Union Preserved, Freedom Secured Final Stages During the final stages of war, General Grant employed a comprehensive military strategy to crush the Confederacy. Benefiting from the Union's military successes, Lincoln was reelected in November 1864. That political victory assured that President Lincoln's war aims would be pursued. In his second inaugural address, he appealed for a just and lasting peace. Five weeks later, on April 9, 1865, General Grant accepted General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. And then, at the moment of triumph, Lincoln himself became a victim of war. Video: Total War When Ulysses S. Grant became the general-in-chief of the Union forces in 1864, he quickly put into place his plan for a coordinated offensive on all fronts. The success of Grant's strategy of "relentless" war, including Sherman's march to the sea, secured the reelection of President Lincoln and broke the back of the Confederate armies. Look for answers to these questions when watching the video: What happened during Grant's military engagements with Lee in Virginia in 1864 1865? Why did Sherman march to the sea? What was important about that? Why did Lincoln eventually appoint U. S. Grant to be commander of all Union armies? What strategy did Grant and his subordinates, Philip Sheridan and William T. Sherman, use to try to beat the Southerners into submission? Video script: Music introduction Actor, Abraham Lincoln: No general yet found can face the arithmetic, but the end of the war will be at hand when he shall be discovered. Gary Gallagher: Lincoln made Ulysses S. Grant general-in-chief in March, 1864 because Grant had demonstrated that he was a winner he was "the man" on the Union side, if you want to put
it that way. He had won a string of very impressive victories in the West Shiloh, Chattanooga, Vicksburg. He had won almost everywhere he fought. James McPherson: In 1864 and 1865, Union strategy evolved into its final series of stages. he first was Grant s idea of coordinated offensives on all fronts. The basic overall idea of coordinated offensives to keep the pressure on worked, and no one Confederate army was able to reinforce another as a consequence of those simultaneous offensives. The second part of Union strategy in 1864 was to try to destroy Confederate armies. Narrator: While Sherman pursued Johnston s army into Georgia, Grant dogged Lee in Virginia. Grant threw everything he had at Lee. In thirty days of almost continuous fighting, Grant lost 50,000 men. For Lincoln, military losses had political costs. 1864 was an election year and for the first time in history, a nation prepared to hold a presidential election in the midst of a civil war. Gary Gallagher: The presidential election of 1864, I think, is one of the most important ones in United States history. What was at stake was whether the war was going to be prosecuted at full force by the North and full force with the intent not only of bringing the Union back together but also of ensuring emancipation. If the Republicans won, clearly the war would be pushed. If the Democrats won, it was murkier as to what would happen. Howard Jones, University of Alabama: The peace Democrats and a number of other people were talking in terms of ending this war any way possible. Let the South have slaves. Reunion, bringing the South back in, this was something they were willing to compromise on at this time. Narrator: As the summer of 1864 progressed and the body count piled up, Lincoln s popularity waned. Gary Gallagher: The Confederates began looking toward the election of 1864, understanding that much was going to rely on what happened on the battlefield. If the confederacy could avoid defeats, many in the Confederacy believed that the Lincoln government would not be put back into power. Narrator: The Confederate strategy seemed to be working. So Grant altered his strategy. Unable to win a decisive victory against the Confederates by attacking them, he opted for a war
of attrition. In June, General Grant moved his troops south and east of Richmond to Petersburg. Rather than attack the heavily entrenched city, he laid siege to it. Meanwhile, Sherman pushed General Joe Johnston s army back across Northern Georgia in a series of brilliant flanking maneuvers. The Confederate army fought fiercely to defend Atlanta, but they were outnumbered and outgeneraled. Gary Gallagher: Sherman captured Atlanta on September first, Confederates got out September second, 1864 an enormous success for the North just sent tremendous waves of optimism through the North. Philip Sheridan then, in his successful campaign in the Shenandoah Valley between mid-september and mid-october, sealed the fate of the Democratic Party in that Lincoln was guaranteed re-election then, and not only Lincoln but very large majorities for the Republican Party. What turned it around was success on the battlefield. Narrator: With Lincoln reelected and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, it became clear that the war would not end until the North had won. After the election, Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November a national day of Thanksgiving and Sherman began his march to the sea. Gary Gallagher: Ulysses S. Grant hoped to bring a different kind of war to the Confederacy and that was a war that some historians have called a strategy of exhaustion, where you strike at the logistical capacity of your opponent. You don t have to kill all your opponent s soldiers. Destroy his railroads, destroy the industrial capacity of your enemy, lay waste to the agricultural resources of your foe. If your enemy can t clothe and equip his armies, you ll win anyway, and that s what the idea is behind Sherman s march to the sea. Actor, Gen. William T. Sherman: We cannot change the hearts of these people of the South, but we can make war so terrible and make them so sick of war that generations will pass away before they again appeal to it. Narrator: Sherman left Atlanta with 62,000 men. Detaching himself from his supply lines and from all communication with the North, he headed for Savannah on the Atlantic Coast.
