The Civil War Day 1 First Shots Fired

The Civil War Day 1 First Shots Fired American History I Mr. Hensley SRMHS

Calm Before the Storm • Lincoln sworn in and takes office in March 1861 • Confederacy organizes and names Jefferson Davis as President • Most experienced Army officers are Southern and help organize CSA Army • CSA sends diplomats abroad, especially to Britain and France

Fort Sumter: First Shots • Fort is on an island in Charleston Harbor • Union troops refuse to leave, despite threats • Davis gives order to fire on fort – April 12, 1861 • Fort Sumter surrenders and now war is officially declared on both sides • Proximate versus ultimate causes

Northern Advantages • More people – 20 million in North versus 10 million in the South • 4 to 1 advantage in those • • eligible for military service (4 million vs 1 million) More railroads More factories More farmland More iron and steel

Southern Advantages • Victory conditions: only need to survive • Cotton integral to British economy – Britain may intervene on side of CSA • Best, most experienced Army officers are Southern (Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson) • Long tradition of state militias (training)

Union Strategy • Winfield Scott creates “Anaconda Plan” (idea is to squeeze the South) 1. Blockade Southern ports (can’t sell cotton) 2. Control the Mississippi River (splits CSA in two and isolates Texas) 3. Take CSA capital in Richmond VA

Confederate Strategy • Survive! (maintain defensive positions) • Get either Britain or France to come in on their side • Offensive defense – take the fight to the North and hurt them so bad they give up

New Weapons • Better rifles and better bullets (minie balls) • Ironclad ships • First crude land mines and hand grenades • First crude submarines • Aerial reconnaissance (balloons) • Overall effect – strengthens the defender, weakens the attacker

Minie Ball Damage

The East • Southerners win most battles but take on large numbers of casualties • Why is this a problem? • Northern commander Mc. Clellan is seen as weak and cowardly • North cannot take Richmond (CSA capital) • South can’t penetrate Northern territory

The West • U. S. Grant is Union general in the west • Successful along Mississippi River • Keeps KY, MS and TN in Union hands • 1862: Battle of Shiloh – 25% casualty rate • Navy under Farragut takes New Orleans

Antietam: Turning Point • CSA (Lee) invades Maryland • Stopped by Union army under Mc. Clellan • Fight to a “draw” • Massive losses – both sides lose 30% of their forces • Who will this impact the most? • Weird but true: The Lost Orders

Antietam

The Emancipation Proclamation • Lincoln issues the Proclamation after Antietam (Sept 1862) • Frees all slaves in the Confederate states • Slaves in border states under Union control are NOT freed • Important because it redefined the Civil war as being about slavery, not state’s rights

Proclamation Sample "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they make for their actual freedom. ”

Britain Stays Neutral • Early on, Britain thought the CSA might win • But Antietam convinced the British and French that the South lacked the manpower to win • Both nations refused to recognize the CSA • Lincoln is a hero in Britain (there are statues!) • Cotton surplus from 1850’s

Lincoln Deals with Dissent • Conscription begins in 1863 but the wealthy could buy their way out of the draft • “Peace Democrats” demand an end to the war and recognition of CSA (“Copperheads”) • Lincoln suspends habeas corpus and jails critics

Davis Deals with Deserters • Blockade causes inflation, shortages • Conscription begins • Some states refuse to help CSA (weak gov’t) • CSA raises taxes, jails dissenters, prints too much paper money • Davis is very unpopular and there are riots

The War at Mid-point • Grant has control of Mississippi and West • Mc. Clellan is ineffective in East – and is fired • CSA is having a hard time replacing losses of both men and material • Lincoln has made the war about slavery – rest of world supports the Union

Review: First Shots BIG QUESTION: Describe Northern and Southern strategies, victory conditions and advantages during the early stages of the Civil War. Why is the Battle of Antietam considered a turning point? The North needs to completely destroy the Confederate Army and bring the South back into the Union and they hope to accomplish this through blockading Southern access to the outside world (“Anaconda”). Their advantage is in manpower and economic capacity. The South simply needs to survive until the North gives up. They have excellent military leaders and hope to win by going on the offensive. Antietam is a turning point because of the massive loss of life, the way it kept Britain neutral and how it helped pave the way for the Emancipation Proclamation and the ascension of Grant.