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The American Civil War has been called the first modern war because of the number of men involved, the sweeping movements, the use of trains and telegraphs, effective use of combined land-sea operations, and the increasing sophistication of the weaponery including rifled artillery, repeating weapons and iron-clad ships. The Federal forces using the Army of the Polomac made a great effort to drive on the Confederate capital at Richmond, but the superb tactics of Lee frustrated that effort through most of the War. A succession of vascilating or food hardy northern generals experiended devestaing defeats in the East, in the face of numerically weaker Confederate forces: Bull Run (1861), Seven Days (1862), Bull Run (1862), Fredericksburg (1862), Chancellorsville (1863). The one Federal success in the
Eastern theater was at Antitem (1862). Federal forces under General McClellan managed to turn back Lee's first attempt to take the War to the North. Mclellan in fact was a disastrous commander turned back by Lee at the Seven Day's campaign and failing to take advantage of Lee's defeat at Antitem. McClellan while a poor commander did effectively build the Army of the Poltomac into an effective fighting force, but it was Grant who would put it to effective use. Federal forces in the West were more successful, due in part to the more effective leadership of Ulyses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. The public was agast at the scale of losses in such battles as Shiloh (1862). Finally with the fall of Vicksburg (1863) the Mississippi was secured and the Confederacy cut off from needed suplies west of the
river. The Confederates were turned back at the largest battle of the War--Gettysburg (July 1863). At the same timde Vicksburg finally fell. Lincoln then turned the Army of the Potomac and the eastern camapign over to Grant who relentlessly took the War to Lee. Before after each battle during 1861-63 the Army of the Potomac would turn back or rest. Under Grant the Army moved south and continued moving south toward Richmond regardless of the battlefield outcome. Through a series of bitter battles in the Wilderness Campaign of 1864, Grant pressed south. Even after a costly defeat at Cold Harbor (1864), Grant pressed south. At this stage of the War, the South's only hope was that the Northern public would tire of the mounting losses. Lincoln was challenged in the 1864 election by one of his fired General's--George McClellan. Sentiment against the War was rising. There were draft riots in New York (1863). Lincoln for a time was despondent fearing that he would not be reelected. Then good news began to arrive. Lee retired to Richmond (June 1864). Grant neared Richmond and began a seige around Petersburg. Sherman took Atlanta (September 1864) and comenced his "March to the Sea" across the heartland of the Confederacy. Lincoln won reelection, beating Mcclellan in a landslide (November 1864). Lee held out at Perersburg against overwealing odds. Finally the Confederate lines cracked (April 1865) and
Union Calvary trapped Lee's remaining forces at Appomatox where he surrendered a few days later. Jefferson Davis fled Richmond, but was arrested by Federal Cavalry (May 1865).
The American Civil War has been called the first modern war because of the number of men involved, the sweeping movements, the use of trains and telegraphs, effective use of combined land-sea operations, and the increasing sophistication of the weaponery (rifled artillery, repeating weapons and iron-clad ships). It was the Federals that with its industrial strength successfully employed these new technologies. The North was able to recruit and more importantly supply large aemies deep in the South by supplying it through the railroad. The Condederacy had an essentially agrarian army that had to live off the land. The Federals could supply large armies indefinitely over large distances.
Naval operations were critical to the Federal victory. While naval operations are the least reported aspect of the War, they undoubtedly shortened the War and made posible the Federal victory. It is clear that by 1864 the Northern public was tiring of the war. If victory had not been achieved in 1865, a Democratic victory in the 1866 Congressional byelections forcing a negotiated peace almost certainly would have occurred. Unlike the Army, most of the Navy remained loyal to the Federal Government and Union. And unlike the Army, the U.S. Navy was a force in being, albeit small, that the United States could immeditely deploy. The early implementation of the Anaconda Plan blockade began the economic strangulation of the South. The Navy made possible the seizure of New Orleans, the first iportnt southern city to fall. And the Navy played a major role in seizing control of the Mississippi which split the Confederacy in two. The Condederacy as a result of seizing the Norfolk Navy Yards had a few ships, but much of its naval action was conducted by privateers, civilian mariners authorized to engage in military action. They preyed on Federal shipping. Lincoln wanted them tried for piracy which carried the death penalty. The privateer Savanah was taken byb the USS Perry (June 1861). They were tried for piracy. The trial, however, resulted in a mistrail. And the Confederacy threatened to hold Federal prisoners hostage if the Confederate sailors were executed. The naval war was notable for the first appearance of iron sides.
