This is a three paragraph essay. List and discuss three primary reasons why the North won the Civil War. Each answer must be distinct from the others. Have the essay completed, before you start the

HIST 1301 - US History before 1877/-Unit Twelve--Civil War/Unit Twelve Lecture Notes

Unit Twelve

THE CIVIL WAR

Fort Sumter—One fort that did not automatically surrender to the Confederates (as most other federal forts in the South did) was located just off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. Realizing that the fort could not hold out indefinitely against southern aggression, the commander of Ft. Sumter asked Lincoln for reinforcements. Lincoln realized that to reinforce the fort would be to appear as "invading" the South and initiating the war. Instead, he sent unarmed supply ships to Fort Sumter. Confederates realized that the supplies would enable Union soldiers to remain in place, commanding the best Southern port forever. They therefore decided to attack the fort before the supplies arrived (April 12-13, 1861). The bombardment, returned by the North, lasted 48 hours. Amazingly, there were no deaths on either side. Eventually, the fort surrendered when all its walls were down and the ammunition ran out.

Now President Lincoln required that ALL states left in the Union must contribute soldiers to put down the rebellion. This had the negative effect of forcing reluctant secessionist states, like Virginia, out of the Union because they could never take arms against a sister southern state. The Confederacy was now complete with 11 states (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas—the western part of Virginia fought for separation from the rest of the state in order to stay in the Union—West Virginia).

NORTHERN ADVANTAGES

In addition to a population advantage (22 million to 9), the Union enjoyed 81% of all of the nation’s industrial capacity, 61% of all railroad track, and 80% of the banking and capital. Most of the food producing states remained within the Union. Practically all naval vessels were stationed in the North, as well as merchant ships. The South tried desperately to provide for its own foodstuff and industrial needs, but it could not "catch up" in such a short time. Also very important was the established government of the North, while the South tried to create a government on the fly.

SOUTHERN ADVANTAGES

The South enjoyed the homefield advantage, knowing the terrain, having the support of the people, and needing less troop movement. Initially, the Confederacy fielded better military leaders. Since the military tradition was very strong in the South, a large percentage of the West Point Academy and the United States Army were from the South. These officers generally resigned from the U.S. Army to take positions in the Confederacy. The war was better supported in the South than it was in the North-many Southerners felt their very existence was at stake. The most important crop, cotton, was the domain of the South, although the Confederacy was never able to do much with this commodity once the Yankee blockade took effect. Perhaps most important to the South was the fact that their war objective was less difficult than that of the North. All they had to do was to fight a defensive war— keep the North out. The Union, on the other hand was required to invade, conquer, and maintain control with very long supply lines.

THE UNION GOVERNMENT

The North implemented a draft, but a man of means could escape it by hiring another to fight in his place or by paying the government $300. If a state could fill its quota with volunteers, there would be no draft for that state. The most violent anti-draft display occurred in New York for 4 days in 1863. Several hundred people were killed (mostly blacks blamed for the war) and much property was destroyed by fire.

Abraham Lincoln proved to be a political genius in many ways. Despite his unpretentious style, Lincoln was a very firm leader and came very close to becoming a dictator. For example: he called for soldiers and a blockade when Congress had not declared war. He took money to pay for these actions from the Treasury without Congressional authorization. He took it upon himself to order censoring of the mail. He suspended the writs of habeas corpus, arresting many (especially in Maryland which could not be allowed to secede because it housed Washington, D.C.) without warrants, imprisoning them and never charging them with a crime. Over 15,000 Americans spent the duration of the war in jail because they spoke out in favor of secession. He even defied the Supreme Court order that required him to release a leading Maryland secessionist.

Lincoln said: "I will gladly violate 10% of the Constitution to save the other 90%." Peace Democrats, or Copperheads, provided his stiffest political competition during the war.

THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT

Portrait of Maj.Gen. Jefferson Davis,

officer of Federal Army, and staff, Washington, D.C.

created (1865 July) compiled by Hirst D. Milhollen

& Donald H. Mugridge Washington, D.C.

