Bost 1 Justin Bost Ms.

Caruso English 1102 23 February 2012 The American Civil War Imagine yourself lined up with 72,000 other soldiers, staring at your enemy 97,000 soldiers strong, with only a musket. What is going through your head? Am I going to die? Will I make it home to my family? Will I end someone elses life? Thousands of thoughts go through your head. Then you hear cannon fire, not knowing where the cannon balls will hit. You hear musket-fire and hear yells and cries of wounded, dying soldiers. Before you know it you are caught up in hand-to-hand combat and it is up to your will to survive. Welcome to the Battle of Gettysburg1, otherwise known as the most deadly and bloodiest battle on American soil with more than 51,000 casualties which included dead, wounded or missing (History Place). This battle was the turning point in the war, where it was evident that the North would prevail. Although this is probably the most famous battle in the Civil War, there were more than a total of 50 major battles and 5,000 minor battles. Men, women, slaves, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters lost their lives during these events of our nation (History Place). How did all of this start and what caused it? Why did our own country fight against each other? Before the Civil War the U.S. was going through an era of economic growth, where differences were between the North and South parts of the country. While the North was based on the manufacturing industry, the South was primarily agriculture-based with many small farms that grew plants such as cotton and tobacco. Farmers in the South depended on black slaves for labor and were considered the backbone of their economy (The American Civil War). Many

Bost 2 southerners and farmers began fearing the existence of slavery after growing abolishers and the Norths opposite to slavery. After many events including the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act2, which essentially opened all new territories to slavery by asserting the rule of popular sovereignty; and President Lincolns election, southern states including Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana had seceded from the United States. The first shots on the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces were threatened when Lincoln ordered a fleet to resupply the fort. After two days of battle, Sumters commander surrendered and left the fort to the Confederates. After that battle, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee joined the Confederacy and the war began. As earlier stated there were more than 50 major battles, so I cannot possibly elaborate on them all, but I picked the four that I thought were the most important; First Battle at Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. The First Battle at Bull Run3 was the first actual battle of the Civil War, two months after the attack on Fort Sumter. About 20,000 Confederate troops and about 35,000 Union troops met along a small river called Bull Run in Manassas Junction, Virginia, about 25 miles from Washington, D.C. (The American Civil War). President Lincoln ordered Brigadier General Irvin McDowell to lead an offensive attack that would hit quickly on the Confederate troops led by General P.G.T. Beauregard, since they knew the Confederate soldiers were amateurs. After finding out Union enemy advancement from a spy, General Beauregard called for reinforcements. Led by General Joseph E. Johnson, about 11,000 rebel soldiers marched to Manassas to aid the outnumbered soldiers (The American Civil War). Shots were first fired July 21, 1861 by Union troops, as they began to push back the Confederates. Just as the Union started celebrating a victory, General Johnsons reinforcements arrived and drove the Union

Bost 3 troops back, causing them to retreat and march back up to Washington D.C. Although the Confederates won that battle, suffering only 1,750 casualties, they were too disorganized to follow the retreating Union troops back to Washington. The Union lost about 3,000 men in this battle out of their 35,000 (The American Civil War). About one year later on September 17, 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee4 and Union General George McClellan faced off near in Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the Battle of Antietam (The American Civil War). This battle was considered the first to be fought on northern soil. Unfortunate for General Lee one of his battle-plan copies was lost and came into hand of General McClellan. The battle started in a corn field along Antietam Creek and lasted for about four hours, which included a series of bloody hand-to-hand combat, which later named the area Bloody Lane (The American Civil War). Finally, General Lee withdrew his forces and retreated across the Potomac River suffering 10,318 casualties out of his 38,000 men, while Union General McClellans troops suffered 12,401 casualties out of his 75,000. Despite the Union losing more men, General Lee surrendered since his army was outnumbered two-to-one. The Battle was Antietam is known as the bloodiest single day in American history (The American Civil War). Located in Chancellorsville, VA and known as General E. Lees greatest victory, the Battle of Chancellorsville happened between April 30 to May 6, 1863 (The American Civil War). This battle consisted of Confederate General Lee and his 30,000 men against Union General Joseph Hooker and his 80,000 men. General Lee having less than half the army General Hooker had, decided it would be best to split up his troops and surprise the Union soldiers. Early May the 2nd, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson brought 30,000 men to help Lee and his army (The American Civil War) which was a major success that took out half of Hookers

Bost 4 line. Later than night General Jackson was scouting around and unfortunately got shot and killed by one of his own men. On May 3rd General Lee was finally on offense and sent a regiment behind Hookers troops to flank him. After losing 17,278 to Lees 12,826, Hooker marched his troops back across the Rappahannock River on May 6th (The American Civil War). Weeks later would be the battle that ultimately decided the outcome of the war, The Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important crusade of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in late June 1863 (The American Civil War). As Confederate forces advanced, they eventually met the Unions Army of the Potomac, under General George G. Meade at the town of Gettysburg. After days of bloody fighting, combat, driving each other across the battle fields, and reinforcements arriving, General Lee finally retreated after losing a lot of his men. Some 28,000 Confederate soldiers were lost, more than a third of Lees army, while the Union lost about 23,000 (The American Civil War). The Battle of Gettysburg turned the tides over for the Unions favor. There were a plethora of weapons used in the Civil War. These included pistols, rifles, shotguns, swords, bayonets, cannons and more (The Real Armor of God). Pistols were mainly used for short range weapons since they were not accurate at all. The North and South usually used different types of the same weapon. The Union preferred the Colt Army Model 1860 pistol, which was a .44 caliber and could hold six bullets. The South preferred the Colt Army Model 1861 pistol, which was a .36 caliber and the parts were interchangeable (The Real Armor of God). The next weapon is the rifle or musket, and was the most commonly used gun during the