The first important battle occurred in the East south of Washington, the Fderal capital. Engagements soon followed in the West. No one in either the North or South had any idea how long the War would last are the horrendous casulties that would result.
Lincoln arrived in Washington and was inagurated (March 1861). The Civil War began in Charleston South Carolina when Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter (April 1861). Federal forts all over the South surrendered to Conderatte authorities and turned over their arsm. The soldiers who remained loyal were allowed to go north. The Federal force at Foprt Sumter refused to surrender. President Lincoln ordered Fort Sumter to be resupplyed. The Confederates opened fire to prevent the resupply of the Fort. President Lincoln wisely allowed the Conderates to fire the first shots of the War. This helped to keep the border states in the Union. The War began with Washington guarded by only a small Federal force. Washington was south of the Mason Dixon Line and suronded by slave states, Virginia which seceeded and Maryland which was posed to seceed. The Federal Government in Washingtom found itself cut off. Rail links and telegraph lines were cut. Cond=federate forces accross the Potomac seemed poised to seize Washington.
The Federal forces using the Army of the Polomac made a great effort to drive on the Confederate capital at Richmond, but the superb tactics of Lee frustrated that effort through most of the War. A succession of vascilating or fool hardy northern generals experiended devestaing defeats in the East, in the face of numerically weaker Confederate forces: The first battle was fought at Bull Run (1861). Federal forces were sure of victory. The battle swayed back and forth. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson emerged as the deciding force. The battlecturned into a Federal disaster. As the defeated Federal forces streamed back to Washington, the people were shocked at the view of a defeated army. The Civil war might have ended right there, except for the man watching his defeated army from the White House. Lincoln's response was to call for the creation of a larger army. [Detzer] Bull Run was the only major engagement fought in the East during 1861. Both sides used the rest of the year to build up their forces. The pace of the War picked up the following year: Other battles followed: Seven Days (1862), Bull Run (1862), Fredericksburg (1862), Chancellorsville (1863). The one Federal success in the Eastern theater was at Antitem (1862). It was there that Federal forces under General McClellan managed to turn back Lee's first attempt to take the War to the North. Mclellan in fact was a disastrous commander turned back by Lee at the Seven Day's campaign and failing to take advantage of Lee's defeat at Antitem. McClellan while a poor commander did effectively build the Army of the Poltomac into an effective fighting force, but it was Grant who would put it to effective use.
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. Fightin 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.
The Emancipation Proclamation, one of the key documents in American history, was closely tied to the progress of the War. Like many other steps on race issues, it was not taken by Congress, but was a presidential proclamation. President Abraham Lincoln had wanted to act sooner on the slavery issue, but was afraid that Confederate victories would make emancipation look like an act of desperation. Only after the Federal victory at Antitem (October 1862), did he feel confident to proceed. President Lincoln on January 1, 1863 declared that all "... slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, ... then ... in rebellion ... forever free." It was a half measure to be sure. The slaves in the borer states were not freed. It did signal, however, a fundamental shift in Federal policy. The War was now to be fought, not only to preserve the Union, but to free the slaves. One of the interesting aspects of the Emancipation Proclamation is its very legalistic tone, in sharp contrast to the soaring retoric of his Gettysburg Address or the Second Inagural.
