The Civil War

The Struggle Begins

I. Strategies for Victory

A. Union Plans

1. First, the Union planned to blockade southern ports.

a. This would cut off the South’s supply of manufactured goods by halting trade with Europe.

2. In the West, the Union planned to seize control of the Mississippi River.

a. Not allow the South to supply its troops.

b. Separate the South into 2.

3. Seize Richmond, Virginia, and capture the Confederate headquarters there.

B. Confederate Plans

1. Fight a defensive war and hold out long enough so the North would tire of fighting.

II. Forward to Richmond

A. This battle cry was heard all across the North. Sure of a quick victory, they called for an attack on Richmond, the Confederate capital.

B. Battle of Bull Run

1. In July, 1861, Union troops set out from Washington DC for Richmond. (100 miles away)

2. July 21, 1861 - Hundreds of people came to watch the battle on a hill top overlooking Bull Run

3. Southern troops led by General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson held their ground. In the end, the Union troops retreated.

a. “Off they went…across fields, toward the woods, anywhere, everywhere to escape. The farther they ran the more frightened they grew…To enable them better to run, they threw away their blankets, knapsacks, canteens, and finally muskets, cartridge-boxes, and everything else.”

C. The Confederates did not press their advantage by pursuing the fleeing Union army.

1. They might have captured Washington D.C.

D. Showed both sides needed training.

III. The Union Blockade

A. The trade in southern ports dropped by more than 90%.

B. One method of breaking the blockade was to try the ironclad ships.

IV. Battle of the Ironclads

A. Confederates covered an abandoned Union ship named the Merrimac. They covered it with iron plates four inches thick and renamed it the Virginia.

1. On March 8, 1862, the Virginia sank one ship, ran another aground, and forced a third to surrender,

B. The Union countered with the Monitor, which had less firepower but moved more swiftly.

C. When they fought each other, neither seriously damaged the other.

D. Ironclad ships changed naval warfare, and both sides rushed to build more of them.

E. The Union blockade held throughout the war.

V. Lee Takes the Offensive

A. September 1862, General Lee went on the offensive and moved his troops north into Maryland.

1. Lee believed a southern victory on northern soil would be a great blow to northern morale.

2. Lee’s messenger lost his battle plans and the North found them.

Battle of Antietam

B. General McClellan, commander of the Union army, moved slowly and finally attacked Lee on September 17th. 24,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded.

C. Lee ordered his troops back into Virginia.

D. North claimed victory. Bloodiest single day in American History with 23,000 casualties.

VI. Winning the Mississippi

A. The Northern war plan called for winning control of the Mississippi River.

1. General Ulysses S. Grant moved toward that goal.

B. Battle of Shiloh

1. Shiloh is located where the Tennessee River empties into the Mississippi River.

2. April 6, 1862: Grant wins the battle and the North gained control of the northern Mississippi.

3. More Americans died in one day at Shiloh than in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War combined.

C. The Fall of Vicksburg1. By 1862, the Union

controlled New Orleans and Memphis. This meant they controlled both ends of the Mississippi River.

2. Vicksburg was still held by the Confederates, and they could shell boats traveling between Memphis and New Orleans.

3. July 4, 1863 (Same day as Gettysburg), Vicksburg surrendered to Grant.

D. The Union had achieved two of its military goals. First, its blockade had cut off the South’s trade with Europe. Second, by taking control of the Mississippi, the Union had split the Confederacy in two.