1. The Furnace of Civil War
The American Pageant
Chapter 21

2. The War Begins Seven southern states seceded as Lincoln took office.
Lincoln refused to recognize secession and tried desperately to save the nation.
Confederate officials began seizing federal-mint branches, arsenals, and military posts.
Confederates fired on federal Fort Sumter in S.C. on April 12, 1861.
The fort fell & the Civil War began.

3. Fort Sumter

4. North vs. South
Western Virginia supported the Union and set up its own state government as West Virginia in 1863.

5. Call to Arms April 15, 1861 Lincoln thought:
Lincoln issued a call to arms
90 day enlistment
Lincoln thought:
War would be short
An early victory would show the folly of secession
A victory at Bull Run might also lead to the capture of Richmond and end the war quickly

6. Bull Run (Manassas Junction)
First major battle of Civil War in Virginia, in July 1861
Union army of 35,000 under General Irvin McDowell
Confederate army of 22,000 under General Pierre G. T. Beauregard
Clashed at Bull Run Creek near Manassas
30 miles from Washington, D.C.
Congressmen & spectators watched on hill (picnic)
Additional 10,000 Confederates arrived
Confederate troops under General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson held against Union advance

7. Bull Run (Manassas Junction)
Confederates counterattacked
Union troops retreated
Confederates won First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas
Destroyed myth of a short war

8. Bull Run, Manassas, Virginia

9. George B. McClellan
General over 100,000 called the Army of the Potomac
Good:
Brilliant 34 year old West Point graduate
Great organizer and drill master – high troop morale
Troops called him “Little Mac”
Bad:
Overly cautious and hated to see his troops lost in battle
He drilled and trained for 6 months – then Lincoln forced him to attack
Was arrogant with Lincoln (privately called the president a “baboon”)

10. Peninsular Campaign, 1862
McClellan launched an effort to capture Richmond (via water) called the Peninsular Campaign
Captured Yorktown
McClellan always believed he had fewer troops than the Confederates
(Pinkerton’s detective agency afraid of underestimating the #’s of troops)
Stonewall Jackson launched an attack towards Washington, preventing the Union from sending reinforcements

11. PeninsulaR Campaign, 1862 “Seven Days’ Battles” : Lincoln:
Union troops get within 20 miles of Richmond, but…
McClellan is driven back by General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson
South sustained huge losses (20,000 for the South &10,000 for the Union)
Lincoln:
Temporarily removed McClellan
Began to draft the Emancipation Proclamation

12. PeninsulaR Campaign, 1862

13. Union Strategy: Total War
Blockade the South (loose at first but increasingly effective)
Liberate the slaves – (Emancipation Proclamation)
Seize Mississippi to cut Confederacy in half
Send troops through Georgia & Carolinas (Sherman’s March to the Sea)
Capture Richmond
Grind the South into submission (Grant’s idea)

14. Second Battle of Bull Run
August 29-30, 1862
McClellan was replaced by John Pope
Pope was as over-confident as McClellan was cautious
Union forces were defeated

15. General Lee’s Plan Win Maryland to: Attack North
(His victory at Bull Run allows him to do this)
Attack North
Win-over Border States
Gain support from Europe
Divert Union forces to relieve pressure on Vicksburg
(Under siege from Grant)

16. Battle of Antietam, Maryland
Confederate leaders wanted victory on Northern soil
Lee’s Confederate troops and McClellan’s Union army met along Antietam Creek on September 17, 1862
A copy of Lee’s battle plans were dropped & discovered by the North

17. Battle of Antietam, Maryland
The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day’s fighting U.S. history
More than 12,000 Union and 13,000 Confederate casualties
McClellan, devastated by the losses, failed to pursue Lee
Both England and France were about to support the South but now back off
Considered a draw, but Lincoln needs a victory to announce:

18. The Emancipation Proclamation
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” --ca. August 1, 1858 Fragment on Democracy
Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Slavery
"We shall need all the anti-slavery feeling in the country, and more; you can go home and try to bring the people to your views, and you may say anything you like about me, if that will help... When the hour comes for dealing with slavery, I trust I will be willing to do my duty though it cost my life." — 1862 Speech to Unitarian ministers
On the question of liberty, as a principle, we are not what we have been. When we were the political slaves of King George, and wanted to be free, we called the maxim that "all men are created equal" a self evident truth; but now when we have grown fat, and have lost all dread of being slaves ourselves, we have become so greedy to be masters that we call the same maxim "a self evident lie." --August 15, 1855 Letter to George Robertson
Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether“
--1865, Second Inaugural Address
This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slaves. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it. --April 6, 1859 Letter to Henry Pierce
I have always hated slavery, I think as much as any Abolitionist. --July 10, 1858 Speech at Chicago