Lee and Davis agreed that some action was needed to save the Conderacy. Vicksburg was seen as a kee, but Lee did not want to weaken his army to send units west. The decission was taken to strike north. Lee had at his command the strongest army he had ever commanded, although still badly outnumbered. He was seeking a battle with he Army of the Potomac that he hoped could deliver a knockout blow. Meade had just been given command of the Fderal army. A few days after Vicksburg fell, Lee's Army of Nothern Virginia Confederates clashed headlong with the Army of the Potomac in the the largest battle of the War--Gettysburg. The resulting battle was the largest ever fought on American soil. It was Lee's second invasion of the North and the South's last real chance to win militarily. The two armies camme together at a sleepy crossroads town in southeatern Pennsylvania. Lee developed a plan to strike at the Fedeal flanks which he persued aggressively on the second day. He was almost successful. Federal troops commanded by an ardent unionist and abolistionist, Colonel Josuah Chamberlin when his Maine brigade exausted thir amunition ordered a rare bayonet charge and finally broke the Alabama unit aving the Federal left. Longstreet's Corps was so mauled on he Confederate right that he could not continue on the third day. Lee was convinced that Meade must have weakened his center to support his flanks. Lee thus against Longstreet's advice ordered a cannonade of the Federal center followed by a charge over open ground by Picket's Division. "Picket's Charge" is often seen as the high tide of the Confederacy. Picketd Division was decimated. Lee was forced to retire back accross the Potomac, but Meade refused to persue him. [Trudeau] Lincoln was angered at this decission and finally turned to U.S. Grant. Lee's losses at Gettyburg were inrreplaceable, but he did succeed in keeping the war out of Virginia for nearly a year.
A few months later, Lincoln traveled to Gettyburg to participate in the ceremonies there to dedicate the military cemetary. His speech, little regarded at the time, eloquentedly stated the Federal cause. Many consider it to be the greatest speech ever delivered in the English language. It was not at the time generally considered to be an important speech at the time. One of the few was Edward Everett, the renoouned orator who gave the major orration dedicating the cemetary. "... Mr. Lincoln perhaps said more to the purpose in his brief speech than I in my long one". [MacVeagh] What Lincoln did was to eloquently make the case for democratic government. This of course it taken for granted today. But at the time American was the only republic of any consequence. Britain was becoming more democratic, but was still ruled by a poweful monarch. The rest of the world, however, was goverened by kings, emperors, and tsars, many of whom ruled with absolute or near absolute authority. The world was watching while the sole republic tore itself apart in civil war. Lincoln's address was a rising endoesement of democracy ending with the soaring acclamation that "Coverent of the people, by the peole, and for the people shall not perish from this earth." Implicit in this statement was the preservation of the Union.
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Lincoln after Vicksburg and Gettysburg turned command of all Federal forces, inlusing the Army of the Potomac, over to Grant who relentlessly took the War to Lee. Until Grant was given command, Federal commanders after each battle would turn back or rest the Army of the Potomac. Under Grant the Army continued south pursuing Lee regardless.
After Gettyburg, Lee saw the only hope of victory as to so bloody the Federal army that Lincoln and the Republicans would be defeated. Through a series of bitter battles in the Wilderness Campaign of 1864, the new Federal commander, U.S. Grant pressed south. The 6-week campaign in the Wilderness, the sight of Lee's great victory at Chancellorsville in 1863, was unlike any other Civil War campaign. Other campaigns were months of preparation followed by a savage battle follow by more months of recovery and peparation. The Wilderness was 6 weeks of constant fighting. In 2 days of bitter fighting Grant lost 17,500 men and still pressed on. At a critical moment of the fighting, Lee rushed to the front. His men pushed him back and held on. Confederate losses were also high--losses which Lee, unlike Grant, could not replace. Convinced that the Confederate Army of Norhern Virginia was about to crack and less than 10 miles from Richmond, Grant hurled his army at entrenched fortifications prepared to defend the crossroads at Cold Harbor. In less than an hour, Grant lost 7,000 men and achieved no apreciable gains. he is said to have cried when he learned of te dissaster. In perhaps the greatest blemish on Grant and Lee's record, wounded men were left on the field 3 days before a truse could be agreed. Federal lossess in the Wilderness were enormous. One estimate puts them at 56,000 men--not much less than in the entire Vietnam War and in a much smaller country. Even after such losses and after the calkamity of Cold Habor , however, Grant and Licoln were resolute. Many assumed that Grant wuld retire north to regroup. When the orders ent out to march south, the army cheered. [Grimsley] Lincoln had clearly finally found his general to save the Union.