Courtesy the Library of Congress

The Confederate Constitution was very similar to the US Constitution of 1787. The major differences were that it recognized the sovereignty of the individual states and made abolition of slavery practically impossible.

The biggest problem faced by the Confederate government was states rights decentralization. The proud and independent-minded states refused to submit to the central Confederate government. Consequently, only 1% of the war effort was funded by taxes. Since borrowing opportunities were limited, the South ended up printing reams of paper money, inflating the value to almost nothing. Southern troops would have to endure serious shortages of food and equipment for most of the war. Furthermore, many troops were reluctant to fight outside of their home state. By 1862, a draft was in place, but owning 20 or more slaves brought an automatic exemption. Many complained that this was a "rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight." In many cases, Southern women were left to manage the plantations and all the slaves.

Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, appeared to be well-qualified for his position. He had been a West Point graduate, a Congressman, a hero in the Mexican War, and a Senator.

A peculiarity of Davis’ was that he tried to fight a "gentlemanly" war. He declared some days to be reserved for prayer and fasting. He was quite lenient on Southern deserters. He refused to censor the mail in the South, and the Union often gained valuable information from captured dispatches. Davis instructed his generals to PAY for whatever supplies and food they needed rather than just TAKE them from civilians.

There was no political party system in the South. This became a disadvantage, because it left no acceptable outlet for criticism of the government. All criticism became personal—and aimed at Davis.

1860 Confederate Soldier

E.B. Hollis, Washington D.C.

Courtesy the Library of Congress

"SOLDIERING" IN THE CIVIL WAR

Initially, young men of the North and South were eager to enlist. War seemed a romantic, exciting experience. Many were afraid it would end before they had a chance to participate. Some young men, aged 14-17, were too young to legally enlist. Although most had no birth certificates to prove their age, they were required to swear on the Bible that they were "over eighteen." Not wanting to lie before God, these fellows wrote the number "18" on a piece of paper and put it in their shoe. Now, they could testify that they were "over eighteen" and they would not be false.

1860 Union Federal Soldier

Courtesy the Library of Congress

Drill sergeants found that many recruits were so untaught they did not know their right from their left. This caused so many problems that recruits had to tie a piece of hay to their left boot and a wisp of straw to their right. Now when the sergeant chanted "hay foot, straw foot," everyone knew which way to go. New recruits were often nicknamed, "Strawfoot."

Discipline was poor, especially early in the war when troops were allowed to elect their own officers. When the going got tough, many soldiers would disobey a dangerous order from their old childhood friend. Ultimately, both armies came to practice the pairing officers from one state with enlisted men from another state. The unacquainted officers were more likely to punish disobedience than their earlier counterparts.

CIVIL WAR FOOD

No men were ever trained as cooks. Officers usually detailed the least valuable soldiers to be in charge of the mess tent, feeling that these "goof-offs" would do less damage there than anywhere else. These n’er do wells sometimes sold off the best cuts of meat, consumed other choice items themselves, and gave little care to general food preparation.

In the field, soldiers ate from their knapsack. The staple foods were salted pork and hardtack (crackers) for Yankees and salted pork and cornbread for the Rebels. Veterans remarked that it was usually best to eat in the dark where one could not see the mold and/or weevils that infested the food.

CIVIL WAR MEDICINE

Doctors of this era had no knowledge of germs or bacteria. They frequently whet their blades on the leather soles of their filthy shoes and wiped off the gore from a previous patient on their aprons—thus spreading disease from one casualty to another. Gangrene required amputation, performed by cleaver or saw. There was little or no anesthesia available.

CAMP HYGIENE

With tens of thousands of soldiers and animals producing gallons and tons of urine and defecation daily, "camp disease" actually killed more troops than enemy fire. Bacteria was spread and ingested by marching and by rain water and then drinking or eating filthy meals with filthy hands.

WEAPONRY

Parrot gun 1860-1865

Compiled by Hirst D. Mihollen

& Donald H. Mugridge, Wash., D.C. LOC 1977

Courtesy the Library of Congress

The standard gun was a rifled Springfield .54 caliber that could fire about two shots per minute and had a range of nearly one mile (effective range of 250 yards). Such range gave the advantage to the defense, which could sit back and annihilate an enemy well before the attack matured. To advance in mass was suicide. Unfortunately, most Civil War generals were classically-trained and emulated old Roman and Greek tactics that featured frontal assaults.

