1861

to
1865
Book of the

DISCOVER THE ICONIC CONFLICT THAT SHAPED A NATION

ORIGINS & IMPACT EVERY MAJOR BATTLE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS

 AMERICAN
Book of the

CIVIL WAR
History is littered with battles between sovereign states, but often it is the wars within nations
that are the most bitterly fought. Such conflicts mark turning points for all parties involved,
whether they’re fought over land, resources, or in the name of deeply held ideals. More than 150
years after the end of the American Civil War, the story of America’s bloodiest conflict remains
a potent one – a defining period in the formation of the United States as we know it today. In
this bookazine we will explore the American Civil War through investigating its key events,
significant battles and its most influential figures. Through expert analysis, a wealth of authentic
artefacts, spectacular photography, and eyewitness accounts, we’ll deliver a fascinating insight
into a conflict that continues to profoundly impact the world we live in.
 AMERICAN
Book of the

CIVIL WAR Imagine Publishing Ltd

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book The American Civil War A Visual History

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ISBN 9781785463211

Part of the

bookazine series
CONTENTS
1 2
Blockading the South 42 Grant Takes Forts Henry and Donelson 58
Northern blockade. Small size of Federal navy. Fort Henry falls after naval bombardment. Grant
Impact on South’s exports. Capturing heads for Fort Donelson. Union vessels disabled.

3
Confederate ports. The role of Britain. Fort Henry falls to Grant. 12,000 prisoners taken.

The Battle of Shiloh 60

Surprise attack by the Confederates on Grant’s
army. Union counterattack and Confederate
retreat. 20,000 dead and wounded.

AN IMPERFECT SECESSION Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley 62

UNION TRIGGERS WAR Diversionary action by small Confederate force.

Jackson’s rapid maneuvers divert Union forces
from Richmond. Battle of Winchester.
1815 – 1860 1861
Introduction 10 Introduction 26 CLASH OF ARMIES The Peninsula Campaign
Union troops arrive by sea and advance up the
64

The State of the Nation 14 The Call to Arms

Attack on Fort Sumter. Thousands enlist as
30 1862 Peninsula toward Richmond. McClellan
hesitates. Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks).
From end of War of 1812 to 1852, the United Introduction 44
States gains territory and population. One new Lincoln calls for volunteers. Confederacy The Seven Days Battles 66
expands to include the upper South. Battles at Gaines’ Mill, Malvern Hill. Robert E.
state joins the Union about every three years. Soldiers in Gray 48 Lee saves Richmond. McClellan withdraws.
Courageous but outnumbered and poorly
A Question of Union 16
The South’s Challenge 32
supplied. Turning civilians into soldiers. Disease
In politics domestic issues and personal rivalries
The industrialized economy of the North. The The Second Battle of Bull Run 68
South’s agrarian economy and larger land area. and discipline problems. One million soldiers. Lee’s offensive. Manassas Junction. Fighting at
come to the fore. Intense conflict between
Railroads North and South. King Cotton. Bull Run. Battle lost but Union army saved.
federal power and states’ rights. Soldiers in Blue 50
Numerical superiority. Diversity within the army.
Raising Armies 34 Mixed motivations for fighting—volunteers and Lee Invades Maryland 70
Slavery Divides the Country 18 Military enthusiasm on both sides. Untried Confederate desertions. Lee scatters his forces.
The War with Mexico ends. U.S. boundaries substitutes. Enforcing order among the men. A
armies. Lack of trained officers and men. Union morale high. The Lost Order. Lee retreats.
greatly extended. Passionate debate over terrible cost: one in four dead or injured.
Shortages of equipment and supplies. Jackson takes Harpers Ferry.
slavery—should new states be slave or free?
The Battle of Hampton Roads 52
The First Battle of Bull Run 36 Attempt to break the Union blockade. The The Battle of Antietam 72
The Fury of Abolition 20 Struggle for key railroad junction at Manassas. world’s first battle between steam-powered Costliest day’s fighting in American history.
Abolitionists, both black and white, work to end Confederates capture Henry Hill. Union troops Superior Union numbers, ragged Rebels.
ironclads. USS Monitor. Stalemate in the Roads.
slavery in the United States. retreat in disorder. Confederacy gains credibility. McClellan over-cautious. Confederates withdraw.
The Fall of New Orleans 54
The Rise of the Republican Party 22 Organizing for the Fight 38 Farragut plans a naval operation. Bold nighttime Burnside Takes the Offensive 74
The Republican Party is founded to oppose the Mobilization continues. Organization and attack upriver past Confederate forts. Union Attempt on Richmond. Pontoons are used to
extension of slavery. Quickly becomes a power discipline improve for the armies of both sides. forces take the city. A hostile population. bridge the Rappahannock River. The attack on
on the national stage. Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan. Marye’s Heights. Union defeat at Fredericksburg.
Action on the Mississippi River 56
The Raid at Harpers Ferry 24 Missouri and Kentucky 40 Creating a Union river fleet. Overcoming multiple The Far West 76
Abolitionist John Brown’s raid on a federal Violent struggles in Missouri, which remains in Confederate strongpoints. Confederacy wins Confederates thrust westward from Texas. Fort
armory in Virginia. U.S. Army ends the raid and the Union. Problems in the border states. Battle of Plum Point Bend. Memphis falls. Fillmore surrenders. Confederate Arizona
captures Brown and his men. Brown executed. Kentucky, initially neutral, joins the Union. Vicksburg stands firm, Territory. Glorieta Pass. Confederates withdraw.
Bragg Invades Kentucky 78 The Vicksburg Campaign 96 Rebel Victories 120 Franklin and Nashville 142
Bragg’s army enters the state. Kentucky citizens Porter’s gunboats. Jackson ablaze. Union victories at Confederates pen in Butler on the Bermuda Hundred Confederates attack entrenched Union forces at Franklin
fail to join it. Battle of Perryville. Bragg pulls back to Champion’s Hill, Big Black River. Siege of Vicksburg. peninsula. First Battle of Petersburg. Battle of New and are slaughtered. The battle rages all day. Union

4
Tennessee. Bloody battle at Stones River. Union victorious. Market. Confederate victory. troops under George H. Thomas head for Nashville,
where they decisively defeat the Confederate forces of

6
The Home Front 100 Prisoners of War 122 John Bell Hood.
North prospers. South beset by inflation. Volunteer aid In the early years of the war most prisoners paroled.
societies form on both sides. By 1864, prison camps set up. Terrible conditions.
Starvation and exposure. Of a total of 400,000
The Chickamauga Campaign 102 prisoners, 56,000 die in captivity.
Burnside takes Knoxville. Chattanooga falls. First day
inconclusive. Second day, Longstreet attacks, Union The Battle of Cold Harbor 124
retreats to Chattanooga. Lee’s fieldworks at Cold Harbor. Union attackers
slaughtered by Confederate guns. Four days later Grant
The Chattanooga Campaign 104 abandons attacks.
THE UNION Rosecrans besieged. Grant comes to his rescue. Thomas
takes command. Battle of Lookout Mountain. Union Grant Advances to Petersburg 126

TIGHTENS ITS GRIP takes Missionary Ridge. The Union Army leaves Cold Harbor by night, heading
for Confederate supply lines at Petersburg. Pontoon COLLAPSE OF THE
1863 Communications
Telegraph allows communication with the front.
106 bridge crossing the James. Beauregard holds
Petersburg until Lee arrives. CONFEDERACY 1865
Federal and Confederate telegraph services. U.S. Miliary
Introduction 80 Telegraph Service founded. Signal systems: flags, The Valley Campaign 128 Introduction 144

5
lamps. Role of Signal Corps. Jubal Early’s march on Washington. Torching of
The Emancipation Proclamation 84 Chambersburg. Third Battle of Winchester. “The The Thirteenth Amendment 148
Northern morale falters. Lincoln acts. Freeing Burning.” Battle of Cedar Creek. Rebels routed. The Emancipation Proclamation abolishes slavery only
slaves becomes Federal war aim. Lincoln signs the in Confederate states. A constitutional amendment
Emancipation Proclamation. The Siege of Petersburg 130 banning slavery is ratified. It is adopted in December
100 miles (160km) of earthworks. Confederate line 1865.
African-Americans in the War 86 mined. Carnage in the Crater. Loss of Weldon
Government lacks coherent policy on slaves and Railroad. Confederates demoralized. Dark winter The Carolinas and Alabama 150
escaped slaves. Contraband camps. Wage slavery under days. Chirstmas truce. Sherman marches to Columbia, South Carolina.
Unionists. Black Confederates. Logistical problems. Burns Columbia. Johnston tries
Confederate Raiders 132 to delay Sherman. Two-pronged invasion of Alabama,
The Battle of Chancellorsville 88 Southern blockade-runners. Confederate navy ships then into Georgia. Macon falls.
Hooker’s plan to outflank Lee in Virginia. Jackson attack U.S. commerce at sea. Raphael Semmes, famous
attacks at Hazel Grove but is wounded. Lee’s tactical
victory. Union failure and retreat.
GRANT, SHERMAN, Confederate sea captain. The sinking of the Alabama.
Escape to England.
The Fall of Petersburg and Richmond
Trench warfare outside Petersburg. South outnumbered
152

Lee Advances North 90 AND TOTAL WAR The Battle of Mobile Bay 134
two to one. Confederate defeat at Five Forks.
Petersburg falls. Jefferson Davis abandons Richmond.
Stuart’s cavalry surprised. Confederates take Union
garrison at Winchester. Hooker resigns. Confederates
occupy south central Pennsylvania.
1864 Farragut steams past Confederate torpedoes into the
bay. Surrender of CSS Tennessee. Confederate naval
Confederates destroy arsenal and factories. Richmond
in flames.
squadron destroyed.
Introduction 108 The Assassination of Lincoln 154
The Battle of Gettysburg 92 Mississippi Operations 136
Lincoln’s dream. John Wilkes Booth’s plot. Booth
July 1—Buford takes a stand. Death of Reynolds. North Lincoln Prevails 112 shoots Lincoln in the head at Ford’s Theatre then flees.
The Union controls the river, but Nathan Bedford
regroups at Cemetery Hill. July 2—South attacks. Lincoln appoints Grant general-in-chief of all Union Hunt for conspirators. Death of Booth. Four conspirators
Forrest attacks in Mississippi to the east, while raiders
North holds Little Round Top. July 3— Lee attacks armies. Election of 1864. National Union Party. Lincoln executed, others imprisoned.
hit Missouri to the west.
Union center. Artillery barrage. Pickett’s Charge fails. wins by overwhelming majority.
Confederates withdraw. Last Terms of Surrender 156
Sherman’s Advance to Atlanta 138 Johnston tells Davis that the army will not fight
The Wilderness Campaign 114 A campaign of maneuver. Sherman advances steadily on. Negotiating the terms of surrender. Johnston
Lee and Grant duel for control. Terrible scenes at the despite Johnston’s efforts to delay him. The Battle of
“This is the Wilderness. Grant heads to Spotsylvania Court House.
Confederates build earthworks. The “Bloody Angle.”
Atlanta has many civilian casualties. Hood evacuates
the city on September 1.
surrenders. Capture of Davis. Last battle of the war
fought at Palmito Ranch.

incredible story Grant heads for Richmond.

Sherman’s March to the Sea 140 Acknowledgments 158
behind America’s Maneuvering toward Richmond
Sheridan rides on Richmond. Stuart receives fatal
wound. Lee and Grant on the banks of the North Anna
118 Atlanta is in ruins. Sherman marches 300 miles
(480km) to Savannah. Union troops leave a trail of
burning and wanton destruction. Fort McAllister falls.
bloodiest conflict” River. Lee divides the Union army. Savannah surrenders.
 The Sick Soldier
The Smithsonian holds many Civil War-era photographs by
noted cameramen Timothy O’Sullivan, George Barnard,
George Cook, Alexander Gardner, and Mathew Brady,
whose studio in the field recorded this image c. 1863.

8
Foreword
A
unifying thread woven indelibly throughout the fabric of America is our
compelling need to remember the Civil War. In the summer of 1961, as a boy
of nine, I witnessed an event that some people were calling Third Bull Run.
The Civil War Centennial was beginning in earnest with this much-hyped battlefield
reenactment. The day of “battle” dawned hot, and when it turned sultry, heat
exhaustion began taking a toll on spectators and reenactors alike. To my surprise, the
event as choreographed proved to be largely underwhelming; too few soldiers charged
with fixed bayonets and too few cannons spewed plumes of white smoke that
billowed over the rolling fields broad enough to dwarf the entire spectacle. It was
never clear in my mind which side was winning or losing the war.

Try as we might it is nearly impossible to recreate history, even well documented

history like the Civil War, America’s first national experience to be recorded visually
on a grand scale. Understanding fully the nuances of that era of discord is in itself a
challenge. Robert E. Lee would have freed “every slave in the South” to avoid going
to war—words Abraham Lincoln could have endorsed heartily. Both men prayed to
the same God, and each followed his own conscience. Ultimately, their exemplary
humility and charity—and that of a third party, Ulysses S. Grant—prevailed at
Appomattox, changing the nation forever.

The sacrifices Americans made long ago are truly gifts for Americans now. So too are
the effects they left behind. This visual survey draws from collections throughout the
country, and most especially from the Smithsonian Institution. Founded in 1846, the
Smithsonian has been collecting and preserving Civil War memorabilia of every
description since the war itself. Within these covers you will experience a rare look
into the museum’s rich and unique coffers. Many of the daguerreotypes and painted
portraits herein are much more than mere book illustrations, but in reality are family
heirlooms which have been generously handed down to the American people. Such is
the case with dozens of personal items like Jeb Stuart’s English-made Tranter revolver,
William T. Sherman’s campaign hat and sword, and George B. McClellan’s chess set.
Two Lincoln relics are national treasures: the black top hat he last wore to Ford’s
Theatre and the presentation Henry repeating rifle—gold mounted and engraved
with the president’s name—which is a prize of the Smithsonian’s smallarms collection.

In the genre of Civil War art, battlefield sketches and “photographs by Brady” are as
close as we can be visually to experiencing the conflict firsthand. Yet selected postwar
illustrations have been added to examine the sectional sentiments which influenced
how Americans, Northerners and Southerners, wanted to remember their war.
Included are illustrated timelines, colorful maps, eyewitness narratives, and gallery
spreads filled with vintage military trappings. Every page offers a virtual tour worth
revisiting again and again.

JAMES G. BARBER
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT

9
10
1
AN IMPERFECT
UNION
1815—1860
As America expanded across the West, the
future of slavery split churches, political
parties, and eventually the nation itself.
It took a Civil War and more than 625,000
dead to decide the fundamental proposition
that all men are created equal.

❮❮ Mob attack
A contemporary engraving shows protestors and the
police breaking up an abolitionist meeting at Boston’s
Tremont Temple Baptist Church on December 3,
1860—a year after the execution of abolitionist John
Brown. Although Northerners were widely opposed to
the extension of slavery, many regarded those in favor
of outright abolition as troublesome fanatics.

11
12
13
 AN I M P ER F ECT U N ION

B EFOR E

Victory in the American Revolution did

not finally settle the new republic’s borders.
It remained surrounded by the colonial
territories of Britain, France, and Spain.

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

In 1803, in order to ensure access to the mouth of
the Mississippi River, Thomas Jefferson sent a
delegation to the French Emperor Napoleon I to
negotiate the purchase of New Orleans. To the
surprise of the U.S. representatives, Napoleon
offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory
for $15 million to finance his European wars.
Overnight, the nation nearly doubled in size.

EXPANSION TO THE WEST

Jefferson announced the purchase on July 4,
1803, and the very next day the 28-year-old
Army Captain Meriwether
Lewis, a personal friend and
aide to the president, set out
from Washington to begin his
and William Clark’s
exploration of the West.
Their epic journey, which
lasted until September
1806, revealed a vast
expanse of territory
inhabited by
indigenous peoples,
and ripe for
settlement by
A COMPASS FROM THE

The State of the Nation

LEWIS AND CLARK
future generations
EXPEDITION of Americans.

TE C H N O LO GY In the four decades after the War of 1812, the United States experienced profound changes in its population,
THE COTTON GIN economy, boundaries, and social relations. New states joined the union at a rate of almost one every three
In 1793, Eli Whitney traveled south to
years. By 1855, the country had more cities with at least 150,000 residents than any other nation on Earth.
take up a tutoring post on a plantation.

I
Intrigued by the time-consuming manual n 1800, most Americans still farmed, and military concerns continued to drive cities, hoping to exchange business and
labor of separating the sticky seeds from and lived in small communities poorly communities and private investors to political intelligence, clamored to join
the fibers of short-staple cotton, he connected by rough roads. When construct roads, bridges, and canals, the network. Advances in paper and
designed a simple hand-cranked machine. Thomas Jefferson entered the White which speeded up the exchange of goods printing technology made newspapers
His cotton engine, or “gin,” used rollers to House in March 1801, the nation had and tied people together. One of the cheaper, and the advent of the Associated
comb the seeds from the fiber, enabling around 5.3 million people living between most ambitious of these projects, the Erie Press in 1846 created rapid standardized
one slave to clean 50lb (23kg) of cotton the Atlantic seaboard and the Mississippi Canal, eventually connected New York reporting from around the nation.
fiber per day instead of just 1lb (0.5kg) River—most within 50 miles (80km) of City to Lake Erie and the Upper Midwest
processed by hand. The gin opened the the eastern coastline. If more western states and territories. New York state Northern transformations
interior of the South to cotton production, territory could be added, Jefferson envisaged and private investors funded the canal, Most Northern farming families focused
giving a financial incentive for expanding a nation mighty enough to compete which was started in 1817 and completed on self-reliance and subsistence, raising
the hold of slavery on Southern society. economically with and to defend itself in 1825. It would pay for itself in their own food and bartering locally to
against the great European powers. Skeptics seven years. maintain their
pointed to transportation difficulties, the
presence of Native Americans, and foreign
claims to North American territory as
In the 1830s,
railroads began to
supplant canals as
31,443,321 The U.S.

in 1860. This represented an increase of

independence.
population As transportation
improved, people
barriers to expansion. a faster, cheaper over 35 percent in the 10 years since farming near cities
In the early 19th century, a letter mode of carrying 1850, and over 270 percent since 1815, planted more
mailed in Maine took 20 days to arrive in passengers and when the population stood at 8.4 million. specialized crops for
Charleston, South Carolina, because of freight. Popular sale in regional
the scarcity and roughness of the roads. demand and congressional policy markets. Farmers in New England and
The War of 1812—which lasted until encouraged the creation of post offices the states of the Mid-Atlantic seaboard
1815—encouraged people to build better along the frontiers, and soon the nation used cash from these market sales to buy
roads and connections among the various had more postal clerks than soldiers. improved equipment, which reduced
COTTON GIN states for the purpose of defense. After the The telegraph appeared in the 1840s their labor costs and increased their yields.
war, growing markets, westward migration, following alongside the railroads, as Steel cutting blades, threshers, iron plows,

14
 T H E S TAT E O F T H E N AT I O N

A F T ER
“ The greatness of America lies At the start of the Civil War, about a
not in being more enlightened quarter of U.S. factory workers were
women. Five years later, the proportion

than any other nation, but rather in had risen to a third.

MODEL WORKING CONDITIONS

her ability to repair her faults.” By 1860, the United States’ largest industrial
complex was Lowell, Massachusetts, whose
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, FRENCH HISTORIAN, IN DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, 1835 textile mills were famous for their “Mill Girls.”
The Lowell mills had been set up as a social
manufacture that was soon used to African Americans faced racism experiment to avoid the harsh conditions of
produce other goods, such as clocks, and legal barriers, preventing full British mill towns. Young, single women from
sewing machines, and farm equipment. participation in society. farms and small towns as far away as Maine made
This simplification of the manufacturing Life in the South was a very up the bulk of the workers. Employers promised
process, known as the “American different matter. Between 1800 and parents that each girl would be provided
system,” greatly reduced the costs of 1861, the southern United States with room and board in a supervised dormitory
production and finished goods. New became the world’s largest and richest and that church attendance on the one day off
Englanders pioneered the first large, slave society. Plantations in the South was mandatory. The women published their own
water-powered factories, employing generated vast wealth, while periodical, The Lowell Offering, and had access
local women to produce the numbers of those to circulating libraries, musical instruments,
cotton textiles. enslaved rose, as did and traveling lecturers.
By the 1830s, U.S. their monetary After the war, the Lowell mills became more
industry had gained value. New states dependent on French Canadian and European
unstoppable such as Texas, immigrants, until by 1900 nearly half the city’s
momentum. In as well as new population was foreign-born.
1807, there were lands that had
fewer than 20 been seized WOMEN TAKING CHARGE
cotton mills with from Native In the South, there were fewer factories, but
around 8,000 Americans drew outside the wealthy planter class, most white
spindles for making thousands of white women were accustomed to hard work on
thread; by 1831, a men seeking to make smaller farms, which had few if any slaves. The
greater number of mills A slave economy quick profits on virgin chief difference the war made was that many
Voting in a rural community had nearly 1.2 million While the North grew rich through industrial soil. Tens of thousands women had to take on the running of farms
George Bingham’s painting The County Election 1852 spindles. Steam engines processes developed in Europe, the sources of slaves were or plantations in the absence of their menfolk.
shows the democratic system in operation, as residents transformed mining and of wealth in the South were raw materials— separated from their
from many walks of life come together to cast their vote. In iron production, chiefly cotton—grown and picked by slaves. families in the older
the 1800s, voting was still very much a white, male domain. powered mills and seaboard states and
workshops, and moved goods by rail and sold to the new ones in the Southwest. bulk of American cotton exports—nearly
and horse-drawn rakes enabled one water. Factories replaced craftsmen and The slave population grew from 700,000 75 percent of the cotton Britain used
farmer to do the work that formerly household production of daily items. A in 1790 to four million in 1860. came from the United States. But the
needed six men. In the Northeast, the “market revolution” stimulated far- labor of slaves and production of cotton
growing populations in mill towns and reaching changes in American society Cotton-based economy were not merely matters for the South.
urban centers required increasing and the economy. On the Southern plantations, slaves The entire domestic economy was bound
quantities of meat, corn, wheat, wool, cultivated sugar, rice, and tobacco and up in them. Western food fed the slave
fruit, vegetables, and dairy produce. North and South diverge many acquired the skills necessary to population, which grew and tended the
There was a steady drift of people In 1808, a ban on the importation of keep a plantation operating. It was cotton, while early Northeastern textile
to the expanding cities. Seven out of slaves—which had been prohibited by cotton, however, that dominated, and as and shoe factories sold their output to
eight immigrants who arrived in the Constitution until that date— production soared, slaves worked ever the South for masters to provide for
the United States became the law. longer hours in the cotton fields. Cotton their slaves. Firms in New York City and
before 1860 settled
in cities such as
New York, Boston,
4 MILLION The number
of bales of
cotton produced annually in the United States
Many Americans
hoped slavery
would gradually
was the key American export, accounting
for more than half of all goods exported
through 1850. In 1860, Britain took the
New England benefited by providing
financial backing and insurance for the
burgeoning cotton and slave trades.
Philadelphia, by 1860. Each bale weighed 450lb (204kg). decline. North of
Pittsburgh, the Mason-Dixon
Rochester, and Chicago—all north of Line, individual states had already
the Mason-Dixon Line. This historic passed laws banning or slowly
geographic line was surveyed in the abolishing slavery. The free African-
1760s by the astronomer Charles American population grew rapidly in
Mason and the surveyor Jeremiah the North, particularly in urban areas,
Dixon to resolve a border dispute where African Americans founded
between Pennsylvania and Maryland. their own churches and schools.
Many also sheltered runaways from
Industry takes off enslavement. Although free, Northern
Between 1815 and 1860, the people
of the United States transformed the Boom town
country’s economy. Following his With the Erie Canal providing vital transportation links,
development of the cotton gin, Eli Utica grew from a small settlement into a thriving city.
Whitney devised a system of Its population exploded during the 1820s, with
interchangeable parts for weapons many workers staying on after the canal’s completion.

15
 AN I M P ER F ECT U N ION

A Question of Union
As America’s population grew and people moved west, the driving forces in politics were domestic
issues and personal rivalry, complicated by conflicts between federal power and the rights of
individual states. The War with Mexico increased political divisions along sectional lines.

T
he nature and practice of American residency requirements. By the 1830s, national appeal into a vision of a strong
politics changed fundamentally in however, most states had rewritten executive that defended the people
the decades following 1820. The their laws to expand suffrage and against abuse by both local and state
Federal Constitution and state laws office-holding to nearly all white governments and private interests.
originally restricted voting and office- male citizens. Fewer people shared In this he was opposed by the Whig
holding to those who met property and the Founders’ ideals of political service Party, dominated by a redoubtable trio,
by the best educated and wealthy. the “Great Triumvirate,” comprising
Politics became a profession, as men Senators John C. Calhoun of South
B EFOR E sought office, Carolina, Henry
wealth, and status Andrew Jackson’s supporters came from Clay of Kentucky,
by service to a every state for his inaugural celebration in and Daniel Webster
When slave-owning Missouri petitioned political party. The 1829, horrifying many by surging into the of Massachusetts.
for statehood in 1819, the more Democratic Party, White House and climbing onto tables until The Whigs firmly
populous North dominated the House in particular, bowls of punch were carried onto the lawn. asserted the
of Representatives. In the Senate, 11 free pioneered a system supremacy of
states to 11 slave states kept the balance. of party discipline that dispensed jobs Congress over the president. Jackson
at the local, state, and national level. easily won a second term in 1832,
THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE growing in his conviction that the John C. Calhoun
Missouri’s petition provoked mixed responses. A The Jacksonian age president represented the popular will. One of the “Great Triumvirate,” Calhoun was a
debate in the Senate about the future of One man who mastered the new politics His belief was displayed in a series of brilliant defender of Southern slaveholding interests.
slavery saw the first attempt to block admission of personality and orchestrated crises, triggered by the inconsistent Unusually, he served as vice president under two
of a new slave state. To restore calm, Henry Clay campaigns was Andrew Jackson of ways that the sections of the presidents: John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.
of Kentucky arranged a series of measures known Tennessee. Voters admired his record as
as the Missouri Compromise. In 1820, Missouri the victor of New Orleans—the last
entered the Union as a slave state and Maine as a major battle of the War of 1812—and as
free one. Slavery was barred from the Louisiana an Indian fighter. Jackson’s rise to wealth
Purchase north of Missouri’s southern border. and influence from rural poverty made
him a symbol of the “age of the common
END OF AN ERA man.” As a contestant in a bitterly
The departure of James Monroe from the White contested presidential election in 1824,
House in 1825 marked the passing of the he narrowly lost to John Quincy Adams.
Revolutionary generation. Virginians and But his turn for the White House came
slaveholders had held the presidency for 32 after the 1828 election, which he won
of the United States’ first 36 years, due to the 3/5 on the Democratic ticket.
clause that overrepresented Southern whites. Like many frontier men, Jackson
resented the dominance of the East. He
was the first president to translate his

N E W S PA P E R E D I T O R A N D R E F O R M E R 1 8 1 1 – 7 2

HORACE GREELEY
In 1831, Horace Greeley moved from New
Hampshire to New York City where he
founded the news and literary journal, the
New Yorker. He went on to edit the Whig
Party’s campaign paper, The Log Cabin,
before setting up the New York Tribune in
1841. For the next 30 years he advocated
an eclectic array of political and social
causes and used his paper to oppose the
“slave power” that ruled the nation. An early
convert to the Republican Party, he
offered his printing presses to the party
to mass-produce campaign material.
After the Civil War, Greeley tried to
challenge President Ulysses S. Grant
in the 1872 campaign. Ridiculed
and soundly defeated, he died
soon after the election.

16
 A QU ESTION OF U N ION

within the borders of the state. Congress TARIFFS Customs duties that are levied
Henry Clay Campaign ribbon denied South Carolina’s right to opt out on certain imported goods. These taxes
A social lion with great charisma, Senator Henry Clay and authorized Jackson to do whatever are usually designed to protect domestic
received the Whig Party’s presidential nomination in was necessary to enforce federal law. producers of similar goods.
1832 and 1844, but was unsuccessful both times. He The Nullification Crisis came to an end
advocated protective tariffs to aid Western development. in 1833 when South Carolina, finding Later presidents were more supportive,
itself isolated and its claims rejected by however, and in 1845 Texas joined the
nation responded to the rival claims other Southern states, backed down. United States. Mexico rejected the
of federal power and states’ rights. annexation, and hostilities began when
Southern states had long coveted War with Mexico American dragoons engaged Mexican
Indian lands east of the Mississippi. As Jackson’s term ended, his approach cavalry along the disputed Rio Grande
Although federal treaties and the to another crisis was more cautious. border. On May 10, 1846, President
U.S. Supreme Court denied these states In the 1820s, many Americans had James K. Polk declared, “American
the right to steal Indian territory, emigrated to the territory of Texas, and blood has been shed on American soil.”
Jackson chose to support the state of by 1835 were seeking its independence. Despite the opposition of influential
Georgia’s right to seize Indian land. He After trying to negotiate with Mexican figures such as New York Tribune editor
sent in the army to ensure the removal leader Antonio López de Santa Anna, Horace Greeley, Congress declared war
of Cherokee and other tribes that the Texans took to arms. In the ensuing three days later.
resisted. Thousands died on this “Trail of hostilities, they rallied from defeat at In September, an army under
Tears” as the refugees trekked west. the Alamo in March 1836 to capture General Zachary Taylor captured the
Santa Anna at San Jacinto a few Mexican city of Monterey. Santa Anna,
Nullification Crisis months later. They then established whose career had taken several twists
Disputes also arose over federal tariffs, their own republic and inquired about since his capture in 1836, returned to
or taxes, intended to protect industry in joining the Union. Jackson and his Mexico from exile and declared himself
the North. The South resented the tariff successor, Martin Van Buren, demurred president once more. In February 1847,
because it made European imports into for fear of precipitating war with Mexico. Taylor defeated him at the Battle of
the region more costly. In 1830, South Buena Vista. In March, General
Carolina considered refusing to enforce The Battle of Buena Vista Winfield Scott launched the largest
a tariff passed by Congress in 1828. At Buena Vista in February 1847, General Zachary Taylor amphibious landing ever, when his
When another tariff was passed in used his artillery to such good effect that he defeated a 12,000 troops disembarked near
1832, South Carolina declared that this larger force under the Mexican leader, Santa Anna. The Veracruz. Scott’s army finally entered
and the 1828 tariff were null and void victory helped propel him into the presidency in 1849. Mexico City on September 14.

“Our federal Union—it must A F T ER

and shall be preserved.” The War with Mexico 1846–48 was

ANDREW JACKSON, 1830 generally popular in the South, but split the
North and reopened discussions on slavery.
The philosopher and writer Henry David
Thoreau went to jail rather than pay taxes
during the war. Others saw it as part of the
nation’s Manifest Destiny to
occupy the entire
continent.

SCHOOL OF WAR
This war served as
the training ground
for future Civil War
commanders,
including Winfield Scott,
Ulysses S. Grant, and SCOTT’S MEDAL
Robert E. Lee .
They learned to wage war far from supply lines,
command and train soldiers, and participate in
operations with the Navy. Scott was rewarded
with a gold medal from Congress, after his
troops occupied Mexico City in September 1847.

NEW BORDERS
In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which
ended the war on February 2, 1848, the
Americans gained land including the modern
states of Arizona, New Mexico, California, and
parts of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. Apart
from some minor issues, the treaty finalized
the borders of the United States.

17
 AN I M P ER F ECT U N ION

Slavery Divides the Country

In the 30 years prior to the Civil War, churches, political parties, and families split on the nature of the
American republic and the status of slavery. Victory over Mexico fixed the national boundaries, but
the question of how new lands would be organized—free or slave—fractured national institutions.

E
ven before the War with Mexico across party lines that Congressman David Wilmot not only morally superior to a slave
ended, the debate about the future foreshadowed future Wilmot himself proposed his proviso on society, but also more efficient
of slavery in the newly conquered Northern opposition to essentially racist grounds. He intended economically. By 1849, they had won
territories divided Congress. In 1846, the extension of slavery to preserve Western lands for white 14 seats in the U.S. House of
Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman to the West. In the men free of “the disgrace” of mixing Representatives and two in the Senate.
David Wilmot introduced a proviso, Senate, however, the slavery and free labor. At the same time, Northern workers
or amendment, to an Army finance proviso met defeat. feared economic competition from
bill that would ban slavery from all Southerners condemned During this same period, black labor. As tens of thousands of
territories acquired from Mexico. In it as an attempt to block more than 800,000 European immigrants arrived in the
the House, 52 out of 56 Northern their right to take their slaves from the Eastern North, urban crowding and a scarcity
Democrats and all Northern Whigs property to the territories. states were sold or moved of work increased pressures on the free
voted for the Wilmot Proviso—a unity to work on the new cotton black community there, with riots and
Slave ownership lands of the Southwest, mob actions from New England
The South by this time was a breaking the ties of slave families through the Midwest.
B EFOR E socially and economically diverse in the process. It was against this background that
region. In the mountainous areas of Southerners started to see their society the federal government had to decide
northern Alabama, eastern Kentucky, as distinctive and threatened. Politicians the future of the territory acquired
Tennessee, and western Virginia, there and intellectuals began to defend after the War with Mexico. The
were few plantations. Most whites farmed slavery as a “positive good.” Paternalism solution, the Compromise of 1850,
to support their families and traded on the plantation was compared with
locally. The majority of these yeomen the situation of Northern workers
farmers owned no slaves, although desperately seeking employment,
they still supported the institution. which created class tension.

Splits emerge
350,000 The number of
Southerners
who owned slaves in 1850—less than
Church ministers and congregations
were divided. Well before the rise of
25 percent of the white population. Half of sectional political parties, the three
slaveowners had five slaves or fewer; only largest Protestant groups—Baptists,
one percent owned a hundred or more. Presbyterians, and Methodists—
formally split their national
It was on the cotton and tobacco denominations into sectional factions.
plantations where most slaves toiled. The Presbyterians were first to split in
ANDREW JACKSON Other slaves were house servants, and 1837, followed by the Baptists in 1844.
a growing number worked as skilled In the Methodist Church, the largest
In the 1820s and 1830s, sectional divisions artisans or were hired out in urban denomination, a lengthy debate over
over slavery were always an issue, but areas. The price of a slave quadrupled the right of a slaveholder to serve as
never dominated politics in the way they between 1800 and 1860, indicating a a presiding bishop triggered the
would after the War with Mexico. growing demand for black labor even formation of the breakaway Methodist
as the number of slaves increased. Episcopal Church South in 1846. For
THE NULLIFICATION CRISIS the vast majority of Southerners,
Men like President Andrew Jackson slavery was not a sin—slaveowners
❮❮ 16–17 were passionate supporters provided their slaves with Christian
of the Union and strongly resisted the instruction and “rescued”
demands of individual states whenever them from barbarism and
they threatened national unity. One heathenism.
such moment was the Nullification Northerners, meanwhile,
Crisis of 1832 ❮❮ 17 when, in an were fearful of this new
assertion of states’ rights, South Carolina militant defense of slavery.
refused to implement the import tariffs As West and East grew closer
imposed by the federal government. through railroads, telegraph,
and print, the South was
SLAVERY AND THE WEST aggressively seeking to send
As cotton production spread into the new slavery into new territories and
lands of Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, states where it had been outlawed for
Arkansas, and Texas, the soil of the Eastern decades. One response to this trend
states’ plantations was becoming Sutter’s gold was the Free-Soil Party, established in
exhausted. The expansion of cotton production In 1848, John Sutter found gold on his land in Calfornia, 1848 under the slogan, “Free Soil, Free
meant the spread of slavery to the West. sparking off the Gold Rush. The free-or-slave status of the Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men.”
new territory proved controversial. Pro-slavery advocates Free-Soilers contended that a society
pointed out that slaves could work in gold mining. where free men worked free soil was

18
 S L AV E R Y D I V I D E S T H E CO U N T R Y

A F T ER
consisted of five bills designed to by a large fine, for any citizen to resist
balance the interests of North and or refuse to assist in the recapture of
South. These bills admitted California suspected runaways, even in states that Writers on both sides of the the inhumanity of the system
to the Union as a free state, thus opposed slavery. argument grew steadily more 20–21 ❯❯. One surprisingly
ending the balance in the Senate impassioned in their defense powerful ally in their cause was
between slave states and free states Compromise and growth or condemnation of slavery. the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
that had lasted since the Missouri In the decade following the Compromise, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Compromise of 1820—senators from Southern economic development LEGITIMIZING SLAVERY 20 ❯❯, published in 1852.
the free states would now outnumber surged. Railroad mileage quadrupled, Religious leaders across the South The book was serialized in
those from the slave ones. As a with much of the track laid by slaves. marshaled arguments such as the newspapers and tens of
concession to the South, the territories By 1860, an independent South would existence of slavery in the Bible thousands of copies sold
of Utah and New Mexico were to have been the fourth wealthiest nation and St. Paul’s injunction to slaves to across the nation, reaching
choose slavery or freedom according to on Earth. The number of slaveholders obey their masters as justification. a far larger sympathetic
the principle of “popular sovereignty.” decreased; by 1860, the percentage of Most presidents, Supreme Court audience than earlier
The Fugitive Slave Act, which had been whites with slaves had fallen to less justices, and Congressional leaders abolitionist appeals.
federal law since 1793, was given new than a quarter. But slavery was not had been slaveholders. The
teeth. It became an offense, punishable dying or unprofitable. Constitution sanctioned slavery VIOLENCE ERUPTS
and promised to protect private The Compromise of 1850 averted

“Our slaves are black, of another property. A man’s property—his

slaves—should be protected wherever
he went in the United States. FIGURINE OF UNCLE TOM
conflict for the time being. But in
1854, the act that established the
territories of Kansas
and an inferior race. The THE CASE FOR ABOLITION
and Nebraska provoked
violent clashes between opponents and supporters

status in which we have placed In the face of these biblical and historical
justifications of slavery, abolitionists in the
of slavery. One prominent abolitionist involved in the
fighting in Kansas was John Brown, who was
North also appealed to Christian doctrine and subsequently hanged after gaining lasting noteriety
them is an elevation …” preached ever more vociferously against for leading the Raid at Harpers Ferry 24–25 ❯❯.

SOUTH CAROLINA U.S. SENATOR JAMES HENRY HAMMOND, MARCH 4, 1858

Debating the Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay urges the Senate to accept a package
of bills designed to appease Northerners and
Southerners. Eventually, the measures he proposed
were all passed, but as separate acts.

19
 AN I M P ER F ECT U N ION

The Fury of Abolition

The great majority of prominent abolitionists were white, many of them pastors who were loath to religiously inspired activists saw blacks
preach a doctrine of violent insurrection. With their personal experience and hatred of slavery, black and whites as one family created by
God, although many remained
abolitionists challenged these white abolitionists who preached pacifism and patience. paternalistic toward blacks and were
reluctant to accept the notion of full

D
avid Walker, a free black, wrote social equality. Garrison and his
B EFOR E his Appeal to the Colored Citizens of followers also alienated more traditional
the World in 1829, demanding the abolitionists by supporting women’s
immediate abolition of slavery. Echoing rights. Some Southerners saw a link
Opposition to slavery began in the colonial the Declaration of Independence, he between The Liberator and Nat Turner’s
era, but in the 30 years prior to the Civil War, asserted that blacks were Americans insurrection and demanded that
abolitionist organizations formed to promote and entitled to the rights of citizens. Garrison’s paper be shut down.
freedom at the local and national level. He denounced moderate anti-slavery
leaders who advocated sending free The postal campaign of 1835
RELIGIOUS INSPIRATION blacks to the struggling colony of The abolitionists were a tiny minority,
Few white Americans actively opposed slavery Liberia, and accused the United States but they used newspapers and the
before 1830, but the abolition of slavery in of hypocrisy as a Christian nation. postal system to spread their message—
many Northern states, by the British Empire, Shortly after its publication, copies of even to the South. In 1835, members of
and in most of the new nations of Latin Walker’s Appeal were discovered in the AAS gathered the names and
America marked its continuation in the South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and addresses of politicians, clergymen,
American South as an anomaly. Louisiana, carried South by free black Am I not a Man and a Brother? businessmen, and prominent citizens to
Numerous religious revivalist sailors. White Southerners feared that London abolitionists campaigning for the end of slavery create a national mailing list. They then
movements, particularly across the North, free blacks and sympathetic Northerners in the British Empire produced this copper medallion, mailed abolitionist papers, pamphlets,
stimulated newly energized evangelicals to were inciting slaves to rebellion. To designed by the firm of Josiah Wedgwood, in the 1790s. tracts, children’s books, and sheet music
seek the perfection of American society by prevent such insurrections, most U.S. abolitionists adopted its motif of the kneeling slave. across the nation, including the South.
eliminating shameful social and political Southern states banned teaching all Southerners were outraged. Many
evils, such as slavery. blacks—slave or free—to read. the Virginia legislature debated the Southern states had already banned the
future of slavery in the state. Some circulation of abolitionist literature, and
DIFFERING APPROACHES Rebellion in Virginia recognized the evils of slavery; others President Andrew Jackson authorized
White abolitionists attacked slavery as In 1831, Southerners’ worst fears were feared that it slowed economic postmasters in each community to
a moral and political evil even as they realized when the slave Nat Turner development and discouraged censor the mails as they saw fit. Mail
disagreed among themselves. One faction led an insurrection in Southampton immigration. Yet others defended slavery bags were opened and literature deemed
demanded immediate emancipation and County, Virginia. Turner and his allies as a financial inflammatory or
complete political equality for blacks. They
would tolerate no compromises with
slaveholders and offered no compensation.
swiftly moved between isolated farms,
killing all the whites they encountered,
some 70 people in all. Terrified Virginians
necessity and as a
part of God’s plan
to Christianize and
1,350 The number of chapters in dangerous was
the American Anti-Slavery seized and
Society in 1838—a more than threefold frequently burned.
Gradualists hoped to minimize social killed anyone believed associated with civilize Africans. increase in three years. With 150,000 Even Northerners
and economic upheaval by emancipating the revolt and finally captured Turner The possibility members, the society was a small but opposed to these
slaves slowly and providing owners with two months later and executed him. The of gradual vociferous proportion of the population. tactics by
some kind of compensation. revolt underscored the lie of contented emancipation was abolitionists were
slaves who harbored no ambitions for discussed, but in the end, by a close vote, troubled by this restriction on the free
freedom or vengeance. After the revolt, it was decided to end public discussion of speech of fellow white citizens.
the issue and to regulate the slave Southern politicians demanded that
community more tightly. public “agitation” about slavery cease as
ABOLITIONIST AND AUTHOR 1811–96
a matter of safety and sectional peace.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE William Lloyd Garrison Southern Democrats and Whigs agreed
That same year, 1831, William Lloyd that the right of citizens to petition
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Garrison printed the first copy of his Congress on the subject of slavery must
Cabin at the peak of Northern resentment abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. also stop. A “gag rule” was devised that
against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. He saw slavery as a grave national sin blocked presentation of citizen petitions
First appearing in 40 installments in the anti- and demanded its immediate abolition. in Congress between 1836 and 1844.
slavery newspaper, the National Era, it was Two years later, he helped form the
published as a book by a Boston company American Anti-Slavery Society (AAS) Violence against abolitionists
in 1852. It would outsell all others, except with many members drawn from In a nation where slavery was legal
the Bible, throughout the 19th century. evangelical churches in New England and its products the core of the export
Southerners resented its portrayal of slavery and western New York. Many of these economy, abolitionists often met a
and the audacity of a Northern woman who
dared condemn it. Among Northerners,
many responded with tears and pity for the
fictional slaves—a sympathy that many had
“ Strike for your lives and
rarely felt for those actually enslaved. The
book created an emotional climate that liberties … Rather die freemen
made more Northerners receptive to
anti-slavery appeals and sectional claims of
the moral superiority of the free states.
than live to be slaves.”
HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET, IN A SPEECH DELIVERED IN BUFFALO, AUGUST 21, 1843

20
 THE FURY OF ABOLITION

A F T ER

Even as Northern views on abolition changed

in the 1850s, an 11-year lawsuit came to
fruition and fueled the abolitionist cause.

THE DRED SCOTT CASE

Since the mid-1840s a lawsuit
brought by a slave, Dred Scott,
had slowly worked its way from
the courts of Missouri to the
U.S. Supreme Court. Scott
claimed that when his owner
had moved to the free
territories in the upper
Midwest, he and his
family were entitled to
their freedom.
In January 1857, Chief DRED SCOTT
Justice Roger Taney, a Democrat,
delivered a decision that shocked the North. He
ruled that Scott’s case had no legal standing,
since blacks could never become citizens
and were “unfit to associate with the white race.”
He declared that Congress had no right to
restrict slavery in the territories. As
Southerners celebrated, Republicans seized on
the decision as more evidence of a Slave Power
conspiracy and warned that it would lead to the
legalizing of slavery across the nation.
The decision in fact aided the anti-slavery
cause and swelled the new Republican party,
leading to its election victory in 1860 .

growing sectional rift over the place of

slavery in the West and in the nation
made hostile Northerners listen again
to abolitionist critiques of the South.

Political anti-slavery
Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, many
Northerners grew increasingly opposed
to the spread of slavery. These anti-
slavery supporters did not necessarily
advocate emancipation. Often hostile to
Southern interests, many were simply
opposed to the existence of more slave
A cover for The Liberator newspaper Illinois, one attack proved fatal. Elijah petition failed to halt the growing states. Some used anti-slavery as a way
William Lloyd Garrison’s weekly newspaper campaigned Lovejoy moved to St. Louis in 1834 to spread of anti-slavery and abolition of playing the political system, running
for the abolition of slavery from 1831 right through the serve as a Presbyterian minister and societies. Attacks and attempts to limit candidates, and seeking office. Garrison
Civil War. The last issue appeared in 1865. publisher of a religious newspaper in freedom of speech troubled a Northern and his followers rejected any political
whose pages he advocated abolition. public that had so far been indifferent activity as corrupt, while others such as
hostile response. Many people resented After witnessing a slave burned alive at or opposed to abolitionists’ goals. Issues Frederick Douglass were suspicious of
their attacks on the political system and the stake, Lovejoy condemned slavery, about the expansion of slavery and a the absence of concern for black rights.
critiques of America, while an even the legal system, and the thousands Events of the 1850s
larger number rejected the idea of who had joined the mob. His press was would move radical ideas
political and civic equality for blacks. destroyed in 1836 and he moved across about slavery into the
Occasionally, Northerners showed the river to Alton where he set up the political mainstream in
their hostility toward abolitionists by Alton Observer. His anti-slavery editorials the North, a gradual shift
attacking them physically. Between angered many of Alton’s citizens, who observed by Southerners
1834 and 1838, approximately 30 such attacked his office three times and with anger and alarm.
attacks occurred. Buildings were destroyed his presses. In November,
torched, newspaper presses destroyed, 1837, Lovejoy and about 20 men were Mob rule in Illinois
and abolitionist speakers were shouted gathered to hide and protect a new A contemporary engraving shows
down and roughed up. Many of the press from a mob when shots were the attack on the warehouse in Alton
attacks were organized by political and exchanged and Lovejoy was killed. where abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy had
business leaders trying to prove to Yet mob violence, Southern hidden his printing press. In the riot,
Southerners that abolitionists were just condemnation, and Federal acceptance Lovejoy was fatally wounded by five
a deluded minority. However, in Alton, of censorship of the mail and right of bullets and the press destroyed.

21
 AN I M P ER F ECT U N ION

The Rise of the Republican Party

Founded to oppose the extension of slavery, the Republican Party in 1855 had organized members in fewer
than half the Northern states, most of which often ran third to the Democrats in elections. Less than a year later,
the Republicans had transformed themselves from a disorganized coalition into a powerful sectional party.

I
n May 1856, three violent events— attacked waiter Thomas Keating,
two in Washington, D.C., and one in triggering a dining room melee that
Kansas—convinced many white ended with Herbert shooting the waiter
Northerners that the South really did dead. The Republicans printed
constitute a threat to their rights and handbills, speeches, and pamphlets
liberties. The unconnected events stressing slaveholders’ disdain for
inspired Northern enthusiasm for the “menials” and portraying the attack as
Republican Party—founded just two a blow against white workers and
years earlier by a coalition that included farmers. Party editors quoted
abolitionists, former anti-slavery Whigs, inflammatory items from the
and former Free-Soilers—and led to a Southern press as proof of the
sudden surge in support for the party. tyrannical nature of slaveholders.
On May 8, Alabama-born Two weeks later, on May 22,
Congressman Philemon Herbert, Senator Charles Sumner of
furious when he was refused service at Massachusetts was brutally beaten
the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., on the floor of the Senate by a
Southern congressman, Preston
Brooks. Republicans, joined by a
B EFOR E number of former Democrats,
organized “indignation meetings” that to prove Republican assertions of Forcing slavery down the throat of a Free-Soiler
drew thousands of Northern men and Southern “Slave Power” and its threat The Free-Soil Party opposed the spread of slavery in the
In the 1850s, anti-Catholicism and concerns women into public condemnation of to white men, whether they were West. This cartoon refers to the divisive Kansas-Nebraska
about both slavery and immigration drew the assault. laborers, settlers, or senators. Act of 1854, after which many Free-Soilers chose to join
Americans to new political parties. The failure of the president, the the emerging Republican Party.
A climate of fear Congress, and the courts to render
NEW POLITICAL PARTIES That same evening, reports arrived that justice as demanded by an enraged filthy operatives, small-fisted farmers,
As the Whig party faded, local nativist groups Lawrence, Kansas, the center of Northern public added indignity to and moonstruck theorists ... hardly fit
organized into the anti-immigration “Know free-state settlers, had been sacked and a sense of imminent danger. The for association with a Southern
Nothing” Party. At the same time, many burned by pro-slavery militia from Republican Party took advantage of gentleman’s body servant.” Such
Northerners who advocated “Free Soil” Missouri. Stories circulated of murder, this and used an extensive network provocative statements only served to
in the West joined anti-Southern and anti-slavery pillage, and rape, but in fact the only of editors, ministers, and party workers remind Northerners that Republicans
coalitions that became the Republican Party. casualty was a to print and stood ready to defend their interests

SLAVE POWER
Many Northerners feared the expansion of
Missouri raider,
killed by a brick
falling from a
1,342,345 The number
of popular
votes for the Republican candidate John
distribute a vast
amount of political
propaganda. The
against the South.

Rapidly growing support

slavery into the West. Southern political power burning hotel. C. Frémont in the presidential election of Southern press Heated debates and political violence
was frequently characterized as a conspiracy or Confrontations 1856: 33.1 percent of the votes cast. retaliated. In May erupted over what party was fit to rule.
“Slave Power.” These perceived threats to over slavery in 1856, the Enquirer The rapid spread of anger at Southern
white liberties in the North mobilized popular Kansas suddenly became part of a in Richmond, Virginia, urged that attitudes about slavery enabled the
support for the Republicans more than any moral larger pattern of violence. Previously “vulgar abolitionists ... must be lashed Republican Party to attract both
commitment to the abolition of slavery and skeptical opponents of the Republicans into submission.” Later that year, abolitionists and moderates willing
justice for African Americans ❮❮ 20–21. now accepted that “The Slave Power an Alabama editor fumed, “Free to vote against Southern institutions
is the same in Missouri as it is in society, we sicken at the name ... a and culture.
Washington.” These violent acts seemed conglomeration of greasy mechanics, The aim of stopping the expansion
of slavery unified the Republican Party.
Slave holders cringed at this political
KEY MOMENT
dogma, given the increase of
THE CANING OF MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR CHARLES SUMNER populations in the North and West.
Southerners feared losing the political
On May 19–20, 1856, Charles Sumner desk, beating him unconscious with his balance in Congress, which protected
delivered a two-day speech in the cane, which shattered as a result of the their interests. They knew that slavery
Senate attacking slavery and its sexual violent blows. Brooks believed that ultimately would be subjected to the
abuses. Two days later Congressman Sumner’s speech had slandered his uncle, will of the majority.
Preston Brooks of South Carolina, Senator Andrew Butler. For a party that had been founded
having read the text of the speech, This unprecedented attack on the Senate as recently as 1854, the Republicans
was so enraged that he marched into floor shocked Northerners, who considered achieved a remarkable result in their
the Senate and attacked Sumner at his it an assault on free speech. Republicans first presidential election. Their
used the attack to create effective campaign candidate John C. Frémont carried 11
THE SUMNER CANING, A rhetoric “proving” the threat to Northern states to Democratic candidate James
PROVOCATIVE EXAMPLE
OF SOUTHERN CHIVALRY liberties posed by Southern slaveholders. Buchanan’s 19. The 1856 election was
seen by them as a “victorious defeat.”

22
T H E R I S E O F T H E R E P U B L I C A N PA R T Y

“ The question
to be decided
is who shall
rule this
nation—the
Slave States
or the Free
States.”
THE FREMONTER, AUGUST 22, 1856

Republican running mates in the 1856 election

The presidential candidate was John C. Frémont, senator
for California in 1850–51. His vice presidential
candidate, William L. Dayton, won the nomination over
Abraham Lincoln. They campaigned under the slogan
“Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men.”

A F T ER

The Republican Party exercised increasing

power in Congress, but it prepared for the
election of 1860 by seeking candidates
who could carry the more moderately
anti-slavery states it lost in 1856.

A NORTH IS BORN
Republicans tapped into the resentment of
Northerners who knew, based on the 1850
census, that they had the majority of the nation’s
population, wealth, and industry. They used
corruption in Kansas and the Dred
Scott decision by the U.S.
Supreme Court ❮❮ 20–21
to raise fears of the spread of
slavery throughout the Union.

THE 1860 ELECTION

Four groups competed
in the election: the
Republican Party, the
Constitutional Union Party
(which also advocated
Union), and the Northern
and Southern factions of
a now split Democratic
Party. The Republicans
selected a moderate
candidate in
Abraham Lincoln ,
who won without a
single electoral vote
from the South and
without a popular majority. REPUBLICAN
RIBBON

23
 Inside the engine house
This engraving in a contemporary newspaper
imagines the scene inside the engine house just
before the Marines broke down the door. The
hostages taken by Brown are standing on the left.

B E FOR E

In 1858, the year the ruling Democratic

Party lost control of Congress, many
The Raid at Harpers Ferry
Republicans made powerful speeches on On October 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown and 21 men, including five free blacks and three of
how the issue of slavery divided the nation. Brown’s sons, crossed the Potomac River and marched to Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in the rain. They cut
HALF SLAVE AND HALF FREE telegraph lines, rounded up hostages, and seized parts of the federal arsenal.
Most famous of these speeches was Abraham

W
Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech delivered ithin 12 hours of Brown’s raid, failures. His deeply religious parents older boys to death with broadswords.
in Springfield, Illinois, in May 1858, in which he militia and locals trapped him instilled in him a hatred of slavery that In another incident at Osawatomie, he
declared, “I believe this government cannot and his men in the federal led to an early involvement in abolition. and his men killed a large number of
endure, permanently half slave and half free.” armory’s fire engine house. By He served as a member of the pro-slavery raiders from Missouri. These
The speech went on to refer to the situation in midnight the next day, Colonel “Underground Railroad” and exploits gained Brown an infamous
Kansas and the upholding of the Dred Scott Robert E. Lee arrived with 87 lived for two years in a reputation and the nickname “Old
decision ❮❮ 20–21. Marines to rescue the freedman’s community. By Osawatomie Brown.”
hostages and subdue the the age of 50, Brown saw
IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT raiders. Brown refused to himself as ordained by God Funding the raid
Even more inflammatory was a speech delivered surrender and the Marines to avenge the evils of slavery. Brown now seized upon the idea of
by New York Senator William Seward in rushed the engine house, In August 1855, he joined five inciting slave insurrection. He believed
October 1858 in Rochester. He argued that an battering down the door, of his sons in Kansas to fight that if slaves rose up in great numbers,
“irrepressible conflict” existed within the killing or wounding against the pro-slavery the economy of the South would
country. The nation “must and will … become many of the remaining faction there. Following collapse. In spite of his actions in Kansas,
either entirely a slave-holding nation or a raiders, and collecting the reports of the “sack” he traveled openly in New England,
free-labor nation.” Democrats condemned the the hostages unharmed. of Lawrence, Kansas, routinely appearing at abolitionist
speech as dangerous agitation and when, a year Brown sought vengeance. meetings and private parties. His exploits
later, John Brown led the attack on Harpers Abolitionist roots Robert E. Lee He led six men, including and appearance—simple clothing and an
Ferry, Northern Democratic and Southern Born in Connecticut By a curious quirk of fate, the four of his sons, to the intensity of expression—attracted those
newspapers blamed Seward’s theory of in 1800, Brown as a man who would subsequently homes of pro-slavery tired of simply talking about slavery.
an “irrepressible conflict” for Brown’s actions. youth and adult moved command the armies of the families living near One by one, Brown gathered a small
regularly, usually after Confederacy led the Federal troops Pottawatomie Creek and group of radical abolitionists, six in all,
one of his many business that foiled the Harpers Ferry raid. hacked the men and who would support and fund his fight

24
 T H E R A I D AT H A R P E R S F E R R Y

Confiscated pike
This pike was confiscated at the time of John Brown’s
capture at Harpers Ferry. Brown commissioned 1,000
“ I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the
such weapons with a view to arming insurgent slaves.
crimes of this guilty land will never be purged
against slavery. The “Secret Six” were
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a
minister and future Civil War officer;
away, but with blood.”
Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, a Boston A NOTE FROM BROWN TO HIS JAILER BEFORE HIS EXECUTION, DECEMBER 2, 1859
physician; Reverend Theodore Parker,
a renowned speaker and Unitarian of weapons. The Massachusetts-Kansas prominent abolitionist Frederick
minister; Franklin Sanborn, a friend of Committee provided him with 200 Douglass to participate in the raid. He
Thoreau and Emerson; Gerrit Smith, a Sharps rifles in 1857 and he paid a refused, warning Brown that the
wealthy reformer and philanthropist Connecticut blacksmith to craft 1,000 enterprise seemed doomed.
who had previously given Brown land pikes with 10-in (25-cm) blades. He
in the Adirondacks; and George Luther Sentenced to death
Stearns, a key financier of the Emigrant Brown’s raid and death inspired an Douglass’s misgivings proved
Aid Company, which funded settlement unknown writer or writers to compose correct. The attackers failed to
of Kansas by anti-slavery homesteaders. the marching song, “John Brown’s Body.” remove any of the arsenal’s
By the outbreak of the Civil War, it was weapons and only five escaped
Planning the raid already a favorite with Union troops. capture and death. Brown’s own
By the summer of 1859, Brown had trial was swift. He had been
switched his focus to Virginia. His target shipped 198 rifles and 950 of the pikes wounded in the raid, but was declared
was the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, to the Maryland farm near Harpers fit to stand to trial at Charles Town,
which would provide arms for some Ferry, where his men were to gather. Virginia, on October 27. Found guilty
18,000 slaves living in the surrounding At a secret meeting in Chambersburg, of treason against Virginia, he was
counties. He already had a large quantity Pennsylvania, Brown tried to persuade sentenced to hang on December 2.
Americans generally condemned
Brown’s violence, but a clear division
characterized views on his goals and John Brown’s last moments
personal courage. Abolitionist Lydia Maria As his legend grew, Brown’s “martyrdom” was wildly
Child wrote to Virginia Governor Henry romanticized by writers and artists. This apocryphal
Wise and offered to nurse Brown as he scene of Brown kissing a black baby on his way to the
awaited execution. Republican scaffold was painted in 1882–84 by Thomas Hovenden.
newspapers noted Brown’s extremism, but
reminded readers that it resulted from the
presence of slavery—a moral and political A F T ER
evil. Southern editors pointed out that no
slaves had joined Brown’s attack. On
October 26, 1859, a North Carolina paper, While many labeled Brown a fanatic or a
the Wilmington Daily Herald, wrote that lunatic, others—both in the North and the
this proved that “slaves love, honor, and South—cherished his memory, albeit for
obey their masters.” Those who wanted widely differing motives.
an independent Southern government
warned that only independence could FREE BLACKS PREPARE
protect Southern slavery from future After decades of ineffectual talk, a white
attacks by emboldened abolitionists. abolitionist had finally joined hands with black
men to attack slavery on its home soil. In the
Reactions to the execution North, free blacks organized military companies
Public sentiment was polarized between in cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, New York,
those who celebrated Brown’s execution and Pittsburgh. Brown was lionized, becoming
and those who publicly mourned him. a potent symbol and subject of a popular song
Southerners deeply resented Northern on the lips of black soldiers when they joined
expressions of support for Brown. the Union army in 1863 92- 93 ❯❯.
Especially galling was that national
figures, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, BOOST TO THE CAUSE OF SECESSION
compared Brown to Christ and his Fears of slave revolts wracked the South
gallows to the cross. A Richmond editor throughout 1860. Those intent on secession
remarked that the raid and public used Brown’s raid as a warning of the horrors of
responses to it “advanced the cause of insurrection. One such advocate, Edmund Ruffin
disunion more than any event … since of Virginia, went to great lengths to keep the
the formation of the government.” memory of the raid alive. He asked officials at
Harpers Ferry to send him the pikes seized after
John Brown the raid, labeled them “Samples of the favors
This daguerreotype was taken in 1846–47 by designed for us by our Northern Brethren,”
African-American photographer Augustus Washington and sent one to each Southern governor.
in Hartford, Connecticut. The pose recalls Brown’s
oath to dedicate his life to the destruction of slavery.

