CIVIL WAR
OVERVIEW & DESCRIPTION
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America went to war on 12 April 1861-- it was
a war for freedom and independence. For the first time in the history of
the United States of America; states in the North were fighting states in the
South. A war in which fathers fought against fathers and brothers fought
against brothers.
The states in the North were called the Union and the states in the South were
called the Confederacy. The Union fought for the freedom of black people
from slavery and for their belief that the United States should remain together
as one nation. The Confederacy fought for those who supported slavery and
for the right to for their state to leave the Union.
The war changed America forever, but she remained a single nation.
The Civil War began with fighting at Fort Sumter, South Carolina and officially
ended on 9 April, 1865, when General Lee surrendered his army at the Appomattox
Court House.
Confederate States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
The Leaders
| Major Battle Accounts | Definitions
& Terminology |
THE LEADERS
Lincoln | Davis
| Scott | Grant | Lee
| Sherman | Jackson | Custer
|
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
President of the United States
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of
the United States of America. He had given many speeches against
slavery, thus leading Southerners to believe that President Lincoln would free
the slaves. South Carolina, along with 10 other Southern states decided
to secede from the Union rather than let their slaves go free. They called
themselves the Confederate States of America.
President Lincoln did not approve of slavery, but he had no plans to outlaw
it. He felt that slavery was part of the Southern way of living and had
hoped it would be gradually eliminated over a period of time. Lincoln
believed that his main duty was to hold the Union together, not abolish
slavery, after the Southern states seceded.
Lincoln had a hard time finding a general who could win the war for him.
He even served as the battle commander at times. Lincoln was eventually
able to appoint 2 men who were known to be aggressive fighters; Generals
Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman.
In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation; this declared
all Southern slaves free and blacks who resided in the North were now allowed
to join the Union Army.
President Lincoln was reelected in 1864; he was making plans on how to reunite
the nation once the war was over.
Horribly, six days after the war ended, President Lincoln was assassinated by
John Wilkes Booth; for the Confederate cause.
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JEFFERSON DAVIS
Confederate President
Jefferson Davis became a well known
military hero while serving in the Mexican War. His fame is what helped
him win a seat in Congress, where he fought for many laws to preserve slavery.
Davis believed that each state had a right to secede from the Union and also
that he was the best man to lead the Confederate cause.
As the leader of the Confederate states Davis was faced with some very hard
jobs; winning the war and the founding of a new nation.
Davis was very good military strategist, but unfortunately his advice was not
followed by his generals. The Confederate states and it's government
faced continuing problems; years of struggles and it eventually collapsed.
Jefferson Davis fled to Canada in exile after war. He returned in 1868
after President Andrew Johnson granted him a full pardon. Davis never
regretted his role in the Civil War; he once told a reporter, "Tell the
world that I only loved America."
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WINFIELD SCOTT
Union General
At the start of the Civil War, General
Winfield Scott was 75 years old and suffered from gout, which forced him to
spend much time in bed. He had served in the U.S. Army for over 50 years
and was the commanding officer of the Union Army. President Lincoln felt
that General Scott was a very wise military strategist; though many
Northerners didn't feel the same way.
General Scott devised a plan that would defeat the Confederacy, though it
would take up to 3 years. He suggested cutting off the Southern states'
trade with Europe; making them unable to receive vital military supplies. He
wanted to send Union troops into the South from areas to the north and west.
Even though President Lincoln believed in Scott's plan he also knew that it
was necessary to gather more North support to win the war and he eventually
appoint a new general to head the Union army, George B. McClellan.
General Scott's original plan was followed and lead the Union Army to victory.
The only difference was that the war effort lasted 4 years instead of the 3
years General Scott had said.
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ULYSSES S. GRANT
Union General
Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio and his
parents named him Hiram Ulysses Grant. While growing up, Grant called
himself Ulysses Hiram Grant because he hated his initials, "H. U.
G.". While attending West Point Military Academy, his name was
erroneously listed as Ulysses Simpson Grant. Grant liked his
"new" name and from that point on, he used the name Ulysses S.