Southern officers, especially, held an attack mentality, and many times the Confederate officers were out in front of their troops, boldly leading the way. Casualties of such men were astronomical.

THE ROLE OF SEA POWER

The Union, with most of the U.S. Navy intact, was able to blockade the Southern seaports for much of the war, strangling off potential trade with Europe. Southerners used blockade runners built by the British (such as the Alabama) and smuggled goods through Texas to Mexico to modest advantage. An iron-clad warship, the Merrimac enjoyed initial success at ramming Union ships, but the North quickly developed its own armored ship (the Monitor) which could nullify the Southern advantage. The North also used joint land and water operations to win major cities along the Mississippi.

The South invented a torpedo boat, which sported a bomb at the end of a long pole and various submarines that attempted to drill holes in the sides of Union ships, stick bombs on enemy ships, or sink a ship with a bomb suspended on a chain which trailed the submarine by a considerable distance. Submarine duty was generally considered a death sentence.

TECHNOLOGY

The railroad was put to good use, especially by the North, for moving troops. Naval warfare changed forever with the coming of metal-plated warships, like the MONITOR and MERRIMAC. Private telegraph lines kept the generals informed of front line conditions from a safe distance. The tin can eventually allowed a greater variety of foods to be kept for a longer time. The South even dabbled with hot-air balloons, with scant success.

FOREIGN DIPLOMACY

Although England and France favored a Rebel victory, they never provided substantial aid to the South. The South had hoped that European desperation for Southern cotton would bring the two nations into the war. However, many Europeans opposed the concept of slavery. Others feared retaliation from the North. Some were afraid the North would cut off grain shipments if substantial aid went to the Confederacy. In general, England and France waited for a sign that the South actually had a chance of winning. This sign never took place.

MAJOR BATTLES

Bull Run

Courtesy the Library of Congress

First Bull Run—Overconfident Union troops were badly defeated by Rebels. Fleeing Yankees threw down their weapons and supplies and ran back to Washington in an effort to escape Southern troops. The heroes of the battle were General Jackson, who made his men hold like a "stone wall," and Jefferson Davis, who suggested that reinforcements be deployed in an inverted "V" to bring fire on the enemy from three sides. Jackson, Lee’s right hand man and a very effective commander, would later be killed at Chancellorsville—a loss the Confederates never seemed to overcome.

Richmond—In addition to blockading the South, Lincoln wanted to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. He placed General George B. McClellan in charge of the effort. McClellan was excellent at training the soldiers, but he was VERY reluctant to lose any of them. He avoided direct confrontation with the enemy and actually put little pressure on Richmond.

Fallen Richmond April-June 1865 Richmond VA,

ruins of Papermill

Courtesy the Library of Congress

Antietam—was a bloodbath. The South hit the North with everything they had, but the North did not break. Some say the South knew from this battle on that they could not win. Lincoln felt so good about the outcome of this battle, that he announced after Antietam that the Union war aim would henceforth be liberation of slaves as well as preservation of the Union. His EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, however, probably freed very few slaves. The emancipation affected only Confederate slaves, where the law was not obeyed. Slaves in Northern states were not freed, at all. However, with emancipation now as a war aim, the great sacrifices endured by northerners appeared to be more justified. About 186,000 African-American men eventually ultimately served in the Union forces.

In the Western theater of war, Ulysses S. Grant was very successful in gaining control of the Mississippi River. With victories at Shiloh, Vicksburg (long siege to starve out the Confederates), and New Orleans, the Union stopped all Confederate traffic on the Mississippi and managed to sever the South in two.

Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana would henceforth be isolated. This was a turning point in the war.