25
26
2
SECESSION
TRIGGERS WAR
1861
When Republicans won the 1860 presidential
election, many white Southerners envisaged
a threat to slavery, and some Southern states
seceded from the Union. Most Northerners
saw secession as treason and refused to accept
peaceful disunion—a rift that ended in civil war.

❮❮ Opening shots of the Civil War

The garrison at Fort Sumter replies to Confederate
shelling on April 12, 1861. Located in Charleston
harbor, South Carolina, the Union fort was seen as
an insult to the new Confederacy. The commander of
the fort, Major Robert Anderson (far left), agreed to
withdraw the garrison the next day.

27
28
29
30
 T H E C A L L TO A R M S

The Call to Arms

As the attack on Fort Sumter unified Northern public opinion, Lincoln issued a call for
volunteers. Crucial Upper South states, including Virginia, joined the Confederacy. The
Union held West Virginia and Maryland; Missouri and Kentucky teetered on the brink.

A
t 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, since South Carolina’s secession the Occupying Fort Sumter
Confederate batteries around previous December, but the approach On December 26, 1860,
the harbor at Charleston, South of a Union naval squadron with fresh Anderson’s command at
Carolina, opened fire on Fort Sumter, supplies for the fort had provoked a Fort Moultrie, Charleston,
a Federal fortification built on a small definitive confrontation. moved secretly to the more
island at the harbor’s mouth. The Local Confederate commander defensible Fort Sumter.
fort’s commander, Major Robert P. G. T. Beauregard had been given
Anderson, began surrender orders to demand the immediate the soldiers. This outpouring of popular with its large population and a
negotiations the next afternoon. evacuation of the fort. When support vindicated Lincoln’s cautious northern border on the Ohio River
Anderson had staunchly maintained Anderson refused, hostilities began, approach during the secession winter. that could serve as a defensive barrier
the Union position at Fort Sumter and were concluded without any His attempts to placate Southern against Union invasion. Slavery had a
combat fatalities on either side. While opinion by weaker status in
A plea to the nation the Confederacy believed the attack to providing only Major Robert Anderson was a Kentuckian the Bluegrass
The government lured new recruits into the army with be a necessary and reasonable defense nonmilitary and former slaveowner, with a stellar state than in the
promises of bonuses and well-equipped units. Patriotic of its sovereignty, most Northerners supplies to record as a leading artillery reformer and Old Dominion,
posters, such as this 1861 example, demanded “a ready saw it as an immoral assault on Anderson’s in combat in the War with Mexico. and the state did
response” from those men capable of bearing arms. American troops. command had not immediately
The Republican Party had swept the caused even Northern Democrats to secede in response to Lincoln’s call
North in the presidential election of view the Confederacy as the for many volunteers. Instead,
B E F OR E 1860, but the Democrats remained unprovoked aggressor at Fort Sumter. Kentucky acted in the tradition of
a potent political force, with much Henry Clay, the great sectional
weaker anti-slavery instincts. The Confederacy expands compromiser, and hoped to adopt a
Lincoln’s election on a sectional basis and on However, most Democrats remained In the crucial Upper South states of neutral stance toward both the U.S.
a party platform that aimed to limit slavery, loyal Unionists, and the Arkansas, North Carolina, and Confederate governments.
combined with the swift secession of the Confederate attack on “Old Tennessee, and Virginia, The fate of Missouri, the origin of
Lower South, made war nearly inevitable. Glory” (the national flag) the calling out of a so many of the troubles in “Bleeding
at Sumter outraged large Federal army Kansas” also hung in the balance,
SOWING THE SEEDS their nationalist meant war. When although the state did not have the
The Republicans did not even try to contest sensibilities, which forced to take strategic significance of Kentucky.
elections in ten Southern states, and the Lower led to an outpouring sides, these four
South saw any legal restriction on slavery by the of public support for states chose the
Federal government as paving the way for more a military campaign Confederacy. A F T ER
serious attacks on the institution. to crush secession. Southern views
were summed up
THE LIMITS OF COMPROMISE Lincoln’s response by the Staunton The first fatalities of the Civil War occurred
A native of Kentucky and admirer of Henry Clay, On April 15, Lincoln Spectator, until now in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 19, a
Lincoln had conciliatory instincts, but he also issued a proclamation a Unionist Virginia week after the fall of Fort Sumter.
remained true to the Free-Soil principles of the calling for 75,000 90-day newspaper. A day
Republican Party ❮❮ 22–23. This, combined volunteers. The Northern Charleston cannonball after the president’s LEXINGTON OF 1861
with Confederate intransigence, made some kind response overwhelmed the Thousands of rounds of artillery fire call for volunteers it Although Maryland stayed in the Union, sentiment
of violent clash all but unavoidable . capacity of both Federal showered cannonballs like this on declared that “After in Baltimore was strongly pro-Confederate. When
and state governments to Fort Sumter before Major Anderson all his declarations the Massachusetts 6th Regiment passed through on
organize, train, and equip and his garrison surrendered. in favor of peace, its way to Washington, D.C., a riot erupted, leaving
President Lincoln has four soldiers and 12 civilians killed in the ensuing
taken a course calculated inevitably to melee. The incident is often called the “Lexington of
C O N F E D E R AT E G E N E R A L ( 1 8 1 8 – 9 3 )
provoke a collision, and to unite the 1861”—after the first skirmish of the American
P. G. T. BEAUREGARD whole South in armed resistance.” Revolution, at Lexington, Massachusetts.
While strategically important
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, born on Virginia seceded on April 17, along
a plantation in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, with Arkansas, North Carolina, and
had a distinguished record in the prewar Tennessee in the following month,
army, including combat service in Mexico. Maryland remained with the Union.
While he had significant talents, he likened Moreover, even in Virginia, the
himself too much to Napoleon, and his fame poorest and mostly nonslaveholding
after the fall of Fort Sumter further inflated farmers of the state’s western counties
his ego. Beauregard’s performance was held out for the Union cause—leading
mixed at the battles of First Bull Run (First eventually to the founding of the state
Manassas) and Shiloh, but during the of West Virginia.
summer of 1864, he served the Confederacy Virginia and Tennessee made the THE BALTIMORE RIOT
well at Bermuda Hundred and Petersburg. Confederacy a viable nation, but there
still remained the prize of Kentucky,

31
 S EC E S S I O N T R I GG E R S WA R 1 8 6 1

B EFOR E

The Southern economy relied heavily on

cotton exports, mostly to Britain. Before the
war, these had earned large amounts of
The South’s Challenge
hard currency. However, the dominance of The Confederacy’s vast geographic expanse made it difficult for the enemy to occupy and conquer. At
cotton-growing ❮❮ 18 –19 suppressed the the same time, the South’s straightforward war goal of independence gave it greater domestic unity
South’s industrial capacity.
than the North, which wrestled internally with the question of emancipation’s proper place in the war.
RISING PRODUCTION

T
Boosted by Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton he long and destructive nature of economic and human General Josiah Gorgas
gin for separating the fibers from the seeds the Civil War, combined with the resources shows their At the start of hostilities, Gorgas was
❮❮ 14 –15, Southern cotton production immense stakes involved—the fate advantages. In 1860, commander of the U.S. Army arsenal at
soared during the 19th century. From 720,000 of the old Federal Union, the existence the North possessed Frankford, near Philadelphia. He
bales in 1830, it rose to 2.85 million bales in of the Confederate nation, and the status most of the country’s resigned to join the Confederates.
1850 and was still rising at the outbreak of the of slavery—made it a war of mass manufacturing
Civil War. By then, the slave plantations of the mobilization in both sections. Both sides capacity, including Confederacy with
South were the source of 75 percent of the had to find the human, material, and 97 percent of heavy ordnance.
world’s commercially grown cotton. technological resources for waging a war firearms production. During the war, the
at a time of rapid industrialization, with Altogether it had task of trying to make
FAILED DIPLOMACY its railroads, mass-produced weapons 110,000 up for this industrial
The Confederates hoped that “King Cotton” and equipment, and comparatively new manufacturing imbalance fell to the
diplomacy would force Britain to intervene on technologies. Although the North enterprises and Confederacy’s ever-
their behalf because, without Southern cotton, possessed more of all of these things, 1.3 million industrial resourceful ordnance
British textile mills would be idle. They the Confederate cause was by no means workers. The future chief, General Josiah Gorgas.
underestimated the strength of British hopeless and doomed. Confederacy could count The Union also had twice the
anti-slavery sentiment and the ability of only 18,000 factories density of railroads per square
British industrialists to find alternative sources of A well-resourced enemy employing 110,000 individuals. These mile; the future Confederate states
cotton in India, Egypt, and Argentina. Hopes of During the 19th century, the new era Southern factories, however, did produced only 19 of 470 locomotives
French intervention were similarly dashed. of rail and steam that marked the include the Tredegar Iron Works in manufactured that year. In terms of
Industrial Revolution was centered in Richmond, Virginia, one of the few population, the Union had 20.7 million
the Northern states, and a summary of places capable of providing the people, against the Confederacy’s

Southern charm
For many, life in the prewar South was secure and
prosperous—a quality captured by German artist
Edward Beyer in his view of Salem,
Virginia, painted in 1855.

32
 TH E SOUTH’S CHALLENGE

A F T ER
Manufacturing might
Smoke belches from the chimneys of the Jones and
Laughlin iron mills, on the Monongahela River south of The key Confederate strategists and
Pittsburgh. Enterprises like this gave the North an commanders were well aware of the
industrial edge over the South. Union’s material advantages.

population of just over 9.1 million, PUSH FOR VICTORY

of whom more than 3.6 million were When General Robert E. Lee assumed command
African Americans—most of them of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862, one
slaves and holding dubious loyalty to of his chief goals was to win swift battlefield
their white masters. In the financial victories. These, he hoped, would shatter enemy
sector, Southern banking before the morale before the Confederacy collapsed under the
war had been based not in any major weight of Northern industrial superiority.
Southern city, such as New Orleans or
Richmond, but in New York.

The South’s advantages

31,246 MILES
of railroad crisscrossed the North.
Counterbalancing the North’s larger In the South, by contrast, there were
pool of material resources was the just 9,283 miles of railroad, less than
Confederacy’s immense size. This 30 percent of the Northern total.
offered important geographical
advantages. The South occupied GUERRILLA WARFARE
about the same amount of territory The wide expanse of Confederate territory,
as Western Europe, which gave it
what military historians call “strategic
depth.” This allows an army defending
“ The Army … has been compelled especially in the West, made it perfect for guerrilla
activity 122–123 ❯❯. This successfully hampered
Federal operations by tying down large numbers
its territory to retreat in the face of a
stronger force, obliging the invader to to yield to overwhelming of Union troops in occupation and garrison duties.
But the guerrillas were not above preying on
disperse its strength in garrisons and Southern civilians as well as Northern soldiers,
outposts over an ever-increasing area
in order to defend vulnerable lines of
numbers and resources.” which made them a problematic military tool.

communication against guerrillas and ROBERT E. LEE, FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, 1865

small detachments of organized forces. population. Because fewer white men

In addition, the South’s rudimentary of military age were needed to keep
road and rail network made logistics a the basic domestic economy running,
nightmare for any invading army. around three out of four of them
While the Confederates could see became soldiers—and one in five
British struggles against the sweep would die during the war. Eventually,
of American geography during the however, the Union turned African
American Revolution as a heartening Americans living in the Confederacy
example for their own war of into a potent resource for
independence, they could also draw victory by arming many of
lessons from the eventual collapse of them and enlisting them
British political will at the time. as U.S. soldiers.
During the Revolution, internal
divisions in Britain allowed the Underlying weakness
Americans to exhaust their former Despite the Confederacy’s
rulers and win independence. In important advantages, the
the Civil War, while the fall of Fort more advanced state of
Sumter unified Northern opinion industrialization in the North,
behind a struggle for Union, what its larger supply of natural
Union really meant remained a point resources such as
of political contention, even among iron and coal,
Republicans. Questions of Federal and its greater
authority, involving issues such as economic
emancipation, conscription, and strength, enabled
the draft, would be points of it to sustain war for
partisan controversy within a longer time than the
the North. For their part, South could. And, unlike
the Confederates were Britain during the American
united behind the more Revolution and the War of
straightforward goal of 1812, the North did not have
sovereign independence. to cross an ocean to bring its
Even the South’s enslaved military power to bear.
population gave it certain
advantages. An economy based King Cotton?
on slavery and cotton-cultivation A Southern senator once declared: “No,
allowed the Confederacy to you dare not to make war on cotton.
mobilize an unprecedented No power on the earth dares to make war
percentage of its white male upon it. Cotton is King.” He was wrong.

33
 S EC E S S I O N T R I GG E R S WA R 1 8 6 1

Raising Armies
Military enthusiasm gripped both sides and volunteers rushed to join up, all believing their camp would
achieve a swift victory. They hoped their moral excellence as citizen soldiers fighting a righteous cause
would crush their opponent almost by itself, making training and discipline unnecessary.

B
y the time of the Civil War, the paid too little attention to the warnings
B EFOR E American Revolution was a distant of prewar professional soldiers that
memory, and few citizens had troops needed training and discipline to
served in the more recent War with be effective, and that the coming
The unavoidable disorganization and Mexico (1846–47), in which General conflict might be long and grueling.
confusion in forming both the Northern Winfield Scott had conquered Mexico
and Southern armies masked the North’s City with an army of only 11,000 men. Romantic ideas
overwhelming material superiority. Attitudes to war tended to romanticize Many who claimed to possess military
it, drawing on a variety of cultural expertise had a notion of war far
SOUTHERN OPPORTUNITY influences: tributes to the Founding more romantic than realistic.
The North had vastly greater resources than Fathers and the American Revolution; Volunteer officers, such as Unionist
the South ❮❮ 32 – 33. But its impressive images of overseas wars in exotic Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, had more
industrial and economic capacity had to be settings, such as French Algeria or the military knowledge than the average
organized and mobilized before it became Halls of Montezuma in Mexico; and the volunteer, and his interpretation of
militarily useful—and this gave the Confederacy long-standing militia tradition whereby the tactics used by France’s Zouave
a timely opportunity to win independence. common people (North African)

25
banded together to The percentage of U.S. light infantry
AN IDENTICAL MILITARY MODEL defeat their Army officers who regiments—who
Both sections used the prewar U.S. Army as a enemies, returning resigned to join the were renowned
common administrative and tactical model for home after a short Confederate army. as elite and
creating new field armies. Veterans such as but sharp war. disciplined
Josiah Gorgas utilized their expertise to help the fighters—reflected current and future
Confederacy mobilize its limited resources. A nation’s differences military developments in infantry
Sectionalism added potently to this tactics. These included formations of
CENTRAL AUTHORITY collection of ideas. Southerners saw troops trained to move quickly, spread
Given the South’s strong attachment to states’ themselves as a martial people more out, and fire accurately. Nevertheless,
rights, it was difficult for President Jefferson familiar with horses and weapons than Ellsworth did not fully understand
Davis to impose the centralized organization shopkeeping Yankees. Northerners these tactical evolutions.
essential to military efficiency. believed they were a free people
defending the Constitution. They were Lack of trained officers
fighting against a society ruled by While the small number of military-age
abusive slaveholders who had men with formal training at either West
been corrupted by the Point or various state military
illegitimate power they held academies (the most important being
over fellow human beings. the Virginia Military Institute) rose
While notions of war could be to instant prominence during the
both romantic and ridiculous, a
genuine undercurrent of fierce UNION VOLUNTEER OFFICER (1837–61)
patriotism motivated many
volunteers. One Union soldier ELMER EPHRAIM ELLSWORTH
explained in a letter that he
enlisted because “I performed Born in Malta, New York, Ellsworth hoped to
but a simple duty—a duty to attend West Point but failed to obtain an
my country and myself … to appointment. He moved to Chicago in
give up life if need be … in this 1859, where he became a prominent
battle for freedom and right, militia officer, leading a unit attired in the
opposed to slavery and wrong.” flamboyant style of French Zouaves. In
A Southern volunteer reflected 1860, he entered the law office of Abraham
many others’ views when he Lincoln and campaigned for the future
said, “I would give all I have president in the election that year.
got just to be in the front rank When war broke out, Ellsworth raised a
of the first brigade that marches regiment recruited from the firefighters of
against the invading foe who New York, the “Fire Zouaves.” He led them
now pollute the sacred soil of my into Alexandria, Virginia, in May 1861,
native state [Virginia] with their where he was killed by an innkeeper for
unholy tread.” This patriotism pulling down a Confederate flag flying from
would help sustain both armies’ his hotel. In the North, Ellsworth’s youth and
1st Virginia Infantry fighting abilities through a long and his connection with Lincoln magnified the
Within weeks of secession, the 1st Virginia Infantry was difficult war, but it also tended to importance of his death; he came to be
raised as a volunteer unit. It fought at the Battle of denigrate the importance of professional seen as one of the first heroes of the war.
Gettysburg, where more than half were killed or wounded. competence and discipline. Both armies

34
Departing for war—April 19, 1861 grumbled that “Today our army is shortages of equipment and supplies.
Thomas Nast’s huge painting of the 7th New York crippled by the ideas of equality and Even after factoring in militia arsenals A F T ER
Regiment being cheered on by their fellow citizens independence which have covered the and other small depositories of
includes the hero of Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson, whole life of our people. Men elect military supplies, both armies had
above the entrance of Ball, Black & Co. on the left. their officers, and then expect them to difficulty acquiring the most basic Romantic enthusiasm for war placed
behave themselves!” Such opinions materials. They also needed to pressure on Northern leaders to seek
organization of the new armies, the were rare among his create the logistical and a swift military decision. But their
sheer size of the forces and their peers during the early administrative machinery haste led to a Northern defeat.
democratic organization required most part of the war. necessary for sustaining
officers to come from civilian life. lengthy active operations VICTORIOUS SOUTH
In this phase of the war, before the Equipment shortages in the field. This rush to battle helped lead to Union defeat
rise of conscription, local leaders raised Not only would the Despite all of these at First Bull Run (First Manassas) 36 –37 ❯❯,
companies and regiments by personal armies struggle with challenges, both armies a battle and campaign waged in part against the
influence (and sometimes even using training and also had the important better judgment of General-in-Chief Winfield
their own money). In keeping with discipline, they also advantage of drawing Scott. This first major battle of the war showed
democratic practice, regiments also had to cope with from a patriotic and highly both the strengths and the weakness of the early
elected their officers. These volunteers motivated citizenry that Union and Confederate armies. The volunteers on
thus tended to hold their roles by virtue Zouave recruiting poster believed their causes both sides displayed admirable fighting spirit,
of a whole range of factors unrelated to Colonel Abram Duryea’s to be just. With training but even the victorious Confederates revealed
military competence, such as political Zouaves (the 5th New York and battlefield seasoning, flaws in discipline, training, and organization. Their
influence, wealth, social standing, and Volunteers) was one of the this raw material could victory did, however, enhance the South’s
simple popularity. As early as most celebrated Zouave units, and would become the credibility in the eyes of foreign powers.
September 1861, one officer, Wilder noted for its defensive role at bedrock of powerful and
Dwight of the 2nd Massachusetts, Second Bull Run (Manassas). effective forces.

35
 Retreat at Bull Run
After the battle, the Union Army retreated in total
confusion to the fortifications around Washington.
Military wagons and the carriages of fleeing spectators
blocked their route, and many men were captured.

B E FOR E

First Bull Run dwarfed any other clashes

that the U.S. Army had hitherto fought.
The First Battle of Bull Run
Its use of new technology helped the Pre-Civil War America had seen little real military action and knew nothing of war beyond fantastic
Confederacy gain advantage. portrayals in books—the First Battle of Bull Run (known as Manassas by the Confederates) of July 21,
SMALL ARMIES 1861, represented a grim beginning to the Civil War and a portent of things to come.
Washington had fewer than 17,000 men at

T
Yorktown, the decisive battle of the American he First Battle of Bull Run took P. G. T. Beauregard at Manassas. Eventually, the Union would find
Revolution, and General Winfield Scott had taken place at the important railroad The Confederate leaders hoped that that the best way to overcome the
Mexico City in 1847 with an army of only about intersection of Manassas Junction, the railroad in between the two Confederate advantage of interior
11,000 men. At First Bull Run, Union general Virginia. In the wide expanses of the armies would allow them to move lines was to use its superior resources
McDowell led 35,000 to his opponents’ 30,000. Confederacy, where the primitive road reinforcements between both positions to coordinate multiple and
network and the highly dispersed more swiftly than the Union army, simultaneous attacks along the entire
DEVELOPMENT OF RAILROADS population made it difficult for an which did not have access to a direct “arc” of the Confederacy’s defensive
When the British invaded the American colonies, army to live off the countryside, rail connection. perimeter. This goal would be
they could not benefit from industrialized forms railroads were indispensable. They achieved to some extent by the Union
of transportation, such as the railroad. This carried much-needed supplies and Line advantage offensives of 1864, which eventually
new form of technology could be used for became strategic assets. The crossing Military thinkers from the Civil War brought the war to an end. However,
defensive purposes by both sides in the Civil War. at Manassas Junction, where the era and modern historians call this as early as First Bull Run, General
Orange and Alexandria Railroad met Confederate geographic advantage Winfield Scott attempted such a
GEORGE B. M C CLELLAN the Manassas Gap Railroad, was a “interior lines.” For example, if a coordinated strategy on exterior lines
Shortly before First Bull Run, Union commander vital line of communication—leading straight line is drawn, connecting two when he ordered Major General
George B. McClellan won a few skirmishes in south into the heart of Virginia, points on an arc, the line is much Robert Patterson in the Shenandoah
western Virginia, which helped secure the and west to the agriculturally fertile shorter than the arc. The Confederacy, Valley to advance and try to prevent
important Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, laying Shenandoah Valley. as the country defending the arc, had Johnston from moving his troops
the groundwork for the formation of West The Confederacy posted two field the advantage of “interior lines” across eastward from the valley to reinforce
Virginia. McClellan’s success before the disaster armies to cover these possible lines of its territory, while the Union had to
of First Bull Run made him the natural
replacement for McDowell.
advance—General Joseph E. Johnston’s
force in the northern Shenandoah
operate on “exterior lines” outside of it.
First Bull Run was the first example of
2,000 Approximate number of
Confederate casualties.
Valley, numbering a little less than
10,000, and 18,000 men under General
a larger Confederate advantage in terms
of defensive positioning. 3,000 Approximate number of
Union casualties.

36
 T H E F I R S T B AT T L E O F B U L L R U N

“Let us determine to die General’s epaulets

Beauregard shared
command responsibilities

here, and we will conquer. with General Johnston at

Bull Run. After the battle,
at the recommendation of
Rally behind the Virginians.” Johnston, Beauregard
was promoted to full
ATTRIBUTED TO BRIGADIER GENERAL BARNARD E. BEE, CONFEDERATE ARMY (four-star) general.

Beauregard’s units. Unfortunately for resulted more in bewilderment than When Confederate forces counter- military pursuit of the broken Union
the Union side, Patterson proved to be anything else. Foreshadowing problems attacked at the ridge, strengthened by army, foretold the long and grinding
too timid a commander for even this that would persist throughout much two brigades newly arrived from the nature of the larger conflict.
relatively modest objective. The of the war, Union forces struggled to Shenandoah Valley, the Federals Both armies needed time to recover,
Confederates made good use of the coordinate their assaults, and instead panicked and retreated in disarray. and the Union would redouble its
railroads to concentrate their forces at of amassing their strength to take a They were joined in their retreat efforts in the wake of its crushing
Bull Run in opposition to Brigadier position, the individual units (in by fleeing Union civilians from defeat. Meanwhile, the Confederacy
General Irwin McDowell’s advance on this case, single Washington— would become rather complacent and
Manassas Junction. regiments) made Most regiments elected their own officers, spectators who too easily saw the battle as a vindication
their attacks reflecting Jacksonian America’s traditional had attended the of its belief that the average white
Union plans—and weaknesses piecemeal. Even suspicion of hierarchy and technical battle expecting it Southerner was more warriorlike than
McDowell conducted his attack on so, the battle went proficiency. Nevertheless, the volunteers’ to be an outdoor any money-grubbing Yankee.
Beauregard’s position partly in response well for the Union enthusiasm showed the ensuing conflict stage where
to the heavy political pressure exerted by forces in the early to be truly a “people’s contest.” treason would be
overconfident and overeager Northern part of the day, as justly chastised. A F T ER
politicians. The Union commander fretted they pushed past Matthews Hill down While the Northern volunteers had in
that “for the most part our regiments are toward Henry Hill, threatening to turn many ways fought well, their lack of
exceedingly raw and the best of them, the Confederate left. experience and discipline showed. Defeat chastened the North, while the
with few exceptions, not over steady in In the end, however, all the delays However, chaos also reigned among the Confederates anticipated that further
line.” Although the Confederate army and lack of coordination allowed victorious Confederates—likewise a successes would soon follow—a dangerous
was smaller (McDowell commanded the Confederates to man a powerful product of their inexperience—and this assumption, as it turned out.
35,000 men), it fought on the defensive position on Henry Hill, where would allow Union troops to return to the
defensive—a potent advantage when the battle finally reached its climax. It safety of the fortifications surrounding NORTHERN PLANS
considering two ill-disciplined, was here that Brigadier General Thomas Washington, despite the frantic disorder Northerners had expected a swift win, and they
indifferently trained, and inexperienced J. Jackson earned his nickname, accompanying their retreat. found themselves rudely disabused of the idea
armies. Nevertheless, McDowell’s battle “Stonewall,” for his well-handled The battle served as a fitting that their moral superiority would lead to an
plan also had merit, as he hoped to and vital defense of the position. herald for the start of the war, and easy victory. Many recognized the necessity of
turn the Confederate left flank by Confederate President Jefferson Davis improved discipline and organization.
ordering two divisions to cross Federal disorder himself traveled to the site before the
Bull Run Creek at points Johnston, having only recently combat ended. He afterward wrote A WASTED WINTER
upstream from the bulk of arrived, fed Confederate troops into the telegram reporting the victory While the North began to
Confederate strength near this crucial site, and the Union side to the Confederate War Department mobilize its substantial
Blackburn’s Ford. continued to waste its strength in Richmond. The Confederacy had material resources, the
in badly organized assaults. survived, and the battle would ensure Confederacy rested on
First clashes Two Union batteries held that the new nation would not be its laurels. This nearly
The battle itself was important positions on the crushed in one demoralizing blow at led to the disastrous
a close-run affair. hill, but one was mauled the beginning of the war. defeats in the spring of
McDowell’s flanking by a Confederate 1862 with Johnston’s
movements were regiment that a senior Confederate credibility early setbacks in the
delayed by defective Union officer had The new nation gained instant credibility Peninsula Campaign
staffwork and misidentified as both at home and abroad. Nevertheless, 66–67 ❯❯, and much of GENERAL JOSEPH
inexperience, while an friendly. This problem the inability of the secessionists to force Tennessee lost. E. JOHNSTON
aggressive defense by stemmed from the the Union to concede defeat after the
Confederate units on confusing variety of first battle, or to mount an effective
the left flank bought clothing worn by early Civil
the Confederates War regiments, before blue
TE C H N O LO GY
crucial time to and gray became standard
ward off the Union uniform colors. The Union OBSERVATION BALLOONS
commander’s attempt to infantry supports had also
turn them. performed poorly. The Union Army’s Balloon Corps was formed
Beauregard at first The Confederate in the summer of 1861 at the request of
dreamed of a Confederate capture of the two Union Lincoln who, after a demonstration by
offensive, but confusing batteries on Henry Hill aeronaut Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, hoped to
orders and poor staffwork became the turning be able to use balloons both to conduct
point of the battle, surveillance and to communicate with the
Union Brigadier General McDowell and one last Federal commanders on the battlefield. The
McDowell was an able military attempt to turn technology was used by McClellan during
administrator who was less suited the Confederates the Peninsula Campaign for observations
to senior combat command. He at Chinn Ridge, and mapping, where balloons were
served in more junior roles after west of Henry connected to a military telegraph.
Bull Run but was dismissed in 1862. Hill, failed.

37
 S EC E S S I O N T R I GG E R S WA R 1 8 6 1

B EFOR E

During the War with Mexico, the

American military attached civilian
volunteer units to a core of permanent
Organizing for the Fight
army professionals. After Bull Run, both the Union and the Confederacy realized that the war would not end in one single
climactic battle. As they mobilized, both struggled with problems of scale and shortages of trained
PERMANENT FORCE
Zachary Taylor commanded an army in northern personnel. McClellan’s talents as a trainer helped stamp his personality on the Army of the Potomac.
Mexico in 1846 composed of regulars, while

A
Winfield Scott relied on a permanent veteran fter Bull Run, Union forces had organize others, overly romantic views such as conscription, but instead waited
core in the force he used to conquer Mexico City. to face the deficiencies of their of warfare persisted. Shortly after until the spring, when Confederate
organization. General James B. the battle, the Richmond Examiner fortunes began to slide.

165
The number of steps Ricketts argued that at Bull Run, declared that “Ohio and Pennsylvania In the North, meanwhile, the
per minute soldiers “The men were of as good material ought to feel … the terrors which veteran, 75-year-old General in Chief
would march at as any in the world, and they fought agitate the cowardly and guilty Winfield Scott, before his retirement in
“double quick time,” the swiftest pace well until they became confused when retributive vengeance is at November 1861, had helped formulate
used by American infantry tactics. on account of their officers not hand … In four weeks our generals a war strategy, dubbed the Anaconda
knowing what to do.” Perceptions of should be levying contributions in Plan, that included a naval blockade
For the North, the 16,000-man U.S. Army of officer incompetence led to officer money and property from their own and the capture of the Mississippi River.
1860 could not serve as the bedrock of a new examination boards for weeding out towns and villages.” This would result in signficant Federal
field army, because the force still needed to the worst leaders, and by March 1862 Unfortunately for the Confederacy, victories during the spring of 1862,
guard the frontier. About one-quarter of its the boards had expelled 310 officers overheated rhetoric could not by itself when the port of New Orleans and
officer strength resigned and traveled South. from the Army. produce armies capable of offensive much of Tennessee fell to the Union.
The Confederacy, in contrast, had to build While the Confederate armies also operations in the North. The South
a new army from scratch ❮❮ 34 –35. used the winter after Bull Run to should have used the winter to mobilize Training programs
cull weak officers, and train and its national resources through measures In all theaters of the war and on both
MEXICAN TRAINING GROUND sides, soldiers drilled and organized,
While Scott was now too old to take the field,
many Civil War commanders (including Grant
and Lee) had earned valuable combat
“ We shall … organize and with varying degrees of effectiveness.
In the primary Federal army in the
Eastern Theater, General George B.
experience during the War with Mexico.
discipline an army … and go Cannon squad during drill
Aiming accurately, and rapidly firing and reloading
on to victory or sustain defeat.” artillery weapons demanded a high standard of
teamwork from the crew, all the more so in difficult
DIARY ENTRY OF JOSIAH MARSHALL FAVILL, 71 NEW YORK, AFTER BULL RUN battle conditions under enemy fire.

38
 ORGANIZING FOR THE FIGHT

A F T ER

Winfield Scott’s retirement in late 1861

helped trigger unprecedented changes in
the size and scale of American warfare—and
a new man eager to take his place.

FLAWED SUCCESSOR
The new general-in-chief was George B.
McClellan, who had been unashamedly
scheming to replace his elderly but still
clear-minded predecessor. McClellan would prove
to be a flawed choice for the command,
combining a deficit in moral courage with
arrogance. Yet he remained a talented organizer,
and his background in railroad management
matched his talent for logistical organization.
His strategic concept for besieging the
Confederate army was also fundamentally
sound, even if he failed to execute it properly.

GIANT ARMIES
Scott’s retirement pointed the way forward to
armies of unparalleled size that would now
wage war across the continent. Future battles
would be giant confrontations where, for
example, a total of more than 113,000 men
clashed at Antietam 74 – 75 ❯❯ and more than
111,000 at Gettysburg 102 – 103 ❯❯.

Winfield Scott’s “Anaconda Plan”

Scott advocated winning the war by a gradual strategy,
likened to the crushing attack of a snake, based on
blockading the South’s ports and then cutting it in two
with offensives up and down the Mississippi River.

McClellan put his army through a officers from West Point Military cautious temperament had a stronger They all think the enemy wiser and
reasonably coherent training program; Academy compared to the western influence on the Army of the Potomac’s braver and quicker than themselves
he also benefited from the North’s Confederate armies. command culture than did his training and such men should not command.”
relative abundance of equipment. For Civil War armies, training program. As Lieutenant Colonel Webb would not have attributed
Despite his hesitancy in committing centered on close order drill, which Alexander S. Webb put it after the this failing to McClellan’s temperament,
troops in battle, McClellan had a real provided the methods they used to Battle of Chancellorsville, his hesitancy but the Army of the Potomac did have
talent for organizing an army. He also move from one position to another on helped to create an army in which most an overly defensive mindset, which
played a major role in choosing the battlefield. The intensely regimented of the leaders were “cautious, stupid and would remain a problem even after
the senior leaders of his system of drill evolutions allowed units without any dash.” They “delay 20,000 General Ulysses S. Grant took over
force. The officers he to maintain their organization and men ... in order to skirmish with 20 or command during the Overland
selected for command coordinate the firing of their weapons. 30 cav[alr]y and one piece of art[iller]y. Campaign in summer 1864.
would remain Unfortunately, officers received little
influential long after his formal instruction in how to use terrain
UNION GENERAL (1786–1866)
departure. While the or what sorts of movements were most
western Federal armies did advantageous in which circumstances. WINFIELD SCOTT
not have the same spit and Even so, rudimentary training
polish as McClellan’s eastern through parade-ground drill was Commissioned in 1808, Winfield Scott led a
showpiece, they had better better than no training at all, division in the Anglo-American War of 1812,
organization and greater and McClellan’s program helped professionalize the army after the
resources than their also included some target end of that war, and conquered Mexico City
Confederate opponents. practice, mock battles, in 1847 with his brilliant Veracruz Campaign.
The Confederate army and training marches. This victory made possible the acquisition of
facing McClellan did not Mexican territories, such as California and
receive the same systematic Mixed results New Mexico, in the American Southwest,
training, but it did benefit The Union Army of leading to political disputes about slavery’s
from a large number of the Potomac’s mixed status in these areas. At the outbreak of
Virginia Military Institute performance on the the Civil War, Scott was general-in-chief.
graduates who supplemented Union powder flask battlefield proved that Rheumatic, gout-ridden, and weighing
the cadre of regular officers. Older flintlock weapons excellence on the parade more than 300lbs (136kg), he was no
What later became the Army primed by loose powder ground did not necessarily longer able to take battlefield command.
of Northern Virginia also had were still used in the early translate into victory. He resigned on November 1, 1861.
a disproportionate share of part of the Civil War. Indeed, McClellan’s

39
 S EC E S S I O N T R I GG E R S WA R 1 8 6 1

B E FOR E

While Missouri had helped inflame

sectional tensions before the war, the
state of Kentucky had been a source of
Missouri and Kentucky
moderation and compromise.
While Missouri remained in the Union, it was beset by the war’s worst violence on both sides. The more
strategically important state of Kentucky tried to maintain a neutral stance early on, but eventually fell
CLAY THE COMPROMISER
Kentucky produced the greatest prewar into the Union camp due to Confederate missteps and Lincoln’s political dexterity.
compromiser, Senator Henry Clay, while Senator

M
John J. Crittenden from the same state tried to issouri was no stranger to state’s governor, Claiborne F. warning Jackson, “Rather than
broker another compromise in 1861. If Clay had sectional violence. The state’s Jackson, was a staunch concede to the State of
won the presidency in 1844 he would have rejected role in the problems of secessionist and did Missouri … the right to
the annexation of Texas and probably prevented “Bleeding Kansas” across the border everything in his power dictate to my Government
the War with Mexico. Without the problem over in the 1850s, where its pro-slavery to deliver the state … I would see … every
slavery in the new territories ❮❮ 18 – 19 , the Civil settlers battled Free-Soilers, had for the Confederacy. man, woman, and child
War might well have been averted. become a prologue to the Civil War. Opposing him were in the State, dead and
Nevertheless, Union sentiment in Francis P. Blair, Jr., buried.” Anti-immigrant
MISSOURI AND “BLEEDING KANSAS” the territory had great strength, and of the politically
Not only had Missouri been the center of the nearly three-quarters of the white important Blair family, Crittenden of Kentucky
controversy over slavery that led to the Missourians who served as Civil War and Captain Nathaniel Senator John Crittenden expended
Missouri Compromise of 1820, pro-slavery soldiers fought for the Union. Lyon, U.S. Army, who huge efforts in trying to avert war by
settlers there had caused much sectional Unfortunately for Missouri, a commanded the U.S. a compromise over the extension of
violence in the 1850s across the border complex tangle of personalities and arsenal at St. Louis. Lyon slave states—but he did help to prevent
in “Bleeding Kansas”, where they clashed politics stirred up a hornet’s nest. The was vigorous and aggressive, his own state from seceding.
with Free-Soilers—some of whom had
emigrated from New
England. During the
Civil War, Free-Soil
Kansans served in
Missouri, and Missouri
AID COMPANY SIGN FOR
guerrillas engaged in
NEW ENGLANDERS cross-border raids.

Anger in St. Louis

Riots broke out in St. Louis after Captain Lyon took
the secessionist Fort Jackson. Southern sympathizers
targeted Lyon’s hurriedly recruited German militia
army for their anti-slavery sentiments.

40
 M I SSOU R I AN D KENTUCKY

A F T ER
feeling among some Missourians
worsened matters, as German settlers
formed the bedrock of Republican Kentucky’s Unionism was a strategic blow
and Unionist support in St. Louis. to the Confederacy, but its Unionists
Lyon effectively ended Jackson’s became increasingly unhappy with the
schemes to support secession and Federal war effort.
chose to go on the offensive in May
1861 by capturing a secessionist FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON
militia camp called Fort Jackson near The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers provided
St. Louis. The militiamen surrendered convenient lines of advance for Federal forces. On
peacefully, but violence broke out February 6, 1862, Ulysses S. Grant led the capture
afterwards in the city itself, and it of Fort Henry and received the surrender of
quickly took on ethnic overtones. Fort Donelson 60–61 ❯❯ on February 16.
Lyon’s measures outraged some These captures were the first substantial
moderate Unionists and pushed them Union military successes of the war.
into the secessionist camp. While
Lyon swiftly crushed Jackson and his KENTUCKY’S DISSATISFACTION
allies in the state legislature, small Despite their importance to the early Union
groups of Confederate guerrillas, or war effort, many Kentuckians became ever
“bushwhackers,” would plague the more disenchanted with the Lincoln
state for the rest of the war. administration as it moved in an
Lyon, who was promoted to increasingly anti-slavery direction. In the
general in July 1861, was killed 1864 election 12 8 –129 ❯❯, McClellan received
during the Confederate victory at 61,000 civilian votes from Kentucky, compared
the Battle of Wilson’s Creek the to 26,000 for Lincoln, the state’s native son.

“This means war … One of Anti-Confederate satire

The Union blasts away at the monster of secession
in a cartoon of 1861. Demons represent secessionist
QUANTRILL’S RAIDS
William Quantrill was the most controversial
of the guerrilla “bushwhackers” who
my officers will call for you and states —divided Kentucky is depicted as a creature
with two torsos just above the monster’s head.
operated in Missouri and Kansas during the war.
His exploits included attacks on Independence,

conduct you out of my lines.” Four grandsons of Lincoln’s old political

hero, Henry Clay, fought for the South,
Missouri, and Lawrence, Kansas 122–123 ❯❯.

CAPTAIN LYON TO GOVERNOR JACKSON, JUNE 12, 1861 another three for the Union. Political
compromiser Senator Crittenden saw neutrality. Lincoln, who knew this
following month, and meaningful Tennessee and Cumberland rivers one son become a Union general and region well, bided his time, initially
Southern defiance would be crushed at provided avenues of invasion another a Confederate general. humoring his home state’s desire to
Pea Ridge in March 1862. This made into central Tennessee. Both ran north stay out of the war, and even allowing
the resistance of Confederate guerrillas to south in the border area, and thus Strategic state the Confederacy to purchase supplies
strategically insignificant, but it was could serve as convenient supply routes With its people so finely divided, there. In Congressional and legislative
cold comfort for the civilians who had for Federal armies attempting to Kentucky tried to remain neutral after elections that summer, Unionists scored
to cope with the chaos of a fierce and penetrate the Confederate border, the attack on Fort Sumter. But this was crushing victories, and Kentucky finally
brutal civil war, triggered in part by as Grant did in the campaign of forts an inherently untenable position, and declared itself for the Union after
overly aggressive reactions by Henry and Donelson in February 1862. by September 1861 it had collapsed. Confederate forces crossed the border
Missouri’s Union leaders in 1861. Kentucky’s Northern location tied it The governor, Beriah Magoffin, from Tennessee and entered Columbus,
economically to the Union, and many sympathized with the Confederacy Kentucky, on September 3, 1861.
The Kentucky divide Kentuckians lived in Northern states, but was only willing to go as far as a
Kentucky was in many ways the including 100,000 in Missouri, 60,000 in secret agreement that permitted its Death of a general
quintessential border state. Birthplace of Illinois, 68,000 in Indiana, 15,000 recruiters to enter the territory. Missouri’s Nathaniel Lyon was a bold and aggressive
both Lincoln and Davis, its northern in Ohio, and 13,000 in Iowa. While Unionist and pro-Confederate political leader, and he conducted his final battle, at
border on the Ohio River had always slavery played an important role in Kentuckians began to arm themselves Wilson’s Creek in August 1861, in the same manner.
been a symbolic and powerful dividing Kentucky’s economy, as in Unionist during the state’s tense period of He was the first Union general to be killed in combat.
line between the Free-Soil North and
the slaveholding South. In Harriet The ferocious guerrilla war in Missouri
Beecher Stowe’s famous Uncle Tom’s produced the notorious James brothers
Cabin, one character makes a daring (Jesse and Frank), Confederate
escape to freedom with her son across “bushwhackers” from Clay County.
the Ohio River in order to save him
from an unscrupulous slave-trader. Maryland, the state had little enthusiasm
Unionist sympathies were qualified, for the “King Cotton” nationalism of the
however. Only 1,364 Kentuckians voted Lower South. After all, its most famous
for Lincoln in the election of 1860, son, Senator Henry Clay, was the man
while 91,000 chose the conservative who saved the Union three times with
Unionists, Douglas and Bell. compromises in 1820, 1833, and 1850.
The Ohio River also formed a useful On an individual level, Kentuckians
natural military boundary for the newly would remain profoundly divided until
formed Confederacy. If Kentucky did the end of the war. At least two-fifths
not ally itself with the Confederacy, of Kentuckian soldiers fought for the
Tennessee would be vulnerable to Confederacy, including four brothers
Federal invasion, because both the of Lincoln’s own Kentucky-born wife.

41
 S EC E S S I O N T R I GG E R S WA R 1 8 6 1

Blockading the South this Union war measure, and little

The Union government considered the naval blockade of the Southern coastline to be an important part reason to risk a war with Lincoln’s
of the strategy to defeat the Confederacy, and it became increasingly effective over the course of the government over this issue.
In order to enforce this blockade, the
war. However, while it undoubtedly weakened the South, the blockade could not by itself end the war. Union rapidly expanded its navy. By
the end of the war, the Department of

T
he blockade played an important the Navy under Gideon Welles’s
part in Union general-in-chief leadership had purchased some 418
Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan. additional ships and built another 208.
Scott hoped to isolate and divide the Most were in the service of tightening
Confederacy by blockading its ports
and reestablishing Federal control
over the Mississippi River. He hoped
this strategy would bring the South
1,149 The number of ships
that were captured by
the Union navy while attempting to
back into the Union, using gradual run the North’s blockade of the South.
pressure but avoiding great bloodshed.
Although this approach was superseded the blockade. The Union navy also
by events, increasing the effectiveness increased in numbers from about 1,500
of the blockade remained an important officers and men to 58,000. Although
Union objective for the rest of the war. the maritime force very much
remained the junior
Naval obstacles service to the
A blockade was likely to harm the
Confederate war effort by restricting The Union navy belittled Confederate ports and seize
the flow of imported military supplies. Two Union vessels—essentially washtubs—try to block a contraband property became
But it also presented two huge Confederate steamer’s path in this cartoon, mocking the significant as the Union navy
challenges: the sheer length of the government’s attempt to update the Union fleet. increased in size, thus becoming more
Southern coastline, on the one hand, and more able to enforce the blockade.
and the small size of the Union navy, At the start of the Civil War, while the As the world’s preeminent naval
on the other. The new nation in the blockade did little to stop ships engaged power, and one that wished to set
South had 3,549 miles (5,712km) of in blockade-running—an activity that legal precedents for its own
coastline, including 180 inlets, and became a major industry during the imposition of blockades in
when President Lincoln ordered the war—it did help to isolate the South future wars as in
blockade to begin just after the fall of diplomatically. The British government the past, the British
Fort Sumter, the Union navy had only ultimately declared itself neutral, but it government had
14 ships available. also respected the Union’s right to good reason to
enforce a blockade in wartime. This recognize the
acknowledgment of the Union navy’s legality of
B E FOR E right to inspect shipping entering

Impact on exports
The U.S. navy had greater experience in A Union man-of-war (far right) pursues a Confederate
trying to elude blockades than in blockade-runner (right). Built for speed, the
attempting to enforce them. blockade-runners could outsail the larger
Union ships, but their small holds limited
PREVIOUS BLOCKADES their carrying capacity and Southern
During the War with Mexico, the United States had cotton exports fell markedly.
enforced a blockade against Mexico, but the last
two wars with Britain—the American Revolution
and the Anglo-American War of 1812—had seen
the United States on the receiving end of actions
by a superior naval power trying to enforce
restrictions on commerce.

ANGLO-AMERICAN WAR OF 1812

Most diplomatic tensions between America and
Europe during the Napoleonic Wars involved the
question of how the United States could trade with
countries that were at war with one another. The
issues that led to the War of 1812 were caused, in
large part, by British attempts to enforce their
blockade of French-controlled Europe. In 1812,
despite various successes by individual U.S. navy
ships, Britain brought American trade to a
standstill and almost bankrupted the country.

42
 B LO C K A D I N G T H E SO U T H

Union Flag Officer Samuel du Pont provided bases at which Union ships
UNION POLITICIAN (1802–78)
Du Pont scored an important victory in November 1861 could fuel and draw supplies near
by capturing Port Royal, South Carolina, which was the their assigned duty stations, instead of GIDEON WELLES
best natural harbor on the south Atlantic coast and making the long journey to their posts
provided an important base for Union blockaders. from their Northern bases. The Union An important prewar newspaper editor
navy would capture Wilmington, North and politician in Connecticut, Welles
capture of the South’s ports could Carolina—the last Confederate port—in worked in the Navy Department during
provide a foolproof way of restricting January 1865. the War with Mexico. He developed
Confederate shipping. Swift steamers The effectiveness of the blockade anti-slavery views and opposed the
traveling at night often eluded Union remains uncertain. Some historians Compromise of 1850’s controversial
patrol ships, and even in 1865, when have argued that it “won” the war for Fugitive Slave Law. He joined the
the siege was at its tightest, about half the Union, while others see its effects Republican Party after the passage
of all Confederate blockade-runners as negligible. The answer probably lies of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.
completed their voyages. somewhere in between. As navy secretary during the Civil
By itself, the Union blockade could War, he and his chief deputy, Gustavus
Taking the ports not have ensured a Federal victory, but Vasa Fox, proved to be energetic and
Joint army-navy operations to close the siege played an important role in effective administrators. Not only did
down various Confederate ports became the eventual exhaustion of Southern they supervise the rapid expansion of the
an important part of the war effort, and resources. Its increasing effectiveness Union navy, but they also exercised good
hugely expanded Union the first Federal military successes prevented the Confederacy from easily judgment in selecting senior officers.
army, this still represented an post-Bull Run involved the capture of importing military supplies (including
unprecedented increase in ports in North Carolina and South those related to railroads), and the
U.S. naval power. Carolina. Not only did these amphibious closing of coastal shipping in the
While the increase in ships clearly operations close coastal entry points Southern territories put extra strain on
tightened the blockade, only the into the Confederacy, but they also the under-repaired railroad network.

“ We propose a powerful
movement down the
Mississippi to the ocean.”
GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, IN A LETTER TO GEORGE B. MCLELLAN, MAY 3,1861

A F T ER

Blockade duty briefly made the United

States an important naval power. But
despite its modern ships, it remained
inferior to Britain’s Royal Navy.

BRITAIN’S SUPERIOR FLEET

The Union navy’s vast expansion increased
its fighting power, but the sheer number of its
ships still did not make it a match for the British
Royal Navy, accustomed to patrolling the seas of
the entire globe. Most Union navy ships were
designed for the relatively simple purpose of
enforcing the blockade near the Southern coast.
They were only lightly armed, since their
targets, the Confederate blockade-runners,
carried few if any weapons.

POSTWAR DEMOBILIZATION
Before the Civil War, the United States had
looked toward its vast land frontier, as opposed
to trading overseas. This put limits on how much
it was willing to invest in naval power. The need
to blockade the Confederacy provided a
temporary surge in the navy’s resources, but
after the Civil War the Union navy was swiftly
demobilized. The United States would not
become a major naval power or fight a naval war
until the Spanish-American War in the last
decade of the 19th century.

43
44
3
CLASH OF
ARMIES
1862
In Virginia, the Confederates resisted a
campaign against their capital, Richmond, and
took the offensive themselves, briefly invading
Maryland. In the Western Theater, they
suffered a series of disasters, from the loss of
New Orleans to a failed invasion of Kentucky.

❮❮ Battle of Williamsburg
One of a set of 36 Civil War prints made nearly 30
years after the war, this scene shows fighting at the
Battle of Williamsburg. Here, on May 5, 1862 a large
army under Union general George B. McClellan met
the retreating army of General Joseph E. Johnston in
a rearguard action, which the Union lost.

45
 CLASH OF ARMIES

n the early months of 1862, the Confederacy faced imminent victories at Fort Donelson and Shiloh laid open the defenses of
I defeat. The Union’s naval blockade tightened, enabling the Tennessee. To the south, New Orleans fell to a naval attack in April;
North to ship the Army of the Potomac to the Virginia Peninsula in by June most of the Mississippi was in Union hands.
March. The army’s commander, General George B. McClellan, was But as spring turned to summer, the Confederates fought back. A
slow and over-cautious, but his troop strength gave him a numerical spirited campaign by Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley drew Union
advantage to take Richmond. Meanwhile, in the Western Theater, forces away from the drive on Richmond. Then Lee took command
the Union at last found a fighting general in Ulysses S. Grant, whose of the Army of Northern Virginia and seized the initiative. He forced

46
 1862

McClellan to retreat in the Seven Days Battles, won a major victory at empowered to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, and any
the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), and invaded Maryland. At prospect of European support for the South faded. The Confederates,
the same time, farther west, General Braxton Bragg invaded Kentucky. however, were still able to defy the Union armies. Another attempted
The war hung in the balance. In both Kentucky and Maryland, however, advance on Richmond ended in defeat at Fredericksburg in December.
the Confederates failed to get the popular support they expected and On the Mississippi, Vicksburg held out against the Union. The year
had to withdraw, Lee extricating himself from potential disaster in a ended in carnage at Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee, with
fight against the odds at Antietam (Sharpsburg). Lincoln felt sufficiently heavy losses on both sides producing no clear victor.

47
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

Soldiers in Gray
Outnumbered and poorly supplied, the soldiers of the Confederate army nevertheless succeeded in
sustaining war with the Union through four grueling years. In the words of General Robert E. Lee:
“Their courage in battle entitles them to rank with the soldiers of any army and of any time.”

T
he majority of Confederate by Confederate fears that slaves would
troops—more than 60 percent of revolt or escape if unsupervised—
the total—were farmers and farm caused great resentment. The
laborers, a proportion that broadly ability of the wealthy to pay
reflected the social makeup of the substitutes to perform their
Southern states. Some were just military service for them was
boys—normally serving as buglers or seen as unfair and resulted
drummers—but most were between in draft evasion; it was
18 and 29 years of age. In contrast to eventually abandoned. Yet
the Union forces, the Confederates the Confederates fielded a
were ethnically homogeneous, their more egalitarian army than that
ranks including relatively few recent of the North, with conscription
Portrait of a Confederate immigrants and no African Americans. applied more consistently across
A Confederate soldier poses for a photograph before The Confederate soldier was as society, and the mercenary motives
leaving for the war. The average soldier was in his committed to his cause as was the that drew so many of the poor into the Confederate officer’s kepi
mid-20s, came from a rural background, and had Northerner—perhaps more so. He saw Union Army ranks were less common. The gray woolen kepi was standard headgear for the
probably not been away from home before. the war as a defense of his home and Confederate soldier, although it offered little protection
home state, his freedom, and his way Army life against the elements. The broad-brimmed slouch hat
of life. And while only a third of The concentration of thousands of was also in common use among troops.
B E FOR E Confederate soldiers owned slaves or newly recruited farm boys in military
came from slave-owning families, camps led to outbreaks of disease, their evident raggedness. Soldiers dug
almost all believed that the preservation initially spread by poor sanitary rifle pits with tin cups for lack of shovels.
At the start of the Civil War, only a few of slavery was essential to their status practices. Disease was just one of the Much of a soldier’s time was devoted to
men on the Confederate side had military and security. Southerners tended to disagreeable aspects of army life. scavenging for the basics of sustenance
training. Recruits were volunteers, often believe the myth The profanity, and kit. Overcoats, blankets, and boots
led by amateur military enthusiasts. that they were FURLOUGH An enlisted man’s leave was drunkenness, were plundered from captured Union
natural fighters called a furlough. A soldier on leave left gambling, and stores or stolen from the Union dead
FORMING AN ARMY compared to the his weapons in camp and carried papers general immorality and prisoners of war. Foraging
At first the Confederacy based its army on state decadent urban describing his appearance and giving his were a shock to
militias, preexisting volunteer companies, Yankees from unit and his departure and return dates. those who came
and a rush of one-year volunteers at the the North, and from orderly
outbreak of war ❮❮ 34–35. The army’s cultivated a self-conscious sense of homes. Many men who had signed up
dependence on one-year enlistment from personal honor that impelled them into to defend an ill-defined freedom
spring 1861 held the prospect of a crisis when combat. This self-image also sustained resented finding themselves subjected to
the volunteers’ term of service expired. In their commitment to the war. the rigors of a military discipline that
December 1861, the Confederate Congress As the Confederate soldiers’ initial denied them liberty of speech and
offered inducements to tempt men into enthusiasm waned, many came to feel action. But over time, most adapted
reenlisting. They were offered a 60-day that they were poor men fighting a rich successfully to the rhythms of military
furlough (or break), a cash bounty, and the right man’s war. The exemption from the life. A man’s regiment became his home,
to join a new regiment and to elect new officers. draft (military service) for planters who within which he would bond with a
owned 20 or more slaves—motivated buddy and the men he lived and fought
INTRODUCTION OF CONSCRIPTION alongside. This male bonding was the
Generals, however, feared that these cement that held the army together and
measures would disrupt the war sustained each individual soldier in
effort. On April 16, 1862, the hardship and combat. Drill and training,
Confederacy decided to introduce capped by the experience of battle itself,
conscription, known as the completed the transformation of a
“draft.” White males aged civilian into a soldier.
18–35 were subject to
compulsory military service Lack of necessities
and one-year service men had to Shortages of almost everything were a
stay for three years. In September, Confederate soldier’s lot. He could
the upper age limit was raised to expect a weapon and ammunition, plus
45. Initially, planters with 20 or more a water canteen and tin cup, but most
slaves were exempt. In addition, the other items, from food to blankets and
wealthy could pay someone to fight on their Sewing kit boots, were in short supply. Although
behalf. Many men volunteered rather than Soldiers carried a mending kit known as a “housewife,” officially clad in gray, Confederate troops
be conscripted: of around 200,000 enrolments which included needles, thread, and buttons. Men who often had to make do with homespun
in 1862, the majority were volunteers. were used to being looked after by womenfolk had to uniforms dyed with solutions of walnut
learn essential skills, such as sewing and cooking, when shells and copper. Men marched
they entered the army. barefoot, drawing a perverse pride from

48
 S O L D I E R S I N G R AY

A F T ER
Identity badges
Neither army issued identity
tags, so troops inscribed their At the end of the war, 174,223 Confederate
names or units onto pieces of soldiers surrendered to the Union, but
bone, like these Confederate some former soldiers resisted Northern
ones, metal, paper, or even control of the South for years to come.
acorns, so that their bodies
could be identified if they were RETURNING HOME
killed in battle. The surrender agreement made by
Grant and Lee at Appomattox in 1865
Confederate soldiers pillaged farms in hanging and branding, for the gravest or died from disease or hardship. Many allowed Southern troops to return home
search of food or firewood, even though offenses. Yet desertion rates remained more were wounded, only one in four without being prosecuted for treason. They
the people they robbed were civilians on high: around one in seven soldiers coming through unscathed. Later in had to surrender their weapons, except for
their own side. This quest for necessities deserted from the Army of Northern the war, as pessimism and casualties officers’ sidearms, but were allowed to keep their
easily slipped into straightforward crime, Virginia. The causes included disillusion mounted, religious revivals swept own horses. Most soldiers returned home on
with the theft of money and valuables. with the rigors of army life and concern through the Confederate camps and foot, dressed in little more than rags, and
for the welfare of their families back desertion grew to epidemic proportions. begged for food along the way.
Desertions and casualties home, who were seen as needing the Yet thousands of hardened veterans
Discipline was seen by senior Confederate man’s aid and protection in the face of fought on to the last, with the courage KU KLUX KLAN
commanders as a serious and persistent increasing hardship and danger. The of despair and pride in their regiments. Many Confederate war veterans were reluctant
problem. The Southern soldier was a rarity of leave led to frequent shorter Confederates were often viewed as to accept Northern domination and the
tough fighter but had an ingrained episodes of absence without permission, unkempt and undisciplined. One of their according of civil rights to freed slaves.
resistance to authority. Officers below and troops stationed near home own commanders, Brigadier General Groups of loosely associated vigilantes formed
the rank of brigadier general were accepted a mild punishment for taking Cadmus Wilcox, even described the Ku Klux Klan , which resisted U.S. rule
elected by the men, and this no doubt an unauthorized break to visit loved ones. Confederate troops as “little better than in the South and terrorized African Americans.
led to a tolerance of minor infringements. At its height, the Confederate army an armed mob.” But the feats of hard Although the Klan was suppressed, other armed
But larger issues, such as straggling on numbered some 460,000 men, and more marching, general endurance, and vigilante groups, such as the White League,
the march and shirking combat, had than a million soldiers served in its ranks fighting against the odds achieved by the continued the fight against black rights and
to be addressed. Tough commanders during the course of the war. Of these, Confederate soldiers of the Civil War have Republicanism into the 1870s.
imposed severe punishments, including around 250,000 were killed in combat been equaled by few other armies.

