Chapter 10 Section 2 A Country at War

I. The First War Years After Bull Run, Lincoln appointed George McClellan to lead the Union Army 1. Great trainer and organizer 2. Not aggressive 3. Not a great military strategist

George McClellan (1826 – 1885) West Point and observed other armies in Europe. Returned to military after outbreak of Civil War. Great trainer and organizer. After battle of Antietam he was never given another command. Left army and ran unsuccessfully against Lincoln in 1864. Became Governor of New Jersey.

I. The First War Years Tried to capture Confederate capital at Richmond 1. McClellan tricked into thinking he was outnumbered 2. McClellan forced to retreat 3. Confederates considered it a victory

I. The First War Years Antietam 1. September 1862 2. Lee wanted to end war quickly a. Invasion of North might scare them 3. Lee’s battle plans were intercepted 4. McClellan moved slowly 5. Attacked Lee at Antietam Creek in Maryland 6. Bloodiest single day of the war a. 23,000 casualties 7. Lee retreated back to Virginia 8. McClellan did not pursue 9. Lincoln outraged a. Felt it could have ended the war, but it gave him opportunity to issue Emancipation Proclamation

I. The First War Years Warfare at Sea 1. Union’s blockade effective in stopping supplies a. Critical shortages in South b. Stopped cotton from reaching Britain 2. South hoped Britain would help break blockade a. Britain did not want a war b. Britain also needed northern grain c. Selling war goods to North d. Remained neutral

I. The First War Years Warfare at Sea 3. Southerners tried to break blockade a. Small boats – blockade runners b. Ironclad warships

Blockade Runners Blockade runners were one of the major reasons that the Confederate states lasted as long as they did. They supplied about 60% of the weapons used by the Confederates and most of the supplies used to manufacture weapons. About 300 ships tried to run the blockade a total of 1,300 times during the war, succeeding over 1,000 times. Blockading ships captured 136 runners and destroyed 85. The average runner made four trips; the Syren was the most successful with 33 trips, while the Denbigh made 26 trips. Salt that cost $6.50 in the Bahamas sold for $1,700 in the South.

Submarines The Confederate States of America used submarines in combat. They built small, steam-powered submarines, called Davids, named for the Bible's legendary giant-slayer. On Oct. 5, 1863, one of these attacked the USS New Ironsides off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, disabling but not sinking the ship with a 65-pound spar torpedo. The Civil War also saw the first submarine to successfully sink its target, the  40-foot-long Hunley , which was operated by eight men turning a hand crank attached to her propeller shaft. The Hunley sank and was recovered three times during trial runs before it was successful. On Feb. 16, 1864, under the cover of darkness, the Hunley sank the USS Housatonic off Charleston. Accounts differ as to the reason, but the Hunley sank soon after sinking the Housatonic . It was discovered in May 1995 off the coast of Charleston and was recovered in August 2000.

CSA Hunley

I. The First War Years Warfare at Sea 4. Merrimac a. Recovered Union ship that had sunk b. Covered with 4 inch iron plates c. Renamed the Virginia d. Destroyed two Union ships e. Ran a third aground

U.S.S. Merrimack to C.S.S. Virginia When on April 21st, 1861, the Virginians took possession of the abandoned navy yard at Norfolk, they found that the Merrimac had been burnt and sunk. She was raised; and on June 23rd following, the Hon. S. R. Mallory, Confederate Secretary of the Navy, ordered that she should be converted into an ironclad, on the plan proposed by Lieutenant Jno. M. Brooke, C. S. Navy. The masts and above deck structures were removed and 4 inches of iron plating were placed at an angle above the water line.

C.S.S. Virginia meets the Union fleet On March 8, 1862, the CSS Virginia arrived at Hampton Roads. Here conversion had been rushed and there were still workmen onboard. When she arrived she rammed and sank the USS Cumberland. A second Union ship, the USS Congress ran aground trying to Escape. The Virginia exchanged fire with the Congress until she was finally set on fire. A third Union ship, the Minnesota had also run aground. The Virginia tried to attack her but eventually had to retire because of some moderate damage.

U.S.S. Monitor USS Monitor, a 987-ton armored turret gunboat, was built at New York to the design of John Erricsson. She was the first of what became a large number of "monitors" in the United States and other navies. Commissioned on 25 February 1862, she soon was underway for Hampton Roads, Virginia. Monitor arrived there on 9 March, and was immediately sent into action against the Confederate ironclad Virginia, which had sunk two Union Navy ships the day before.

