Sction Prviw As you rad, look for: th vnt that bgan th Civil War, th advantags and disadvantags of th North and th South, wartim stratgis, and vocabulary trms: conscription, stratgy, blockad, ironclad, blockad runnr, and King Cotton diplomacy. Sction1 Th Road to War Flankd by Gnral Winfild Scott, and undr th watchful protction of military troops and squads of riflmn atop govrnmnt buildings surrounding th capital, a srious Abraham Lincoln walkd up th stps of th U.S. Capitol to tak his oath of offic. It was a bright and warm March 4, 1861. Latr, as Lincoln ros to dlivr his inaugural addrss, it was with th full knowldg that svn southrn stats had lft th Union in protst of his lction and thir blif in a stat s right to scd. H knw that th spch h was about to dlivr was crucially important. For wks, h had studid a varity of historic documnts, looking for wisdom. Historical rcords indicat that Lincoln still thought h could prvnt war. Prsidnt Lincoln pladd for th prsrvation of th Union and promisd that Union forcs would not b usd to maintain th Union. H also promisd th South that h would not intrfr with slavry in thos stats whr it alrady xistd. Lincoln ndd his addrss with ths words: 256 Chaptr 8: Th Civil War, A Nation in Conflict
In your hands, my dissatisfid fllow-countrymn, and not in min is th momntous issu of civil war. Th Govrnmnt will not assail you. You can hav no conflict without bing yourslvs th aggrssors. You hav no oath rgistrd in havn to dstroy th Govrnmnt, whil I shall hav th most solmn on to prsrv, protct, and dfnd it. I am loath to clos. W ar not nmis, but frinds. W must not b nmis. Though passion may hav straind, it must not brak our bonds of affction. Th mystic chords of mmory, strtching from vry battlfild and patriot grav to vry living hart and harthston, all ovr this broad land, will yt swll th chorus of th Union, whn again touchd, as surly thy will b, by th bttr angls of our natur. Fort Sumtr Th Start of th War Within wks of Lincoln s stirring addrss, th South gav him thir answr. Confdrat forcs capturd all but four fdral garrisons in th South, including Fort Pulaski in Savannah. Th only southrn garrisons lft undr Union control wr Forts Jffrson, Pickns, and Taylor in Florida Abov: Gnral P. G. T. Baurgard commandd th Confdrat forcs that fird th first shot of th Civil War against Fort Sumtr. Lft: John Ross Ky paintd this viw of Th Bombardmnt of Fort Sumtr.? During th bombardmnt of Fort Sumtr, mn and womn of walth and position watchd from th Battry, an mbankmnt across th harbor from th fort. Did You Know? Sction 1: Th Road to War 257
CA OR Washington Trritory Nvada Trritory Utah Trritory Nw Mxico Trritory Union Stats scding bfor Fort Sumtr Stats scding aftr Fort Sumtr Bordr Stats Trritoris Map 37 Th Union and th Confdracy Map Skill: How many stats rmaind in th Union? Dakota Trritory Colorado Trritory Nbraska Trritory KS Indian Trritory MN IA MO AR WI LA LOUISIANA 258 Chaptr 8: Th Civil War, A Nation in Conflict TX IL MS IN TN AL MI KY OH GA WV SC FL PA VA NC MD NY VT NH MA CT DE NJ ME RI and Fort Sumtr in South Carolina. It was Fort Sumtr in Charlston harbor that forcd Lincoln s hand. Lincoln rcivd word that th fort was low on ammunition and provisions and ndd to b rsupplid. Tnsions btwn th North and th South wr vry high. Lincoln did not want to worsn th situation, but h was commandr-in-chif and h had promisd that h would not giv up control of fdral trritory. H agrd to snd th supplis and additional troops rqustd by Major Robrt Andrson, th Union commandr. On April 10, 1861, as Major Andrson waitd for additional mn and supplis, th nw Confdrat govrnmnt dirctd Brigadir Gnral P. G.T. Baurgard to dmand th surrndr of Fort Sumtr. Andrson rfusd. His ighty-fiv soldirs and forty-thr laborrs prpard to fight with th fort s forty-ight cannons. At 4:30 a.m on April 12, Confdrat forcs opnd fir on Fort Sumtr. Thirty-six hours latr, a whit flag wavd ovr th fort. Major Andrson formally surrndrd th fort on April 13 and lft for Nw York, whr h and his mn wr wlcomd as hros. Th Confdracy had won its first skirmish of th war, and th war had officially bgun. Aftr th firing on Fort Sumtr, both North and South incrasd thir prparations for war. Arkansas, Tnnss, North Carolina, and Virginia scdd and joind th Confdracy, bringing th numbr of scdd stats to lvn. Th capital of th nw Confdracy movd from Montgomry, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia. Som call