Book Title

DOLOR SET AMET

LOREM IPSUM

Chapter 14

The Civil War

Lincoln assumed power to a country in shambles. The Civil War devastated the South and would permanently change the landscape of the United States forever. In this chapter, you’ll read about the battles, the abolishment of slavery, and ultimately about the Union victory in 1865.

As Lincoln assumed power, he made it clear that he wanted to keep the Union together. Secession, in his eyes, could not be permanent in the United States. When he gave his inaugural address, he hardly talked about slavery. He believed that our democracy was being tested, and that the integrity of the Constitution and the republic was at stake. Lincoln had a strong political agenda in mind, which was to maintain the Union. He thought that with his inaugural address he could buy time and he hoped that southern states would maybe come back to the Union.

Chapter 14, Section 1

IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL...

1. Read about Lincoln’s priorities as he came into office.

2. Understand the events that occurred at Fort Sumter

3. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages for each side prior to the war.

The Beginning of It All

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Fort Sumter in 2009, courtesy of Bubba73 at en.wikipedia

For about three weeks after his inauguration, nothing significant happened. Following this time period, the first battle of the Civil War would take place at Fort Sumter at Charleston Harbor in South Carolina. Fort Sumter was a Union (northern) controlled fort that they were able to hold even after South Carolina seceded from the U.S. Sumter made northerners feel good because they had control of a significant landmark in southern territory. When Lincoln tried to resupply the fort in mid-April 1861, the Confederates attacked and captured the fort.

This was significant for the Confederacy. Most people in the North thought that this war would be quick and relatively painless. All of a sudden, the South won the first battle of the Civil War and folks in the North

were perhaps a bit uneasy. Also, after this battle, four more states seceded from the Union (Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia). States remaining neutral despite having slavery were: Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia (formed in 1863), Maryland, and Delaware. The Confederacy also changed their capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. Changing their capital would make Virginia the prime battleground

during the Civil War, and would ravage the state to the point where entire towns would be destroyed.

Most of the advantages before the war were with the Union side. The Union had a greater population (21 million) than the South (9 million, 5 million of which were slaves). They also had greater

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Capt. John A. Winslow (3L) and other officers of USS Kearsarge gathering on main deck before fight w. CSS Alabama, off coast of Cherbourg during US Civil War.

Navy During the Civil War

Above: US military railroad engine "W. H. Whiton," sitting on wooden bridge, during Civil War. (1864)

railroad mileage (70% of the country’s railroads ran through the North), more farms, more wealth produced, and more industrial capacity (a.k.a. factories). The Union also had a navy. As the war progressed, the navy would only become larger and more modern. In turn, the Confederacy had practically no navy. This would allow the Union to control coastlines and win significant battles on rivers and other bodies of water. A third advantage for the Union was that they were united politically behind Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had a lot of political power to wage war. Jefferson Davis, on the other hand, did not have the power and support that Lincoln did. Davis had a lot of trouble getting support to do things, and states didn’t really agree with each other on numerous issues.

Union disadvantages played into the South’s hands for a while during the beginning parts of the war. One problem the North would have was the vast area they had to conquer. Not only was the land area enormous, but they were unfamiliar with it as well. This made marching and fighting very difficult, and was one of the reasons why they would lose some early battles. The Union also had longer supply lines. It might take twice as long to get food or supplies to soldiers if they had to go from, let’s say, New York to Virginia as opposed to transporting supplies within a state.

Confederate advantages differed greatly from the Union side. For the South, they would primarily fight a defensive war. Most of the fighting would occur on their land, which they would be very

familiar with. They also had a psychological advantage, meaning they were fighting for their freedom and to protect their homeland. To them, losing was more than just lives lost. It was a way of life and freedom that would vanish before their very eyes. In addition to their motivational and psychological advantage, the South also

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Lincoln at age 54 in 1863

Lincoln Through the Years

had vastly superior military leadership toward the beginning of the war. This was mainly because of the fact that the South had a more militaristic culture and men who lived there were more “military-oriented.”

Confederate weaknesses were essentially the opposite of Union advantages. From an economic standpoint, they had fewer factories, which made it hard to keep up with Union production of war supplies and materials. They had fewer railroads to transport supplies, and had a significantly smaller population. Less people equals fewer soldiers, and as the war came close to its conclusion, the Confederacy would literally be outgunned and outmanned. Moral victories can only carry a side for so long; eventually, militaristic wins become more important.

