User:Atcovi/VA and US History/page 3

Campaign into Virginia

 * Early Military Leadership
 * USA: Irvin McDowell
 * CSA: P.G.T. Beauregard
 * Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas)
 * July, 1861 - Battle over control of the RR junction
 * Beauregard's goal: to defend the "Alexandria line" and to begin an offensive on Washington DC.
 * Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and the "Rebel Yell"
 * "The Great Skedaddle"

Outcome: Union [defeat]=appoints General George B. McClellan as Commander of Army of the Potomac. He was great at training and installing loyalty into his men... but his flaws were that he was too cautious (play safe) and he is not committed to the cause of keeping the Union.

Fort Donelson

 * February 6, 1862: Ft. Henry fell to the Union on Tennessee River.
 * Ft Donelson remained on Cumberland River.


 * February 16, 1862: Grant attacks Donelson.
 * Battle lasted 3 days.
 * CSA unconditionally surrendered.


 * Johnston was forced to evacuate Nashville, TN. Confederates lost control of the Upper Mississippi.

Battle at Shiloh (April 1862)

 * CSA: Major General Albert Johnston; PT Beauregard.
 * USA: General Ulysses Grant


 * After Donelson fell, the Confederates regrouped at Corinth. Grant settled at Pittsburg Landing, TN near Shiloh Chapel. He didn't defend his position.


 * Johnston engaged the Union forces.
 * CSA had success initially.
 * USA had success after Sherman's Army of TN reinforced Grant's forces.

Confederate defeat.

New Orleans Fall, April 1862
US Navy sought to capture New Orleans, which was led by David G. Farragut. Farragut assembled a force of nearly 40 ships with artillery. He took NO and its forts only losing 1 ship, 37 men and 147 wounded men.

Benjamin Butler brought the Union army to occupy the territory. One of the reasons why he is hated by Southerners so much was because of his "Corps d'Afrique", a band of runaway slaves that fight for the Confederates.

The Peninsular Campaign, Spring of 1862

 * More casulaties for the CSA than the Union


 * Major Battles
 * Battle of Hampton Roads
 * Battle of Drewry's Bluff
 * Battle of Seven Pines

Monitor vs. Merrimac (Battle at Hampton Roads)
The Merrimac attacked the USS Cumberland and USS Congress (Day 1). The next day, the USS Monitor arrives. The battle between the Monitor and Merrimac ensues while the Union is able to send ships through the Hampton River (100,000 soldiers). It is a strategic Union win.
 * March 8-9, 1862
 * USA: Monitor.
 * CSA: Merrimac.

The Seven Days Battle (June 1862 - July 1862)

 * Part of the Peninsular Campaign
 * Lee's effort to drive McClellan from VA.
 * McClellan continued to withdraw to Harrison's Landing on the James even though the CSA sustained higher casualties.

Second Bull Run (August 1862)

 * US Commander: Maj Gen John Pope.
 * CS Commander: Gen Robert E. Lee.
 * Pope challenged the Confederate hold on the Manassas RR but was driven back to Centerville.
 * Significance
 * Confederate victory offset losses in the west.
 * Cleared the way for Lee's invasion of the North.

Battle of Antietam (September 1862)

 * Lee attempts to invade North and get a northern victory in Maryland.


 * Union outnumbered CSA 2:1.
 * Lee committed entire force.
 * McClellan committed 3/4 of force.
 * McClellan goes for the attack against Lee.


 * Bloodiest day of battle in US History. More Union casualties than CSA. Robert E. Lee comes back to Virginia as they escape when the night fell.

Tactically a draw but was a moral, political and diplomatic victory for the north.
 * Sets the stage for Emancipation Proclamation.
 * Lincoln fires McClellan soon thereafter.

Battle at Fredericksburg (December 1862)

 * US Commander: Maj Gen Ambrose Burnside with 120,000 troops.
 * CS Commander: Gen Robert E. Lee with 80,000 troops.
 * US Goal: To seize Richmond.
 * First major engagement with Burnside who had replaced McClellan.
 * Significance
 * Union push to an RVA was stopped.
 * Burnside was relieved soon thereafter of command.
 * Morale was lowered in the Union troops.

Diplomacy, Social Issues and a Charge of Military of Goals

 * CSA Diplomacy
 * "Cotton Diplomacy" - England's textile industry would be so reliant on CSA's cotton that when a blockade begins on them, England will have to join the war.


 * Why was the South's "Cotton" power decreasing?
 * India and Egypt were supplying cotton.
 * England already abolished their slavery so they didn't want to support a slavery-populated nation.
 * US Diplomacy
 * "HMS Trent" - English ship which is stopped by Union blockade ships. It is searched and 2 CSA were found and were captured and charged with treason. No respect for England's neutrality. Lincoln had to apologize for the mistake and released them.
 * "CSS Alabama" - A blockade runner, one of the fastest CSA ships, was built in England. Lincoln questions Queen Victoria about this intelligence. England decides to issue a policy that prohibits the sales of any weapons to the Confederacy.

Trouble on the Confederate Home Front

 * 1863 - Bread Riots
 * Richmond, VA
 * April 2, 1863
 * Economic Issues
 * Inflation
 * Shortages
 * CSA Bonds with 8% Interest
 * Excise taxes

No more gold and silver since no one was investing in the CSA... so they printed money --> inflation.

Desertion

 * At first, morale was high and it was a defensive war in the South.
 * April 16, 1862
 * CSA's Conscription Law: Males 18-35 years; 3 yr draft. By February 2 years later, it was modified to be 17-50 years [indefinite].

Exemptions

 * 1) 20+ slaves
 * 2) Ability to pay a fee
 * 3) Hire a substitute

Changed in 1864---required soldiers to stay in the military for the entire length of the war ("Rich man's war and a poor man's fight").

Conscription of Free Blacks and Slaves

 * Enacted February, 1864 in CSA
 * Could be conscripted to auxiliary service.

Negro Soldier Law

 * March 13, 1865
 * Passed in the Confederate Congress despite resistance
 * Called for the RECRUITMENT, not conscription, of free blacks and slaves.
 * If slaves fought and their owners consented, they could earn their freedom

Photography and the Civil War

 * Mathew Brady, the Father of Photojournalism

In October 1862, Brady organized an exhibit, "The Dead of Antietam" displaying his photos and those of his school. The first time that many Americans saw the realities of war in photographs.

Conscription of the North

 * Enrollment Act, March 1863
 * Made every able-bodied white male citizen age 20-45 eligible for the draft.
 * Granted exemptions:
 * High gov't officials, ministers, etc.
 * Find a substitute
 * Pay $300 fee

New York Draft Riots, July 1863

 * Mobs started as a draft riot but became a race riot with free blacks killed.
 * Lincoln loses support

US Congress Acts

 * July 17, 1862: Confiscation Act
 * August 25, 1862: Congress authorized the forming of black regiments.

Antietam's Aftermath
Issued January 1, 1863, freed slaves located in rebellious states... which made abolition a war goal. This discouraged foreign involvement in war and retained status of border states.
 * Emancipation Proclamation