Military victory for the South was no longer possible. The South's only hope by 1864 was that the Northern public would tire of the mounting losses. Lincoln was challenged in the 1864 election by one of his fired General's--George McClellan. Sentiment against the War was rising. There werec draft riots in New York. Lincoln for a time was despondent. Then good news began to arrive. The most important ws the fall of Atlanta (September 1864). Lincoln won reelection, beating Mcclellan in a landslide (November 1864).
Sherman took Atlanta (September 1864) and commenced his "March to the Sea" accross the heartland of the Condederacy.
Lee retired to Richmond (June 1864). Grant neared Richhmond and began a seige around Petersburg. The two armies sat out the winter building entrenchments. Lee held out at Petersburg against overwealing odds. Grant gradually extended the seige lines, streaching Lee's out numbered and poorly supplied troops thinner and thinner. Finally the Confederate lines around Pettersburg cracked. Lee errored badly by not fortifying the Confederate position protecing the Genito Bridge over the Appomatox, but the final outcome was inevitable. Lee informed President Jefferson Davis that Richmond could no longer be defended and evacuated the city.
Lee moved the Army west, hoping to join Johnston's forces in North Carolina. Union Calvary trapped Lee's remaining forces at Appomatox where he surrendered a few days later. The scene of the Lee's surender at Appomatox has passedinto legend. The account Joshua Chaberlin, best noted for anchoring the Federal left at Gettysburg on Little Roundtop, has been questioned. [Marvel] There can be little doubt, however, that Grant's genrous treatment of Lee and his men was a major step in the eventual unification of the country. Similarly, Lee's injunction to his men to become "loyal citizens" of the United States. It was Lee's great gift to the American nation. Davis had argued continued resistance, ordering the Army to scatter and wage a guerilla campaign. Such a campaign would have failed, but the campaign needed to supress it would have delayed the heling process for a generation. Jesse James and Bloody Bill Anderson in Missouri are an example od what would have happened if Lee had opted for guerilla war. [Stiles] Davis also fled Richmond. He was tracked down by Federal Calvary and, unlike Lee, arrested (May 1865).
America in 1865 was two different nations. The South surrendered, but in their hearts the Confederacy was their country. The South and the men who fouught for the Confederacy paid an enormous price. This only changed in time. Leaders like Robert E. Lee played an important in the transition back to a united nations. Hatred of the North in thE south smoldered for generations. In the North ill fillings toward the South passed realtively quickly. But even in the South many ardent secesionists made there peace with the North. By 1900 American can be said to be a single nationa again. Some even moved north and prospered. Roger Pryor was a Confederate Congressman and general. After being relased from a prisonor of war camp he became a successful lawyer in New York, befriened by Sherman and Grant as well as Mark Twain and Grover Cleveland. He died in 1919 an ardent Union man. [Waugh]
Detzer, David. Donneybrook: The Battle of Bull Run, 1861 (Hasrcourt, 2004).
Grimsley, Mark. And Keep Moving On: The Virginia Campaign, May-June 1864 (University of Nebraska, 2002).
Marvel, William. Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomatox (University of North Carolina, 2002).
Trudeau, Noah Andre. Gettyburg: A Testing of Courage.
MacVeagh, Issac Wayne. "Lincoln at Gettysburg," The Century Magazine, November 1909. MacVeagh was the Chairman of the Republican State Committe in Pennsylvania.
Stiles, T.J. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War (Knopf, 2002).
Trudeau, Noah Andre. Gettyburg: A Testing of Courage.
Waugh, John. Surviving the Confederacy (Harcourt Brave, 2002).
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