Chapter 21: The Furnace of Civil War (1861-1865)

Lincoln only foresaw the war lasting 90 days, within which the Union would have shown the Confederacy the folly of seceding but left slavery untouched But it ended up lasting four years and abolishing slavery Bull Run Ends the July 21, 1861 Lincoln attacked Bull Run because could capture Confederate capital Ninety-Day War Richmond, VA from there, so secession would be ended with the least amount of damage Congressmen and other spectators followed the troops to picnic while enjoying the show At first, the Northern forces did well, but Confederate General Stonewall Jackson stood firm and quickly brought in reinforcements, so the inexperienced Union army made a panicked retreat, though the Confederates were too tired or disorganized to pursue them Though Bull Run was not significant militarily, had great psychological and political effects: Inflated the South's confidence, so deserting troops, falling enlistment rates, and decreased preparation for prolonged fighting Showed the North that the war would not be as quickly and easily won as they had thought Was the first hint that the North would also strive to achieve emancipation of the slaves 1861 the experienced and talented General George Young Napoleon McClellan was put in Tardy George charge of the Army of the Potomac near D.C. McClellan and the McClellan raised morale because he hated to sacrifice his men, but was inefficient because Peninsula was overcautious (all quiet along the Potomac) and a perfectionist, and regarded President Campaign Lincoln lowly Spring of 1862, with prodding from Lincoln, McClellan began his Peninsula Campaign and slowly marched towards Richmond, VA (located on a peninsula formed by the James and York Rivers) Captured Yorktown after a month and were nearing Richmond when were stalled because Lincoln sent their reinforcements to help Stonewall Jackson Confederate cavalry leader Jeb Stuart rode his men completely around McClellans army for reconnaissance June 26 to July 2, 1962 the Seven Days Battles: General Lee counterattacked McClellan and drove him back to the sea Effects: The Peninsula Campaign was abandoned McClellan was fired Ensured that the Union would keep fighting until slavery was abolished because Lincoln now felt that the seceding states could not be accepted back unhurt The new Northern military plan: Suffocate the South by blockading its coast Undermine its economy by freeing the slaves Divide it by seizing the Mississippi River Divide and conquer by sending troops through GA and the Carolinas Decapitate it by capturing its capital at Richmond, VA Grind down its strength by engaging in fighting everywhere The War at Sea The blockade was not super effective because was extended by degrees and depended on a hastily assembled navy, but naval forces were concentrated near key ports

 Normally, the European nations would have defied the blockade, but Britain recognized it, because blockading was its chief offensive weapon so did not want to seem hypocritical Before the main ports were pinched off, blockade-running was extremely profitable, though dangerous, because of the growing scarcity of Southern goods The blockade was enforced high-handedly, ex. Northern ships would seize British freighters on their way to halfway stations outside the Confederacy on the argument that the goods would find their way into the Confederacy Again, Britain did not oppose because might themselves need to use the same methods someday The first American iron-clad ships: Britain and France had already built several ironclads The South made the first American iron-clad ship, the Merrimack (renamed the Virginia) by plating a wooden ship with iron railroad rails; was powerful, but clumsy and not seaworthy 1862 the Merrimack easily destroyed two wooden Union ships, so the North feared for the safety of its entire fleet So the Union built a tiny ironclad, the Monitor (AKA the Yankee cheesebox on a raft), and March 9, 1862 fought the Merrimack to a standstill ^ was the first battle-testing of the new ironclad ships, and wooden warships would soon be on the way out The Pivotal Point: August 29-30, 1862 the Second Battle of Bull Run, General Lee crushingly defeated Union General John Pope Antietam Next, Lee marched into MD because wanted to win a victory to: Convince the border states to join the Confederacy; but the Marylanders were put off by being occupied by disheveled soldiers Encourage foreign intervention Lincoln reinstated McClellan as general because of popular demand September 17, 1862 the Battle of Antietam: Union soldiers found Lees battle plans wrapped around a dropped packet of cigars So McClellan was able to fight a draw with Lee at Antietam Creek Was the bloodiest day of the Civil War Lee withdrew across the Potomac, and McClellan was fired for the last time for not meeting expectations and pursuing Lee further Significance: Was the closest the South got to victory Cooled Britain and France's desires to provide diplomatic mediation, to which the North would surely respond angrily, causing them to side with the South Gave Lincoln the opportunity to launch the Emancipation Proclamation because ensured the Border States' loyalty: Already, the 1861 and 1862 Confiscation Acts that slaves used in the war effort could be confiscated and that declared their slaves as captives of war to be freed September 23, 1862 Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation that announced that he would issue a final proclamation on January 1, 1863 because wanted to give hope; Lincoln stayed true to his word After the final Proclamation, the goal of the Union in the war was to subjugate and recreate the South A Proclamation The Proclamation declared that only the slaves in still-rebelling Confederate states were free,

