First battle of Bull Run (Manassas)

 On July 16, General McDowell began to move on Confederate General Beauregard at Manassas Junction.

McDowell attacked Beauregard’s soldiers, with aid from the forces of Johnston, near the bridge over Bull Run

River and drove them to the Henry House Hill, but Jackson checked the advance and routed the raw Union

troops.

 Convinced the Union that it would be a long and costly war.

 McClellan gained command .

 McDowell was booted.

 It was the first battle of the war.

 Gave the first hint as to the nature of the war.

Gen. George McClellan
 Given command of the army (Union) by Lincoln

 He always wanted to gain more reinforcements

 Slow moving

 He was criticized for overcaution in the unsuccessful Peninsular Campaign and removed from command.

Called on again in 1862, he checked Lee in the Antietam Campaign, but he allowed the Confederates to

withdraw across the Potomac and was again removed. He would run for president in 1864.


The Anaconda plan
 Naval strategy to blockade Southern Ports and eventually capture the Mississippi River.

 The Anaconda Plan was a Union strategy in the Civil War calling for the establishment of a naval blockade

around the Confederacy to prevent the importation of supplies from Europe. It was slowly implemented and only

partially successful, but the blockade did contribute to the Northern victory.
The Union naval campaign
 The union had a more skilled Navy which gave them the upper hand in water combat.

 The Union captured Cape Hatteras, an island off of Port Royal, South Carolina, and it continued into

North Carolina.

 The Union presence made it easier for slaves to run away and join the Union forces. The stream of

runaways continued to grow.

Ulysses Grant
 In 1862 he captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee, barely escaped defeat at the

Battle of Shiloh and ended Confederate control of the Mississippi in Vicksburg. Commanding in

the West, he thoroughly defeated Bragg at Chattanooga. He directed the Union army in the

Wilderness Campaign and he received Lee’s surrender.

 Never dressed very formally.

 Grant was an exceedingly skilled equestrian.

Battles of Shiloh and Antietam
 Antietam: In September 1862, trying to invade Maryland and Pennsylvania, Lee sent Jackson to

capture Harpers Ferry, but Lee’s own advance was halted by McClellan, who attacked him at

Antietam Creek, Maryland. On September 17, the so-called bloodiest day of the war. It was a

Union victory only in that Lee’s advance was stopped.

 Shiloh: the massive amount of deaths in the two day span opened up many soldiers eyes.
Generals: Robert Lee and TJ Jackson
 Robert E. Lee: Commanding the Army of N. Virginia, he took the offensive in the 7 Days Battle

and beat the Union army at the 2nd battle of Bull Run. Lee repulsed Union advances at the

battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and Grant’s assaults in the Wilderness Campaign.

Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.

 TJ Jackson: At the 1st battle of Bull Run Jackson earned his nick name when he and his brigade

stood "like a stone wall." Serving under Lee, Jackson flanked the Union army to set up the

Confederate victory at the second battle of Bull Run. At Chancellorsville Jackson again flanked

the Union army but was mortally wounded by his own troops.
Advantages/disadvantages of the Union and
Southern States
 South’s advantages in the Civil War: The Confederate States of America had a strong advantage
in the fact that they were fighting a defensive war in familiar territory, but it also had advantages
buried deep within its much stronger military tradition. Southerners came from rural rather than
urban environments and therefore had more men experienced in the use of firearms and horses.
This allowed the Confederacy to produce a more able corps of officers, such as Robert E. Lee.
 North’s advantages in the Civil War: The Union clearly had more military potential with its
larger population of 22 million. In addition to that, the Union had more advantages in terms of
material goods such as money and credit, factories for manufacturing war goods, food
production, mineral resources, and an established railroad system to transport these material
resources. The North in comparison with the South in these areas makes the North seem more
advantageous.
Jefferson Davis’ southern offensive
 Jefferson Davis, Confederate President, believed that the only way to gain recognition by

European Nations was to turn the tide of the war.

 While the plan seemed good, it resulted in a failure and the bloodiest battle of the war, Antietam.
Health and medicine in the war
 Even though medicine and healthcare was advancing, the lack of sterilization

 More women were taking nursing jobs

 The average age didn’t increase much because there were so many deaths.
Confiscation acts
 Radical Republicans demanded immediate emancipation. One of their first efforts to achieve it came

with laws allowing the confiscation of slaves as “contraband.” 

Conscription laws (North and South) and
results
 The Federal Militia Act of 1862 and the Confederate Conscription Act of 1862 allowed for

conscription, but contained many loopholes. Riots in 1863 by anti-conscription protesters and

impeded the process of drafting soldiers, but the establishment of a draft prompted volunteering.
Confederate bureaucracy

The twenty-slave law
 In the Confederacy those who owned 20 or more slaves didn’t have to enter the draft.

 This caused some civil unsettlement.

 Conflict between classes.

The development of heavy industry in the
North
 Iron and steel production skyrocketed.

 Railroad construction slowed, repairs kept the need for the manufacturing of rails to continue.

 The North developed standard width train tracks so they could be used for multiple trains.

 Mechanization of agriculture increased along with the industry of agriculture.

The Union Pacific and Central Pacific
Railroads
 Two government charted railroad corporations.

 For each mile laid the railroads received a loan of from$16,000 to $48,000 in government bonds

plus 20 square miles of land along a free 400-foot-wide right of way.

