Figure 1.--
|
Figure 1.-- |
Clashes in the west are less well known than the major battles of the eastern campaign. Federal forces in the West were more successful, due in part to the more effective leadership of Ulyses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. Fighting in 1861 were relatively limited as the two sides began to amass and train their armies. The only major battle in 1861 was Bull Run in the east. There were important engagements such as at Fort Doneldson where Grant became known as Unconditional Surrender Grant. More importantly it helped hold the wetern border states in the Federal Union. The war began in earnest in 1862. The battle at Shiloh was the first of the great killing fields of the war. Shiloh was a nominal Federal victory, but the public was agast at the scale of the losses. Shiloh also had important consequences on how the War was to be fought. Finally with the fall of Vicksburg (1863) the Mississippi was secured and the Confederacy cut off from needed suplies west of the river.
Federal forces in the West were more successful, due in part to the more effective leadership of Ulyses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. Disaterously for the South, perhaps its greatest military mind was killed at Shiloh (1862). This waas a major factor in the dissapoinbting military performance of the Confederacy in the West.
Clashes in the west are less well known than the major battles of the eastern campaign. Fighting in 1861 were relatively limited as the two sides began to amass and train their armies.
The only major vattle in 1861 was Bull Run in the east. There were important engagements such as at Fort Donoldson where Grant became known as Unconditional Surrender Grant. More importantly it helped hold the wetern border states in the Federal Union.
The war began in earnest in 1862. The battle at Shiloh was the first of the great killing fields of the war. Shiloh was a nominal Federal victory, but the public was agast at the scale of the losses. The combined casualties were 24,000 out of thge 110,000 combatants. Shiloh also had important consequences on how the War was to be fought. Sherman more than most commanders at the time grasped the meaning that the War would be a long brutal contest and not the quick engagement that had been widely expected on both sises. Sherman conceived the idea of attacking the Condederacy's economy and morale. Conderate Commander Nathan Bedford Forrest was also at Shiloh. He concluded that the South's only chance was audacity and ruthlessness, characteristics of his command and after the War a factor in his leadership of the Ku Klux Klan. [Hanson] It was at Shiloh that Johnny Clem, the "Drummer Boy of Shiloh" became known to the country.
Finally with the fall of Vicksburg (1863) the Mississippi was secured and the Confederacy cut off from needed suplies west of the river.
Hanson, Victor Davis. Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We live and How We Think (Doubleday, 2003), 278p.
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