THE EARLY STAGES OF THE WAR

Chapter 11 Section 2

Advantages & Disadvantages: Let’s Review

In the early months of the war, Lincoln feels pressure to attack General Beauregard, who had gathered troops at Manassas, VA, about 25 miles from Washington, DC

Remember that the CSA capital had been moved to Richmond, VA, closer to the early fighting.

Lincoln hoped that an early defeat for the Confederacy would end things.

Mobilizing the Troops

The Northern Plan

Known as the Anaconda PlanProposed by Winfield Scott, the General-in-Chief of

the United StatesIdea was to strangle the South by:

Blockading ports along the Atlantic Isolating the South from trade with Europe Cut off the flow of supplies (equipment, money, food &

cotton!) Wear down the South and force surrender Control the Mississippi with gunboats Divide the Confederacy (eastern & western) Capture New Orleans, Vicksburg & Memphis Cut off shipping to the interior of the Confederacy

Anaconda Plan continued

Not popular; the public wanted a quick, decisive victory and for Lincoln to attack

Newspapers started calling it the Anaconda Plan as a nickname for its plan to strangle the South

First Battle of Bull Run: Why does it Matter?

Happens near Manassas, VA, not too far from both capitals. Where “Stonewall” Jackson earns his nickname Union general was Irwin McDowell One of the most famous Confederate generals Battle starts out well for the North and then they are forced to

retreat, which turns into a panic. (remember Southern military advantages)

Shows that the Union is going to need more troops who are better trained! (and the South also)

Both North & South had been relying on volunteers who enlisted. The North had been paying a bounty for 3 years of service.

South passes conscription in 1862 and Congress passes the Militia Act in July 1862, giving Lincoln authority to call state militias into federal service

In 1863, Congress institutes a national draft

The Naval War

The Naval War

Who had the advantage at sea? The North or the South? Why?

April 1861: Lincoln announces a blockade of all Southern ports

Was successful by spring 1862 except for Charleston, SC and Wilmington, NC

Point was to create economic pressure on the South

Can’t stop them all! Blockade runners

The Naval War continued

Most famous Confederate ships are the Alabama and the Florida

The Confederacy had these ships built in Britain

The Alabama captured 64 ships before it was sunk by the Union in 1864

The Florida captured 38 ships before it was captured

Increased tensions between the North and Britain

A Secret Weapon

Battle of the Ironclads

The South developed the Ironclad, a ship with iron plates covering the hull of wooden ships. The first of these was the Merrimack, which had been captured from the Union and renamed the Virginia.

Point of the iron was to withstand cannon fire. March 8, 1862: worst day of the war for the Union

Navy. 240 sailors were killed when two ships sank that had been guarding the James River at Hampton Roads, VA.

The next day, the Monitor, the Union Ironclad, challenged the Virginia and they fought for hours with no winner. The Monitor meant the Virginia couldn’t be used to break the North’s blockade of Southern ports.

The Naval War Continued

A fleet of Union ships, led by David Farragut, captured New Orleans and control of the lower Mississippi River. (why was this part of the Anaconda Plan?)

Farragut became a hero Was 60 and had been at sea since he was 9 Born in the South, but supported the Union

Instead of relying on attacking the forts, Farragut decided to send the ships upriver single file to attack from another position. This was very risky!

The Naval War Continued

The Trent AffairThe Trent was a British ship captured during

the blockade. As a result, the Union almost went to war with Britain because of their support of the South.

The War in the West

February 1862: General Grant (Union) begins a campaign to control the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.

Strategy was to split Tennessee in half and give the Union a river route into the deep South.

Grant is victorious at Fort Henry (main fort on the Tennessee River)and Fort Donelson (main fort on the Cumberland River).

These victories mean that Kentucky and most of Tennessee are now in Union control.

Battle at Shiloh (TN)

Confederates launch a surprise attack at Shiloh, TN

Grant is advised to retreat but he replies: “Retreat? No. I propose to attack at daylight and whip them.”

This early morning attack comes as a surprise to the Confederates and General Beauregard (Confederacy) is forced to retreat.

Impact: this battle had very high casualties and stunned people in the North & South. Over 20,000 deaths & casualties.