 The corporation gained approximately 20 million acres of land and nearly $60 million in loans.
The Morrill Land Grant Act
 Promoted public education in agriculture, engineering, and military science, Congress

granted each state 30,000 acres of federal land for each of its congressional districts. The

states could sell the land as long as it was for the same purpose that Congress had

intended.

 The law resulted in 69 colleges and universities.

Lincoln’s use of presidential power
 Lincoln believed that during the war it was important that he used active presidential leadership.

 He suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus.

 Arrested between fifteen and twenty thousand US citizens on suspicion of disloyal acts.
Lincoln’s plan for gradual emancipation
 Lincoln wanted emancipation, though he felt that gradual emancipation was the best option.

 Lincoln’s stance was that he only wanted what was best for the Union and if maintaining slavery

was necessary then he would support it.

 He was condemned by some as a miserable traitor

The Radicals (Republicans)
 Radical Republicans- The Radicals wanted to transform the South, and they were willing to

exclude it from the Union until they had achieved their goal. They wanted to democratize the

south, establish public education and guarantee the rights of former slaves. They opposed

Johnson's leniency to southern rebels. They were willing to exclude the south for long periods of

time until they achieved their goals.

The Emancipation Proclamation
 In September 1862, Lincoln announced a plan to free slaves in the Confederate states. In his
proclamation of January 1, 1863, all areas in the Confederacy that were under Union control
were exempted, the border states included. This ambiguous proclamation provided Lincoln with
some political benefits, but by 1864 he recognized the need for a stronger stand on the slave
issue and gave his support to a constitutional ban.
 The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order ending slavery in the Confederacy. It
was issued by President Lincoln after the battle of Antietam. The Emancipation Proclamation
only freed slaves residing in the territories in rebellion against the government of the United
States. This proclamation had the dual purpose of injuring the Confederacy and preventing Great
Britain from entering the war in support of the Confederacy. It also pushed the border states
toward abolishing slavery.
The Thirteenth Amendment
 The Thirteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1865. It made slavery illegal in the
United States. Many states passed laws to protect the rights of Blacks, but white people against
racial equality, mostly from the South, fought against similar laws when Congress tried to pass
them. In addition to the equality issue, some states did not accept the Thirteenth Amendment
because they believed freeing the slaves would cause other problems.
 Slave owners were used to the slaves’ cheap labor and paying others to do the same work would
cost more and lower how much money they made. Some slave owners wanted the government to
pay for their freed slaves. Workers in the North wanted Blacks to stay in the South because they
were afraid Blacks would take their jobs for less pay and poorer working conditions. Many
slaves still could not obtain a good job because of discrimination and the lack of a good
education. Blacks still did not have the same Civil Rights as Whites.
Davis’ emancipation plan
 Jefferson Davis proposed emancipation of the slaves in exchange for military service against the

Union. Southern resistance to abolition proved powerful, however, and Davis could only make a

limited effort to free the slaves.

 Significance: Davis could make little effort to free the slaves.

Battle of Chancellorsville
 On the battlefield, the southern army began the 1863 campaign with a victory at

Chancellorsville, Virginia. However, the Confederate army suffered the loss of Stonewall

Jackson.

 Significance: Confederates won but lost an important General.

Battle of Vicksburg
 This Confederate defeat divided the southern states in two and gave control of the Mississippi to

the Union.

 Significance: Divided the south in two (Union gained Mississippi)

Battle of Gettysburg
In July 1863, the Union army scored a major victory at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, inflicting heavy losses on

Lee’s army. 

 Significance: Inflicted large losses on the Confederacy.

Southern food riots
 Food riots occurred in several cities in 1863. Ordinary rural southerners

resisted by refusing to cooperate with conscription, tax collection, and

impressments of food. Meanwhile, Davis failed to communicate with the

masses.

 Significance: Issues within the Confederacy.

Army desertions and motivations
(Confederate)
 As conditions at home deteriorated, many southern soldiers reacted by deserting from the army. 

 Significance: Many southern soldiers deserted the army.

Copperheads
 Copperheads were Northerners who sympathized with the South during the Civil War. The term

Copperheads was also used to label all Democratic opponents of Lincoln. The group was led by

Clement L. Vallandigham and was especially strong in the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

 Significance: It caused competition within the Democratic party towards Lincoln.

New York City draft riot
 One sharp statement of northern anger over the war came in the New York City draft riots. In

theory aimed at conscription, these violent demonstrations revealed powerful underlying class

and racial tensions.

 Significance: revealed powerful underlying class and racial tensions.

Election of 1864
 In 1864, a number of Republicans sought to prevent Lincoln’s renomination. In order to balance

Abraham Lincoln’s Union ticket with a Southern Democrat, the Republicans nominated Andrew

Jackson for vice president. Lincoln was able to overcome Democratic candidate George

McClellan and win a second term in office.

 Significance: Lincoln won again.

Sherman’s southern campaign
 Sherman marched up through Georgia burning the Confederates.

 He took freed slaves along with him and promised them a big sum of land and a mule.

 Significance: It brou
Appomattox Courthouse
 Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. U.S. Grant at Appomattox

Courthouse on April 9, 1865. The surrender at Appomattox virtually ended the Civil War, but

the rest of the Confederate forces did not surrender until May 26 at Shreveport, Louisiana.