Military key moments Flashcards

Question

Overland Campaign plan

Answer 1

The Overland Campaign The plan - Country couldn't endure more violence - so far, armies had ‘acted independently and without concert, like a balky team, no two ever pulling together’ Must therefore have attack against all the armies consecutively to prevent them from reinforcing one another Meade to Follow Lee, Sherman to follow Johnston ---> US Grant pivotal

Answer 2

The Wilderness No ground gained from 5th-7th and at least 17,500 lost, but Granr continues in an attempt to sidestep Lee and take control of Spotsylvania Encagement at Spottsylvania Courthouse Very costly, another 16 000 lost, but inflicted very heavy losses on Lee’s army Confeds had no sufferdd 44 000: 25 000 Cold Harbour 59 000 Confeds against 109 000 Federals Both are tired but a flank attack at this stage could be decisive —> orders assault 3rd June Mistake. Lee’s men were hard fighting and his were not 7 000 Fed casualties to only 1500 despite huge numerical advantage ‘Cold Harbour Syndrome’ Petersburg Too tired after intense 7 week offensive, attacks ‘sluggish’ and soldiers had ‘Cold Harbour Syndrome’ 55 000 Confeds (and falling due to desertion) to 120 000 of Grant’s men April 2nd, final attempts to attack the siege line failed —> Petersburg abandoned that night By evening of April 3rd, Petersburg and Richmond taken Lee surrenders to Grant at Appotamox Court House on April 9th.

Answer 3

Nature of the warfare No longer battles on set turf, but trench warfare ‘by this point in the war the spade had become as important as the rifle’ Not a ‘war of attrition’ as some have argued, that was Lee’s tactic

Answer 4

Capture of Atlanta Sep 1st 1864 “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.’ Richmond Examiner, “the disaster in Atlanta came in the very nick of time to save the party of Lincoln from irretrievable ruin…”

Answer 5

March to the Sea ‘I could cut a swath through to the sea, divide the Confederacy in two, and come up on the rear of Lee ’ George Thomas in Tennessee with 60 000, Sherman with 62 would forage psychological aspect: ‘I can make the march, and make Georgia Howl’ Only Wheeler’s 3500 Confed cavalry stood between Sherman and Savannah (near direct) One brief engagement in November, 600 casualties to 62. Foraging unrestricted Weakened Confederate loyalties Scortched Earth policy Savannah captured mid-December 1864

Answer 6

South Carolina Similar treatment to Georgia not many buildings left standing Very significant psychological impact Sherman personally said 10* more important than march to the sea Burning of Columbia, South Carolina, on Feb 17th 1865

Answer 7

Sherman’s philosophy of war ‘ War is cruelty and you cannot refine it, but when peace does come, you can call on me for anything. Then I will share with you the last cracker.’

Answer 8

Joe Johnston surrenders to Sherman in N. Carolina on April 26th, 1865

Answer 9

STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE Lee had to invade the North and force an end to the war failed. What Lee hoped to do was cross the Potomac, pass through the border state of Maryland, and begin waging an offensive war on Union soil, in Pennsylvania. After gathering food and much-needed clothing in the prosperous region of southern Pennsylvania, Lee could threaten cities such as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland, or perhaps an even greater prize, Washington, D.C. Had the plan succeeded, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia might have surrounded, or even conquered, the nation’s capital. The federal government could have been disabled, and high government officials, including even the president, might have been captured. After it failed, no more Northern invasions USED TO JUSTIFY COST OF WAR Gettysburg could never have been forgotten, but its place in American memory was enhanced when President Abraham Lincoln visited the site of the battle four months later, in November 1863. Lincoln had been invited to attend the dedication of a new cemetery to hold the Union dead from the battle. He took the opportunity to give a speech which would provide a justification for the war. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address would become known as one of the best speeches ever delivered. The text of the speech is short yet brilliant, and in less than 300 words it expressed the nation’s dedication to the cause of the war.

Answer 10

Planned for invasion of Pennsylvania after success at Chancellorsville in May Invasion army of 75 000 June 1863, invades Pennsylvania Lee showed restraint, asking troops not to plunder Wanted recognition, to show that South better than north had been at Fredricksburg, and to encourage Northern copperheads to sympathise, thus dividing the North June 28th: Joseph Hooker replaced with George Gordon Meade as head of army of the Potomac, Lee learns that army is at Frederick Army concentrated around Gettysburg upon Lee learning Meade was in Pennsylvania Union 20 000 forced back by Confed 30 000 to Cemetry hill/Culp's hill, significant advance

Answer 11

July 2nd, main battle begins Offensives on Union’s left and right flanks and centre are repelled ‘uncoordinated and disjointed assaults’ Both armies have lost 9000, Confederates have gained ground but not taken the Federal position around the hills in the South of the town

Answer 12

July 3rd Lee regroups troops to the right to attack Union flank before hitting centre again Centre at Cemetery Ridge attacked by artillery before General George Pickett is order to charge centre (Pickett’s Charge) Bloodbath —> Retreat to Virginia on July 4th Heavy losses 28 000 dead

Answer 13

‘Though the war was destined to continue for almost two more bloody years, Gettysburg and Vicksburg proved to have been its crucial turning point.’ No further chances of English intervention

Answer 14

Sherman vs Army of the Tennessee Sherman had 110,000 men and 254 cannon in three armies concentrated near Chattanooga. Facing them at Dalton, eighty miles north of Atlanta, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had 53,800 officers and men present for duty with 154 field pieces. Within the month the Confederates received 15,000 reinforcements, making Johnston's army at the time the South's largest Sherman's tactic was to use a frontal offensive but not with full force. Meanwhile, McPherson's corps to flank Confederate line and threaten supply line (Western and Atlantic Railroad) July 18th, J. E Johnston repaced with Hood and North 5 miles from Atlanta Sherman intended to starve out the city, shelling it and cutting supply lines Atlanta abandoned by Hood Sep 1st 1864

Answer 15

General Ulysses S. Grant’s failure to capture Richmond or destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Overland Campaign (May 4-June 12, 1864) caused him to cast his glance toward Petersburg. Capturing this important transportation hub would isolate the Confederate capital and force General Robert E. Lee to either evacuate Richmond or fight the numerically superior Grant on open ground. Lee had to defend this as the last stronghold between Grant and Richmond Prepared for a long siege Multiple attacks on Confederate defences: First was Butlers assaults on June 9th Memorable episode, the Crater incident: July 30th, proposed mine under Confederate fort to detonate charges, break line and allow Union advance. Trained black regiment is replaced last minute, detonation goes ahead but troops move into the crater and are attacked. Grant: it was the saddest affair that I have witnessed in this war. Thousands killed, Burnside dismissed March 25th, Lee attempted an attack on Fort Stedman. Lees' troops seized the fort. However, in the ensuing counterattack, Union forces recaptured it, as well as some of the Confederate fortifications. Lee lost 5,000 men and his lines were now so thin they could not hold for long. Five Folks”, Union troops won a decisive victory, when half the Confederate forces surrendered. Grant then ordered an assault all along the lines for the next morning, the 2nd of April.