Civil War: Significant Individuals

1
Civil War Significant Individuals

• Check your answers and add any missing information

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Abraham Lincoln

• Background Information
• Born in 1809 in a one-room cabin in Kentucky
• Country lawyer, Illinois state legislator, member
  of the U.S. House of Representative
• Elected as the first Republican President in 1860

3
Abraham Lincoln

• Contributions to the War
• Selected the top generals, including Ulysses S.
  Grant
• Handled factions in the Republican party well
• Took control of Border Slave States
• Issued the Emancipation Proclamation called for
  all slaves in rebelling states to be freed

4
Abraham Lincoln

• Interesting Facts
• First president to be assassinated
• Gave the Gettysburg address to remind Americans
  of the reasons that the Civil War was being
  fought
• Known for the top hat he always wore
• Won reelection in 1864

5
Jefferson Davis

• Background Information
• Youngest of 10 children born in 1808
• West-Point graduate who fought during the
  Mexican-American War
• Senator from Mississippi before the war
• Lived on Brierfield plantation

6
Jefferson Davis

• Contributions to the War
• President of the Confederacy
• Appointed General Robert E. Lee to lead the
  Confederate Armies
• Made most of the strategic decisions on his own,
  or approved Lees decisions
• Visited Georgia in hopes of boosting morale after
  Shermans March

7
Jefferson Davis

• Interesting Facts
• While trying to avoid capture by the Union, he
  put on his wifes overcoat in order to hide his
  identity
• Presided over Lees funeral in 1870
• Never served a full term in any public office he
  held

8
Robert E. Lee

• Background Information
• Was a military man for over 30 years
• Top graduate at West Point Military Academy
• Born into one of the wealthiest families in the
  south
• Lincoln offered Lee the command of all the
  northern armies but he rejected it because his
  state (Virginia) had seceded and he wanted to
  stay loyal to his home.

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Robert E. Lee

• Contributions to the War
• Led the Confederate Armies
• Won many battles with less men and guns
• Only really started losing when he tried to
  invade the north
• Surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse because his
  men were surrounded and starving

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Robert E. Lee

• Interesting Facts
• Didnt want to secede from the Union
• Only armed the slaves at the end of the war but
  it was too late
• Was happy with the freeing of slaves after the
  war ended

11
Ulysses S. Grant

• Background Information
• Graduated from the United States Military Academy
  (West Point)
• Served in the Mexican-American War
• Was very poor when the Civil War began
• Didnt mind slavery before the war but changed
  his mind when the war started

12
Ulysses S. Grant

• Contributions to the War
• Was the last general to lead the Union armies
• Took General Lee on and was finally able to beat
  him
• Allowed Sherman to use Total War
• Worked with Lincoln on battle strategy

13
Ulysses S. Grant

• Interesting Facts
• Served as the President of the United states from
  1869-1877
• Originally a Democrat, he became a Republican
  during the Civil War
• Was a methodist

14
Thomas Stonewall Jackson

• Background Information
• Was a schoolteacher in the 1830s
• Went to West Point Military Academy
• Served in the Mexican-American War
• Taught a slave how to write even though it was
  illegal, when he was a kid

15
Thomas Stonewall Jackson

• Contributions to the War
• Helped win the First and Second Battles of Bull
  Run, where he earned his stonewall name
• General Lees second in command
• Very disciplined leader and always got the job
  done
• Killed by his own team (confederates) on accident

16
Thomas Stonewall Jackson

• Interesting Facts
• Very religious, didnt like fighting on Sundays
• Loved eating fruits, especially lemons
• Suffered hearing loss because he stood too close
  to the artillery

17
Winfield Scott

• Background Information
• Born in 1786, he was the oldest general in the
  war
• Served in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American
  War, and the Civil War
• His military career spanned over 47 years

18
Winfield Scott

• Contributions to the War
• Lincolns first General-in-chief
• He came up with the Anaconda Plan which was to
  blockade the south from getting any supplies and
  gain control of the Mississippi River
• Because of his age, McClellan took his place
  after only a year

19
Winfield Scott

• Interesting Facts
• His nickname was Old Fuss and Feathers
• In his old age, he was over 300 lbs!
• He died just after the war ended, in 1866

20
Clara Barton

• Background Information
• A teacher, nurse, and humanitarian
• Youngest of five children
• Born in Oxford, Massachusetts

21
Clara Barton

• Contributions to the War
• Was a nurse for wounded soldiers
• Founded the American Red Cross
• Helped cook and clean in camp
• Attempted to identify all the missing soldiers

22
Clara Barton

• Interesting Facts
• Lived to be 90 years old, dying in 1912
• Was president of the American Red Cross
• Traveled the world after the war to organize Red
  Cross groups

23
William Tecumseh Sherman

• Background Information
• Born in 1820 in Ohio
• Went to West Point Military Academy
• Served in California during the Mexican- American
  War

24
William Tecumseh Sherman

• Contributions to the War
• Used total war to burn down buildings, farms,
  and railroads in the south
• Marched through Georgia and South Carolina,
  destroying everything he saw
• Helped ended the war more quickly

25
William Tecumseh Sherman

• Interesting Facts
• Liked to get into trouble as a student at West
  Point
• Hated by white southerners
• Many slaves joined his forces while he marched
  through the south

26
Robert Gould Shaw

• Background Information
• Born in Boston, Massachusetts
• Was an active abolitionist
• Traveled and studied in Europe and went to school
  at Harvard
• Very wealthy family

27
Robert Gould Shaw

• Contributions to the War
• Was a colonel in charge of the 54th Massachusetts
  regiment, the all-black regiment in the north
• He made sure his men were given equal pay as the
  white soldiers
• Died in battle alongside his men while charging
  South Carolinas Fort Wagner

28
Robert Gould Shaw

• Interesting Facts
• The movie GLORY was made about him and his
  all-black regiment
• Wrote over 200 letters to his family and friends
  during the war
• Was buried in a mass grave alongside his men