it th Civil War. Alxandr Stphns coind th phras War Btwn th Stats. Som southrnrs calld it th War of Northrn Aggrssion. It has also bn rfrrd to as th Brothr s War and th Childrn s Crusad, bcaus so many youngstrs your ag wr involvd in th fighting. Whichvr nam is usd, it was brothr against brothr or fathr against son on blood-soakd battlfilds. Bfor it was ovr, battls wr fought at 10,000 sits on U.S. soil, svn futur U.S. prsidnts took up arms, slavry was abolishd, and ovr 620,000 Amricans did. Raising Armis Whn Lincoln hard of th fall of Fort Sumtr, h calld on th rmaining Union garrisons to snd 75,000 troops to put down th rbllion and protct Washington. From that point on, vry fw months, both govrnmnts calld for voluntrs. At first, most mn joind voluntarily. Latr, mn
SSSSSSSSS In this political cartoon, Lady Librty fights off Copprhad ladrs. Th Copprhads wr a group of northrnrs who opposd th Civil War. This cartoon shows thm as dangrous to th Union. In fact, articls in Copprhad nwspaprs hlpd stir up th Nw York draft riots. rcivd cash awards or bountis for signing up. Thr wr vn bounty jumprs, mn who took th bounty to join th army and who thn dsrtd, changd thir nams, joind a diffrnt rgimnt, and collctd anothr bounty. In othr instancs, mn paid somon ls (usually from a family in nd of mony) to tak thir plac. By 1862, th Confdrat Congrss approvd conscription, or th drafting of mn to srv in th army. Th U.S. Congrss did th sam thing in 1863. Nvr bfor in th nation s short history had mn bn forcd by a govrnmnt to go into battl. Many on both sids disagrd with th draft. In July 1863, draft riots brok out in Nw York City. Abov: Riots brok out in Nw York ovr th draft. Sction 1: Th Road to War 259
Abov: During th Mxican- Amrican War, Gnral Winfild Scott wrot that Robrt E. L was th vry bst soldir I vr saw in th fild. L turnd down th opportunity to command Union forcs during th war.? In 1863, th U.S. Congrss nactd th nation s first incom tax to financ th war. It was liminatd in 1872. Did You Know? 260 Chaptr 8: Th Civil War, A Nation in Conflict A Mattr of Rsourcs Conditions in th North and th South wr vry diffrnt. In 1860, th U.S. population was about 31 million. Of that numbr, 22 million livd in th North. Only 9 million livd in th South, 3.5 million of whom wr slavs. That lft about 6 million whits, a numbr that includd womn, childrn, th old, and th ill. Th South actually had only about 800,000 mn btwn th ags of 15 and 50 to fill its army. Just raising an army was a hug task for th South. Th North had ovr 100,000 factoris mploying 1.1 million workrs. Th South had only 20,000 factoris mploying 100,000 workrs. By 1862, th South could not supply any of th basic matrials ndd to fight a modrn war: blankts, arms, food, cloths, boots, mdical supplis, and th lik. Th North also had th advantag in transportation. In 1860, thr wr about 31,000 mils of railroad track in th country. Th North s 22,000 mils connctd all of th major citis and had bn built to carry havy industrial machinry. Th South s 9,000 mils of rail had bn built to mov farm products and cotton; th rails wr too light to carry troop trains and havy quipmnt ffctivly. By th nd of th war, th South s rail systm was virtually unusabl. Othr advantags of th North includd th fact that it had 67 prcnt of all th farms in th Unitd Stats and 75 prcnt of th walth of th country. Th North had a montary systm in plac; th South had to crat on. Finally, th North had an army, a navy, and an xprincd govrnmnt. Th Confdracy did, howvr, hav som advantags. Many of th bst military ladrs in th Unitd Stats wr southrnrs. For th most part, th war was fought in th South. Popl fight hardr whn thy ar dfnding thir homs. Southrn soldirs wr fighting on familiar trritory and wr mor likly to hav xprinc riding horss on long journys and firing wapons. Southrnrs also had a caus indpndnc for which thy could fight. Wartim Stratgis Aftr Fort Sumtr, both Union and Confdrat political and military ladrs dvlopd stratgis (plans) for winning th war. Somtims th plans workd; at othr tims, thy did not. Ovr th cours of th war, th stratgis shiftd as advancs or stbacks causd changs. At first, th Union stratgy was to blockad, or obstruct, all Confdrat ports. A blockad would prvnt th South from slling its cotton abroad and importing ndd war quipmnt and supplis from forign nations. Early in th war, 26 Union ships stamd up and down th coast to prvnt ships from moving into or out of southrn harbors. Latr, th North spnt