Without Emancipation

not those in the Border States nor already conquered regions Was impractical because where he could liberate the slaves he would not, and where he could not liberate them he would Lincoln's immediate goals of the Proclamation: To strengthen the Union's moral cause at home and abroad; was successful To liberate the slaves Effects of the Proclamation: Many slaves, hearing the news, unofficially fled from their plantations to the Union armies 1865 after the war, the states ratified the Thirteenth Amendment that legally abolished slavery Removed any chance of a negotiated settlement of the war Reactions to the Proclamation: Some abolitionists supported, others thought it did not go far enough Other Northerners, esp. those from the Butternut region, thought it went too far because Lincoln had originally said that his only goal was to preserve the Union So the elections of 1862 swung towards the Democrats Southerners were outraged and thought Lincoln was trying to incite a slave rebellion European aristocrats sympathized with the South, while European workers supported the North In the North: At the start of the war, no blacks served in the regular army nor were allowed to enlist But were allowed to serve because of the Emancipation Proclamation and the shortage of men, despite protest from both Northern and Southern whites Most black soldiers were from the slave states Blacks would make up 10% of the army and navy, with 180,000 serving in the army, ex. the all-black 54th Massachussets Regiment led by Robert Gould Shaw Black soldiers were unquestionably motivated by the promise of the abolition of slavery Many captured black soldiers were executed as revolting slaves, ex. the massacre at Fort Pillow, Tennessee In the South: Refused to enlist slaves until the last month of the war, partially because slave labor produced food for the soldiers, but by then it was too late Many slaves were forced into labor battalions to ex. build fortifications and supply armies If the slaves had revolted en masse, would have ended the war in favor of the North, but most were unable or unwilling to revolt, while many others revolted with their feet by running away to the Union armies Lincoln replaced McClellan with General A. E. Burnsides December 18, 1862 Burnside attacked Lee at Fredericksburg, VA and suffered a harsh defeat (Burnside's Slaughter Pen) Burnside surrendered his command to officer Fighting Joe Hooker May 2-4, 1862 at Chancellorsville, VA, Lee and Stonewall Jackson won a daring victory against the Hooker, but Jackson was shot and died a few days later

Blacks Battle Bondage

Lee's Last Lunge at Gettysburg

 General George G. Meade replaced Hooker July 1-3, 1862 the Battle of Gettysburg: Lee wanted to encourage foreign intervention and Northern desire for peace The battle seesawed uncertainly for three days until Confederate General George Pickett's charge failed Pickett's charge was the farthest North any major Confederate force reached, and was the last chance for the South to win the war, since a Confederate peace delegation were ready to negotiate if Lee won The War in the West Ulysses S. Grant was a poor West Point student and resigned from the army for alcoholism and at the start of the war was working in his father's leather store, but managed to secure a colonelcy, and rapidly rose through the ranks, though was criticized for his drinking habits February 1862 Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in northern Tennessee, thus securing KY to the Union and opening the route to Tennessee and the heart of the South April 6-7, 1862 Grant tried and failed to capture the junction of the main Confederate northsouth and east-west railroad; showed that war in the West would not be over quickly The Union gains control of the Mississippi River: The Mississippi divided the south lengthwise and was key to transportation Spring of 1862, a Union army and a flotilla under David G. Farragut captured New Orleans July 4, 1863 a Union army under Grant captured Vicksburg, Mississippi, the day after the Union victory at Gettysburg July 9, 1863 they captured Port Hudson, the last Southern bastion on the Mississippi Effects of the consecutive victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg: Quelled the Northern peace agitators in the Butternut region because reopened trade routes down the Ohio-Mississippi River system to New Orleans Ended the South's hopes for foreign aid; Britain stopped the delivery of the Laird rams, and France ended a deal to sell six ships to the South