Bost 5 Civil War. Although there were many different names and brands used, the Model 1861 Springfield Musket was one of the most popular selections. This particular rifle fired a .58 caliber mini-ball and was considered very accurate and reliable (The Real Armor of God). Many muskets also had bayonets attached on the end and were used for close-combat. Bayonets were knife-like attachments that could be fitted onto the end of a rifle or musket. Shotguns were also used in the Civil War, but were very rare and only used by the Confederates. Most of them were 16 gauges, with 30 inch barrels. Also, some shotguns were equipped with bayonets that fit the double-barrel (The Real Armor of God). Among firearms, swords were another type of weapon used in the Civil War and were simple, but very effective. Swords were mainly carried by Generals on down to privates and were considered to be signs of heroism or excellence (The Real Armor of God). Each sword was made differently and the designs were adopted from Europe. Last but not least was artillery, over wise known as cannons. The most famous cannon used during the Civil War was called The Dictator which shot a 13 inch mortar (Melton Jr.). These 17,000 pound cannons could launch a 200 pound explosive shell about two and a half miles. Many other cannons were used during the war, but because of its shooting distance, The Dictator became the most widely used cannon (Melton Jr.). Apart from the weapons, uniforms were one of the most important aspects of the war, because without uniforms, you would not be able to tell anyone apart. Each side had their own unique look so it would be easy to tell them apart. The typical Union uniform was made of wool, and featured a dark blue shirt with four brass buttons (Visit Gettysburg). Although the uniforms were warm in the winter, they were hot and itchy in the summer so many Union soldiers wore cotton shirts and underwear from home. Pants of a Union uniform were dyed dark blue to match the shirt, till 1862 when pants were dyed a lighter shade of blue (Visit

Bost 6 Gettysburg). The pants were held up by suspenders and they wore ankle-high leather shoes called brogans. Lastly, the caps of the soldiers were made of stiff wool, with a leather visor towards the front of the head. The symbol of their regiment was stitched on the front of the wool cap. On top of the heavy wool uniforms, each soldier on average carried around 30-40 pounds of gear with included their rifle, a belt with the bayonet attached, a sack with food rations and canteen, and a pack that carried of all there camping supplies (Visit Gettysburg). The Confederate Civil War uniforms were anything but uniform in color and style since they were homemade and dyed by different methods (Visit Gettysburg). Since the Souths economy was not as stable as that of the Norths, they usually did not have money to provide uniforms for their soldiers. The typical Confederate uniform consisted of short-waist jackets and heavy denim cotton pants. Since cotton was a Southern product, they took advantage of its use. Confederate soldiers shoes wore out quickly, so sometimes they would take the shoes of dead Union soldiers (Visit Gettysburg). Unlike the Union soldiers, Confederate soldiers carried much less equipment; blanket rolls that consist of belongings tied over the shoulder. With an approximate total of 620,000 deaths, the Civil War was an important event in our nations history (Davis). The Civil War is a very broad topic and it would be impossible to cover every aspect of it in this historical inquiry paper. From how it started, to famous battles, to weapons, and to uniforms, there is so much that happened during those five years of war. After the Union won the war in 1865, President Lincoln did his absolute best to bring the United States back together. I picked this topic, because I have always been interested in the Civil War and have actually been to many battle sites, including Chancellorsville in Virginia. In conclusion, the Civil War played the ultimate role in shaping our nation to what it is today.

Bost 7 Works Cited "All about Civil War Clothes." Visit Gettysburg. Visit Gettysburg, 2007. Web. 13 Feb 2012. <http://www.visit-gettysburg.com/civil-war-clothes.html>. "American Civil War." History.com. History.com, 2012. Web. 7 Feb 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war>. "Battle of Gettysburg." The History Place. The History Place, 1996. Web. 21 Feb 2012. <http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/battle.htm>. Davis , Burke. "The Price in Blood!." Casualties in the Civil War. N.p., 11/1/04. Web. 22 Feb 2012. <http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm>. Melton Jr., Jack W.. "Civil War Artillery Projectiles." Civil War Artillery. Jack W. Melton Jr. , 1994. Web. 21 Feb 2012. <http://www.civilwarartillery.com/>. "The U.S. Civil War 1861-1865." The History Place. The History Place, 1996. Web. 12 Feb 2012. <http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/>. "U.S. Civil War Weapons." Real Armor of God. Optimus International, 2005. Web. 13 Feb 2012. <http://www.realarmorofgod.com/civil-war-weapons.html>.
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This was one of the most important battles in the Civil War, and predicted the outcome of who won the war. The Kansas-Nebraska Act passed in 1854 created the territories Kansas and Nebraska for new land to be settled, and allowed settlers to decide if they would have slaves or not. 3 There were two Bull Run Battles, but I included the first just because it was actually the first official battle of the Civil War. 4 Considered one of the best Generals during the Civil War.