$ $ $ Spotlight on th Economy Economy of th North and th South As both th North and th South prpard for war aftr th fall of Fort Sumtr, it may b difficult to undrstand how th South vr thought it could win a war against so strong a fo or that it thought th war would b brif. Examin th information in Figur 26. What do you think? Evn a brif xamination of th figurs is nough to know that th Union far surpassd th nwly formd Confdracy in all but a fw aras such as cotton production. Th Confdracy had fwr and smallr banks than th North, and most of th South s capital was invstd in slavs and land. As a rsult, th South had much smallr assts in banks and in individual hands. Although th Confdracy sizd Figur 26 Rsourcs: North vrsus South North (23 stats) $ South (11 stats) Ovrall population 22 million popl 9 million popl (3.5 to 4 million wr slavs) Mn of combat ag 4 million.8 million Military forcs Traind army and navy Non Factoris 100,000 with 1.1 million workrs 20,000 with 100,000 workrs Mils of railroad track 22,000 9,000 Railroad quipmnt 96 prcnt of nation s supply 4 prcnt of nation s supply Banks/Funds 81 prcnt of nation s dposits 19 prcnt of nation s dposits Gold $56 million Non Farms 67 prcnt of nation s total 33 prcnt of nation s total Agricultur/Grain 64 prcnt of nation s supply 36 prcnt of nation s supply Numbr of draft animals 4.6 million 2.6 million (horss, muls, oxn) monis in fdral mints locatd in th South, that providd only about $1 million. Bcaus both sids ndd cash to pay thir armis, both sids issud papr mony and trasury nots, causing rampant inflation (a gnral incras in th prics of goods and srvics ovr tim) in both North and South. In trms of mony alon, th Civil War cost th U.S. govrnmnt about $6 billion. By 1910, aftr bnfits wr paid to vtrans and thir widows, that cost stimat soard to $11.5 billion. Although southrn rcords wr mostly dstroyd, stimats plac southrn xpnditurs for th war at a littl ovr $4 billion. Sction 1: Th Road to War 261 $ $ $
Map 38 Th Union Blockad Map Skill: Why did th blockad not xtnd around Florida? LA LOUISIANA Top: Blockad ships can b sn outsid Charlston harbor. KS TX MN IA MO AR WI IL MS IN TN AL MI KY Union Blockad OH GA SC PA VA NC MD NY NH MA CT RI 262 Chaptr 8: Th Civil War, A Nation in Conflict WV FL DE NJ Union Blockad millions of dollars to build mor ships, 74 of which wr ironclads (armord ships). Howvr, Union vssls wr no match for th blockad runnrs, mostly privat ships that slippd around th blockad and spd into and out of th blockd ports. Thr wr ovr 650 privat blockad runnrs during 1861; 9 out of vry 10 blockad runnrs wr abl to run past th fdral ships and sail into opn watrs. Bfor th Confdracy surrndrd, it is stimatd that 6,000 vssls carrying cloths, mdicins, ammunition, and supplis worth $200 million mad it through th fdral blockad. Blockad running was vry profitabl. Captains wr paid $5,000 for ach trip; th ship s pilots arnd $3,500. Many ship ownrs and spculators mad millions during th war. Thy slippd past fdral ships to dlivr cotton to British markts at larg profits. In Grat Britain, th blockad runnrs purchasd military supplis, food, and mdical supplis and rturnd to sll ths ssntials to th Confdracy for yt anothr hug profit. As th war progrssd, howvr, it bcam mor and mor difficult for blockad runnrs to gt past fdral ships. A scond Union stratgy was to captur th Mississippi Rivr and split th Confdracy in half laving Txas, Arkansas, and Louisiana strandd. This
stratgy was known as th Anaconda Plan bcaus, if succssful, it would squz th Confdracy to dath just lik th giant anaconda snak squzs its pry to dath. Still latr, Union gnrals dcidd that th captur of th Confdrat capital of Richmond could nd th war. That stratgy faild, howvr, as Gnral Robrt E. L hld off Union troops from th doors of Richmond for svral yars. In 1864 and 1865, Union Gnrals Ulysss S. Grant and William T. Shrman dvlopd a stratgy that nsurd victory for th North. Thir plan was twofold: (1) to dstroy Confdrat armis on th battlfilds and (2) to lay wast to th land so that southrn civilians would stop supporting th war. On rsult of this plan was Shrman s dvastating march through Gorgia. Th Confdrat ladrs also had stratgis for winning th war. On land, thy hopd to war down th invading Union armis. Thy blivd that rising casualtis would wakn northrnrs support for th war. At sa, th Confdrats wantd to mak sur th Union