Chapter 16

The Civil War Begins

(1861-1862)

Name
Presidents
Generals
Capital
Population
Economy
Military strategy
Reasons for fighting

NORTH
United States of
America
(Union)
Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses S. Grant
Washington D.C.
22 million
Industry and
commerce (factories
and trade)
Anaconda Plan
To preserve the Union

Advantages

More manpower and

supplies

Disadvantages

Had to travel to fight

SOUTH
Confederate States of
America
(Confederacy)
Jefferson Davis
Robert E. Lee
Richmond, Virginia
9 million
(3.5 million were
slaves)
Plantation farming
KingCotton
To secede fromthe
Union
Familiar with the land,
more experienced
generals
Less manpower and
supplies

First Shots at
Fort Sumter
As the Southern states seceded
from the Union, the Southern
states took control of most of the
federal forts in the South.
The Union held onto Fort Sumter
in the harbor of Charleston,
South Carolina, but was running
out of supplies.
For 34 hours, Confederate forces
fired on Fort Sumter until the
Union surrendered.
The attack on Fort Sumter was
the beginning of the Civil War.

Lincoln Calls Out the

2 days after the surrender of
Militia
Fort Sumter, President Lincoln
asked the Union states to
provide 75,000 militiamen for
90 days.

In the weeks that followed,

Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, and Arkansas joined
the Confederacy.
In May of 1861, Richmond,
Virginia became the capital of
the Confederacy.
When Virginia seceded Robert
E. Lee resigned from the United
States Army and joined the
Confederacy.
WATCH Mini Bio Robert E. Lee

Choosing
Sides
Delaware, Maryland,
Kentucky, and Missouri were
border states.
Slavery was legal in the
border states, but the border
states stayed in the Union.
Union troops helped parts of
western Virginia part away
to create West Virginia.
At the start of the Civil War
there were 24 states, and 11
joined the Confederacy.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Confederate
All
we ask is to be let
Strategy

alone, said Confederate

President Jefferson
Davis.
The quote shows that
the Confederacy initially
took a defensive position
in the Civil War.
The South tried to use
cotton to get support
from foreign countries,
King Cotton.
WATCH Mini Bio Jefferson
Davis

The Union
Strategy
General Winfield Scott
developed the Anaconda
Plan.
1) A naval blockade of the
Souths coastline.
A blockade is when armed
forces prevent the
transportation of goods or
people into or out of an
area.
2) Union would gain control
of the Mississippi River.

Battle of Bull
Run
The First Battle of Bull
Run was on July 21, 1861.
At the First Battle of Bull
Run, the Confederates led
by General Thomas
Stonewall Jackson
defeated the Union.
After the Battle of Bull
Run, Lincoln asked for a
real army of 500,000
volunteers for three
years.

Those Who
Fought
Albert
Einstein said, Older men
start wars, but younger men fight
them.
The majority of soldiers in the Civil
War were between 18 and 30
years of age.
Farmers made up the largest
group fighting in the Civil War.
About half of the soldiers on both
sides came from farms.
Immigrants and later African
Americans fought in the Civil War.
During the Civil War, 2 million
Americans served for the Union
and fewer than 1 million served
the Confederacy.

Turning Civilians
into Soldiers
Soldiers would train on a set
schedule, and a bugle or drum
awakened the soldiers at dawn.
Union soldiers wore blue
uniforms.
Confederate soldiers wore gray
or yellowish-brown uniforms.
After battles, needy soldiers
took coats, boots, and other
clothing from the dead.
WATCH Mini Bio Abraham
Lincoln

Hardships of Army
Life than twice as many men
More

died from diseases than battle

wounds.
Many camps were unsanitary and
smelled.
Soldiers often went weeks without
bathing or washing their clothes.
The soldiers bodies, clothing, and
bedding became infested with lice
and fleas.
Most soldiers had chronic diarrhea
or other intestinal disorders
caused by contaminated water,
food, or germ-carrying insects.
Doctors did not wash their hands
or tools.

WATCH Smithsonian Channel The

Gruesome Reality of Civil War

Changes in Military
Technology
A rifle is a gun with a grooved
barrel that causes a bullet to
spin through the air.
The spin gives the bullet
more distance and accuracy.
Rifles contributed to the high
casualty rate in the Civil War.
The first ironclad battle was
off the coast of Virginia
between the Confederate
Virginia (originally named
Merrimack) and the Union
Monitor.

Ulysses
S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
said, Find
out where your enemy is,
get at him as soon as you
can, strike at him as hard
as you can, and keep
moving on.
Grant captured Fort Henry
and Fort Donelson in
Tennessee.
By gaining control of forts in
Tennessee the Union could
travel by water as far South
as Alabama.
WATCH of History
Channel U.S. Grant

The Battle of
Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh was in
Tennessee on April 6, 1862.
At the Battle of Shiloh the
Union lost over 13,000
soldiers and the
Confederates lost nearly
11,000 soldiers.
Congress pressured Lincoln
to replace Grant, but
Lincoln replied, I cant
spare this man he fights!
What did Lincoln mean in
the quote???

The Fall of New

Orleans

On April 25, 1862, the

Union captured New
Orleans.
New Orleans was the
largest city in the South.
The Union controlled the
Northern and Southern
parts of the Mississippi
River (2nd part of the
Anaconda Plan).
The Confederacy controlled
150-miles of the Mississippi
River around Vicksburg,
Mississippi.

Seven
Days
At
the Seven
DaysBattles
Battles
the Confederates were led
by General Robert E. Lee.
The Seven Days Battles
were fought from June 25 to
July 1, 1862.
Confederates defeated the
Union at the Seven Days
Battle and Second Battle of
Bull Run forcing the Union
to retreat back to
Washington D.C.
WATCH Civil War
Reenactment

Lee Invades the North

Lee wrote a letter telling
President Davis about plans
for the Confederacy to invade
the North.
In early September 1862,
before President Davis could
respond Lee crossed the
Potomac River, and invaded
Maryland.
Reasons Lee invaded the North
1) Force Lincoln to talk peace,
2) Give Virginia farmers a rest
from war for the harvest
season,
3) Confederates could plunder
Northern farms for food,
4) To get European countries to
recognize the Confederacy as
an independent nation.

Battle of Antietam

After invading Maryland, Lee

prepared plans for his military
campaign in the North.
A Confederate officer accidently
left a copy of the Lees battle
plans wrapped around cigars at a
campsite.
On September 17, 1862
Confederate and Union soldiers
fought at the Battle of Antietam.

Battle of Antietam
25,000 men were dead or
wounded from the Battle of
Antietam, and Lee retreated
back to Virginia.
The Unions led by General
McClellan did NOT follow the
Confederates and Lee.
McClellan got fired by Lincoln
for not finishing the
Confederates.
WATCH Why was Antietam the
Bloodiest Battle in U.S. History?