Fort Sumter gave the South confidence that they could compete against the North. Not only did they remove the Union presence from their soil, but they didn’t suffer any casualties in the process. With that victory now under their belt, they would move on to Bull Run.

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Following the capturing of Fort Sumter, things would quiet down for both sides until the summer. A few months later, both sides would engage in the first Battle of Bull Run. Lincoln ordered the Union army to invade Virginia for the first time (in many attempts). The Union was commanded by General Irwin McDowell. Armies in this battle were evenly matched with about 30,000 soldiers on each side. The Battle of Bull Run lasted about one day. For the first half, the Union had the advantage. But in the late afternoon, the Confederates reorganized themselves and made a stand. The man credited with this turnaround was General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Because of Jackson and his men holding their ground, the Confederates were able to win the battle.

About 5,500 men were killed and wounded on both sides following the Battle of Bull Run. At this point in time in American history, nobody had really ever seen this kind of death toll. The Battle of Bull Run was also significant because people realized the war would not be as short as they had anticipated.

After the Battle of Bull Run, both sides set longer term strategies for winning the war. Lincoln developed a three part plan for winning. First, he would have the navy establish a naval blockade around Confederate forts. This, he hoped, would hopefully strangle the Confederacy from an economic standpoint and isolate them from the rest of the world. After that, Lincoln instructed his generals to take control of the western part of the Confederacy, particularly the Mississippi River. If

Chapter 14, Section 2

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

1. Understand the events at the Battle of Bull Run

2. Recognize strategic changes made by both sides after the Battle of Bull Run.

Bull Run & War Strategy

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the Union could do this, they could isolate about one-third of the Confederacy from the eastern portion. Thirdly, and most important, would be to capture Richmond and force a surrender.

Confederate goals would be a bit different. They wanted to fight a war of attrition. By extending the war as long as possible, Davis felt that if the Confederates could last for a year or two, he could wear on the psyche of the North and force Lincoln to surrender. Davis also believed that if the war lasted long enough, the South could involve a foreign country to help them (particularly Great Britain).

One last thing that Lincoln would do after the Battle of Bull Run would be firing Irwin McDowell. He appointed General George McClellan in his place. McClellan would now have the task of controlling the army in Washington D.C. and had the goal of capturing Richmond. It turns out that McClellan was a bad appointment. He was very young and inexperienced, and blamed others for his mistake including Lincoln himself. A string of bad generals would cost the Union deeply early in the war, and Lincoln would routinely change leadership until he found the man for the job.

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Watch this video to understand what made the Civil War more deadly than any other up to this point in American history. This will explain why battles like Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Antietam were so horrific.

The Minie-Ball

By the summer of 1862, there was hope for the South that they could gain independence after some successes. At this point, there are two theaters of the war. The Western Theater occurred in Tennessee and Mississippi, along with the Mississippi River region. The Eastern Theater basically was mainly in Virginia and other states on the Atlantic Coast. In the West, there was a large army formed in southern Illinois by the Union in 1862. The army’s goal was to gain control of the Mississippi River. There was a very strong Confederate fort on the river at Vicksburg. The conquering of this fort would become the military objective in the West.

The Union army would march out of Illinois in the late winter and early spring of 1862. As they won a few other medium sized battles, they confronted the Confederacy in a larger battle at Shiloh in Tennessee in April 1862. Ulysses S. Grant would command the Union forces against General Albert Johnston from the South. Both armies had about 50,000 men. The Battle of Shiloh would last for two days. On the first day of battle, the Confederates had much of the momentum. However, on the second day, the Union gained 20,000 reinforcements. After that, momentum shifted and they won a total victory.

The loss of life at the Battle of Shiloh was horrific. About 22,000 men were killed or wounded. There were more men killed in this battle than any of the other wars in American history previous to this point combined! By the end of the war, Shiloh

Chapter 14, Section 3

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

1. Understand how the Civil War was broken into two theaters

2. Recognize the significance of the Battle of Antietam

3. Read about the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation

Southern Springtime of Hope

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would rank seventh in total casualties (meaning there were only six more battles worse than Shiloh).

