Total War & the Republic Meaning of total war —mass and full commitment.
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Transcript of Total War & the Republic Meaning of total war —mass and full commitment.
Total War &Total War &the Republicthe Republic
Meaning of total war—mass and full commitment
The Demands of Total War Southern advantages—defenders of home
country with friendly population Lincoln’s leadership—inexperienced, fine
politician, judge of character with human touch
Suppression in Maryland—suspended habeas corpus, arrested sympathizers, bullied state election
Kentucky’s neutrality—Lincoln patient, waited for Confederate attack
Importance of the border states—population, production, rail centers, Washington, access to major river systems
General Winfield Scott, who developed the “Anaconda Plan.”
Opening Moves
Ironclads—new warfare begun
King cotton diplomacy—belligerent status, but King enough?
Grant’s character—iron will
Shiloh—“Lick ‘em tomorrow”
The southern Merrimac battles the northern Monitor in
the world’s first battle of ironclads.
Secretary of State William Seward, who warned European nations to stay out of conflict.
Ulysses. S. Grant, the one Union general who could and would take the fight to the enemy.
The two-day springtime Battle of Shiloh, which came to be known as “Bloody Shiloh.”
Lincoln fears “McClellan has slows”—arrogance, self-doubt, cautious to a fault
Lee’s generalship–“Audacity” and
“Stonewall”
Lee’s invasion fails—detach Maryland, isolate
Washington; cigars don’t
embolden McClellan at
Antietam, U.S.’s “bloodiest day”
General McClellan, an able administrator who was loved by his troops, he was too cautious to be a great field general.
Robert E. Lee, the greatest military
tactician of the war, won many
battles in the war ordinary generals
couldn’t have won.
“Burnside Bridge,” over Antietam Creek, which saw the last decisive
action of the Battle of Antietam.
END OF READING
Emancipation
Crittenden Resolution—war aim: preserving Constitution, Union Lincoln gives priority to the Union—slavery second to Union
Congressional attack on slavery—slaves are “contraband,” then free those used in war effort, then free those owned by rebels
Lincoln’s decision for emancipation—keep border states in Union, strike a blow against the Confederacy
Terms of the Proclamation—after Antietam, in enemy lines only?—emancipation for military reasons, not necessarily humane reasons
Reaction to the Proclamation—Europe swayed, redefined war Slaves within Union lines—Freedmen face racism, hostility Blacks in combat—Douglass: soldiers become citizens
Lincoln discusses the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet.
The Confederate Home Front Attempts to industrialize—better at industrial goods than
foodstuffs
New responsibilities, opportunities—women’s roles expand: spies, smugglers, manufacturers, managers, “government girls”
Soaring inflation—more money chasing few goods—why?
Centralization of power—more federal than federal; 1st conscription law
Opposition to Davis—state’s rights
Hostility to conscription—20-slave exemptions: “a rich man’s war and a
poor man’s fight”Alexander Stephens, VP of the Confederacy, who
accused Jefferson Davis of trying to be a dictator, he eventually abandoned the government.
The Union Home Front
Measures to raise money—taxes (1st income), bonds, “Greenbacks”
Western development (finally)
—Homestead and Land Grant College (land sales proceeds) Acts, 1862
Corruption and fraud–“shoddy,” 20% fraudulent expenditures
Moral decline—war brings out the worst—why?
Women and medicine—resistance at first; Clara Barton
The Union Congress went ahead with western settlement despite the war with
the Homestead Act and Land Grant College Act of 1862.
A Civil War nurse comforts a wounded soldier.
Women and teaching—another
profession taken over by women
Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus—across the North states vs. anti-war agitators; martial law
The Copperheads—peace Democrats against draft, emancipation
New York City draft riots—Irish attack draft officials, Republicans, African Americans—END OF READING
Women staff an outpost of the United States Sanitary
Commission.
A crowd of draft rioters takes out its
frustrations on a black man—
substitutes part of the controversy.
Clement Vallandigham of Indiana, labeled a Copperhead and banished to Confederacy for proposing armistice (1864 return).
Gone to Be a Soldier Disease and medical care—double
died from disease as bullets; doctors considered quacks
Decline of morality—boredom, horrors, no women
Southern soldiers and discipline—Americans not easily molded; southern social structure, elections erode discipline
The Civil War staple hardtack, sometimes called “worm castles” by the Union soldiers.
A “boning kit,” used by Civil War doctors,
whose main battlefield treatment
was amputation.
Differences between the two armies—acceptance of organization helps Union
Impact of technology—rifled barrels, minie balls increased range greatly increases casualties
Strength of defense—artillery devastating
defensive, not offensive, weapon, particularly with
exploding shells and canister loads
Soldiers’ hardening outlook—the
romance of battle is gone
The “rifled” Colt musket, which used a percussion cap and fired rifled minie balls like those to the right.
Union “Zouave” soldiers in dress that imitated French military styles of the time. Most Union
soldiers dressed more like the officer at the right.
The Union’s Triumph
Gettysburg—Lee on
offensive, July 1-3, 1863;
Pickett’s Charge Lee’s greatest
mistake
Capture of Vicksburg—July 4 surrender, with Port Hudson, seals Mississippi
Grant in command—coordinate
with Sherman and push on
Union’s summer offensive—attrition
General George Meade faces off against Lee at a Pennsylvania crossroads; some of the thousands of dead.
George Pickett’s men fought Pickett’s charge.
Only known picture of Abraham Lincoln at the Gettysburg Cemetery dedication at which he gave his address.
1864 election—remarkable wartime election: Lincoln (abolition) vs. McClellan (armistice)
Significance of Lincoln’s reelection—South’s toast
Thirteenth Amendment—abolition: no compensation
Abolition as a global movement—Britain spearheads; serfdom, too
Mac and his running mate went up the hill to unseat Lincoln, but both come tumbling down in cartoon; Lincoln wins election with a general that wins battles.
Confederacy’s abandonment of slavery—enlist slaves?; finally, begrudging rejection of values, institutions of “Old South”
March to the sea—a lesson in total war; in turn north, South Carolina gets worst
Lee’s Surrender—Richmond abandoned,
supplies captured, nowhere to go
General William Tecumseh Sherman, who said, “War is hell, and I’m going to make ‘em howl”; a scene from his 50-mile-wide march through Georgia.
Lee’s surrender to Grant at the little Virginia town of Appomattox Courthouse.
Lincoln’s assassination—made it worse…for the South
Cost of war —620,000;
South goes from richest to
poorest; U.S. is now singular
Spiritual toll of war
Abraham Lincoln shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre, just days after Lee’s surrender, while watching the English comedy My American Cousin. Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancé were also in the theatre box. Later in life, Rathbone would kill his wife, then attempt suicide, but survive, and would eventually die in an insane asylum.
Lincoln’s elaborate funeral cortege would make stops in many cities before
his eventual burial in Springfield, Illinois, his home.