“We are a dirty, ragged set … but Confederate campsite

A Confederate army camp in summer could be

courage and heroism find many pleasant enough, with soldiers engaged in cooking,
playing cards, and reading. African-Americans were
present as servants, cooks, and laborers.
a true disciple among us.”
THEODORE T. FOGLE OF THE 2 GEORGIA INFANTRY, LETTER TO HIS PARENTS, OCTOBER 13, 1862

49
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

Soldiers in Blue
The Union army enjoyed numerical superiority in the Civil War, but this did not make its soldiers’
experiences, in and out of combat, any less harsh. Whether they fought for principle or for pay,
Union troops served with an endurance and tenacity that ultimately prevailed.

T
he Union army was as diverse
B EFOR E as the society of the states
from which the soldiers
were drawn. By civilian
Although the Northern states had a large occupation, farmers and
pool of manpower to draw on, they had farm laborers were the
difficulty in fulfilling the demand for largest group, making up
soldiers in a long war. almost a half of the troops,
while skilled workers—
A VOLUNTEER ARMY carpenters, blacksmiths,
The Union army was initially a wholly volunteer shoemakers, machinists, printers—
force. A commitment to 90 days’ service quickly constituted about a quarter of the
proving inadequate, recruits were mostly required army. Although, as the war dragged Union officer’s kepi
to sign up for three years, although some two- on, recruits were increasingly drawn The blue kepi-style cap with black visor was standard
year volunteers were enrolled in certain states. from the poorer layers of society, only wear for Union soldiers. The horn insignia on the front
The attractions of army service declined one in seven of the Union soldiers were was that of the infantry.
sharply as the risks and hardships of military unskilled laborers. It was a slightly
life became more widely understood, and an younger army than that of the South, became an important component of
economic boom—stimulated by the war—made with two out of every five soldiers under Union fighting forces from 1863—
well-paid civilian work readily available. 21 years of age. Although the lower age black troops made up 10 percent
for conscription was 20, many of the of the Union army by the war’s end—
CONSCRIPTION substitutes, paid to take the place of but who fought in segregated units.
In 1863, conscription was introduced for men unwilling conscripts, were adventurous
aged 20–45. However, those selected could pay for youths of 18 or 19. Much younger boys Reasons for fighting
substitutes to take their place. Many were also served as drummers or buglers, although The motivation of Union troops was
exempted for various reasons and large numbers in 1864 the engagement of children mixed. Patriotism drove many into the
disappeared to evade conscription. Only 51,000 under 16 was officially banned. ranks, outraged at the rebel threat to
conscripts served in the Union army during the war, the integrity of the United States.
compared with 118,000 substitutes. Makeup of the Union army An idealistic opposition to slavery
To avert a crisis in 1864, when the initial Most striking was the ethnic diversity of was far less common. Abolitionism
three-year volunteers reached the end of their the Union forces. About a quarter of was supported in some Massachusetts
term, the government offered bonus payments those who served in the Union armies regiments, but on the whole Union
and a furlough (leave) to men who agreed to were foreign-born, reflecting the high troops were indifferent to emancipation;
reenlist. Some 200,000 veteran volunteers level of immigration into the Northern some were even opposed to it.
stayed in the army. Cash bonuses were also states starting in the 1840s. The largest The simple desire for adventure and
routinely paid to attract fresh volunteers. contingent were Germans, of whom the experience of war attracted many
some 200,000 served the Union during young men to enlist, but material
the war. The second-largest immigrant considerations often predominated.
group in the ranks were the Irish, with The bounty money offered for
Box containing
shaving brush
around 150,000 men engaged. Both volunteering and the money paid
Germans and Irish often served in for substitutes were considerable sums
their own regiments—the 69th to ordinary working men. Even without
New York Infantry Regiment cheating the system—it was not too
(dubbed “the Fighting 69th”) was difficult to enlist several times for the
Irish, the 74th Pennsylvania bounty and evade the service—a man
Regiment was German. But could feel well-off with the one-time
members of these and other payment. Late in the war immigrants
immigrant groups also served in arriving in the United States were
regiments that were not ethnically often enlisted straight off the boat,
defined. The same was not true some having embarked on the voyage
of African Americans who specifically to sign up.

Shaving soap
“ I hope and trust that
Razor

Shaving equipment strength will be given to me

Soldiers usually carried a straight razor and soap,
although few would have had a shaving kit as elegant
as this. Army rules, often ignored, prescribed
to stand and do my duty.”
a face wash every day and a full bath once a week. PRIVATE EDWARD EDES, LETTER TO HIS FATHER, APRIL 1863

50
 SOLDI ER S I N B LU E

Improving morale
Loyalty to his colleagues and proud
identification with his regiment, brigade,
and corps were the bonds that held a
man in place and, more than any
other factor, made him ready to fight.
Although obedience never came easily,
the Union army developed into a
reasonably well-drilled and disciplined
force, with order enforced by harsh
corporal punishments. From 1862
onward, Union troops were generally
well supplied and equipped. Northern
factories provided sufficient standard
uniforms and footwear, even if

281,881 The estimated

number of Union
soldiers wounded in the course of the
Civil War. One in every four Union
soldiers who served in the conflict either
died or was wounded.

sometimes of poor quality, and

the official food ration was quite
generous in its portions of bacon,
beef, bread, and beans. But men easily Unknown Union soldier
became ragged and hungry during hard This young recruit of the 8th New York Heavy Artillery
campaigning. Even when the supply has the Hardee hat of his full dress uniform alongside
system had not broken down, the him and carries an infantry musket. Eighteen was
temptation to pillage farms along the considered the youngest age for a combat role, although
line of march, usually in Confederate many volunteers lied about their birth date.
territory, was rarely resisted. When
marching, endurance was required—
the pack was heavy, feet were sore— A F T ER
but even in a well supplied camp the
military routines could be both boring
and wearing. Disease was a serious Some 2.5 million men served in the Union
threat, especially in the early period army in the course of the Civil War. Of
before sanitation improved. A Union these, around 360,000 died in battle or
soldier had a one-in-eight chance of of hardship and disease.
dying of disease, compared with a one-
in-18 chance of dying in battle. DEMOBILIZATION
No thought was given during the war to the problem
Disillusion and desertion of returning men to civilian life. Soldiers whose
The quality of Union troops was diluted terms of service ended and who chose not to reenlist
in the last years of the war. The proud if simply returned to their homes. At the war’s end
war-weary volunteers who had fought public opinion demanded swift demobilization.
since 1861 were often contemptuous Union soldiers were gathered in camps for
of the mercenary “bounty men” and discharge, but many deserted before the slow and
substitutes raked in from 1863 onward— tedious mustering out process was complete.
Private Frank Wilkeson dismissed them as
“conscienceless and cowardly scoundrels.” VETERANS’ PENSIONS
Desertion rates were always high, men By 1865, a system of pensions had been put
slinking away, discouraged by army life or in place for disabled veterans and for the
needing to cope with difficulties at home. widows and orphans of Union soldiers who had
But those who joined up for a lump sum died in the war. In 1904, pensions were in effect
payment were notorious for disappearing. extended to all surviving Civil War veterans in
Grant complained in September 1864 their old age. There were still individuals drawing
that: “The men we have been getting Civil War pensions in the 1950s.
in this way almost all desert.” Yet Union
troops always proved tough fighters A CONTINUING ROLE
when it mattered. There was no Rapidly depleted, the U.S. Army nonetheless was
questioning the courage and fighting burdened with important tasks after the Civil War.
spirit of the soldiers in blue. The South came under military rule during
the Reconstruction period , while the
Taking a break Plains Indian Wars kept the army actively
This scene of soldiers playing cards was painted in 1881 employed into the 1880s, many Civil War veterans
by Civil War veteran Julian Scott, who had served as a seeing action against the Native Americans.
musician in a Vermont regiment. It reflects the mix of
uniforms worn early in the war.

51
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

B E FOR E

In 1861, when the Civil War began, ironclad

warships were novelties in naval ship
design. Not surprisingly, both the Union
and the Confederates sought to employ this
new technology.

During the Crimean War, the French and British

navies attached iron plates to the wooden
hulls of some of their warships as armor. The
experiment was considered a success and in
1859 France launched the Gloire, an ironclad
battleship. The British responded with their own
armored battleship, Warrior, the following year.

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES

The Confederacy saw the possibility of using an
ironclad to challenge Union naval supremacy. In
the first days of the war they captured Norfolk

10
The guns carried by CSS
Virginia—two 7-in rifled
guns, fore and aft, six
9-in smoothbore Dahlgren guns in
broadside, and two 6.4-in rifled guns.

Navy Yard and with it the burned-out hull

of the steam-and-sail frigate USS Merrimack.
The ship was salvaged and rebuilt as the
steam-driven “ironclad” CSS Virginia,
encased to the waterline in 4in (10cm)
iron plate armor. Meanwhile, the Union
raced to produce the far more radical
all-metal USS Monitor in time to confront
the Virginia on her first sortie.

TE C H N O LO GY

USS MONITOR The Battle of

Hampton Roads
The design for USS Monitor was submitted
to the U.S. Navy’s Ironclad Board by
Swedish-born engineer John Ericsson.
This semi-submerged metal raft had an
armored deck that supported a rotating
gun turret and a small pilothouse. It
was armed with two 11-in (280-mm)
In March 1862, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought the world’s first battle between steam-powered,
smoothbore Dahlgren guns (below). Their ironclad warships. Their encounter was a stalemate that left the naval balance of power in the Civil War
swollen shape allowed the use of larger
amounts of explosive propellant without unchanged, but it marked an epoch-making advance in the technology of naval warfare.
the risk of the gun bursting. The steam

T
engine drove an innovative marine screw, he Confederacy was desperate to to his ship’s prow. As he steamed toward Cumberland’s fate, the captain of the
also designed by Ericsson. The Monitor’s break the Union naval blockade the sloop USS Cumberland, the Union Congress ran his ship aground to make it
low profile in the water made it a tough that cut off Richmond’s access to ship’s shells bounced off Virginia’s metal impossible for the Confederate ironclad
target but rendered it barely seaworthy. international trade through the James plates. The ram tore into the to ram. This left the frigate a sitting
Built in sections at different foundries, the River. On March 8, 1862, the ironclad Cumberland’s wooden hull target for the Virginia’s guns and other
vessel was launched on January 30, 1862. CSS Virginia steamed out of the Norfolk and sent her to the vessels of the Confederate squadron.
Navy Yard to challenge the Union bottom—almost taking Helpless under bombardment, the
blockade force in Hampton Roads, the Virginia with her as the Congress “struck her colors,” the
where the James River opens out into ram stayed locked in the time-honored gesture of surrender
Chesapeake Bay. To the crews of the sloop’s hull. Fortunately for in naval warfare, but Union soldiers
Union warships on blockade duty, the Buchanan and his crew, on shore were unaware of this
ungainly, slow-moving warship with the ram snapped off and
her sloped ironplate armor was a sinister the Virginia was able to Catesby ap Roger Jones
sight. The Virginia’s captain, 61-year-old turn her attention A Virginian of Welsh ancestry, Catesby ap Roger
Franklin Buchanan, had an array of to the frigate USS Jones resigned from the U.S. Navy to join the
guns at his disposal, but his intended Congress. Having Confederacy. He took over command of
principal weapon was an iron ram fitted witnessed the CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads.

52
 T H E B AT T L E O F H A M P TO N R O A D S

A F T ER

The Confederacy failed to break the blockade.

Over the next two months the Virginia made
occasional sorties into Hampton Roads, but
the epic duel was not repeated.

The Virginia was scuttled in May when the

advance of Union land forces left it exposed to
capture. Never seaworthy, Monitor sank on
December 31, 1862, while under tow in an Atlantic
gale off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. However, the
design spawned a whole class of vessels,
designated “monitors,” for use in inshore and
river warfare. Monitors were still in service up to
the 1930s. Rams and rotating gun turrets were
soon adopted as standard features of warships.

ARMORED VESSELS IN THE WAR

Ironclads and monitors played a major part in later
naval actions, including the struggle for control
of the Mississippi 54-57, 98-99 ❯❯
and the Battle of Mobile Bay 134-135 ❯❯.

Battle of the ironclads

USS Monitor (far left) and CSS Virginia (left) exchange
fire at close range. The Virginia suffered much
superficial damage, but neither vessel carried powerful
enough armament to have a decisive effect.

visibility was limited for both crews, and

the two ships went almost blindly around
one another as they blasted away. The
Monitor was smaller and faster and her flat
bottom was an advantage in the shallow
waters. At one point, the Virginia ran
aground on shoals, but she was
freed and the battle continued.

“ My men and myself Final clashes

The Virginia tried to crush
the Monitor by ramming,
were perfectly black but the Monitor moved
into shallow water to

with smoke and powder.” escape. No resolution

seemed in view when by
chance a Confederate
UNION LIEUTENANT SAMUEL GREENE, ON BOARD USS MONITOR shell exploded in the
eyeslit of the Monitor’s
the next target for destruction, but with John Worden, were pilothouse. Worden
the approach of night the Virginia exhausted and hungry. suffered a facial wound
withdrew for repairs. The Union navy Nonetheless, Worden that blinded him. There
had lost two ships and the lives of more immediately set course was some confusion before
than 230 sailors. to attack the Virginia. command passed to his first
Solid shot The two vessels closed officer, Samuel Greene. In
A memento of the Battle of Hampton Roads—a solid USS Monitor enters the fray to point-blank range and the interim, the Virginia’s
shot flattened on striking CSS Virginia’s sloping The next morning, the Virginia opened fire. The Monitor’s Catesby ap Roger Jones
ironplate armor. The Virginia remained known to the reappeared, with Lieutenant Catesby ap armor warded off the assumed that the Monitor
Union side by its original name, Merrimack. Roger Jones commanding in place of hammer blows of the Virginia’s had given up the fight and
the wounded Buchanan. Jones was guns, but the Monitor’s fire had withdrew, claiming victory.
convention. As the surrender was being puzzled to see a strange low-lying metal no more effect on the Virginia’s Greene, ready to resume the
organized, they opened fire, seriously object between the Virginia and the iron plates. In cramped, fume- fight, saw the Virginia leave,
wounding Buchanan in the leg. In stranded Minnesota. This was the Union ridden conditions, the Monitor’s and also claimed to have won.
retaliation he ordered red-hot shot to ironclad USS Monitor. Towed south from gunners had problems with the
be fired at the Congress, setting her New York in great haste, it had taken up innovative gun turret, which Monitor’s commander
ablaze—the ship finally blew up in the position during the night. The Monitor eventually had to be kept in John Worden was a lieutenant when he took
early hours of the following morning. had undergone a hair-raising voyage, permanent rotation, firing as command of USS Monitor in January 1861. He
Another frigate, USS Minnesota, had nearly sinking in heavy seas. Its crew the guns swept across their recovered from his wound at Hampton Roads,
also run aground and was marked as of 59 officers and men, commanded by target. In the smoke, retiring from the navy as a rear admiral in 1886.

53
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

B E FOR E

New Orleans had seen rapid expansion of

trade and growing prosperity in the years
leading up to the Civil War. It also occupied
The Fall of New Orleans
a vital strategic location on the Mississippi.
The Confederates suffered a major setback when New Orleans fell to Union forces in April 1862.
It happened after a bold nighttime naval operation in which Union warships commanded by David
MULTIPLE UNION THREATS
Despite its importance to the Confederacy, Farragut forced a passage past the guns of Confederate forts Jackson and St. Philip.
New Orleans had reduced its defenses

U
because of the Union threat to the north in nion plans for an attack on New water. The Union squadron would also Return fire from the forts was equally
Tennessee, where General Ulysses S. Grant Orleans began in the winter of have to take on assorted ironclads and ineffectual. Farragut, who had never
was advancing on forts Henry and 1861–62. Initial estimates called “cottonclads”—ships with cotton bales placed much faith in the mortars, soon
Donelson ❮❮ 6 0– 61. Both land and for up to 50,000 Union troops. However, attached as a form of armor. In March, determined to proceed with his favored
naval forces had been dispatched northward, by February 1862, the main role had Farragut moved 17 ships past the initial plan of forcing a passage upriver. A raid
including eight ships of the River Defense Fleet. passed to the Union navy’s West Coast obstacle: the by his gunboats

SEABORNE LANDINGS
Union experience of amphibious warfare early
Blockading Squadron under Captain
David Farragut.
Farragut chose to plan a purely naval
sandbars that lay
at the mouth of
the Mississippi.
168,675 The population
of New Orleans
succeeded in
opening up a
according to the 1850 census. This made the navigable passage
in the war led it to believe that New Orleans operation to breach New Orleans’ only Farragut’s squadron city the sixth largest in the United States through the chain.
could be taken by a seaborne operation. Both serious defenses, forts Jackson and St. included his and by far the largest in the Confederacy. At around 2 a.m.
at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, in August 1861, Philip. Sited on opposite sides of the flagship USS on April 24, the
and the following November at Port Royal, South Mississippi around 75 miles (120km) Hartford, and some mortar schooners Union ships steamed upriver to the
Carolina, Union warships showed they could south of New Orleans, the forts held an for land bombardments. He then took chain under cover of darkness. They
subdue coastal forts with naval gunfire. This estimated 126 guns. Conventional a month to complete his preparations. were formed in three divisions, with
suggested that the river forts defending access to wisdom believed that warships trying to The Confederate forts were scouted, Farragut commanding the center.
New Orleans might be overcome with a naval pass them would be blown out of the as was the chain of sunken hulks, Most had passed through the gap in
attack supported by troop landings. Both stretching from bank to bank, intended the chain when, at 3:40 a.m., the moon
these previous operations had strengthened the Before the engagement to block passage up the river. rose, revealing them to the enemy, who
Union blockade of the South’s ports ❮❮ 42–43. En route to New Orleans, the crew of a Federal The bombardment began on April 18. unleashed a storm of fire from the forts’
mortar schooner is pictured on deck with the ship’s Thousands of shells rained down on the guns. As Farragut’s ships fired back and
formidable 25,000lb (11,340kg) gun. forts, but the effects were minimal. the mortar schooners joined in, the

54
 T H E FA L L O F N E W O R L E A N S

A F T ER

New Orleans came under the military rule

of Union General Benjamin Butler. His
abrasive approach to controlling a hostile
city provoked international controversy.

BRUTAL OCCUPATION
Butler cracked down on demonstrations of
support for the Confederacy in the occupied
city. Newspapers were censored and
churchmen arrested for expressing Confederate
sympathies in their services. When William
Mumford was hanged for having torn down a
Union flag at the time of the city’s surrender,
Jefferson Davis declared Butler himself a
criminal worth hanging.
Moreover, from a Union point of view, Butler
outraged international opinion. France’s
government denounced the arrest of champagne
merchant Charles Heidsieck as a spy.
Most damaging was Butler’s General
Order of May 15, 1862, stating that
any woman who insulted Union
soldiers “shall be … treated as a
woman of the town”—in other
words, as a prostitute.
Butler succeeded in
keeping order and
Mayhem on the Mississippi Varuna was the only Union loss of the April 29, the Fort Jackson garrison improving public
The running of the forts under cover of darkness led to a
battle. The Governor Moore was later mutinied. General Johnson Duncan, health, but he was
chaotic moonlit river battle. Fort Jackson can be seen on
shot up by several Union warships and, commander of the forts, decided that it removed from
the left of the picture firing on the Union ships as they
out of control, was sunk by her crew. was time to give in. As a result, when command of the
round the bend in the river. The strangest-looking vessel in the General Benjamin Butler’s Union troops Department of the
battle was CSS Manassas, a cigar-shaped marched into New Orleans on May 1, Gulf in late 1862. BENJAMIN BUTLER
night was lit up like a fireworks display. ironclad with a ram and a single gun. they were unopposed. They had taken
Farragut’s boldness paid off, for as he Her curved armor performed excellently the city without seeing any fighting.
had anticipated, the land batteries fired as she attempted a series of ramming
wildly in their panic and confusion. attacks. The sidewheel steamer USS
Only three of the gunboats in the Union Mississippi and the sloop USS Brooklyn
rear division failed to pass the forts. One were both struck, and the Brooklyn
“ The passing [of the forts] was
was disabled by gunfire
and the other two
suffered serious damage. The
Manassas finally one of the most awful sights
turned back, rather ran aground and
than attempt to push
through the passage as
was destroyed.
The other
and events I ever saw.”
dawn broke. Confederate LETTER OF DAVID FARRAGUT TO THE ASSISTANT NAVAL SECRETARY, APRIL 27, 1862
Confederate ironclad, CSS
warships beyond Louisiana, was only Unwelcome arrivals
the barrier Battle rattle able to fire a few Sailors sent ashore to take formal possession of New
responded in This 10½-in (26-cm) wide wooden rattle shots—she was later Orleans after the Union victory met a hostile reception
piecemeal was of the type used on small warships scuttled to avoid from angry crowds. The city was not occupied by Union
fashion. Their to summon all hands to their action capture. With the soldiers until a week after the victory.
tugs pushed rafts stations at the moment of battle. Southern naval force
heaped with burning routed, Farragut had a
wood toward Union ships, setting fire clear path to New Orleans. He reached
to Farragut’s flagship, which was the city on April 25 and demanded its
rescued by the efforts of its crew. surrender. The garrison by then had
been evacuated, leaving New Orleans
Cottonclad vs. gunboat defenseless, but the Confederate
Meanwhile, CSS Governor Moore, a authorities refused to surrender, while
cottonclad converted from a civilian Union officers and sailors who landed to
paddle steamer, attacked boldly under take formal possession of the city were
the command of Lieutenant Beverly harassed. Farragut wisely waited,
Kennon. Finding USS Varuna isolated, allowing feelings to cool down. After
he relentlessly pursued her, despite four days his marines were able to raise
taking heavy casualties in a fierce the Union flag over the major public
exchange of fire. The Governor Moore buildings in New Orleans.
twice rammed into the Varuna with her The forts, meanwhile, remained in
reinforced bow before CSS Stonewall Confederate hands, but shortly after the
Jackson sank the Union gunboat. The mortar bombardment was resumed on

55
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

Action on the Mississippi River

The struggle for control of the Mississippi in 1862 brought strange warships into conflict, from cottonclad into ships of war, usually by adding
rams to “Pook Turtles,” in battles at Island Number Ten, Plum Point Bend, and Memphis. The campaign cotton bales as armor—making them
“cottonclads”—then reinforcing the
was a disaster for the Confederacy, but the Union side also fell short of its final objective. prow with iron to make a ram, and by
arming them with one or two guns.

A
t the outset of the Civil War, the immediately possible because it turned to engineer and industrialist
Anaconda Plan proposed by required the creation of a Union river James Eads. He built seven vessels from Island Number Ten
Union general-in-chief Winfield fleet that could cooperate with the scratch to a design by Samuel Pook, a The first strongpoint that Union forces
Scott gave priority to an advance down army to overcome the Confederate naval architect based in Cairo, Illinois. needed to overcome as they pressed
the Mississippi to cut the Confederacy fortresses dominating the waterway. They were shallow-draft ships driven by down the Mississippi was Island Number
in two. Whether considered desirable For the construction of a flotilla of a paddlewheel at the stern and enclosed Ten, a fortified position at a turn in the
or not, such an offensive was not ironclad river gunboats, the Union in sloping iron armor. Officially called river near the town of New Madrid. At
City-class gunboats, they were better the start of March 1862, Major General
The “Pook Turtle” known by their nickname: Pook Turtles. John Pope’s newly formed Army of the
USS Cairo was one of the Union City-class The seven ironclads formed the core Mississippi, advancing through Missouri,
ironclad gunboats designed by Samuel Pook for of the Western Gunboat Flotilla, arrived outside New Madrid. Unable to
the river war. Commissioned in January 1862, initially under U.S. Army control. resist Union siege guns, the Confederates
she initially had 16 guns and a crew of 250. The Confederates, in contrast, had quickly abandoned the town, but the
to make do with adapting riverboats island was a tougher obstacle. The Union

“ … they struck terror into

every guilty soul as they floated
down the river.”
CREW MEMBER OF A POOK TURTLE, 1862

B EFOR E
The Battle of Memphis
Both sides in the Civil War recognized that The Confederate cottonclad CSS General Beauregard is
control of the Mississippi River was a major rammed by USS Monarch off Memphis on June 6, 1862.
strategic objective. The Union held Cairo, The revival of the ancient naval tactic of ramming was an
Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi unexpected result of the use of armored steam ships.
and Ohio, but the Confederates hoped to
prevent them from advancing farther south.

CONFEDERATE MOVES
In September 1861, Confederate troops under
General Leonidas Polk seized Columbus on
the Mississippi in Kentucky. He turned it into
a fortress with 143 guns trained on the river,
which was blocked by a chain. This “Gibraltar of
the West” presented a formidable obstacle to
any Union advance down the Mississippi.
However, after the fall of Fort Donelson in
February 1862 58-59 ❯❯, Columbus was
abandoned without a fight, rendered untenable
by the threat to its supply lines. Part of the
garrison and many of its guns were relocated
50 miles (80km) south at Island Number Ten.

UNION STRATEGY
On February 23, 1862, the Union commander
in the Western theater, General Henry
Halleck, ordered the creation of the Army of
the Mississippi. With 25,000 men under Major
General John Pope, the army’s task was to
advance down the Mississippi River in
cooperation with the river fleet.

56
 ACTION ON TH E M I SSI SSI P P I R IVER

A F T ER
James Buchanan Eads short of naval defense. On flotilla had acquired its own squadron
An inventive civil engineer and May 10, the cottonclads, of nine rams—converted tugs rebuilt
businessman, Eads helped to think commanded by James by Pennsylania engineer Charles Ellet Confederate efforts to reverse Union gains
up the idea of a Union flotilla of Montgomery, inflicted and crewed by civilian riverboat men. on the Mississippi failed, but Union forces
ironclads in the Mississippi. a sharp reverse on the When Montgomery’s cottonclad rams found it difficult to make further progress.
The seven City-class ships were Union flotilla at Fort steamed out to meet the Union flotilla,
constructed at his shipyards. Pillow. They pressed cheered on by crowds of spectators on ASSAULT ON BATON ROUGE
through Union the Memphis bluffs, they were crushed In late July, Confederate troops under John C.
river flotilla arrived with gunfire to ram the by Ellet’s rams and the gunfire of the Breckinridge were sent to retake Baton Rouge
its seven ironclads plus a ironclads USS Mound five remaining Union Pook Turtles. with support from the ironclad CSS Arkansas
group of mortar schooners, City and USS Cincinatti, Only one Confederate ship escaped. and a river squadron. Breckinridge attacked
but their guns failed to have both of which sank. on August 5 with some success, but his naval
a decisive impact on the Vicksburg stands firm support never materialized, as the Arkansas
island’s defenses. Pope’s Memphis falls With the fall of Memphis, only the suffered engine failure. Exposed to fire from
solution was to work his way This action, often known Confederate fortress at Vicksburg stood Union gunboats, the Confederates withdrew.
around the Confederate position and cut as the Battle of Plum Point Bend, in the way of Union control of the
its supply line through Tennessee. He boosted Confederate morale, but did Mississippi. In late June, Farragut’s fleet
dug a canal to move troop transports not reverse the tide of the war. Fort steamed upriver to join the river flotilla
downstream of the island and also had Pillow fell regardless, abandoned by the in a combined attack on Vicksburg, but
two ironclads slip past the island’s Confederates after the Union capture of their guns made little impression on a
batteries under cover of darkness. With the vital railroad junction at Corinth in determined garrison. On July 15, CSS
this support, his troops were able to late May left it exposed to land attack. Arkansas, a Confederate ironclad arrived
cross the river to the Tennessee shore. By June 1862, New Orleans had at Vicksburg and sailed through the
Surrounded and outnumbered, the fallen to Farragut’s fleet and Memphis Union fleet, disabling the ironclad USS
island garrison surrendered on April 8. was now indefensible in the face of Carondelet and inflicting substantial THE BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE
Union armies pushing south from casualties before taking refuge under
Confederate success Tennessee. A climactic river battle was the fortress’s guns. This act of bravado ATTEMPTS TO TAKE VICKSBURG
The chief remaining obstacle between fought in sight of was followed by Through the second half of 1862, efforts by

1
the Union gunboats and their destination the city on June 6. The number of Union casualties the withdrawal of Union General Grant to mount a land assault
Memphis was Fort Pillow, which the Impressed by the recorded at the naval battle of the Union ships in on Vicksburg were equally unsuccessful. The
gunboats started to bombard in May. effectiveness of the Memphis. The victim was Charles late July, conceding Confederate fortress at Vicksburg was not
Desperate to defend Memphis, the Confederate rams Ellet, commander of the Union that for now conquered until July 1863 58-59 ❯❯.
Confederates sent eight cottonclad rams at Plum Point rams, who was fatally wounded. The Vicksburg could not
north, leaving New Orleans seriously Bend, the Union Confederates lost about 180 men. be overcome.

57
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

Grant Takes Forts Henry

and Donelson
Ulysses S. Grant first came to prominence through the capture of these two Confederate forts on the
Cumberland and Tennessee rivers in February 1862. The loss of the forts was a serious setback for the
Confederacy, leading directly to the fall of the Tennessee state capital, Nashville, to the Union.

T
he decision to attack Fort Henry with a reputation for drinking, Foote a Bombarding Fort Henry
B EFOR E was made at the end of January high-minded teetotaler. But they formed The ironclads and timberclads of Foote’s Western
1862. Built the previous year, the a harmonious team, good relations aided Gunboat Flotilla overcame resistance from the shore
fort was poorly sited and unlikely to be by Grant’s acceptance that reducing the batteries at Fort Henry on the Cumberland River by
Based at Cairo, Illinois, Union land and able to withstand infantry assault or fort would be a matter for the gunboats. naval bombardment alone.
naval forces were well placed to invade naval gunfire for very long. The attack
Confederate territory along three rivers—the was to be a joint operation by two army Fall of Fort Henry attack. Most of the Confederates swiftly
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland. divisions under General Grant—some Steaming down the Tennessee on left for Fort Donelson, 12 miles (19km)
15,000 men—and a flotilla under February 5, the gunboats and troop away on the Cumberland River.
AMPHIBIOUS OFFENSIVE Commander Andrew H. Foote, transports encountered mines, but Artillerymen remained with their guns,
The prelude to river operations was the building comprising four of the new City-class these caused no damage. The troops but after two hours the defenders of
of seven ironclads ❮❮ 56-57 , completed in ironclads and three timberclads (with landed several miles from Fort Henry the wrecked fort surrendered.
January 1862, to create the Western Gunboat timber, rather than iron, armor). The and were still struggling to reach their Confederate General Albert Sidney
Flotilla. Union General Henry W. Halleck still two commanders were contrasting objective across difficult terrain when, Johnston, commander of the Western
hesitated to take action, but his subordinate characters, Grant a down-to-earth man on February 6, Foote opened the naval Military Department, now had to
Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant was
more eager to fight. Grant, who had made an
amphibious sortie against Belmont on the
Mississippi in November 1861, now proposed
“ No terms except an unconditional and
an attack on Fort Henry on the Tennessee.
immediate surrender can be accepted.”
ULYSSES S. GRANT’S REPLY TO GENERAL BUCKNER’S REQUEST FOR TERMS AT FORT DONELSON, FEBRUARY 16, 1862

58
 G R A N T TA K E S F O R T S H E N R Y A N D D O N E L S O N

A F T ER
difficult march, but set off for Fort trenches in conditions of considerable
Donelson as soon as he could. There he hardship, some without overcoats or
was reinforced by a further 10,000 blankets, sleeping on the bare ground The loss of Fort Donelson undermined
troops sent by Halleck, giving him clear in freezing rain and snow. the Confederate strategic position in the
numerical superiority over the fort’s Western theater, leading to the loss of all
defenders—25,000 Union soldiers faced Attempted breakout of Kentucky and most of Tennessee.
16,000 Confederates. The Confederate The Confederate commanders, however,
strongpoint was not a fort in the had already decided that their position CONFEDERATE WITHDRAWALS
conventional sense. It was a 15-acre was hopeless. Floyd decided to attempt a With Grant advancing down the Tennessee River
(6-hectare) encampment defended on breakout that would enable his force to and under pressure from Buell’s Army of the
the river side by batteries of heavy rejoin General Albert S. Johnston at Ohio, Albert Johnston abandoned Nashville
guns dug into the high cliffs Nashville. The bulk of the on February 23, handing the Tennessee state
and on the landward side defenders, under Brigadier capital to the Union without a fight. The
by field fortifications that General Gideon Pillow, Confederate stronghold at Columbus on the
exploited the rugged were concentrated in Mississippi was abandoned shortly after. The
decide whether to attempt a defense of terrain of wooded front of McClernand’s withdrawn Confederate forces concentrated at
Fort Donelson and with what strength. slopes and ravines. division on the Union Corinth, Mississippi. From there a counter-
When Fort Henry fell, he withdrew his The first attempt right, and at dawn on offensive was mounted that led to the Battle
forces from Kentucky to Nashville, but on the fort was made February 15 they of Shiloh at Pittsburg Landing 60-61 ❯❯.
instead of concentrating all his troops by Foote’s flotilla, but attacked with their
there, he sent 12,000 men to reinforce the accurate fire from blood-chilling rebel UNION VICTORY AT PEA RIDGE
Fort Donelson. Command of the fort the high-placed shore yell. By chance, Grant Shortly after Fort Donelson, the Confederacy
was placed in the hands of John Floyd, batteries, directed had left to consult suffered another defeat in the Western theater.
a controversial secretary of war in the downward to crash with Foote some At the Battle of Pea Ridge, fought in northern
Buchanan government before the war. through the ships’ way down river. With Arkansas on March 6–8, 1862, a Confederate
decks, disabled the no one to coordinate army under Major General Earl Van Dorn was
First attacks on Fort Donelson Union vessels one by a Union response, decisively defeated by a smaller Union force
General Halleck’s intention after the fall one. There followed an James Tuttle McClernand’s troops commanded by Brigadier General Samuel Curtis.
of Fort Henry was to hold what had attack on the landward Colonel James Tuttle led the 2nd Iowa were driven back,
been gained. Grant had finally arrived side of the fort, led by Regiment in the final assault on Fort taking heavy
at Fort Henry on February 14 after a one of Grant’s divisional Donelson and planted the Union flag casualties. The
commanders, John inside the Confederate earthworks. Confederate cavalry,
Grant looking over the battlefield McClernand, but this under Colonel Nathan
On horseback, Ulysses Grant surveys the scene was also repulsed. Grant faced the Bedford Forrest, distinguished itself in a
at snowy Fort Donelson on February 15, 1862. uncomfortable prospect of a long siege series of flanking attacks. For the Union
Some 2,500 Union soldiers and around 1,500 in harsh winter weather. His men side, Brigadier General Lew Wallace
Confederates were killed or wounded in the battle. settled down opposite the Confederate (future author of Ben Hur) reinforced
the flank and held a vital hill line.
The opportunity was there for
Pillow to complete the breakout,
but, shocked by the condition of
his troops, he withdrew back to
the trenches. When Grant arrived
at the battle, he pointed out to
his badly shaken officers that if
many of their own troops were
demoralized, the Confederates,
having fallen back, must be even
more so. Grant ordered an assault
on the center of the Confederate
line, which he reasoned must have
been weakened to provide troops
for the flank breakout. Colonel
James Tuttle’s 2nd Iowa Regiment
duly penetrated the Confederate
defenses, while, on the right,
Wallace regained all the ground lost
earlier in the day. That night, in a
rush to save their own troops, Floyd
and Pillow slipped away under cover
of darkness. Forrest escaped with
700 troopers by riding through the
Union lines. Command devolved to
Brigadier General Simon Bolivar
Buckner. The next morning, Buckner’s
request for terms was met by Grant’s
demand for “immediate surrender.” General Buckner’s tunic
Buckner had no choice but to A few Confederate generals wore this style of pleated
comply, passing into captivity tunic rather than the usual double-breasted frock coat.
along with more than 12,000 other The wealthy Buckner had been a friend of Grant’s before
Confederate soldiers. the war and had helped him out of financial difficulties.

59
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

The Battle of Shiloh

The battle fought at Pittsburg Landing on April 6–7, 1862—and usually named for the nearby Shiloh
Church—was by far the most bloody up to that point in the Civil War, leaving some 20,000 men dead or
wounded. The Confederacy came close to a major victory, but instead suffered another crushing reverse.

I
n the run-up to the battle, Grant was
B EFO R E culpably complacent. The Union ① Apr 6, sundown: WALLACE
Savannah

Sn
encampment among creeks and Union forces are driven

ak
eC
back to this line, but are BUELL
swamps at Pittsburg Landing was not

ree
reinforced during the night SHERMAN GRANT

k
After taking Fort Donelson, the Union Army protected by field fortifications, one
of West Tennessee advanced toward Corinth, Union division under Lew Wallace was McCOOK
Mississippi, where the Confederates were positioned 5 miles (8km) away from McCLERNAND WOOD
③ Apr 7, 11 a.m.:
HURLBUT
planning to strike back. the rest, and Grant’s headquarters were Confederates reorganize NELSON CRITTENDEN
line, but are now seriously
even farther away, at Savannah. The outnumbered
Pittsburg
THE ROAD TO SHILOH march of 42,000 Confederates from Landing

k
ee
Cr
On March 4, 1862, the victor at Fort Donelson Corinth was slow and ill-conducted, but Ow
l

❮❮ 58-59 , Ulysses S. Grant, was relieved of his Union commanders failed to detect the
command by Henry W. Halleck for alleged neglect threat of an imminent attack. The first ④ Apr 7, 3:30 a.m.:
Beauregard orders
and inefficiency, but the decision was reversed of Buell’s troops reached Savannah on retreat toward ② Apr 7, dawn:
BRAGG
under pressure from President Lincoln. By early April 5, but there was no rush to move Corinth Union counterattack
April, Grant was back in command at Pittsburg them to Pittsburg Landing. takes Confederates
by surprise
POLK

Te n n
Landing on the west bank of the Tennessee.
Halleck ordered Don Carlos Buell to march his Dawn attack Hornet’s

es
Nest

se
Army of Ohio to join Grant’s six divisions. At first light on April 6 the Confederates Shiloh Ri

e
Church ve
Bloody r
Confederate generals Albert S. Johnston attacked, achieving almost total surprise. BRECKINRIDGE Pond
and P. G. T. Beauregard concentrated their The brunt of the onslaught was borne by

Ha
forces at Corinth. Reinforced by 15,000 troops two previously unblooded divisions under
W e s t e r n C orinth Road

mb
rg

u
- Sa
under Braxton Bragg, they intended to attack generals William T. Sherman and N HARDEE va n
na
hR
and destroy Grant before Buell arrived. Benjamin M. Prentiss. Their hastily oa KEY
d
improvised response bought the Union BEAUREGARD

d
oa
Union forces at dawn, Apr 7
⑤ Apr 7, 5 p.m.:
forces time and averted a rout. Grant E a s te r n Cor inth R Union gunboat
Breckinridge covers Rebel
arrived from Savannah by steamboat retreat. Union troops are too Confederate front line
0 m 250 500 exhausted to pursue at dawn, Apr 7
around 8:30 a.m. and found the position
C O N F E D E R AT E G E N E R A L 1 8 0 3 – 6 2 0 yds 500 1000 Corinth Confederate forces 11 a.m.
on the 6-mile (10-km) wide battlefield
ALBERT S. JOHNSTON desperate. Many raw troops had fled the
battle, cowering along the riverbank.
Born in Kentucky, Johnston fought against Leaving Sherman in control of the Union The second day of the battle
Mexico as a general in the Texan Army defense on the right flank, Grant ordered After the first day, many Confederate troops moved back A F T E R
and the U.S. Army. He was commander Prentiss to hold the line in the center in a from the front line to sleep. The next morning, the Union
of the Pacific Department in California position that would become known as the onslaught caught them unawares, driving them back
when the Civil War broke out, making a Hornet’s Nest. By early afternoon the over the ground they had won the previous day. In the Battle of Shiloh, the Union army lost
hazardous crossing of the southwest to Union left flank was collapsing, some over 13,000 men—casualties and prisoners—
join the Confederacy. Much admired by units having sustained in excess of felt beaten, but when Grant was asked while the Confederates had fewer than 11,000
President Davis, he was appointed a full 50 percent casualties. Confederate if he intended to retreat he replied, losses. It took time for the reality of the
general and commander of the Western losses were also high, however. General “No! I propose to attack at daylight and Confederate defeat to be acknowledged.
Department. Although the loss of forts Johnston was riding forward to urge his whip them.” Buell’s and Wallace’s fresh
Henry and Donelson had harmed his exhausted men to press for victory when troops continued to arrive throughout AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE
reputation, his death at Shiloh was still he was wounded and bled to death. the night. By the morning of April 7, Ulysses S. Grant came under severe criticism
a blow to the Confederate cause. Beauregard took over command. the Union army had the superiority of in the Northern press, with reports
numbers to launch a counteroffensive. exaggerating the unpreparedness of Union troops.
The Union onslaught This time it was Beauregard who was It was even rumored that he had been drunk.
The defense of the Hornet’s Nest ended caught by surprise. Rebel troops fell back Lincoln continued to support him, however,
around 5:30 p.m., when 62 Confederate in disarray as Union forces advanced stating,“I can’t spare this man, he fights.”
field guns were trained upon the few across the previous day’s corpse-strewn After the battle, Halleck, relegating Grant to
thousand defenders. By then, Union battlefield. After hard fighting in the second in command, led a cautious advance on
reinforcements were arriving to help early afternoon, Beauregard, fearing a Corinth. Rather than face a siege, Beauregard
Grant hold a last-ditch line along a rout, ordered a general retreat. withdrew south to Tupelo, Mississippi, in late
ridge overlooking a steep ravine. In Grant did not attempt a pursuit, but May. For this, he was fired by President
gathering twilight, Beauregard soon on the next day he sent Sherman on a Davis, who appointed Bragg in his place.
abandoned an attempt to assault this reconnaissance mission to see whether The Union fleet engaged in a series of actions
strong defensive position in the face of the Confederates were regrouping for on the Mississippi . On June 6, they took
a concentrated artillery barrage and fire another attack. This led to a clash with Memphis, where Grant, restored four days
from river gunboats. Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest’s later as commander of the Federal Army of
The two exhausted armies endured a cavalry at Fallen Timbers, in which the Tennessee, made his headquarters.
night of heavy rain and thunderstorms. Forrest was seriously wounded. This
Many shaken officers on the Union side skirmish marked the end of the fighting.

60
Infantry clash
Confederate troops encounter fire from a close-packed
Union infantry line during the Battle of Shiloh. In the
absence of prepared defenses, the only cover was
provided by trees and other natural features.

61
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley

The Confederates’ Shenandoah Valley Campaign was a diversionary operation that kept large bodies of Mountains toward Richmond, only
Union troops occupied and unable to support McClellan’s attack on Richmond. Taking enormous risks, to return by train to Staunton at the
southern end of the Valley. He then
General Jackson won victories through rapid movement, surprise, and the incompetence of his opponents. struck westward, where a Union army
under Major General John C. Frémont

U
nion forces made the first move redoubled their efforts to crush him. was trying to push through the
B EFO R E in the campaign in March 1862. As long as Jackson kept campaigning, mountains of western Virginia into east
Their aim was to eliminate any Union troops would not be transferred Tennessee. Jackson’s men defeated
offensive threat from General Jackson’s from Washington to Richmond. Frémont’s advanced guard at the hamlet
By spring 1862, Confederate survival was small army in the Valley, thereby Jackson’s success in the subsequent of McDowell on May 8, which alerted
threatened by a series of military setbacks. allowing Union troops to be switched campaign would depend on two factors: Union General Nathaniel
Jackson’s campaign in the Shenandoah from the defense of Washington to the speed of movement, achieved by Banks to expect trouble.
Valley looked set to be another. attack on Richmond. Major General driving his marching men so hard they He took up a position
Nathaniel Banks led an army across the became known as the “foot cavalry;”
POOR RELATIONS Potomac River, and superior
General Stonewall Jackson was placed in
command of the Confederate Department
forcing Jackson,
who was heavily
35,000 The number of Union
troops in the Valley in
March 1862
intelligence. The
latter derived both
Iron
heel plate
of Northern Virginia in October 1861, with outnumbered, to from cooperation
responsibility for the defense of the 150-mile
(240-km) long Shenandoah Valley. The following
winter his insistence on campaigning in harsh
withdraw south
from his base at
Winchester.
5,000 The number of
Confederate troops in
on the part of the
local population,
the Valley in March 1862 who gave Jackson
weather brought his troops close to mutiny. Pursuing the information about
Some of his officers complained to politicians Confederates for some 50 miles (80km), enemy movements, and from the work
and it was with some difficulty that he was a Union division under Brigadier General of staff cartographer Jedediah Hotchkiss,
dissuaded from resigning. James Shields lost contact and assumed who made accurate maps of the Valley.
Jackson had withdrawn. But as Shields
UNION VICTORIES returned toward Winchester, Jackson Confederate numbers bolstered
The Confederacy’s setbacks in the Western pursued him and counterattacked. Backed by Robert E. Lee, then President
Theater in the first months of 1862 included Wounded, Shields ceded command to Davis’s military adviser, Jackson was Iron
the losses of New Orleans ❮❮ 54-55 and Colonel Nathan Kimball, who defeated reinforced by the dispatch of a division nails
of forts Henry and Donelson ❮❮ 58-59 . the Confederates at Kernstown on under Major General Richard S. Ewell.
In Virginia, by May, Union General George B. March 23. Jackson retreated, having Jackson and Ewell proved effective
McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had landed on lost around a third of his force, yet the partners, both thoroughly eccentric Infantryman’s boots
the Virginia Peninsula and had advanced to strategic effect of the battle was men but fierce fighting generals. Hobnail boots were standard issue footwear for
within a few miles of Richmond 64-65 ❯❯. everything the Confederates could By mid-April, Jackson was on the infantrymen. Known as brogans (from the Irish brogue)
have desired. Startled by Jackson’s move again. He utterly confused his or Jefferson bootees, the nails gave the leather soles a
aggression, Union commanders enemy by crossing the Blue Ridge better grip in the field.

KEY MOMENT

THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER

On May 25, 1862, Jackson’s 16,000
Confederates advanced on Winchester
in hot pursuit of Banks’s 7,000 retreating
Union soldiers. Although exhausted by
marches and firefights, the Confederate
troops maintained their momentum,
preventing Banks from consolidating a
defensive line. Jackson’s forces attacked
the Union right, while Ewell’s small force
put pressure on their left. After serious
fighting, in which General Richard Taylor’s
Louisiana Brigade played a key role, the
Union troops withdrew through the town
and on to the Potomac River. Jackson’s
weary men failed to mount a vigorous
pursuit, but they had taken Winchester.

The Shenandoah Valley

The Valley was important to Confederate armies as
it offered a strategic route to attack Washington,
Maryland, and Pennsylvania. It also became an
important source of food for the Confederacy.

62
 JAC K SO N I N T H E S H E N A N D OA H VA L L EY

Harpers Ferry
back through
KEY Harpers Ferry
Strasburg—just N
before a Union Union troop movement ⑦ May 25: Banks,
Confederate troop defeated at First
pincer movement movement to May 21 Winchester, retreats
would have cut to the Potomac

iver
Confederate troop
movement after May 21
BANKS

andoah R
the road—to the
Union victory
only surviving
Confederate victory ⑥ May 23: Capture

S h en
bridge across the of Union garrison at
South Fork of the Front Royal
③ Mar 23: Winchester
Shenandoah River

tains
Jackson is defeated Kernstown
at Port Republic. The at Kernstown and Washington
March to Cross Keys Confederates had retreats to the south

Moun
Artist Edwin Forbes accompanied Union troops marched 140 miles (225km) in a week, SHIELDS
Romney
advancing to Cross Keys in June 1862. This sketch shows losing hundreds of stragglers along the ② Mar 22: McDOWELL
Jackson moves north Strasburg
Frémont’s troops pursuing Jackson through the woods. way. Now Jackson and Ewell turned

Ridge
again to launch a
their forces to face their pursuers. surprise counterattack Front
across the main road at Strasburg, but Two Union columns, led respectively Royal

North Fork

Massanuten Mountain

Blue
Jackson and Ewell marched hard and by Frémont and Shields, advanced on
fast around his flank. They defeated a Port Republic. They were separated by
small Union force at Front Royal on the river, the Confederates controlling Woodstock
May 22 and threatened to cut Banks’s the only bridge. Ewell’s division met
line of communication. As his column Frémont’s troops at Cross Keys on June 8 ① Mar 22: Jackson

rk
Allegh

South Fo
withdraws his men to
raced to withdraw from Strasburg to and repelled them, despite a Union Moorefield this point as Union
forces converge on Thornton’s
Winchester, the Confederates attacked. numerical advantage of almost two to Gap
Winchester Luray
With an extraordinary effort, Jackson’s one. The following day two brigades of

eny Mo
⑤ May 21: Jackson
and Ewell’s exhausted troops continued Shields’s division reached Port Royal is reinforced by division
JACKSON under Richard Ewell
the fight until Winchester was taken. and narrowly failed to seize the FRÉMONT New Market
bridge—almost capturing Jackson

untai
Union forces diverted as well. Jackson’s troops fought back, Swift Run
President Lincoln was pushed into the forcing the Union forces to quit the Gap
aggressive response that Confederate field after heavy losses on both sides. ns EWELL Conrad’s Store
strategy had desired. He diverted a As neither Frémont nor Shields chose ⑧ Jun 8: Ewell
defeats part of ⑩ Jun 11: With the
corps under Brigadier General Irvin to renew the fighting, the Shenandoah Frémont’s army at Union forces in retreat,
McDowell, previously bound for Valley Campaign came to an end. Cross Keys Harrisonburg Jackson’s men move off
Richmond, into the Valley to join with to join Lee in the defence
of Richmond
Frémont and Banks in an operation The Shenandoah Valley Campaign Franklin Cross
⑨ Jun 9: Ewell joins Keys Port Richmond
to trap and destroy Jackson’s army. The feats of marching achieved by Jackson’s forces were Jackson to inflict Republic Charlottesville
another defeat at al

V
Together they would have 60,000 men prodigious. In seven weeks, they marched some 650 MILROY

l ey
Port Republic

P i ke
to Jackson’s 17,000. Alert to the danger, miles (1,050km), won several small battles, and, most
④ May 8: Jackson
Jackson drove his men by a series of importantly, kept Union troops that were needed for defeats Frémont’s
forced marches from the environs of the Peninsula Campaign occupied in the Valley. advance guard
under Milroy
0 km 5 10

Staunton 0 miles 5 10
McDowell

A F T E R

Occurring against a backdrop of Confederate

defeats elsewhere, Jackson’s victories in the
Shenandoah Valley were a major morale-
booster for the Confederacy.

JACKSON IN DEMAND
In June 1862, under the command of Robert E.
Lee, Jackson moved out of the Valley to lead a
surprise attack on the right flank of the Union
army in front of Richmond, in what would
become the Seven Days Battles 66-67 ❯❯.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNES
The Shenandoah Valley was the scene of heavy
fighting in two further campaigns in 1864
128-129 ❯❯. In the second, Union General Philip
Sheridan used scorched earth tactics
to render the Valley useless to the Confederates.

63
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

B EFO R E

The armies confronting one another in

Virginia at the start of 1862 were both
commanded by generals who were regarded
The Peninsula Campaign
as too negative-minded by their presidents.
In the hands of an aggressive Union commander, a seaborne landing on the Virginia Peninsula might
have been a bold and imaginative way to attack the Confederate capital, Richmond. But a hesitant,
SOUTHERN ANTAGONISM
In March 1862, Confederate general Joseph E. over-cautious execution made General George B. McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign slow and unsuccessful.
Johnston withdrew his army from Bull Run
❮❮ 36-37 . This retreat, together with the
destruction of many supplies, was initially
carried out without informing President
Davis. Johnston’s obstinacy angered Davis, and
on March 13, General Lee assumed the role
as his military adviser.

22
The number of pages in
a letter sent by General
McClellan to President
Lincoln, rejecting the
president’s proposal for an overland
offensive against Richmond in 1862.

M C CLELLAN’S DETERMINATION
Lincoln repeatedly urged an offensive to
break through the Confederate line between
Washington and Richmond. General George
B. McClellan, commanding the Army of the
Potomac, instituted his own plan to outflank
the Confederate defenses and take Richmond.

T
he Virginia Peninsula is a tongue Army of the Potomac Confederate General Johnston was C O N F E D E R AT E G E N E R A L 1 8 0 7 – 9 1
of land stretching east from McClellan established a vast camp for his 120,000- equally—but more rationally—convinced
Richmond, between the York strong army on the banks of the Pamunkey River near of the weakness of his army. In mid- JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON
River to the north and the James River Richmond in May 1862. This panoramic view by James April, Johnston took command at
to the south. Eager to exploit Union Hope shows McClellan riding in the foreground. Yorktown, and planned to abandon Virginian Joseph Eggleston Johnston was
command of the sea, General McClellan the Peninsula and concentrate his forces quartermaster general of the U.S. Army in
originally planned to transport his troops begin an advance up the Peninsula to in front of Richmond. On May 3, the April 1861 when he resigned to serve
from Washington along the Potomac Richmond, and thousands more were Confederates abandoned Yorktown and the Confederacy. Although made a full
River into Chesapeake Bay for a landing arriving. In front was a Confederate line the Warwick River defenses. Breaking general by Davis, he developed a lasting
at Urbanna on the Rappahannock River. on the Warwick River at Yorktown, contact with the enemy in a deftly feud with the Confederate president.
Having bypassed the Confederate army lightly manned by 14,000 troops. In executed maneuver, Johnston’s troops, When he was wounded at Seven Pines
at Manassas, south of Washington, he Washington, Lincoln, afraid that now numbering some 50,000, fell back in May 1862, Davis replaced him with
would then have a relatively clear run McClellan’s move had left the capital toward Richmond. A part of the army Robert E. Lee. After his recovery,
at the Confederate capital. Yet Southern exposed to a surprise attack, urged was designated to fight a holding action Johnston held a series of commands in
General Joseph Johnston’s retreat south the general to make haste with an on a defensive line at Williamsburg, and the Western Theater. His cautious attitude
of the Rappahannock in March 1862 immediate assault on the Warwick River on May 5 this inflicted a reverse on repeatedly enraged Davis, but his skill in
forestalled him. Instead, the Union defenses, but McClellan dismissed this as pursuing Union troops. The fiercely conducting a retreat demanded respect.
Army of the Potomac landed at Fort military naïveté. Johnston later fought encounter was almost as costly Surviving the war, he was elected for a
Monroe on the tip of the Virginia commented: “No one but McClellan for both sides as the First Battle of term in Congress in 1878.
Peninsula. By April 4, McClellan had would have hesitated to attack.” Bull Run, despite the engagement of far
almost 60,000 troops with which to smaller forces.
Johnston’s reverse
Consistently overestimating Southern Cautious approach
strength, McClellan was obsessed by the McClellan advanced up the Peninsula at
notion that his forces were insufficient. a snail’s pace along muddy roads. His
Lincoln’s later decision to hold back army took two weeks to march 50 miles
troops to defend Washington and (80km) from Williamsburg, before setting
counteract Jackson’s campaign in the up camp near Richmond between the
Shenandoah Valley only fed McClellan’s Pamunkey and Chickahominy rivers.
belief that he was being starved of McClellan called for reinforcements.
resources. On the other side of the line, Lincoln refused to send any by sea, but
he did order a 40,000-strong corps under
Artillery at Yorktown Irvin McDowell to advance overland
The battle for Yorktown in April–May 1862 was largely from Fredericksburg to join the Army of
an artillery duel. McClellan was confident his guns were the Potomac. Much to McClellan’s anger,
superior to those of the enemy and was hesitant to attack this move was canceled in response to
Confederate fortifications without prior reconnaissance. Jackson’s victory at Winchester in the

64
 T H E P E N I N S U L A C A M PA I G N

A F T E R
“ You may find those who will go faster than I, After the wounding of General Johnston at

Mr. President; but it is very doubtful if you will Seven Pines on May 31, General Lee was
given command of forces that he renamed
as the Army of Northern Virginia.
find many who will go further.” LEE’S STRATEGY
GENERAL GEORGE B. MCLELLAN, IN A LETTER TO LINCOLN AFTER HIS REMOVAL FROM COMMAND, NOVEMBER 1862 Despite heavy casualties on both sides—more
than 4,000 Union and 5,500 Confederate troops
killed or wounded—Seven Pines was an
indecisive battle that left the Army of the
Potomac in a position threatening Richmond.
Lee’s first action on taking command was to
reinforce the earthwork fortifications
around the city—and many expected him to
adopt a defensive stance. Instead, Lee ordered
General Stonewall Jackson’s army to join him
from the Shenandoah Valley ❮❮ 62-63 and
began planning an attack on the Union right
flank, which would initiate the Seven Days
Battles 66-67 ❯❯.