With the win at Shiloh, General Grant wanted to continue to march towards Vicksburg. It would take Grant the rest of the year in 1862 to try and conquer this crucial fort. But, much to his chagrin, Grant was unsuccessful. And with this, the Confederates continued to accomplish their objective to extend the war as long as they could despite the losses of battle and human life.

In the east, McClellan now took over. Early on he prepared to take Richmond. Once everything was finally prepared, McClellan started his Peninsula Campaign in April of 1862. General Robert E. Lee would face off against McClellan and the North during this three month campaign. By late June, the Union army was close to attacking but would face a Lee counteroffensive. Lee was successful in pushing back the Union army from the Richmond area, and he made better decisions than McClellan

throughout this battle. By mid-July, the Union navy picked up McClellan and he went back to Washington D.C., failing to take the Confederate capital yet again.

Lincoln had considered firing McClellan at this point, but decided to avoid doing so. With momentum on their side, Jefferson Davis and others decided to go on the offensive into Union territory. By attacking in the North, Lee thought he could relieve Richmond from fighting and, at the same time, demoralize the Union with another defeat. So in September of 1862, the Confederates marched north toward Washington D.C. and met the Union army in Maryland.

On September 17, 1862, both sides engaged in the Battle of Antietam. The bulk of the fighting occurred on one day. The Union army had numerous advantages in this battle. McClellan’s army had 110,000 men to Lee’s 50,000. They were fighting on northern land. And a Union spy picked up a copy of Robert E. Lee’s battle plan that he had dropped while marching! Despite these advantages, George McClellan’s inexperience as a leader showed. He was incredibly cautious, and only used 20,000 men at a time to fight. On the second day of battle, Lee’s army begins to retreat, and instead of pursuing the Confederates, the North just simply let’s them go.

Technically, the battle was a draw. Neither side is a victor, but the Confederacy could be viewed as the loser because they did retreat from battle. The Battle of Antietam was the single,

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Robert E. Lee, circa 1865

bloodiest day of battle to ever occur on American soil, with roughly 25,000 men dying in one day. Another important result of this battle was the firing of George McClellan. He was fired because of his failure to capture Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign, and the missed opportunity to end the war at Antietam.

After the tie at Antietam, Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln wanted to release the document in a position of strength (after a victory). The draw at Antietam was the closest thing to a big win, and Lincoln thought this would be the time when he had the most support. The Emancipation Proclamation would free slaves in areas of rebellion (the Confederacy) through an executive order. It did not, however, say anything about slaves in the Union. The Emancipation Proclamation also didn’t anything about the morality or civil rights of the slaves. It was intended as an act of defending national security, and Lincoln said it was a way to help the Union win the war.

The Emancipation Proclamation changed the objectives of the war. It was no longer a question of political union. It now had implications stating that if the Confederacy lost, all slaves would be free. It also kept Europe out of the war on the Confederate side. Decades earlier, most European countries (i.e. Britain & France) had outlawed slavery. Now, if they joined the war, they would be fighting for the side who was trying to keep slavery. This was a brilliant move by Lincoln; he must have recognized that Europe’s involvement would significantly help the Confederacy. So by banning slavery in southern states, Europe stayed away.

Once McClellan was fired, Lincoln hired General Ambrose Burnside to lead the Union army. In December of 1862, Burnside

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Lincoln and McClellan on October 3rd near Antietam battlefield

Battle of Antietam

led the Union army in Virginia to try and take Richmond for a third time. This attempt led to the Battle of Fredericksburg. Snipers were crucial to the Confederate victory in this battle. The South would take the high ground and literally pick off soldiers one by one as they converged during this battle. Fredericksburg would be one of the Union’s worst defeats during the Civil War. They lost 13,000 men. And Burnside’s tenure as Union general would be short-lived.

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The Union would gain the military advantage in 1863 and would keep it for the remainder of the war. Following the Battle of Fredericksburg, Lincoln would yet again fire another general. Burnside was replaced by General Joseph Hooker (left). In May of 1863, Hooker got his first test in the Battle of Chancellorsville. This battle would be the fourth attempt for the Union to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond.

The conflict at Chancellorsville would be another defeat for the Union. In fact, it is arguably their worst defeat in the Eastern Theater. Lee only had about 40,000 men compared to Hooker’s 120,000. Lee divided his army into three sections and attacked the Union at different angles, confusing Hooker and the Union troops.