Actor, Union Private: We had a gay old campaign. Destroyed all we could not eat, stole their slaves, burned their cotton and gins, spilled their sorghum, burned and twisted their railroads and raised hell, generally. Actor, Georgian Woman: As far as the eye could reach, the lurid flames of burning houses lit up the heavens. Narrator: Thousands of slaves joined Sherman s march, leaving their homes and following the union army to freedom. On December twenty-second, 1864, Sherman entered savannah. Now he turned north toward South Carolina. Actor, Gen. William T. Sherman: When I go through South Carolina, it will be one of the most horrible things in the history of the world. The devil himself couldn t restrain my men in that state. Narrator: As Sherman s army moved north and Grant pushed from the east, Lee s ability to hold the Richmond-Petersburg line finally gave out. Gary Gallagher: Finally, a major blow against Lee's far right at the battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865 obliged Lee to abandon the trenches in Richmond and Petersburg, and to begin a retreat westward. Narrator: The Confederate government fled its capital city along with the soldiers. As they left they set fire to much of Richmond. On April 3, 1865, President Lincoln entered a smoldering city in ruins. But as he walked through Richmond, free blacks and slaves left behind by fleeing owners came out to show their gratitude. Actor, Abraham Lincoln: Thank God I have lived to see this. It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid nightmare for four years, and now the nightmare is over. End of video.
Video: The End On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox. Just five days later, President Lincoln was assassinated. Look for answers to these questions when watching the video: How did the developments on the battlefields affect the elections of 1864? How did the Republicans broaden their appeal? What was significant about the results? Why did the Confederacy collapse in the late winter and early spring of 1865? Video script: Music introduction Narrator: As the war came to a close, Lee s army could no longer put up a fight. Soldiers suffering from exhaustion and hunger surrendered or drifted away, rapidly reducing the size of Lee s army in the final days. Hemmed in by Union forces on all fronts, Lee finally admitted defeat. Actor, Gen. Robert E. Lee: There is nothing left for me to do but go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths. Narrator: On April 9th, Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox. General Grant s terms of surrender were generous. Confederate soldiers and officers were allowed to return to their homes and to take their horses with them. Then, in a final gesture of compassion, Grant sent rations to the starving rebel soldiers. Grant had won, but he took no great satisfaction in Lee s defeat. Actor, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant: I felt sad and depressed at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought. Narrator: With Lee s surrender, Lincoln could at last relax a little. Five days after the surrender at Appomattox, he went to see a play with his wife at Ford s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Sound of gunshot. Narrator: There he was shot by a bitter actor with Southern sympathies named John Wilkes Booth. Early on the morning of April 15, 1865, Lincoln died. With him died the nation s best hope for healing in the aftermath of war. Actor, Abraham Lincoln: With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations. End of video. Activity: Check Your Understanding The strategy employed by the Union forces in 1864-1865 was one of coordinated offenses. When General Ulysses S. Grant became head of all Union armies in the spring of 1864, he began to implement a strategy of simultaneous coordinated offensives against the South. Grant believed the Confederacy could not sustain the war against such attacks. Within a year, the Union was on the verge of victory. The presidential election in 1864 was one of the most important in American history. If Lincoln had lost, it is plausible his opponent would have pursued a settlement of the war rather than a fight to the finish. Selecting Andrew Johnson as a running mate broadened the Republican appeal, and Union military victories sealed Lincoln s victory. Ironically, blacks had fought valiantly to help the North win, but they were not yet allowed to vote. North Versus South The North and the South each had distinctive advantages and disadvantages in fighting the Civil War. Use this activity to review reasons why the North won and the South lost the War.
Interactive Activity: North vs. South This activity reviews the advantages and disadvantages during the Civil War for both the North and the South, underlying reasons why the North won and the South lost the War. Confederate advantages included a large, familiar geographic area. The war was fought on its home territory and the South had strong military leaders at the beginning of the war. The South was also able to use cotton as a bargaining chip. However, it was burdened with many disadvantages, including no existing army or navy, no treasury to finance the war effort, and a shortage of basic necessities for civilians. A Union naval blockade cut foreign trade and it suffered a high rate of desertion. Finally, there was strong opposition to a central government, even a Confederate government. The North used many advantages to ultimately win the Civil War, including mechanization, which increased production in agriculture and industry, resulting in high prices for agricultural crops and economic prosperity. Northern lands were not destroyed by fighting. Black Americans also increased the North s military power. Finally, the Union had the leadership of Abraham Lincoln. The North also had to overcome some disadvantages to achieve victory: civilian and political commitment to the war varied; there was a precarious relationship between the government and the Border States, and a threat of foreign powers siding with the opposition.