us civil war - how was the war fought Flashcards
who are the two groups
union - republicans - north (good)
confederates - democrats - south (bad)
what was the confederate situation before the war
- if delaware, missiouri, maryland, kentucky joined the south, their industrial capacity would have increased to 80% but they didn’t
- they thought they would have had British support, but they didn’t
- more soldiers
- southern men were used to guns and there was a strong military population
what was the aim for the confederates going into the war?
needed to survive as an independent state, defend its land and erode the apetite for war
what was the union situation prior to the war?
- economic advantage
- resources were outstretched
- 10x industrial capacity
- 32x firearms production
- population of 22 million
- twice as much railroad than the south
what was the aim for the union in the civil war?
needed to force the confederacy states to return to the union
they needed to defeat the armies
force the submission of the confederate leadership and people
how did the geography impact the war?
confederacy was 2 million km - difficult to blockade
confederate forces did not need to invade north, union had to attack - union had to keep the land, and defense is easier
between washington and richmond, there were rivers - union had more obstacles
long coastline in the south - hard to block and allowed for more resources
who led the war?
Jefferson Davis - Confederate President
Stonewall Jackson
Robert E Lee
Ulysses S. Grant - Union President
McClellan
Sherman
what was Abraham Lincoln’s personality like?
- good sense of character, especially with choosing cabinet
- delegated tasks effectively
- good strategies
- good management
- communicated well with others
what were the arguements against Lincoln?
- focused on political matters rather than war effort
- small staff provided to be insufficient for task
- machinery of government was slow
what was Jefferson Davis like?
- highly capable Secretary of War
- part of planter class who owned slaves, southern elite
- good military and political experience
- good at tough decisions
- clashed with his cabinet
how was the union going to finance the war?
- established treasury and gold reserves from tariffs
- sold bonds and encouraged people to buy into them with interest - financed 2/3 of 3.4 billion in direct costs by selling bonds
- introduced new taxes and tariffs on inheritance, buisness, property and foreign goods.
- created a seperate currency from confederacy
- printed more money
how were the confederacy going to finance the war?
- union blockade made it hard to sell cotton and raise money from tariffs
- taxes on income/profit/property were unpopular
- government accepted a loan for half a million from Alabama
- took hard currency from among southern planter and farmer classes
- small export duty on cotton
- government aimed a new loan at reigon’s commercial and banking interests
- seized land and property
- cotton bonds
first battle of bull run/first manassas
july 21st 1861
manassas, virginia
sherman U, McDowell U, Stonwall Jackson C, Beauguard C
Confederacy won
- boosted southern morale
- union reevaluated strategy
- shattered expectation that this would be a quick battle
battle of shiloh
6 april 1862 - 7 april
corinth, tenessee (they wanted to take over rail network here)
Johnston C, Grant U, Beauguard C
Union won
- Grant was villianified in the press for being caught unprepared, but Lincoln defended him
- Johnston’s death was damaging for confederacy as Jefferson ranked him high
- 62,000 troops either died, wounded, captured or went missing
Battle of Antietam
17th september 1862
Washington Country, Maryland
Lee C, McClellan U
Union won
- bloodiest day in American History, 22,727 people were dead, wounded or missing
- 22nd proclamation which vowed to free the slaves.
- this was a turning point for slavery
Battle of Vicksburg
18th May - 4th July 1863
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Grant U, Pemberton C
Union won
- Union had total control over Mississippi River giving them an advantage with transporting goods without disruption
- 15 miles of trenches was built around Pemberton’s forces to encapture them
Battle of Gettysburg
1-3 July 1863
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Hooker U, Meade U, Robert E Lee C, Longstreet C, Pickett C
Union won
- huge blow for confederacy, Lee was no longer seen as unbeatable
- Lee never launched another major invasion again
- 51,000 casualties in total
Battle of Chattanooga
23-25th November 1863
Tennessee
Sherman, Hooker, Grant, Braxton Bragg
big union victory
- Grant set up a line which was a union supply line that crossed Tennessee River and fed starving union forces
Battle of Siege of Petersburg
9th March - 25th march 1865
Petersburg, Virginia
Robert Lee C, Beaurguard C, Grant U, Burnside U
Union won
- marked significance of Lee and collapse of Confederacy
- significant of casualties
what was the wildnerness campaign
bloodiest 6 weeks of the war
union suffered 18,000 casualties
what was the Atlanta Campaign
Sherman headed towards Atlanta which was an important industrial rail centre, but Johnston retreated.
Johnston was replaced with Hood, but when they attacked on the Union line, this led to the death of 20,000 confederates
what were the 1864 elections?
the war department allowed regiments to return home to vote and 78% of this soliders vote went to Lincoln.
the election was mostly a referendum on whether the North should continue fighting
how did the confederacy collapse?
Union forces reached and captured Savannah which inflicted $100 million damage on Georgia which crippleda lot of the state’s railway
Thomas delayedthe attack and when he struck on 15-16 December, this won the battle
the battle of Nashville destroyed Hood’s army of Tennessee.
what was the war situation in the late 1864
Lincoln spoke confidently of the victory and that whilst their resources were exhausted, the military and naval forces were still large and the economy was still doing well.
Confederacy’s situation was desperate and Lee’s army suffered massively
why did the peace attempts not work?
Lincoln was not prepared to compromise on slavery or disunion. Davis was not prepared to surrender.
what was the surrender?
Lee and Grant met on 10th April, and Lee surrendered.
Lee’s surrender was the most effective and the southerners had no interest in a guerilla war.
