS commerce-raiders effective against US merchant ships • CSS Alabama captured 60 ships before being sunk • Britain paid the US $15.5 million after the war for damages caused

31. Slavery

32. Slavery • Lincoln was reluctant to free slaves during the war • Keep support of border states • Constitutional protections of slavery • Prejudices of northerners • Fear that premature action could be overturned in the next election

33. Confiscation Acts • May 1861, US Gen. Benjamin Butler refused to return slaves to southerners calling them “contraband of war” • Confiscation Act, 1861 • Used legal basis of the power to seize enemy property used to wage war against the US • Thousands of “contrabands” fled to Union camps • Second Confiscation Act, July 1862 • Freed slaves of persons engaged in rebellion against the US • Empowered the president to use freed slaves in the Union army in any capacity

34. Emancipation Proclamation • After Antietam, Lincoln warned that slaves in all states still in rebellion on 1/1/1863 would be “then, thencefoward, and forever free.” • Justified by calling it a military necessity • It listed each state in rebellion & stated: • …I do order & declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated states are, & henceforward shall be, free; & that the Executive Government of the US, including the military & naval authorities thereof, shall recognize & maintain the freedom of said persons.

35. Consequences • No slaves were immediately freed • Only applied to states out of Union control • Slavery continued in border states • Committed US gov’t. to a policy of abolition • Enlarged purpose of the war • Fighting slavery as well as secession & rebellion • Added weight to the Confiscation acts • Number of slaves fleeing to Union lines increased • Authorized the recruitment of freed slaves as Union soldiers

36. 13th Amendment • This amendment to the Constitution was needed to free slaves in the border states due to phrases in the Constitution that seemed to legitimize slavery • Ratified in December 1865 • “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exit within the U.S., or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

37. Freedmen • After the Emancipation Proclamation about one quarter of slave population walked away & sought the protection of the Union army • Almost 200,000 served in the Union army & navy • Segregated into all black units • 54th Massachusetts • “Glory”

38. Chancellorsville, VA (April 1863) • CS Gen. Lee vs. US Gen. Joseph Hooker • Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson mortally wounded by his own men • CS victory • Lee’s greatest victory

39. Turning Point of the war • Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1-3, 1863) • CS Gen. Lee vs. US Gen. George Meade • Lee’s second invasion of the North • Hoped to force the North to call for peace or obtain foreign intervention • Largest battle of the Civil War • Casualties: 23,000 Union, 28,000 Confederate • Last offensive for the CS army • US victory • Vicksburg, Mississippi (July 4, 1863) • US Gen. Grant laid siege • US victory, Union gains control of the Mississippi River

40. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant • Lincoln moved Grant West in 1864 • Given command of entire Union army • Grant’s plan was to outlast Lee in a war of attrition

41. Sherman’s March • US Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman • Led 100,000 men from Chattanooga, TN across GA & up into SC leaving a path of destruction • Destroyed everything in their path—cotton fields, barns, houses, etc. • Total war • Wanted to break the will of the people • Captured Atlanta in Sept. ’64 in time to help Lincoln get reelected

42. Sherman’s March • Presented Lincoln with Savannah, GA 12/25/64 • Set fire to Columbia, SC in Feb 1865 • “War is hell”

43. Election of 1864 • Democrats nominated Gen. George McClellan • Platform: peace • Unionist party (Republicans) nominated Lincoln with loyal Democrat Sen. Andrew Johnson as running mate • Party changed name to attract “War Democrats” • Lincoln won electoral votes 212/21 • McClellan did get 45% of popular vote

44. End of the war • Spring 1865 • Effects of Union blockade & Sherman’s march were taking their toll • Grant continued to outflank Lee • April 3, 1865 Richmond, VA fell • CS tried to negotiate for peace • Lincoln wanted restoration of Union & Davis wanted independence

45. Appomattox Court House, VA • Lee surrendered to Grant • April 9, 1865 • Grant gave Lee generous surrender terms

46. Lincoln’s Assassination • April 14, 1865 Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth • Lincoln was at Ford’s Theatre watching “My American Cousin” • A coconspirator attacked Sec. of State William Seward • The North was outraged

47. Effects of the War

48. Politics • Republicans had majorities in both houses but were divided • Moderates (Free-Soilers) • Radicals—who wanted immediate abolition • Most Democrats supported the war but criticized Lincoln’s conduct of it • Peace Democrats (Copperheads) opposed the war & wanted peace • Congressman Clement Vallandigham, Ohio, briefly banished for his pro-Confederate speeches

49. Civil Liberties • Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland & other states where pro-Confederate sentiment was high • People could be arrested without being charged with a crime indefinitely • About 13,000 people were arrested on suspicion of aiding the enemy • Democrats called Lincoln a tyrant • Ex Parte Milligan (1866) Supreme Court ruled the government had acted improperly in trying civilians in military courts

50. Conscription • US Conscription Act (March 1863) all men between 20 & 45 liable for military service but could find a substitute or pay a $300 exemption fee • Strong opposition from poor laborers • July 1863 draft riots in New York City • Led mostly by Irish Americans against blacks & wealthy whites • Federal troops had to restore order • Both North & South had to use the draft