Sherman Scorches Union forces had retreated to Chattanooga, Tennessee from the battle at Chickamauga, and Georgia Confederate forces were laying siege to Chattanooga So November 1863 Grant won a series of victories at ex. Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, so freed Chattanooga, cleared Tennessee of Confederates, and opened the way to Georgia September and November 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman captured and burned Atlanta, GA Sherman was a pioneer of total war, or using brutal methods to shorten the conflict and thus save lives Next, Sherman moved into SC and was even more destructive, burning the capital city of Columbia, partially because many Union soldiers believed that SC had provoked the war The Politics of War The election of 1864 fell in the midst of war The Republicans were divided: Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase was a critic of Lincoln 1861 the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War was formed that wanted emancipation and criticized Lincoln for his heavy-handed acts

 The Democrats were also divided: Leader Stephen Douglas died soon after the war began Had lost the talent in the Southern wing of the party, and were tainted by association with the seceders War Democrats supported Lincoln, Peace Democrats opposed him The Copperheads: Were a radical group that openly opposed the war through attacks against the draft, Lincoln, and emancipation Had strong support in the Butternut region Notorious Copperhead and OH congressman Clement L. Vallandigham: Publicly demanded that the wicked and cruel war end So 1863 was tried by a military tribunal for treasonable utterances (really, he should have been tried in a civil court for sedition), sentenced to prison, and banished to the South But Vallandigham would to go Canada to run for governor of OH, and later defiantly return to OH, though he was not prosecuted for it Inspired Edward Everett Hale to 1863 write The Man Without a Country about army officer Philip Nolan who was exiled for treasonable utterances; was popular and patriotically stimulating in the North The Election of 1864 The Republicans joined with the War Democrats to form the Union Party Lincoln was nominated for the Union party candidate, despite initial criticism and favor for secretary of the Treasury Chase, with Andrew Johnson as running mate in order to attract War Democrats and voters in the Border States The Peace Democrats and Copperheads nominated McClellan and tried and failed to add to their platform that the war had been a failure The campaign was noisy and nasty; Democrats shouted Old Abe removed McClellan. Well now remove Old Abe., Union party shouted Vote as you shot and Dont swap horses in the middle of a river At first, Lincolns reelection prospects were low, but a series of Northern victories (ex. Admiral Farraguts capture of Mobile, Alabama, General Shermans seizure of Atlanta, and General Sheridans ravaging of the Shenandoah Valley in VA) greatly increased them Northern soldiers were returned home or were allowed to vote on the front in order to bolster Lincolns chances Lincoln won the election, with McClellan in close second The South had held out hope that Lincoln would be replaced by McClellan, but with the reelection of Lincoln went the Souths last hope of victory

Grant Outlasts Lee After Gettysburg, Grant replaced Meade in the East because Grant would pursue the defeated but dangerous Lee, no matter the risk of bloodshed May and Jun 1864, Grant fought a series of bloody battles in the Wilderness of Virginia, ex. the Bloody Angle and Hells Half Acre June 3, 1864 Grant assaulted the impregnable Cold Harbor and suffered heavy losses Many were appalled by Grants blood and guts type of fighting, but it was necessary to make progress, and the North could afford to lose that many men compared to the South February 1865 the Confederates tried to negotiate a peace with Lincoln, but Lincoln would accept nothing less than reunion and emancipation, and the Confederacy independence April 9, 1865 Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in VA under generous

terms of surrender Though the war was over and emancipation was won, blacks would not gain full liberty for a long time The Martyrdom of April 14, 1865 Lincoln was shot and killed by pro-Southern actor John Wilkes Booth at Fords Theatre Lincoln Lincolns reputation benefited because he was assassinated at the height of his fame, so people remembered his better qualities more than his shortcomings At first, Southerners celebrated his death because he had kept the war grinding to the end, but they came to realize that he prevented them from being treated vindictively by the North Northerners bitterness towards the South increased because of rumors that the assassination was plotted by Davis Andrew Johnson became president, only to be impeached because of his easy treatment of the South The Aftermath of the Nightmare 600,000 soldiers died, and there more than a million casualties The war directly cost $15 billion, not including continuing expenses and intangible costs The federal government emerged stronger than ever The war tested the strength of American democracy 1867 the English Reform Bill, influenced by the war, made Britain a true democracy Slavery was abolished