Chapter 11 – The Civil War Section 4 – Devastation and New Freedom

Grant Takes Command South’s strategy in 1864 – hold on and hope Lincoln is beat for President. Lincoln new that his chances for reelection depended on how well the Union did in the battlefield. Lincoln put General Ulysses S. Grant in charge of the army (Scott – McClellan – Pope – McClellan – Burnside – Hooker – Meade – Grant). Grant’s goal was to confront and crush the Confederate army and end the war before the 1864 election. Grant appointed General William Tecumseh Sherman in charge of the Union troops in the west (replacing Grant). Grant new that the South was running short on soldiers and supplies. He decided to use the North’s superiority in both to wear down the Confederates and told Sherman to do the same in the west.

Grant Takes Command, continued Battle of the Wilderness –May, 1864 – Grant took 115,000 soldiers with him to VA. Lee had about 64,000 soldiers. –Grant headed the army toward Richmond, knowing that Lee would have to fight to try to stop him (why?) –May and June – they had 3 major battles. –May 5 th and 6 th – Battle of the Wilderness – almost exactly the same spot as the Battle of Chancellorsville (who won that?). –Fought in a dense forest that caught fire, burning to death many of the wounded. Because of the smoke, units fired on friendlies (?). General Longstreet (the general who replaced Stonewall Jackson) was wounded by his own men only 3 miles from where Jackson had been shot. –Grant had many losses. However, instead of retreating (like every other Union general) he moved his troops around the Confederates and continued heading South. Union soldiers were proud that they were not retreating this time.

Grant Takes Command, continued Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor –Series of clashes over a two week period beginning May 8 th near the small town of Spotsylvania Court House is called the Battle of Spotsylvania. –Some parts of the battlefield, Union casualties were piled 4 deep –Northerners were upset at how many casualties they were taking. When Lincoln told Grant that, Grant replied that he would like to continue the course of action if it takes all summer. Grant moved his army further South. (think how happy Lincoln must have been!) –Early June, Battle of Cold Harbor, only 8 miles from Richmond! –Confederates were behind strong fortifications. Grant launched two attacks and suffered 7,000 casualties – many in first hour. –Many Union soldiers pinned their names and addresses on their uniforms before this battle so they could be identified if killed. What was this the beginning of?

Grant Takes Command, continued The Siege of Petersburg –Since he could neither defeat Lee’s army at Cold Harbor, nor get passed it to attack Richmond, Grant moved his army around Richmond and attacked Petersburg, which was a railroad center south of Richmond. (why?) –The attack failed. –In less than 2 months, Grant had suffered 65,000 casualties out of the 115,000 he began with. –Grant started the Siege of Petersburg. Why did he think that might work? –Lee built defenses. Lee could not replace all of his casualties even though they were far fewer than Grant’s. His goal was to try to stay where he was and wait for the election.

Grant Takes Command, continued In the Shenandoah –Summer of 1864, Grant ordered General Phil Sheridan to damage all of the railroads and crops he can in the Shenandoah Valley, since it was a source of supplies for the Confederates. Sheridan did so. –One of the houses destroyed was a relative of Robert E. Lee.

Sherman in Georgia General Sherman moved South from Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the direction of Atlanta, Georgia. Same strategy as Grant’s – if the Confederate army in the West tried to stop him, he would try to destroy them with his 98,000 soldiers. If they refused to fight, he would take Atlanta which was an important railroad and industrial location. The Confederate general in the West was Joseph Johnston. His strategy was similar to Lee’s in the East. He would fight skirmishes against the Union to try to block their progress but not stay in one place long enough to be defeated. Goal: Delay Sherman from reaching Atlanta until after the November election. By mid-July, the Union soldiers were a few miles from Atlanta. Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston with General James Hood. Hood did exactly what both Davis AND Sherman wanted him to do – he fought with the Union army. After the Confederate forces lost more than 17,000 of their 62,000 soldier force, General Hood retreated to Atlanta. Like Grant at Petersburg, Sherman laid siege to Atlanta. Throughout August, Sherman’s men bombarded the city. In early September, the Confederate army withdrew from Atlanta.

Sherman in Georgia, continued Sherman’s philosophy: War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over. (?) November, 1864, Sherman began his famous (infamous?) march to the sea. He began it by evacuating Atlanta and burning it. They went on a 300 mile path of destruction across Georgia. The troops destroyed bridges, factories, railroad lines. They took and killed livestock. Grain that had been harvested to send to Confederate troops fed the Union troops instead. As they approached the city of Savannah, Georgia, the Confederate force there fled. 12/21/64 – Sherman’s troops enter Savannah without a fight. Sherman’s telegraph to Lincoln: I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah.