blockad did not work. Th Confdrat Navy usd swift raidrs (fast, lightly armd ships) to captur Union mrchant ships and draw th Union Navy away from thir blockad dutis. In coastal watrs, th Confdrats usd ironclads and vn a submarin to sink th Union s woodn ships and to opn southrn ports for trad with othr nations. Confdrat ladrs knw it was ssntial to kp ports opn and abl to trad with forign markts. Th South s political stratgy was known as King Cotton diplomacy. Southrn ladrs blivd that th British and Frnch txtil mills ndd th South s cotton to kp running. Th Confdracy blivd that if it stoppd slling cotton abroad for a tim, Franc and Grat Britain would b forcd to hlp th South brak th blockads to gt th cotton thy ndd. Howvr, th North put prssur on Franc and Grat Britain and thos two nations switchd to cotton grown in Egypt. It s Your Turn t 1. Which Gorgian was namd vic prsidnt of th Confdracy? 2. Idntify fiv aras in which th Union s rsourcs outwighd th Confdracy s. 3. What was th purpos of th Union blockads? 4. Why was th North s stratgy known as th Anaconda Plan? 5. Why was th South s stratgy calld King Cotton diplomacy? Abov: Union Gnral Ulysss S. Grant, with th hlp of Gnral Shrman, dvlopd th stratgy that vntually won th war for th North. Sction 1: Th Road to War 263
Of Spcial Intrst Th Grat Locomotiv Chas In th spring of 1862, Maritta playd host to many strangrs. On was Kntuckian Jams Andrws. But Andrws was no Confdrat sympathizr. On th morning of April 12, 1862, Andrws boardd th Gnral, a train ownd by th Wstrn and Atlantic Railroad that carrid both passngrs and war supplis from Atlanta to Confdrat troops in Tnnss. Also boarding th train wr nintn young mn who, though drssd in civilian cloths, wr rally Union soldirs. Th train stoppd for brakfast at Big Shanty station. Conductor William Fullr and his crw wr ating brakfast whn thy hard a familiar sound th nois of th Gnral and thr boxcars pulling out of th station! Stunnd, Fullr and his crw racd out th door and bgan running aftr th train. 264 Chaptr 8: Th Civil War, A Nation in Conflict Jams Andrws and th mn with him on th train wr Union spis who had carfully plannd th raid. Th raidrs chos to mak thir mov at Big Shanty station bcaus it had no tlgraph. Thir intnt was to had north to Huntsvill to mt Union Gnral Mitchl and thn mov on to Chattanooga. Along th way, thy would cut tlgraph lins, burn bridgs, and dstroy railroad tracks. What thy did not count on was th spirit and dtrmination of Fullr and his crw, who took th thft as a prsonal affront. Aftr running on th tracks for two mils, Fullr and his mn found a platform handcar. Thy pushd thmslvs along th tracks, picking up two mor mn to hlp thm. Thy cam upon th switch ngin Yonah, which thy commandrd. At Kingston, thy pickd up th William F. Smith, only to abandon
whn th Union raidrs saw an incrdibl sight. Th mighty Txas, without any cars, was barrling down th railroad tracks in rvrs. Andrws raidrs wr now filld with far. Th law was vry clar about th sntncing of spis. Th raidrs first trid unsuccssfully to pry up rails. Nxt thy tossd crosstis on th tracks to stop thir pursurs. Thn thy rlasd two boxcars, but th Txas pushd thm asid. As thy approachd th woodn bridg ovr th Oostanaula Rivr, Andrws st fir to th last boxcar, hoping that it would burn th bridg and stop th Txas. But th bridg was too wt from rains th prvious day to burn. Again, th Txas pushd asid th burning boxcar and continud its chas. Th rac finally ndd nar Ringgold Gap, ightn mils south of Chattanooga, whn th Gnral ran out of stam. Th raidrs fld but wr roundd up within two wks. Two months latr, Jams Andrws and svn of his mn wr court-martiald and hangd in Atlanta. Th rmaining mn wr snt to Confdrat prisons. Aftr th war, som of Andrws Raidrs rcivd th Mdal of Honor. Howvr, bcaus Andrws was not in th military, h did not. Today, th Gnral can b sn at th Knnsaw Civil War Musum in Knnsaw. Th Txas is on display at th Cyclorama in Atlanta. Abov: Th Gnral in Knnsaw. Opposit pag, abov: Th Txas givs chas. Opposit pag, blow: Jams Andrws. Blow: Th locomotiv thivs scap aftr th train runs out of ful. it bcaus th Union raidrs had rmovd tracks. Finally, aftr still anothr foot pursuit, th wary but angry band of mn mt an ngin namd Txas hadd south from Adairsvill. Thy quickly climbd aboard and continud th pursuit. Th Gnral, which had bn slowd bcaus of southbound train traffic, was north of Calhoun Sction 1: Th Road to War 265