NOTES: Battles & Atrocities

BATTLES

1.) Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861 a.) Federal fort (owned by Union) in Charleston, SC (Confederate territory) b.) By firing on federal (union) property, the Confederates had committed an act of open rebellion – Lincoln had to respond

2.) Battle of Antietam a) Bloodiest single day of the war  26K casualties

3) Battle of Gettysburg Low morale in the north a.) Lee wanted victory in North i.) his army was weak from lack of supplies (no shoes, food, etc.)

b.) 3 day battle – bloodiest battle of the war … 50K casualties c.) The union won on July 4th (the 4th = turning point, both victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg)

4.) Vicksburg surrenders a.) Bombed for more than a month – union siege and victory b.) Residents and soldiers started eating horses, mules, and dogs Don’t eat me! I think I taste like chicken

c. )30K troops marched out of Vicksburg c.)30K troops marched out of Vicksburg .. laid down their arms on the 4th, hoping mercy b/c of the holiday

5.) Lincoln presents Gettysburg Address a.) Dedication of a cemetery 2 minute speech that at the time most Americans did not like b.) marked a milestone in the expansion of liberty to all Americans

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal … That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”

Film Clip

6.) Battle of Atlanta & Sherman’s march to the Sea “War is cruelty, there is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.” – William Tecumseh Sherman  viewpoint of the Ohio soldier and how he conducted his military campaigns  some considered him to be mentally unstable, however Grant stood by him, so permitted him to “make Georgia howl”

b.) burned Atlanta to the ground and marched to Savannah a.) 98,000 troops marched to Atlanta  important rail and industrial center siege of the city during August b.) burned Atlanta to the ground and marched to Savannah

c.) Cut a 300 mile path of destruction … took supplies and burned the rest Entered the city of Savannah without a fight “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah” – Letter from Sherman to Lincoln

Good Guy: winning the war for the north Sherman Good Guy: winning the war for the north Bad Guy: butchering and plundering GA

The Atrocities of the Civil War

1.) The Massacre at Fort Pillow, TN (April 12, 1864)

a.) Nathan Bedford Forrest (Captured Fort Pillow) 262 African-Americans 295 white union soldiers i.) Ordered black soldiers murdered after they surrendered!!! [many white soldiers killed as well] ii.) Became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan after the war

2.) Union Prison Camp at Andersonville, GA

Original Andersonville Plan Planned to hold 10,000 men. Had over 32,000 at one time.

Distributing “Rations”

Union Survivors

Union Prisoner’s Record at Andersonville

Burying Dead Union POWs

Andersonville Cemetary

Andersonville continue.. a.) Describe the survivors of the camp. b.) How did most people die?