The American Pageant The Furnace of Civil War

 July 21, 1861  Manassas, VA  Irvin McDowell (Union) vs. Johnston and Beauregard  Union plan: attack, win, march to Richmond  Reality:  Both sides unprepared  Confederates victorious when “Stonewall” Jackson stands his ground, until reinforcements arrive

 Given command of Union army after McDowell defeated  Meticulous in planning  Bad in implementation  Served only 4 months

 Union launched in SE Virginia by McClellan  March – July 1862  Union goal: Avoid Confed. army in VA by using waterways to sneak up and capture Richmond  Reality – McClellan held ground with Johnston, but then was easily defeated by Robert E. Lee (Confed. victory)

 Union landed at Ft. Monroe but surprised to find Confed. defensive line  Battle of Yorktown (union victory)  Started Confed. withdraw  Battle of Williamsburg (Union victory)  1 st battle of campaign  Continued Confed. withdraw  Battle of Drewry’s Bluff (Confed victory)  Unsuccessful attempt of Navy to access Richmond via James River  Battle of Seven Pines (draw)  Johnston wounded  Replaced by Robert E. Lee

 June 25 – July 1, 1862  Six Major battles (10 total)  Confed. General Lee vs. Union General McClellan  Confederates pushed McClellan’s army back down the peninsula  Lee then turned North to ready for future campaigns  36,000 casualties

 Northern blockades at principal ports  Merrimack  Confed. steel plated wooden ship  Effective at breaking through blockades  Many weapons and large but very slow  Monitor  Union’s ironclad ship  Fast and small; few weapons  Merrimack vs. Monitor  March 9 th, 1862 (draw)

 August 29 – 30 th, 1862  General Lee vs. General Pope (Union)  First major offensive battle by Confederacy  Confederate Victory  Casualties  Union – 10,000  Confed. – 1,300 Union General John Pope

 “Stonewall” Jackson captured union supplies at Manassas  Severed link with Washington D.C.  Confed. and Union stalemate at Stony Ridge  Gen. Longstreet (Confed.) met up with Jackson after light resistance  Pope unaware of Longstreet, continued to fight Jackson  Union easily defeated by largest simultaneous mass assault of the war (25,000 confed. troops)

August 29 th, 10am and 12pm

August 29 th, 3pm and 5-7pm

August 30 th, 3 and 4pm

August 30 th, 4:30 – 5pm Union retreat

BATTLE of ANTIETAM September 17 th, 1862  Why was Lee invading the North, and especially a border state at this time? What were his goals? Why was it especially critical for the Union to have a victory at this time?

 First major battle on Northern soil (MD)  Bloodiest single day battle (23,000)  Lee vs. McClellan  Lee outnumbered 2 to 1, but McClellan sent in less than ¾ of army  Lee able to withdraw, when McClellan failed to follow  Tactical Draw; Stopped advance towards D.C.

 Called for the freeing of all slaves  "the rebels could not experiment for 10 years trying to destroy the government and if they fail still come back into the Union unhurt.“  Confiscation Act of 1862  punished "traitors" by declaring their slaves property of war who shall be free.  Not enforced in the border states  Removed chances of negotiation between north and south  Made the Civil War also a moral war

 McClellan replaced with General Burnside after Antietam  Battle of Fredericksburg, VA (12/13/1862)  Union defeated  Gen. Burnside replaced with General Hooker  Battle of Chancellorsville, VA (May 1863)  Union defeated  “Stonewall” Jackson mortally wounded  General Hooker replaced by General Meade

July

 Largest # of casualties (approx 50,000)  Major turning point of the war  Lee vs. Meade  Confed. Goal  Move north into PA, win, and truce  Union victory  Ended the war in the north  Led turn to Confed. defensive war, rather than offensive

 Early Confed. gains  Pushed Union back to Cemetery Hill  General Reynolds killed; replaced by Doubleday

 Pickett’s Charge  Confed. attack on Union middle  Preceded by artillery shooting  Confed. – 50% casualties  Ended the Battle of Gettysburg  Union victory

 Congressional Committee on the Conduct of War  Abused powers during war  Led by Salmon P. Chase (Sec of Treasury)  Democratic Split  War Democrats: Pro-Lincoln  Peace Democrats: – Anti-Lincoln  Copperheads  Radical peace democrats  Vallandigham – Banished to South

 Started as Union volunteer  Captured Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson in Feb 1862  Battle of Shiloh April 1862  Union Victory  Given command at Vicksburg  Union victory July 4 th, 1863  Control of Mississippi River for rest of war  Became Lieutenant General of U.S. Army after victory at Chattanooga

 Captured and burned Atlanta in September 1864  Captured Savannah December 1864  Captured and burned Columbia February 1865  Purpose to destroy supplies and lower morale

 Union Party – War Democrats + Republicans  Lincoln: President  Johnson (War Democrat): Vice President  Democrats (including Copperheads)  George McClellan  Lincoln overwhelmingly reelected  Another defeat for the South

 April 9 th, 1865 Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Richmond, VA following Wilderness Campaign  War Death Total – 600,000  Cost - $15 Billion

 April 14 th, 1865  Ford’s Theater (DC)  John Wilkes Booth  Andrew Johnson takes over as president