The Election of 1864 Lincoln predicted he was going to be badly beaten in his reelection campaign of He had a challenge from within his own party – John C. Fremont (?). The Radical Republicans got him to run because Lincoln was against punishing the South. Fremont eventually withdrew. Republicans changed their name to the Union Party and dropped Lincoln’s first vice-president, Hannibal Hamlin, and nominated Andrew Johnson, a pro-Union southerner who was a Democrat, for vice-president. Democrats nominated General George McClellan (who was happy to run against the guy who fired him twice). Many of McClellan’s troops loved him, and Lincoln feared he would get the support of the troops. McClellan promised he would negotiate an end to the war. Sherman’s capture of Atlanta changed politics in the North. Because they thought victory was close, they did not want to negotiate. On election day, Lincoln won easily, getting 212 out of 233 electoral votes.

A New Birth of Freedom February, 1865, Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment, at Lincoln’s request (remember, he did not believe he had the constitutional authority to ban slavery – this changed the Constitution): Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. In Lincoln’s second inaugural speech, he laid the groundwork to bring the Union together without punishing the South.... It may seem strange than any men should dare ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged.... Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.... 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 lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

The End of the War February, 1865 – Sherman’s troops left Savannah, Georgia and headed north toward South Carolina. Why is South Carolina important? As the troops approached S. Carolina, one Union soldier wrote: Here is where the treason began and, by God, here is where it shall end. There had been very little fighting in either Carolina. Sherman was heading to join his forces with Grant’s at Petersburg. He had two goals: 1.Destroy the South’s remaining resources, and 2.Crush the Southerner’s will to fight. Sherman accomplished both goals. Confederate army kept retreating. Sherman’s army was more vicious than they had been to Georgia. One example: In Georgia, very few homes were burned in the march to the sea. In South Carolina, very few homes were spared. The night that the Union army moved into Columbia (S. Carolina’s state capital), half the city burned to the ground. (nobody took credit/blame) Once the Union army left South Carolina and entered North Carolina, they stopped destroying civilian property.

The End of the War, continued Surrender at Appomattox –Confederate army defending Richmond had shrunk to 35,000 soldiers, who were starving –April 2 nd – Lee decided to try to sneak around Grant’s army and join up with Johnston’s army, which was retreating in front of Sherman. –Grant’s army kept cutting off Lee’s way towards Johnston. –April 9 th – Lee’s army arrived at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. They were surrounded by Grant’s army. –Some of Lee’s officers suggested that the remaining Confederate troops scatter and fight as guerillas – soldiers in small groups who use surprise raids and hit-and-run tactics. One of the most important decisions in the war for the sake of the Union, was Lee’s decision to reject this suggestion. (?) –Finally, Lee concluded, “There is nothing left for me to do but go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths.” –Keep in mind history to this point – what was Lee expecting?

The End of the War, continued Surrender at Appomattox, continued –Lee and Grant met at a private home in town owned by Wilmer McLean. The McLeans had moved there because they had been living in Manassas and some of the opening shots of the Battle of Bull Run had landed in his yard. He wanted to move away from the war so he moved to Appomattox Court House. –Lee dressed in his dress uniform because he thought he might be taken off and hung. –Grant offered generous terms for surrender (doing what he felt Lincoln wanted him to do) Southern soldiers could take their horses, mules and weapons and go home They would not be treated as traitors as long as they obeyed the laws –When Lee mounted his horse to leave, Grant saluted him –Union army started celebrating by shooting artillery salutes – Grant stopped them saying he did not want them to be happy at the distress of the Southerners because “the rebels are our countrymen again.”

Lincoln is Assassinated Lincoln did not live to see the actual end of the war. Although Lee had surrendered, there were still other armies out there and Jefferson Davis was on the run urging the military to do what Lee had rejected – start a guerilla war. It took until several weeks in May for the soldiers to surrender and for the Union to capture Jefferson Davis. From , a group of conspirators had been working on a plan to kidnap the President and hold him hostage for the release of Confederate prisoners of war. Those plans did not work. This group was led by John Wilkes Booth, who was a famous actor. Booth finally changed the plan to kill top Union officials. Booth assassinated the President in Ford’s Theater on April 14. (Died next day) One of Booth’s accomplices chickened out of killing VP Johnson. Another accomplice stabbed Secretary of State Seward and seriously wounded him. April 26 th – Booth was killed by a gunshot as the Virginia barn he was in was burning down and surrounded by Union soldiers.