US/North Leaders

Abraham Lincoln Lincoln was elected in 1860 – and the South seceded immediately after. He was anti-slavery but not an abolitionist at first. After the bloody Battle of Antietam Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which promised to free the slaves in the South. During the war Lincoln fired many Union generals for either making terrible decisions (Burnside, Hooker, Pope) or for not being aggressive enough (McClellan). 6 days after the war ended he was assassinated by John Wilkes Boothe- a Southerner from Virginia.

George McClellan McClellan was the first general of the Union Army. His soldiers loved him and he was good at training them, but when it was time for battle - - McClellan often froze up and let the South do what they wanted. He always had more soldiers than the South, but was usually defeated. His only victory came at the Battle of Antietam… when he actually had a copy of the South’s plans! Even then – he could have destroyed the Southern Army but did not use all of his soldiers and barely won the battle. Lincoln was impatient with McClellan. Lincoln always wanted McClellan to attack - - but McClellan would just ask for more cannons and more troops- even though he had more than enough. Lincoln fired McClellan two different times. Lincoln once said, “If he’s not gonna use his army - - I would like to borrow it for a while…” McClellan tried to convince people Lincoln was wrong and that the North could not win the war. He ran against Lincoln for president in 1864 saying that he would surrender to the South - - he lost the election and Lincoln was re-relected.

William Tecumseh Sherman Sherman believed in peace. He said that he loved peace so much… that he needed to make war terrible - - a living nightmare for his enemy. After the Battle of Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant went to Virginia to fight Robert E. Lee and Sherman’s job was to take his army deep into the South. This was called “Sherman’s March to the Sea”. The Confederacy had most of their troops in Virginia defending Richmond so Sherman had little resistance as he tore through the deep South. He burned down crops, people’s homes, took their horses and pigs, chickens and cows. He also destroyed their railroads. He also burned the city of Atlanta to the ground. Sherman is still seen as an evil murderer in the South today - - he claimed that he needed to fight like this to convince the South to quit. He wanted them to know that he would not just destroy their armies - - but also their farms and cities.

Ulysses S. Grant Grant was the opposite of McClellan - - he always, ALWAYS attacked Confederate armies. He earned the reputation as a butcher because at times he would send his union soldiers on attacks that were seen as impossible and many of his own soldiers were killed… but he always won. When he won the Battle of Vicksburg, which took away the Mississippi River from the South - - Lincoln called him out to Virginia to fight the invincible Robert E. Lee. When Grant got to Virginia he immediately attacked Lee. The battle was a tie - - he lost many soldiers - - HOWEVER - - instead of returning North like all of the other Northern generals, he attacked again… and again… and again. Even though he lost many soldiers, he could replace them. Whereas the South could not. Grant was able to surround Lee in Petersburg near Richmond - - the Confederate capital city. Robert E. Lee ended the war and surrendered to Grant at the Appomattox Couthouse in 1865.

South/Confederacy Leaders

Jefferson Davis Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederacy. He was from Mississippi and was an owner of many slaves. Even though he was against the North and for states’ rights - - he took many people’s rights away in the South and forced people to join the army. Throughout the war the Southern economy was in shambles and just could not compete with the North in making things for war. Even when Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, Davis wanted the South to continue fighting. He was arrested and put in jail for just two years…

Robert E. Lee Lee was a slave owner from Virginia. He was married to George Washington’s granddaughter. He was known as a brilliant man when he was in the US Army. When Virginia seceded he joined the South instead of the North. Lee was the leader of the Southern armies for most of the war. Even though he had fewer soldiers and supplies, Lee is the reason the war went on for so long. He was able to keep defeating the Northern armies invading Virginia. His biggest mistake was Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. When he surrendered to Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse – the war ended.

“Stonewall” Jackson Jackson was brilliant but odd. He was very superstitious and very Christian – he refused to fight on Sundays. Along with Lee he was able to humiliate Union armies invading Virginia. He was accidentally shot by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville – the Confederacy’s greatest victory. Many people in the south still believe that if he survived and was able to fight the rest of the war- the Confederacy would have defeated the Union.

Nathan Bedford Forrest Forrest was a genius in many ways. People claim that he killed more Union soldiers that any other Confederate. He never lost a battle the entire war - - however, after the war Forrest created the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) to make sure that freed slaves would not be treated as equals – and so they couldn’t vote.

Questions 1.) What was Lincoln’s main goal in the war? 2.) Why was George McClellan not successful? 3.) What made U.S. Grant successful? 4.) What made R. E. Lee successful? 5.) What did N.B. Forrest do after the war?