I. The First War Years Warfare at Sea 5. Union had its own iron clad – The Monitor a. Merrimac and Monitor battled b. Did little damage to each other 6. A new era of shipbuilding had started 7. Union built more than 200 warships during war a. 70 ironclads 8. Confederacy lacked shipyards and resources to keep up

Battle of Hampton Roads At dawn on March 9, 1862, returned to Hampton Roads to finish off the Union fleet. When she arrived she found the Union Monitor waiting. The Monitor positioned herself to protect the Minnesota. The Monitor and the Virginia fired at each other for hours only inflicting minor damage on each other because of their armor plating. The battle ended in a draw, but, the day of wooden ships was now over. `Whereas,' said London Times, `we had one hundred and forty-nine first- class warships, we have now but two."

E. Control of the Mississippi River Valley Union had success in the West in 1861 and 1862 Ulysses S. Grant captured key forts a. Fort Henry b. Fort Donelson Union moved to capture the Mississippi Grant suffered many losses at Shiloh but drove the Confederates back

E. Control of the Mississippi River Valley Union Naval Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans a. Largest and wealthiest city in South South could no longer use Mississippi as supply line Still needed to capture Vicksburg a. After 6 week siege, Vicksburg fell on July 4, 1863 b. Mississippi River now totally under Union control c. Confederacy cut in two

II. Gettysburg Gettysburg A. Despite winning battles in Virginia, Lee wanted to make bold move B. Felt if South won battle in North, they would make peace C. Gettysburg – The Turning Point 1. Lee moved into Pennsylvania 2. General George Meade now in control of Union army 3. July 1, 1863 – Armies clashed in small town of Gettysburg

II. Gettysburg Gettysburg - The Turning Point 4. Battle lasted three days 5. 50,000 casualties – deadliest battle of Civil War 6. July 3, Lee ordered 15,000 troops to attack center of Union line a. Led by General Pickett – Pickett’s Charge b. Union soldiers had high ground – Cemetery Ridge c. 6,500 Confederates dead or wounded

Pickett’s Charge On July 3, 1863, the last day of the battle of Gettysburg, General Lee ordered Gen. Longstreet to attack the center of the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge. The charge was proceeded by an artillery barrage. After the artillery barrage the guns went silent and 13,000 men began to march across a ploughed field toward the center of the Union line on Cemetery ridge. They marched at a brisk pace.

Pickett’s Charge A Union officer wrote that: “More than a half a mile their front extends . . . Man , gleam in the sun, a sloping forest of flashing steel. Right on they move, as with one soul, in perfect order . . . “ They form a perfect target and the Union soldier’s open fire. A Union soldier said: “We could not help hitting them at every shot.” Another Union officer said it was “the most beautiful thing I ever saw.” The charge only makes it to the Union lines at one place called the Angle.

Pickett’s Charge & General Lewis Armistead The Confederate soldiers who reached the Union lines at the Angle were lead by General Lewis Armistead of North Carolina. He jumped over a stone wall, waving his hat on his sword and captured a Union battery before being mortally wounded. While he lay dying he was comforted by a Union Captain. Armistead gave the Captain his watch and asked that he tell his old friend General Hancock “that I know I did my country a great wrong when I took up arms against her, for which I am sorry, but for which I cannot now atone.”

Pickett’s Charge After the charge was broken General Lee rode out to try and regroup the men heard him saying “It was all my fault.” Lee asked General Pickett to rally his division. Pickett replied “I have no division now.” In later years Pickett said “That old man had my division slaughtered at Gettysburg

II. Gettysburg Gettysburg – The Turning Point 7. Lee retreated 8. Confederate Army badly weakened a. Would never attack North again

II. Gettysburg Gettysburg Address 1. November 1863 – ceremony held to dedicate battlefield 2. Lincoln invited to speak at ceremony 3. Speech took just over two minutes 4. Considered one of greatest American speeches 5. Summed up the ideal of U.S. 6. Civil War was struggle to preserve those ideals a. “. . . Conceived in liberty and dedicated to proposition that all men are created equal” b. “. . . Testing whether that nation or any nation . . . can long endure” c. Nation’s duty to complete work of soldiers that died