Following the victory at Chancellorsville, the Confederacy (particularly Lee) wanted to make a second attempt to invade and win a battle on Union soil. The Confederate army marched north after its most

Chapter 14, Section 4

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

1. Read about the turning point of the Civil War for the Union.

2. Learn about the Battle of Gettysburg and why it’s famous

3. Understand events that occurred in the Western Theater during 1863

The Turning Point

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recent victory, and were followed by Hooker’s army. Lincoln concluded that Hooker was not moving quickly or aggressively enough after Lee. Consequently, Lincoln fired yet another general and appointed General George Meade in Hooker’s place.

Meade, who was only in command for a few days, continued to follow Lee. The two armies collided and fought a three day battle in Pennsylvania from July 1-3, 183. The Battle of Gettysburg is considered to be the turning point battle of the Civil War. The Union army was able to occupy the high ground in the area, south of the town of Gettysburg. General Lee had two options. He could fight the Union where they settled, or he could have flanked them south and fought them elsewhere. He decided to fight the Union where they were, and it ended up being a bad choice. On July 2, the Confederates attacked the Union on the hills where they were located. Lee failed to conquer them, and retreated.

Finally, on July 3, Lee ordered a final assault on Cemetery’s Ridge. This would be his third attempt to defeat the Union at Gettysburg. George Pickett led a frontal assault, which would end up being a deadly decision. Lee hoped that the center of the Union line would be weak, but it wasn’t. Meade figured that Lee would assume that the center of the line would be weak, so he fortified the center of the line in hopes that Lee would attack. Pickett’s Charge was a failure, and for the Confederacy, this would be the last time they ever fought a battle on northern land.

After Gettysburg, Meade was criticized for not launching a counteroffensive and pursuing Lee after he retreated on July 4. Nonetheless, Gettysburg resulted in the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. This would be the last time they would talk

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Bodies of slain soldiers strewn about field of mass carnage following bloody Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War; faint image of soldier on horse in background., probably surveying the scene.

Gettysburg Picture Gallery

about bringing the British into the war. England would not want to come fight now because of how devastating this loss was for

the South. In addition, the carnage from this battle was extreme. Both sides suffered casualty totals of over 23,000 men. Remember, the Union had the population advantage before the war. They could replace these losses; the Confederacy could not. Up to this point, that didn’t mean a thing. Lee had defeated the Union army with half as many men and won easily. But after Gettysburg, this would no longer be the case. Grant would be able to replace his men; Lee, on the other hand, was running out of people to fight. With Meade’s success in the East, Lincoln looked to General Grant for victory in the West. On the day of the

Confederate retreat at Gettysburg, Grant readied his troops to capture Vicksburg for a second time. The outcome this time was different than before. Grant was victorious, and with this win, the Union now had control of the Mississippi River. This would detach one-third of the Confederacy from the other two-thirds out in the East. Grant is given all of the credit for the victory at Vicksburg. Following this battle, the Union army out west targeted Chattanooga, Tennessee. By early December, the Union army captured this important city. They wanted to obtain Chattanooga because they needed to use it as a launching pad to attack what was left of the heart of the Confederacy. This would also allow them to try and capture the important city of Atlanta, Georgia.

By the end of 1863, the question people asked was not who was going to win the war. Instead, Americans wondered how long it would be until the Union was victorious. The South was now in a lot of military trouble. Even with Lee’s prowess and expertise, he would need a miracle to win the war. Unfortunately, that would never come. Following the Battle of Gettysburg in November of 1863, Abraham Lincoln visited the battleground. He decided to commemorate the dead who sacrificed their lives in July. A large crowd will gather around Lincoln, and he will deliver one of the most famous speeches in American history: the Gettysburg Address. His message was short and succinct. It wasn’t some grandiose speech that lasted for a half-hour condemning the South for their wrongdoing. Instead, he made a couple points

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Learn more about the turning point of the Civil War in this edition of “Chalk Talk”

The Battle of Gettysburg

crystal clear. First, he reminded people that the Civil War was a test of the nation’s democracy (which refers back to his inaugural speech when his main goal was the preservation of the Union). He stated that America was a nation “conceived in liberty” and that “all men are created equal.” He told those who were listening that the nation was “engaged in great civil war,” and it must stand strong against its opposition to fight for what was right. Lincoln’s profound words most assuredly left an indelible mark on the generation of men and women back then, as well as those who are alive now.

