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Period: to
The Civil War
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The Election of 1860
Political compromises in the Antebellum period, such as the Missouri Compromise, worked to relieve sectional tensions in America. However, questions about the institution of slavery, disagreements over state's rights, and the efforts of northern abolitionists contributed to tensions between the North and the South. The turnout of the election of 1860 was devestating to the southerns, and they immediately worked toward succession, which ultimately triggered the start of the war. -
Jefferson Davis
Southern states seceded from the nation and elected Jefferson Davis to become the president of the Confederate States of America. Their constitution was modeled after the US Constitution, but it denied powers to levy a protective tariff and to provide funds for internal improvements. Davis actually attempted to increase his power as president, but many governors avoided the idea of centralization, because they were focused on protecting their own state. -
Fort Sumter
In the harbor of Charleston, Fort Sumter was held by federal troops, but was claimed by a seceded state. When vital supplies and reinforcements were cut off by the southern state, Lincoln announced he was sending provisions to the federal toops, and gave South Carolina the choice to let the fort hold or open fire. In response, the southerners bombed the fort for 2 days, and captured it. This attack on the fort united the North behind Lincoln's call for a Union army to preserve the Union. -
Winfield Scott and the Anaconda Plan
He was a Union general-in-chief at the beginning, but resigned his position because of physical restrictions. He passed his power down to General Robert E. Lee, but on that day, Virginia seceded from the Union, and General Lee went with them, therefore it was passed to Brigadier General Irvin McDowell. He devised a long-term plan to occupy key terrains such as important ports on the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi River to cut the South in half and eventually defeat the Confederates. -
Thomas Stonewall Jackson
In the Battle of Bull Run, Union soldiers were successfully taking a lead in the battle against the Confederates, when reinforcements led by General Thomas Stonewall Jackson counterattacked and helped push Union soldiers, along with curious civilians and picnickers, back to Washington DC. He possibly contributed to the myth that rebels were invincible in battle, and his victory destroyed the hope of a short war. -
Battle of Bull Run
This was the first major battle of the Civil War, when 30,000 federal soldiers marched from Washington DC, to Bull Run Creek at Manassas Junction, VA, where Confederate soldiers were located. It was going successful, but then Confederate reinforcements counterattacked and pushed the Union soldiers back to Washington DC. This battle dissolved the hope of a short, successful war, and created the myth that rebels were unbeatable in battle. -
Ulysses S. Grant
General Ulysses S. Grant was partially in command of the North's campaign for the control of the MS River. He helped capture Fort Henry and Fort Donelson on Cumberland River, using gunboats with army manuevers. Through these victories, 14,000 Confederates were taken prisoners and Mississippi was now open to Union attack. A Confederate army under Johnson surprise-attacked Grant, but Johnson eventually retreated due to large losses. The capture of the forts cut off Confed. supplies to the West. -
George B. McClellan
General George B. McClellan was the commander of the Union army in the east, and he worked tediously to create a trained and disciplined army for the Union. He eventually invaded Virginia, but was stopped by Confederate General Lee. After 5 months, McClellan returned to Potomac, and was replaced by General Pope. General Lee took advantage of this change in northern generals and attacked Pope's army with a trap, and then pushed him to Bull Run. This became known as the Second Battle of Bull Run. -
Robert E. Lee
When McClellan invaded VA, Robert E. Lee, the commander of the South's eastern forces, stopped them with genius tactical moves. He also led the forces in the Second Battle of Bull Run, where he pushed Pope's army back to Washington, and fought in the Battle of Antietam, where he retreated back to VA. It was also at this battle where Confederates lost their chance to get foreign aid. But General Lee played a big role in the Civil War by overseeing the battles of the South. -
Monitor and Merrimac
One part in winning the war was that the North needed to shut off southern ports to destroy South's source of supply. However, when the Confederate ironclad ship, the Merrimac, which was originally a Union ship and renamed Virginia, came through, it easily destroyed all the Union's wooden boats. In response, the Union presented the Monitor, its own ironclad ship. These two ships fought for hours, with no evident winner. This duel revolutionized the future of naval warfare. -
Battle of Antietam
Lee went into enemy territory in MD, hoping to get recognition from Britain with another victory. With the advantage of knowing Lee's battle plan by a dropped copy from an enemy officer, McClellan was put back in command. In one day, over 22,000 men were killed or wounded at Antietam Creek in the town of Sharpsburg. Lee retreated, but McClellan failed to pursue him. However it was a victory for the Union, because Confed's didn't get recognition or aid from a foreign power. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
General Ambrose Burnside replaced McClellan, but he had a strategy of reckless attacks, compared to McClellan's strategy of caution and patience. His plan of attacking Lee's army at Fredericksburg, VA, resulted in 12,000 dead/wounded Union soldiers. Generals in the North and South didn't realize that with new weapons, directly charging the enemy was not smart. Their slow realization of this resulted in the extreme casualties seen in the Civil War. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln decided to free all slaves in the enemy states, but waited until he could get the support of conservative northerners; he also encouraged border states to think of ways to compensate the owners. On September 22, 1862, he issued a warning that all slaves in states still rebelling would be freed on the first day of the next year. It didn't free all slaves in the US, but now the Union army was fighting against slavery as well as secession. -
Battle of Vicksburg
By this time, the Union forces almost had all control over the MS River, and General Grant drove Confederate Lt. Gen. Pemberton to the city of Vicksburg, MS. He began his siege on the fortified city, and that last for seven weeks before the 29,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered on July 4, because the city had no reenforcements or supplies. As a result, the Union forces gained full control of the river, and kept that control throughout the rest of the war. -
Battle of Gettysburg
General Lee took the offensive by entering enemy territory, the states of MD and PN, hoping he could force the North to call for peace or get foreign aid for the South. The Union army was caught by surprise, and what resulted was the most crucial and bloody battle of the war, with 50,000 casualties. It actually destroyed a large chunk of the Confederate army, and they never again took the offensive. -
The Gettysburg Address
Four and half months after the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered his most famous speech, The Gettsyburg Address. In this speech, he mentioned human equality within the DOI, and transformed the Civil War from a war to preserve the Union, to a war that would prove to the world that a democratic nation could survive. It also was a memorial for all the individuals who had died fighting for the larger cause of the Civil War, and bolstered the North's conviction to fight. -
Sherman's March
General Sherman marched 100,000 men from TN, straight through GA and then SC, leaving everything destroyed in his path, by burning cotton fields, barns, and houses. He reached Atlanta in September, in time to help Lincoln for reelection. He went on to Savannah, and finished his march in Feb 1865, by setting Columbia, the capital of SC, on fire. This march had the intended effect of destroying the will of the Confederacy and their will to fight. -
Appomattox Court House
While the Confederate government wanted to negotiate for peace, Lincoln wanted to restore the nation and wouldn't agree to anything else. General Lee retreated with an army of 30,000, and attempted to escape in the mountains, but was stopped by General Grant. At the Appomattox, Grant forced Lee to surrender, and then allowed his men to return home with their horses. Basically, by this time, everyone knew the war was over, and General Lee had officially surrendered. -
Lincoln's Assassination
After the surrender of the South, Lincoln delivered a speech about how the South needed to be treated benevolently. However, John Wilkes Booth, a southern sympathizer and bitter actor, shot and killed the president in the Ford's Theater in Washington. His death was greatly mourned, but the country realized anew how much they needed his leadership when the two parts of the country had to work with the problems of reconstruction.