People in the North start calling for Grant’s dismissal because so many soldiers died. Lincoln supports him and keeps him in command.

Battle at Murfreesboro (TN)

Southern general is Braxton Bragg Fighting shifts further east in TN to

Chattanooga Lincoln knows that there are lots of

Union sympathizers in eastern Tennessee and he wants to gain control of the area

Sends General Don Carlos Buell to Chattanooga to cut the railroad lines and block the Confederacy

Lincoln thinks Buell is too slow; fires him and replaces him with William S. Rosecrans. The two sides fight near Murfreesboro and the union is forced to fall back but their lines don’t break. Fighting goes on for several days with no clear winner; Union reinforcements arrive and Bragg retreats.

War in the East

Fighting in the east had focused on capturing the Confederate capital at Richmond, VA

General George McClellan took over the union army in the east after Gen. McDowell’s defeat at the first Battle of Bull Run. Goal is to capture the CSA capital.

McClellan develops the peninsula campaign: a plan to assemble troops near Yorktown, VA and march them up a peninsula where the James and York rivers meet up to Richmond. This took 30 days; Lincoln thinks this took too long and only gave the Confederacy time to gather more troops to defend the capital.

During the march up the peninsula, McClellan’s troops get divided at the Chickahominy River. The commander was Gen. Joseph Johnston, who is wounded and replaced by Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Seven Days’ Battle

Fight between McClellan’s forces and Lee’s forces

Lee began a series of attacks on McClellan’s troops as they march up the peninsula.

McClellan is forced to retreat.Attacks last for 7 days and over 30,000

casualties on both sides combined.Lincoln orders McClellan to abandon the

peninsula campaign and bring his troops to Washington, D.C.

Second Battle of Bull Run

McClllan’s troops are withdrawn and ordered to Washington, D.C.

Lee decides to attack the Union capitalManuvering by both sides bring them back

near the site of the first battle of the Civil War at Bull Run.

Through the fighting, the South again forces the North to retreat.

This means a Confederate victory only 20 miles from Washington, D.C.

Battle of Antietam

Gen. Robert E. Lee and President Jefferson Davis think that a decisive Confederate victory after invading the North will force the Union to accept the South’s independence.

Also have the goals of influencing the upcoming 1862 midterm Congressional elections (Peace Democrats)

Want to gain support and recognition as an independent country from Britain

Battle of Antietam continued

McClellan and his troops take position along Antietam creek.

Battle of Antietam Continued

Turns into the bloodiest single day in US history

Most casualties of any single-daybattle in the Civil War

6,000 deaths16,000 woundedMcClellan doesn’t break Lee’s lines, but Lee

decides to retreat because of all the dead and wounded.

The outcome of Antietam is a huge turning point for several reasons….

Battle of Antietam Continued

Britain had been making plans to try to mediate between the North & South

Was also planning to back the South and recognize their independence if mediation failed.

Because of Lee’s defeat at Antietam, Britain decides to delay recognizing the Confederacy and so the South lost its best chance at international recognition as an independent country

All the bloodshed convinces Lincoln that the time has come to end slavery in the South one way or another.

The Emancipation Proclamation

What does it actually say? What does it NOT say? Who is freed? Who is not

set free? Political background: most

Democrats don’t want to end slavery and Republicans are divided on the issue.

Lincoln doesn’t want to lose support of the border states who had remained loyal to the Union.

See p. 1071 in the book for the text of the Emancipation Proclamation

With the casualties of the war rising, many Northerners begin calling on Lincoln to end slavery to punish the South and to make the soldiers’ sacrifices worth something.

Lincoln says that if the Union wins at Antietam, he will free the slaves.

September 22, 1862 issues the Emancipation Proclamation

Only ends slavery in the states “in rebellion” NOT in the border states

Switches the war to being about more than just preserving the Union; now it’s about liberating the slaves.

The Emancipation Proclamation

“We were no longer merely the soldiers of a political controversy, we were now the missionaries of a great work of redemption, the armed liberators of millions.”—Regis de Trobiand, Union soldier

“We shout for joy that we live to record this righteous decree”—Frederick Douglass

Think about what motivated Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.