The American Civil War

The Election of 1860 For the North, Abraham Lincoln (Rep.) For the South, John C. Breckenridge (S Dem.) For the South, John Bell (Const.Union) For the South, Stephen Douglass (N Dem.) Lincoln won 39% of the popular vote, and 180 electoral votes to win the election. He did not win a single southern state.

Government Balance With the election of 1860, the North now controlled the House of Representatives and the Senate (Legislative Branch), and the Presidency (Executive Branch). Five new Supreme Court justices were appointed between 1862 and 1863, effectively giving the North control of the Judicial Branch as well.

Southern Secession South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860 and began the Confederate States of America

The War Starts In January 1861, a ship carrying supplies to a Union fort (Fort Sumter) in Charleston, SC, was fired upon by Confederate troops, who later ordered the surrender of the fort. This act of aggression clearly broke Constitutional law (in Lincoln’s opinion) and began the Civil War.

War Goals of the North and the South

North Re-unite and preserve the Union End the war as quickly and efficiently as possible Contain the war in the Southern states and overwhelm with sheer numbers

South Establish a separate Confederate States of America War of Attrition – drag the war out as long as possible, while inflicting the most amount of damage as possible, in hopes that the North would be disgusted enough to finally give in Fight a defensive war to tire the North, and then take the war into the Northern states for victory Fight smaller skirmishes as opposed to larger battles to limit losses

Advantages and Disadvantages of the North and the South

Agriculture (in millions of bushels, bales, pounds) Corn 446 280 Wheat 132 31 Oats 150 20 Cotton 4 (T) 5 Rice 50 (T) 187 The North is better fed.

Finance (in millions of dollars) Bank Deposits 207 47 Specie (money in coin) 56 27 The North has more money.

Livestock (in millions) Horses 4.2 1.7 Milk Cows 5.7 2.7 Sheep 16 5 Swine 16.3 15.5 Donkeys and Mules 800 300 Beef Cattle 7 6.6 The North has better transportation, and is better fed.

The North has more supplies and more money. Manufacturing Number of Factories 110 (T) 20 (T) Number of Workers 1 (M) 111 (T) Value of Products 1.62 (B) 155 (M) The North has more supplies and more money.

Population (in millions) North 21.5 Approx. 2,160,000 soldiers fought on behalf of the Union army South 9 Approx. 780,000 soldiers fought on behalf of the Confederate army

Railroad Mileage (in thousands of miles) North 21.7 South 9 The North has more, and easier, lines of communication and transportation.

Government Intangibles The North already had an organized and functioning government to deal with financing a war, as well as a defined chain of command.

The South has a better trained army, led by more experienced generals. Military Colleges South 7 North 1 The South has a better trained army, led by more experienced generals.

Intangibles Military Tactics Morale The South only had to defend and repel Northern advances. They did not have to initiate military action. Morale Since the war was a fight for the Southern way of life, initial moral was on the side of the South.

Weapons and Tactics of the American Civil War

Rifling Rifle-Musket: The common weapon of the Civil War infantryman, it was a firearm fired from the shoulder. It differed from a regular musket by the grooves (called rifling) cut into the inside of the barrel. When the exploding powder thrusts the bullet forward, the grooves in the barrel make it spin, just like a football spirals through the air. Rifle-muskets were more accurate and had a longer range (500+ yards) than smoothbore weapons (100+ yards).

Rifling

Bullets More aerodynamically shaped ammunition that traveled further, faster, and with less resistance. More damaging impact as well.

Bayonet A metal blade, like a long knife or short sword, that could be attached to the end of a musket or rifle-musket and used as a spear in hand-to-hand combat.

Personal Edged Weapons

Artillery Cannon or other large caliber firearms; a branch of the army armed with cannon.

Artillery The favorite artillery piece in both the Union and the Confederacy was the Napoleon, a smoothbore, muzzle-loading, 12-pounder "gun-howitzer." Its maximum effective range was about 1700 yards, but it was most effective at about 250 yards or less. The most used rifled guns were the 3-inch Ordnance and 10-pdr Parrott rifles. These cannon were more accurate and had a longer range - up to about 2,300 yards - than their smoothbore counterparts.

Artillery ammunition included solid shot, grape, canister, shell, and chain shot. Solid shot and shell were used against long-range, fixed targets such as fortifications; chain shot, consisting of two balls connected by a chain, was used primarily against masts and rigging of ships.

Canister A projectile, shot from a cannon, filled with about 35 iron balls the size of marbles that scattered like the pellets of a shotgun, and was extremely effective up to 250 yards.

Battle Tactics and Strategies

Tactics is the military art of maneuvering troops on the field of battle to achieve victory in combat. 'Offensive tactics" seek success through attacking; "defensive tactics" aim at defeating enemy attacks.

Open Field Battle Tactics In Civil War tactics, the principal combat arm was infantry. Its most common deployment was a long "line of battle," 2 ranks deep, in a massed charge towards the enemy. Larger was the "column," varying from 1 to 10 or more companies wide and from 8 to 20 or more ranks deep.

Open Field Battle Tactics Battle lines delivered the most firepower defensively and offensively. Offensive firepower alone would not ensure success. Attackers had to charge, and massed columns, with their greater depth, were often preferable to battle lines for making frontal assaults.

Open Field Battle Tactics In military tactics, a flanking maneuver, also called a flank attack, is an attack on the sides of an opposing force. If a flanking maneuver were to succeed, the opposing force would be surrounded from two or more directions, which significantly reduces the maneuverability of the outflanked force.

The problem with this tactic? Rifle power devastated offensive infantry assaults. By 1864, infantry customarily did erect light field fortifications to strengthen its defensive battlefield positions and protect itself from enemy rifle power; but when attacking, whether against battle lines or fortifications, infantry continued suffering heavy casualties through clinging to tactical formations outmoded by technology.

Artillery Assaults With long-range shells and close-in canister, artillery became crucial in repulsing enemy attacks. But long-range shelling to support ones own attack had minimal effect, and artillery assaults were soon abandoned as suicidal. Throughout, artillery depended almost entirely on direct fire against visible targets.

Cavalry Cavalry, in the meantime, served most usefully in scouting for tactical intelligence. By mid-war, cavalry was using its mobility to seize key spots, where it dismounted and fought afoot.

Siege A siege is a military blockade and assault of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that refuses to surrender and cannot be easily taken by a frontal assault. Sieges usually involve surrounding the target and blocking the provision of supplies, typically coupled with siege engines, artillery bombardment, or sapping (also known as mining) to reduce fortifications.