Chapter 14: A Violent Choice: Civil War, 1861-1865

1. The Politics of War
   1. Union Policies and Objectives
      1. In Congress’s absence, Lincoln ruled by executive proclamation for three months.
         1. He called for 75,000 state militiamen.
         2. He suspended the right of habeas corpus.
      2. He began to organize federal military forces.
         1. Problems included an aged officer corps, old weapons, scarce supplies, and a small army and navy.
         2. He began army and naval expansion.
         3. The navy blockaded southern ports.
      3. Winfield Scott drew up the military strategy.
         1. The Anaconda Plan called for cutting the Confederacy in two by seizing the Mississippi.
         2. This, together with the naval blockade, would doom the South economically.
      4. Lincoln established the North’s war aims:
         1. Restore the Union.
         2. Do not interfere with slavery in the South.
      5. Lincoln faced political division within his party.
         1. Radical Republicans wanted severe punishment of the Confederates included among the war aims.
         2. Abolitionists wanted to end slavery.
         3. He used military appointments to try to win over all factions.
   2. Confederate Policies and Objectives
      1. Problems faced by the Confederacy included:
         1. Military: no army or navy when the war began and no war supplies.
         2. No diplomatic ties abroad.
         3. Internal political disagreements.
         4. Industrial capacity far below the North’s.
      2. To cope with the Union naval blockade, the South mined its harbors and rivers, and bought ships in England.
         1. The North’s blockade nevertheless continually grew more and more effective.
      3. The South counted on winning with its army.
         1. Thousands enthusiastically volunteered.
      4. Josiah Gorgas organized industrial production and procurement of war supplies.
      5. Davis’s strategy to win was to fight a defensive war.
         1. This would drag out the war until the North found it too costly.
   3. The Diplomatic Front
      1. The South sought international recognition, especially by Britain.
         1. Britain did not extend recognition but did grant the South belligerent status.
      2. The North alienated the British in the Trentaffair.
         1. The North’s diplomats appeased Britain and prevented any break between the two.
   4. The Union’s First Attack
      1. In the Battle of Bull Run (won by the South), Union forces panicked and fled.
         1. The South felt reassured of ultimate victory; the North realized that the war would be long and drawn out.
         2. Lincoln relieved the aged Scott as chief general and appointed McClellan in his place.
      2. McClellan organized and trained the army.
         1. He was reluctant, however, to attack; the war in the East therefore ground to a halt.
2. From Bull Run to Antietam
   1. The War in the West
      1. In Missouri, both sides fought each other in guerrilla fashion for the duration of the war.
      2. In New Mexico, an invading Texan force won victories but, lacking supplies, was forced to return to Texas.
      3. Implications of the Civil War for Native Americans:
         1. Indian uprisings occurred, as federal troops were sent to fight in the South; the Santee Sioux killed over eight hundred settlers in Minnesota.
         2. The South established alliances with several Indian tribes, but they did not prove helpful to the southern war effort.
