Civil War

22 September 2004 (Lecture #12)

• Myths dispelled

o Confederacy did not fight over states rights à its Constitution was identical to US except it protected slavery

o Union did not fight for slavery or racial equality

o It is a gross misconception that it is a war between industrial vs. agricultural

• Strategies

o Confederacy

§ Avoid losing and buy time

§ Use advantage of interior communications

§ Attack if a gap appears to threaten North to attract allies

o Union

§ Isolate Confederate economy

§ Maintain state allegiance and win back split states

§ Divide Confederacy with deep penetration

• Character of Civil War Forces

o Initially composed of volunteer armies and augmented by a draft

o Leadership inexperienced with handling such massive forces

o Professional officers go mostly south IVMI, citadel are there)

• Battle of First Manassas – Confeds almost defeated but reinforcement join the fight, forcing Union withdrawal; mental blow

1862

• Anaconda Plan – seize ports surrounding the Confederacy (Atlantic, Gulf, Mississippi)
• Peninsular Campaign – McClellan attacks Richmond from South; unnecessarily withdraws, allowing Lee to attack
• Antietam – McClellan slow to act, allows Lee to combine armies and offer heavy resistance; bloodiest day in US history
• Fredericksburg – each army races from Antietam to Richmond and meet here; both sides settle into a defensive position
• Results of 1862

o Union morale low

o Emancipation proclamation – frees Confederate slaves

1863

• Vicksburg – Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi which prevents ships from going down the river

o Union able to secure it and thereby the river too

• Results of 1863 – Lincoln puts the aggressive General Grant in Charge
• Maneuver vs. Attrition

o Maneuver – tries to avoid bloodshed and trap the enemy

o Attrition – seek to lock the enemy fight

• Limited vs. Total War

o Limited – confines destruction to combat force sand war materials

o Total War – attack anything that can help an enemy fight

1864

• Grant follows Lee to Petersburg and lays siege
• Sherman drives across the middle of the Confederacy to the ocean, burning farms, etc.

o Many Confederates desert and go home to try to protect their land

§ Utilize guerilla warfare

• Colored regiments are introduced

o Brutality and hostility grow greatly – any blacks which surrender to Confederates are slaughtered

o As a result, US regiments become less likely to surrender

• Peace Movement – Lincoln vs. McClellan election

o Sherman’s success generated a massive re-enlistment

o Many could have gone home (3 year enlistment over)

o Lincoln gets re-elected as a result – landslide victory

• Civil War inflation – Confederate $ inflates badly from ’63 to ’65

o A loaf of bread rockets to $70

o Union money is stable, however

o Richmond food riots

• Confederacy surrenders at Appomattox
• Deaths – More US casualties than any other war

o ífinalí1^st modern industrialized total war

• Federal government’s powers were expanded and slavery was abolished

Conclusions

• Emancipation Proclamation – pragmatic policy designed to end the war
• Confederacy lost because they were at a material and manpower disadvantage