M C CLELLAN DISCONCERTED
Struck down by malaria, McClellan had been out
of action during the battle. Despite claiming a
victory, he was demoralized by the heavy
casualties his army had sustained, finding
many reasons to postpone his offensive
against Richmond. He was convinced, contrary to
reality, that he faced “overwhelming numbers.”

Shenandoah Valley on May 25. The the battle—known as Fair Oaks or Seven their advance. Union soldiers were seriously wounded and carried from
Confederates, meanwhile, viewed their Pines—made the river a raging torrent. driven back, but late in the afternoon the field, his command devolving briefly
situation with alarm, and the people of But the execution of the Southern attack reinforcements began to arrive from the to Gustavus Smith. The next day, the
Richmond were thrown into a state of on the morning of May 31 was chaotic. other side of the swollen river across the battle resumed but, with Smith almost
panic by the approach of a Union naval Confused and contradictory orders rickety Grapevine Bridge. Going forward paralyzed with anxiety, the Confederates
squadron, including two ironclads, up the meant that units blocked one another in to watch the fighting, Johnston was could make no further impact.
James River on which the city stands.

Fight for the capital

Hanover ⑦ May 27: Porter defeats N
Plans were made by the Confederates to Hanover small Confederate force at
Court Pa
abandon Richmond, but on May 15, a House Hanover Court House
Rap

m
un
ke
combination of shore batteries and
pa

yR
ive ⑤ May 7: Brief
ha

r
underwater obstacles blocked the passage skirmish as Franklin’s
nn

PORTER oc
kR
men go ashore at iver
of the Union squadron at Drewry’s Bluff. MAGRUDER Eltham’s Landing
Mechanicsville White
Despite this reprieve, Richmond’s defenses A.P.HILL FRANKLIN House
could not be expected to hold out under G.W.SMITH Fair
Richmond Oaks
prolonged bombardment by Union siege SUMNER
West Point
guns, which were now being brought up McCLELLAN
LONGSTREET Ch
to the front. Offensive action was ick
ah FRANKLIN
D.H.HILL om
required to drive back McClellan’s army. iny
Rive
Ja

r
Union engineers had bridged the
m

sR
⑥ May 15: Union
Yo
e

Ches

iv e
rk

Chickahominy, and two corps, made up attempt to sail up r

Bermuda
Riv

James River to Harrison’s

e

of about a third of McClellan’s 100,000 Hundred

r

Landing JOHNSTON
apea

Richmond thwarted
troops, had crossed the river. Johnston by batteries at
Drewry’s Bluff ③ May 3–4:
planned to isolate and overwhelm these
ke B

Williamsburg Confederate forces

xx

corps while the rest of the Union army withdraw overnight

Ap
p
Petersburg Yorktown
xx

om ② Apr 5:
ay

stayed north of the river. It was not a bad att

ox ④ May 5: Battle SUMNER x x
x x Start of Siege
plan for an army with inferior numbers R iv e r
⑧ May 31–Jun 1: of Williamsburg xx of Yorktown
xx

Battle of Seven Pines. In

taking on a stronger enemy, for in KEY
xxxx

Confederate counterattack Warwick McCLELLAN

River
principle the Confederates would gain Union forces May 31 Johnston is wounded
KEYES
local superiority. Heavy rain on the eve of Confederate forces Ja
May 31 m
Riv es
x x Confederate defensive er
From the Union landings to Seven Pines works SUMNER Hampton
McClellan was held up for a month at Yorktown, then Union victory ① Mar 17:
Union army lands
Fort Monroe
0 km 5 10 on
made slow progress as Johnston withdrew toward Confederate victory at Fort Monroe pt
m ds
Richmond. Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines, after Inconclusive battle 0 miles 5 10 Ha Roa

which Lee took command of the Confederate forces.

65
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

Malvern Hill
Frontal assaults on Malvern Hill, a position defended
by powerful Union artillery, cost the Confederates
dearly. General D. H. Hill later said of the battle:
“It was not war—it was murder.”

B EFOR E

In the spring of 1862, the Peninsula

Campaign brought the Union Army of
The Seven Days Battles
the Potomac to within striking distance
Between June 25 and July 1, 1862, Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia in a seven-day
of the Confederate capital, Richmond. offensive that drove the Army of the Potomac back from the gates of Richmond. Although
STUART’S RIDE costly and clumsily executed, the battles constituted a major strategic victory for the Confederacy.
Appointed commander of the Confederate Army

L
of Northern Virginia in June, Lee suspected that ee’s offensive began with a scare. to start in the morning, with General
the Union right flank was open to attack and With around 54,000 of his men Jackson attacking the exposed corps on
ordered cavalry commander, Jeb Stuart, to carry committed to the attack, he had the Union right from the rear. Generals
out reconnaissance. Between June 12–16, Stuart left minimal forces in the defensive A. P. Hill, D. H. Hill, and James
rode with 1,200 men in a 100-mile (160-km) lines in front of Richmond, counting Longstreet would join in after Jackson.
circuit around the Union Army, returning with on the cautious general, George Inexplicably, however, Jackson did
the news that the flank was indeed unprotected McClellan, not to launch an assault. nothing, and in late afternoon, tired of
north of the Chickahominy River. But on June 25, the day before the waiting for him to make a move, A. P.
Confederate advance was scheduled Hill mounted an assault of his own
LEE SUMMONS JACKSON to begin, Union forces probed the against entrenched Northern troops at
Lee ordered General “Stonewall” Jackson to defenses at Oak Grove. To Lee’s relief Beaver Dam Creek. The Confederates
move toward Richmond from the Shenandoah this turned out to be just a minor were repulsed with heavy casualties.
Valley, where his army was resting after a operation, although the skirmish it
highly successful but exhausting campaign provoked has since been regarded as Private Edwin Francis Jemison
❮❮ 62-63 . Jackson arrived just in time to the first of the Seven Days Battles. At only 17 years of age, Confederate Private Jemison
participate in Lee’s offensive. The Confederate offensive began was killed by cannon fire while serving with the 2nd
on June 26, but neither on time nor as Louisiana Infantry in the assault on Malvern Hill. His
planned. Lee intended for the fighting portrait is a poignant memento of the war.

66
 T H E S E V E N D AY S B AT T L E S

A F T ER
“The soul of the brave general was fit to burst The Seven Days Battles drove the Union

for the awful and useless sacrifice.” army back 20 miles (32km), lifting the
threat to Richmond and ensuring that
CAPTAIN MOXLEY SORREL OF MAJOR GENERAL RICHARD EWELL AFTER MALVERN HILL McClellan’s campaign ended in failure.

McClellan’s response to having won master the speed and Medal of Honor CONFEDERATE STRATEGY
this tactical victory was to order his decisiveness he had shown The award of the Medal of Honor for Lee had not demonstrated masterly generalship in
men to withdraw from the positions in the Shenandoah Valley conspicuous bravery was instituted for the the Seven Days Battles. He admitted: “Our success
they had so determinedly held, to campaign. At Savage’s Union Army in 1862. This one was awarded has not been as great or as complete as we should
higher ground behind a swamp. Still Station on June 29, the to Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield for his have desired.” But he had set up a moral
convinced he would be assaulted by Union rearguard escaped “distinguished gallantry” at Gaines’ Mill. supremacy over the Union army, aiming to keep
large numbers of Confederates, he also ruin because Jackson up the initiative. As soon as his own army had
set about shifting his supply base to the was slow crossing the to Brigadier General Fitz recovered, he marched it north of Richmond.
James River. Lee, however, was Chickahominy River. John Porter. Most of the Lee counted on McClellan remaining
determined to continue his offensive. Yet Lee saw a prime retreating Army of the inactive, which he did. The Army of the
opportunity the next day Potomac concentrated in a Potomac dug in defensively at Harrison’s
Lee’s victory at Gaines’ Mill as much of the Army of formidable defensive position
Pursuing the retreating enemy the next
day, Lee came up against the Union
army’s new defensive line at Gaines’
the Potomac struggled
along congested roads
between White Oak
on Malvern Hill. Flanked by
ravines, it could only be
assaulted from the front by
9 MILES The closest
McClellan’s Army
of the Potomac came to Richmond
Mill. Once again, coordination between Swamp and Glendale. The troops advancing up a slope during the Peninsula Campaign.
Lee’s subordinates failed and A. P. Hill’s Confederate commander and across an open plain. The
was determined to Union artillery unlimbered Landing under the protection of naval guns.

5,400 The number of Southern

casualties at the Battle
of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862. In total,
bring all his forces
to bear in a
climactic battle, but
its cannons and waited for
the enemy to show.
Lee guessed that the
While continuing to demand reinforcements,
McClellan did not resume the offensive. In
August he reluctantly obeyed orders to ship
the Confederacy lost 20,204 soldiers in divisions lost their way or Union soldiers were demoralized and the Army of the Potomac back to
the Seven Days Battles, compared with were stuck on blocked roads. would crack if put under pressure. He Washington to assist in the fighting in
15,855 losses for the Union Army. Jackson, ordered to attack from devised a plan for his artillery to open northern Virginia 68-69 ❯❯.
the north across White Oak holes in the Union line for his infantry
division took heavy casualties, fighting Swamp, failed to join in, even when to exploit. But everything went wrong.
alone for much of the afternoon. Late fighting broke out within earshot of The Confederate guns could not be
in the day Brigadier General John Bell his position. Only two divisions, under moved forward in sufficient strength
Hood’s tough Texan brigade pierced the Longstreet and A. P. Hill, attacked the and faired poorly in the artillery duel.
Union center with a charge in which Yankees, who put up stiff resistance Next, Lee’s infantry assaults began
every officer but Hood himself was despite failing to form a proper piecemeal as men stormed forward
killed or wounded. The Union forces defensive line. Casualties on both sides singly and were shot down by shrapnel,
withdrew, leaving the Confederates were heavy and the result indecisive. canister, and grapeshot. Those few units
victorious but at a heavy cost, losing that reached the Union lines were
around 9,000 men. While this brutal Bloodshed at Malvern Hill driven back by counterattacks. The
contest took place on its right flank, the Meanwhile, McClellan withdrew to following day, McClellan again ordered HARRISON’S LANDING
majority of the Union army remained the safety of the ironclad USS Galena a Union withdrawal, but Lee did not
inactive, more than 60,000 men being off shore, leaving effective command pursue and the fighting ended.
kept out of the fight.

McClellan’s rage
After Gaines’ Mill, McClellan lost his
nerve. Despite his superior forces, he
retreated toward Harrison’s Landing on
the James River, convinced that he was
saving his army from imminent
destruction and firing off angry
telegrams to Washington blaming the
government for the debacle.
Lee pursued his adversary
ruthlessly, seeking to land a decisive
blow, but repeatedly failed. His
ambitious orders for coordinated
maneuvers to outflank and trap Union
forces proved beyond the capacity
of his subordinates. Jackson was
unusually sluggish, singularly failing to

Union casualties
The Battle of Gaines’ Mill on June 27 saw thousands of
Union casualties. Many of the wounded were transferred
by flatbed rail cars to a Northern field hospital at Savage’s
Station. When the Confederates attacked the site on June
29 the hospital was abandoned and the patients captured.

67
 The Second Battle
Troops at Bull Run
Edwin Forbes’s sketch shows the right wing of the
Confederate army under Longstreet advancing through
gunpowder smoke on General McDowell’s corps. Forbes
was the artist-correspondent for Frank Leslie’s magazines.

B EFO R E

After the defeat of General McClellan’s

of Bull Run
Army of the Potomac in the Seven Days The campaigns of summer 1862 had seen the Army of Northern Virginia achieve supremacy over Union
Battles, President Lincoln launched a new forces that seemed incapable of finding commanders to match Lee and Jackson. If a second clash near
Union offensive in northern Virginia.
Manassas Junction brought the Confederates victory, they could threaten Washington again.
THE UNION ARMY OF VIRGINIA

T
While the Seven Days Battles ❮❮ 66-67 he campaign opened in mid-July carried the day. The blow was far from River, the Confederates embarked
were being fought in late June 1862, a Union 1862, with General Stonewall decisive, however, and the approach of on a bold offensive. Facing a superior
Army of Virginia was formed. General John Jackson’s advance to the railroad stronger Union forces saw Jackson enemy—the Confederates were
Pope, a commander with a reputation for junction at Gordonsville, northwest of withdraw back to Gordonsville. outnumbered by about 55,000 to
aggression, was recalled from the Western Richmond, which was threatened by By mid-August, Lee had correctly 75,000—Lee divided his forces, gambling
Theater to lead the new force southward from the advance of General John Pope’s assessed the strategic situation. Despite that Pope would not attack. On August
Washington. In late July, McClellan was ordered Union Army of Virginia. Reinforced by General George McClellan’s reluctance 25, Jackson led his 24,000-strong corps
to bring his army back from the Peninsula to a division under General A. P. Hill, to support his rival, General Pope, the on a march to the northwest and crossed
defend Washington and reinforce Pope’s army. Jackson set out to strike the center of Army of the the Rappahannock,

CONFEDERATE ACTIVITY
Confederate General Robert E. Lee rested and
the Union army, hoping to gain the
upper hand by rapid maneuver.
Potomac was being
withdrawn from
the Peninsula to
16,000 The estimated Union
casualties in five days’
fighting from August 27 to September 1,
swinging around
the right flank of
Pope’s army.
reorganized his Army of Northern Virginia, Lee’s audacious offensive support the Union 1862—almost double the number of He then headed
dividing it into two corps under Stonewall On August 9, Jackson’s troops offensive in casualties suffered by the Confederates. east through
Jackson and James Longstreet . encountered Union forces under Major northern Virginia. Thoroughfare Gap
Lee warily watched McClellan’s army, General Nathaniel Banks in a strong The Confederates had a brief in the Bull Run Mountains, following
camped within striking distance of defensive position on a ridge near Cedar opportunity to seize the initiative the line of the railroad toward
Richmond, but dispatched Jackson to disrupt Mountain. The battle began with much before these reinforcements arrived. Manassas. His men marched 50 miles
Pope’s invasion of northern Virginia. On seeing of the Confederate column still marching Leaving only a small force in front of (80km) in two days. They captured
that McClellan was to remain inactive, Lee well to the rear. A Union counterattack Richmond, Lee moved most of his Bristoe Station, wrecking trains and
contemplated an offensive of his own. put some of Jackson’s army to flight, Army of Northern Virginia and joined tearing up tracks, and then descended
but he rallied his troops in person and, Jackson at Gordonsville. After Pope’s upon Manassas Junction, the main
aided by Hill’s division, the Confederates army fell back across the Rappahannock supply base for the Army of Virginia.

68
 T H E S E C O N D B AT T L E O F B U L L R U N

Jackson’s defiance and Longstreet’s attack

UNION MAJOR GENERAL (1822–92)
On the afternoon of August 29, Jackson held his ② Aug 29, evening:
KEY
defensive position on Stony Ridge against all the attacks
Union forces Aug 29, 4 p.m.
Union assaults fail to
dislodge Confederates from
JOHN POPE
the Union launched. The following day, the battle was positions on Stony Ridge un
Union front line Aug 30, 5 p.m. A.P.HILL Bull R
turned by Longstreet’s belated assault on the Union left. Confederate forces Aug 29, Born in Kentucky, John Pope made a

ge
4 p.m. KEARNY⑥ Aug 30, 7 p.m.: career in the Corps of Engineers. In the

id
yR
Pope gives order for
The Confederates feasted on bacon and Civil War, he commanded an Illinois

on
general Union retreat

St
canned lobster, while Jackson resupplied JACKSON brigade before leading the Army of
his army with Union horses, artillery, RENO Mississippi to victory at New Madrid in
HEINTZELMAN
and ammunition. spring 1862. Transferred to the Army of
③ Aug 30, 3 p.m.:
Union forces POPE Virginia he offended his new troops by
Seizing the advantage renew attacks on
Jackson’s right
HOOKER Centreville comparing them unfavorably to Union

Groveton-Sudley Road
Pope was startled to find the Confederates soldiers in the West. He was not missed
SIGEL
behind his front line, but their position when sent to fight the Sioux after defeat
p ike
was precarious, and he saw a chance for n Tu rn Henry at Second Bull Run. Pope served with
oad rr e n to
railr Wa House
victory. With the Army of the Potomac n ishe
d
Brawner’s
Hill distinction in the postwar army.
Unfi
arriving, Pope hoped to trap and Farm Groveton
LEE

ge
annihilate Jackson’s forces.

Rid
HOOD ⑤ Aug 30,
On August 27, Jackson withdrew

Man
5 p.m.: Defensive

n
in
line covers the

Ch

assa
from Manassas Junction, taking up Bald
Hill beginning of

s–Su
a defensive position on a ridge at ① Aug 29:
Union retreat

d le y
Groveton, near the 1861 Bull Run Longstreet’s divisions REYNOLDS
reach the battlefield

S p ri n
battlefield. If discovered, he knew
he could not expect to hold out for PORTER

gs R
LONGSTREET

oad
long against Pope’s reinforced army.
Confederate support was arriving in the Ma
nas
R.H.ANDERSON
form of Longstreet’s corps, with Lee in sas
Gap
O l d Wa r r
e n t o n R oad
④ Aug 30, 4 p.m.:
Railro Longstreet’s attacks
ad
attendance, but Jackson was still alone on Union left intensify
when the fighting started in earnest.
Pope’s scouts failed to locate Jackson’s
position. In the afternoon of August 28, a
Union column marched unawares along
the Warrenton Turnpike into sight of the
Confederate guns on the ridge. Jackson
could not resist the chance of a flank
“The men were brought down A F T E R
attack and opened fire. Soon the opposing
infantry were engaged at close quarters from the field … till they
around Brawner’s Farm. Union Brigadier In the aftermath of his defeat at Second Bull
General John Gibbon’s Black Hat Brigade
distinguished itself in a fight that cost
covered acres.” Run, Pope retreated to the outer defenses
of Washington. Recriminations began
some regiments 70 percent in casualties. CLARA BARTON, WHO CARED FOR THE WOUNDED AFTER SECOND BULL RUN immediately as a scapegoat was sought.
After nightfall the Union troops withdrew.
The next day, August 29, Pope against Confederate defenders, who On the morning of August 30, the Union M C CLELLAN’S OBSTRUCTION
raced to bring the weight of his army fiercely counterattacked. The most assaults resumed with redoubled fury. President Lincoln believed that McClellan was
to bear on Jackson, assuming that the desperate fighting pitted Union Major Pope believed he was attacking nearly the most culpable: having wanted Pope to fail,
Confederate general intended to slip General Philip Kearny’s division against defeated Rebel units. But Longstreet McClellan had intentionally delayed his
away, which he did not. As a result, A. P. Hill, defending the railway cut on was ready to intervene. He had placed troops from coming to his rival’s aid.
Union columns were thrown piecemeal the Confederate left. Kearny came close his artillery in a commanding position
to victory, but counterattacks on the right flank and raked advancing POPE’S ILL FORTUNE
drove the Union troops back. Union troops with deadly fire. When Lincoln also reluctantly accepted that McClellan
Perhaps the day’s most the momentum of the enemy attacks was the best man to take over the defense of
striking aspect, however, was faltered, Longstreet unleashed his five Washington when morale was at its lowest.
the number of soldiers who divisions upon Pope’s army. While Pope was relegated to fighting Indians
did not fight. On the Union in Minnesota, McClellan was allowed to integrate
side, two corps under Pope’s The final encounter the Army of Virginia into his Army of the Potomac.
command failed to engage It seemed that Pope would be utterly His appointment was greeted with relief and
because of confused orders; routed, but as his men fell back in enthusiasm by soldiers and civilians alike.
and McClellan held back disarray, the general succeeded in
reserves of the Army of the organizing a defense that checked the
Potomac. Longstreet’s corps Confederate surge and allowed an
reached Jackson’s right flank orderly withdrawal to Centreville after
in the morning but, when nightfall. The next day, Jackson was
ordered by Lee to join the dispatched on another flanking march
battle, Longstreet demurred, in an attempt to cut Pope off from
and Lee did not insist. Washington, but the Confederates
were weary. After fighting the Union
Repeat battlefield rearguard in a thunderstorm at
Henry House Hill was the scene of Chantilly—an engagement in which
fighting both at the First and Second Kearny was killed—the Confederates MCCLELLAN PASSING THROUGH FREDERICK CITY
Battles of Bull Run. It is now part of the called off the pursuit. Pope’s army was
Manassas National Battlefield Park. saved, although the battle had been lost.

69
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

Lee Invades Maryland

The Confederate invasion of Maryland in September 1862 was a gamble based on a false estimate
that the Union Army was unorganized and vulnerable. Desperate to strike an offensive blow
against the North, Lee exposed his Army of Northern Virginia to potential disaster.

A
dvanced units of General
Robert E. Lee’s army began
fording the Potomac River
on September 4. He was acutely
aware that the physical state of
his force was poor: “It lacks much
of the material of war,” he wrote
to President Davis, “is feeble in
transportation, the animals being
Lee astride Traveler much reduced, and the men are
General Lee was deeply attached to his gray stallion poorly provided with clothes and
Traveler, his mount from the fall of 1861. However, for in thousands of instances are
much of the campaign in Maryland, Lee could not ride destitute of shoes.” Lee believed
because he had broken a bone in his hand. that the Union forces around
Washington were also “in a
very demoralized and chaotic
B E FOR E condition” after Second Bull
Run, and that the cautious
General George McClellan now
Success at the Second Battle of Bull Run commanding them would stay
❮❮ 68-69 left Confederate general Robert in his defensive positions for at
E. Lee facing an important decision: how least four weeks. Lee’s presence
to follow up his victory. in Maryland might tip opinion in the Union signal officers
North against continuing the war; at On September 9, General Stonewall
The Union Signal Corps played a vital role in tracking the
DRIVING FORWARD the very least, it would keep the Union Jackson marched the bulk of the
enemy during the invasion. They collected intelligence,
The Union troops defeated by Lee had retreated armies on the defensive. But if Lee surveyed the battlefield, and sent messages. Confederate army back across the river
into the defenses of Washington, D.C. Now Lee thought the Union Army was dispirited, to seize Harpers Ferry. General James
chose to invade the North. On every front, he also had concerns about his own. doors against them. The locals observed Longstreet was sent to Boonsboro to
the Confederates were poised for action. In the ragged condition of the army with defend Jackson against a possible Union
Arkansas, General Thomas Hindman was A shrinking force shock and awe. Describing the “gaunt assault through the passes across South
preparing to retake Missouri. In Mississippi, Earl Many of the Confederate troops were starvation” evident in their faces, one Mountain. But he was diverted to
van Dorn and Sterling Price were gathering euphoric as a result of their victories Maryland woman, Mary Mitchell, Hagerstown after a false report of a
forces for a possible offensive against Ulysses S. through the summer, and advanced into wrote: “That they Union column
Grant’s Army of the Tennessee. On September 3, Maryland with enthusiasm. But others could march or DEFEAT IN DETAIL If a general has marching toward
1862, just three days after Second Bull Run, Lee were tired of soldiering barefoot on an fight at all seemed divided his army, in an adverse situation him. Defense of
wrote to President Jefferson Davis: “The present empty stomach and reluctant to venture incredible.” it can open up the possibility for his the passes was left
seems to be the most propitious time . . . for beyond the limits of the Confederacy. Initially Lee had enemy to attack and crush each part primarily to a
the Confederate Army to enter Maryland.” While Lee called for stiff disciplinary hoped Maryland’s separately or defeat it “in detail.” division under
action against “stragglers,” troops fertile land would General D. H. Hill,
deserted in the thousands. Hopes that provide food and fodder. The reality aided by General Jeb Stuart’s cavalry.
Marylanders would was that his troops ate green corn and By dividing his army, Lee exposed
flock to fill the ranks suffered in consequence. himself to “defeat in detail,” but again
quickly evaporated. he gambled on McClellan’s inertia.
Those who wanted Union stand With his forces scattered, Lee was to
to fight for the Lee had assumed that garrisons find he had miscalculated the state of
Confederate cause had threatened by his advance into Maryland the Union army.
already gone South would be withdrawn to avoid capture. The merger of the Army of Virginia
earlier in the war. But the Union army at Harpers Ferry into McClellan’s Army of the Potomac
Except by slaveholders, was ordered by the commander-in- after Second Bull Run resulted in a
the invading army chief, General Henry Halleck, to hold its remarkable revival of morale. Soldiers
was not welcomed position, despite McClellan’s protests. greeted McClellan as a savior.
as liberators. Most
civilians barred their
“ The [soldiers] looked to me not
Battle of South Mountain
On September 14, Confederate made of flesh and blood but
troops defended the mountain
passes against superior Union
forces, buying valuable time for
stone and iron.”
Lee to concentrate his army. MARYLAND’S ELIZABETH K. HOWARD DESCRIBING THE SOUTHERNERS, SEPTEMBER 1862

70
 L E E I N VA D E S M A R Y L A N D

Ordered by President Lincoln “to McClellan was exultant, declaring: this was exploited too late. Turner’s General A. P. Hill’s men in charge,
destroy the rebel army,” McClellan led “Here is a paper with which if I cannot Gap and Fox’s Gap were held by D. H. Jackson joined Lee at Sharpsburg. He
a revitalized 70,000-strong force out of whip Bobbie Lee, I will be willing to go Hill’s division throughout the day. The arrived on September 16 to find Lee
Washington in pursuit of Lee. home.” On the night of September 13, delay that this imposed on McClellan’s facing McClellan’s army across
Union forces moved toward South army was enough to allow Lee to Antietam Creek. All day the opposing
Union luck Mountain. Once through the passes escape. On September 15, McClellan artillery batteries had been dueling.
On September 13, they would be able ordered his troops to retreat to the Darkness brought the additional rattle
McClellan’s troops
entered Frederick,
recently vacated
120,000 The number
of soldiers that
General McClellan estimated Lee had in
to attack Lee’s
army before it
could concentrate
town of Sharpsburg, between Antietam
Creek and the Potomac.
of heavy skirmishing up and down the
lines, a prelude to impending battle.

by the Army of his army during the Maryland campaign. or escape. While Taking Harpers Ferry
Northern Virginia. The actual number of Confederate troops Longstreet Meanwhile, Jackson was threatening A F T ER
McClellan then never exceeded around 55,000. marched back Harpers Ferry. The arsenal was guarded
enjoyed a stroke of from Hagerstown, by 11,000 green Union troops under
luck. A copy of Lee’s Special Order 191, the Confederate defenses at the Colonel Dixon Miles. Holding the high Lee’s decision to fight at Sharpsburg
circulated to all the Confederate mountain passes were lightly held. ground, the Confederates sited their 72-73 ❯❯, rather than withdraw across
commanders on September 9, was Fighting raged through September 14. artillery and attacked at will. Harpers the Potomac into Virginia, showed a
found in a field outside the town and Crampton’s Gap fell after hours of Ferry surrendered on September 15. confidence in his troops’ superior ability.
passed to McClellan’s staff. It gave full resistance by a handful of Confederates Jackson seized military stores as well
details of the location of Lee’s forces. faced with 12,000 Union troops, but as 11,000 prisoners. Leaving Major

Union loss at Harpers Ferry

The Confederate seizure of the Union armory
at Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862 left the
railroad bridge in ruins and a valuable haul of war
supplies in Confederate hands.

GEORGE BRINTON MCCLELLAN

LEE RALLIES
Although Lee was buoyed by news of Jackson’s
success at Harpers Ferry, he was also unwilling
to accept that his Maryland campaign had
failed. McClellan, meanwhile, proceeded with
his habitual caution. On September 15, his Army
of the Potomac had begun arriving at Antietam
Creek, but left Lee undisturbed on the
opposite bank. The next day, McClellan had
some 60,000 men facing 25,000 Confederates.
By September 17 he was ready, but Lee had
amassed most of his men, so the chance of
a decisive Union victory was missed.

71
 B EFO R E

After defeat at the Second Battle of Bull

Run, morale in the Union ranks was
The Battle of Antietam
low. It was partially restored by the
September 17, 1862, was the costliest day of fighting in American history. A desperate Confederate
reappointment of George McClellan as defense against repeated assaults by determined Union troops resulted in 22,700 casualties. Despite
commander of the Army of the Potomac.
superiority in numbers, however, Union general George B. McClellan failed to destroy the Rebel army.
THE CONFEDERATE POSITION

A
Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign t dawn on September 17, as casualties, with the 1st Texas Infantry
began well with the capture of the Union Joseph Hooker’s corps advanced Regiment sustaining losses of 82
arsenal at Harpers Ferry by General up the Hagerstown Pike to slam percent. A Union division ordered
Stonewall Jackson ❮❮ 70-71 . But sooner into the left flank of General Robert E. forward by Major General Edwin
or later he was going to have to face McClellan’s Lee’s army, the prospect for the Sumner counterattacked from the flank
numerically superior Army of the Potomac. Confederates was grim. Union troops out of the West Woods, losing more
The two forces met at Sharpsburg. Lee took up advanced in daunting mass, well than 2,000 men in half an hour.
a defensive position overlooking Antietam equipped and uniformed, in marked
Creek. With scattered forces still arriving, by contrast to the ragged Rebels. There Lee holds his ground
nightfall on September 16 he had just 25,000 were no earthworks, so the soldiers McClellan, in the safety of the Philip
men. Lee gave command of the left of his line to fought in the open or were sheltered Pry House on the other side of
Jackson and the right to James Longstreet, the only by trees or terrain from the storm Antietam Creek, well away from the
two wings meeting at Dunker Church. of artillery and infantry fire that savagery of the battlefield, failed to
erupted. Furious fighting raged in the coordinate the action of his different
UNION STRATEGY Cornfield and the West Woods— corps. Thus, while the Confederates
McClellan had some 75,000 troops on the locations lost and retaken time and weathered storm after storm on their
opposite side of Antietam Creek. On the evening again at an appalling cost in lives. left—at one point even losing Dunker
of September 16, he started moving Joseph Church only to retake it later—there
Hooker’s corps across the creek to Lee’s left. Battle for the West Woods was no pressure on their right or
Initial skirmishes allowed the Confederates to Brigadier General John Bell Hood’s center. Even when joined by two
identify the direction of the main Union Texans, reportedly angered at having Union general more divisions in the course of the
thrust of the following morning. their breakfast interrupted, seized the Edwin Vose Sumner commanded a corps at Antietam. morning, Lee still did not have half
West Woods back from the Union Iron He was criticized for alleged blunders that saw a division McClellan’s strength. But he was able
Brigade at the expense of 64 percent cut to shreds at the West Woods. to maneuver troops across from his

72
 T H E B AT T L E O F A N T I E TA M

KEY ③ 9:30 a.m.: Union attack in

the center leads to fierce
N
Union forces
fighting around the sunken
Confederate forces wagon road. McClellan fails to ④ 1 p.m.: After more
commit his reserves than three hours' fighting,
Burnside’s men succeed in
McCLELLAN crossing Lower Bridge
Upper
Bridge Philip Pry ⑥ 4 p.m.: Burnside
House withdraws to the bridge
An
tie and fighting comes to an
t am
Cre BURNSIDE end. The next day both
ek
① 6 a.m.: Hooker sides gather their dead
launches powerful and wounded
Middle Bridge
attack against the Snavely's
Confederate left Lower Ford
SUMNER Bridge
HOOKER
MANSFIELD
East
Woods

A.P.HILL
North D.H.HILL
Woods Sharpsburg pe r s Fe r r y R o a d
Har
West ⑤ 3:30 p.m.:
Woods Dunker
Church LONGSTREET A.P. Hill’s division
Cornfield
arrives just in time

er
to bolster the

Riv
JACKSON
Confederate right

Potomac
HOOD LEE
River ② 6:30 a.m.: Union artillery
ac STUART mows down Confederate
m

o
troops in the Cornfield. Lee

Pot
moves troops from center
to prevent breakthrough

0 km 0.5 1

0 miles 0.5 1

A battle in three stages

The fighting began at dawn on the Union right, moved to
the center, then in the afternoon to the Union left, when
Burnside’s men finally managed to cross Antietam Creek.

The battlefield looking north on their enemy before being forced to Toombs. Union forces took three hours A F T E R
Captain James Hope of the 2nd Vermont Infantry was withdraw when their exposed flank to fight their way across and even then
unfit for action at Antietam, but made sketches of the was caught in enfilading fire—sweeping could not exploit their success.
battle, from which he later painted a series of panoramas. the length of their line. Even then Victory at Antietam strengthened President
The burning farmhouse on the left was set alight on the Union forces were unable to break McClellan’s folly Lincoln’s political position—he issued the
orders of Confederate General D. H. Hill. through; two entire corps that could Union luck appeared to change in the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
have been committed to the sector afternoon, with Lee facing potential just a few days later, on September 22.
center and right to reinforce his left, and were standing idle across the creek. disaster. Federal troops belatedly found
by midmorning he had fought the Union McClellan’s original battle plan had a crossing to Lee’s right at Snavely’s LINCOLN’S TIMING
troops on that flank to a standstill. envisaged Major Ford. They Lincoln had intended to proclaim the freedom

Holding the sunken road

It was 9:30 a.m. before a Union division
General Ambrose
Burnside
distracting the
38,000 The number of
Confederate troops
eventually engaged at Antietam. Lee had
threatened not
only to stave in his
right flank, but to
of Confederate slaves 84-85 ❯❯ during the
summer, but had been advised that to do so at
a time of military setbacks might smack of
attacked the Confederate center, held by Confederate right, started his invasion of Maryland two weeks cut off his only desperation. Now he saw his opportunity.
2,500 men under Major General D. H. while the main before with an army of 55,000. line of retreat to
Hill. Holding a sunken wagon road that, Union attack went the Potomac River. M C CLELLAN’S INACTIVITY
with good reason, became known as in on the left. But Burnside did not Had McClellan committed all his forces Visiting McClellan’s camp in early October the
Bloody Lane, Hill’s outnumbered move until 10 a.m. and then chose at this moment he would surely have president urged him to pursue Lee across the
infantry repulsed a series of Union to feed his divisions across the Lower won the day but, ever cautious, he Potomac River. McClellan’s response was to
assaults, inflicting some 3,000 casualties Bridge, which would later come to insisted on retaining his reserves— prove too slow for Lincoln to tolerate.
bear his name. On the 20,000 men who never fired a shot.
Confederate side, Burnside’s Lee was saved by the belated arrival
Bridge was covered by of A. P. Hill’s division, force-marched
the fire of Georgian from Harpers Ferry. Its unexpected
sharpshooters and artillery appearance on his flank led Burnside
under the command of to withdraw prudently back across the
Brigadier General Robert creek. In the late afternoon, fighting
ceased. There seemed every reason to
The reality of war expect that McClellan would resume
A photograph taken after the battle by his offensive the following day, but
Alexander Gardner shows Confederate he did not. After some skirmishing,
dead lying near Dunker Church. Such the Confederate forces were able to LINCOLN AND MCCLELLAN AFTER ANTIETAM
images were a shock to a public unused withdraw unmolested to the Potomac
to war photography. River and cross into Virginia.

73
 Burnside with his staff
Alexander Gardner—from Mathew Brady’s studio—
took this photograph of Burnside (seated, center) in
November 1862, prior to Fredericksburg.

Burnside Takes the Offensive across the river. Because of the long
Given command of the Army of the Potomac, Union general Ambrose Burnside launched a swift delay, both sides had plenty of time to
offensive to seize Richmond that caught the Confederate forces off guard, but the operation ended prepare their positions. Burnside placed
his artillery above Fredericksburg on
in Union defeat at Fredericksburg in one of the most one-sided battles of the Civil War. Stafford Heights to the east—such a
weight of firepower that not even Lee

M
ajor General Ambrose Burnside between Burnside and Richmond could contemplate taking the offensive.
B EFOR E was not eager to command the except the 400-ft (122-m) wide river. On the other side of the river,
Army of the Potomac, feeling Bridging this obstacle had been given Longstreet took up position on Marye’s
that he lacked the competence required high priority in the planning, with Heights behind the town, amassing a
After the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln was of an army commander. Even so, within urgent orders for pontoons to be sent, formidable concentration of artillery
determined that McClellan’s Army of the days of taking charge he responded to but these floating bridges were delayed. and infantry along the base of the ridge,
Potomac should pursue the Confederates Lincoln’s demand for offensive action while Jackson spread out his forces
into Virginia and seek to inflict defeat. with a plan to seize Richmond, the Giving Lee time downstream to his right. Lee had a
Confederate capital. He would shift his Burnside would not send troops across panoramic view of the battlefield from
NORTHERN ADVANCE force rapidly and abruptly to cross the fords because he anticipated that rising a nearby hilltop. In all, the Confederate
General Lee’s first thought after Antietam was Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, water levels might troops ranged
also to return to the offensive ❮❮ 72-73 .
Only the poor condition of his Army of Northern
Virginia persuaded him to rest and refit.
driving toward the town before General
Robert E. Lee could react. Lincoln
favored fighting Lee’s army rather than
render them
impassable, and he
did not want to
900 The number of enemy
that General Robert E. Lee
across 8 miles
(13km) of ridges
reported he had taken prisoner following along the western
Meanwhile General McClellan, goaded by sidestepping it, but approved the plan. find himself with the Battle of Fredericksburg. side of the valley.
Lincoln, began reluctantly moving his army Burnside’s maneuver was finely part of his army cut A frontal assault
across the Potomac in late October 1862. executed. On November 15, his army off on the other side of the river. So he on such prepared defenses, held by
Incensed by his delays and lack of offensive of 120,000 men, organized into three waited for the pontoons, which gave Lee more than 70,000 men, many of
spirit, as well as his insubordinate attitude “Grand Divisions,” set off on a march the time to assemble his troops. When all whom had a clear view of the plain
toward the government, Lincoln fired that caught the Confederates by the bridging equipment had arrived at beneath them, was unlikely to
McClellan on November 7, appointing Major surprise. Within two days, Union troops the end of the month, the two halves of succeed. But Burnside felt committed
General Ambrose Burnside in his place. were streaming into Falmouth, on the Lee’s army—General James Longstreet’s to the operation and would not call it
opposite bank of the Rappahannock and General Stonewall Jackson’s off. On the morning of December 11,
from Fredericksburg. Nothing stood corps—were facing Burnside’s soldiers the bridging of the river began.

74
 B U R N S I D E TA K E S T H E O F F E N S I V E

Although the fire from the Union guns south of Fredericksburg. Burnside
TE C H N O LO GY
on Stafford Heights made it impossible thought that the Confederate right
for Confederate troops to advance in flank in front of Franklin was weakly PONTOONS
the open to the riverbank and contest held, but Jackson had amassed his
the crossing, the buildings of forces around the peak of Prospect Hill. The military use of floating bridges dates
Fredericksburg, now deserted by the When a Confederate officer expressed back to ancient times, Persian ruler Xerxes
civilians, made excellent cover for anxiety about their situation, Jackson famously building one to cross the
sharpshooters of the Mississippi brigade. put him firmly in his place. He was Hellespont in 480 BCE. Originally, they were
Northern engineers struggled to proved right, because the Union troops’ improvized by laying wooden planks over a
complete the frontal assaults on line of moored boats. By the 19th century,
pontoons under
their harassing fire.
Union artillery
11 The percentage of Union troops
killed, wounded, or captured.
his well-placed
infantry and
cannon were
however, army engineers had purpose-built
flat-bottomed pontoons as part of their
standard equipment. Mounted on wheels
reduced much of
the town to rubble,
7.4 The percentage of Confederates
killed, wounded, or captured.
systematically
repulsed. Startled
for ease of mobility, they were threaded
together on a cable with wooden beams
but the sharpshooters were not driven early on by an unexpected flank attack laid across them to form a roadway.
out until a Union advance guard from Confederate horse artillery,
crossed by boat and flushed them out. Franklin cautiously held many of his
soldiers back in defensive positions. flank, however, equaled the appalling Cobb, the Confederate infantry
Burnside’s advance The breakthrough occurred when slaughter inflicted by Longstreet’s maintained a rapid rate of fire. The
The bulk of the Union Army began a rush through an undefended wooded corps at Marye’s Heights. Union advancing Union ranks were cut
marching over the pontoon bridges valley by Major General George brigades were thrown forward in down, most of the men not even
on December 12, many soldiers looting Meade’s troops penetrated deep into frontal assaults uphill across open coming to within 300ft (90m) of the
the abandoned Virginian homes. The the Confederate army’s lines. But ground swept by Longstreet’s artillery. wall before they fell or fled. By
battle was fought on December 13. Franklin failed to reinforce Meade, They then faced a line of 2,000 North nightfall, the Union Army had suffered
Burnside’s best hope rested on Major and his men were soon driven back Carolina and Georgia infantry 12,700 casualties to Confederate losses
General William Franklin’s Grand by counterattacks and suffered heavy positioned in a sunken road behind a of 5,400. On December 15, Burnside
Division, which had crossed the river losses as a result. Nothing on Jackson’s stone wall. Under General Thomas withdrew back across the river.

“ It is well that war is so terrible. Defending the sunken road

Confederate infantry take turns loading and
shooting, maintaining a constant fire from behind
A F T ER

We should grow too fond of it.” the stone wall on Telegraph Road at the foot of
Marye’s Heights. Repeated Northern assaults over The slaughter at Fredericksburg was
ROBERT E. LEE TO JAMES LONGSTREET DURING THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG open ground failed to reach the sunken road. greeted with jubilation in the South and
consternation in Washington. Lincoln
came in for heavy criticism and anti-war
sentiment flourished in the Union ranks.

BURNSIDE’S HOPES DASHED

Ambrose Burnside dreamed of redeeming his
reputation with another crossing of the
Rappahannock River that would outflank
Lee. However, attempting this maneuver in
January 1863 his army merely became
bogged down on muddy roads. After this
“Mud March” was called off, Burnside
was doomed. On January 26, he was replaced
by Major General “Fightin’ Joe” Hooker.

SOLDIER’S BRAVERY
A story surfaced 17 years after the Battle of
Fredericksburg, telling how Confederate soldier
Richard Kirkland—”the Angel of Marye’s
Heights”— had risked his life to take water to
wounded Union troops. Kirkland’s selfless
act is now commemorated by a monument in
front of the stone wall at Fredericksburg.

KIRKLAND
MEMORIAL AT
FREDERICKSBURG

75
 CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

B EFOR E

The U.S. extended its lands westward

after victory in the War with Mexico. This
confirmed the annexation of Texas and
The Far West
added California, New Mexico, and Utah. At the time of the Civil War, the U.S.’s western frontier was a wild place of isolated forts, gold prospectors,
settler wagon trains, and often hostile Native Americans. The Confederates decided to extend the war
THE GOLD RUSH
California achieved statehood in 1850, while westward, in the hope of wresting Colorado and California goldfields and silver mines from Union control.
Utah and New Mexico were absorbed

T
into the United States he first Confederate thrust he and his men all Confederate commander
as territories. These westward from Texas took surrendered. Baylor Louisiana-born Henry Hopkins Sibley
thinly populated place early in the war on the declared the south was a career officer in the U.S. Army
areas took initiative of an aggressive battalion of New Mexico who chose to join the Confederacy.
on economic commander, Lieutenant Colonel the Confederate After its failure, he never held
importance after the John R. Baylor. A one-time Arizona Territory. another significant command.
discovery of their politician and Indian fighter, Baylor had scant
precious metals. The Baylor was sent with a 250- resources to fight a Union stronghold,
California Gold Rush strong detachment of mounted hostile Apaches and was under the
had begun in 1848. The Texan volunteers to seize resist a Northern command of Colonel
discovery of silver and undefended forts along the counterattack. Edward Canby,
gold at the Comstock Lode state’s western border with But when another whose regulars were
in western Utah and at sites New Mexico. He interpreted Southern force was supported by New
in western Kansas in the late his orders as license to enter sent into Confederate Mexican volunteers.
1850s was followed by the New Mexico on the grounds Arizona in early 1862, Sibley’s force was too
organization of these areas of preempting a potential it was dispatched with weak to seize the fort
into the territories of Nevada CALIFORNIA Union counterattack. Deciding that offensive rather than and tried to bypass it, but
and Colorado in early 1861. ADVERTISEMENT a U.S. Army garrison at Fort Fillmore defensive intentions. Canby marched out to block
constituted a threat, Baylor set out to his path at a ford near Valverde.
DIVIDING UP AMERICA attack it on July 23, 1861. The garrison The Confederate push west The two forces joined battle on February
The creation of new states and territories commander, Major Isaac Lynde, left the Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley 21. In the end, Canby and his men
was a fraught political issue, affecting the balance fort with his troops to confront Baylor. had devised an ambitious plan to use had to retreat back into the fort. Sibley
between “slave” and “free” states ❮❮ 18 –19. On July 25 Baylor’s Texans and their Confederate Arizona as a launch pad continued to push northward, reaching
In 1861, Texas was among the original allies repulsed Union infantry and for a drive into the gold- and silver-rich Santa Fe on March 10.
states that formed the Confederacy, while cavalry assaults, driving them back states of Colorado and California. With Ahead of Sibley, Union forces from
California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and to Fort Fillmore. During the night three regiments of cavalry from Texas, Colorado under Colonel John Slough
Colorado all stayed within the Union. the Union commander Lynde led a he advanced up the Rio Grande River joined a Northern garrison at Fort
withdrawal from Fort Fillmore but was as far as Fort Craig, absorbing most of Union. The campaign’s crucial battle
pursued to San Augustin Springs where Baylor’s troops along the way. The fort, occurred at Glorieta Pass in the Sangre

Hostile environment
The Confederates underestimated the difficulty of
campaigning across the wild, sparsely populated
“ The men and teams suffered severely
terrain of the southwestern territories, such as this
mesa landscape near Santa Fe. The mountains and with the intense heat and want of water.”
deserts made living off the land nearly impossible. UNION MAJOR ISAAC LYNDE, REPORT ON THE SURRENDER AT SAN AUGUSTIN SPRINGS, AUGUST 7, 1861

76
 T H E FA R W E S T

A F T ER
de Cristo Mountains. On March 26, moved up reinforcements and were found itself behind the Confederates,
forward units of Northern soldiers ready to fight on March 28. Both surprising their almost undefended
pushing south from Fort Union met moved to attack because each assumed supply train. The Southern wagons Many Native American tribes took
the foremost contingent of Confederate the other would stand on the defensive. and supplies were destroyed, and advantage of the war to try to reassert
cavalry advancing north from Santa Despite suffering as many casualties as their horses and mules driven off. their freedom. In the southwest, the
Fe. After an initial skirmish, both sides their enemies, the Confederates Apache Wars flared up once again.
held the field after a fierce California retaliates
Military rations engagement. But a Union Unable to sustain an advance without
Soldiers in the southwest would have Water can detachment dispatched to supplies, Sibley pulled back first to
received the standard rations issued carry out a flanking attack Albuquerque and then began a grueling
by both sides, including sugar, retreat to Texas in mid-April. By then
tobacco, coffee, and a sewing kit another Union force was in play. Colonel
called a housewife (or “hussif”). James H. Carleton’s California volunteers
were marching eastward to intervene in
the fighting in Arizona and New Mexico.
Coffee sack In March 1862, the Californians met
the Confederates at Stanwix Station—a
skirmish that impelled the much weaker
Oil lamp APACHE LEADER GERONIMO
Tobacco twist Confederates to fall back to Tucson. The (THIRD FROM RIGHT)
Californians then won a clash at Picacho
Pass before driving the Rebels RESILIENT WARRIORS
Sugar bag out of Tucson in May. They In New Mexico Union general James H. Carleton
withdrew into Texas, and found Native Americans tougher opponents than
Carleton, now brigadier the Confederates. At the Battle of Adobe Wells
general, was put in charge in 1864, a Union force led by Colonel Kit Carson
of the Department of New narrowly avoided defeat at the hands of the
Mexico. The Confederate Plains Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche tribes. The
Arizona Territory ceased to legendary Apache leader Geronimo managed
exist in all but name. to maintain resistance until 1886, when he and a
small group of followers finally surrendered.

INCORPORATING THE WEST

Soldier’s Much of the West came under firm Union
“housewife” control in the latter half of the war. Nevada
or sewing kit became a state in October 1864. Later arrivals
were Colorado in 1876, Utah in 1896, and
Arizona and New Mexico in 1912.

77
 B E FOR E

Its population split between Confederate

and Union sympathizers, Kentucky initially
Bragg Invades Kentucky
opted for neutrality. Perhaps inevitably, it
Throughout the second half of 1862, the Confederates tried to seize the initiative in the Western Theater,
was soon drawn into the conflict. mounting a bold invasion of Kentucky. But the Confederate commander, Braxton Bragg, was first driven
BATTLE FOR KENTUCKY out of Kentucky and then forced to concede the field at the bloody Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro).
On September 3, 1861, Confederate commander

I
Leonidas Polk entered Kentucky, taking Columbus n summer 1862, the Western Theater General Braxton Bragg was at Tupelo, maneuver contrasted with the difficulty
on the Mississippi. The Union then seized Paducah was a disaster for the Confederates. Mississippi, trying to restore discipline Buell had in moving his men, his supply
and Smithland. The state’s congress called for They had lost Nashville and western and morale to his beaten men. In this lines harassed by the Confederate cavalry
war against the Southern invaders, while the Tennessee, though they still held grim picture, Confederate General John of Morgan and Nathan Bedford Forrest.
pro-Confederates formed an alternative Vicksburg, which denied the Union H. Morgan’s cavalry raid on Kentucky
government, recognized by the Confederacy. control of the Mississippi. As a Union in July shone out like a beacon of hope. Invading Kentucky
Union troops took over most of the state, with force under Major General Don Carlos The raid prompted the idea that the Installed at Chattanooga, Bragg devised
the Confederate army controlling the southwest. Buell advanced slowly on Chattanooga, Bluegrass state might be the Union’s weak a plan with Major General Edmund
The two clashed at Fort Donelson ❮❮ 58-59 point, full of Southern sympathizers eager Kirby Smith, commander of the Army
and Shiloh ❮❮ 60-61 . Union victories at both Confederate Bowie knife to join the Confederate ranks. In late July of East Tennessee. Moving north from
forced a Confederate withdrawal from most of Probably designed by Rezin Bowie (brother of Jim and early August, Bragg moved the Knoxville, Smith would retake the
Kentucky—their last position lost Bowie) for cowboys to catch and skin animals, the Army of Mississippi to Chattanooga Cumberland Gap and join with Bragg
in June 1862. They were Bowie knife was a standard Confederate weapon. by railroad—he sent in a division at in an invasion of Kentucky. But Smith
encouraged, however, This one was found on the battlefield at Perryville. a time on a roundabout route. This then decided that the Gap was too
when General John H.
Morgan’s cavalry force
made a sweep through
Kentucky in July,
raiding towns and
attracting recruits.

GENERAL JOHN H. MORGAN Wooden handle Curved blade for

Brass quillon 13-in (33-cm) steel blade skinning animals

78
 B R AGG I N VA D E S K E N T U C KY

A F T ER
Confederate retreat after Perryville which would have faced superior
This section from William Travis’s panorama shows the Union numbers if combat had
battered but triumphant Union forces in the foreground, resumed the following day. After the Battle of Stones River, General
Bragg in retreat in the distance. Travis shadowed the Bragg, at last, joined up with Smith, Braxton Bragg faced harsh criticism and an
Army of the Cumberland, often sketching on site. and the two Confederate commanders ugly internal dispute. The state of Kentucky
hotly debated their next move. Neither became the scene of guerrilla fighting.
Like Lee’s invasion of Maryland, the Bragg’s nor Smith’s forces had the
Confederate offensive had been based strength in numbers or the logistical SUBORDINATE INSURRECTION
on the assumption that local people organization to keep a hold on the While Rosecrans was turning Murfreesboro into
would greet the invaders as a liberation state of Kentucky once a Northern an impregnable fortified base, Bragg faced a
force. Bragg brought with him rifles to counteroffensive got underway. revolt of his subordinate officers, orchestrated by
arm thousands of Kentucky volunteers. Controversially, Bragg decided to Polk. President Jefferson Davis elevated General
He also brought the state’s Confederate abandon the invasion and pull back Joseph E. Johnston to theater commander, and
governor, Richard Hawes, who was to Tennessee. With the almost expected him to relieve Bragg. But Johnston
formally inaugurated in the state capital, simultaneous defeat of a Confederate left Bragg in his command.
Frankfort, on October 4. But it became army under Major General Earl Van
obvious that the state’s enthusiasm for Dorn at the Second Battle of Corinth, KENTUCKY UNDER THE HEEL
the South had been exaggerated when and Lee’s withdrawal from Maryland There was no further Confederate attempt to
the volunteers never materialized. after the Battle of Antietam, the picture invade Kentucky, but it remained the target of
for the Confederacy looked bleak. cavalry raids—by John H. Morgan in December
The Battle of Perryville 1862 and July 1863, and by Nathan Bedford
Meanwhile, goaded by Lincoln, Buell In the Stones River Valley Forrest in spring 1864. Guerrilla warfare in the
had advanced from Louisville on Bragg faced criticism for his decision state was met in July 1864 by the imposition
October 1. Hawes’s inauguration but he kept his job. Buell did not, and of military rule under Union Major General
ceremony at Frankfort was ruined as was replaced by Major General William Stephen Burbridge. His harsh regime earned
the town came under attack by the S. Rosecrans as head of what would him the nickname “the Butcher of Kentucky.”
Union. By this time the South should soon become known as the Army of the
have concentrated their forces, but Cumberland. Bragg and Smith ended
Bragg’s army was based at Bardstown
while Smith’s was some 60 miles
(97km) away at Lexington. The
campaign’s key battle was fought
“ To lose Kentucky is nearly the
before the two could unite.
While away at Frankfort for the
same as to lose the whole game.”
inauguration, Bragg left his army at PRESIDENT LINCOLN, LETTER TO SENATOR ORVILLE BROWNING, SEPTEMBER 1861
Bardstown under the command of
strongly defended to take by assault, so General Leonidas Polk. Confronted by up at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in the brought combat to an end, Bragg felt
without consulting Bragg, he chose to three columns of Buell’s army advancing Stones River Valley, with their armies he had won a great victory. But Union
bypass it. Smith took an unopposed on him on October 7, Polk fell back to united to form the Army of Tennessee commanders resolved to fight on. Over
route to Kentucky instead, routing Perryville on the Chaplin River. A under Bragg’s command. the next two days Bragg could make no
Union forces at Richmond on August drought had struck Kentucky and the On December 26, Rosecrans marched further progress, and by the afternoon
30. Braxton Bragg, racing to catch up, marching Union troops were desperate out of Nashville to engage Bragg, in of January 2, he had to order Major
left Chattanooga for drinking response to Lincoln’s continued pressure General John C. Breckinridge to lead
on August 28 ORPHAN BRIGADE The name given to water—which for offensive action. By December 30, his Kentucky Orphan Brigade in a near
and crossed the Confederate 1st Kentucky Brigade, the Confederates he was facing the Confederates at suicidal assault. Bragg resolved to
into Kentucky. possibly because of the brigade’s forced controlled. A Stones River. That evening, bands from withdraw the next day, conceding the
Advancing toward exile from its home state. Union division both armies struck up to help raise their field to Rosecrans. Union losses were
Louisville, Bragg’s under Brigadier men’s spirits. In the words of Sam Seay 13,249 out of 43,400 engaged; the
progress was delayed by a Union General Philip Sheridan seized control of the Confederates’ 1st Tennessee Confederates lost 10,266 out of 37,712.
garrison at Munfordville, which held of a creek in fierce fighting early on Infantry, “The still winter night carried
out for three days before surrendering. October 8, the men strongly motivated [the bands’] strains to great distance. At
This gave Buell enough time to hurry by thirst. Bragg was slow to realize that a every pause on our side, far away could
back to defend Kentucky. major battle was beginning, but returned be heard the military bands of the other.
to assume command in Finally one of them struck up ‘Home
the late morning. Sweet Home.’ As if by common consent,
On the afternoon of all other airs ceased, and the bands of
October 8, a daring both armies as far as the ear could
Confederate assault reach, joined in the refrain.”
almost routed the Union The next morning, real battle
left, but the Union right succeeded the previous night’s dueling
pushed into the streets of bands. The Confederates attacked at
Perryville. When darkness dawn, catching the Union troops still
fell, Bragg prudently eating their breakfast. The panicked
withdrew his forces, Union right wing was driven back
3 miles (4.8km) in what would have
The Slaughter Pen been a fatal rout, but for resistance
The site of Sheridan’s stiff four-hour organized by Sheridan, who held a General William S. Rosecrans
resistance to the Confederates was position for four hours at great cost to As commander of the Army of the Cumberland,
dubbed “the Slaughter Pen” for its his division. A Union defensive line was Rosecrans showed resolute leadership in the Battle of
gory appearance on the first day of stabilized, hinging on woods known as Stones River, rejecting the option of withdrawal after
the Battle of Stones River. the Round Forest. When nightfall a disastrous first day’s combat.

79
80
4
THE UNION
TIGHTENS
ITS GRIP
1863
Both sides wrestled with new realities
that changed the nature of the war. As the
Confederacy reached its military zenith, sound
Northern political and military leadership
won key victories on and off the battlefield,
which set the stage for Union triumph.

❮❮ Under fire on the Mississippi

This Currier & Ives print, made shortly after the Battle
of Vicksburg, shows Admiral David Porter’s fleet
under Confederate bombardment beneath the bluffs
of Vicksburg—Porter’s ship, USS Benton, is in the
lead. Although Confederate guns fired for three
hours, only one ship was lost and the fleet met
Ulysses S. Grant below the city, as planned.

81
 THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP

he nature of the war changed decisively with President deploy its strength with real effectiveness, with Lincoln at last finding
T Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on the first day of 1863. the commanders with the administrative competence and ruthless
The extent of slavery had been one of the war’s principal causes, but aggressiveness to bring this power to bear.
from now a Union victory would mean its effective abolition. The The Confederacy until now had had most of its successes in
mobilization of black troops would also bring an important addition the Eastern Theater, but was clearly under pressure elsewhere. The
to Union strength. After all the disappointments and command Union blockade was growing ever tighter, and Union forces were
changes of the previous months, 1863 saw the Union begin to advancing steadily up and down the Mississippi. By year’s end, after

82
 1863

the succession of great and by no means one-sided battles, the of mass armies being made by rail, and the battles of these
Union clearly held the initiative in both of the war’s main theaters. armies being centered around fighting for entrenchments
The Deep South lay open to attack, and Lee’s army in Virginia could under ferocious artillery bombardments.
only expect to fight yet more battles against heavy odds. The North still had weaknesses. Social and racial tensions
The nature of the fighting was also increasingly taking on the were made plain by the Draft Riots, but the home front in the
characteristics that would dominate the wars of the industrialized South was more vulnerable with galloping inflation and food
20th century—strategic maneuvers and the movement of supplies shortages. Southern prospects for 1864 were turning bleak.