Numerous actors and authors recite the Gettysburg Address in this ad. Watch this and listen to Lincoln’s powerful words.

Gettysburg Address

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As the war dragged on, citizens in the North began to question Lincoln’s leadership. It was understood that this war was not supposed to last that long; but after over two years in, people became displeased. Those who were against the war became known as copperheads. In addition to dwindling public support, Lincoln also needed to come up with a strategy for getting more soldiers. So in 1863, Congress passes the draft law. It mandated that all “able-bodied” males between 18-45 serve in the war if called upon to do so. If one wanted to avoid the draft, they could pay the government $300, or hire someone to serve in their place. Many people in the North did not like the idea of being forced into service. There were numerous riots all over the country with people protesting the draft law and the war. The worst of these riots was in New York City, with 74 people dying in one day.

Lincoln already had enough on his plate. The last thing he needed was more domestic violence that had nothing to do with the war. With that said, he decided to suspend habeas corpus to try and stop crime. Habeas corpus is the right to be charged or have a hearing before being jailed. With this suspended under an executive order, Lincoln hoped to curb crime with the immediate punishment of prison.

In the South, Jefferson Davis was continually having a power struggle between the Confederate government and the states. Since the South did not believe in a

Chapter 14, Section 5

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

1. Learn how new soldiers were chosen for the military

2. Understand how America paid for the Civil War

3. Recognize why there was opposition to the war in the North

4. Read about the Gettysburg Address

Hardships of War

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strong federal government, they would routinely nullify laws signed by Jefferson Davis. In many cases, they would even refuse to pay taxes. This made Davis’ effort to fund the war extremely difficult (since tax money is the main source of government revenue).

In the North, Congress did not have as many problems with citizens nullifying laws. Lincoln did, however, face economic hardship. In order to pay for the war, he was forced to establish an income tax on people’s earnings (the Internal Revenue Bureau, a.k.a. the IRS, would over see the collection of these taxes). Income taxes still did not produce enough money for the war, so Lincoln was also forced to print $400 million in paper money as well.

Printing a whole bunch of money is not a great idea. You might think, “Well if you just print the money that’s needed, we can just pay for everything!” That’s not exactly true. Printing an excessive amount of money (among other things) causes what’s called inflation. Inflation can be defined as a rise in prices and a decline in the value of money.

Let me try to explain this using an example: let’s say you go to the store and you want to buy a pack of gum. The gum costs 50 cents. A year later, you go back to the same store and the pack of gum you bought now costs 55 cents. We can say that this is “inflation at work.”

But now there’s a problem: you still have 50 cents, and the gum’s price went up to 55 cents. Now, you can’t buy your pack of gum! When inflation occurs, it doesn’t necessarily mean that people are going to get a pay raise to “keep up with inflation.” In fact, a lot of times, our pay might remain the same, and prices will still go up. In other words, people have to spend more money to buy the same things that used to cost less.

Let’s go back to the gum example. Suppose you still wanted to purchase it, but since you only have 50 cents, you could only buy part of the pack. In that case, you would be able to get 5/6 of the pack. More than likely, the store won’t let you do that. But I hope that this point is clear: you only have 5/6 of what the gum now costs. Your money supply has not changed, but the price of what

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Watch this video explain how inflation works.

Unpacking the Idea of Inflation

you want has. That’s inflation. Hopefully, this explanation helped. If not, try watching the video on the previous page to help explain this concept to you.

Despite the economic difficulties that both the North and South would face, the war will actually benefit some people. With farmers away fighting, there was a need to replace them to continue their work. Instead of people doing the work, machines will accomplish the tasks one performed by humans. This helps industry (factories) because they now have a greater demand for their products. In turn, they sell more, which enables them to make a greater profit.

One group of people who took advantage of the Civil War from an economic perspective were profiteers. These people charged huge sums of money for goods, and made a fortune off of the U.S. government. Here’s an example: pretend you are Abraham Lincoln, and you want to purchase 1,000 guns for Union soldiers. The person selling the guns will intentionally maybe double (or even triple) the price of the gun, knowing that the government would have to buy the weapon no matter what the price. This practice, although dishonest, made some folks millionaires.