19. The Emancipation Proclamation
September, 1862: preliminary announcement
Took effect Jan. 1, 1863
Declared “forever free” slaves in those states still in rebellion
Slaves in the Border States are not free
Already captured slaves were not free
Who did Lincoln free?
Nobody: BUT
The intent was there and recognized by European commoners
All slaves were ultimately freed by the 13th Amendment in 1865
Strengthened the moral cause on the Union side

20. The Emancipation Proclamation

21. The Emancipation Proclamation
Northern opposition to Emancipation Proclamation was fierce
Conflict over it becoming an “Abolition War,” not war for union
Increased Union desertions
Complaints from Abolitionists that he had not gone far enough
Complaints from “Butternut” (Peace Democrats) regions that he had gone too far
Heavy congressional defeats at mid-term elections for Lincoln’s administration (Democrats won several elections)

22. War at Sea

23. War at Sea Union navy controlled the sea and blockaded southern ports
Hurt southern economy
Some small, fast ships got through the blockade
Number of ships entering southern ports was reduced from 6,000 to 800 a year.

24. Clash of the Ironclads Ironclads: USS Merrimack USS Monitor
Ships heavily armored with iron
Confederacy started using to help break the blockade
USS Merrimack
Captured by Confederacy
Turned into an ironclad
Renamed the Virginia
USS Monitor
Met the Virginia in battle in March of 1862
Forced the Confederates to withdraw
The success saved the Union fleet and continued the blockade

25. The USS Merrimack becomes the Virginia

26. Later the Monitor sinks

27. The Monitor—Present day

28. Black Enlistment Some Blacks had fought in Revolution and War of 1812
Early in war, Blacks were turned down, except in the Navy
Frederick Douglass and others asked to fight
As manpower ran low and after the Emancipation Proclamation, Blacks were allowed to enlist
180,000 fought – if captured-were put to death by Confederacy
Fort Pillow – massacre
Many Blacks in the South served as Union spies, guides and scouts
South unwilling to use slaves until the final month before the end of the war – but had used them as labor battalions

29. 54th Massachusetts Infantry
The mainly African American 54th Massachusetts Infantry was celebrated for its bravery.
William Carney—the 1st African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor

30. The War in the Western Theater
Ulysses S. Grant was commander of Union forces in West
Mediocre student at West Point
Fought in Mexican-American War
Isolated frontier posts after the war drove him to drink
Left army to avoid a court marshal for drunkenness
Working at father’s store at Civil War’s start
Started as a colonel of volunteers
Boldness, resourcefulness, and tenacity led to “meteoric rise” in the war

31. The War in the Western Theater
Western campaign focused on taking control of Mississippi River.
Would cut off eastern part of Confederacy from food sources in West
Union could use bases along the Mississippi to attack communication and transportation networks.

32. Grants’ victories in the West
Fort Henry and Fort Donelson
February 1862
U.S. “Unconditional Surrender” Grant wins
Battle of Shiloh
April 6-7, 1862
More than 20,000 causalities, but Grant wins
Shows there will be no quick end to war in West
Grant is temporally removed of his command
Too many casualties

33. West: The Fall of New Orleans
U.S. Navy moved upriver to meet Grant, who was moving down the Mississippi.
First obstacle was the port of New Orleans—largest Confederate city and gateway to the Mississippi.
Fleet under Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans in April 1862.
“Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead”
Farragut then took Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi.

34. West: The Fall of New Orleans

35. West: The Fall of New Orleans

36. West: Vicksburg
Farragut ordered surrender of strategic Vicksburg, Mississippi, in May 1863.
Location on 200-foot-high cliffs above the Mississippi made invasion nearly impossible.
Grant decided to starve the city into surrender; began Siege of Vicksburg in mid-May.
Residents & Confederate troops forced to eat rats, etc.
Legacy of bitterness

37. West: Vicksburg Facing starvation, city surrendered on July 4, 1863.
Subdued Northern peace agitators
Cut off supplies and cattle from Texas and Louisiana
Reopened Mississippi River
Discourages foreign help for the South
Grant also wins at Missionary Ridge & Lookout Mountain

38. The Far West: Struggling for Dominance
Union halted attempts by Confederate armies to control lands west of the Mississippi in Colorado and Arizona in 1861.
Confederates failed to take border state of Missouri, losing Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862.
Cherokee Native Americans aided the Confederates, hoping that they would give them greater freedom.
Pro-Confederate forces remained active in region throughout the war, forcing Union commanders to keep troops in area.