83
 First Reading, July 22, 1862
This depiction of Lincoln’s presentation of his
momentous document to his cabinet is a copy of
Francis Carpenter’s First Reading of the Emancipation
Proclamation of President Lincoln in the U.S. Capitol.

B E FOR E

In June 1862, President Lincoln completed

The Emancipation
Proclamation
drafting a Preliminary Emancipation
Proclamation to free slaves in the Rebel
states. He presented it to his cabinet in July.

THE WRONG MOMENT

All members of the cabinet approved the spirit
of the document. But Secretary of State The Emancipation Proclamation of New Year’s Day, 1863, transformed the nature of the Civil War and
William H. Seward claimed that issuing it now, the Union war effort. Until then, for the North, it had been a war to preserve the Union and to restore
in the wake of General George B. McClellan’s
withdrawal from the Virginia Peninsula, would the rebellious states to their prewar status. Now it had also become a war for freedom.
appear as “our last shriek on the retreat.” Lincoln

L
decided to postpone discussion of the matter incoln’s Preliminary Emancipation vital to the Southern cause. In November point, Northern public morale was
until the North achieved a decisive victory. Proclamation of September 1862 1861, the Montgomery Advertiser had faltering, pressure from the powerful
offered the Confederate states a asserted that “the institution of slavery abolitionist bloc in the Republican Party
PRELIMINARY PROCLAMATION chance to return to the Union and in the South alone enables her to place
The Battle of Antietam in September 1862 offered retain slavery at least for the time in the field a force much larger in ARTICLE II, SECTION 2 The clause in the
the “victory” Lincoln needed. Although a tactical being. In spite of this enticement, none proportion to her white population U.S. Constitution, under which Lincoln
draw, Confederate general Robert E. Lee was forced of the rebellious states came back into than the North … The institution is a issued the Emancipation Proclamation,
to abandon his offensive into Maryland and retreat the Federal fold. Throughout the tower of strength to the South.” using his authority as commander-in-
to Virginia. On September 22, Lincoln released the unconquered South, the Preliminary chief of the U.S. Army and Navy.
Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation was ignored as an empty The need to act
rebellious states were offered 100 days to return measure that presented no real change Lincoln knew this as well, and after the was growing, while across the Atlantic
to the Union and adopt some form of gradual in how the war would be fought. Union’s military setbacks in the East Britain and France were showing
or immediate emancipation; otherwise, slaves in Southerners were well aware that during the first year of the war, he was disturbing signs of moving toward a
the Confederacy would be “forever free.” slaves, through their labor on farms anxious to do something that would quick recognition of Confederate
and plantations and their work on make significant and visible inroads independence. All of these factors,
entrenchments and fortifications, were against the Confederate effort. At this along with Lincoln’s own predisposition

84
 T H E E M A N C I PAT I O N P R O C L A M AT I O N

otherwise unconstitutional, might recruitment of free black citizens into

become lawful, by becoming segregated regiments, but now recently
indispensable to the preservation liberated slaves could join them as well.
of the Constitution, through the In Democratic parts of the North,
preservation of the nation.” especially in districts that had voted
Carefully timing the release of against Lincoln in 1860, many whites
the Preliminary Proclamation in frowned upon the new war measure.
September 1862 allowed Lincoln Activities increased among Copperheads
to prepare the way for the Final (Northern Democrats opposed to the
Emancipation Proclamation, which war), and newspaper editors blasted the
formally went into effect on January 1, administration for abandoning the
1863. Technically, the Final preservation of the Union and embracing
Proclamation only freed slaves in the emancipation instead. One Union
rebellious states, leaving all those in the regiment drawn from an area like this
Eckert’s inkwells claimed that if the president border states and in Union-held portions deserted almost to a man upon hearing
Lincoln liked to work in the telegraph office of the War continued to prevaricate, they of the Confederate states still in the news. But in most sections of the
Department while waiting for news. Here he started themselves would have to take action. bondage. Those deep behind Southern loyal states, public opinion was
drafting his Emancipation Proclamation, using the desk— They had already passed several lines would have to await the arrival of cautiously optimistic that emancipation
and inkwells—of Major Thomas Eckert. Confiscation Acts that allowed Union Union armies to enforce their liberation. might hasten the end of the war.
generals to confiscate and use rebel Indeed, in many areas of Texas and
against slavery, obliged the president to property, including slaves. southern Georgia, slaves knew nothing
act decisively—he had, after all, run for Even as the pressure on him about Lincoln’s proclamation until well
the White House in 1860 on a platform mounted, Lincoln remained determined after the war was over.
devoted to restricting the institution’s to wait until the time was right to issue Anywhere near Union lines, however,
spread into the territories. his formal policy. He believed that only and even in locations at a considerable
Federal generals had already flirted he as president, through constitutionally distance from Union forces, rumors
with emancipation in various different sanctioned war powers, had the ability quickly spread among slave communities
locations, which posed a threat to the to enforce emancipation. He later that they were now free. To some degree,
political effect and long-term explained, “I felt the measures, slaves had been taking matters into their
moral value of a presidentially own hands and slipping off to
issued policy. In August 1861, freedom since the war began,
Union General John C. especially in Virginia, Tennessee,
Frémont tried to emancipate and Louisiana, where Union
all the slaves in Missouri by a armies had occupied large
simple military declaration. In swaths of former rebel territory.
May 1862, General David Now, in ones and twos and small
Hunter did the same for the groups, slaves left with a
slaves of Florida, Georgia, and conviction, a feeling, or just an Hiding out
South Carolina. idea that the “day of Jubilo” In Fugitive Slaves in the Dismal Swamp, Virginia (1888),
(liberation) had come and that artist David Cronin depicts a favorite place of refuge on
Careful preparation they were truly free to go. Many the border of Virginia and North Carolina, where
Lincoln acknowledged the went straight to the Union hundreds of slaves managed to hide out.
good intentions behind armies, where they found work
these military efforts at cooking, nursing wounded
emancipation, but was forced soldiers, and caring for horses. A F T ER
to overrule both generals’
edicts. Too few people in Freedom at last
the North were ready to In the free black communities In Europe, the British Prime Minister Lord
consider the freeing of slaves of the North, the response Palmerston and the French Emperor
as an additional Federal war to the Emancipation Napoleon III had been cautiously
aim, and a premature or Proclamation was electric. sympathetic toward the Confederates.
partial emancipation might Henry Turner, pastor of an
force one or more of the African Methodist Church EUROPE BACKS AWAY
border states into seceding. in Washington, D.C., was present News of the Emancipation Proclamation, along
Missouri, especially, was as the Proclamation was printed with Southern general Robert E. Lee’s retreat
still close to the tipping off in a local newspaper: “Down from Maryland, changed the minds of Lord
point. The Supreme Court, Pennsylvania [Avenue] I ran Palmerston and the British cabinet. They
headed by pro-slavery as for my life, and when the postponed plans to recognize
Chief Justice Roger Taney, people saw me coming with the Confederate independence and
was another potential paper in my hand they raised a offer mediation between the
problem. Taney had shouting cheer that was almost warring sections. The
the power to declare deafening.” It was from such British Empire, which had
a rash emancipation heartfelt enthusiasm that freed its slaves in 1833,
proclamation as thousands of black volunteers for could not morally
unconstitutional, thereby the Union army were raised. This support a slaveholding
creating huge obstacles for Emancipation Proclamation Final Emancipation Proclamation republic against a nation
the government. Declaring “that all persons held as slaves” within the included a provision for enlisting that fought to make men
Lincoln had much to consider before rebel states “are, and henceforward shall be free,” the former slaves in the army and navy, free. France followed BRITISH PRIME
acting. His delays and apparent Proclamation went on to “enjoin upon [the freed slaves] … and thus the seeds for the United States Britain’s lead. MINISTER PALMERSTON
wavering enraged some members of the to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; Colored Troops (USCT) were sown.
Republican Party in Congress, who and … labor faithfully for reasonable wages.” Various states had already begun

85
 THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

African-Americans
in the War
The plight of African-Americans during the Civil War varied tremendously, depending on where they
lived, their socio-economic status, and whether they were enslaved or free. Regardless, the war
transformed their lives and set them on the path to equality with whites.

U
nion policy toward slaves and Death rates were as high as 25 percent,
B E FOR E escaped slaves in the rebellious and despite the presence of well-
states wavered between decisive, meaning missionaries, who provided
proactive measures and lethargic spiritual and educational guidance, life
From its founding in 1818, the American inaction or neglect. Overall, the in the camps was miserable.
Colonization Society strove to send freed government was slow to implement In 1861–63, the camps followed the
slaves and free Northern blacks to foreign a coherent policy. The Union army, advances of the Union armies, and as
shores, in particular Liberia. U.S. Treasury Department, various time wore on, conditions improved
philanthropic organizations, the slightly as Union officers found
president, and Congress all got involved employment for large numbers of
and had different, often competing contrabands. The men worked as
proposals and procedures on how to dockworkers, pioneers, trench-diggers,
deal with the great number of freedmen teamsters, and personal servants, and
(freed slaves) or soon-to-be freedmen. some of the women served as cooks and
Power ultimately rested with the laundresses for the soldiers. In such
military officers in any given area, and capacities they performed the same
as early as the summer of 1861, Union functions as slaves did for the
commanders were confronted with Confederate armies, but at least they
large numbers of escaped slaves who earned a “wage,” even though this could
had run to safety within their lines. simply be room, board, and clothing.
The families of the employed lived in the
Horrors of the “contraband” camps local camp or precariously hung around
These early refugees from slavery became the margins of the Union picket lines.
known as “contraband of war,” a phrase
coined by Brigadier General Benjamin Wage slavery under Unionists
JOSEPH ROBERTS, Butler, commander of Fortress Monroe Marginally more fortunate were former
FIRST PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA
in Virginia. It meant that the slaves did slaves on abandoned plantations that
COLONIZATION not have to be returned to their owners the Unionists confiscated and returned
It was believed, not only by slaveholders, but as fugitives under federal law. However, to working order. Early in the war, the
also by some abolitionists, that blacks and whites their fate varied considerably from one Union army overran some of the South’s
could not ultimately coexist in the United States. theater of war to another. best plantation districts: the sea islands
The only successful colony was Liberia in West Many of the former slaves were off Charleston, southern Louisiana, and
Africa, which became an independent state in rounded up and placed in special the fertile lands of the Mississippi River
1847. Lincoln himself was a known proponent ”contraband camps,“ where sanitation Valley. Owners ran to safety behind
of colonization before issuing the was poor and medical care even worse. Confederate lines and simply left their
Emancipation Proclamation ❮❮ 84-85 and land and slaves to their fate.
supported several schemes during the war, most Realizing the potential profits to be
of which ended in tragedy for the emigrants. had, Northern civilian entrepreneurs
responded eagerly to the federal
RIGHTS FOR NORTHERN BLACKS government’s offers to manage these
Before the war, only Massachusetts legally plantations. In theory, the government
extended full voting rights to its black citizens. would receive the lion’s share of the
Some other New England states allowed black sale of cotton, sugar, or other staple
male suffrage, and in New York those with $250 crops, and the former slaves would be
worth of property could vote. To have a vote in paid a fair wage. In reality, plantation
Ohio, over half a citizen‘s ancestry had to be white. managers and local Union army officers
No other state allowed black people to vote. conspired to split most of the profits
During the war, some gains were made in among themselves, and often paid the
civil rights. Blacks could ride alongside whites laborers just enough to keep them
in Philadelphia and Washington streetcars and
in 1864 they were allowed to appear as both Permanently scarred
witnesses and lawyers in federal courts, However badly they were treated when they came
but further reforms would have to wait for North, nothing could compare with the brutality and
the 14th Amendment . cruelty slaves had suffered at the hands of their owners.
This former slave was photographed after he escaped to
the North and served in the Federal army.

86
 A F R I C A N - A M E R I C A N S I N T H E WA R

A F T ER
Slave woman in the South
In this 1866 painting by Winslow Homer entitled Near
Andersonville or Captured Liberators, a black woman As the Confederate army lost more and
looks on as captured Union troops, her potential more fighting men, the idea of enlisting
liberators, are marched off to Andersonville Prison. slaves into the ranks was finally accepted
by the Confederate Congress in Richmond.
working. After “deductions” for food,
housing, and clothing, most earned FIRST PROPOSALS REJECTED
absolutely nothing, and therefore lived Certain Rebel generals, including Richard Ewell,
an existence akin to slavery. Local Patrick Cleburne, and, ultimately, Robert E.
military laws that forbade blacks from Lee, proposed at different points in the war that
being unemployed forced many of the Richmond government grant freedom in
them back into the cotton or cane return for slaves’ military service. Even
fields, or otherwise face imprisonment. President Davis offered a bill in November 1864
By the last 18 months of the war, extending emancipation to future enlisted slaves,
under pressure from both Northern but Congress refused to consider it.
abolitionists and missionaries who
were outraged at the “wage slavery” CONGRESS ACCEPTS BLACK TROOPS
that existed in the Union-occupied By February 1865, facing imminent defeat, and
South, both Congress and the Union with the powerful backing of both Lee and
army began to change their policies. Davis, the Congress grudgingly agreed to a
Land was the key issue behind this limited form of emancipation for slaves who
new direction. fought. Some companies of black
Through various pieces of legislation, Confederate soldiers were actually drilling in
or under the supervision of Yankee the streets of Richmond right before the city
generals, almost 20 percent of the fell 152-153 ❯❯, but it was too little, too late.
former Confederate territory captured
by the Union was given to African-
Americans. The prominent abolitionist
Wendell Phillips wrote, “Let me brought them along to war; a sizeable
confiscate the land of the South, and percentage of officers, especially early in
put it into the hands of Negroes the conflict, did bring a slave with them,
and the white men who fought for but this declined significantly as the war
it, and I have dragged on. As an
planted a Union
sure to grow as an
acorn to become
180,000 The number of
African-Americans
who fought for their freedom in the war.
institution, slavery
was irrevocably
weakened after
an oak.” However, About one-third of them died. the Emancipation
the question Proclamation, and
remained whether the freedmen would by the last year of the war, many
be able to hold on to any land they had slaves—even those in unconquered
gained after the war was over. areas of the South—refused to work, or
had no incentive to do so, as the
Black Confederates majority of white men had left home.
The vast majority of blacks under White female or black overseers,
Confederate control were slaves who, increasingly common by 1864, could not
either by coercion or suggestion, maintain discipline, and as slavery
remained on plantations or farms until began to die so, too, did the remaining
liberated by invading Union forces. It is economic power of the Confederacy.
difficult to determine how many wished
to stay with their masters, serving in the Escaping to relative freedom
army as servants, teamsters, or laborers, Escaped slaves were placed in camps which followed the
or remain at home as fieldworkers and Union army and both men and women found work
house servants. Few Confederate- helping the officers and soldiers. However, for many the
enlisted men owned slaves and so never reality of life away from the plantations was harsh.

87
 THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

The Battle of Chancellorsville

By early 1863 the Union Army of the Potomac was more than twice as strong as the Confederate Army mood among the Union commanders
of Northern Virginia. By boldly dividing his army and maneuvering rapidly against the Union flank, on the night of May 1 was incredulous.
Lee and Jackson, on the other hand,
General Robert E. Lee achieved an unlikely victory at Chancellorsville, but lost many men. could hardly believe their good luck.
Later that night, the Southern

M
ajor General Joseph Hooker chieftains conferred. General J.E.B.
B EFOR E drew up a grand operational Stuart’s cavalry scouts had discovered
plan for the Army of the the Union right wing was “hanging in
Potomac in the spring of 1863. He the air” so Jackson and 33,000 troops
The Eastern Theater had seen a series of would divide his 134,000-man force of his corps would march off through
bloody battles in 1862 in which, largely and lead three corps around General the thick woods on the morning of
through poor generalship, the increasing Lee’s western flank, marching through May 2 to attack the unprotected Federal
Union strength had gained little advantage. the dense woods of the Virginia

HOOKER REFORMS THE FEDERAL ARMY

wilderness. At the same time, Major
General John Sedgwick and the
134,000 Strength of
Hooker’s Army of
the Potomac at the start of the campaign.
Replacing the inept Burnside as commander remaining three corps held Lee’s
of the Army of the Potomac after the defeat at
Fredericksburg ❮❮64-65 , Major General
Joseph Hooker restored morale by revising
attention at Fredericksburg.
Hooker’s flanking force began its trek
without incident in late April 1863 and
62,000 Strength of the
Confederate Army
of North Virginia on the same date.
uniforms and ensuring rations and pay were succeeded in crossing both the Rapidan
distributed on time. He also improved the army’s and Rappahannock Rivers with minimal flank. Lee would keep only 14,000 men
organization, creating a military intelligence resistance. Hooker then turned east, to confront all of Hooker’s force at
service, consolidating the cavalry under one moving his 70,000 men through the Chancellorsville, should he attack.
command, and decentralizing the artillery. wilderness, past a large estate locally
known as Chancellorsville, and into The “Flying Dutchmen”
the open country five miles to the A general’s great march Men of Major General Daniel Sickles’
west of Fredericksburg. Stonewall Jackson led 33,000 men on his flank march. Third Corps, stationed on a cleared hill
The tired men traveled many miles to the strike the called Hazel Grove just to the west of
Battle is joined enemy. One rebel noted, “I reckon the Devil himself Chancellorsville, discovered Jackson’s
Lee and his lieutenant, Stonewall would have run with Jackson in his rear.” flank march not long after it got started.
Jackson, reacted quickly to the threat. Hooker and Sickles misinterpreted the
On May 1, Lee left General Jubal Early Near the Zoan Church, General movement as a Confederate retreat.
and 12,000 men to watch Sedgwick at Lafayette McLaws’ Division ran head Eleventh Corps commander, Oliver
Fredericksburg, while Jackson and the first into part of George Meade’s Union Otis Howard, stationed on the extreme
rest of the army marched down the Fifth Corps. For a while the Federals right of the Union line—exactly where
Orange Plank Road to meet Hooker. pushed McLaws back, but when the Jackson was headed—also believed the
Confederate threw in his reserve, they enemy was retreating. Scouts reported
Battle sketch retreated, calling for reinforcements. the enemy massing in the forest to the
Civil War artist Alfred Waud made drawings of the conflict Hooker was shocked at the resistance right, but Howard dismissed them.
for the American press. Here, an injured soldier is his advance had met. Losing his nerve, About 5:30pm, with darkness falling,
stretchered off the Chancellorsville battlefield. General he ordered his two forward corps to Jackson unleashed 26,000 Confederates,
Howard’s headquarters at Dowdall’s Tavern is nearby. withdraw to Chancellorsville. The screaming the rebel yell, into the 8,500
MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH HOOKER

88
 T H E B AT T L E O F C H A N C E L L O R S V I L L E

A F T ER
Union failure at Chancellorsville
After Jackson’s rapid march to outflank the Union right on KEY ⑥ May 6:

Ra
May 2, the Union army was outfought in the fierce action Hooker retreats The strategic initiative in the East passed

pp
ah
Union positions May 2 back across river

an
of the following day. Union commander Joseph Hooker to the Confederates. As the Union army

nock
Union front line May 4
lost his nerve and retreated back across the Rappahannock. Confederate positions May 2 reorganized, Lee’s next major move would

Riv
ss

er
Confederate front line May 4 be the advance to Gettysburg.

e
rn
men of the Eleventh Corps. There was e
d
no time for the Union regiments to il REYNOLDS SALEM CHURCH
W
e
realign and react; the only safety was Th United
States Union Major General Sedgwick and his Sixth
in flight. But further along the Orange ② May2, 5:30pm: Ford
Corps attacked Jubal Early at Fredericksburg on
Jackson’s attack takes
Turnpike, two stubborn holding actions Howard’s corps by complete the morning of May 3. They pushed him off
MEADE River Road
delayed the Southern advance, including surprise. 4,000 prisoners Marye’s Heights, and proceeded west down the
taken. Jackson later
a stand made by Brigadier General Carl wounded by friendly fire Orange Turnpike toward Lee’s rear. A desperate
Schurz’s totally German Third Division Oran
g e Tu stand by Brigadier General Cadmus
r npik ④ May 3: Lee
at the Wilderness Church. Unfairly e Wilcox’s Rebel brigade at Salem Church
SICKLES COUCH dispatches McLaws
labeled by nativistic Anglo-Americans to reinforce troops stopped Sedgwick cold. The next day, the
Wilderness HOOKER at Fredericksburg
as the “flying Dutchmen,” these men Church Confederates launched a series of
Chancellorsville
had in fact bought time for the rest of Road uncoordinated assaults on Sedgwick, who
lank Hazel
the Federal Army to react. Orang e P HOWARD beat each of them off in turn and escaped
Grove
Fairview
JACKSON McLAWS relatively unscathed back across the river.
SLOCUM Fredericksburg
Lee’s greatest day replaced by ANDERSON Confronting his tired and unsuccessful division
STUART
Frustrated by the failing momentum of ③ May 3: commanders, Robert E. Lee reportedly lost his
Confederates gain Salem
his attack, and in the pitch black of the Church temper over this lost opportunity.
upper hand in fierce
woods, Jackson reconnoitered in front fighting around
of his lines to ascertain the positions of Chancellorsville LEE “WHAT WILL THE PEOPLE SAY?”
JACKSON
the Union forces and was accidentally ① May 2: ⑤ May 4: Upon hearing news of Hooker’s withdrawal
shot by his own men. Stuart took over. Jackson makes Anderson’s division
N across the Rappahannock River, a horrified
long march also redeployed to
May 3 dawned a brilliant, crisp day, that outflanks 0 km 1 2 Fredericksburg President Lincoln turned to a colleague and
and by the time the sun was rising Union right 0 miles 1 2
said, “My God, my God, what will the people
above the trees at Hazel Grove, this say?” Yet another campaign in the East had come
key terrain was in Confederate hands. to nothing. Northern morale plummeted.
Southern artillery swarmed the open north and south of Fairview. Some of to retreat. Nearly all his subordinates
ground, dominating the clearings of the most vicious fighting of the war agreed that Chancellorsville was one of
Fairview and Chancellorsville, and occurred before Hooker ordered the the greatest Northern lost opportunities
opened a murderous fire on Union abandonment of first Fairview, and of the war. Against all odds, Lee had
infantry and artillery holding those then Chancellorsville. scored a tactical victory, inflicting 17,000
positions. Waves of Southern infantry Despite having two corps standing casualties on the enemy while suffering
assaulted hastily prepared Federal idly by that could have crashed into 13,000 of his own—though among
brigades posted in the woods to the Stuart’s northern flank, Hooker chose these was the irreplaceable Jackson.

“At that moment I believed my commanding

general a whipped man.”
DARIUS COUCH, COMMANDING THE UNION SECOND CORPS, ON HOOKER’S LOSS OF NERVE, MAY 1, 1863
CASUALTIES AT MARYE’S HEIGHTS

89
 THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

Lee Advances North

The Confederate high command approved Lee’s strategy of invading the North for a second time. In
mid-June 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia began its advance toward Pennsylvania. The Union army
was initially wrong-footed, engaging the Rebels unsuccessfully at Brandy Station and Winchester.

A
fter the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate general Ewell to rest, resupply his Army
the South had the advantage. Despite losing a leg at Second Bull Run, of Northern Virginia, and
Now it was the turn of the Ewell justified Lee’s confidence in him receive reinforcements
Confederacy to decide where it would at this point in the war by raiding from the Carolinas and
strike the Union army next rather than the Union garrison at Winchester. western Virginia. In
simply reacting to Northern advances. mid-June, thousands
For the next few weeks, debates raged countered with a of Confederate soldiers
in the capital, Richmond, over what to wild proposal to send began the long march
do. On his way to rejoin General Robert Longstreet directly to northward by swinging
E. Lee at Fredericksburg, General James Mississippi to attack around to the west
Longstreet proposed to President Davis General Ulysses and advancing down the
that he and two divisions travel by rail S. Grant’s rear at Shenandoah Valley.
to Tennessee to assault Major General Vicksburg, but Lee
William Rosecrans. Longstreet would stepped in at this point, Shock for Stuart
thereby relieve pressure on Vicksburg. arguing convincingly for Just as the Army of Northern
Secretary of War James Seddon then another thrust north. Lee Virginia was beginning its final
proposed that now was the time to deal preparations for the movement North,
the Union a strategic death blow before the flamboyant Major General Jeb
B EFOR E conditions in the West deteriorated to a Stuart and his Confederate cavalry
point of no return. He was also keen to received a nasty shock from their Union
advance while both the Northern peace counterparts. On June 9, at Brandy Southern cavaliers. Henceforth they
In the wake of Stonewall Jackson’s death, movement and the Army of Northern Station in Culpeper County, Virginia, a would be more aggressive. Stuart
Lee reorganized his army to prepare for an Virginia were still strong. large Union cavalry force under the emerged from the battle physically
offensive thrust. The Union, meanwhile, command of General Alfred Pleasonton unscathed but with a bruised ego. He
was disheartened after repeated failures. Commander’s strategy surprised Stuart’s troopers in their asked Lee for permission to ride around
Lee was certain that a Confederate encampment. Following a hard day’s Major General Joseph Hooker’s corps
CONFEDERATE PROMOTIONS victory or series of victories in fighting in which both sides gained slowly advancing to the east—Stuart’s
Eager to reorganize the Army of Northern Pennsylvania or northern Maryland at the upper hand at different times, the goal was to gain better intelligence on
Virginia, Lee abandoned the old system of this juncture would strengthen the Union cavalry finally yielded the Union movements, but in the process
two wings led by two corps commanders. He Copperheads— Northern Democrats battlefield to the Southerners and he hoped to salvage his reputation.
recommended the promotion of generals opposed to the Civil War who favored a withdrew. Tactically, the engagement
Richard Ewell and A. P. Hill to corps command, peace agreement with the South. Thus, was the largest horse-mounted combat Testing times for Lee
with Ewell taking over most of Jackson’s old he reasoned, Lincoln would become of the Civil War and a Confederate Having extracted a promise from Stuart
force. Hill was to retain the rest, along with new a president without a party in the triumph—strategically, it assumed that he would quickly rejoin the main
troops gathered from other parts of Virginia and next election. Furthermore, farmers far greater proportions. Confederate force, Lee agreed, and on
the Carolinas. Longstreet kept command of his in Virginia would be relieved of the Union horsemen had gained June 25 he suddenly found himself
corps, and became Lee’s chief lieutenant. burdens of conflict for at least a season, confidence from it, believing that they without Stuart and his three best cavalry
and the Confederate army could live off could now stand toe-to-toe against the brigades. The cavalry chief had left Lee
NORTHERN DESPONDENCY the Northerners’ land for a change. The
The North had little to celebrate in May and June of chance of recognition by foreign powers
1863. Grant had yet to take Vicksburg, and the might again come back on the table,
first attempt to attack Charleston, South Carolina, not to mention an outright peace with
ended in failure on April 7, when eight monitors the North should Lee and his forces
were repulsed by Rebel guns at Fort Sumter. destroy the Army of the Potomac and
Northern Copperheads lamented that capture Washington or Baltimore.
Confederate independence was near and the The possibility of achieving Southern
time had come for negotiations with the South. independence was finally within sight,
and when the Confederate cabinet
voted on Lee’s proposal, only one
member, Postmaster General John
Reagan, a Texan, disagreed. Longstreet
also retained some doubts about the
wisdom of the decision, but loyally
followed his commander’s directives.
Lee took off the earlier part of June

Cavalry charge near Brandy Station

On June 9, 1863 more than 19,000 cavalry clashed for
DAMAGED MONITOR TURRET 12 hours along the Rappahannock River in a surprise
encounter. It resulted in a Southern victory, but alerted
the Union to Lee’s unexpected advance northward.

90
“I shall throw an overwhelming force on their Lee crosses the Potomac
In mid-June, Lee and his 75,000-strong army crossed
the Potomac River into Maryland. This contemporary

advance, crush it, follow up the success . . . and illustration shows Lee in three-quarter view in the
foreground conferring with an officer.

virtually destroy the [Army of the Potomac].” A F T ER

GENERAL LEE IN A LETTER TO MAJOR GENERAL ISAAC TRIMBLE, 1863

with just enough horsemen to screen defeat the enemy posthaste, declaring: appeals from Pennsylvania governor, Despite the approaching enemy, morale
the Southern army from Union cavalry “The animal must be very slim Andrew Curtin, who reported that the among the soldiers in the Northern
probes, but not enough to provide him somewhere. Could you not break him?” Confederates had entered his state and encampments remained strong. But
with a rapid scouting force for his The general chose to disobey Lincoln, were threatening the Pennsylvania Lee’s Confederates were also bolstered.
infantry. The timing could not have been however, and instead of attacking, he capital, Harrisburg. Where was the
worse—the Confederate infantry had trailed Lee’s advance cautiously, while Army of the Potomac? RENEWED NORTHERN MORALE
just begun crossing the Pennsylvania keeping between the Confederates and Lincoln’s patience was wearing thin, Within the Union army itself, most soldiers
state line as his cavalry commander Washington. As he did so, Confederate citizens in Pennsylvania’s border counties were regaining their morale as reports
departed. Lee would be operationally general Richard Stoddert Ewell’s corps girded themselves for occupation by the of the enemy in their “home” territory
blinded until Stuart returned from successfully attacked and destroyed the Confederates, and the North held its reached their encampments. Fighting
reconnaissance. For his part, Joseph Union garrison at Winchester on June collective breath as all eyes turned to and losing in Virginia because of inept
Hooker refused to 13–15. During south-central Pennsylvania. commanders was one thing, but engaging
believe that Lee’s
initial movements
represented
907 The number of Union
casualties during the cavalry
battle at Brandy Station in Virginia, on
this raid, Ewell
was able to
capture many
the Confederates on Northern soil was
another. Under a new commander—General
George Meade—the Army of the Potomac
another great June 9, 1863. Confederate casualties thousands of was ready for the chance to defeat the
raid. Rather, he numbered 523, and it was the first time prisoners, artillery, Confederates. As one officer reported: “The
rationalized that Jeb Stuart’s leadership was criticized. horses, and men are more determined than I have ever
the enemy was supplies in a before seen them.”
simply trying to get on his operational masterly manner, reminiscent of
flank by moving to the west. To foil him, Stonewall Jackson’s seizure of Harpers INVINCIBLE SOUTHERNERS
Hooker proposed to Lincoln a rapid Ferry the year before. Hooker resigned As the Confederates moved northward,
descent on Richmond. The Confederates, on June 28, 1863, following continued optimism among the men in the ranks
he considered, would be forced to arguments with Lincoln. soared. Southerners were eager to crush the
retreat to protect their capital. Yankees once and for all. An aura of
“I think Lee’s army, and not The road to Gettysburg invincibility ran throughout the Rebel camps, a
Richmond, is your true objective Union attempts to determine the Stars and Bars confidence bred of repeated battlefield success
point,” Lincoln responded curtly. He whereabouts of the Confederate This example of the 11-starred version of the and unwavering trust in their leader,
added that the Confederates had to be army met with repeated failure. The first Confederate national flag was said to have Robert E. Lee.
spread out as they headed west and president despaired as the telegraph been captured by the 93rd Ohio Volunteers in
north, and urged Hooker to attack and wires grew increasingly hot with frantic Tennessee in 1863.

91
 THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

B E FOR E

Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the North began

with an advance into Pennsylvania, which
initially met little Union resistance.
The Battle of Gettysburg
Neither side intended to fight a major battle at Gettysburg but both poured troops into the area after
ORDERS AND COUNTER-ORDERS their initial clashes. In the first two days the Southern forces failed to capitalize on their initial numerical
As advance elements of General Richard Ewell’s
Confederate corps crossed the Mason-Dixon superiority. The ferocious combat of the third day would result in a disastrous defeat for the South.
Line, local residents either fled or tried to hide

A
their possessions from Southern foraging decision by Union cavalry Death of General Reynolds
parties. Lee now ordered Ewell to divide his commander Brigadier General Reynolds commanded the Army of
corps. One division marched toward York, John Buford precipitated the the Potomac’s left wing. The
capturing that city in late June, but could not battle. At the end of June 1863, his circumstances of his death are
cross the Susquehanna River because Union division of the Army of the Potomac disputed: he may have been killed
militia burned the only bridge. Another column was near the town of Gettysburg, by a Southern sharpshooter or by
headed up the Cumberland Valley toward Pennsylvania, when he learned that the “friendly fire” from his own side.
Carlisle, to strike Harrisburg from that direction. Confederates were coming quickly in
But before they could cross the river, Lee recalled his direction. At the same time, Union began to push them
his scattered army to concentrate near infantry corps were moving up from back—but not fast
Cashtown. The Federal army was drawing Maryland. Realizing the danger of the enough. By mid-morning,
near and Lee wanted to be ready. Confederates reaching Gettysburg first, Buford’s tired command
Buford made a stand on the ridges west had received support from
LINCOLN RELIEVES HOOKER of Gettysburg in a bid to hold them off Early on July 1, Southern troops the First Corps under Major General
Slow to react to Lee’s initial movements north in until the Federals could mass and hold under Brigadier General Henry Heth John Reynolds. Intense fighting erupted
June, Union general Joseph Hooker, in the high ground (Cemetery Hill, Culp’s blundered into Buford’s men along the between Reynolds’s veteran troops and
command of the Army of the Potomac, lost his Hill, and Cemetery Ridge) south of Chambersburg Pike and were forced Confederate divisions under Heth and
remaining credibility with Abraham Lincoln. town. Lee had no intention of fighting to deploy. Although Buford’s troopers Major General Dorsey Pender. Reynolds
On June 28, Lincoln replaced him with Major at Gettysburg, but Buford’s stand forced had the edge in firepower with their was shot from his horse as he led his
General George G. Meade. him to engage before he was ready. breech-loading carbines, Heth’s men Iron Brigade into position. Yet despite

The retaking of East Cemetery Hill

On July 2, the “Louisiana Tigers” Brigade overran the
Union position on East Cemetery Hill. Peter F. Rothermel’s
The Repulse of the Louisiana Tigers (1866) shows Union
troops rushing the hill and driving the Tigers off again.

92
 T H E B AT T L E O F G E T T Y S B U R G

his death and savage casualties Union drum Washington, Lee decided on a double
in the Iron Brigade, the Drums were used for communication on envelopment. Longstreet’s First Corps
Union forces pushed the the battlefield. Each regiment had several would attack the Union southern (left)
Southerners back through drummers who would beat out signals to the flank with two divisions and a third
McPherson’s Woods and troops on the commanding officer’s order. from Hill’s corps, while Ewell would try
were poised to hold the ridges to deceive the enemy with a show of
west of town. streets of Gettysburg, the force against Cemetery and Culp’s hills.
victorious Confederates hot Longstreet was slow in sending
Corps against corps on their heels. Safety for the forward his two divisions, commanded
Word now arrived that gray- bluecoats beckoned on the high by generals Lafayette McLaws and John
clad troops were moving down ground of Cemetery Hill, which Bell Hood, both tired from a forced
from the North. These were was occupied by reserves that march the night before. Federal signalers
General Ewell’s Second Corps, Howard had wisely left there. on Little Round Top at the end of the
and they were headed Now those forces would Northern line spotted their initial
precisely for the flank of the serve as protection movements. Longstreet’s infantry lost
Union First Corps. Before they against the expected valuable time as it doubled back to take
could get there, however, the Confederate assault as the an unobserved route. By the time
Union Eleventh Corps, under sun began to sink lower in McLaws and Hood charged forward
Oliver O. Howard, had arrived dusty the sky. But that assault never came. about 4 p.m., General Daniel Sickles’
and thirsty after a rapid march from Lee knew that the rest of the Union Union Third Corps had advanced to the
Emmitsburg and positioned itself to him. He ordered Ewell and General A. army was on its way and that now was Emmitsburg Road Ridge and blocked
support the First Corps’ right. Howard P. Hill, in command of Third Corps, to the time to strike the final blow. He their way. Had Sickles not been there,
deployed his brigades too far forward attack in force. turned to Ewell and ordered him to Lee’s plan to roll up Meade’s left flank
and dangerously stretched an already Four Confederate divisions swept attack the heights “if practicable.” Ewell, might well have worked.
tenuous defensive line. When Ewell’s forward in a semicircle from the west aware of his troops’ exhaustion and
divisions came on the field, General and north, driving in the Eleventh Corps, worried by reports of Federals to his left, Fighting withdrawal
Lee, riding forward from the west, then the First Corps. By late afternoon, did not find an attack practicable. Most Through the rest of the afternoon and
grasped the opportunity presented to both corps were in retreat through the of the defeated Union Eleventh and First into early evening, Longstreet’s troops
Corps escaped to Cemetery Hill where, attacked Sickles’ corps. At the Peach

“I think this the strongest position shaken and hurt, they regrouped.

The second day begins

Orchard, Devil’s Den, and Wheatfield,
Sickles’ men, reinforced by brigades
from the Fifth and Sixth Corps, retreated

by nature upon which to fight a General George G. Meade, commander

of the Army of the Potomac, rode up
and counterattacked until finally forced
to yield their positions. The climax on
before midnight. Conferring with the southern end of the field occurred
battle that I ever saw.” Second Corps commander, Lieutenant
General Winfield S. Hancock, he
at Little Round Top, as Hood’s tired
and thirsty Alabamans and Texans
LIEUTENANT GENERAL WINFIELD S. HANCOCK, UNION ARMY, JULY 1, 1863 inspected the positions, and deemed assaulted—and almost captured—the
them secure. By the early morning of anchor to Meade’s position. Colonel
July 2, three more Union corps had Joshua L. Chamberlain and his 20th
joined their comrades on Cemetery Hill. Maine would become famous for
Frustrated by the hollow victory of their defense of the hill’s southern
the previous day, Lee met his generals slope. Moreover, it is likely that Meade
to consider options. Rejecting a proposal would have sent in the bulk of Sixth
from Lieutenant General James Corps to retake it. Union numbers and
Longstreet to move around the enemy interior lines were starting to
and reposition between them and make a difference.

UNION GENERAL (1815–72)

GEORGE GORDON MEADE

Born in Spain of American parents, Meade was a career
army officer who had worked as an engineer and seen
action against the Seminole Indians and in the War
with Mexico of 1846–48. He served in the Army
of the Potomac from the start of the Civil War.
With the temper and appearance of an
“old googly-eyed snapping turtle,” he
had the character and tactical skill to
beat Lee at Gettysburg, but he
was criticized for failing to follow
up Lee’s retreating army in the
aftermath. Meade stayed in
command of the Army of the
Potomac until the end of
the war, although in the final
campaigns he fought under the
close supervision of Ulysses S.
Grant, the Union general-in-chief.

93
 THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

C O N F E D E R AT E G E N E R A L ( 1 8 2 5 – 7 5 )
0 km 0.5 1 ① Jul 3, 11 a.m.:
GEORGE EDWARD PICKETT 0 miles 0.5 1 LEE Gettysburg Confederate attack
on Culp’s Hill is
② 1 p.m.: Start of intense EWELL driven back
After graduating last in his West Point class, A.P. HILL
Confederate barrage Han
Pickett, a native Virginian, saw service on the ove
r Ro
Culp’s a d
Western frontier and in the War with Mexico. PETTIGREW
R oad Cemetery Hill
As a Confederate, he fought at Gaines’ Mill fi e ld Hill
Fa ir JOHNSON
and commanded a division at Fredericksburg.

Ridge
⑥ 5 p.m.: R un
He led his Virginia troops in the fateful Pickett’s Only half by ③ 1:15 p.m.: Union

gh
the men make forces reply with

inar y
Willou
Charge at Gettysburg on July 3, though he did TRIMBLE
HOWARD
bombardment of
it back to
not originate the plan. Pickett served until Confederate Confederate positions

Sem
the end of the war with limited success. lines Ba
lti

Cemeter y Ridge
SLOCUM mo
What he lacked in tactical knowledge he re
Tu
r

Ro
made up for with a dashing personality that

np
ck
PICKETT HANCOCK

i ke
Creek
made him a favorite with subordinates and
superiors alike. MEADE
BIRNEY
Peach
Orchard
⑤ 4 p.m.: Small group
of men led by General
Robert E. Lee was discouraged condition. He thought he had thinned Lewis A. Armistead
LONGSTREET Wheatfield
by the events of July 2. When Meade’s line by obliging him to briefly penetrates
④ 3 p.m.: Over

ad
Little Union line, but the
cavalry under General Jeb Stuart reinforce his flanks the previous day.

Ro
13,000 men mount Devil’s Round Top breach is soon filled

urg
rejoined the Confederate army that He also believed his men could do charge against the Den

tsb
Union center

mi
evening, Stuart got only the tersest of anything he asked of them and was

Em
SYKES
greetings. He boasted he had brought determined to win the decisive victory
SEDGWICK
100 captured Union wagons. “What that had seemed so close the last two Big
good are they to me now?” Lee replied. days. Longstreet again urged Lee to N
Round
Top
KEY
disengage and go around the Federal Union forces July 3
A fatal mistake flank. Lee refused. Confederate forces July 3
Lee’s decision to attack the Union center Meanwhile, General Meade held a
on the third day of Gettysburg has been council of war around midnight on July
long debated. His judgment may have 2. He listened to his generals’ opinions, barrage of the war. Federal guns The third day at Gettysburg
been impaired—he was tired and and resolved to stay and fight it out. answered, and for two hours the ground The outcome of the battle was decided by Lee’s decision
suffering from diarrhea and a heart Both armies had suffered badly in the shook with the impact of exploding to launch an all-out attack on the Union center in the
previous two days, but the Union army shells. The noise could be heard as far afternoon. The assault on Cemetery Ridge resulted in
Napoleon gun-howitzer still held the high ground. Meade was away as Pittsburgh. Meant to smash unsustainable Confederate casualties.
U.S.-made versions of the French-designed determined to keep it. Union positions on Cemetery Ridge, the
12-pounder (5.5kg) Model 1857 Napoleon gun- At 1 p.m. on July 3, 150 Confederate bulk of the Confederate shells fell on the Federal counter-battery fire fell silent as
howitzer were the war’s most widely used field artillery cannons opened fire from Seminary rearward slope, disrupting only hospitals Union artillerists cooled their overheated
weapon, seeing service with both North and South. Ridge in the greatest Southern artillery and reserve artillery. Then suddenly the guns. Thinking he had suppressed them,
Longstreet’s artillery chief recommended
that the infantry attack should begin,
Bronze smoothbore
4.62in (117mm) in caliber,
following Lee’s plan of battle.
the Napoleon could fire
ball, canister, or shell Pickett’s Charge
ammunition. Longstreet could only nod dourly when
General George Pickett, commanding a
fresh division of Virginians, asked
permission to advance. Two depleted
divisions of A. P. Hill’s corps, under
General Johnston Pettigrew and
General Isaac R. Trimble, also stepped

160,000 The number of

men fielded by
the two armies at Gettysburg, roughly
70,000 Confederate and 90,000 Union
troops. About 51,000 became casualties
—killed, wounded, or captured.

out of the protection of the wood line and

Swab, for began a march of 1 mile (1.6km) to the
Sponge Bucket
cleaning the gun Union center. With bands playing and
between shots
banners snapping in the breeze, the
Rammer, for ramming Southern line moved forward. Union
Mobile weapon charge and ammunition defenders in Winfield S. Hancock’s
The wooden wheels had into the muzzle Second Corps felt a sense of awe at the
iron-banded rims for added
approach of this grand assault.
durability. Overall the gun
was relatively light, needing When their enemies were about a
only six horses to pull it, third of the way across the field, Union
instead of the usual eight. artillery opened up with a vengeance,

94
 T H E B AT T L E O F G E T T Y S B U R G

A F T ER
ripping great holes in the Virginia. Leaving in a
advancing gray ranks. downpour, it wound
The gaps filled, and the its way west across the After Gettysburg, Confederate fortunes
Confederates kept coming. As South Mountain to began an almost uninterrupted decline in
they crossed the Emmitsburg Chambersburg, then all theaters of the war. Only minor
Road, Union infantry joined turned south toward inconclusive actions were fought in the
in with devastating volleys. Hagerstown and the East for the rest of 1863.
Some of the men in blue Shenandoah Valley, from
chanted “Fredericksburg, which it had come. The VICTORIES AND REVERSES
Fredericksburg!” in reference line of ambulances filled On July 4, the day Lee began his retreat from
to the recent Union defeat with wounded stretched Gettysburg, Confederate forces surrendered at
in December the previous back for 17 miles (27km) Vicksburg 96-99 ❯❯. Union prospects in
year. Now it was their turn along the road. the West were matching the success in the East.
to be victorious. Meade’s army had In Tennessee, Union armies launched an
also suffered badly, offensive in late June 1863. The Confederates,
Repelled and defeated and he followed too under General Braxton Bragg, abandoned
Most of Pettigrew’s cautiously, much to the Chattanooga in early September, but fought back
and Trimble’s shredded exasperation of Lincoln, with a victory at Chickamauga 102-103 ❯❯.
commands disintegrated before they Visual record who saw another opportunity to In the aftermath, the Union army was besieged in
reached Cemetery Ridge, but a few Photographers visited the Gettysburg battlefield in the crush Lee north of the Potomac Chattanooga 104-105 ❯❯.
joined the remnants of Pickett’s aftermath of the battle, documenting scenes like this River lost.
division as about 200 Southerners of a dead Confederate sharpshooter. His body has been GRANT PROMOTED
jumped over the stone wall, planted moved and posed among the rocks of Devil’s Den. The human cost On October 17, 1863, in response to the reverses
their flags on the Union position, and Union losses at Gettysburg came to just in Tennessee, Lincoln appointed Grant, hero of
fought hand-to-hand using clubbed friend Hancock had been wounded. The over 23,000 men, the costliest battle the capture of Vicksburg, to overall command
muskets and bayonets. A few of men who followed him were killed, yet for the North. Confederate losses of the Western theater .
Hancock’s regiments were overrun and wounded, or captured. Pickett’s charge were estimated at between 23,000 and
started to turn for the rear, but timely had failed. Through the smoke, 28,000. Such destruction of manpower
reinforcements bolstered the Union survivors trudged back to Seminary meant that Lee could never again take
line and prevented the breakthrough. Ridge. Lee greeted some of them, and the strategic offensive. The loss of Ambulance at Gettysburg
Brigadier General Lewis Armistead, lamented, “All this has been my fault.” experienced officers was especially The Army of the Potomac’s Ambulance Corps was the
one of Pickett’s commanders, fell while In the evening of July 4, the devastating. Lee’s gamble to crush the first medical organization on either side specifically
leading his men with his hat on the tip Army of Northern Virginia began its Army of the Potomac had only established to ensure that wounded men were
of his sword, minutes after his old long retreat back to the safety of weakened the Confederacy. evacuated from the battlefield as soon as possible.

95
 THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

The Vicksburg Campaign

By late 1862, Vicksburg was the last significant Confederate bastion along the entire length of the Memphis, but Grant knew that both
Mississippi River. General Ulysses S. Grant resolved to capture the city, but faced a long initial struggle the Union and Lincoln needed a military
success. It was now or never—so on
to get his army into position to attack. With control of the Mississippi at stake, this was a vital battle. March 31, the long march began.

A
fter consolidating his The port of Vicksburg Preliminary moves
army at Memphis, Steamboats had made Vicksburg a major On the night of April 16, 1863, Porter’s
Tennessee, in the fall trading center. A Confederate stronghold gunboats made their bold dash past
of 1862, Grant decided on a controlling traffic on the Mississippi River, Vicksburg. One transport was sunk and
two-pronged offensive the city was an essential strategic target of the enemy scored 68 hits on the fleet
downriver against the Union campaigns in the Western Theater. overall, but the fast current and the
Confederate Mississippi element of surprise worked to Porter’s
bastion at Vicksburg. roads. Vicksburg itself was favor. A few nights later, Porter got
A swift descent by 40,000 defended by well-placed
men of General William heavy cannon that could To effect his assault on Vicksburg, Grant
Tecumseh Sherman’s wing devastate any Union fleet had 70 miles (113km) of corduroy road
of the army along the floating downstream. Four (made from tree trunks laid across the
Mississippi would be times Grant tried to bypass route) built between his base and the
followed by Grant himself the city to the west by river crossing-point at Hard Times.
taking an overland route. cutting canals and using the
But Confederate cavalry bayous to get his army most of the rest of his fleet past.
raids by Earl Van Dorn and below, but torrential rains Meanwhile, Grant moved his army
Nathan Bedford Forrest so aggravated the already overland to the crossing point of Hard
badly disrupted Grant’s formidable logistical Times, and stood ready to transport his
logistical and supply lines, challenges, and he failed. men across the river.
that the Union commander Grant now resolved to march Theoretically, Pemberton could still
was compelled to call off his advance. bluffs and suffered 1,800 casualties to his army down the western bank of the contest the crossing, so Grant ordered a
The telegram informing Sherman of the Confederates’ 200. Grant would river. David Porter’s fleet would run past diversion. Brigadier General Benjamin
this change never reached him, and so never again attack from the north. He the Vicksburg batteries, rendezvous with Grierson, in command of a Union
the Confederates at Vicksburg, under now considered the problem. the troops downstream, and ferry them
the command of General John C. The terrain north and west of the to the eastern bank just south of the city. Grant’s routes to Vicksburg
Pemberton, mobilized to meet Sherman city presented numerous obstacles to It was a bold plan, and Sherman and The Vicksburg campaign was not straightforward. Grant
head-on. At Chickasaw Bayou on an army on the march. It was swampy, James Birdseye McPherson, Grant’s had to march his men through the swampland west of
December 29, Sherman launched forested, streaked by bayous and chief lieutenants, both balked at it. They the Mississippi River, then drive off Confederate forces
20,000 of his troops against the steep streams, and offered very few usable urged him instead to reconsolidate at east of the city before digging in for a long siege.

B EFOR E ① Mar 31:

M is
s i ss
ip
Memphis
0 km 5 10 N
② Apr 16 & 22: fs
Union troops uf
pi

Bl

start long march Porter twice runs

Riv

0 miles 5 10
aw
Mi

through swamps gunboats and

er

⑨ May 19 & 22:

ll i k

as

During 1862, a series of Union successes on west of Vicksburg n’s transports past the
e

ick

B e nd Unsuccessful and ⑥ May 14: Union forces

guns of Vicksburg
Ch

land in Tennessee and by river flotillas on costly assaults on easily take Jackson.
PORTER Vicksburg by Grant ⑧ May 17: Johnston’s forces withdraw
the Mississippi cleared most of the ⑪ Jun 7: Confederates defeated
Confederate positions along the river. Confederate GRANT and forced to retreat ⑦ May 16: Grant forces
raid on Union to Vicksburg Pemberton to retreat at
supply area SHERMAN
Richmond Champion Hill
Vicksburg Champion Hill
NORTH AND SOUTH McPHERSON
JOHNSTON
The capture of New Orleans ❮❮ 54-55 PEMBERTON S o ut h ern Railroa d
of Mi
Big Black ss issipp
opened the Mississippi to Union warships River Bridge i
coming up from the south. Union river forces LOUISIANA McCLERNAND Jackson
also gained the upper hand in actions on the Warrenton ⑩ May 25:
Raymond
Ohio and attacked south from Missouri on the New
Start of Siege
of Vicksburg
Mississippi itself. After defeating Southern Carthage
vessels near Memphis in June 1862, they ⑫ Jul 4:
reached the Yazoo River above Vicksburg and Vicksburg Morrisville
were joined there by some of Farragut’s surrenders
Mis
s i s s i p p i R i v er
Pearl River

force from New Orleans ❮❮ 56-57

⑤ May 12:
Utica Hard-fought Union
GRANT’S FIRST VICTORIES ③ Apr 30: McPherson
victory at Raymond
In the spring of 1862, General Grant fought the and McClernand’s corps
successful Henry and Donelson campaign in Hard Times Grand Gulf ferried across the river
to Bruinsburg
northern Tennessee ❮❮ 58-59 , then
KEY
narrowly avoided defeat at Shiloh ❮❮ 60-61
MISSISSIPPI Union forces
By fall 1862, further victories had confirmed the Baton ④ May 1: Grant and
Confederate forces
Union hold on Memphis and Corinth. Rouge McPherson outmaneuver the
Port Gibson Confederates at Port Gibson Union victory
Bruinsburg

96
cavalry brigade, was sent south, deep Grant ferried his army to the Mississippi corps beat him to the city. Defeating Steaming past Vicksburg
into Mississippi, to destroy the railroads shore of the river. Sherman’s corps also about 6,000 graycoats entrenched On the night of April 16–17, Admiral Porter led 12
supplying Vicksburg, confuse Pemberton, covered this operation, threatening a outside the city on May 14, the Union Union gunboats and transports south past Vicksburg,
and keep the Confederates off balance. new advance on Chickasaw Bluffs. soldiers went to work burning railroad to carry supplies to the position where Grant planned
The raiders rode southward to the east Grant’s force moved swiftly inland, cut yards, factories, and arsenals. Civilian to cross the river. Only one Union vessel was lost.
of Jackson, eventually swinging west to off from their supply lines, and lived off homes close to the fires also went up in
join up with Union troops at Baton the enemy’s land. He defeated a small flames. Looking on Jackson’s smoking advance force at Champion Hill,
Rouge, Louisiana. The ruse worked. Confederate garrison at Port Gibson on ruins, Union soldiers derisively dubbed between Jackson and Vicksburg. The
Pemberton sent most of his cavalry May 1, then marched northeast toward them “Chimneyville.” This destruction Confederates occupied high ground, but
and an entire division on a wild goose the state capital at Jackson. of the enemy’s infrastructure and civilian McPherson’s corps relentlessly struck
chase after the elusive Grierson, while property set a precedent for future Union their left flank, stunning the defenders.
Confederate confusion operations in the Western Theater. Pemberton’s poor tactical leadership
In a matter of days, Grant’s boldness Undeterred, Johnston urged made matters worse, and by the end of
had shattered Pemberton’s confidence. Pemberton to move quickly to join his the day the Confederates were in full
His titular theater commander, Joseph own remaining 6,000 men. On May 16, retreat. It was a superb tactical
E. Johnston, was also surprised. Both Grant struck hard at Pemberton’s victory for Grant’s army.
had supposed that Johnston would have
several months to assemble an army,
UNION ADMIRAL (1813–91)
which, combined with Pemberton’s
35,000 men, would allow them to DAVID DIXON PORTER
attack on numerically equal terms at a
time and point of their choosing. Grant Born into a distinguished naval family, Porter
had deprived them of that opportunity served in the U.S. Navy from 1829. In the Civil
and was moving to strike them in detail War his first notable tasks were, as Farragut’s
(systematically). Pemberton thought he subordinate, in helping plan and carry out the
was the likely first target, as Grant’s capture of New Orleans and the later Mississippi
easy option would have been to march operations. His achievements in these brought
due north, up the river, with his flank him command of the Mississippi River Squadron
guarded by Porter’s fleet. Instead, Grant in October 1862. In this post he made a major
moved to the east away from Vicksburg. contribution to Grant’s capture of Vicksburg. He
later commanded Union naval forces in the Red
General John C. Pemberton Union victories River expedition of 1864, organizing the retreat
Pemberton was a Northerner but chose to fight for the The War Department in Richmond successfully after the land campaign went awry.
South in 1861—he believed in states’ rights, and his wife finally ordered Johnston to concentrate Finally, in 1865, he led the successful assault on
was from Virginia. His unsuccessful defense of Vicksburg his growing command at Jackson, but Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
was his only significant part in the war. Sherman’s and McPherson’s fast-moving

97
 The Big Black River was the last appalled at the condition of Pemberton’s The result: far worse Union casualties The siege of Vicksburg
natural barrier before the eastern men as they dejectedly filed into their when lodgments initially secured by Union troops man their siege lines around impregnable
approaches to Vicksburg. If Grant’s positions. One eyewitness summed up McClernand’s corps went unexploited. Vicksburg. More than 200 Union guns pounded the city
army could breach this obstacle, their condition as “humanity in the last Morale in Pemberton’s army soared, every day, while Porter’s gunboats kept up a barrage
only the formidable Confederate throes of existence.” but he failed to take the opportunity to from the river, until the inhabitants could take no more.
entrenchments around the city would evacuate the city before the Union
stand between Grant and victory. The start of the siege encirclement was complete. trapped within Vicksburg’s defensive
On May 17, troops of John A. Believing correctly that his enemy Although these failures were works, the constant artillery barrage
McClernand’s corps, eager to prove was demoralized, Grant immediately disheartening, Grant realized that if strained their nerves, and the scarcity
their mettle, attacked a strong ordered an attack in force on May 19. he had not allowed his men to try of food tested their physical stamina.
Confederate position along this last Union soldiers confidently charged a direct assault against Vicksburg, Pemberton’s soldiers went on half
line of defense before the Vicksburg forward but were greeted with walls of they might not have accepted the and then quarter-rations as the balmy
entrenchments. The assault might have musketry fire from the well-protected drudgery of the ensuing siege. He weeks of June progressed. Skinned
failed, but John C. Pemberton left a Rebels. Nonplussed, Grant tried again on and his bluecoats, now reinforced to rats and mulemeat became food.
bridge standing that should have been May 22, preceding the infantry assault 70,000 strong, settled into Civilians abandoned their homes and
burned. The Confederates were routed, with a massive artillery a five-week siege. For sought safety in dugouts excavated
losing another 1,750 men. In the bombardment. their adversaries, from the hillsides.
aftermath of the Battle of Big Black Despite these harsh conditions,
River, the Confederate army Vicksburg’s denizens remained defiant,
could only withdraw to confident that Joseph E. Johnston’s
Vicksburg. Civilians in the relief army would soon lift the siege
Southern stronghold were and attack Grant from the rear. “We
may look at any hour for his approach,”
“Whistling Dick” wrote the editor of the Vicksburg
This 18-pounder (8kg) gun in the Vicksburg defenses newspaper, now printed on the back
gained its nickname from the unusual noise its shells of old wallpaper. “Hold out a few days
made. The barrel could be aimed to fire downward at longer, and our lines will be opened,
targets on the river from its position the enemy driven away, the siege
on the Vicksburg bluffs. raised.” Johnston’s army, hovering to

98
 T H E V I C K S B U R G C A M PA I G N

A F T ER
Union dugouts
The Union forces used siege tactics at Vicksburg,
building trenches and dugouts and tunneling under the The loss of Vicksburg and the simultaneous
Southern lines. Here troops of Logan’s Union division defeat at Gettysburg made the South’s
are seen near the “White House,” northeast of the town. demise almost inevitable, but the rest of
1863 did not see constant Union success.
the east of the city but blocked by seven
Federal divisions under Sherman, had CLEAR PASSAGE
grown to 30,000 men in a matter of Port Hudson, the last Confederate outpost on
weeks, but many were inexperienced the Mississippi, fell on July 9. Unarmed Union
troops or untested conscripts. Worse, ships could now sail from St. Louis to the sea.
their commander was hesitant to attack
the numerically superior Yankees. JOHNSTON SLIPS AWAY
Johnston hoped to lure Union forces into a
The Confederates try to fight back frontal assault against his prepared positions
At the end of June, under immense at Jackson. Instead, Sherman began encircling
pressure from a frantic Jefferson Davis, Johnston’s army. On July 16, Johnston made a
Johnston feebly probed with his five masterly withdrawal and escaped.
divisions against Sherman, but with
no result. A more serious attempt had CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA
been made in early June by General Union forces next went on the offensive in
Richard Taylor, in command of eastern Tennessee. Though they captured
Louisiana’s Confederate forces. Chattanooga, they were defeated at
However, Taylor had even fewer troops Chickamauga in September 1863 and then
than Johnston and was stopped cold at besieged 102-103 ❯❯. They were relieved only
Milliken’s Bend, a fortified Federal
supply depot north of Vicksburg.
Among the defenders at Milliken’s
“ Grant is my man and I am his after Grant was appointed to command.

