Ch 21: The Furnace of Civil War (1861-1865)
A costly victory for the preservation of American democracy
A) First Bull Run, a.k.a. Manassas, (July 21, 1861 in VA) Ends the “90-Day War”
1. Lincoln hoped to show the folly of secession w. a swift flourish of federal force. Northerners shared Lincoln’s expectation of quick victory--> overconfidence
2. Lincoln concluded that attack on smaller Confed force at Bull Run (VA) was worth a try.
B) “Tardy George” McClellan and the Peninsula Campaign (March~July 1862 in VA)
1. In 1861, Gen. George B. McClellan was given command of Army of the Potomac
C) The War at Sea
1. At first, blockade very leaky (3500mi coast for hastily improvised Union navy)
D) Antietam (Sept 17, 1862): The Pivotal Point & the Bloodiest Single-Day Battle
1. Lee, having crushed McClellan, moved N & defeated Gen Pope at 2nd Bull Run (Aug 29-30, 1862)
2. Emboldened, Lee thrust into MD, hoping to strike a blow that would not only encourage foreign intervention, but also seduce the Border States.
3. Tho a military draw, McClellan (restored by Lincoln) succeeded in halting Lee, but was relieved for the 2nd & final time for not pursuing Lee the following day.
4. Consequences:
E) A Proclamation Without Emancipation
F) Blacks in the War Effort
1. In the North
G) Lee’s Last Lunge at Gettysburg
1. Fredericksburg, VA (Dec 13, 1862)—Burnside v Lee—Confed victory; 10000+ Union soldiers killed
2. Chancellorsville, VA (May 2-4, 1863)—Hooker v Lee—Lee’s most brilliant victory: divided numeri-cally inferior force & sent Stonewall Jackson to attack Union flank—Jackson mistakenly shot, died
3. Gettysburg, PA (July 1-3, 1863)—Meade v Lee—Costly Union victory
5. Lincoln delivered Gettysburg Address (Nov 18, 1863): invoked principles of human equality & redefined CW as struggle not just for Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all citizens and also create a unified nation in which states' rights were no longer dominant.
H) The War in the West
I) Sherman Scorches Georgia
1. Grant was now transferred to east TN theater, where he won Battle of Chattanooga (Nov 23-35, 1863)
J) The Politics of War: The Election of 1864
1. Political infighting in the North added greatly to Lincoln’s cup of woe.
K) Grant Outlasts Lee
1. Wilderness Campaign (May-June, 1864)
4. Finally, N troops captured Richmond, cornered Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, VA (Apr 9, 1865) where he surrendered Army of N’ern VA (significant portion of Confed army, effectively ending CW.
L) The Aftermath of the Nightmare
1. Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington (Apr 14, 1865)
3. Beyond doubt the CW was the supreme test of American democracy
A) First Bull Run, a.k.a. Manassas, (July 21, 1861 in VA) Ends the “90-Day War”
1. Lincoln hoped to show the folly of secession w. a swift flourish of federal force. Northerners shared Lincoln’s expectation of quick victory--> overconfidence
2. Lincoln concluded that attack on smaller Confed force at Bull Run (VA) was worth a try.
- If successful--> demonstrate superiority of U army & lead to capture of Confed capital, Richmond
- The Union would be restored w/o damage to socioeconomic system of the South.
- Result: Ill-prepared U army led by Irvin McDowell routed by Confed led by Stonewall Jackson
- N: dispelled all illusions of one-punch war & caused U to buckle down to staggering task at hand
- S: inflated already dangerous overconfidence--> many deserted, enlistmts & prep slackened
- Set the stage for a war that would be waged not merely for the cause of U, but also emancipation.
B) “Tardy George” McClellan and the Peninsula Campaign (March~July 1862 in VA)
1. In 1861, Gen. George B. McClellan was given command of Army of the Potomac
- West Pt grad; seen plenty of fighting-Mex & Crimean War; superb organizer & morale booster
- Didn’t take risks, always (erroneously) believed he was outnumbered, overcautious, arrogant
- Plan: water route to Richmond at W base of narrow peninsula formed the James & York Rivers
- Result: After taking 1mo to capture Yorktown, he reached Richmond, but was defeated in the Seven Days’ Battle (June 26~July 2, 1862) by Robert E. Lee
- Lincoln relieved McClellan of post tho Lee’s army suffered 2x the amount of casualties.