39. The Tide of the War Turns: 1863-1865
The Union army tried to divide the Confederate Army at Fredericksburg but failed in the attempt
General Ambrose E. Burnside replaced McClellan as leader of Army of the Potomac
Delays cause heavy Union casualties and they lose the battle
General Burnside is then replaced by General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker
Hooker then loses at Chancellorsville, VA in May, 1863, BUT…
“Stonewall” Jackson is accidentally killed by his own men
Jackson was Lee’s “right arm”
Lee now believes he can invade the North again
Goes into Pennsylvania
Troops slip into Gettysburg to obtain shoes

40. Fredricksburg

41. Gettysburg General George Mead replaced General Hooker July 1-3, 1863
Largest and bloodiest battle of Civil War
More than 51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, captured, or went missing in three days.
It was an important victory for the Union because it stopped Lee’s plan of invading the North.

42. Union took up defensive positions
Gettysburg
Union took up defensive positions
Ran into Union forces under General George G. Meade, beginning the Battle of Gettysburg
Lee’s forces were gathered at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1863.
First Day

43. Gettysburg
Union forces held off Confederates.
Both sides fought viciously for control.
Lee ordered attack on Union troops on Little Round Top.
Second Day

44. Gettysburg Third Day Lee planned attack on center of Union line.
Lee began planning retreat to Virginia.
General George Pickett led 15,000 men in Pickett’s Charge, a failed attack on Cemetery Ridge.
Lee planned attack on center of Union line.
Third Day

46. Gettysburg Lee can never launch an offensive attack again
The Southern cause in now doomed
Mead, like McClellan, fails to pursue Lee

47. Gettysburg Address Fall of 1863 Graveyard: 7,500 dead buried
Edward Everett
Former congressman and President of Harvard
Spoke 1st and gave a two hour speech
Lincoln speaks for 2 minutes
Ridiculed at first, the Gettysburg Address is considered the best speech ever made in America

48. Gettysburg Address
Four score 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. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- 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 link

49. Sherman’s “March to The Sea”

50. Sherman’s “March to The Sea”
Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
Captured Atlanta Sept.1864
To help insure Lincoln’s election
Total War:
Sherman: “All war is hell”
60 mile swath of destruction through Georgia
Weakened the morale & fighting spirit of South
Extensive damage to plantations in South Carolina “the hell-hole of sedition”

51. Sherman’s “March to The Sea”

52. Politics Lincoln’s cabinet Sometimes almost civil war between them
Sec. of State – William Seward
Sec. of Treasury – Salmon P. Chase (critic of Lincoln)
Sec. of War – Edwin Stanton (often belligerent)
All thought they were superior to Lincoln

53. Politics Lincoln had expanded presidential powers during war:
Suspended Habeas Corpus
Used military courts
Began war w/out Congressional approval
Used arbitrary power when thought it necessary
“Radical Republicans” resented this (so did Democrats)

54. Grant v. Lee
Lincoln was impressed with Grant’s victories; gave him command of Union army.
Grant forced Lee to fight series of battles in Virginia that stretched Confederate soldiers and supplies to limit.
Wilderness Campaign: series of battles designed to capture Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, in 1864.
Grant kept moving toward Richmond.
Grant has heavy losses: 50,000
Cold Harbor – 7,000 causalities in 20 minutes
Lee has similar losses, but does not have reinforcements like the Union
Failure to capture Richmond by election of 1864 distressed Lincoln.

55. Election of 1864 Republicans: Democrats:
Joined with “War Democrats” and became the Union Party
Andrew Johnson was Lincoln’s running mate (War Democrat)
“vote as you shoot”
“Don’t swap horses in the middle of the stream”
Farragut captures Mobile
Sherman – captures Atlanta
Union soldiers vote for companies and absentee
Lincoln wins 212 Electoral vote
Democrats:
George McClellan (former leader of the Army of the Potomac)
Platform: The war is a failure – get out and let the South go in peace
“Old Abe removed McClellan. We’ll now remove Old Abe.”
“Mac will win the Union Back”
21 electoral votes –(popular vote much closer)

56. Grant v. Lee

57. Taking of Richmond

58. Grant v. Lee: War’s End
Grant broke through Confederate defenses at Petersburg, Virginia, and Lee retreated to Richmond on April 2, 1865.
Grant surrounded Lee’s army.
Lee surrendered to Grant at the small town of Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.
Peace terms – unconditional, but generous

59. Lincoln’s Assassination
April 14, 1865 Lincoln and wife Mary attend a play at Ford’s theater
Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth a pro-southern sympathizer & actor
His Vice-President Andrew Johnson takes over as president
Lincoln Conspiracy
Attack also on Sec. of State Seward
Lincoln’s presidency clip

60. Overview of the Civil War

61. Overview of the Civil War

62. Overview of the Civil War

63. Results of the Civil War
600,000 dead, almost more than all other wars combined
South lost future leaders
Extreme state’s rights view crushed
Legacy of hate in the South: “Damn Yankees”
5. “Solid South:” White southerners will vote Democrat for the next 100 years
6. Cost $20 Billion
7. Helped spread the idea of democracy abroad: British Reform Act of 1867 – working class Brits gain suffrage