Lincoln’s leadership would rise above the economic struggles experienced in the North. His focus and poise during the Civil War was unrivaled by any other leader in the country, which ultimately led to a northern victory.

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Early in 1864, Lincoln decided to shuffle commanders around...again! He ordered General Grant (from the west) to come east and take control of the Union army in Virginia. Grant’s main goal, as with every general in the east, was to capture Richmond. Out west, the new general replacing Grant was William T. Sherman. His objective, as Grant’s had been previous to him, was to conquer the “western capital” of Atlanta. In the spring of 1864, both of these men would begin launching campaigns to capture both cities. They wanted to end the war by the fall of 1864 because Lincoln would soon be up for reelection. If the Union won, he would most assuredly win a second term.

Grant’s spring campaign of 1864 (May through June) would be a seven week period of intense fighting in Virginia to obtain Richmond. Two important battles during the spring were the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Petersburg. Tens of thousands of men died during this time period. In

Chapter 14, Section 6

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

1. See how Lincoln’s shuffle of commanders would turn the war in a positive direction for the Union

2. Learn about General Grant’s attempt to capture Richmond once and for all

3. Understand what Sherman’s “March to Sea” was

4. Learn about the Election of 1864

5. Read about the end of the Civil War and its results.

6. Comprehend Lincoln’s assassination

The Union is Preserved

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Above: Union soldiers sitting in trenches shortly before their siege of Petersburg.

fact, Grant lost more men than Lee did. However, the problem for the South was that Grant was able to replace his men and Lee was having trouble doing that. Estimates are that the Union army lost 60,000 men (killed or wounded) and the Confederates lost half as many killed or wounded. Although the war was nearing an end, northern public opinion was souring against this campaign. They called Grant “Butcher Grant” because of the blood on his hands, as well as the trouble winning the battles taking place.

Out west, Sherman took the western army and moved it towards Atlanta. Unlike Virginia, this campaign did not result in a lot of intense fighting. Both armies essentially outmaneuvered each

other with very few significant confrontations. By mid-July, Sherman was right outside of Atlanta. The Confederate army saw this, and took control of the city. Sherman, therefore, laid siege

(surrounded) Atlanta in order to eventually capture it. The surroundings of both Atlanta and Richmond was good militarily, but bad from a political standpoint for Abraham Lincoln.

When the fall of 1864 rolled around, Lincoln ran for president again, this time opposing George McClellan. The Democratic platform was simple: peace at all costs. Most people believed that if the Democrats won, the war would come to an end and the Confederacy would survive. If Lincoln won, the war would continue and the president would try to restore the Union. As his running mate, Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson as his vice presidential candidate. John was selected by Lincoln as a person who would be good for reconstruction. He was a Democratic slave holder, and if he was on the ticket, he may appeal to southerners.

When election day came, Lincoln won a landslide victory over McClellan in the Electoral College. After winning, Americans knew that he would persevere this war to the very end. A grim prospect, but promising if you were on the Union side.

In the first week of September 1864, the Union took control of Atlanta. This shifted political and military momentum to the northern side. After Sherman conquered Atlanta, he began his famed “March to Sea.” What was left of the Confederate army fled to an area in Tennessee. Sherman took a little bit more than half of his men and pursued them. He had his army spread out on a line about 50 miles wide. He ordered them to march toward

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Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman (C, arms folded), Commanding Military Division of the Mississippi, & his generals, during Civil War.

Savannah, Georgia and destroy everything and anything in their path. Sherman wanted to destroy the South’s will to fight and demoralize them. On this march, buildings were burned,

livestock was slaughtered, and crops were destroyed.

The northern press followed this “march” and portrayed this as a huge victory for the

Union. Northerners felt the South was finally being defeated and getting what they deserved. After capturing Savannah, Sherman’s troops continued to march north. He told them to be even more destructive in South Carolina because they were the first state to secede. In the long term objective, Sherman’s goal was to get to Virginia. However, he didn’t make it. By the time he arrived, the war was essentially over.