Grant.
He proved he was an excellent soldier while serving in the Mexican War.
He was recommissioned as a colonel at the start of the Civil War. He had
much success on the battlefield and was promoted to general within two months.
He earned the nickname, Unconditional Surrender, because he refused to
negotiate a truce before a battle was won.
Grant was promoted to general of the entire Union Army in 1866; the first
active commander to hold this rank since George Washington.
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ROBERT E. LEE
Confederate General
Robert E. Lee came from a family with a
proud military history; his father had fought in the American Revolution and
was a close friend of George Washington.
Lee attended West Point Military Academy and served in the Mexican War.
He was considered to be a natural soldier and was much liked and respected by
others.
In 1861, Lee was summoned to military headquarters in Washington DC, after 7
Southern states seceded. He was asked to lead the Northern army and
force the 7 states to return to the Union. Lee, who was from Virginia,
felt that he could not fight his southern friends. After Virginia
seceded from the Union, Lee decided to fight for the Southern cause.
Lee tried his best to keep the Union Army from invading Richmond,
Virginia--the Confederate Capital. The Confederate Army was greatly
outnumbered from the start of the war; and the situation continually got worse
over the years. The Confederate Army lost too many men and Lee realized
that defeat was inevitable. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army to the
Union, on 9 April 1865.
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WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN
Union Major General
William T. Sherman was a fighting man and
is said to have resembled a Wild West gunfighter. His father was an Ohio
Supreme Court justice and his brother, a U.S. senator. Sherman had no
interest in politics, instead he enrolled in West Point Military Academy.
Sherman served in the Mexican War and after, ran a military academy in
Louisiana.
When Louisiana seceded from the Union in 1861, he was asked to join the
Confederacy as an officer, but refused.
Originally, Sherman did not want to join either side. His beliefs were
like President Lincoln's; he didn't believe in slavery, but thought that
abolishing it would destroy the nation. He also believed that no state
had the right to secede from the Union.
Sherman joined the Union Army as a colonel but was quickly promoted to
brigadier general. He was a popular commander; known to his men as Uncle
Billy. Sherman was the second most important person in the Union Army.
The Southerners called Sherman the devil, because of his historic march
through the Carolinas and Georgia, where he captured and destroyed anything
that may have been useful to the Confederacy.
After the war, Sherman commanded the entire army. There was talk of
Sherman running for President, but he declined. Sherman's son, William
T., Jr., had died during the war and Sherman explained, "With Willy, dies
in me all real ambition."
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THOMAS J. "STONEWALL" JACKSON
Confederate General
Thomas J. Jackson was one of the best-known
and most-feared generals in the Civil War. Before the war, he was a
teacher at the Virginia Military Institute.
Jackson had a reputation as being fearless in battle. During the Battle
of Manassas, the troops had become scared and (Confederate) General B. Bee
said to his troops, "There is Jackson, standing like a stonewall!",
which is how his nickname, Stonewall Jackson, came to be.
Jackson won many battles in which his troops were outnumbered; he was known
for moving his troops further and faster than any other general.
Jackson was accidentally shot and killed by one of his own men during battle
at Chancellorsville, Virginia in 1863. He died on the battlefield.
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GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER
Union General
George A. Custer's had a reputation during
the Civil War as being a daring and unpredictable opponent---sometimes
ignoring his commanding officers to obtain victory on the battlefield.
Custer graduated from West Point Military Academy with the worst grades in his
class. But he had a wild fighting spirit for which he gained notoriety.
He is credited with aiding in the defeat of Confederate general J. Stuart
during the Battle of Gettysburg.
He remained in the military after the Civil War and became famous for his
"last stand" at Little Big Horn with the Sioux Indians in 1876.
Custer and his men, none of whom survived, were defeated by Chiefs Sitting
Bull and Crazy Horse at the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana.
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SOURCES:
Civil War Almanac; Justin Segal,
Contemporary Books, Chicago, 1997.