ENDURING CONFEDERATE SYMPATHIES

Bend were several regiments of freshly
trained black troops, who fought
for the rest of the war.” So humiliating was the capture of Vicksburg that
it was not until the 1930s that its citizens again
desperately against their attackers. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, AFTER THE FALL OF VICKSBURG formally celebrated the 4th of July.
Taylor’s infuriated men shouted, “No
quarter!” as they stormed forward.
They succeeded in capturing several
dozen of their enemy (some of whom
Pemberton’s soldiers grew weaker; by
the end of June, almost half were on
regimental sick lists.
horrible as the idea is …” He knew the
game was up. The letter threatened
mutiny and mass desertion if he failed
29,495 The number of
Confederate
troops who surrendered at Vicksburg.
were later sold into slavery), before Consulting with his generals, the to see General Grant to discuss terms. The two sides each lost about 10,000
being driven off. Confederate commander confirmed On July 3, the same day that killed and wounded in the campaign.
his suspicions that a breakout Pickett’s Charge was repulsed at
Tightening the noose attack would certainly fail. He was Gettysburg, John C. Pemberton, the
Within Vicksburg, as the realization determined to hold out, however, Pennsylvania-born Southern general,
set in that Johnston and Taylor were despite the long odds, confident met with Ulysses S. Grant, the former starving soldiers and civilians alike. One
not coming to their relief, the city’s that some event outside his Illinois leather tanner, and agreed to woman, watching the victorious Union
defenders lost the high morale they entrenchments would either draw surrender his army. Grant wanted troops, observed these “stalwart,
had in May, along with their physical Grant away or force him to lift the to make the terms “unconditional well-fed men” and contrasted them
strength. Grant wired Washington: siege. On June 28, Pemberton received surrender” as before, but soon realized with the city’s emaciated former
“The fall of Vicksburg and the capture a letter signed by a group of enlisted that 30,000 Rebel prisoners headed defenders, who had been “blindly
of most of the garrison can only be a men declaring that, “If you can’t feed north would swamp Union logistical dashed” against them.
question of time.” Every day us, you had better surrender us, capacity in the area. He therefore
paroled every one of Pemberton’s men, Confederate loss, Union gain
fully expecting to fight some of them In Richmond, Jefferson Davis blamed
again. Indeed, well over half of the loss on Pemberton, and to a slightly
Vicksburg’s captured defenders broke lesser extent, Johnston. In Washington,
their parole. In fact, some were in a grateful Abraham Lincoln waxed,
action again with the Confederate “The Father of Waters [the Mississippi]
army later in 1863. again goes unvexed to the sea.”
The fall of Vicksburg split the
Federal jubilation Confederacy irrevocably into two
On July 4, 1863, Union troops marched and ensured that cattle, metals, and
into the city. One soldier wrote, “This grains from the Trans-Mississippi
was the most glorious Fourth I ever region would rarely again find their
spent.” Despite the feelings of pride in way to the Rebel states east of the
their hearts, Grant’s victors displayed river. Grant captured precious heavy
compassion and restraint to their cannon that the Confederacy could no
erstwhile foes, sharing provisions with longer replace, and the surrender of
almost 30,000 men was a heavy blow
Refuge from the siege to a South running out of manpower.
Many of the civilian population of Vicksburg abandoned Most significantly, the Union forces
their homes because of the incessant bombardments could now concentrate their efforts,
from Union river gunboats, and took refuge in caves dug and their growing numerical strength,
into the hillsides. Only a handful of Vicksburg civilians against the remaining Confederate
died from enemy action. strongholds farther east.

99
 B E FOR E

Prewar partisanship carried over into the

war years, especially in the North.
The Home Front
Republicans were much more likely to The Civil War was fought on two fronts: the battlefield and the home front. Although civilians far away
support the Lincoln administration’s war from the fighting were not directly in harm’s way, they were profoundly affected by the war, and in turn
measures than Democrats.
influenced the course of campaigns by giving or withholding their political, social, or economic support.
PARTY LINES

I
Both parties were in turn divided into factions n the South, the demands of war middle classes the worst, leading to scooped up by investors. This was
that waxed and waned as wartime events exacerbated prewar class differences. cries among yeoman and hardscrabble followed by the introduction of
inspired or deflated political aspirations. The It was in areas of the Confederacy farmers that this was a “rich man’s war “greenbacks” (Federally issued paper
Northern Democrats were divided between where stratification among whites was and a poor man’s fight.” money backed by gold), so pressure on
War Democrats, who generally supported the most evident, such as in upcountry the Northern economy lessened. Import
war against the Confederacy, and the Peace Alabama and western Virginia, that Northern growth duties, the traditional source of Federal
Democrats, also known as Copperheads, support for the war effort was most Because of sound financial policies income, continued to bring in revenue,
who steadfastly resisted Republican war divided. Initially, nearly all classes were shepherded by Secretary of the Treasury but so did a graduated national income
measures to the point of being declared enthusiastic about fighting for Salmon P. Chase and his Wall Street tax, the first in American history.
traitorous. The Republicans had “radicals” independence, but as the Union army mogul Jay Cooke, the Union’s economic These financial measures, overseen
and “moderates,” who frequently disagreed advanced deeper into the South and health began in critical condition and by men who understood money,
about how best to reconstruct occupied areas of Confederate war measures became more ended in robust prosperity. In 1862, the ensured that the capital existed not
the South, deal with the freedmen, and treat demanding, prewar class distinctions treasury was empty, and a solution had only to fund the war effort, but also to
captured enemies. Prewar political affiliations became harmful to Southern national to be found—fast. fuel a boom that
thus dictated home-front support of the war, unity. The draft and tax-in-kind—tax Chase hired Cooke WAR BONDS Government-issued bonds assured American
especially at the local level. paid in the form of goods, crops, or even to market Federal (securities) used to finance a war. prosperity for the
impressed slaves taken into Confederate war bonds, which Members of the public are encouraged rest of the 19th
service—both struck the lower and were eagerly to buy them as a gesture of support. century. Overall,

100
 THE HOME FRONT

A F T ER

The Civil War was one of the most

significant events in the movement toward
female equality in the United States. As
men marched off to war, women took their
places in factories, fields, and stores.

WOMEN’S ROLES EXPAND

In North and South alike, women’s activities in
ladies’ aid societies, and as nurses in national
organizations, gained them recognition as
integral contributors to the war effort. In so
doing, they expanded what was regarded
as “respectable” women’s work.
the Northern economy grew in all areas Five dollars’ worth Spared invasion and occupation, Northern
as a result of the war—agriculture, Confederate banknotes were often beautifully designed, women benefited the most from the war and
mining, transportation networks, the but inflation ate away constantly at their monetary value. reignited the women’s rights movement in the
service sector, and manufacturing. This one shows Secretary of the Treasury, German-born postwar decades. Southern women, often
Christopher Memminger, in the bottom right corner. devastated by the loss of property and deaths of
Southern inflation family members, were less likely to profit socially but
The situation in the Confederacy was sank into a barter system reminiscent of became hardened to privations. One woman in
starkly different. Because the nation the European Middle Ages as officials Warrenton, Virginia, wrote: “We keep true to the
was starting from scratch, there was no and private citizens haggled over what South amid all our sore trials—and at times are to be
initial balance of credit and few gold constituted payment of taxes. pitied.” Despite this, their experiences operating
reserves with which to fund the war farms and plantations in their husbands’ absence
effort. Hence, in March 1861, Secretary Volunteer aid societies and witnessing war firsthand helped to crack
of the Treasury Christopher Memminger Within months of the firing on Fort the gender barriers of the old South.
asked the Confederate Congress to Sumter, almost 20,000 local aid societies
authorize the printing of a million organized in both the Union and the
dollars in paper notes. These bills were Confederacy. Many, especially in the
backed by nothing more than the South, withered and died as wartime
population’s faith in the government hardships disrupted their activities, but
and almost immediately began to thousands persisted. The societies and
Farewell to home and family devalue. In late 1861, a Confederate their national counterparts supplied
William D. T. Travis, staff artist with the Union Army of dollar was worth 80 cents in gold; by soldiers in the field with homeknit
the Potomac, painted this glamorized depiction of an 1865 it was worth 1.5 cents. Inflation clothing, jams and preserves, writing
officer outside his mansion bidding farewell to his plagued rebel currency all through the supplies, newspapers, Bibles, and books.
family as he leaves to fight for the North. war, simultaneously strangling private Most of these organizations were
and public trade, the collection of taxes, run locally by wives and daughters of
and the payment of debts. soldiers, and aimed at the physical and

“I sell my eggs and butter from home for $200

a month. Does it not sound well … But in what?
In Confederate money. Hélas!”
MARY CHESNUT, A DIARY FROM DIXIE, SEPTEMBER 19, 1864

To help offset inflation, Memminger emotional comfort of their menfolk.

resorted to selling bonds as Chase did, Often they raised money through fairs
but he had no financier to assist him and bazaars to purchase items to be
and fewer investors willing to wager sent to the soldiers. These philanthropic
their funds. More paper money was events were highlights on the social
printed, and direct taxation forced on calendars of Northern and Southern
an unwilling populace. But only seven communities, and in the larger
percent of the Confederacy’s income cities thousands turned out to buy
was generated in this way. Instead, the homemade goods produced by the
hated tax-in-kind, or “impressment,” societies’ members. Raffles, benefit balls,
initiated in March 1863, provided the and musical entertainment also were
bulk of the government’s revenue. In popular fundraising methods. Infused
many parts of the South, the economy with patriotism, good will, and religious
fervor, these activities kept the war at the
Ammunition workers forefront of peoples’ minds, especially Patched up
Engravings from Harper’s Weekly show workers, in the North, where the physical effects With the Union blockade biting ever deeper, the South,
including many women, filling cartridges at Watertown of the conflict were minimal and only which produced most of the world’s raw cotton, found
Arsenal, Massachusetts. The artist was the young the absence of military-age males itself starved of the finished fabric. Clothes, like this
Winslow Homer, later known for his landscape paintings. showed that life had changed. dress, had to be endlessly patched and repatched.

101
 Crossing the Tennessee
Rosecrans’s troops cross the Tennessee River west of
Chattanooga, in early September 1863, as depicted
in William Travis’s epic panorama on the exploits of
the Army of the Cumberland.

The Chickamauga Campaign

Spurred by Washington to duplicate the successes of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Major
General William S. Rosecrans and the Army of the Cumberland moved to drive the Rebels Lee protested, claiming that he needed
Longstreet and his divisions for a new
out of Tennessee and further divide the Confederacy. offensive against General Meade, but
Davis rightly understood that the

R
eactivated to command the Army unopposed the last few miles to determined to turn this one around. decisive theater of war was, for now,
of the Ohio, General Ambrose Chattanooga, thanks to various feints Bragg withdrew to northern Georgia, in the West.
Burnside marched on Knoxville, and deceptions that fooled General where he received two divisions from
the “capital” of East Tennessee. On Braxton Bragg about his final objective. Joseph E. Johnston’s inactive army, Tension mounts
September 3, 1863, he was greeted On September 8, the Confederates bringing the strength of the Army of On September 9, the
with joy by most of its citizens, who evacuated Chattanooga, to the great Tennessee almost on par with first of Longstreet’s
were Union sympathizers. Meanwhile, dismay of Jefferson Davis, who wrote, Rosecrans’s force. To provide Bragg seasoned troops
Rosecrans had been on the move since “We are now in the darkest hour of with the numerical superiority that boarded trains for a
mid-August, advancing virtually our political existence.” But Davis might bring victory, Davis also sent 550-mile (885-km)
had weathered similar military him the bulk of Longstreet’s corps journey through
disappointments before and was from the Army of Northern Virginia. Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia.
B EFOR E The direct route from Virginia to
Tennessee no longer existed because
of the fall of Chattanooga to the Union.
After the near defeat at Stones River It would take nine days for these
Rosecrans spent the spring and reinforcements—12,000 strong—to
early summer of 1863 rebuilding his reach Bragg from the East, but they
strength, much to Lincoln’s exasperation. would arrive just in time.
In early September, Bragg made a
THE TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN series of attempts to bait Rosecrans
When Rosecrans finally moved in late June and into advancing his army corps. On
early July, he succeeded in driving Bragg out three occasions the Union commander
of south-central Tennessee, leaving the took the bait, and could have been
major railroad junction of Chattanooga badly mauled. But in each instance
vulnerable to capture. one or other of Bragg’s subordinates
In one week, Union troops pushed their failed to follow his orders sufficiently.
foes back almost 80 miles (129km) at the cost
of only 570 casualties—an advance known as the The Confederate advance
Tullahoma Campaign. But then Rosecrans In Alfred Waud’s drawing, the Confederate line is
stalled, waiting for repairs to railroads and more shown advancing uphill through forest toward the Union
supplies, before he moved forward again. line on the second day of the Battle of Chickamauga.
British-born Waud worked as an artist-correspondent
for Harper’s Weekly magazine.

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 T H E C H I C K A M A U G A C A M PA I G N

A F T ER
34,000 The estimated total
number of casualties
resulting from the Battle of Chickamauga.
C O N F E D E R AT E G E N E R A L ( 1 8 0 6 – 6 4 )

LEONIDAS POLK The Battle of Chickamauga proved to be

Bragg lost around 18,000 men to a bloody Confederate tactical victory that
Rosecrans’s 16,000—more than one- Born in North Carolina in 1806, Polk temporarily shifted the course of the Civil
quarter of their combined forces. attended West Point but also took holy War in the Western Theater.
orders, and rose to the post of Bishop for
Rosecrans grew cautious, consolidating Louisiana in the Episcopal Church. During BRAGG AND ROSECRANS STUNNED
his army along the West Chickamauga the war “the fighting bishop” was a Rosecrans had escaped destruction and now
Creek. Bragg was determined to flank mediocre but high-ranking leader in the lay behind Chattanooga’s fortifications. Both
him and to get between him and his Western Theater, serving unspectacularly Longstreet and Nathan Bedford Forrest urged
base at Chattanooga. On September under Bragg in most of his campaigns. Bragg to move at once against the Union forces
18, the first of Longstreet’s troops Beloved by his soldiers if not by his before they could recover, but the Confederate
arrived, and after a day of desultory colleagues, he was killed by Union commander was as stunned in victory as
skirmishing, Bragg decided to wait artillery while conferring with Rosecrans was in defeat. Incredulous about
to the morrow to hit the Union fellow officers at Pine Mountain. his superior’s inertia, Forrest asked, “What does
army in full force. he fight battles for?” In the weeks to come the
strategic fruits of Chickamauga slipped away
The Battle of Chickamauga
As the sun rose on September 19, the
pickets of each side, after lying close
“ There is not a man in the into an exhausting siege of Chattanooga
104-105 ❯❯, which the Confederates were
ill-equipped to undertake. As for Rosecrans,
to each other the night before, opened
fire with a sharp exchange. The fire right wing who has any Lincoln wrote that he behaved “confused
and stunned like a duck hit on the head.”
grew in intensity, especially on the
Union left, where, despite the thick
woods, Bragg attempted to outflank
fight in him.” CHATTANOOGA UNDER SIEGE
Rosecrans found himself and his army in an unusual
General George Thomas’s corps. BRAGG’S COMMENT TO LONGSTREET ON THE ECHELON ATTACK, SEPTEMBER 20, 1863 situation after Chickamauga: a Union army occupying
Brigade after brigade was sent in by a Southern city besieged by a Confederate army.
both sides in an attempt to win the failed to pierce the enemy line, he had Thomas held firm, his valor and By October, food was running out for the Union
field, but by the end of the day neither arranged his brigades in columns. steadfast conduct later earning him the troops, and Bragg had cut off all but one fragile
side had gained the advantage. When Longstreet ordered the nickname “The Rock of Chickamauga.” supply line across the Cumberland Mountains.
That night Thomas ordered his attack at about 11:30 a.m., it hit the As the sun set on the bloodsoaked If Rosecrans were to surrender, Union momentum
men to dig entrenchments, while enemy with tremendous power and, field, Thomas finally withdrew his weary would have stalled considerably.
Rosecrans reinforced him. Meanwhile, unfortunately for Rosecrans, precisely command and joined the rest of the
the majority of Longstreet’s two in a location that one of his divisions Union army at Chattanooga.

Revolving cylinder

had just mistakenly vacated. Poor staff KEY GRANGER 0 km 0.5 1

work was responsible for an error that Union positions Sep 20, 11 a.m. 0 miles 0.5 1
now left a quarter-mile (402-m) gap in Confederate positions Sep 20, 11 a.m.
the Union lines, and as Longstreet’s Confederate front line Sep 20, 3 p.m. ⑤ 3 p.m.: Granger’s
reserve arrives to
Colt 1853 revolving rifle veterans poured through, they reinforce Thomas, who
L a Fa y e tte R oa d

Developed by Samuel Colt, this rifle had a revolving demolished the Federal right and sent defends Horseshoe Ridge
Chattanooga throughout the afternoon
cylinder that increased its rate of fire. It was used one-third of Rosecrans’s army running ① Sep 20, 9 a.m.:
Polk’s divisions make
by the 21st Ohio Volunteers at Chickamauga. for their lives to Chattanooga. The no progress against
Union commander joined the flight, ⑥ Dusk: Thomas Union left
③ 12:30 p.m.: receives order
divisions joined Bragg’s army. Bragg abandoning his army to its fate. Rosecrans joins from Rosecrans
decided to renew the fight the next Longstreet now smelled a victory of his troops to withdraw
retreating toward
day with an army-wide attack en strategic proportions and ordered in his Chattanooga
POLK
Snodgrass
echelon, in a slightly staggered right-to- last reserves, at the same time begging THOMAS House Kelly ④ 1 p.m.: Longstreet’s
ROSECRANS Horseshoe Field
left sequence. Leonidas Polk’s wing was Bragg to send him reinforcements. Ridge
forces wheel to the
right and join assault on
to start the action on the right, which When none materialized, a nonplussed Horseshoe Ridge
would progress to Longstreet, who Longstreet pressed forward nonetheless,
controlled the left. only to come up against Thomas’s BRAGG
On the morning of September 20, corps. The Union general had ordered
Polk’s divisions—which had started them to make a rearguard stand on
late—battered against Thomas’s Horseshoe Ridge, in a bid to protect HOOD
entrenched defenders to no avail. the retreat of the rest of the army.
② 11:30 a.m.:
Bragg became frustrated with Polk Longstreet responded by throwing CRITTENDEN
La Faye tte Roa d

Longstreet attacks
and canceled the echelon attack, and assault after assault, but each time Union right, breaking
through gap in the line
ordered Longstreet to assault with McCOOK
everything he had. Unbeknownst to The second day at Chickamauga
N LONGSTREET
either Bragg or Rosecrans, Longstreet The course of the battle changed on September 20,
st Chickam
had prepared his troops for such an when Longstreet’s men broke through and routed the We aug a C
re e k
event. Perhaps remembering Pickett’s Union right. But George Thomas’s men on Horseshoe
Charge, where linear formations had Ridge held out bravely until dusk, when the battle ended.

103
 The summit of Lookout Mountain
Capturing Lookout Mountain from the Confederates
was no mean feat for General Hooker’s troops. Much
of the ground that they covered was rough, steep,
and rocky, while some areas were deeply wooded.

104
 T H E C H AT TA N O O G A C A M PA I G N

A F T ER

The Chattanooga Campaign The Union victory at Chattanooga

reinforced Northern resolve after the
defeat at Chickamauga had tarnished the
Union general William Rosecrans’s army, besieged in the Southern town of Chattanooga, had to be jubilation of Gettysburg and Vicksburg.
relieved or the momentum gained earlier in the summer of 1863 was in danger of being lost. Ulysses
REACTIONS NORTH AND SOUTH
S. Grant—in command of the new Division of the Mississippi—was sent to take care of the situation. Copperhead politicians who appeared poised
to win control of key districts in the lower

I
n mid-October, Lincoln seen waving from the summit, North now doubted their chances. In the South
reorganized the Union’s inspiring Federal troops in the the optimism of September was destroyed.
Western geographic command valley below. Sherman’s men
structure. The new Division of initially made good progress CONFEDERATE MORALE EBBS
the Mississippi, which included toward their objective, but poor The Confederates now faced the possibility of an
all of the territory between the reconnaissance led them to the invasion into northern Georgia, while Joseph
Appalachians and the river, fell wrong position. Undeterred, on E. Johnston replaced Bragg in command.
under the command of Ulysses November 25 they fiercely
S. Grant. With his new attacked General Patrick C.
authority, Grant headed for Cleburne’s Confederate
Chattanooga, where he relieved division, but were repeatedly summit. They captured much of Bragg’s
Rosecrans and installed George repulsed. Cleburne commanded artillery and sent his defenders fleeing to
Thomas as commander of the the best division in Bragg’s northern Georgia. Watching the assault
Army of the Cumberland. army, and his men had not been go forward from their command post,
One Federal officer wrote infected with low morale. They Grant and Thomas were astonished. An
about Grant’s arrival, “We resolutely held their ground, angry Grant asked who had ordered the
began to see things move. We inflicting heavy casualties on
felt that everything came from Sherman’s troops. Meanwhile,
a plan.” By the end of October Grant became increasingly
the crisis in the city had ended. Union camp in Chattanooga frustrated. After storming
New supply lines were in place, and Once inside the city, soldiers hastily knocked down Lookout Mountain, Hooker had been
17,000 fresh troops had arrived under many houses for firewood and shelters while making held up by poor roads and a destroyed
Sherman. Union morale was restored. their camp. In the foreground, planks still covered in bridge, and now Sherman was stalled.
Conversely, their Confederate foes, wallpaper form part of the fencing.
though still occupying the high ground Missionary Ridge
that dominated the Federal positions, Hooker, now reinstated to command At 2 p.m., Grant ordered Thomas to
were again outnumbered and racked the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps, would probe the Confederate center at
with command and morale problems. attack Bragg’s southern flank, anchored Missionary Ridge, to relieve some of the
on Lookout Mountain; Thomas and his pressure on Sherman. Though Grant had
The Battle of Lookout Mountain Army of the Cumberland would keep intended a limited assault, Thomas sent
Grant’s plan to push the Rebels off their Bragg’s attention in front of Missionary four divisions—23,000 men—headlong Establishing the “Cracker Line”
positions overlooking the town and Ridge; and Sherman would attack the against the heavily defended ridge. It Union troops floated downstream from Chattanooga in
return to a war of maneuver was simple: northern flank at could have been a flatboats under cover of darkness to drive off Confederates
attack both flanks and fix the enemy in Tunnel Hill. CRACKER LINE The new supply line to repeat of Pickett’s guarding Brown’s Ferry. They then built a pontoon
the center. Major General Joseph On November Chattanooga established at the end of Charge, the ill-fated bridge that became a crucial link in the new supply line.
24 Hooker and October, so called for the hardtack Confederate attack
Sherman moved that was the staple of army rations. at Gettysburg, but men up the ridge, and Thomas denied
B E F OR E out. Hooker sent instead, eager to that he had done so. Had the men failed,
three divisions against Lookout redeem themselves from the stain of Thomas’s career would have ended
Mountain, and with the help of some Chickamauga, the soldiers of the Army right there. His troops had prevailed,
Despite their victory, the Confederates were fog, drove off its Southern defenders at of the Cumberland surged over three however, partly because of confusion
in disarray after Chickamauga ❮❮102-103 . the cost of only 500 casualties. Next Confederate trench lines, up the rugged among Southern soldiers in trenches at
Meanwhile, the Union leadership rallied to morning a huge Union flag could be slope of the imposing ridge, and over its the base of the ridge about how many
redeem what it could from defeat. volleys to fire before retreating, and
partly because of the poor placement
SITUATION AT CHATTANOOGA of the Rebel artillery.
Bragg’s lethargy after Chickamauga caused his Low morale in Bragg’s army also had
principal generals to turn against him, claiming much to do with their defeat. Bragg
he was unfit for command. But Longstreet did wrote to Davis after the battle, “The
not wish to take command of the army himself, disaster admits of no palliation. I fear we
so Bragg was retained, leaving morale low. both erred in the conclusion for me to
Bragg’s forces controlled the high ground retain command here.” Casualties were
to the east of Chattanooga and prevented relatively light for both armies at this
supplies from reaching the town except by one point, but the results were clear: Grant
circuitous route. This did not allow enough food had won the battle and opened a path
to reach the besieged Union army. Lincoln knew to Atlanta and the Southern heartland.
something must be done. The man he chose to
resolve the crisis was Ulysses S. Grant, fresh Watching the action
from his triumph at Vicksburg ❮❮ 98-99 . Grant, Thomas, and their staffs watch the fighting on
Missionary Ridge, as depicted in this lithograph from
a painting by Swedish-born Thure de Thulstrup.

105
 THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

B E FOR E

In previous wars, commanders had relied

on messages being hand-delivered. By the
outbreak of the Civil War, civilian telegraph
Communications
services could send messages by wire.
The telegraph system revolutionized command and control procedures during the Civil War. Both the
Union and the Confederacy made increasing use of this new technology, but the North was able to
harness it most effectively. A signaling system using flags and lamps was also used on the battlefield.

F
ollowing in the wake of the Union and Jefferson Davis both used the In October 1861, the Lincoln
and Confederate armies were the telegraph extensively to keep in close administration established the U.S.
telegraph services, putting up the communication with the commanders Military Telegraph Service (U.S.M.T.S).
poles and wires needed for sending of their principal field armies, and their
messages to and from the front. The commanders, in turn, developed ciphers The federal telegraph service
telegraph system allowed commanders- and codes to transmit and receive The U.S.M.T.S. was initially reliant on
in-chief based far from the battlefield to messages in secret. Both sides developed civilian companies, with the government
THE PONY EXPRESS exercise direct control over operational wiretapping and code-cracking placing it under the control of the
and even tactical events, and to keep capabilities during the war, but the Quartermaster Corps. The service was
PREWAR TELEGRAPHY abreast of important developments as information gleaned from these methods operated by civilian personnel, most of
Using special codes to send messages over they arose. Presidents Abraham Lincoln rarely created decisive military results. whom were employees of the major
long distances, the telegraph was not a new
technology in 1861, having existed since the
1840s. More than 50,000 miles (80,467km) of
wire were already in place when war broke out, Telegraph operator
with 1,400 stations employing 10,000 people. Both sides in the war used telegraphy to send
The famous Pony Express, which was set up or “wire” messages over long distances. Most
in April 1860 to provide a fast mail service operators were civilians, and the messages relayed
between the East and West coasts, was put everything from train dispatches to battle plans.
out of business by a transcontinental
telegraph line that was completed in fall 1861.
Like the railroad, nearly all telegraph
infrastructure and investment was located
in the Northern states, with only about 10
percent delegated to the South. However, what
did exist there was immediately put to use.

Repairs to the line

A telegraph company employee carries out the vital task
of repairing the lines. This was dangerous work, often
performed under fire from the enemy or in areas where
enemy guerrilla fighters operated.

106
 C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

A F T ER

Future conflicts came to rely on the

instantaneous communications provided
by the telegraph.

POPULARITY OF THE TELEGRAPH

The telegraph continued to be the preferred
method of fast communication over long
distances in the postwar United States. Its
successful use by both sides during the war also
impressed European military observers, who
believed it would become indispensable.
Helmut von Moltke, future Chief of the Prussian
General Staff, viewed the telegraph and railroad as
linchpins for success in modern war, and used
both to strategic effect in the Austro-Prussian
Night lantern watchful eye of Morris and Reagan. (1866) and Franco-Prussian (1870–71) wars.
General P. G. T. Beauregard, for example,
A member of the Signal Corps uses a kerosene lantern
created his own telegraph system
on a long handle for wigwag signaling at night, moving
around the Charleston defenses. Rebel
the lantern back and forth to send messages. Beside
him a man watches for the replies. snags with the telegraph were primarily the battlefield and on the march, where
caused by supply shortages and raiders. the telegraph was less useful. In the
telegraph companies before the war, As Confederate fortunes waned, Confederacy, signal corpsmen also
and included a significant percentage Southern telegraph operators rose to the served as guides for blockade runners
of women. Military supervision of an challenge and kept the lines humming. at night, lighting lanterns along
essentially civilian organization caused During General Sherman’s March to the entrances to the major ports, and
friction. Major General George Meade Sea, Georgia’s agent advised: “Keep as military intelligence gatherers,
frequently complained about the your offices open night and day. If you especially in Virginia.
cavalier attitude of have to fall back,
Changing the course of battle
telegraphers in the
U.S.M.T.S., who
occasionally left
15,000 The number of miles
(24,140km) of new
telegraph lines that were constructed
take it coolly and
gather up the
operators,
Signal corpsmen proved decisive
in the outcome of some key battles.
for home during in the North during the Civil War, in instruments, At the First Battle of Bull Run, a
critical moments addition to existing commercial systems. and material Confederate wigwag team warned
of campaigns. By as you retire.” Colonel Nathan Evans that his
1864, however, enough trained command had been turned by
personnel were employed to maintain Signaling on the battlefield the Union army, allowing the
a continuous service. During the siege In 1856, Lieutenant Albert J. Myer Confederates to delay the Union
of Petersburg, General Ulysses S. Grant had created a system of “wigwag” advance until reinforcements
enjoyed almost uninterrupted telegraph signaling, which was used before arrived. At Gettysburg, Union
communication with both Washington, the introduction of the telegraph. signalers on Little Round Top
D.C., and his subcommanders operating Standing on a platform, the signaler observed General Longstreet’s
throughout the South. waved a single flag (or a lantern at initial movements toward the
night) back and forth to represent Union left on July 2, whereupon
Confederate telegraph services different letters of the alphabet. the Confederate general
Two civilian companies operated in the By 1861, the system had been redirected his troops—using
South prior to the war, one of which accepted by the U.S. Army and up most of the day and
was the American Telegraph Company. Myers had been made founding losing the element of
The director of its southern branch officer of the U.S. Signal Corps. surprise, which allowed
was Dr. William S. Morris. In 1862, On both sides, officers were General George Meade to
Postmaster General John H. Reagan assigned at various levels of deploy enough soldiers to
made Morris “agent of the Confederate army command to facilitate meet the Southern attack.
States,” responsible for managing all communication primarily on Often targeted by enemy
military telegraph lines in the South. snipers, signal corpsmen
Morris and Reagan shared the duties. Telegraph tower on both sides suffered
For the first three years of the war, Signalers man a tall telegraph tower at disproportionately high
the telegraph allowed Jefferson Davis the Bermuda Hundred, on the left of the losses but provided
to keep in close touch with his primary Union line near the Appomattox River, invaluable services
generals, although some of them Virginia. These tall towers were used to throughout the
disliked communicating under the send telegraphs over short distances. Civil War.

107
108
5
GRANT,
SHERMAN, AND
TOTAL WAR
1864
A cohesive strategy in place at last, the Union
pressed the Confederacy so hard that by year’s
end great stretches of Virginia and Georgia
lay in ruins, one major Confederate army was
destroyed at Nashville, and the other caught
in a death grip in the Petersburg trenches.

❮❮ A decisive battle
At the end of 1864, George H. Thomas’s Union forces
held Nashville while John Bell Hood’s Army of
Tennessee dug in on the heights to the south. Waiting
for the right moment to attack, Thomas burst from
the city’s fortifications and in two days of battle—
December 15–16—routed the Confederates,
effectively ending the war in the Western Theater.

109
 GRANT, SHERMAN, AND TOTAL WAR

y 1864, the war had become a grinding, exhausting struggle, with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. For six weeks a series
B but once Ulysses S. Grant was elevated to overall command of terrible but inconclusive battles—the Wilderness, Spotsylvania,
of the Union’s field armies in March, a coordinated strategy to Cold Harbor—raged across the woods and fields north of Richmond.
defeat the Confederacy was finally at hand. In early May, over a At the same time, General William T. Sherman grappled with the
front extending from Virginia to Georgia, Union armies marched off Confederacy’s other great army, General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army
nearly in unison to begin the spring campaign. The major effort was of Tennessee. After three months of battle and maneuver, Sherman
in Virginia, where Grant made his headquarters and came to grips had the Rebels backed up against the gates of Atlanta. Though

110
 1864

Johnston was soon replaced by the aggressive General John Bell place. Admiral David Farragut had won the contest for Mobile
Hood, Confederate attacks around the city’s perimeter were repulsed, Bay. General Philip Sheridan had cleared Rebel forces from the
and Atlanta fell to Sherman on September 1. Before the year ended, Shenandoah Valley, torching the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy”
Hood would bleed the remnants of the Army of Tennessee dry on along the way. Sherman would soon undertake a scorched earth
the battlefields of Franklin and Nashville. As summer turned to fall, campaign across Georgia, intended to break the Southern will. When
while Grant slowly crushed Lee’s army in the trenches at Petersburg, Lincoln won re-election in November it was due in no small part to
the other components of his grand strategy were also falling into these victories on the battlefield. The end of the war was in sight.

111
 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

Lincoln Prevails
Since 1864 was an election year, President Abraham Lincoln needed to swing the balance of the war
permanently in the Union’s favor or face defeat at the polls. With the political parties splintering
over the war, Lincoln sought salvation in a new general, Ulysses S. Grant.

O
n the evening of March 8, 1864, Republicans, convinced Lincoln had was dropped from the ticket. He was
at a glittering White House mismanaged the war and could not be replaced by Andrew Johnson, military
reception, Abraham Lincoln had re-elected, were decamping to the governor of Tennessee and a leading
his first good look at its guest of honor, Radical Democracy Party or War Democrat. The National Unionists
General Ulysses S. Grant. The short, “Copperheads.” This new party hoped the new ticket would underscore
slightly stooping figure was disappointing convened in late May in Cleveland, the national character of the war.
in appearance, except for his blue eyes, Ohio, and nominated the ever-popular
which to one army officer always soldier politician, John C. Frémont, for Esteem for McClellan
suggested a man determined to drive president. Republicans still loyal to Meanwhile, Lincoln sensed that defeat
his head through Lincoln felt they was imminent. Grant’s strategy was
a brick wall. It was COPPERHEADS Those Northerners could not win failing. The death toll at the Wilderness,
an expression that opposed to war with the Confederacy, unless they joined Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor had
Lincoln welcomed. named for a poisonous snake. They were with “War staggered the nation—and still Lee held
Grant won most numerous in the Ohio River states, Democrats,” who Grant at bay at Petersburg. General
battles. That was with traditional ties to the South. were crossing the Jubal Early, with but 10,000 Rebels,
why Lincoln had party line to had threatened to walk into the White
now appointed him general-in-chief disassociate themselves from the House. Widespread discouragement
of all Union armies. Together they Copperheads. The result was called the was starting to swell the ranks of Lincoln campaign button
planned how to win the war that year. National Union Party, and it convened the Copperheads. General George B. Due to the constraints of war, the 1864 electoral
Grant advocated coordinated advances: in Baltimore during early June. Lincoln McClellan, fired by Lincoln in 1862, campaign produced fewer embossed copper tokens,
south to Mobile; southeast to Atlanta, was renominated, but Vice President was riding high in public estimation; as framed cartes de visite (card portraits), and brass
to cut off General Robert E. Lee’s Hannibal Hamlin, a Radical Republican, the fatalities mounted he looked ever pins than did the 1860 race.
supplies; and a three-pronged advance
on Lee himself—in his front, up through
the Shenandoah Valley, and to his rear
via a landing south of Richmond.

Lincoln’s future in the balance

Much depended on the success of
Grant’s plans. Lincoln was facing a
re-election battle, and his party had
split over his policies. Hard-line Radical

B EFOR E

Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th U.S.

President in November 1860. He won his
votes entirely in the North, not being on
the ballot in ten Southern states.

FINDING A GENERAL
On November 5, 1862, Lincoln dismissed
General George McClellan ❮❮ 38-39 as
commander of the Army of the Potomac.
Dissatisfied with many of his replacements,
Lincoln’s eye had finally fallen on Ulysses S.
Grant of Vicksburg fame.

THE GREAT TASK REMAINING

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation ❮❮ 88-89
freeing slaves in ten Confederate states.
Despite growing casualty lists and rising
antiwar sentiment in the North, he was
steadfastly dedicated to the war, which he
declared in his Gettysburg Address
as “the great task remaining before us.”

112
 L I N CO L N P R E VA I L S

A F T ER
more attractive as the man An anti-McClellan broadside
to bring the fighting to an To the left, Lincoln stands for “Union and
end in a manner that would Liberty,” shaking hands with free labor. Lincoln’s second inaugural address, on
satisfy both South and North. To the right, McClellan, personifies “Union March 4, 1865, stressed that Reconstruction
In August, the Democrats and Slavery,” shaking hands with Jefferson of the defeated Confederacy should be
held a convention in Chicago. Davis, a slave auction in the background. undertaken with national healing in mind.
They, too, were divided over
the war. The more moderate on the camp or trench, the LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION
Peace Democrats advocated news of General William T. President Lincoln served only four months
a negotiated peace on terms Sherman’s taking of Atlanta of his second term. On April 14, just days
favorable to the Union, while or General Philip Sheridan’s after Robert E. Lee’s surrender to
the Copperheads declared the clearing of the Shenandoah Grant at Appomattox Lincoln was
war a fiasco that should be Valley was met with either assassinated 170-171 ❯❯. Eight months
immediately terminated. The cheers or curses. As the tide later, on December 18, 1865, the 13th
convention sought to bridge of Union victories planned by Amendment to the Constitution 164-165
the divide by nominating McClellan, than winning the presidency. That left Grant finally rolled in, it began crushing ❯❯, abolishing slavery in the United States, was
a pro-war moderate, while adopting Lincoln and McClellan to battle it out. the hopes of the Confederacy. November officially enacted.
a sweeping peace platform—which Across the North, campaign ribbons and 8 was Election Day. After the ballots
McClellan deplored. bunting vied with fall leaves for color. were counted, Lincoln had won by
People sported their candidates’ badges; over 400,000 votes, securing an
A two-horse race broadsides (newspaper bulletins) and overwhelming majority in the Electoral
Frémont saw the Democratic platform cartoons endorsed one nominee and College. His soldiers had given him over
as tantamount to “Union with Slavery,” decried the other. In camps and trenches, 70 percent of their support. For the
and withdrew his candidacy. Winning troops of both North and South huddled president and his commanding general,
the war was, to him, more important around grimy newspapers. Depending the scent of victory was in the fall air.

“God gave us Lincoln and Grant at the White House

Peter Rothermel’s 1867 painting The Republican
Court in the Days of Lincoln depicts the reception

Liberty, let us fight for both.” at which Lincoln welcomed Grant to Washington
as the army’s new general-in-chief. It still hangs in LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURATION
ULYSSES S. GRANT, IN A TOAST DURING THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN, FEBRUARY 22, 1863 the White House.

113
 The Wilderness Campaign
Fighting in the Wilderness
Winslow Homer’s Skirmish in the Wilderness (1864)
shows scattered fighting among the trees—what one
soldier called “bushwhacking on a grand scale.”

B E FOR E The duel between generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant commenced with a battle in a tangled
woodland called the Wilderness. Fighting resumed in the fields around Spotsylvania Court House, where
In March 1864, Lincoln put Ulysses S. Grant deadly assaults reached a pitch of sustained ferocity seldom equaled in the war.
in charge of all Union armies in the field.

B
Grant’s plan called for simultaneous Union efore dawn on May 4, 1864, Ulysses of somber pines and oak thickets, dense with only one-third of his opponent’s
advances against Atlanta in the West and S. Grant opened his advance against with thorny, foot-entangling vines. It was strength. Nevertheless, on the morning of
against Lee in the East. Robert E. Lee. The first of nearly a “region of gloom and the shadow of May 5 he slammed into a Federal army
120,000 men, 4,300 supply wagons, and death,” as one officer put it, and many that was still deploying to meet him.
LEE VERSUS GRANT 850 ambulances making up the Army of veterans felt an ominous dread as they Union troops in Gouverneur Warren’s
Grant changed the Union objective from the the Potomac crossed the Rapidan River went into bivouac that night. Dismayed Fifth Corps tried to stem Richard Ewell’s
capture of Richmond to the destruction of Lee’s well downstream of Lee’s Army of scouts had reported that Lee, who had Second Corps’ onslaught on the Turnpike;
Army of Northern Virginia, and established his Northern Virginia, nestling behind been watching the Union army, was on 3 miles (4.8km) away, a single Union
headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, formidable defenses on the other side. the move, heading swiftly up the Orange division held the Brock Road, running
which, in early 1864, was encamped on the If Grant could get through the Turnpike and Orange Plank Road, parallel across Orange Plank Road, as A. P. Hill’s
Rapidan River. Grant decided to outflank the Wilderness, on the Confederate right, tracks that led east into the Wilderness.
Confederate positions across the river by before Lee could react, he might lure the Micah Jenkins’s sword
slipping through the Wilderness on the Southern general into the open and The Battle of the Wilderness In the din and confusion of Longstreet’s May 6 flank
Confederate right, where a year earlier, at the destroy him. So all day long the Until James Longstreet’s First Corps, attack, South Carolina’s General Micah Jenkins
Battle of Chancellorsville ❮❮88-89, Lee blue-clad divisions tramped marching from a different direction, could was mistakenly but mortally wounded by
had nearly destroyed the down the road between walls join him, Lee would be attacking Grant fellow Confederates.
Army of the Potomac.

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 T H E W I L D E R N E S S C A M PA I G N

“The incessant roar of the rifles SEDGWICK

① May 5: First clash between
the armies. Fires spread
0 km

0 miles
1

1
2

2 ck River

no
GORDON through the undergrowth as

an
… men cheering, groaning,
fierce fighting continues all day

ah
pp
Th
④ May 7–8: Ra
e
Wi
③ May 6: Hancock’s
lde
rness corps drives back Hill’s Union night
men, but progress is march to

yelling, swearing, and praying!”

WARREN
halted by arrival of Spotsylvania
Longstreet’s troops
EWELL HANCOCK Chancellorsville
GRANT
PRIVATE THEODORE GERRISH, 20 MAINE INFANTRY, IN ARMY LIFE, 1882 Ora
LEE nge
BURNSIDE MEADE Tu r n p
i ke

r
ve
Ri
Third Corps bore down on them. W. S. Hancock’s Second Corps, at the Ny Fredericksburg
Thousands of men on both sides were Brock Road, smashed through the A.P.HILL
Orange
underbrush into A. P. Hill’s ragged lines, Plank Road
soon clawing their way through briars Unfinished railro a d
and stumbling across ravines, trying to which broke and fled.
LONGSTREET ⑦ May 12: Union
form orderly battle lines. Formations and Lee himself rode into the bedlam, breakthrough
② May 5: ⑤ May 7–8: at the apex of
directions of advance rapidly went astray trying desperately to rally his troops A. P. Hill’s corps Cavalry battle at Mule Shoe Salient.
in the tangled maze of undergrowth. before all was lost. With only attacks Union Todd’s Tavern Confederates
troops along fall back to new
The confused fighting continued his staff and a single artillery battery Brock Road Todd’s HANCOCK
Tavern Br defensive line
all day. At Grant’s headquarters, the standing between his army and disaster, oc
kR
oa Bloody
general ceaselessly whittled sticks and Lee saw that Longstreet’s divisions were N
d
Angle
⑥ May 8: Mule Shoe
chain-smoked finally arriving Anderson’s corps Salient
cigars as he waited
for reports. In the
woods, the volume
3,750 The approximate number
of men in the two armies
who were killed in action in the Battle of
down the Plank
Road. “Who are
you, my boys?”
wins the race to
Spotsylvania
WARREN

Po River
Laurel
Hill
BURNSIDE

KEY Spindle EWELL Harris

Farm
of musketry was the Wilderness. Hundreds of others, Lee cried above Farm
Union positions May 6 S h a d y Gr o v e ANDERSON
rapidly becoming recorded as “missing,” probably died in the uproar. “Texas C h u r c h Roa d
Confederate positions May 6 Spotsylvania
⑧ May 18: Fresh Union Spotsylvania Court House
a deafening the brush fires ignited by the fighting. boys,” came the Union positions May 12
assault driven back by
cacophony as reply. “Texans Confederate positions May 12 Confederate artillery
LEE
yelling men, groping blindly, shot always move them!” the general
point-blank at muzzle flashes in the shouted, waving his hat, and with a
gloom—”firing by earsight.” Storms strange light in his eyes began to lead leveled a volley. Among the men and Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House
of bullets tore through the woods and them into battle. Grimy hands tugged at animals left sprawled on the ground The two armies first clashed on May 5 in the thickly
cut men down in droves. Brush fires his bridle, as men yelled, “Go back, were South Carolina’s General Micah wooded Wilderness area. Then, on the night of
General Lee! Lee to the rear!” Jenkins, shot in the head, and Lee’s May 7, Grant ordered his army to march southeast to
“Old War Horse,” Longstreet himself, Spotsylvania Court House. The Confederates, however,
severely wounded in the neck. managed to get there before him. They dug in and
With that the Southern attack repelled a series of desperate Union attacks.
faltered; when it was renewed in late
afternoon it was decisively repulsed by Court House, a hamlet located some
Federal troops deployed behind 10 miles (16km) to the southeast of the
breastworks along Brock Road. A roar Wilderness battlefield. It stood at
of musketry to the north was that of a crossroads that controlled the routes
John B. Gordon’s Georgians trying to to Richmond.
outflank the Union right, but the Grant was determined to position his
shooting slackened with darkness, with forces between Lee and the Confederate
neither side able to break through. A capital. He knew this was the only way
second horrid night descended on the he could compel the enemy to fight in
burning, bullet-shredded Wilderness. the open, and he did not want to see
Grant called off his attacks; Lee dug in. Lee’s outnumbered veterans get behind
By dawn on May 7, with both armies breastworks. The task of prying them
well entrenched and the fighting ended out would lead to further grueling
for the moment, Grant had made the and costly fighting.
decision not to retreat,
Escaping the flames as his predecessors had
As flames swept the thickets, many wounded men, Brigadier General John Gregg’s too often done when
left behind by the ebb and flow of battle, were 800 Texans surged forward and stopped faced with a setback.
carried or crawled to safety. But many of those the onslaught, although at a fearful Rather, he planned to
who were unable to move were burned to death. price. Fewer than 250 of the men who slide left and south,
charged emerged unscathed. ordering the Army of
became runaway infernos, burning to the Potomac’s high
death many of the helpless wounded, Confederate riposte command to strike that
whose hideous screams could be heard By mid-morning, some of Longstreet’s evening for Spotsylvania
above the din. Smoke had turned the men had discovered an unfinished
sun a lurid bloodred long before railroad cut to the south and, concealed Skeletal remains
twilight finally descended and the battle from view, turned Hancock’s flank, Alongside fragments of clothing,
subsided. Weary survivors literally fell rolling it up brigade by brigade until cartridge boxes, perforated
to sleep, rifles in hand. the Union troops were in mass retreat. canteens, rotting shoes, ruined
Early on May 6, the fighting resumed In the din and confusion, some breastworks, and shattered trees,
as Grant went on the attack. The Union Confederates saw horses galloping the bones of hastily buried men
right wing kept up the pressure, then toward them through the smoke and littered the Wilderness for years.

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Felled oak Grant hoped to begin his ordered Richard Anderson,

Now in the American History maneuver around Lee’s right who had replaced Longstreet,
Museum of the Smithsonian, flank without being detected by his to move the First Corps out at
this 22-in (56-cm) oak tree adversary. He slipped most of the dawn. The fires that night,
stump was felled by bullets— army behind Hancock’s Second Corps, however, still lit up the
testimony to the fierceness of still manning the Brock Road and thus Wilderness in a terrifying
the fighting at the Bloody masking the movement. The press of display few of the veterans
Angle, a once-peaceful wagons and exhausted men made for ever forgot; so Anderson,
meadow in Virginia. slow going. As Grant and his staff rode unable to bivouac his soldiers
through the logjams, thousands of there, got an early and, in the
begrimed soldiers, seeing his horse was event, lucky start.
trotting south, raised cheer after lusty
cheer. Finally, they were not retreating Lee’s response
before the Army of Northern Virginia. Throughout the day on May
Lee had not failed to spot the clouds 8, Confederate cavalrymen
of dust from Grant’s wagons and felt fought fierce delaying actions, Confederate fieldworks
certain they were heading toward slowed the Union advance, and allowed Abatis—obstructions made of felled treetops—and rows
the key point of Spotsylvania He Anderson’s soldiers, hastening down a of sharpened stakes were erected by Lee’s soldiers in
parallel route, to choose their ground. front of their earth-and-log breastworks.
They arrived at the village minutes
ahead of the Union vanguard, and momentum that it actually breached
General Jeb Stuart deployed them the salient. Despite its eventual repulse
across the high ground to the west, (although the attackers carried with
where they were soon repulsing one them a number of prisoners), this
piecemeal attack after another. As fleeting success convinced Grant, as a
darkness fell, more and more units steady rain began falling, to plan a
were fed into the ensuing fight, each similar, only much bigger, assault,
stumbling into position along a spearheaded by Hancock’s Second
lengthening front. As Grant had Corps. The target would be the apex
feared, Lee had his troops dig in. of the salient.
By morning, a forbidding arc of
Confederate earthworks, fronted by The Union assault
abatis (felled treetops) and sharpened Dawn on May 12 brought more rain,
along with a mist so thick that the

30,000 The casualty total

of the two armies at
Spotsylvania Court House. Although the
Confederates manning the apex
defenses barely heard the tramp and
splash of innumerable feet until some
Union losses (18,000 killed and wounded) 20,000 Union soldiers were upon them.
were larger, Lee’s much smaller force If faulty intelligence had not persuaded
suffered more heavily in proportion. Lee to remove 22 cannon from the
salient, and if many of its defenders had
stakes, was snaking through the woods not let their powder get dampened by
and fields. At a 1-mile (1.6-km) bulge the rain, the onslaught might have
in the line, known as the Mule Shoe been repulsed.
Salient by the Confederates, these The Northern attackers easily
works were dauntingly impressive— surmounted the works and were
packed-earth breastworks framed by seemingly everywhere, killing or
log revetments (retaining walls), rifle
ports topped by shielding head logs,
and stout traverses (intercepting
embankments) jutting rearward to
protect the defenders against flanking
fire or crossfire. However, because the
position had been hastily sited in the
dark, for all its defenses it had a
weakness: a breach by Grant could
divide Lee’s army.

Attempted breakthroughs
Having failed to outmaneuver his
opponent, Grant hammered away at
Lee’s defenses. Numerous attacks
against the Rebels entrenched on Laurel
Hill and the Spindle Farm were
ill-coordinated and bloodily repulsed.
Then, on the evening of May 10, in the
woods across from the Mule Shoe General John Sedgwick
Salient, Colonel Emory Upton quietly Union Sixth Corps commander General John Sedgwick
packed 12 Union regiments into one famously chided troops scurrying for cover from snipers
dense wedge. Bursting out of the with the words: “They can’t hit an elephant at this
woods, the column charged with such range.” Moments later he was fatally wounded.

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 T H E W I L D E R N E S S C A M PA I G N

A F T ER

While Grant struggled ferociously with

Lee at Spotsylvania, subsidiary operations
were unfolding elsewhere in Virginia.

DEATH OF STUART
On the evening of May 12, 1864, Lee’s cavalry
chief, Jeb Stuart, died in Richmond of a wound
received fighting Sheridan’s troopers at
Yellow Tavern 118-119 ❯❯.

DEFEAT IN THE VALLEY

Four days later, on May 15, Franz Sigel’s Union
army was defeated by John C. Breckinridge’s
Confederates at the Battle of New Market
120-121 ❯❯, delaying Grant’s hopes for a
successful Shenandoah Valley offensive.

BUTLER BOTTLED UP
On May 5, 1864, General Benjamin Butler landed
his Army of the James at Bermuda Hundred,
but P. G. T. Beauregard’s forces were soon
able to confine him there 120-121 ❯❯.

Battle trophies
Hancock’s May 12 assault on the Mule Shoe Salient
was lauded in this 1864 portrayal as the “greatest
victory of the war.” The fighting was brutal, but
Hancock’s Second Corps succeeded in capturing
thousands of prisoners, including two generals.

“Nothing in history equals this contest. Desperate, defensive line, which was bristling with
cannon. But the Confederate artillery
alone was enough to shatter the
long, and deadly it still goes on …” onslaught, their infantry never even
raising a rifle.
CORPORAL WELLES TAYLOR, 110 PENNSYLVANIA REGIMENT, TO HIS WIFE, MAY 17, 1864 Failing to pry Lee out of his works,
Grant began shifting his forces
capturing thousands of Rebels. At this heavy with rain, exploded with shot and Confederate bodies were churned many eastward, sidling them past Lee’s
desperate hour, it was Lee himself who shell. Thousands of soldiers wallowed in layers deep and in the mud writhed the entrenched right flank. On May 19,
once more rode into the maelstrom. the mud and blood, screaming and firing wounded. Soon the West Angle would a large Rebel force did emerge to
His hat swept from his head, his silver point-blank. A battle mania took hold. understandably be nicknamed the investigate what the Union Army was
hair shining, he again tried rallying his Fierce hand-to-hand struggles surged “Bloody Angle.” doing. The bloody but inconclusive
broken soldiers. Again the cry rose, back and forth across the parapet. fight at the Alsop and Harris farms was
“Lee to the rear! Lee to the rear!” but The incessant shooting continued for Exhausted stalemate the final clash in the battles around
their commander, his blood up, would 20 hours and more, each sputtering lull After the horrific events of May 12, Spotsylvania Court House. By May 21,
have none of it until a sergeant firmly followed by a renewed brutal crescendo. the rain continued to fall while both Grant had his men hurrying south for
took his bridle, leaving General John Darkness brought no respite from the exhausted armies marked time in the the North Anna River, still aiming
B. Gordon to coordinate a series of slaughter, the muzzle flashes becoming mud. Attempts at maneuver were to get between Lee
ferocious counterattacks. just a continuous sheet of flame. By completely bogged down until a fitful and Richmond.
Yard by costly yard, the Confederates midnight, nearby trees were crashing to sun at last reappeared. Grant then
reclaimed every part of the salient, but the ground, chipped and sheared in half launched another attack. At daybreak
the bluecoats only regrouped along the by the volume of flying lead. on May 18, after a thundering barrage,
outside face of the breastworks, ready By 4 a.m., the firing had eased. It 12 Union brigades swept over the
to renew their assault. Lee needed his soon ceased altogether, as the surviving wrecked and abandoned salient,
weary veterans to hold the Northerners Southerners escaped to Lee’s newly still littered with corpses,
while a new defensive line was completed defensive line, abandoning toward Lee’s final
hastily constructed. the salient. Dawn revealed a hideous
scene. Before the splintered works the
The “Bloody Angle” Union dead lay in heaps, so chewed
The Confederates held their line, as the and lacerated by bullets as to be
musketry roared for most of the day. unrecognizable. Among the traverses,
Nowhere did the fighting rage as
violently as it did along the 600-ft Coehorn mortars
(183-m) stretch of works known as the Some weighing only 296lb (134kg) apiece, these
West Angle. There the deafening roar portable artillery pieces were ideally suited for
reached a level of sustained frenzy trench warfare. Some Confederates called their
seldom equaled in any conflict. The air, arcing, unpredictably falling shells “demoralizers.”

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Maneuvering toward Richmond

In May 1864, on the muddy roads to Richmond, a massive Union cavalry raid was repulsed at the gates of the city, while
General Robert E. Lee, matching General Ulysses S. Grant’s offensive maneuvers, nearly managed to trap a divided Union army
on the south bank of the North Anna River.

O
n May 8, 1864, as the opening exhausted, but they put up a Campaign chair Burnside’s Ninth Corps tried crossing
battles at Spotsylvania were spirited resistance for three hours. Complete with a velvet at Ox Ford, only to be stopped by the
beginning, the 10,000 troopers Then, just as a late afternoon seat, this sturdy piece of strong Rebel defenses.
of General Philip Sheridan’s cavalry thunderstorm broke, Sheridan’s portable furniture—a By evening it was apparent that the
corps swung into their saddles and set troopers charged up the typical 19th-century camp Army of Northern Virginia had been
off on a massive raid on Richmond, 50 ridge. Galloping along his chair—was used by Grant lurking in the midst of Union forces
miles (80km) to the south. Three days lines, Stuart shouted during the Civil War. and was shielded behind a formidable
later they were nearly at the city’s outer encouragement. He had set of fortifications shaped like an
defenses when they learned that just reached the First inverted “V.” The apex was on Ox Ford
Confederate cavalry blocked their way. Virginia Cavalry, when The cat-and-mouse and the rear was protected by steep-
General Jeb Stuart, with a third of he was shot and game began again, banked streams.
Sheridan’s numbers, had hastily seriously wounded. “Go with Lee matching In a masterstroke, Lee had divided
deployed across a ridge just north of a back! Go back!” he yelled to Grant’s progress mile the Union army, but was himself too ill
tumbledown inn called Yellow Tavern. his men, who were about to for mile, as rain to organize an attack. Grant could not
Stuart’s men and mounts were break under the force of the lashed the slogging unite the two wings of his army, which
assault, “I had rather die troops. Before were already on the south bank. He
than be whipped!” Still they darkness descended on therefore retreated from this most
B E FOR E could not hold their line, May 22, Lee had ingenious of defensive arrangements,
and were driven off the ridge a few concentrated his army withdrawing across the river. A day
minutes later. behind the south bank of the North passed. Then, on the evening of May
While the armies of Grant and Lee lurched The road to Richmond was open, but Anna River, 21 miles (34km) from 26, Grant feinted to the west, and again
from the ferocious Battle of the Wilderness Sheridan shied away from the city’s the Confederate capital. Grant arrived pivoted his army to the southeast.
to the grim struggle at Spotsylvania, defenses and headed east. Rebel cavalry on the opposite bank the next day.
concurrent offensives started elsewhere. harried his flanks and rear, but General Gouverneur K. Warren’s

SHERIDAN’S PLANS
On April 5, General Philip Sheridan, one of
eventually he made his way to the
Army of the James at Bermuda
Hundred. He had fulfilled his vow to
Fifth Corps splashed across a shallow
ford at Jericho Mill and was attacked
that evening by a division from
4,500 The approximate number
of Union and Confederate
casualties at the North Anna River—where
Grant’s protégés from the Western Theater, “whip Jeb Stuart out of his boots.” The General A. P. Hill’s corps. Warren there was no major battle.
arrived in Virginia to take command of the Army seriously wounded Stuart was taken to drove Hill’s troops off after a sharp
of the Potomac’s newly established cavalry Richmond, where he died of his wound and bloody fight.
corps, whereupon he devised a plan to defeat on the evening of May 12, as fighting A F T ER
Confederate cavalry chief Jeb Stuart. raged at Spotsylvania’s “Bloody Angle.” Union failure
The following morning, General
SHERMAN MOVES OUT Meeting at the North Anna River Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps While Grant and Sherman attacked Rebel
On May 7, General William T. Sherman, Ten days later, Grant left Spotsylvania crossed the North Anna 5 miles breastworks in Virginia and Georgia, Lee
leading the Union’s second major strategic and sent his advance units once more (8km) downstream, meeting little chose a new leader to be the “eyes and
offensive, commenced operations against on the roads toward Richmond. resistance. Hopeful rumors began to ears” of his army.
General Joseph E. Johnston in northwestern circulate that Lee had retreated again.
Georgia. Within a week, Sherman’s forces would Pontoons on the North Anna River In mid-afternoon, however, one NEW COMMANDER
outmaneuver Johnston’s army at Rocky Face On May 24, 1864, Union engineers constructed pontoon Union division encountered To replace Jeb Stuart,
Ridge and force a retreat to Resaca. bridges across a fordable section in the North Anna Confederates near Hanover Junction, Lee chose General
River, where the banks were less steep, as depicted in dug in behind entrenchments. An Wade Hampton,
this pencil drawing by Alfred Waud. hour later, General Ambrose who would soon
fight Sheridan to a
draw at the June
11–12 Battle of
Trevilian Station.

