A Violent Choice

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A Violent Choice

• Chapter 15

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Thoughts?

• What was/were the cause(s) of the Civil War?

3
Comparing the Sides
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War Aims

• Union war aims - restore Union
• After 1862 - also free slaves
• Lincoln - individuals, not states in revolt
• South
• North recognize independence
• Sovereignty of Confederacy

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Waging War

• Theaters
• East of Appalachians
• West of Appalachians to Mississippi River

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Strategies

• North - Anaconda plan
• Starve South by blockade
• Seize Richmond
• Capture Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers
• South
• Seize Washington
• Move north to divide New England from rest of
  country

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Political Reaction

• Lincoln actions done before Congress in session
• July 1861 - Congress approves of actions
• Radical Republicans - rebellion was treason
• Strategies often done to appease groups

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Diplomatic Efforts

• Confederates needed British recognition
• However
• Britain had abolished slavery
• Issue of Union power
• British gave status of belligerents
• Trent affair
• Union efforts blocked recognition
• Britain had cotton surplus

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Initial Battles

• July 1861 - First Battle of Bull Run
• An afternoon in the country
• Casualties
• Union - 2,896
• Confederate - 1,982
• April 1862 - Battle of Shiloh
• March 1862 - Battle of Ironclads

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New Tactic

• September 1862 - Lee sought to move war north
• Allow farmers to do harvest
• Gain support from MD sympathizers
• Diplomatic recognition
• Battle of Antietam - Sep 17
• Casualties

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Dissatisfaction

• After one year
• Union armies had missed chances
• Confederacy needed foreign help
• Issue of slavery
• Horace Greeley - abolish slavery
• Lincoln - save the Union not to save or
  destroy slavery
• After this - Emancipation Proclamation

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Finding Troops - Union

• Union - March 1863
• Conscription Act
• Single men 20-45
• Married men 20-35
• Draft riots
• Protest draft
• Rich versus poor
• Frustration with conditions
• Attack African-Americans

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Finding Troops - South

• Confederacy - 1862
• Twenty Negro Law
• Exempt planters with more than 20 slaves
• 1863 - planters had to pay 500
• 1864 - Lowered to 15 slaves

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Women

• Women in large part stayed home
• Exceptions
• Scouts
• Couriers
• Spies
• Disguised soldiers
• Nurses - Clara Barton

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African-Americans

• North
• 1861 - not allowed to enlist
• 1862 - persons of African descent allowed to
  enlist
• After Emancipation Proclamation - actively
  recruited former slaves
• South
• Slaves used in war production
• Conditions worsened as war went on

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Northern Front - 1863

• Lee proposes invasion north
• Encourage northern peace movement
• Foreign recognition possible
• Get supplies
• Capture Washington
• Armies met at Gettysburg, PA July 1-3
• July 1
• July 2
• July 3

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Western Theater - 1863

• Union goal to seize Mississippi River
• Vicksburg, MS was obstacle
• Fortifications
• Forces on land
• July 4, 1863 Vicksburg falls

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Military Changes

• Lincoln turns to Ulysses S. Grant and William T.
  Sherman
• October 1863 Grant commander in West
• March 1864 general-in-chief
• Grant decides on total war
• Emphasizes strategic over tactical

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Election of 1864

• Lincoln faced critics from within and without
• Radical Republicans
• Copperheads
• Radical Republicans wanted John C. Fremont
• Lincoln Republicans call themselves the Union
  party
• Northern Democrats turn to George McClellan

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Results

• Lincoln had included Andrew Johnson from TN
• McClellan had repudiated peace plank
• Results
• Lincoln - 212 Popular vote - 55
• McClellan - 21 - 45

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Military Developments

• With new tactics - Sherman takes Atlanta, Sep 2,
  1864
• Military victories boost Lincolns election
• Shermans March to Sea - Sep - Dec
• In 1865, north through South Carolina
• Sheridan in Shenandoah Valley, VA

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The Last Days

• Spring 1865
• March - Lincoln inaugurated
• April - Davis leaves Richmond
• Grant pursues Lee
• Lee surrender April 9, 1865
• Lincoln assassinated - April 14
• Last Confederate surrender 23 June 1865
• Davis captured - May 10

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The Carnage

• Union losses - 359,528 dead
• 110,070 combat deaths
• 275,125 wounded
• Confederates - 258,000 dead
• 94,000 combat deaths
• At least 100,000 wounded
• Andersonville
• 32,000 prisoners
• 13,000 deaths

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Summary

• War would settle slavery issue
• Compromise no longer possible
• Slavery would end, but freedom not close
• The cause for the war still debated
• Slavery
• States rights
• Change in warfare - brutality