Lesson 2- No Easy Victory Chapter 17 Lesson 2- No Easy Victory

I Strategies for Victory A. Different strategies for winning: 1. North planned aggressive campaign against South. 2. South planned to hold until the North lost the will to fight. B. Union first planned to use navy to blockade southern ports, cutting off supplies of manufactured goods from Europe. 1. Aimed to seize Richmond, VA- Confederate capital- ending war quickly. 2. Planned to seize control of MS River, preventing the South from supplying their troops and also separate AR, TX, LA from rest of Confederacy.

C. Confederate army would fight a defensive war until northerners tired of fighting. 1. If the war became unpopular, Lincoln would be forced to recognize their independence. 2. Counted on European money and supplies to help fight the war- main purchaser of southern cotton.

II. Early Encounters Battle of Bull Run- July 21, 1861- Union troops set out from Washington, D.C., towards Richmond, VA. Hundreds rode along with them to watch the battle. Had not gone far when they met Confederate soldiers. Battle took place near a VA stream called Bull Run. Confederate officer cried, “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall!” Hence nickname, Stonewall Jackson. Union officers panicked and ran. Showed both sides that their officers needed training AND that the war was going to be long and bloody.

B. Caution, delay, retreat 1 B. Caution, delay, retreat 1. After disaster at Bull Run, Lincoln appointed Gen. George McClellan as commander of the Union army of the East (Army of the Potomac). 2. Transformed recruits into an army of trained soldiers ready for battle. 3. Very cautious and delayed leading troops into battle. 4. Lincoln lost patience and insisted on using the troops to fight. 5. March, 1862, McClellan and troops left Washington and sailed down Potomac, landing just south of Richmond. 6. Gen. Robert E. Lee launched series of counter attacks and sent Jackson north to threaten Washington.

7. McClellan abandoned the attack and retreated when Lincoln was unable to send more Union troops to help. C. Naval Action 1. Union ships blockaded southern ports. 2. “Blockade runners” pushed through and brought goods to Confederacy. 3. Eventually blockade became more effective, dropping trade in southern ports by 90%. 4. Confederacy attempted the “ironclad ship” by covering an abandoned Union warship with iron plates. Named “Virginia.” 5. Union created its own ironclad “Monitor” in response. 6. Ships fought each other but neither won and both withdrew.

7. Union ended up building more than 50 ironclads. 8 7. Union ended up building more than 50 ironclads. 8. South had to sink “Virginia” when Union captured Norfolk later in the war. 9. Union blockades are going to hold throughout the war. D. Antietam 1. September, 1862, Gen. Lee takes offensive and marches north into Maryland. 2. Confederates leave plan behind and is discovered by Union. 3. McClellan slow to act and finally attacked Lee’s force at Antietam. 4. More than 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers are killed in the day-long battle.

5. Night of Sept. 18, Lee orders troops to slip back into VA. 6 5. Night of Sept. 18, Lee orders troops to slip back into VA. 6. No clear winner, though North claimed victory because Lee withdrew his troops. 7. Lincoln disappointed with results and appointed Gen. Ambrose Burnside to replace McClellan as commander.

III. Confederate Victories in the East Battle of Fredericksburg- December 1862 Lee’s army meets Burnside’s troops outside Fredericksburg, VA. Dug into side of hill and took a strong offensive position, taking down wave after wave of charging Union soldiers. One of the Union’s worse defeats. B. Battle of Chancellorsville-May 1863 1. Took place in thickly wooded ground. 2. Lee, with help of Jackson, outmaneuvered the Union troops in 3 days. 3. Victory had a high price- Confederates accidentally shot and killed Stonewall Jackson.

IV. Union Victories in the West February 1862, Ulysses S. Grant began moving towards MS River. Attacked and captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in TN. These forts guarded two important tributaries of the MS. C. Grant pushed south to Shiloh, on the TN River. 1. Surprised by Confederate troops on April 6th. 2. Driven back to the river. 3. Next day went back and beat the Confederates in the Battle of Shiloh. 4. One of the bloodiest encounters of the Civil War. D. While Grant was fighting, Union navy moved to gain control of MS River. 1. Ships seized New Orleans. 2. Other ships seized Memphis, TN. 3. South could no longer use the river as a supply line.