         3. Cherokee Stand Watie became a Confederate general.
         4. Indians also allied with the North.
   2. Struggle for the Mississippi
      1. The North gained control of the upper and lower Mississippi.
         1. Grant brought Kentucky and most of Tennessee under control.
         2. The Battle of Shiloh demonstrated that the war’s cost to life would be horrific.
         3. Admiral Farragut captured New Orleans.
         4. The Union advance stalled at Vicksburg.
   3. Lee’s Aggressive Defense of Virginia
      1. The South’s main military task was to defend its capital at Richmond, Virginia.
         1. Lincoln needed military victories in the East for political reasons.
         2. The outcome of the naval battle between the Monitorand the Merrimacmade inland Richmond vulnerable.
      2. McClellan undertook the Peninsular Campaign in order to capture Richmond.
         1. Because of his indecisiveness, Confederate forces under Lee were able to retreat to Richmond.
         2. Jackson led a diversionary campaign toward Washington.
         3. Lee then attacked McClellan and forced him to abandon the Peninsular Campaign.
   4. Lee’s Invasion of Maryland
      1. Lee invaded the North in Maryland.
         1. Union forces discovered his plans, and Lee began to withdraw from Maryland.
         2. His army clashed with McClellan’s at Antietam, the bloodiest single-day engagement of the war.
         3. He retreated to Virginia, but McClellan’s indecisiveness again prevented destruction of Lee’s army.
   5. Diplomacy and the Politics of Emancipation
      1. Despite Confederate efforts, Britain maintained its neutrality.
         1. The North’s ambassador was extremely effective.
         2. Britain had a cotton surplus in hand.
         3. The Confederate defeat at Antietam confirmed the British policy of neutrality.
      2. Under pressure from Radical Republicans, Lincoln drew up the Emancipation Proclamation.
         1. He released it after the victory at Antietam.
         2. It did not actually free any slaves.
         3. Abolitionists, nonetheless, hailed it.
3. The Human Dimensions
   1. Instituting the Draft
      1. Both armies by the end of 1862 faced a serious lack of manpower and could no longer rely on volunteers alone.
         1. The Union enacted the Conscription Act, but wealthy individuals could buy exemptions or hire replacements.
         2. The South’s compulsory draft also allowed for exemptions (the Twenty-Negro Law).
      2. In both sections, deep resentment ensued.
         1. In New York City, the federal army had to suppress violent rioting against the draft.
         2. In the South, draftees did not report for duty.
   2. Wartime Economy in the North and South
      1. The North’s industry and economy expanded as a result of the war.
         1. Government assistance (railroad subsidies; higher tariffs; the Homestead Act) underwrote economic growth.
         2. But unsafe financial practices - greenbacks, bond sales - set the stage for post-war problems.
      2. The southern economy lacked an industrial base.
         1. The government offered loans, trying to stimulate greater industrial production for the war.
         2. It also engaged in unsafe financial methods: printing paper money not backed by specie.
      3. The South’s meager industrial base hampered its war effort.
         1. War supplies were always too small.
         2. Hunger was widespread, even in the army.
         3. The Union blockade, the fall of New Orleans, and the loss of the Mississippi made the southern economy worse.
   3. Women in Two Nations at War
      1. Women in both sections assumed greater responsibilities.
         1. With men away at war, they were in charge of farms and businesses and worked outside the home.
      2. Women participated in the war as nurses, scouts, couriers, and spies, and over four hundred served as soldiers.
   4. Free Blacks, Slaves, and War
      1. More than 200,000 blacks served in the Union armed forces.
         1. Free blacks were at first rejected for service but later allowed to enlist.
         2. Commanders accepted runaway slaves as laborers ("contrabands").
         3. African-American soldiers suffered various kinds of discrimination: lower pay, segregation, no black officers.
         4. Few were allowed to fight, but won respect when they did.
         5. Confederates committed atrocities rather than take blacks as prisoners.
      2. The South relied on slaves in food production, military labor, and war-related industry.
   5. Life and Death at the Front
      1. Though life in camp was tedious, it could be nearly as dangerous as time spent on the battlefield.
         1. Problems with supplying safe drinking water and disposing of waste were constant.
         2. Disease like dysentery and typhoid fever frequently swept through unsanitary camps.
         3. Small pox, pneumonia, and malarial fevers passed rapidly from person to person in the overcrowded conditions.
      2. In June, 1861, Lincoln responded by creating the United States Sanitary Commission.
      3. Nurses on both sides showed bravery and devotion.
      4. Many surgeons at the front lines could do little more than amputate limbs to save lives.
      5. Conditions were even worse in prison camps.
4. Waging Total War
   1. Lincoln’s Generals and Southern Successes
      1. The Battle of Chancellorsville was a loss for both sides: the North lost the battle; the South lost Stonewall Jackson.
      2. The summer of 1863 saw two critical Union wins.
         1. Grant took Vicksburg, thereby gaining control of the entire Mississippi.
         2. Lee’s army was defeated at Gettysburg.
      3. Lincoln turned to Grant.
         1. Meade (like all the northern generals who preceded him) proved to be indecisive, not pursuing Lee’s retreating army after Gettysburg.
   2. Grant, Sherman, and the Invention of Total War
      1. Lincoln appointed Grant general in chief.
         1. He was willing to practice total war, to tolerate enormous loss of life to win, and to move decisively.
         2. Sherman, likewise, practiced total war.
      2. Grant took command of the army in Virginia.
         1. Driving toward Richmond, the Union army sustained terrible losses at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor.
         2. Lee occupied Petersburg and blocked the way to Richmond; a ten-month siege by theUnion army ensued.
   3. The Election of 1864 and Sherman’s March to the Sea
      1. The Republican party was divided as the election approached.
         1. Radical Republicans nominated Frémont for president; they wanted more vindictive treatment of the South.
         2. The moderate wing ("Union party") nominated Lincoln.
      2. The Democrats nominated McClellan.
         1. Their platform called for immediate peace.
      3. Union victories enabled Lincoln to win reelection.
         1. Sherman captured Atlanta.
         2. Sheridan drove the South’s army out of the Shenandoah Valley.
         3. The Radical Republicans rallied behind Lincoln.
      4. Sherman began his March to the Sea.
         1. He devastated the South from Atlanta to Savannah, then moved north into South Carolina.
         2. Confederate forces formed up in North Carolina under Johnston, to block Sherman’s further advance toward Virginia.
   4. The Fall of Lee and Lincoln
      1. Lee abandoned Petersburg and marched west, hoping to then go south to join Johnston.
         1. Under constant pressure from the Union army, Lee surrendered his army to Grant at Appomattox.
      2. Lincoln was assassinated several days later.
      3. Despite Lee’s surrender, some fighting continued.