Battle at Gettysburg July

1863 Incidents of War

A Harvest of Death

O'Sullivan, Timothy H. 1840-1882 Photaograher

Courtesy the Library of Congress

At the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863), the Confederates hoped to inconvenience Northern civilians enough to cause them to pressure Lincoln for peace. At the least, they hoped to prove to Europe that they could successfully invade Northern territory. Robert E. Lee marched from Virginia, through Maryland, to Pennsylvania. When he encountered Union troops, the Yankees held the higher ground and outnumbered Lee’s forces 90,000 to 75,000. Although the prospects were not good for battle, Lee felt he could not retreat because of the negative effect on morale his retreat would bring to both his men and the Southern society as a whole.

After one day of exchanging artillery fire, Lee attempted to take the highest flanking positions on the field. The South came close, but could not dislodge the Yankees. On the third day, Lee bet everything on Pickett’s charge right up the center of the Union lines. Pickett’s men were cut to ribbons. 15,000 began the charge, but only 5,000 made it to the top. There were not enough of Lee’s men left to continue the fight.

On July 4th, Lee began his retreat, but heavy rains flooded a river he needed to cross, and he was trapped on the Union side. Union General George Meade was ordered by Linclon to come down from the hills and crush Lee, but Meade’s men had suffered casualties, too, and he was reluctant to engage them again. After a few days, the waters subsided and Lee escaped. The chance to end the conflict in 1863 was lost, and the Civil War would continue for two more years.

Dead soldiers remained unburied for some time. Eventually, it was decided to make a cemetery right there at Gettysburg. Lincoln and others were to give speeches to dedicate the cemetery. Lincoln’s speech was very short (90 seconds). This annoyed the crowd, but the speech was short enough to be published in the newspapers in its entirety. His Gettysburg Address was so well-written that it has remained one of the most famous of all American speeches. Briefly, Lincoln charged all living Northerners to finish the work of the dead Union troops so that they would not have died in vain.

Frustrated with his eastern commanders, Lincoln called for the one general he knew would always be willing to fight—Ulysses S. Grant. Grant understood that the only way to win the war was to kill Confederate soldiers. After an engagement, Grant would not stop to rest as had the other Union generals, but he would push on for another engagement. Losses on both sides were enormous, but Grant knew the side with the most men would ultimately win after this type of warfare. Grant pursued Lee to Richmond, while sending General Sherman on a march through Georgia, burning everything in his 60 mile-wide path (including Atlanta) in an attempt to destroy Southern resistance.

Meanwhile, outmanning Lee 3-1, Grant took Richmond and burned it to the ground. Lee was trapped, too weak to break out, Union armies were coming toward him on all sides. Further bloodshed was futile. He surrendered at the Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, and the war was virtually over.

The assassination of President Lincoln:

at Ford's Theater. Washington D.C.

April 14th 1865 Published by Currier & Ives

Courtesy the Library of Congress

(Stern Collection) Wanted Poster

Courtesy the Library of Congress

LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION

Overjoyed at the news of victory, Lincoln decided to celebrate by taking in a play on April 14. John Wilkes Boothe shot the president, jumped to the stage, made a short speech, and rode away. Weeks later, he was killed before questioning, and the nation never felt like it knew all details of the conspiracy.

This song was written during the Civil War era. It became a popular marching song of the Union soldiers. It is recommended that as you read the words of this file, you listen to the audio performance below.

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1862)

Words by Julia Ward Howe

Music: "John Brown's Body"

Introduction: This hymn was born during the American Civil War, when Howe visited a Union Army camp on the Potomac River near Washington, D. C. She heard the soldiers singing the song, “John Brown’s Body,” and was taken with the strong marching beat. She wrote the words the next day:

I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, “I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!” So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen, which I remembered using the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.

The hymn appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862. It has been sung at the funerals of British statesman Winston Churchill, American Senator Robert Kennedy, and American Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon.

CHORUS

Glory, Glory Hallelujah,

His truth is marching on.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword,

His truth is marching on.

(CHORUS)

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps;

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,

His day is marching on.

(CHORUS)

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:

"As ye deal with My condemners, so with you My Grace shall deal;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,

Since God is marching on."

(CHORUS)

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His Judgment Seat;

Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer Him, be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

(CHORUS)

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

(CHORUS)