IN GEORGIA WADE HAMPTON

Johnston was
repulsing Sherman’s assaults in the battles of
New Hope Church and Pickett’s Mill 138-139
❯❯, while Grant faced Lee at the North Anna.

LEE’S DEFENSES
Grant concluded that without ground
protection, Lee’s army would totter and fall if
given a strong push, which he now tried doing
near a crossroads called Cold Harbor 124-125 ❯❯.

118
Grant’s council of war
Wreathed in cigar smoke, Grant holds a council of
war on the pews from Massaponax Church near
Spotsylvania, May 21, 1864, as he and his generals
plan their next move against Lee.

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 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

B EFOR E

In May 1864, as Ulysses S. Grant began

operations against Robert E. Lee, other
Virginia campaigns were getting underway.
Rebel Victories
While Grant battled Lee in eastern Virginia, his strategy elsewhere broke down. The Confederates
BUTLER’S ARMY OF THE JAMES penned in General Butler on the Bermuda Hundred peninsula and sent General Sigel reeling at the
In April, a new army of over 30,000 soldiers was
formed under Benjamin Butler. Its task was to Battle of New Market, a Rebel victory capped by the charge of the Virginia Military Institute cadets.
sail up the James River, land south of Richmond,

O
and cut the Richmond–Petersburg railroad. n the morning of May 5, when Railroad, he spent too much Confederate General Breckinridge
Union general Benjamin Butler time and energy making Former U.S. vice president and the
SIGEL’S FORCES IN THE VALLEY landed on the Bermuda Hundred sure that he was presidential candidate who in 1860
On May 2, General Franz Sigel began advancing peninsula between the Appomattox thoroughly entrenched finished second only to Abraham
up the Shenandoah Valley, where Stonewall and James rivers, he had a chance few at his new base. Lincoln, John C. Breckinridge was a
Jackson had defeated him ❮❮ 62-63 two years generals are ever offered. His Army of The Confederates, Kentuckian whose efforts to avert the
earlier. Sigel was to cut the railroad leading to the James was halfway between two meanwhile, were war continued until September 1861,
Richmond, while also preventing Confederate key Confederate cities—15 miles using the time to pull when he finally joined the South.
reinforcements from reaching Lee. (24km) from Richmond and 8 miles in reinforcements
(13km) from Petersburg—which from everywhere they calling the militia to arms,
CONFEDERATE OPPONENTS between them could muster a garrison could, and General the assaulting infantrymen
In April, General P .G. T. Beauregard became of only 5,000 militiamen. What was Beauregard arrived to were too intimidated by the
commander of forces in North Carolina and more, the new commander of the organize them. frowning parapets and
Virginia south of the James River. Lee garrison, General P. G. T. Beauregard, When Butler did move redoubts to mount an attack.
selected General John C. Breckinridge to had still to arrive from Charleston. ponderously against a target, Instead they pulled back to
confront Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley. Yet Butler missed his opportunity. Beauregard took him by surprise. On the safety of Bermuda Hundred.
Although he did send tentative probes May 16, Butler attacked batteries at A few miles away Butler’s cavalry
out to the Richmond–Petersburg Drewry’s Bluff, which commanded a was in a severe fight. Storming the
bend in the James River and had long southern part of the Dimmock Line
been the bane of Union gunboats. In a along the Jerusalem Plank Road, they
vicious battle in a tangled, swampy, came up against the Battalion of Virginia
foggy pinewood—a battle that saw Reserves—125 “gray-haired sires and
bodies piled high outside makeshift beardless youths,” including city
breastworks—Beauregard nearly councilmen, shopkeepers, and
succeeded in cutting Butler off from his teenagers—led by the retired Colonel
base. He further pummeled Butler near Fletcher H. Archer, a veteran of the War
Ware Bottom Church on May 20. After with Mexico. In what became famous as
that, the Union the “Battle of Old

60
general was happy The percentage of Men and Young
to regain the safety Fletcher H. Archer’s Boys,” this scratch
of his camp at Battalion of Virginia force, many armed
Bermuda Reserves killed, wounded, only with ancient
Hundred. With or taken prisoner in the “Battle of Old muskets, repulsed
barely half Men and Young Boys,” June 9, 1864. repeated assaults
Butler’s numbers, for nearly two
Beauregard simply walled him in there, hours. Even hospital patients helped
building a line of fortifications across fight the Union horsemen who finally
the base of the peninsula. Beauregard also retreated to Bermuda Hundred.
had “corked” Butler up, Grant ruefully
acknowledged, as if in a bottle. Valley defeats
Grant’s plans for a Shenandoah Valley
First Battle of Petersburg offensive had been thwarted, too. In
In June, Butler blundered again. Having May, General Franz Sigel’s army was
heard that Petersburg might be very first bogged down by rain, then saw
lightly defended, because most of action at New Market. This was one of
Beauregard’s forces were in the the handsome towns through which
Bermuda Hundred lines, Butler sought the Valley Turnpike rolled, as did the
to win some long-overdue military road leading east across the Blue Ridge
laurels by raiding the city. On June 9, Mountains and down into the cockpit
3,400 infantrymen and 1,300 where Lee and Grant were slugging
cavalrymen crossed the Appomattox it out. Lee believed Sigel would use
River and approached the Dimmock that route to attack his flank, and
Line, as Petersburg’s encircling on Sunday, May 15, General John C.
fortifications were called. While the Breckinridge was trying to prevent that.
tocsins (alarm bells) rang in the city, Cannonfire had driven many of New
Market’s residents into the cellars, but
Bermuda Hundred operations the noise was even more terrifying
A hand-drawn map depicts the Bermuda Hundred because thunderstorms continually
peninsula, where Butler was confined by Beauregard. vied with the artillery. To counter
Petersburg is just off the map in the bottom left-hand Sigel’s 6,000 soldiers, Breckinridge
corner, Richmond off the top left-hand corner. had mustered a force of 4,000,

120
 R E B E L V I C TO R I E S

“ A blanket would have covered

the three. They were awfully
mangled by the canister.”
CADET JOHN S. WISE, DESCRIBING HIS COMRADES KILLED AT NEW MARKET

including a reserve of 247 soaked and of them fell, but the remainder pressed
shivering cadets from the Virginia forward and, sinking to their knees,
Military Institute, the “West Point of reached their assigned place.
the South,” who had arrived after After a weak Union counterattack
marching 70 miles (112km) in four turned into a shambles, Sigel’s
days from their Lexington school. artillerymen began limbering up their
Lee, accustomed to worse guns. The cadets then sprang
odds, had merely wished to their feet and swept up
Breckinridge luck: “I the hill. A Union officer
trust you will drive remembered it as the most
the enemy back.” “sublime” sight he ever
witnessed in the war. The rest
Sigel’s failure of the Confederate line rose in
In the event, many of response and stormed the
Sigel’s men were still ridge, routing Sigel’s men,
far down the Valley who retreated pell-mell
Turnpike, the only down the Valley Turnpike,
macadamized road in not stopping for a day
a sea of rain-churned and a night. With them
muddy lanes. As the went Grant’s hopes for
fighting surged back a Shenandoah Valley
and forth over the offensive. Lee’s flank was
pastures and knolls Cadet’s medal secured, and Breckinridge
outside the town, the After the war, Virginia presented was able to march his small
Union commander bronze medals to each of the cadets force east to reinforce the
could only place who fought at New Market—or if Army of Northern Virginia.
what troops he did killed or mortally wounded in action, Nearly a quarter of the
have along a ridge to the cadet’s next of kin. Southern cadets had been
overlooking the fields killed or wounded. The rest
and orchards of a farm belonging to the returned to Lexington as conquering
local Bushong family. There he also heroes. “We were still young in the
positioned 18 of his guns. ghastly game,” one would recall, “but
Breckinridge, who at Shiloh and we proved apt scholars.”
Chickamauga had proved a remarkably
fine soldier, led a Confederate assault that
advanced up those boggy slopes. But as A F T ER
rain lashed the fields and the Union
guns raked the attacking troops, a
dangerous gap appeared in the Southern The failures of Sigel and Butler not only
ranks. Before the Northern soldiers could allowed Breckinridge and Beauregard
seize the opportunity, Breckinridge to reinforce Lee, they also gave the
called reluctantly for the cadets—”Put the Confederates another military advantage.
boys in, and may God forgive me for the
order”—to move up and plug the hole. PETERSBURG DEFENSES
Dressed as if on parade, the lines of As a result of Butler’s abortive raid on
cadets crossed a plowed field that rain Petersburg, Beauregard began strengthening
had made such a quagmire they lost that city’s defenses, just in time to parry
their shoes in the mud. Passing through General Grant’s initial assaults on it the
a field of green wheat, some of the following week 124-125❯❯.
youths were torn to pieces by canister
(artillery shot used at close quarters). A NEW VALLEY CAMPAIGN
Continuing onward, their comrades Another Shenandoah Valley campaign began in
wavered only when Union riflemen June after a raid by Union General David Hunter,
began piling volleys into them; many in which he burned the Virginia Military Institute,
the “hornet’s nest,” in retaliation for New Market.
Virginia Military Institute cadet Lee sent General Jubal Early to confront Hunter,
Benjamin A. Colonna was one of the cadets who fought leading to a summer of battles culminating in
at New Market. He is depicted on the field over which Sheridan’s victory over Early 128-129 ❯❯.
the cadets charged. Colonna survived the war as a
captain in the Confederate Army.

121
 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

Prisoners of War
Neither side was prepared to handle the large numbers of prisoners that, by 1864, were
being marched into makeshift stockades. Overcrowding, starvation, lack of sanitation,
and occasional cruelty stalked Northern prisons as much as they did those in the South.

W
hen captured in battle in 1862, The parole-and-exchange cartel that half lived. Out there, Belle Isle
a Civil War soldier on either had existed in the early part of the war “prison” could be glimpsed, a
side might expect some rough collapsed in 1863, and in April 1864, rocky outcropping in the midst
handling, sometimes within sound and General Grant refused to exchange any of the James River rapids. This
sight of the fighting, perhaps in a more prisoners. was the other extreme, a natural
holding area in the rear. If he was What awaited the captive now prison with few or no facilities
lucky, he might quickly be paroled in would be a fearsome ordeal at best. on which congregated perhaps
exchange for an enemy soldier of the He might have had an equal, or better, 8,000 enlisted men, scrambling
same rank or expect to be exchanged chance of survival had he remained on for the shelter of only 3,000
in the near future. By 1864, capture the battlefield. There were more than tents and a handful of shacks.
meant only one thing: a prison camp. 150 prisoner-of-war camps across the Conditions at Illinois’ Rock Island,
in the middle of the Mississippi
River, were not much better.
Although they had some shelter, its
Confederate prisoners were too often
Toothpick
exposed to the burning summer sun
Prisoner carvings and harsh winters. In 1864, a fast-
James Allen Kibler, a Confederate prisoner of war spreading smallpox epidemic virtually
held in Fort Delaware near Philadelphia, carved this emptied the prison.
toothpick and decorated lanyard. Carving helped Point Lookout in Maryland was the Record death toll
Lanyard captives while away the long hours. Belle Isle of the North. Once a resort Of the 150 prison camps operating during the Civil
jutting out into the Chesapeake Bay, it War, Camp Douglas in Chicago had the highest death
provided only enough tents for 10,000 rate for any one-month period, with some ten percent
men, but the actual number of of its captives perishing in February 1863.
Southern captives rose much higher
B EFOR E than that. As many as 3,500 of them outside Chicago. It earned the grim
United States during the conflict. Every may have died there, many of reputation of having a higher
conceivable kind of facility had to be exposure, during the two years the percentage of deaths in a single month
At the outbreak of war, neither side had pressed into service. They included prison was in operation. than any other prison camp in the
the facilities or infrastructure to handle existing prisons and jails, converted war—387 out of 3,884 men in
large numbers of prisoners. warehouses, disused barracks, old High mortality rates February 1863. Altogether more than
fortifications, and stockades that were Some 26,000 captured Confederates 4,000 of its captives never saw their
INFORMAL ARRANGEMENTS no better than cattle pens. What they were held at one time or another in homes in the South again; many of
Lincoln opposed prisoner-of-war exchange all had in common, both in the North Camp Douglas, built originally as a them lie buried in one mass grave in
agreements, feeling they lent legitimacy to and the South, was not a policy of training barracks. The camp was sited Chicago’s Oak Woods Cemetery.
the Confederacy. However, field commanders deliberate mistreatment, but rather on a damp, low-lying bit of prairie By far the highest overall mortality
worked out informal exchanges, based on the bureaucratic fecklessness and a dire rate of any Union prisoner-of-war
parole-and-exchange system, to keep the lack of resources: poor food, shelter, camp—reaching a staggering
numbers of prisoners at manageable levels. hygiene, and medical attention. 24 percent—was recorded at
Thousands of men died. Elmira. Located in western
DIX-HILL EXCHANGE CARTEL New York State, Elmira (or
In July 1862, both sides agreed to an official Mixed fortunes ”Hellmira,” as it was known to
exchange system, called the Dix-Hill Cartel Early in the war the best-known its inmates) first opened on July
after the Union and Confederate officers who Confederate prisoner-of-war camp 6, 1864, when 400 Southern
negotiated it. For prisoners who agreed to was Richmond’s Libby Prison. Some prisoners were marched into a
refrain from military service when 125,000 Union prisoners may have former barracks that might have
released, this system allowed for the passed through this grim, three-story held 5,000. Although it was a
exchange of prisoners of equal rank. brick warehouse and former ship’s large camp, Elmira was nowhere
This worked well, and prisoner-of-war camps chandlery, for Libby was a prisoner near big enough for the 9,500
soon began to empty. processing station, from which captives men it held when the population
were sent on to other camps across the was at its peak. Many of them had
COLLAPSE OF THE CARTEL South. Within its dank, fetid walls to sleep outdoors in New York’s
The system began collapsing once the Union it had room for about 1,000 inmates, freezing winter, without blankets
army began recruiting black soldiers. The but upwards of five times that number or any other provision for shelter.
Confederacy refused to exchange them, instead congregated in the rat-infested
threatening to treat them as runaway slaves. In corridors. Almost all were officers, Plan of Andersonville Prison
May 1863, the Federal government suspended educated men who subsequently wrote Memories of Andersonville lingered long, and
the cartel. Soon the numbers of prisoners many accounts of their experiences as after the war veterans groups were prominent in
began swelling to unmanageable levels. prisoners of war. They were the lucky efforts to preserve the site. Today it is a National
ones; they had only to look out their Historic Site, with a National Cemetery and the
barred windows to see how the other National Prisoner of War Museum.

122
 A F T ER
Nearly 3,000 men died there—the most infamous of Civil War prison
majority from exposure, disease, and camps, but all of them shared, to an
malnutrition—in the 12 months that extent, its sins. In 1865, the Confederacy changed its policy
Elmira operated. Over 400,000 men were at some on captured black soldiers and prisoner
point held as prisoners of war during exchanges were resumed, but these never
A living hell the conflict, and more than 56,000 reached their earlier rates.
Andersonville, or Camp Sumter, of them died in captivity. Ultimately
was all these camps writ large. the death rate for both North and GOING HOME
Carved out of the pinewoods of South together was approximately After the war ended—sometimes months
southwestern Georgia in early 13 percent—more than twice the after—Confederate prisoners in northern
1864, it was a stockade built for death rate on the battlefield. camps took a loyalty oath and were given
10,000 Union prisoners that train passes to go back home.
soon held three times that
number. It offered no shelter. LEGACY OF BITTERNESS
The sweltering inmates stretched Images of emaciated
rags on sticks and burrowed into the Andersonville survivors,
ground to escape the relentless sun. Its published in the North
one creek was both water source and after the war, helped
Libby Prison mess kit camp sewer. Dysentery was rampant, exacerbate sectional
Although Libby Prison was severely overcrowded, Union medical attention nonexistent, and hostility during
captives held there were comparatively well treated. rations sparse. Nearly 13,000 men Reconstruction .
These items were issued to Colonel John S. Crocker died there—30 percent of the prison’s Health issues
of the 93rd New York Volunteers upon his arrival. population. Andersonville became the dogged some of
the survivors for the

“ The sight is worse than any rest of their lives.

CRIMINAL OR SCAPEGOAT
HENRY WIRZ

sight of battlefields or any Henry Wirz, commander at Andersonville,

was tried by a U.S. military court and convicted

collections of the wounded, Mass grave at Andersonville

of “impairing the health and destroying
the lives of prisoners.” He was hanged in
November 1865, the only prison official on
even the bloodiest.” Prisoners lay one of their fellow inmates in one of the
mass graves outside the stockade. This was a daily duty
either side to be executed for war crimes.

WALT WHITMAN, ON RELEASED UNION PRISONERS OF WAR, SPECIMEN DAYS, 1882 for the men held at Andersonville.

123
 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

The Battle of Cold Harbor

Grant’s maneuvers were blocked once more by Lee’s army, which constructed a 7-mile (11-km) the Southern line. “Aim low and aim
line of fieldworks—the most daunting yet seen in the Overland Campaign—near the junction at Cold well,” one Confederate general advised
his troops. For a few minutes, the
Harbor. The only way to break through that line—so Grant thought—was to launch one massive assault. Confederate lines blazed with rifle fire.
Everywhere the Yankees fell back,

T
he dusty little hamlet of Cold the crossroads as Lee’s divisions began except where one division nearly
B E FOR E Harbor sat in country so flat that approaching from the north. Grant’s opened a breach, using a ravine for
only ravines cut by sluggish soldiers were marching along a parallel cover. This near-breakthrough
streams provided relief. Five roads track, but some of impressed Grant,
In the wake of Ulysses S. Grant’s masterly
disengagement from the North Anna River
❮❮ 118-119 , both armies continued their
radiated from the settlement like
wheel spokes, including two to the
southwest, which led over bridges
them had become
lost and were slow
coming up.
6,500 The estimated number of
Union soldiers who fell
who thought one
big push might
within the first hour of the charge at Cold divide the Army of
running battle, sparring southeastward. across the Chickahominy River to Although Lee’s Harbor on June 3, 1864—over one-quarter Northern Virginia.
Richmond, 8 miles (13km) away. line stretched of the 25,000 men sent to attack the He therefore
HAW’S SHOP On June 1, 1864, this hamlet saw nearly 7 miles Confederate fieldworks that morning. ordered a huge
General Robert E. Lee took up a strong position cavalry units fighting for its possession. (11km), from attack for June 2,
on the south bank of Totopotomoy Creek, with As the afternoon wore on, infantry Totopotomoy Creek in the north to the but not all the Union troops were in
Pamunkey River to the north and Chickahominy began arriving. Troopers in blue held banks of the Chickahominy, the place, so he reluctantly postponed to
River to the south. On May 28 he sent a cavalry leading elements managed to block the the following morning.
reconnaissance eastward to test Grant’s The Battle of Cold Harbor road to Richmond. Lee’s veterans dug That night Lee’s engineers
position. His men met Union horsemen near This postwar chromolithograph, issued by the firm in where they halted. Grant’s men strengthened their lines, shoring up
Haw’s Shop, a local forge, and the resulting Kurz and Allison, depicts the gruesome battle in the aligned opposite, and as evening fell weak spots and designing a broad
five-hour battle became one of the bloodiest stylized, romantic vein popular in the 1880s. the Union commander hurled them at zigzag pattern that created converging
cavalry engagements of the entire war.

BETHESDA CHURCH
On May 30 Grant pushed across Totopotomoy
Creek, seeking Lee’s right flank. The infantry of
both armies clashed at Bethesda Church.
Farther east, cavalry units fought at Old Church,
but the Confederate horsemen fell back on a
crossroads called Cold Harbor. Grant, believing
Lee’s lines unbreakable, was also casting an eye
on Cold Harbor. A major battle was shaping up.

TE C H N O LO GY

TRENCH WARFARE
Spending nearly two weeks—from June 1
to June 12, 1864—in flat open fields,
swept by artillery and sniper fire, soldiers
of both armies dug a complex maze of
trenches around the road junction at
Cold Harbor. Behind their parapets,
troops constructed bombproof shelters to
sleep in and excavated holes to build
fires. They filled gabions (open-ended
wickerwork cages) with dirt for shock
absorption—a technique they would
use again at Petersburg (pictured).
Rain turned the trenches into rivers, and
in the sun, blankets stretched between
bayoneted rifles screened the men.

124
 T H E B AT T L E O F C O L D H A R B O R

A F T ER
Union battery at Cold Harbor
During the battle of June 1, these Union Sixth Corps
gunners fought so close to the Confederate line that Continued bad news from the battlefields
they were nicknamed “Battery Insult.” kept support for the war discouragingly
low in the Northern states.
fields of fire, staked out with measured
distances so that the artillery could LINCOLN’S REELECTION IMPERILED
better estimate range. The art of field News of the carnage at Cold Harbor sapped
fortification that the Confederates had spirits at the Republican national convention,
been working on since Spotsylvania meeting on June 7–8 in Baltimore to nominate
was now perfected in the flat fields President Lincoln for a second term.
around Cold Harbor. Though there
was a steady patter of falling rain, the SHERMAN IMPEDED
ominous noise of the Confederate In Georgia, Joseph E. Johnston, withdrawing
soldiers strengthening their breastworks from one line of forbidding entrenchments to
carried hundreds of yards to the ears another, eluded Sherman’s traps, stalling Union
of waiting Union soldiers. Grim progress toward Atlanta 138-139 ❯❯.
premonitions swept through the ranks;
many men pinned their names to their SHATTERED CONFIDENCE
tunics so that burial parties would be Soldiers in the Army of the Potomac were so
better able to identify them. unnerved by the slaughter that, days later,
they balked at attacking the thinly defended
Battle resumes Across the nearly 7-mile (11-km) tools. The following day, Grant trenches outside Petersburg 126-127 ❯❯.
At 4:30 a.m. on June 3, the signal gun line, a mighty crash of Confederate conferred with Lee about collecting the
fired and some 25,000 Union soldiers cannon and rifle fire erupted that lit wounded, who had lain exposed for
emerged from their works and crossed up the dawn sky and rattled the over 24 hours. Grant refused to ask for
the muddy fields. Few of them had windows in Richmond. a formal truce, and Lee distrusted
time to study the Rebel breastworks. Volley after murderous volley tore Grant’s motives. For three days, dead
through the blue-clad ranks. Entire bodies lay on the fields. Under cover of
lines were cut down, and whole darkness some soldiers tried slipping
regiments disintegrated. In the midst of out to recover their moaning comrades.
the pandemonium, General Francis But with the battle lines sometimes
Barlow’s brigade briefly took a section only 150ft (45m) apart, sharpshooters
of the Confederate earthworks, amidst dared any man who raised his head.
a scene of sheer slaughter. In some Some tried digging trenches to reach
places only minutes passed before the wounded instead. Finally, on the DIGGING UP THE REMAINS OF THE FALLEN AT
survivors were pinned down by rifle evening of June 7, Grant asked for a COLD HARBOR, ONE YEAR AFTER THE BATTLE
fire as their officers formal truce and
urged them BREASTWORK A rapidly constructed, Lee agreed. By
forward in vain. temporary fortification, erected as a that time there
Yet Grant and defense in battle. The name comes were few
his staff remained from its walls being breast height. wounded still alive
unaware of the in the fields of
situation on the ground. Barlow’s festering corpses. Burial parties were
fleeting success only prompted more given tots of whiskey to help brace
orders to attack. The result was near them for their task.
mutiny among the generals, and it was News of the repulse at Cold Harbor
midday before Grant finally halted the came as a shattering blow to the North.
debacle. By then the full extent of After a month of bloody assaults, some
casualties was becoming known. While of Grant’s commanders were growing
some Confederate divisions reported no restive; far and wide he was being
casualties, the Union troops had been decried as a “butcher.” Grant never
decimated. Of the 6,500 to 7,000 men responded to the criticism. Two decades
felled during the first hour of battle that later, however, when he was writing his
morning, most had been hit during the memoirs, Grant, dying of throat cancer,
first fatal ten minutes. revealed his true feelings: “I have
always regretted that the last assault
The wounded abandoned at Cold Harbor was ever made.”
Among the casualties were masses of
wounded men strewn across the Berdan sharpshooter frock coat
ravaged fields. Still the Confederate Named for their commanding officer, Colonel Hiram
gunners kept firing. Survivors could Berdan, the 2nd U.S. Volunteer Sharpshooters were a
only dig in where they lay, using crack Union regiment. They fought at Cold Harbor, but
bayonets and tin cups as entrenching with less success than their Confederate counterparts.

“ I had seen nothing to exceed this.

It was not war; it was murder.”
CONFEDERATE GENERAL EVANDER MIVOR LAW

125
 Bridging the James River
Between June 14 and June 17, 1864, Union
engineers laid a pontoon bridge, employing
101 pontoons, to span a nearly half-mile
(800-m) wide stretch of the James River.

B E FOR E

The stalemate at Cold Harbor as the two

armies faced each other from their trenches
Grant Advances
to Petersburg
grew intolerable for both Grant and Lee.

GRANT LOOKS SOUTH

After Cold Harbor ❮❮ 124-125 , Grant
continued to refine his strategy. He ordered a
detachment of Sheridan’s cavalry to destroy
the railroads west and southwest of Having brilliantly extricated his Union army from Cold Harbor, Grant soon had many of his troops and
Richmond, knowing that Lee’s cavalry would supplies crossing the James River over a 2,100-ft (640-m) pontoon bridge. But his field commanders
set off in pursuit, leaving him temporarily
blind. Grant was planning an intricate move, failed to capture the key railroad junction of Petersburg before Lee and his army caught up with them.
with an eye on the railroad junction at

A
Petersburg, 20 miles (32km) south of s the night of June 12, 1864 fell especially the five railroads intersecting
Richmond and beyond the James River. on the ravaged fields around in Petersburg. To do this, however, he
Cold Harbor, Union soldiers were needed to steal a march south and
PETERSBURG’S DEFENSES quietly on the move. Once well to the cross the James River, which in places
The city was partially protected by formidable rear, they assembled into regiments was several miles wide.
fortifications, called the Dimmock Line, after and then into corps. At dawn, Lee
military engineer Charles Dimmock, who had received the astonishing news that the Feats of transportation
directed their construction in 1862. In May, Army of the Potomac had vanished While Grant was “all-observant, silent,
General P. G. T. Beauregard, in charge of the with the night. Grant decided to move inscrutable,” as one subordinate put it,
city’s defenses, had bottled up Butler’s Army of against the Confederate supply lines, the Eighteenth Corps under General
the James at Bermuda Hundred ❮❮ 120-131. William F. Smith marched northeast
That allowed him to send many of his troops to First attack at Petersburg to board troop transports waiting on
reinforce Lee, but left him with scant forces to On June 15, 1864 the Union Eighteenth Corps carried a the York River. Most of the infantry
defend Petersburg against a surprise attack. significant portion of the Dimmock Line, as depicted in marched south to the north shore of
this illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. the James River, and were ferried to
This initial success was not followed up. the opposite bank. The remainder—

126
 G R A N T A D V A N C E S TO P E T E R S B U R G

nervously. The assault was launched

that evening, and it was so Pa
N
m
un
ke ② Jun 12: Grant KEY
overwhelming that the triumphant Hanover yR
ive
r orders Army of the Union forces
Union troops captured great stretches Potomac to sidestep
Confederate forces
Richmond and head
of the Dimmock Line, forcing for Petersburg x x Dimmock Line
Beauregard back to find another (Confederate defenses)
BURNSIDE
defensible position. For a moment, White
Smith held the key to Petersburg, but House
Mechanicsville SMITH
he let it slip from his grasp. Convinced R i c h m o n d & Y o r k R i v e r Ra i l r
Cold Harbor o ad
that more Confederates opposed him ANDERSON
than was actually the case, he failed to Richmond
follow up his success. Beauregard SMITH
R ichm
ond & Da ④ Jun 14: Union
Railroa d n v i l l e

R i ch m o n d & Pe t e r s b u r g R a i l
A.P.HILL GRANT engineers lay
immense pontoon P
LEE
2,500 The approximate number

am
bridge over the

un
of troops at Beauregard’s James River

ke
① Jun 9: Butler

yR
disposal to man the defenses of Petersburg

ive
fails in attack

r
on June 15, 1864. Many of them were old on Petersburg’s ③ Jun 13–14:
thinly defended W.F. Smith’s corps is
men and young boys of the militia. fortifications Charles shipped down the
Bermuda

oa r
BUTLER Hundred City Pamunkey and up

d
⑧ Jun 18:
the James River
hastily dug a second line of defense, Reinforcements
from Lee’s army
his men frantically scraping the earth reach Petersburg
with bayonets and tin cups, while City
A
po Point ⑤ Jun 15:
Grant pushed his generals to “carry Petersburg

p
m Smith’s corps James River
iv e a t t o

xx
R
Petersburg before the enemy could r      x attacks Petersburg SMITH

xx
d
oa MEADE

xx
S o ut hs i d e R a i l r

x
reinforce its garrison.” x x xx xx
xx
⑥ Jun 16: Grant
Lee was temporarily confused. BEAUREGARD
sends three corps
No to reinforce Smith
“I do not know the position of Grant’s rfo
lk
army,” he wrote to his superiors in R a & Pe ⑦ Jun 17–18:
ilr te 0 km 5 10
oa rs Beauregard falls back to
d b
Richmond the next day. But ur
g second line of defense 0 miles 5 10
Beauregard, now fending off more
than 40,000 enemy troops, identified
the blue-clad soldiers confronting him Virginia began to arrive. Holding out From Cold Harbor to Petersburg
as belonging to the Army of the for four days, Beauregard had inflicted Grant’s advance to Petersburg was a triumph of logistics,
Potomac. On receiving that news, Lee as many casualties as he had men to but the men of the Army of the Potomac were too tired
sent his veterans hastening down the command. The Union soldiers were after the rigors of weeks of fighting and marching to
road to Petersburg. stymied, and so they dug in. “Grant has break through the city’s weak defenses.
pushed his Army to the extreme limit
Beauregard’s finest hour of human endurance,” one staff officer
one corps and one division, plus all Meanwhile, Grant had arrived in front complained privately. A F T ER
the artillery—crossed the river on a of the beleaguered city and ordered
pontoon bridge that had been erected another assault for that very evening. An opportunity missed
in only seven hours. The troops were Beauregard still held out. It had not Grant had maneuvered to Petersburg Grant had wanted to avoid a protracted
followed by 5,000 wagons, 56,000 been much of an attack: “Our men with great skill. But his exhausted siege at Petersburg, but his failure to take
horses and mules, and 2,800 head of are tired,” General Meade admitted. troops and subordinate commanders the city when the chance arose would
cattle. For three days an unbroken The following day, June 17, brought had missed a great opportunity. prolong the war into another year.
cavalcade plodded over the bridge. heavy fighting, but the attacks were Seemingly Grant had exchanged one
fitful. Beauregard kept the Union labyrinth of trenches at Cold Harbor NORTHERN DISILLUSION
Initial attacks assaults at bay, shifting his few troops for another at Petersburg. Lee’s war of attrition was wearing down the
Smith’s Eighteenth Corps was the first from pressure point to pressure point as North’s will to fight. Copperheads, Peace
to arrive, disembarking at City Point needed. By daybreak on June 18, the Petersburg from Lee’s headquarters Democrats, and other defeatist elements
on June 15 and marching 10 miles riflemen were firing with deadly An artist for the Illustrated London News sketched a were gaining support. If Lee could hold out
(16km) toward Petersburg. Behind the accuracy, for they repulsed yet another panorama of Petersburg and environs as seen by long enough, the issue might be decided by
Dimmock Line, General Beauregard’s dawn attack. That afternoon the lead General Lee and his staff, while they were “watching the presidential election ❮❮ 112-113 in
Confederate defenders waited elements of the Army of Northern the enemy’s movements through a field-glass.” November. Meanwhile, Grant kept extending
his Petersburg lines 130-131 ❯❯ to the south
and west, hoping to weaken Lee’s own lines and
capture his remaining railroads.

SOUTHERN VICTORIES
On June 10, Nathan Bedford Forrest routed
a force twice the size of his own at Brice’s
Crossroads, Mississippi 136-137 ❯❯, while on
June 11–12, Wade Hampton stopped Sheridan’s
troopers at Trevilian Station, Virginia. On
June 27, Sherman was defeated at Kennesaw
Mountain outside Atlanta 138-139 ❯❯,
while Jubal Early was preparing to march on
Washington 128-129 ❯❯. All in all, it was a
summer of doubt for the Union.

127
 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

The Valley Campaign

In the war’s final duel for control of the strategic Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, Confederate General Jubal
Early, whose soldiers briefly menaced Washington, D.C., was soundly defeated by General Philip Sheridan,
who darkened the Valley’s skies in what would become known as “The Burning.”

J
ubal Early was nothing if not with Ulysses S. Grant at Petersburg, in command of all the troops in the
audacious. In June 1864, having Virginia. Early planned to threaten field,” Grant declared, “with instructions
won control of the Shenandoah Washington, D.C., and perhaps draw off to follow the enemy to the death.”
Valley, he planned to take his Army some of Grant’s soldiers. Crossing the It proved to be a pivotal decision.
of the Valley—Stonewall Jackson’s Potomac River, Early brushed aside “Little Phil”—as the diminutive
old Second Corps—on an invasion of Union forces on July 9 at the Battle of Sheridan was affectionately known—
the North. Monocacy. Three days later, his men entered the Valley near Harpers Ferry
Having scattered his enemies—some marched down Rockville Pike toward in August at the head of the Army of
into the mountains of West Virginia— Washington’s defenses. Though the the Shenandoah, nearly 40,000
Early seized the opportunity to relieve fortifications were manned by a force soldiers strong. Encamped outside
pressure on Robert E. Lee, struggling of militiamen twice the size of Early’s Winchester, Early marched and
countermarched his heavily
outnumbered troops, hoping the
resulting dust clouds would create
the impression of a much larger force.
Sheridan bided his time, and struck
on September 19.
The Third Battle of Winchester was
a bloody, daylong fight that surged
back and forth across rolling fields.
Though they repulsed a number of
Union assaults, the Confederates
finally broke when cavalry attacked
their flanks. Having suffered nearly
40 percent casualties, Early’s troops
streamed back through the streets of
Winchester and entrenched on Fisher’s
Hill, 15 miles (24km) to the south.
Chambersburg in ruins army, the city itself was on the verge Three days later, at sunset on
Hundreds of buildings were destroyed when, on July 30, of hysteria. The Confederates were so September 22, Sheridan attacked at
1864, much of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, was close that they could see the Capitol Fisher’s Hill. The Union soldiers
torched by Confederate cavalry in retaliation for Union dome from their bivouac. But with scrambled over rocks, walls, and felled
depredations in Virginia and failure to pay a ransom. thousands of Union reinforcements trees with their commander urging
arriving from Petersburg, Early turned them on: “Forward! Forward by residents as “The Burning.” Far and
and soon recrossed the Potomac. He everything! Go on, don’t stop, go wide, immense pillars of smoke arose
B EFOR E had sown panic and depleted Grant’s on!” Outflanked again, Early’s men as every barn, stable, mill, haystack,
Petersburg lines, and had also destroyed abandoned their positions, losing more and supply of forage went up in flames.
railroads and telegraph stations. than 1,000, and were chased deep into Some 2,000 barns and 120 mills with
Once famous far and wide for its Back in the Shenandoah Valley, the night by their relentless foe. their stocks of grain and flour were
beauty, the Shenandoah Valley had Early continued defeating scattered consumed by fire. Countless fences,
been ravaged by two years of war. Union incursions. On July 24, over the Utter devastation wagons, and farming implements were
same fields and fences where Stonewall Sheridan next turned his attention to destroyed. Livestock was run off.
A STRATEGIC PAWN Jackson once fought, he vanquished the surrounding landscape, whose crops Hundreds of square miles of once-
For the Union, the Valley had been a potential Federal forces at the Second Battle of had been supplying the Confederate beautiful farmland were wrecked and
backdoor route to Richmond; to the South, it was Kernstown. He then sent his cavalry, army. Grant had ordered him to “turn scorched. There was little that the
the “breadbasket of the Confederacy” and commanded by John A. McCausland, the valley into such a barren waste that Confederacy could do about it. Partisan
the natural invasion route to the North. across the Potomac again. On the even a crow flying over it would have activities by cavalry commander John
morning of July 30, the troopers rode to carry his own rations.” As the torches Mosby’s group and others only brought
CONFEDERATE CONTROL into Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, were handed out, his soldiers began reprisals. When Early’s cavalry pressed
In June, Union general David Hunter, who demanding $100,000 in gold as igniting the many fires that, taken too close, it was driven off at the Battle
replaced Franz Sigel after the Battle of New compensation for General David together, would always be remembered of Tom’s Brook on October 9. George
Market ❮❮ 120-121 , advanced back up the Hunter’s burning of Virginia homes the
Shenandoah Valley and put many buildings
and homes to the torch, outraging Virginians.
Approaching the Confederate supply depot at
previous month. When the ransom
could not be produced, McCausland
torched the town.
“He just moved around our
Lynchburg, he was defeated on June 17–18 by
General Jubal Early, commander of the new The Union response
flank, swept down upon it, and
Army of the Valley. Hunter retreated into West
Virginia, leaving the Valley to Early.
The North was incensed, as was
General Grant, who summoned his
pugnacious cavalry chief, Philip
whipped us out of existence.”
Sheridan. “I want Sheridan to be put CONFEDERATE GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON, ON SHERIDAN’S VICTORY AT CEDAR CREEK

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 T H E V A L L E Y C A M PA I G N

A F T ER
Custer torching the Valley
War artist Alfred Waud sketched General
George Custer’s division retiring from the With Sheridan’s triumph at Cedar
Mount Jackson area on October 7, 1864, Creek, the guns began to fall silent on
burning agricultural resources along the way. one of the most significant battlegrounds
of the war.
mountain trail as they rounded
the lightly picketed Union left THE VALLEY REDEEMED
flank. Dawn on the 19th Having been disputed for nearly three years,
opened with a Rebel yell and a the Shenandoah Valley, cleared of Confederate
thunder of guns. The Union armies and ravaged agriculturally, ceased to
soldiers were caught literally be of strategic importance. Union military
in their beds. Thousands fled activity was largely relegated to chasing partisans
to the rear in panic. Wagons, and the ever-elusive Confederate guerilla leader,
supplies, some 24 cannons, John Singleton Mosby, and his men.
and 20 battle flags fell to
Early’s men; but barefoot, CAMPAIGNS MILITARY AND POLITICAL
famished, and in rags, most of Sheridan’s victories at Winchester, Fisher’s
them turned aside to plunder, Hill, and Cedar Creek, coming on the heels
and Early called off the of Farragut’s triumph at Mobile Bay
pursuit. “This is glory enough 134-135 ❯❯ and Sherman’s capture of Atlanta
for one day!” he exulted. 138-139 ❯❯, bolstered President Lincoln’s
Increasingly alarmed, chances for re-election 112-113 ❯❯.
Sheridan arrived at the scene
to see the shambles of his TWILIGHT OF AN ARMY
army pouring rearward. After Cedar Creek, Early’s demoralized divisions
Ordering up fresh troops regrouped and lingered through the winter
from Winchester, Sheridan of 1864–65 near Staunton, at the headwaters
rode along the wagon- of the Shenandoah River. On March 2, 1865, at
thronged Valley Pike, the Battle of Waynesboro, Sheridan defeated
cursing, cajoling, coaxing, “Old Jube” for the last time, capturing 1,600
and cheering; waving his hat men and 11 guns, almost all that was left of the
forward. “Come on back, Confederate Army of the Valley.
boys! Give ‘em hell, God
damn ‘em! We’ll make
coffee out of Cedar Creek
tonight!” Increasing his pace
C O N F E D E R AT E G E N E R A L 1 8 1 6 - 9 4
almost to a gallop, he kept it
up for nearly 12 miles JUBAL ANDERSON EARLY
(19km), roaring
encouragements and
waving his hat, until by
some miracle of inspiration the army
Armstrong Custer’s jeering horsemen Sheridan realized, and had lost none of began to steady, then to reform its lines.
nicknamed the galloping stampede the his audacity. Though outnumbered four By 4:30 p.m., the tide was turning. An
“Woodstock Races” as the Confederates to one, he still hoped to prevent overwhelming wave of bluecoats then
retreated for more than 20 miles (32km). Sheridan from reinforcing Grant, and rolled back into its former camps. In the
planned a surprise attack on the Union chaos, the Confederates turned in flight.
The Battle of Cedar Creek army encamped behind Cedar Creek, As Union cavalry slashed at their flanks,
Secure in his control of the lower 12 miles (19km) south of Winchester. fleeing soldiers clogged the Valley Pike so
valley, and believing Early’s divisions to On the night of October 18, as
have withdrawn, Sheridan departed for
Washington. But Early was closer than
Sheridan arrived back in Winchester,
Early’s men were hugging a precipitous 435,802 The number of
bushels of wheat
that were destroyed or seized by Sheridan’s
troops in the valley, along with 77,176
bushels of corn, and 874 barrels of flour.

thickly that at one place a small bridge Arrogant and acerbic, rumpled and
collapsed. Everything the Confederates careless of appearance, Early was a
had captured, and more, they now lost, graduate of West Point who had quit the
to the point where Early’s army nearly Army to become a country lawyer. With
ceased to exist. “When we left the field the outbreak of the Civil War, the native
that evening,” General John B. Gordon Virginian returned to uniform as an
acknowledged, “the Confederacy had outstanding Confederate brigade and
retired from the Shenandoah.” divisional commander, seeing action at
First and Second Bull Run, Antietam,
The Battle of Fisher’s Hill Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and other
A period Currier & Ives lithograph depicts the moment major battles. Lee called him “my bad
when Federal cavalry drove Confederates from their old man” for his profanity, but prized his
entrenchments during the Battle of Fisher’s Hill, craftiness, resolve, and fearlessness.
September 22, 1864.

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 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

B E FOR E

Since May 1864 the Union Army of the

Potomac and the Confederate Army of
Northern Virginia had been fighting each
The Siege of Petersburg
other north of the James River.
The battle for Petersburg was fought over months of siege warfare. Union general Ulysses S. Grant and
Confederate general Robert E. Lee matched each other earthwork for earthwork—over 100 miles (160km)
TRENCH WARFARE
Union troops assaulted Confederate forces altogether—though Grant continually tried to break the stalemate by stretching Lee’s lines to breaking point.
that were firmly planted behind cunningly

I
contrived earthworks. But as the soldiers n June 1864, Lee remarked to his Inside the mine
settled into the Richmond-Petersburg lines, the staff that if Grant managed to War artist Alfred Waud made this sketch with
Confederate mastery of field fortifications cross the James River and arrive accompanying notes. It shows Lieutenant Colonel
was soon matched by that of the Union before Petersburg, “it will become a Henry Pleasants as he supervised the laying of powder
armies. Stalemate loomed. siege, and then it will be a mere kegs in the mine shaft that later became the Crater.
question of time.” By July the

88,000 The estimated

number of total
casualties—killed, wounded, captured,
military situation had indeed taken
on all the appearance of a siege. For
35 miles (56km), a curving line of
remained behind, they quickly
became disorganized. In the ensuing
chaos, the Confederates recovered
and missing—incurred by both armies entrenchments stretched from north enough to mount counterattacks,
during the six weeks’ fighting from the of Richmond to west of Petersburg— and the Battle of the Crater, as it
Battle of the Wilderness to Cold Harbor. a labyrinth of front lines, secondary would be called, degenerated into a
lines, bombproof shelters, rifle pits, and savage struggle. Screaming men
SUPPLY LINES small forts, or redoubts, scarred the flat pounded each other, amid
After failing to defeat Lee in open battle, Grant landscape. Sharpshooters ruled this cries of “No quarter!”
shifted his strategy, hoping to sever the denuded world, picking off the Black Union troops,
Confederate supply lines—the railroads unwary. Artillery always trapped in the crater,
running to the south and west that kept the thundered somewhere. It were shot down even
Army of Northern Virginia in the field. was a life lived almost entirely after surrendering. One
During the siege of Vicksburg ❮❮ 96-97 underground. Dirt, mud, sun, Southerner later
Grant had tightened a ring around the rain, wind, and sky—and the recalled with horror:
defending army so no supplies could get in occasional whizzing bullet— “My heart sickened at
and starved it into submission—a tactic that he marked its boundaries. the deeds I saw done.”
would pursue again. Those Union survivors
Mining the line who had not been
As the standoff settled into a captured fled back to
lethal stalemate, members of the their own lines. Grant admitted that
48th Pennsylvania Volunteers, who gunpowder, totaling four tons of it was “the saddest affair I witnessed
C O N F E D E R AT E G E N E R A L 1 8 2 5 – 6 5
had been coal miners in civilian life, charge, sandbagged to direct the in the war.”
AMBROSE POWELL HILL persuaded their commander, Lieutenant force upward. The miners retraced
Colonel Henry Pleasants, a mining their steps, unwinding a 98-ft (30-m) Railroads and a cattle raid
Hill’s name was on both Robert E. Lee’s engineer, that it was possible to dig a fuse. The plan was to break the enemy Grant redoubled his efforts around
and Stonewall Jackson’s dying lips, such mine beneath a Confederate redoubt line in an instant, then exploit the the armies’ edges, seeking to thin the
was the impression the slight, red- called Elliott’s Salient, pack it with breach with waves of assault troops Confederate lines until they broke.
bearded “Little Powell” made as a fighter. explosives, and blow a hole in the who would pour through the On August 18–21, Major General
The Virginian Hill and his Light Division enemy lines. Though doubting its punctured works and roll up the Gouverneur K. Warren’s Fifth Corps
saved the day in numerous closely fought usefulness, Grant eventually approved Confederate army.
battles, including the Seven Days Battles.
As commander of the Third Corps, Hill
was one of Lee’s most trusted lieutenants
the scheme.
Digging began on June 25 and by
July 17 the miners had excavated a
At 4:45 a.m., on July 30, Elliott’s
Salient erupted in an earthshaking roar,
a blast that carried skyward men,
38 The number of black regiments at
the siege of Petersburg. Secretary
of War Edwin Stanton stated, “The hardest
before being killed in action outside 510-ft (155-m) shaft, ending directly cannons, gun carriages, and tons of fighting was done by the black troops.”
Petersburg—barely a week before the beneath Elliott’s Salient, only 20ft earth. When the dust had cleared, the
Confederate surrender at Appomattox. (6m) above them. They had cleverly Salient was gone, replaced by a 170-ft seized another of Lee’s arteries to the
concealed their work, devising (52-m) long crater, nearly 80ft (24m) south. In the Battle of the Weldon
ingenious ways to provide ventilation. wide and 30ft (9m) deep. The assault Railroad, troops of General A. P. Hill’s
But the inevitable noise had alerted the troops clambered out of their trenches, Third Corps slammed into Warren’s,
Confederates who sank countermines reached the edge of the crater, then forcing them back into open fields.
in response. Those went wide of the halted, stupefied at the sight of There the Union infantry held, despite
mark, so the Pennsylvanians dug lateral shattered men and guns strewn across Hill’s repeated assaults—and held the
tunnels—like the crossbar on a “T”— its bottom. Other troops managed to get railroad too.
which they packed with 230 kegs of around it, but since their leaders had Loss of the Weldon Railroad raised
the specter of starvation for Lee’s

“ Hold on with a bulldog grip, soldiers. In mid-September, General

Wade Hampton and 4,000 troopers
rode around the Army of the Potomac,

and chew and choke as much almost as far as Grant’s massive supply
depot at City Point. They raided the
Union cattle corral, rustling some 2,000
as possible.” head and, driving the herd back the
way they had come, managed to lose
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN A TELEGRAM TO ULYSSES S. GRANT, AUGUST 17, 1864 only 60 men.

130
Taunting the enemy Railroad, only to be beaten back by A. P. the casualty rolls. Lee desperately
Winslow Homer’s Defiance: Inviting a Shot Before Hill and Wade Hampton in a brutal struggled to keep his remaining supply A F T ER
Petersburg (1864) shows a Confederate soldier standing two-day fight at Peebles’ Farm. line, the South Side Railroad, from
on the earthworks taunting Union sharpshooters. On On October 27, Grant’s Second being severed.
one such occasion the man was instantly shot. Corps and part of his Fifth Corps, with In the second half of 1864, while generals
a cavalry screen, reached out even Dark winter days Grant and Lee were locked in the Richmond-
That fall, Grant continued his war of farther west in an attempt to cut the As winter set in, Lee faced another Petersburg lines, events elsewhere were
maneuver. On September 29–30, Union Boydton Plank Road, an important worry: desertion. Union pickets knew turning the tide for the Union.
forces took Fort Harrison, a key bastion link to the southwest. By exploiting that “Johnnie Reb” (the archetypal
in the Richmond defenses. At the same a gap between the two corps, the Southerner) was waiting for the results A ROUND OF UNION VICTORIES
time, on the other end of the line, a Confederates succeeded in turning of the presidential election in the Union successes continued until late in the
Union reconnaissance force pushed their enemies back, though several North. After Lincoln prevailed, hope year. In December 1864, General George H.
3 miles (5km) west of the Weldon thousand more names were added to went out of the Army of Northern Thomas destroyed the remnants of the
Virginia. Each day for months on Confederate Army of Tennessee at Franklin
end, the incessant shelling continued. and Nashville 142-143 ❯❯. General William
Nerves were breaking. Self-inflicted T. Sherman captured not just Atlanta, but
gunshot wounds, and occasional Savannah as well, at Christmas. This set the
suicides, were reported. At night, stage for him to lead his victorious troops
scores of men disappeared, some to the state where the war had started:
coming into the Union lines to South Carolina 150-151 ❯❯. The destruction
surrender. A truce was called at of the capital, Columbia, was another example
Christmas, and soldiers emerged from of total war.
the trenches without fear of snipers.
Robert E. Lee’s winter of discontent THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX
was upon him, and the prospects for The Petersburg stalemate continued until
spring looked bleak. April 1865, when Grant, having outdug
and outgunned Lee, finally shattered the
Union artillery shelling Confederate right flank 152-153 ❯❯. This
The near-daily bombardment of Petersburg made most forced the beleaguered Army of Northern
of its citizens refugees. More than 800 buildings were Virginia out of its entrenchments and onto
struck by shells, while many others were hit by the road to Appomattox .
fragments. In spite of this, probably fewer than half a
dozen residents were killed.

131
 The first cruise of the Sumter
This 19th-century lithograph shows the commerce
raider CSS Sumter eluding USS Brooklyn to break
through the Federal blockade at the mouth of
the Mississippi River, on June 30, 1861.

B E FOR E

Confederate secretary of the Navy, Stephen

Mallory, believed that raids on U.S.
Confederate Raiders
maritime commerce might hurt Northern
It was not enough for Southern blockade-runners to elude the U.S. Navy squadrons patrolling
business interests, deprive the North of inshore waters around the ports of the Confederacy. Fast and graceful Confederate blockade-runners
war material, and weaken the blockade.
and raiders also took to the high seas to circumvent U.S. maritime commerce around the world.
THE PRIVATEERING TRADITION
Privateering was a time-honored if not-quite- When, in June 1861, Captain Raphael ended one October night in 1864 when, long, sleek, and very fast. She carried
honorable practice in use since at least the 16th Semmes and CSS Sumter left the anchored in the neutral port of Bahia, eight guns, and, while capable of 13
century. With a Letter of Marque and Reprisal Mississippi River for the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, she was commandeered by knots under both steam and sail, made
issued by a belligerent government, a privately outrunning the ships of the Union daring Union sailors—while most most of her captures under sail alone.
owned ship could raid enemy commercial blockade, he was following Stephen of her crew was ashore—and sailed In the sea lanes between Newfoundland
shipping. Captured ships became prizes, subject Mallory’s instructions to “do the to the United States. and Bermuda and through the West
to adjudication by a recognized court. enemy’s commerce the greatest injury Indies into the Gulf of Mexico, the
In 1861, the Confederate government issued in the shortest time.” Unrivaled success Alabama ravaged U.S. merchant
Letters of Marque to privateers daring enough to Across the Atlantic in England, Another legend began life in a Liverpool shipping. She also hunted along the
elude the Federal blockade ❮❮ 42-43 . Most James D. Bulloch, a Confederate agent, shipyard as Hull 290 before sailing for coasts of Brazil and Africa, and even
neutral nations, however, refused to allow prizes had a similar brief: “Get cruising ships the Azores in July 1864 as the Enrica. sailed across the Indian Ocean to Java
to be brought into their ports. The Lincoln afloat,” Mallory had told him, “with the On August 24, her new captain, the and Singapore.
administration, moreover, did not recognize quickest possible dispatch.” While redeployed Raphael Semmes, hoisted A raider usually approached her
the Confederacy as a legitimate nation and Semmes made his name in the Sumter, the Confederate ensign and target flying a British or Dutch ensign,
threatened to hang its privateers as pirates. Bulloch managed to circumvent both commissioned her as CSS Alabama. or flag. Only at close range was the
Those willing to run the risk soon discovered that British neutrality laws and U.S. The Alabama was the epitome of Confederate ensign run up. Semmes
more money was to be made in blockade- diplomatic protests to procure 18 ships. the Confederate commerce raider—a boarded nearly 450 ships in Alabama’s
running, than in privateering. Eleven became blockade-runners, three-masted, bark-rigged sloop-of-war, two years at sea, 65 of them U.S.
seven commerce raiders. Three ships merchantmen or whalers. He burned
COMMERCE RAIDERS became legends. most of the ships, but not before
Confederate navy secretary Mallory had little removing their crews, whom he
confidence in privateers. The alternative was to The Florida placed aboard neutral ships or
entrust the task to fast naval ships. With no The first of the legends was built in ashore in neutral ports. At any
cruisers, Mallory converted steamships, like Liverpool, England, as the Oreto, but given time, up to a dozen Union
CSS Sumter, and sent agents abroad to off a deserted cay in the Bahamas the
procure, clandestinely, well-designed and ship took on arms and, in August 1862, Sailor’s flat cap
well-armed commerce raiders. became CSS Florida. During the next 14 The Civil War brought standardization to naval uniforms.
months, cruising mostly in the West Clothes became practical; fabrics repelled dirt and provided
Indies, Florida took 38 prizes. Her career protection against the elements.