- If GMc had captured Richmond & ended war in mid-1862, Union would have been restored w. min disruption to slavery. Lee ensured that war would endure until S was thoroughly destroyed.
- Once hesitant to tamper w. slavery, Lincoln now declared that the rebels “cannot experiment for 10 years trying to destroy the govt & if they fail still come back into the Union unhurt.”
- Blockade South’s coast to slowly suffocate it
- Liberate slaves to undermine the very economic foundations of Old South
- Seize control of MS River to cut Confed in half
- Send troops thru GA & Carolinas to chop Confed into pieces
- Capture capital & try everywhere to engage the enemy’s main strength & grind it to submission.
C) The War at Sea
1. At first, blockade very leaky (3500mi coast for hastily improvised Union navy)
- Hwvr, Brit (greatest naval power) recognized it as binding
- Blockade-running risky but profitable (700% profits)
- High-handed practices: U cptns seized Brit freighters laden w. war supplies not headed to Confed. Justification: these shipments were ultimately destined, by devious rts, for Confed.
- Brit, tho not happy, acquiesced b/c it might need to use this idea in the future
- Easily destroyed two wooden Union shipsà U built ironclad Monitor
- Monitor v. Merrimack (Mar 9, 1862): fought to standstill
- The 1st battle-testing of ironclads heralded doom of wooden warships
D) Antietam (Sept 17, 1862): The Pivotal Point & the Bloodiest Single-Day Battle
1. Lee, having crushed McClellan, moved N & defeated Gen Pope at 2nd Bull Run (Aug 29-30, 1862)
2. Emboldened, Lee thrust into MD, hoping to strike a blow that would not only encourage foreign intervention, but also seduce the Border States.
3. Tho a military draw, McClellan (restored by Lincoln) succeeded in halting Lee, but was relieved for the 2nd & final time for not pursuing Lee the following day.
4. Consequences:
- No foreign aid for Confed as Brit & Fr displayed less+less enthusiasm for Confed cause
- This was the ‘victory’ that Lincoln needed for Emancipation Proclamation on Sept 23, 1862
E) A Proclamation Without Emancipation
- EP “freed” slaves in Confed (where he couldn’t), not Border states (where he could).
- Thousands of slaves, learning of EP, flocked to invading Union armies, but many fugitives would have come anyhow. 1 in 7 Southern slaves ran away to Union camps.
- EP forewhadowed ultimate doom of slavery, legally achieved by 13th Amendmt in 1865, and changed the nature of the war by removing any chance of negotiated settlement.
- Public Reaction
- Some abolitionists blessed him; others claimed he hadn’t done enough
- Opposition mounted in N agst “abolition war”à desertions (esp from Border States) increased
- S accused Lincoln of trying to start slave insurrections
- Eur aristocrats sympathized w. rebels, but working classes opposed intervention
- Moral position of N was much stronger: save Union & free slaves
F) Blacks in the War Effort
1. In the North
- At first, War Department refused to accept free Northern blacks who tried to volunteer, but as manpower ran low & emancipation was proclaimed, black enlistees were accepted.
- Service offered them chance to prove manhood & strengthen claim to full citizenship at war’s end.
- 180,000 blacks (10% total Union enlistmts) participated in 500 engagemts, received 22 Cong Medals of Honor, w. more than 38,000 deaths
- Confed didn’t enlist slaves until last mo (too late) but forced them to perform war-related tasks.
- Slaves were “stomach of Confed”-kept farms going while white men fought
- Everyday, forms of slave resistance diminished productivity.
- Slaves would also serve as spies, guides, and scouts for Union troops
G) Lee’s Last Lunge at Gettysburg
1. Fredericksburg, VA (Dec 13, 1862)—Burnside v Lee—Confed victory; 10000+ Union soldiers killed
2. Chancellorsville, VA (May 2-4, 1863)—Hooker v Lee—Lee’s most brilliant victory: divided numeri-cally inferior force & sent Stonewall Jackson to attack Union flank—Jackson mistakenly shot, died
3. Gettysburg, PA (July 1-3, 1863)—Meade v Lee—Costly Union victory
- Lee’s plan to invade N again, but this time thru PA. If successfulàforeign aid & peace settlemt
- Futile Pickett’s Charge allowed Union to win.