By April 1865, Grant had moved on through Petersburg and eventually into Richmond. He waited all winter and made his army bigger, and made sure they were well-fed and properly clothed before attacking. By March, he had more than 120,000

men in his army as opposed to Lee’s 35,000. In the first week of April, the Confederates evacuated Petersburg. Grant ordered some of his army to pursue Lee, and the rest stayed back to capture Petersburg. Grant, along with rest of his army, captured Richmond on April 3, 1865. On April 9, the Confederates formally surrendered to Grant in Appomattox at the McLean House. This is usually considered to be the end of the war, although there were a few minor skirmishes in the deep south and out west after the surrender. General Lee signed very lenient terms. The only thing they had to do was lay down their weapons. Grant even gave them some food. You might be thinking, “why were they so nice!?” Well, consider this. Lincoln’s main priority was to preserve the Union. Punishing the soldiers will only make matters worse; remember, they just lost a war. Lincoln was showing that he was willing to help them recover, and showed that he was generous.

The Civil War had four major results. Let’s go over them point by point:

1. The human death toll was staggering Over 600,000 men died. This number equated to roughly 2% of the nation’s population dying. Now, that may not seem so significant. But if you take 2% of today’s population, that would be 6 million people. This number is relatively large in number in reference to the size of the overall population. Remember, too, there were 5 million slaves included in that population count. Realistically, that

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Above: Richmond in ruins toward the end of the war

600,000 dead is truthfully coming out of less than 30 million because the vast majority of freedmen did not fight in the war. Another mind-boggling statistic for you: Between 1.5 to 2 million men had their lives permanently and physically altered. They either lost an arm, leg, or other limb that changed the way they lived forever.

2. The question of states’ rights versus federal power was resolved. The national government would now become the supreme political power in the country. Besides slavery, the issue of states’ rights was the other main cause of the Civil War. They (the states) wanted to do things that the federal government didn’t want them to (i.e. keep slavery). Consequently, the war was fought. Now, whatever the President says will be the letter of the law and states will not have a nullification option on laws.

3. Slavery is (finally!) abolished. The country enters a new era without it, and African Americans are now free under the law. The 13th amendment was added to the Constitution in the spring of 1865, prohibiting slavery once and for all.

4. Despite the positive outcome for the Union as a whole, the Civil War still leaves a lot of difficult, unanswered questions. First among them, what would happen to the civil rights of African Americans? What rights would they have? What can or can’t they do? Another predicament would be the issue of reconstruction. There were a lot of political questions that

would have to be answered: How would states become part of the Union again? What process would they have to go through?

Most people thought that Lincoln would lead the country through this important reconstruction phase. His plan was rather simplistic. He wanted to make it relatively easy for states to come back into the Union. Punishing them for their rebellion would only complicate the reunification of the United States.Sadly Lincoln would never get this chance.. On April 14, 1865 the president was killed by southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln was watching a play in Ford’s Theater located in Washington D.C. While the show was going on, Booth snuck into Lincoln’s press box. Waiting for a loud part of the show, Booth shot Lincoln. Booth himself was a failed actor. People kind of knew his name, but he wasn’t incredibly famous. So when he tried to escape from the theater, it wasn’t a huge surprise that he was there. He ran to a warehouse where he hid out until he was hunted down by federal authorities. Eventually, Booth would die a couple days after he committed the crime and never faced trial.

Obviously, Lincoln’s death was a huge loss for the country. Northerners were already angry at the South; but now, a southerner had just killed their beloved leader. Instead of reunited the country, they were seething with anger and wanted revenge. And now, Andrew Johnson would have to lead the country through a new and more complicated process. Not only did he

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have to reconstruct the nation, he also had to deal with fresh animosity between the North and South over Lincoln’s death. As a Democrat who had to work with a Republican Congress, Johnson would make reconstruction a lot more difficult than it had to be. It would happen, but it was not an easy process.

As I was compiling this chapter, I found numerous pictures that I felt were really cool. Many of them, however, did not fit within the content of the chapter. So I put a whole bunch of those pictures in an album to the left. Captions below explain what they’re all about. Dates are in parenthesis.

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Union (or Federal) officer holding oar & sitting on makeshift raft used for scouting operations; raft was constructed of pair of small pontoons & several wooden planks, during Civil War. (1863)

Miscellaneous Civil War Pictures

Exterior of Ford's Theatre, at which John Wilkes Booth assassinated US Pres. Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln’s Assassination