5. Lincoln delivered Gettysburg Address (Nov 18, 1863): invoked principles of human equality & redefined CW as struggle not just for Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all citizens and also create a unified nation in which states' rights were no longer dominant.
H) The War in the West
- Ulysses S. Grant as colonel of a volunteer army first succeeded when he captured Fort Henry & Fort Donelson in TN (Feb 1862). He next tried to capture junction of main Confed RRs in MS Valley, but plans foiled by impressive Confed showing at the gory Battle of Shiloh, TN (Apr 6-7, 1862).
- Meanwhile, a flotilla led by David G. Farragut joined w. N army seized New Orleans. Fortress of Vicksburg, located on hairpin turn of MS, was Confed’s protection to western sources of supply.
- Grant was given command of Union forces besieging Vicksburg(surrendered July 4, 1863)
- Five days later, Port Hudson, the last Southern bastion on MS River, fell.
- Significance:
- Union victory at Vicksburg came a day after Confed defeat at Gettysburg.
- MS River reopenedà reopened trade routes down OH-MS River system to New Orleans
- Tipped diplomatic scales in favor of North; all hopes of foreign aid irretrievably lost
I) Sherman Scorches Georgia
1. Grant was now transferred to east TN theater, where he won Battle of Chattanooga (Nov 23-35, 1863)
- Grant was rewarded by being made general-in-chief.
- TN cleared of Confeds--> prime time to invade GA
- Captured Atlanta (Sept 1864) & burned it in Nov
- Destroyed rail lines and burned buildings
- Cut thru GA, aiming to destroy supplies destined for Confed army and to weaken morale of men at the front by waging war on their homes.
- Captured Savannah on (Dec 22, 1864).
J) The Politics of War: The Election of 1864
1. Political infighting in the North added greatly to Lincoln’s cup of woe.
- Sec of state, Salmon Chase, led opposing faction within Rep party
- Cong Committee on Conduct of War mostly radical Reps who resented expansion of pres power during wartime & who pressed Lincoln zealously on emancipation
- Stephen A. Douglass, had he been alive, would have been able to keep Dems on path of loyalty.
- War Dems supported Lincoln, but Peace Dems (most virulent=Copperheads)didn’t
- Clement L. Vallandigham, OH congressman, publicly demanded end to “wicked and cruel” war-->convicted by military tribunal for treasonable utterances, sentenced to prison, banished to S
- Rep party joined w. War Dems--> Union party: Lincoln & Andrew Johnson (TN war dem)
- Dems: McClellan; defeat=one of most crushing losses suffered by S. Removal of Lincoln was last hope for Confed victory.
K) Grant Outlasts Lee
1. Wilderness Campaign (May-June, 1864)
- After Meade failed to pursue Lee at Gettysburg, Grant was brought in from the West
- Grant (100,000 men) engaged Lee in a series of furious battles in Wilderness of VA
- 6/3 Grant: frontal assault on impregnable position of Cold Harbor--> 7000 casualties in mins
- Public opinion in North was appalled by this “blood and guts” type of fighting
- Lee rate of loss (1 casualty/5 soldiers) was higher than Grant’s (1 casualty/10 soldiers)
- Grant traded two men for one and still beat the enemy to his knees.
- It was Lee, not Grant, who turned the eastern campaign into war of attrition fought in trenches.
4. Finally, N troops captured Richmond, cornered Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, VA (Apr 9, 1865) where he surrendered Army of N’ern VA (significant portion of Confed army, effectively ending CW.
L) The Aftermath of the Nightmare
1. Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington (Apr 14, 1865)
- Lincoln expired in the arms of victory, at the very pinnacle of his fame; well-timed death that helped erase memory of his shortcomings and caused his nobler qualities to stand out.
- Tho ex-Confeds originally cheered, they soon perceived that his moderation would have been the most effective shields b/w then and vindictive treatmt by victors (some believed Davis plotted it)
3. Beyond doubt the CW was the supreme test of American democracy
- Victory of North--> preservation of democratic ideals
- Am democracy had proved itself & its success provided inspiration to champions of democracy & liberalism the world over--> English Reform Bill of 1867 (made Brit true pol democracy)
- Extreme states’ righters crushed & shameful cancer of slavery removedà nation once agn united
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