132
 C O N F E D E R AT E R A I D E R S

ships were hunting the Alabama. Huge

C O N F E D E R AT E S E A C A P TA I N 1809–77
crowds came to see the famous ship
when she anchored in Cape Town in RAPHAEL SEMMES
August 1863. But the days of this raider
were doomed to be short. On June 11, “Old Beeswax,” as his sailors called Semmes
1864, the Alabama sought haven in after his waxed mustaches, was a native of
Cherbourg, France. After 22 months, the state of Maryland and a U.S. naval
mostly spent at sea, both crew and ship officer. At the outbreak of war, he followed
were in need of rest and repair. Three his adopted state of Alabama into the
days later, the sloop-of-war USS Confederacy. He first won fame by taking
Kearsarge appeared outside the harbor. 18 prizes as captain of CSS Sumter. After
Her commander, Captain John that ship was trapped in Gibraltar, the
Winslow, had been a shipmate of dashing Semmes escaped to England,
Semmes when they were both young. where he took command of the fabled
Alabama, the most successful commerce
The sinking of the Alabama raider of the war. In 1865, back in Virginia,
“My intention is to fight the Kearsarge Semmes was given command of the James
as soon as I can make the necessary River Squadron; but its sailors were soon
arrangements,” Semmes wrote to a U.S. turned into makeshift infantry, and when he
diplomat through an intermediary. “I surrendered them in April, he was holding
beg she will not depart until I am ready the rank of brigadier general.
to go out.” On June 19, dressed in his
finest uniform, Semmes sailed the
Alabama out into the English Channel, Boarding ax had driven insurance rates sky high
where the Kearsarge was waiting Boarders used this multipurpose ax to help and forced many vessels to adopt
just beyond the 3-mile (4.8-km) them climb onto enemy vessels when dueling foreign registry. Nor did their activity
territorial limit. Thousands ships lay alongside each other. It was also a draw many Union ships away from
thronged the Normandy handy weapon and a tool for clearing blockading the Southern waterways,
cliffs to watch the duel, decks of torn rigging and much affect the blockade. At any
which lasted little broken timbers. one time, only a few score Union
more than an hour. warships out of the hundreds on
Maneuvering slowly blockade duty were hunting for
around each other, the the raiders—barely a dozen—that
combatants were soon crossed from the embarked on the high seas.
engulfed in smoke. The Alabama Cape of Good Hope to
fired 370 rounds, but many were too Australia and then sailed
high or failed to explode. The Kearsarge far into the Pacific, where she
fired only 173 shots, but with her preyed upon Yankee whalers A F T ER
superior gunnery they had telling venturing north to the Aleutian
effect, first disabling the raider’s Islands and the Arctic Ocean. In June
steering mechanism and then 1865, still taking prizes (some 37 in Most Confederate commerce raiders were
tearing a gash in her side at the all), Waddell read in a newspaper lost during or soon after the war, but their
waterline. about General legacy still lingers.
Water poured Not a single U.S. merchant sailor lost his Lee’s surrender.
into the life as a result of the Alabama’s raids On August 2, off THE ALABAMA CLAIMS
Alabama, and on commercial shipping. the coast of After the war, the U.S. government claimed war
the ship California, he damages from Britain for compromising her
struck her colors (lowered her flag confirmed that the Confederacy had neutrality by knowingly permitting the Alabama
as a sign of surrender) before indeed collapsed. Disarming his ship, and the Florida to be built in England. The
sinking stern first. The Kearsarge he avoided U.S. ports, where piracy dispute escalated to a dangerous level, with
recovered most of the survivors, charges awaited. Instead, he steered some senators demanding that Britain relinquish
but a number of the Alabama’s for Cape Horn, and on to Britain, a Canada as payment, before the 1871 Treaty of
officers, including Semmes, were voyage of nearly 19,000 miles Washington established an international
rescued by a British yacht and (30,000km). tribunal to arbitrate the “Alabama Claims.” In
escaped to England. On November 5, 1865, the battered the end, the U.S. was awarded $15.5 million,
Shenandoah steamed up the Mersey and the case helped introduce the principle of
Last of the raiders River into the English port of Liverpool. arbitration in matters of international law.
James Bulloch, the Confederate At 10 a.m. the following day, the ship’s
agent, put one more famous raider ensign was hauled down—the last FINAL RESTING PLACES
to sea. Since tightened neutrality Confederate flag to be struck, and the The Florida sank in 1864, after a collision off
laws made it impossible to build only one to have circumnavigated the Newport News, Virginia—possibly a deliberate
another vessel in Britain, he globe. Waddell then surrendered his act to keep the ship from being returned to Brazil
converted one instead. The Sea ship to British authorities. and re-entering Confederate service. The
King departed London in After the war, the U.S. government Shenandoah was sold by the U.S. government
October 1864—ostensibly for took stock of the damage to its to the Sultan of Zanzibar, renamed El Majidi, and
Bombay and points east. Fitted with maritime commerce. Confederate sank in the 1870s after a typhoon drove it onto
Confederate navy frock coat guns and munitions, she became CSS raiders had taken 257 merchant ships an East African reef. And in 1984, the French
This typical Confederate officer’s frock coat belonged Shenandoah. Captained by James and whalers, about five percent of the navy discovered the Alabama lying beneath
to Lieutenant William F. Robinson of the Confederate Waddell, the ship spent the next year nation’s merchant marine. Though the 200ft (60m) of water off Cherbourg.
States Navy, who served on various ships in the waters cruising seas unexplored by former raiders did not wreak the havoc that
around New Orleans and Mobile. commerce raiders. Sailing south, she Stephen Mallory had hoped for, they

133
 B E FOR E
Early on in the war, the Confederate
government decided not to defend the
entire coast but instead to concentrate its
The Battle of Mobile Bay
efforts on holding the major harbors.
Union Admiral David Farragut’s advance into Mobile Bay resulted in the destruction of a Confederate
naval squadron and, more importantly, closed one of the last ports available to blockade-runners.
VITAL PORT
After the loss of New Orleans in April 1862 Mobile itself remained in Confederate hands but it could no longer be used as a supply center.
❮❮ 54-55 , Mobile became the principal

T
Confederate port on the Gulf Coast and the base he Battle of Mobile Bay was three forts to shield Mobile from troops. Although the forts were well
for the blockade-runners operating the a significant defeat for the possible enemy fleets. Standing at the positioned to repel any seaborne
important link with Cuba that brought in Confederacy. It was fought mouth of Mobile Bay was the massive invasion, they were vulnerable to
much-needed supplies. principally on August 5, 1864, though Fort Morgan, a brick edifice completed an assault from their rear.
follow-up actions continued later into in 1834 and defended by 46 guns and a Farragut’s mission in 1864 was
IRONCLAD BATTLE the month. garrison of 600. Pentagonal-shaped to destroy the Confederate fleet in
The first clash between armored ships, or Mobile Bay is located where the Fort Gaines was situated on Dauphin Alabama, commanded by Admiral
“ironclads,” was the inconclusive Battle of Mobile and Tensaw rivers meet before Island, directly opposite Fort Morgan. Franklin Buchanan. His small fleet
Hampton Roads in March 1862 ❮❮ 52-53 . they enter the Gulf of Mexico. Before Fort Gaines mounted 26 guns and included the formidable ironclad
In this famous engagement CSS Virginia, an the Civil War, as part of a plan to could also accommodate 600 troops. CSS Tennessee, with its heavy armor
iron-plated warship commanded by Admiral strengthen its coastal defenses, the The smallest of the three was Fort plating, and three smaller ships;
Franklin Buchanan, took on the newly designed, United States government had erected Powell, with 18 guns and space for 140 Farragut commanded four monitors
shallow-draft USS Monitor, but neither could
inflict significant damage on the other. Buchanan Union Navy telescope
led the Southern force at Mobile Bay. Alongside the compass and sextant, the portable folding
telescope was an essential naval accoutrement. Most
officers had two telescopes, a day and a night model.

134
 T H E B AT T L E O F M O B I L E B AY

KEY MOMENT

SURRENDER OF THE TENNESSEE

The CSS Tennessee was the pride of the foreground) had her funnel shot away,
Confederate fleet stationed at Mobile Bay. reducing engine power, and her rudder
In the final conflict she went head to head mechanism destroyed. Then the Union
with Admiral Farragut’s flagship, USS Hartford, monitor Chickasaw began a relentless
and came close to ramming her, but could close-range fire. The Tennessee’s armor held
only manage a glancing blow. Pounded from but the crew was powerless to fight back.
all sides by the Hartford and the other Admiral Buchanan himself was wounded
wooden Union ships, the Tennessee (in the and had no option but to surrender.

unsinkable due to her heavy armor, the

Tennessee was too slow to ram any A F T ER
invading ships. As the fleets battled in
the waters of Mobile Bay, most of the
Union vessels concentrated on The Union victory at Mobile Bay was one of
disabling the Tennessee, pummeling it a series of Southern defeats in the summer
Steaming into Mobile Bay with heavy guns and making repeated of 1864 that helped ensure Lincoln’s
Julian Oliver Davidson’s Battle of Mobile Bay (1886) attempts to ram her. victory in the upcoming election.
shows Farragut’s warships and ironclads exchanging The Tennessee gave as good as she
fire with Fort Morgan on the left. The Union monitor got. While Union cannonballs bounced FORTS CAPTURED
Tecumseh, on the right, has hit a mine and is sinking. off the iron plating, the Tennessee’s Victorious at sea, the Union forces completed the
broadsides ravaged the wooden hulls of capture of Forts Morgan, Gaines, and
her adversaries. But the sheer volume Powell by the end of the month. Together
of Union firepower soon began to tell. with Sherman’s capture of Atlanta in late August
and 14 wooden vessels. In the light Buchanan’s three other ships had and Union advances on other fronts, Farragut’s
of dawn on August 5, Farragut either sunk, surrendered, or escaped to success maintained the crushing Union
concluded that conditions were Mobile. Soon the Tennessee, rammed pressure on the South.
ideal to attack. repeatedly and facing 157 Union guns,
The Confederates had deployed was too damaged to continue resisting. SEALING THE BLOCKADE
mines at the entrance to the bay. With her surrender, the fighting came The last port on the Atlantic seaboard was
If an invading fleet were to avoid these to a halt. It was an overwhelming Wilmington, North Carolina, through which
“torpedoes,” it would have to steer Union victory, but not without cost. some supplies could reach Lee’s embattled Army
dangerously close to the forts. Though of Northern Virginia. After the powerful
one of his monitors, the Tecumseh, Final toll Confederate ship CSS Albemarle was sunk in
struck a mine and quickly sank, By the end of the battle, 150 Union October, Union forces were able to close
Farragut ordered the rest of his ships sailors were killed, many of them in the in on Wilmington’s outpost Fort Fisher. The first
to steam straight through the sinking of the Tecumseh, and 170 were attacks in December were unsuccessful, but a
minefield at full speed. No other wounded. Only 12 Confederate sailors renewed assault in January 1865 brought
vessels were damaged, since many were killed and 19 wounded. Fort Fisher’s surrender 150-151 ❯❯.
of the mines had corroded. As the

“ Damn the
ships passed the guns of Fort Morgan, PETERSBURG CAMPAIGN
they came under heavy fire. On the war’s main land battlefront around
Admiral Buchanan, hoping to Petersburg, Virginia, Grant’s relentless siege
intercept the Union fleet, then torpedoes! was supplemented by a series of attacks
steamed out in his flagship, around the perimeter of the Petersburg position.
CSS Tennessee. Believed to be Full speed These failed to encircle Petersburg itself and
were halted in late October as winter set in.

Farragut’s service dress

ahead.” Full-scale fighting was resumed in late March
1865, when the Confederate forces were
This wool jacket and cap with a leather brim were ATTRIBUTED TO DAVID FARRAGUT, ON BEING quickly defeated 152-153 ❯❯.
worn by Farragut while directing the fire of the TOLD THAT MOBILE BAY CONTAINED HIDDEN
Hartford at Mobile Bay. MINES (“TORPEDOES”), AUGUST 5, 1854

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 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

Mississippi Operations
Union control of the Mississippi River had split the South in half. But large Confederate forces under force twice his size, Forrest captured
generals Richard Taylor and Sterling Price guarded the lands to the west of the river, while to wagons, cannons, ammunition cases,
provisions, and prisoners.
the east cavalry leader Nathan Bedford Forrest posed a constant threat to Northern troops. Sherman then dispatched an entire
corps under General Andrew J. Smith,

F
or Union general William T. Fort Pillow to the north of Memphis, who reached as far south as Tupelo,
Sherman, the Red River Campaign he appeared to condone the massacre Mississippi, before deciding to dig in.
of March–May 1864 was one of many of its black soldiers. On July 14–15, Forrest, reinforced with
“damn blunder from beginning to end.” As spring turned to summer, the infantry, threw charge after charge
General Nathaniel Banks’s target was Confederate forces in Mississippi, against Smith’s earthworks, but each
Shreveport, Louisiana, the Confederate guarding the western approaches to was repulsed, and Smith managed to
headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi the South’s vital Selma Arsenal in withdraw in good order. Forrest had
West, standing on the Red River, a Alabama, were increasingly needed in been kept from attacking Sherman’s
tributary of the Mississippi. But he was the campaign against Sherman, who supply line, and the Union commanders
routed by Richard Taylor at the Battle had begun to move on Atlanta. Forrest in Memphis, protected by 6,000 troops,
of Mansfield on April 8. Although spurred northward to raid Sherman’s could congratulate themselves on a
Banks rallied the next day to fend off long supply line, which snaked back victory. Yet on August 21, the “Wizard”
Taylor at Pleasant Hill, Union
reinforcements from Arkansas were
also defeated, spelling doom for the
expedition. On the campaign’s naval
“ There will never be peace
front, Admiral David D. Porter’s
gunboats were stranded upriver by in Tennessee until Forrest
low water. They only escaped after the
William T. “Bloody Bill” Anderson
The most notorious of the Missouri “bushwhackers”
herculean efforts of the 10,000 men
who built wing dams, which stemmed
is dead!”
(Confederate guerrillas), Anderson led a gang that the current enough to refloat the ships. GENERAL SHERMAN IN A LETTER TO WAR SECRETARY EDWIN STANTON, JUNE 15, 1864
included Frank and Jesse James. His atrocities ranged from
murder to scalping and even disemboweling his victims. The “Wizard of the Saddle” through the hills of Tennessee. Sherman materialized in their midst, with 1,500
In Mississippi, meanwhile, the Union’s dispatched General Samuel Sturgis from troopers galloping through the Memphis
woes could be summed up in three Union-held Memphis to stop Forrest. streets seeking prisoners, supplies, and
B E FOR E words: Nathan Bedford Forrest. The With only 4,800 troopers in his horses, and chasing the Union district
fearsome Confederate cavalryman— command, Forrest lured Sturgis and his commander, General Cadwallader
nicknamed the “Wizard of the Saddle”— 8,500 men ever deeper down the rutted Washburn, out of his bed clad only in
After the Union captures of New Orleans had for years been wreaking havoc in Mississippi lanes. Then, on June 10, at a nightshirt. After that, more Union
❮❮ 54-55 , Memphis ❮❮ 56-57 , and Union-held Kentucky and Tennessee. He Brice’s Crossroads, Forrest sprang his troops, who would have been better
Vicksburg ❮❮ 98-99 , the North controlled also triggered outrage across the North trap. Sturgis’s long columns, nearly employed elsewhere, had to be pulled
the Mississippi River, but the Confederates when, on April 12, 1864, while sacking prostrated by unseasonable heat, back into the city.
were still active in the river’s hinterland. were bogged in mud and enclosed by
Battle of Pleasant Hill thickets. In a series of masterful frontal Raiding Missouri
CONFEDERATE COMMANDS Readers of the May 14, 1864 edition of Frank and flank attacks, Forrest pushed the A week later, in Arkansas, Confederate
Southern forces held most of Mississippi—the Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper could Union soldiers back against the General Sterling Price and 12,000 ragtag
state’s black prairie region was an important study this depiction of General rain-swollen Tishomingo Creek, cavalrymen trotted north on a raid into
granary, and General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Nathaniel Banks’s repulse rolled his artillery forward, and Missouri, where Price had once been
feared horsemen roamed the pinewoods. of Confederate forces broke their line. His troopers chased governor. They hoped to take that state
West of the Mississippi River, Confederate during his ill-starred the Northerners nearly back to for the Confederacy, or at least cause a
General Kirby Smith was based in Shreveport, Red River expedition. Memphis. Having destroyed a defeat that would harm Lincoln’s
Louisiana. General Sterling Price, the victor at
Wilson’s Creek in 1861 ❮❮ 98-99 , faced Union
forces in southern Arkansas.

UNION STRATEGY
In his grand strategy for 1864, General Ulysses
S. Grant planned for General Sherman to
advance on Atlanta, leaving detachments in
Tennessee to patrol his long supply lines against
Forrest’s raiders. Grant hoped that General
Nathaniel Banks in New Orleans might
advance on Mobile, Alabama. But President
Lincoln wanted Banks, in conjunction with
Admiral David D. Porter’s river fleet, to attack
Shreveport via Louisiana’s Red River.
He hoped to isolate Texas and thwart any
Confederate alliance with the French in Mexico.

136
 M I S S I S S I P P I O P E R AT I O N S

Prisoners of war illustration Inevitably, Union troops closed in—

Kansas militiaman Samuel J. Reader was among the 35,000 of them. In October, Price
prisoners taken by General Price’s Confederate troops in made a run west for Kansas and then A F T ER
their raid on Missouri. He kept a diary of the war, later south for Indian Territory (today’s
publishing it with his own illustrations. Oklahoma). Pitched battles occurred
as he tried to ford swollen rivers. On By the end of 1864, the war in the were over, however. In early 1865, a
chances for re-election. Since St. Louis October 23, at Westport near Kansas states that bordered the Mississippi massive Union cavalry raid through
was too well garrisoned to chance an City, he repeatedly charged a Union River had mostly ended. Alabama and Georgia 150-151 ❯❯, led by
assault, they veered west along the line but failed to break it before enemy General James H. Wilson, defeated
Missouri River’s south bank, and Price cavalry was at his rear. FINAL ENCOUNTERS Forrest at each encounter.
swept up whatever horses, mules, cattle, Over the next few days, a running In August 1864, Admiral David G.
and supplies he could find. Price was, fight developed until Price abandoned Farragut overcame Mobile’s seaward PRICE’S EXILE
however, no Forrest. No doubt alarmed his booty and fled south. The very day defenses ❮❮ 134-135 , while the city Rather than surrender in 1865, General
by the fresh scalps he saw hanging from that he crossed the Arkansas River to itself held out until war’s end. In Price led many of his men into
the bridle of the bushwhacker leader safety—November 8—was Election Day November, after continued raiding in Mexico, where they hoped to serve the
“Bloody Bill” Anderson, he failed to in the North. Not only had Price’s raid Tennessee, Forrest and his command Emperor Maximilian. They established a
deploy Missouri’s hordes of Confederate failed to capture Missouri for the South, joined the Army of Tennessee on its Confederate exile colony in Veracruz.
bushwhackers in the Union rear. Above but his ignominious retreat had actually fateful march to Franklin and Nashville
all, Price moved too slowly—after helped Lincoln’s victory—an ironic end 142-143 ❯❯. Forrest’s glory days GENERAL JAMES H. WILSON
looting the state he was encumbered by to the Confederacy’s final campaign
a long train of cattle and wagons. west of the Mississippi.

137
 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

B EFOR E

No part of Grant’s 1864 grand strategy

❮❮ 116-117 , besides the struggle against Lee
Sherman’s Advance
to Atlanta
in Virginia, was more important than that
entrusted to General William T. Sherman.

JOHNSTON OR ATLANTA
Just as Grant would seek to destroy Lee’s
Army of Northern Virginia, or failing that,
take Richmond, Sherman was to destroy In the summer of 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman maneuvered his army
Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee, to the outskirts of Atlanta, outfought several Confederate commanders, and
or failing that, take the railroad junction of
Atlanta. As the campaign unfolded, the capture after four months and 50,000 casualties, conquered the “Gate City of the South.”
of Atlanta became Sherman’s principal aim.

F
rom the outset, it was a Confederate defenses
A SYMBOLIC PRIZE campaign of maneuver. Fortifications, fronted by chevaux-de-frise
Carved out of a pine forest in 1840, Atlanta When Sherman and his (rows of wooden spikes) ringed Atlanta.
was a child of the railroads, four of them 110,000 soldiers marched Almost a ton of shot and shell tore through
intersecting in the city. In the two decades out of Ringgold, Georgia, on the white house in the background in the
leading up to the war, it had grown into a small May 7, 1864, he faced a wily course of the siege.
bustling city, second only to Richmond as adversary in Joseph E.
a Southern industrial base. As Sherman Johnston. With only half Atlanta, as this engagement
prepared to fight his way there across the Sherman’s troop strength, came to be called, a procession
intervening mountains and ridges of Johnston was a master of of wagons was rumbling into
northwestern Georgia, it gained symbolic the military delaying game. the city, carrying thousands of
value, as both North and South pinned their He continually blocked the wounded men. On July 28,
hopes on the capture or defense of Atlanta. 80-mile (129-km) road to Sherman moved west around
Atlanta with strong defensive Atlanta’s defenses, trying to
works, inviting Sherman to reach the Macon & Western
attack. Sherman preferred to Railroad, the city’s southern
pin Johnston behind those breastworks Undaunted, Hood wheeled to the east lifeline. Hood attacked at Ezra Church.
C O N F E D E R AT E G E N E R A L ( 1 8 3 1 – 7 9 )
with his Army of the Cumberland, and and two days later attacked the other One terrific charge followed another,
JOHN BELL HOOD outflank him—first in one direction, half of Sherman’s forces outside Decatur. all repulsed with fearful casualties.
then in another—with his more nimble Throughout the long evening of July 22, Unable to reach around Atlanta to
“All lion, none of the fox,” tawny-maned Armies of the Tennessee and Ohio. the Confederates again hurled a series of cut its southern lifeline, Sherman settled
John Bell Hood was a soldier of unbridled ferocious but disjointed assaults against for a round-the-clock bombardment of
aggressive instincts. Though born in Defensive strategy the Union lines, and were repulsed with the city. Houses were damaged and
Kentucky, he was a Texan by choice, and Johnston always anticipated Sherman, twice as many losses as their opponents. scores of citizens were injured or killed.
“Hood’s Texas Brigade” became Robert E. withdrawing just far enough to settle into By the end of the night, at the Battle of Meanwhile, the entrenched armies
Lee’s favorite shock troops. Hood also another defensive line. Sherman would
made a superb divisional commander, again advance, and the deadly game
despite losing a leg at Chickamauga and would begin anew. There was, of course,
the use of an arm at Gettysburg. When plenty of fighting. Names like Resaca,
he succeeded Joe Johnston in July 1864, Cassville, New Hope Church—the
he became, at 33, the youngest man in bloodiest battle in the region known
the war to lead a major army—perhaps a as the “hell hole”—Pickett’s Mill, Dallas,
factor in the rash way he bled the army to and Kennesaw Mountain, where the
death at the battles of Atlanta and Franklin. impatient Sherman tried a direct assault
against Johnston’s formidable earthworks,
only to be thrown back with heavy losses,
would be added to both armies’
regimental standards.
Nevertheless, Sherman was making a
steady advance, and when he reached the
northern edge of Atlanta’s fortifications
two months later, he was facing a new
opponent. On July 17, Johnston was
relieved of command and replaced by
the more aggressive John Bell Hood.

New leader, new tactics

Hood struck immediately. On July 20,
he surged out from behind his defenses
and hit a part of the Union army that was
separated from the rest by steep-banked
Peachtree Creek, 10 miles (16km) to the
north. But the attacks were piecemeal,
the onslaught costly. Union commanders
reported hundreds of Confederate dead
piled up before their defenses.

138
 S H E R M A N ’ S A D V A N C E TO AT L A N TA

A F T ER
The Atlanta Campaign
It took the Union armies nearly three months to N Chattanooga KEY
THOMAS
fight their way through northern Georgia to the heavily McPHERSON Resaca Union troop movement
While the fall of Atlanta led to despair in
fortified city of Atlanta, where Sherman’s advance was ① May 13–15: Battle the South, it sparked elation in the North.
SHERMAN of Resaca. Johnston Confederate troop movement
temporarily halted. The Union victory at Jonesboro withdraws after his x x Confederate defenses But Sherman’s campaign in Georgia was

er
R iv
sealed the city’s fate as its rail links were severed. position is turned Union victory not over. His next goal was the port of

la
u
na Confederate victory
JOHNSTON Savannah on the Atlantic coast.

sto
Oo
engaged in a war of skirmishing. “The Inconclusive battle
Adairsville
picket firing never ceased, day nor POLK LINCOLN’S RE-ELECTION
③ Jun 27: Johnston’s defensive
night,” recalled one soldier. lines withstand Union attacks, but Not the news of Farragut’s sealing of Mobile
River
Confederates again withdraw Bay ❮❮ 134-135 , nor that of Sheridan’s
Rome Kingston Cassville ah
The final act conquest of the Shenandoah Valley

ow
⑤ Jul 20: Hood takes

Et
In late August, the Union army slipped Cartersville the offensive at Peachtree
❮❮ 128-129 , indeed none of the good tidings for
② May 25–26:
out of its trenches at night and Sherman’s attempt
Allatoona
W
Creek, but the attack is the North from 1864’s fall of Union victories
es launched too late
seemingly disappeared. At first baffled, to outmaneuver te
rn eclipsed the news of Sherman’s capture of
Johnston is thwarted Ra &
Hood then discovered that his enemy il Atlanta. It had an electrifying effect on the North,

At la
at New Hope Church

ro
ad
had marched around the city and was ⑥ Jul 22: and though Grant and Lee were still entrenched

ntic
approaching the Macon & Western Marietta
Confederates before Petersburg ❮❮ 130-131 , Lincoln’s
suffer heavy
Railroad at Jonesboro, 15 miles (24km) ⑦ Jul 28:
Kennesaw
Mountain losses at Decatur chances for re-election ❮❮ 112-113 soared.
to the south. Desperately, Hood sought Dallas
Howard’s forces,
dug in at Ezra ④ Jul 17: Jefferson SHERMAN
to counter the movement, but two days Davis replaces Peac MARCH TO THE SEA
Church, defeat h t r e e C r e ek Georgia
of fruitless assaults only resulted in Confederate attack Johnston with Hood Railroad When Sherman occupied Atlanta, he continued
HOOD Decatur
thousands more Confederates being ⑧ Aug 25: Sherman sends xx the devastation begun by the Confederates

xx
⑩ Sep 1:
Atlanta

xx
killed or maimed. The railroad was cut, most of his troops to cut
SCHOFIELD xx Confederates themselves. Throughout October he built up

xx
remaining rail links to Atlanta

x
and Atlanta was doomed. abandon supplies, and when he rode out of the city in

x xx
⑨ Aug 31: Hood sends Atlanta
Throughout the night of September 1, Rough-and-Ready November he embarked on a trail of
Hardee to counter Sherman’s
1864, as Hood’s army evacuated the city, move, but he is defeated HOWARD Macon &
Western Railroad
destruction across Georgia 140-141 ❯❯,
near Jonesboro THOMAS
the sky glowed red as flames devoured 0 km 10 20 HARDEE to prove to the Southerners the futility of
Palmetta
the supplies and depots they left behind. 0 miles 10 20 Jonesboro further resistance.
Nearly 80 freight cars of ammunition
were burned; the din of their detonation GRAND CONFEDERATE PLANS
continued for five hours. Ashes still
drifted over the city when Sherman, on
September 3, wired the president,
“ … all the thunders of the After evacuating Atlanta, Hood planned to take
the Army of Tennessee north into Tennessee,
cut Sherman’s communications, and either
“Atlanta is ours, and fairly won!”
universe seemed to be blazing invade the North or cross the mountains to
reinforce Lee at Petersburg. But his grandiose
The Battle of Atlanta plans foundered at the disastrous battles of
Also called the Battle of Decatur, the pivotal July 22, 1864,
engagement outside Atlanta was depicted in the 1880s,
and roaring over Atlanta.” Franklin and Nashville 142-143 ❯❯.

on one of the largest painted cycloramas in the world. WALLACE PUTNAM REED, NEWSPAPERMAN AND HISTORIAN, 1886

139
 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Leaving Atlanta in flames and a trail of destruction in their wake, General William T. Sherman and 120.” The order gave broad freedom in
his 62,000 veterans marched 300 miles (480km) in less than a month to the coastal city of Savannah. the requisitioning of horses, mules,
forage, and provisions, but expressly
Outraged at his devastation of Georgia, Southerners named Sherman the “Attila of the West.” forbade entering civilians’ property or
using “abusive or threatening language”

O
n November 15, 1864, General in a vast sheet of flame and smoke. a good idea—putting his chosen 62,000 to householders. If, passing through
Sherman’s 62,000 soldiers filed Sherman, having declared it a Union within easy reach of troop transports any given district, the army was
out of their camps around fortress and deported its citizens, was that could ferry them to Petersburg. The unopposed, mills, cotton gins, and
Atlanta, many marching over the burning the city in the process of general had convinced himself that by homesteads were not to be destroyed. If
battlefields of the previous summer. abandoning it. Atlanta would never be cutting a path of destruction through opposed, however, commanders should
From their high vantage point, they useful to another Confederatel army. the heart of the Confederacy, he might impose “a devastation more or less
could look back over the debris of Before them more destruction “make Georgia howl.” relentless.” But the rules were not
empty cartridge boxes and shredded awaited. Sherman’s rule of never enforced. In fact, the two columns
breastworks, and observe a terrible returning by the road he had come Sherman’s orders gauged each other’s position by the
sight—Atlanta, in the distance, engulfed meant his veterans were leaving behind Heading generally southeast toward pillars of smoke on the horizon:
their old lifeline—the single-track Savannah, the army advanced in burnings marked their progress.
railroad around which they had two columns, staying 20–40 miles It might have been the war’s most
maneuvered their way to Atlanta. (32–64km) apart. They carried supplies roguish march were it not for its
Having dispatched adequate with them but intended to live off punitive intent. In Milledgeville,
forces to shadow General John the land. Each brigade was allotted Georgia’s capital, the invading army
Bell Hood’s wounded Army of its share of the army’s 2,500 supply held a mock session of the legislature in
Tennessee in Alabama, Sherman wagons along with its own party of the abandoned chambers, repealing the
was heading for the sea. He had foragers, or “bummers.” Sherman had ordinance of secession. Sherman slept
persuaded Lincoln and Grant that given his forces strict instructions in the that night in the Governor’s pillared
a march to the Georgia coast was form of his “Special Field Orders, No. mansion, but in his own camp bed

Sherman’s “bummers”
A name that once designated stragglers, “bummers”
eventually included foragers as well. They roamed
at some distance away from the main army, often
plundering and ransacking at will.

B EFOR E

After the fall of Atlanta Sherman

weighed up his next move, even as
Confederate General John Bell Hood
intended to maneuver him into battle.

A STRATEGIC SHIFT
Having left Atlanta, John Bell Hood
and his Army of Tennessee still hoped
to bring Sherman to battle. But after
pushing Hood into northern Alabama,
Sherman left him there, assigning George
Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland to
protect the Union rear. He turned his back on
Hood, having persuaded a reluctant Lincoln and
Grant to approve instead a march through
Georgia to the sea.

SHERMAN’S PLAN
Sheridan, in devastating the Shenandoah Valley,
had demonstrated the effectiveness of a
scorched-earth policy ❮❮ 128-129 . Sherman Campaign wagon
planned a similar campaign on a larger scale, Wagons such as this one used on Sherman’s
torching everything that his army could not march were essential pieces of equipment,
consume and waging total war on the South. with bummers “aiming at all times to keep
in the wagons at least ten day’s provisions
for the command and three day’s forage.”

140
 S H E R M A N ’ S M A R C H TO T H E S E A

A F T ER
View from the press
“General Sherman’s Grand March through Central
Georgia,” complete with plantation houses and distant Sherman’s March to the Sea had inflicted
pillars of smoke, was depicted in the December 10, a devastating blow on Southern morale
1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly. while making Sherman a hero in the North.

into view by December 11, “within INTO THE CAROLINAS

sight of the spires of Savannah,” one of Sherman did not burn Savannah like he did
them wrote, “if there were not so many Atlanta and Columbia, South Carolina. Instead,
trees in the way.” he spent the winter there, putting his veterans
Savannah was garrisoned by 10,000 on the road again a few weeks later—this time
soldiers and was protected by a ring of headed north. And rather than dispatching
defenses mounting over 100 siege guns. his men to Petersburg to reinforce Grant, he
But the packed-earth Fort McAllister, plundered his way through the Carolinas in
12 miles (19km) below the city, was the same way he had done through Georgia.
Sherman’s main concern. It had long General Joseph E. Johnston, brought back from
defied Union warships; but on December retirement, would try to stop him with an
13, in an all-out assault, his infantrymen army of barely 30,000 men 150-151 ❯❯.
stormed through the circle of sharpened
because all the furniture had been found that Sherman ordered nearby stakes and mounted the parapets. Its 230 DESTROYING HOOD’S ARMY
hidden. The soldiers destroyed railroads, Millen to be destroyed with “ten-fold” defenders resisted bravely but futilely. Before Sherman departed Atlanta, he had
ripping up tracks and twisting them into times the usual measure. As the Union Four days later, Sherman formally quipped that if Hood would go “to the Ohio
“Sherman neckties.” They devoured all army advanced over a front nearly 60 demanded the city’s surrender. The River, I’ll give him rations … my business is
livestock in their path. They stripped miles (97km) wide, all the South could garrison commander, General Hardee, down south.” Hood had tried doing just that,
farms of all their forage and root crops. do was narrow the zone of destruction. chose to evacuate instead. After dark but he and his Army of Tennessee were virtually
They burned barns, corncribs, cotton on December 20, lit destroyed by George Thomas at the Battle
Rebel resistance
gins, houses, and once an entire town.
Coming across Camp Lawton, a
prisoner-of-war stockade, the veterans
The only formal
resistance was met
$100 MILLION
Sherman’s estimate of damages inflicted
only by distant fires
as the navy yard
was set alight, a line
of Nashville 142-143 ❯❯.

were so enraged by the brutalities they near Griswoldville, during the march. A fifth of this was of men and wagons
where Georgia militarily justified, the “remainder … moved across the their city would go the same way as
militia tried to simple waste and destruction.” Savannah River to Atlanta. But when Sherman rode in on
stem Sherman’s South Carolina on December 22, he found the same town
advance. The militia were a vast pontoon bridge. The next night of handsome squares and shade trees
slaughtered—650 killed or injured, with the ironclad CSS Savannah exploded, that he remembered so fondly. As his
only 62 Union casualties. Most of the lighting up the sky for miles. “The tattered legions marched down the
fighting took the form of skirmishing concussion was fearful,” one witness grand avenues, he sent a telegram to
against scattered militia and the few reported, “rocking the city.” President Lincoln: “Dear Sir,” he began,
thousand Confederate cavalrymen led “I beg to present you as a Christmas
by General Joseph Wheeler, whose men Sherman’s gift to Lincoln Gift, the City of Savannah …”
took horses and valuables well before When nervous city fathers gathered to
the army arrived. They even applied the surrender the city to the Union, they Haul of ammunition
torch themselves, using scorched-earth had to scramble to find carriages, most The capture of Fort McCallister outside Savannah, which
tactics to foil the bummers. having been stolen by Wheeler’s vacating had long been a menace to Union warships, brought
The devastation inevitably got out of cavalry. Many citizens were frantic that with it a sizable haul of guns, shells, and cannonballs.
control, and was further aggravated by
marauding groups of deserters and
renegades. Even the Confederate
cavalry—now branded “Wheeler’s
robbers”—let discipline slip. And, to
complicate matters, thousands of
jubilant ex-slaves were swept up in
the wake of the march.

Savannah in sight
By early December, as the army skirted
the low country swamps and marched
beneath trees festooned with Spanish
moss, Sherman’s increasingly scruffy
soldiers were being called the “Lost
Army” by the North. The men emerged

“Oh, just burn a barn or

something. Make a smoke like
the Indians do.”
GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, ON HIS METHOD FOR LOCATING HIS CAVALRY

141
 G R A N T, S H E R M A N , A N D TOTA L W A R 1 8 6 4

B EFOR E

After Atlanta’s fall General John Bell Hood

embarked on an invasion of Union-held
Tennessee, but Union generals George H.
Franklin and Nashville
Thomas and John M. Schofield were waiting.
General John Bell Hood’s daring but ultimately doomed Tennessee campaign in the fall of 1864,
culminated in two battles, one at the town of Franklin and the other before the city of Nashville,
THE ROAD TO FRANKLIN
Hood hoped he might cut Union supply lines which spelled the end for the once-proud Confederate Army of Tennessee.
or maybe join General Lee at Petersburg

O
❮❮ 130-131 , but General Thomas, in the city n the afternoon of November At 4 p.m., 18 brigades—nearly 20,000 line every Union trigger was squeezed.
of Nashville with 40,000 men, lay in his path. 30, 1864 General Hood was men—moved out, lines dressed, flags With a deafening roar a deadly hail of
General Schofield and his army of 30,000 still angry that the night before, flying, drums beating, and bands shot, shell, and canister tore through
were near Pulaski. Hood hoped to defeat them through a series of blunders, his Army playing. Before them stretched those the Confederate ranks, shredding all
before they could join Thomas, setting a trap of Tennessee had somehow allowed 2 miles (3.2km) of open, undulating formation and turning the regiments
for them on November 29, 30,000 Union troops to slip past it. fields browned by recent frosts. Rabbits into blood-spattered mobs. Many troops,
some 15 miles (24km) The Federals had dug in near the bounded away as the tramping feet trapped in the tangle of felled trees,
south of Franklin. town of Franklin, Tennessee, which of this last great Confederate charge were caught in a murderous crossfire of
Hood’s commanders could see 2 miles of the war approached. small arms and artillery. Others could
(3.2km) away from their temporary be glimpsed, through the pall of smoke
headquarters on the hilltop. Southern slaughter that soon descended, regrouping and
Although most of Hood’s artillery and General John Schofield’s Union men charging again and again—several
an infantry corps had still not arrived, watched spellbound as the Rebels Federals counted up to 13 charges.
the impetuous general had decided to approached. Crouched behind strong But in some places, the Confederates
attack the positions at Franklin anyway; fieldworks fronted by felled trees, they poured across the Union line, the battle
his commanders were shouldered impressive firepower; and surging back and forth around a barn,
filled with foreboding. massed artillery, some of it positioned outbuildings, and brick farmhouse that
to fire into the attacking
columns from the flanks, Combat at Franklin
backed them up. When The Battle of Franklin was sometimes called the “Pickett’s
the onslaught was Charge of the West,” so quickly did the Rebels advance.
within a hundred Though moving “with the speed of an avalanche,” the
paces of the main Army of Tennessee was all but devastated in five hours.

142
 FRANKLIN AND NASHVILLE

A F T ER
Union defense
Nashville was occupied by Union forces in 1862, and
the city’s defensive centerpiece was the star-shaped Fort The collapse of Hood’s Tennessee
Negley. Two years later, Nashville was among the most Campaign spelled the end of major
impressively fortified cities in the United States. fighting in that state—and very different
ends for the two commanding generals.
regiments counted upward of 64 percent
casualties. No less than 12 generals TENNESSEE CONCLUSION
and 54 regimental commanders had In early January 1865, General Hood would
been killed or wounded—a captain tender his resignation, his career now in
becoming the most senior ranked ruins. In March, General Thomas would
officer in some brigades. receive the “Thanks of Congress” for his
Nevertheless, Hood soon had the victory at Nashville.
survivors marching north on Nashville
too. General George H. Thomas had END OF AN ARMY
assembled at least 55,000 Union troops, The Army of Tennessee’s demoralized survivors
including Schofield’s battered army, —those who didn’t head for home after the
behind the city’s daunting fortifications. disaster at Nashville—were continually
The Confederate Army of Tennessee harried by Union forces as they retreated south.

“The death-angel was there to entrenched itself in a range of low

hills 4 miles (6.4km) to the south,
inviting Thomas to attack. For two
They might have been completely destroyed
were it not for Major General Nathan Bedford
Forrest and his cavalry who kept much of the

gather its last harvest. It was the weeks, when not shivering through
ice storms, the opposing sides glared
pursuit at bay. Many soldiers limped barefoot
through the ice until they reached Tupelo,
at each other. Mississippi. In March 1865, when they joined
grand coronation of death.” Thomas attacks
General Johnston for the last campaign in the
Carolinas 150-151 ❯❯, they mustered only
PRIVATE SAM WATKINS, 1 TENNESSEE INFANTRY, ON THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN General Ulysses S. Grant was on the 4,500—ten percent
point of relieving Thomas for inactivity of the force that Hood
belonged to the Carter family. Desperate when the weather improved. On had commanded.
hand-to-hand fighting spilled over December 15 Thomas struck. As the fog
fences into the gardens. Nightfall lifted that morning, the Confederates saw
brought no letup in the frenzy; it only the long blue lines, flags flying, moving
raged the more spectacularly along the toward them. Union artillery fired a
main line of breastworks, where for barrage so deafening that individual
hundreds of yards men standing three guns could not be distinguished. Hood’s
or four deep in the bloody ditches fired men repulsed the assaults on their
at each other over the parapet as front; but that was only a diversion.
quickly as they could be handed loaded The Federals turning their left flank
rifles. One man described the muzzle were the real striking force. They
flashes in the dark as “but one line of swarmed over fields and stone walls
streaming fire.” The inconclusive battle taking one Rebel position after another,
sputtered to a halt by 9 p.m. At capturing 16 guns and a thousand
midnight a whispered order was prisoners before winter darkness
passed down the Union line: halted their momentum. That night
“Fall in.” The Federals slipped Hood withdrew to another set of
away before dawn, heading bluffs, where his weary soldiers cut Tennessee State Capitol
north for Nashville, carrying trees and entrenched in the dark. Modeled after a Greek Ionic temple, the Tennessee
at least 13 Confederate Dawn revealed an imposing State Capitol building in Nashville was completed in
battle flags but leaving new line of Confederate works 1859 and was one of the tallest structures in the United
behind 2,500 casualties, curving over a steep 3-mile States at the time of the Civil War.
including most of their (4.8-km) front.
seriously wounded. not train their guns on the enemy until
Union surge it was too late. Hood’s left began giving
Confederate losses Gray clouds and cold rain way, and when the Union cavalry got
Daylight revealed a had arrived by the time into its rear, it broke. Panic spread like
scene of appalling Thomas’s attack again wildfire. Down the line exultant
carnage. One man recalled got underway. On the Federals seized guns, ammunition,
how the dead were Confederate right, the flags, and thousands of dazed
piled “one on the other Federals struggling Confederates. Entire divisions melted
all over the ground” and upward were slaughtered away, soldiers fleeing to the rear
especially how numerous in terrible profusion. But ignoring their officers’ cries to rally. It
horses “had died game on to his left, Hood’s line had was as decisive a victory as any in the
the gory breastworks.” The been sited too far up the war. The Army of Tennessee, once
Confederates buried 1,750 of slope; the defenders could among the proudest in the Confederacy,
their mangled comrades on had reached the limit of its endurance.
the field that day. Around General George H. Thomas Its men fled down the Franklin Pike in
3,800 wounded crowded the Born in Virginia, the stalwart Thomas the rain. Later that night, Hood was
makeshift hospitals. Hood remained loyal to the Union during the observed “much agitated and affected,
had lost nearly a third of his Civil War, for which he was permanently pulling his hair with his one hand and
available infantry; some ostracized by members of his family. crying like his heart would break.”

143
144
6
COLLAPSE
OF THE
CONFEDERACY
1865
Military reverses in the last months of 1864
had left the Confederacy reeling, but the Union
armies still had much to do before they could
claim victory. In 1865, they took the struggle to
the Southern heartland and finally found the
decisive breakthrough they sought in Virginia.

❮❮ Fall of Petersburg
Less than 30 miles (48km) from the Confederate
capital of Richmond, Petersburg had become the
central focus of the conflict. When General Robert
E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was eventually
forced to abandon the town in April 1865, the end
of the war was in sight.

145
 COLLAPSE OF THE CONFEDERACY

n the eve of Robert E. Lee’s surrender of his army on April 9, operated by the Confederacy to stay out of Federal hands. Eleven
O 1865, large areas of the southeastern United States were still days before that, Union general William T. Sherman, advancing
nominally in Confederate hands. In reality, the situation was in flux, northward from Savannah through the Carolinas, had successfully
and none of the developments favored the Southern cause. rendezvoused at Goldsboro with another Federal force, under John
With the fall of Richmond six days before Lee’s surrender, the M. Schofield, which was moving inland from the port of Wilmington.
Confederate government had lost its capital, and President Jefferson The remaining Confederate forces in the area were no match for the
Davis had become a fugitive, dependent on those railroads still combined strength of Sherman and Schofield.

146
 1865

Meanwhile, Union armies were also making progress in Alabama. accept the reality of the situation, but his remaining commanders
A cavalry force under James H. Wilson was striking south from soon convinced him that their troops were no longer in a condition
the Tennessee border at the same time that troops under Edward to fight. Joseph E. Johnston, leading Confederate forces in the
Canby were besieging the port of Mobile at the southern end Carolinas, entered negotiations with his adversary, Sherman, on
of the state. Mobile finally fell on April 12, just three days after April 17, formally surrendering nine days later. Confederate
Lee’s capitulation; on the same day, Wilson’s raiders entered the commanders in Alabama and the Trans-Mississippi Department
state capital of Montgomery. For a time, Jefferson Davis refused to followed suit shortly after, bringing the war to an end by early June.

147
 COLL AP SE OF TH E CON F EDER ACY 1864

The Thirteenth Amendment

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 established the abolition of slavery as a Federal war aim, but abolitionists
feared that it might be set aside as a temporary measure once the conflict ended. The passing of the
Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution ensured that slavery was banned in the United States.

P
resident Lincoln’s Emancipation
B EFOR E Proclamation of 1863 left
unfinished business. It gave
freedom to slaves only in the ten
The Thirteenth Amendment outlawing named Confederate states that
slavery throughout the United States came had failed to rejoin the Union by
to be seen as a summary of the war’s moral January 1st, the date on which the
purpose. Yet four years earlier, the proclamation came into force. Some
situation had looked very different. territories were specifically exempted
from its provisions, among them the
THE 1861 AMENDMENT city of New Orleans and the 48 Virginia
Ironically, the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, counties then in the process of forming
to address the instution of slavery, was the state of West Virginia. Other
not the first adopted by Congress. In 1861, slaveholding border states, where the
when a final attempt was made to conciliate president still hoped to court moderate
the South, an amendment that guaranteed opinion in favor of rejoining the Union,
the rights of slaveholding states had passed were simply not mentioned at all. It
the House and Senate. Although it had been was clear, then, that some further
signed by President Buchanan on his last day measure would be required if slavery
in office, it had never been ratified by the was to be banned forever across the
individual states. The difference between it United States.
and its successor marked the distance the
U.S. had traversed politically in the Passing the amendment
intervening four years. Lincoln himself believed that the
only suitable vehicle would be a
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION constitutional amendment. Yet there
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation were formidable obstacles in the way
Proclamation of 1863 ❮❮ 84-85 changed of such a move. No new amendment
fundamentally the character of the Civil War. had been passed in 60 years, and
By embracing the abolition of slavery as the successful passage would require the
backbone of Union policy, it gave the conflict support of two-thirds of the members
a fresh moral dimension. However, the form of both Houses of Congress, and then
it took was dictated by expediency. If slavery ratification by three-quarters of the
was to be abolished once and for all, more individual states. To make the measure
permanent measures were called for. truly binding, Lincoln took this to mean
three-quarters of all states, including
those in the South that had taken up settled the debate between the two The Thirteenth Amendment
arms to defend slavery. parties. But instead of choosing to wait Section 1 of the Thirteenth Amendment declared that
The easy part proved to be getting for the sitting of the Republican- “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
the amendment through the Senate, dominated 39th Congress in March punishment for crime … shall exist within the United
whose Republican majority ensured its 1865, the president used his annual States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
smooth passage on April 8, 1864. The message to Congress on December 6,
House of Representatives proved more 1864, to introduce the measure. amendment passed the House
recalcitrant, however, and the measure with two votes to spare. The news
failed to get the necessary two-thirds Cheers in the House was greeted with wild rejoicing
majority by 13 votes. Lincoln preferred to solicit the support in Congress itself and by a 100-gun
Its fate then became a leading of dissenting Democrats in the lame- salute in Washington, D.C. It was fitting
issue in the 1864 presidential election duck 38th Congress, wanting to make that among those celebrating inside
campaign, with the Republicans eagerly its passage a bipartisan measure. With the House were African-Americans,
adopting the cause as a central plank some arm-twisting, the necessary backing who had been admitted to the public
of their platform. The Democrats was obtained; on January 31, 1865, the galleries for the first time the previous
denounced the amendment as “unwise,
impolitic, cruel, and unworthy of the
support of a civilized people.” Lincoln’s
re-election in November 1864 effectively
“ there is only a question of
Jubilant scenes time … may we not agree
In his diary, Republican congressman George W. Julian
wrote of the reaction in the House: “Members joined
in the shouting and kept it up for some minutes. Some
that the sooner the better?”
embraced one another, others wept like children.” PRESIDENT LINCOLN, IN HIS MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER 6, 1864

148
 TH E TH I RTEENTH AM EN DM ENT

A celebration of emancipation of the Thirteenth Amendment served In the meantime, the thousands
In this Thomas Nast print of 1865, African-Americans are as moral justification for the war. The of former slaves who poured onto
shown in the center enjoying a comfortable home life. On fact that slavery was no longer legal the nation’s streets to celebrate A F T ER
the left are scenes of their former slavery; the right shows a anywhere in U.S. territory was befitting the passing of the amendment
future with equality in the workplace and education for all. considering all the deaths and suffering experienced personally an important
that the nation had endured. milestone. The United States had Ratification of the amendment was the
year. George W. Julian, a Republican changed decisively final measure in ending slavery in the
congressman, noted, “I have felt, The implications and they were no United States. The way was legally open for
ever since the vote, as if I were in In practical terms, longer regarded as the integration of former slaves into society.
a new country.” the implementation property. Still they
Unlike the struggle in the House of the measure still looked forward to DEFINING FREEDOM
of Representatives, ratification itself had to play out. the day when they The amendment guaranteed that slaves would
proved relatively straightforward. Emancipated, or could vote and live be free, but the exact nature of that freedom
Most Northern states quickly fell into freed, slaves were no among whites with remained to be defined. Other measures were
line, and as the Civil War came to an longer in legal true equality. needed. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in
end it was made known to former bondage, but most 1868, gave former slaves U.S. citizenship,
of them still had to and the Fifteenth, passed into law the following

27
The number of states that had earn a living tilling year, guaranteed their right to vote.
voted to ratify the amendment the lands on which
by December 6, 1865. they had formerly A new life THE ONGOING DIVIDE
worked, and their For most former slaves the White opposition in the South later rolled back
Confederate states that acceptance was rights had to be won amendment’s passing was integration by making voter registration harder. In
a precondition for full re-admission into and protected. Full a joyful time. Celebrations practice, the South’s black population would have
the Union. The necessary quorum was civil rights for blacks took place on plantations to wait almost another century, until the Civil
achieved on December 6, 1865, and 12 would be a long time throughout the South. Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act
days later Secretary of State William H. coming and the fight Couples were finally allowed of 1965, to win effective enfranchisement.
Seward proclaimed the amendment would span far into to marry, and many people
adopted. For abolitionists, the passing the next century. dropped their slave names.

149
 COLL AP SE OF TH E CON F EDER ACY 1865

The Carolinas and Alabama

In the wake of General Sherman’s march through Georgia to the sea, the year 1865 saw further burned. By the following morning,
Union incursions bringing total war to the Southern heartland. South Carolina, where the war two-thirds of it lay in ashes.
The fate of Columbia was only part
had begun four years earlier, was a particular target. of the trail of destruction Sherman’s
forces blazed across the state. In their

I
nitially, General Grant—fearing the bit at the prospect of carrying the path they looted farms and torched
B E FOR E hazardous state of South Carolina’s war to the state where the fighting villages to the ground. The Confederate
roads in the winter—wanted to ship had started. In the minds of many forces opposing them felt the pinch
General William T. Sherman’s victorious Northerners, South Carolina was more because they were forced to live off
Sherman’s march through Georgia had troops from Savannah to support his responsible than any other state for the land as best they could.
badly damaged Confederate morale. Union own forces in Virginia. Sherman, the suffering the nation had endured On February 23, at Robert E. Lee’s
leaders now sought to reap the benefits. however, insisted that his men were for nearly four years. insistance, Joseph Johnston took
up to the task of overcoming any command of all Southern forces in
BRINGING THE WAR HOME difficulties confronting them. Given Natural obstacles
Earlier in the war, the deep Southern states
had escaped much of the fighting, which was
concentrated in border areas to the north and
that it would have taken two months
to arrange the shipping option, Grant
let himself be persuaded.
The logistical problems of marching
an army through the swamps and
rain-swollen rivers that lay between
458 The number of buildings
estimated to have been
burned in South Carolina’s capital
west. That situation changed dramatically with Although Sherman was to encounter Savannah, Georgia, and South Columbia, including six churches,
Sherman’s invasion of Georgia and the formidable obstacles in his path, the Carolina’s state capital, Columbia, eleven banks, and a printing plant
evaporation of large-scale armed resistance after opposition forces were the least of his presented a greater challenge than where Confederate currency was minted.
the fall of Atlanta. The question now was how worries. General P. G. T. Beauregard, did the Confederate troops. In many
best to press home the advantage. commanding Confederate troops in places the roads were impassable, the Carolinas. Under the circumstances,
South Carolina, had only about 17,500 and Sherman’s men had to create the best that he could manage was
REVIVING THE ANACONDA PLAN men scattered across the state to causeways by the slow process of a holding action designed to delay
With General Sherman in Savannah, Federal combat Sherman’s 60,000 battle- “corduroying.” This entailed cutting Sherman’s progress.
strategists saw a chance at last to implement hardened veterans. In addition, morale down trees, stripping off the bark, From Columbia, the Union
fully the Anaconda Plan, in the Union ranks was extremely high. and flattening them on one side, then commander headed north toward
originally proposed by Most of the men were champing at the laying them crosswise, interspersed Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he
General Winfield Scott in
1861 ❮❮ 38-39 . The project
involved enveloping and
finally suffocating
“ The truth is, the whole army is burning with
the remaining
Confederate an insatiable desire to wreak vengeance
command centers
in Virginia.
upon South Carolina. I ... feel that she
deserves all that seems in store for her.”
GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN IN A LETTER TO MAJOR GENERAL HENRY W. HALLECK,
UNION ARMY CHIEF-OF-STAFF, DECEMBER 24, 1864

with saplings, to form a usable

KEY MOMENT
surface for the men and the
THE FALL OF FORT FISHER supply wagons. In spite of the
difficulties, Sherman’s bummers
By late 1864, Wilmington, North Carolina, The Union forces had taken the garrison made extraordinarily fast progress,
was the only major port through which with 2,000 men inside. Wilmington itself fell covering almost 10 miles (16km) a
overseas supplies were still reaching the soon after, leaving the Southern heartland day. By February 17, barely a month
Confederate armies. It was protected from cut off from trade with foreign countries. after leaving Savannah, they reached
attack by Fort Fisher, a massive log-and- Columbia. That night, the city
earth bastion at the mouth of the Cape
Fear River, defended by 47 guns, 22 facing
the ocean and 25 facing the land.
On January 15, 1865, a fleet under
Admiral David D. Porter bombarded the
fort from the sea, while the troops of Defending Charleston
General Alfred H. Terry attacked from the Soldier and painter
land. Under these two men, a combined Conrad Wise Chapman
force of 6,500 Union soldiers and sailors was stationed in
took the fort in a single day, with battle Charleston in 1864 and
raging into the night. At 10 p.m. the often sketched while
Confederates under General W. H. C. under fire. After the war,
Whiting surrendered to General Terry. he made a series of
paintings from his sketches.

150
 THE CAROLINAS AND ALABAMA

A F T ER
expected to rendezvous with 20,000
additional Federal troops under
General John M. Schofield, marching The success of Federal forces in the
from the Confederate port of Carolinas and Alabama effectively
Wilmington, recently captured thwarted Confederate hopes of a second
after the Battle of Fort Fisher. line of defense if Richmond fell.

Confederate strategy THE TIGHTENING NOOSE

General Sherman had split his troops The setbacks in the South increased the
into two columns, and Johnston’s pressure on Robert E. Lee’s army
only realistic hope lay in attacking defending Petersburg, which increasingly
the splintered Union forces. The came to be seen as the last point of
Confederates attempted to delay one resistance to a Union victory. The Union
of the two columns outside the village advance in the Carolinas had cut Lee off
of Averasboro before launching a fully from the sea, leaving him increasingly
fledged attack on the Federal left wing reliant on a handful of westbound roads
at Bentonville, barely a day’s march and railroad lines for all his supplies.
south of Goldsboro.
The initial Confederate successes EBBING HOPES
were soon countered by the arrival of cavalry commander, James H. Wilson, Entering Charleston News of Union incursions also had a
Union reinforcements, and Sherman led a mounted troop of 13,000 men As the 55th Massachusetts Colored Regiment entered devastating effect on the morale of
was able to rendezvous successfully south from Tennessee into northern the city on February 21, they sang “John Brown’s Body.” Confederate soldiers. Many came from areas
with Schofield on March 23. Alabama. There, he was confronted by The line “John Brown died that the slave might be free” affected by the fighting, leading to an upsurge
Confederate cavalry under General caused rejoicing among former slaves. in desertions among men desperate to return
The Alabama campaign Nathan Bedford Forrest. home to check on their families’ fate.
Meanwhile, Union leaders had devised The youthful Wilson managed the
a two-pronged strategy to carry the war capture of northern Alabama brilliantly. By the time Wilson’s force took JOHNSTON’S SURRENDER
into Alabama. One force under General He outmaneuvered and outnumbered Macon, Georgia, on April 20, the Confederate general Joseph Johnston
E. R. S. Canby was sent to invade the Forrest and destroyed the Confederate war was effectively over. Although finally surrendered to William T. Sherman
state from the south through lower munitions complex at less decisive than the confrontation on April 26 156-157 ❯❯, 17 days after General
Mobile Bay, which had been occupied Selma. Wilson then moved between Grant and Lee in Virginia, Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court
by Union forces after a naval battle the east to capture the state the Carolina and Alabama campaigns House . The Battle of Palmito Ranch,
previous August. Canby succeeded in capital of Montgomery had between them put several Texas, on May 19, was the war’s
taking the city of Mobile itself in April before heading into more nails in the coffin of the last battle.
1865. In the meantime, a 27-year-old southern Georgia. Confederate cause.

151
 COLL AP SE OF TH E CON F EDER ACY 1865

The Fall of Petersburg

and Richmond
The war’s central conflict between the armies of Grant and Lee had become bogged down in a bloody a surprise assault on Fort Stedman, a
stalemate in the trenches outside Petersburg, Virginia. When Union troops finally broke through in strongpoint at the eastern end of
the Federal lines. At first the ploy
April 1865, the Confederate capital of Richmond was doomed, falling barely 24 hours later. succeeded, but after four hours’
fighting, Union forces staged a

A
s 1865 dawned, the opposing Major General George E. Pickett and successful counterattack and
armies dug in outside Petersburg Fitzhugh Lee, the senior officers of the Gordon’s men were driven back
were stymied. In a campaign Southern forces in the decisive encounter with heavy losses.
that foreshadowed the trench warfare at Five Forks, were absent for much of the
of World War I, both sides had made fighting, having been invited to a shad Decisive clash at Five Forks
repeated attempts to achieve a (fish) bake nearby by a fellow general. Grant at once determined to take
breakthrough without gaining any advantage of this reverse. On March
decisive advantage. Wilmington, the only surviving link 29, he sent an infantry corps
to the sea, delivering a particularly accompanied by General Philip
Union superiority devastating blow. Sheridan’s cavalry, newly arrived from
Yet the situation was much more With only bad news coming from the victorious Union campaign in the
serious for Robert E. Lee’s army than the Carolinas, Lee knew that it could Shenandoah Valley, to probe the
it was for Ulysses S. Grant’s. The only be a matter of time before western end of Lee’s lines. Lee took
Southern army was outnumbered by General Sherman’s forces would vigorous measures to counter the
more than two to one, and the odds be able to link up with the Army move, and there was hard fighting on
were worsening week by week as a of the Potomac and complete his March 30, with neither side managing
steady stream of desertions further encirclement. To avoid that scenario, to achieve an advantage. The next
sapped its manpower. Grant had Lee had to extricate his army as soon
been able to use his numerical as possible. The Battle of Five Forks
advantage gradually to extend his Lee turned to Major General John Union cavalry break the Confederate line, as depicted by
lines, which stretched Lee’s resources B. Gordon, commander of the Second French artist Paul Philippoteaux. General Sheridan
to the limits. Moreover, the Corps, who devised a strategy that personally led the decisive charge that
Major General John B. Gordon Confederate supply routes had been involved sending armed troops broke Pickett’s division. About 3,000
Gordon was one of Lee’s most trusted lieutenants in the cut one by one, with the loss of masquerading as deserters to launch Confederate troops were captured.
final stages of the war. He fought in many of the most
important battles, from First Bull Run through Antietam
and Gettysburg, and was wounded numerous times.

B EFOR E

By early 1865, the plight of Robert E. Lee’s

Army of Northern Virginia was becoming
increasingly desperate. If it was defeated,
the Confederate capital would fall.

OTHER CONFEDERATE ARMIES

Late 1864 saw a succession of Southern
defeats throughout Georgia and Tennessee.
General William T. Sherman concluded his
devastating March to the Sea ❮❮ 140-141 with
the capture of Savannah. Meanwhile, General
John Bell Hood’s invasion of Tennessee was
smashed at Nashville ❮❮ 142-143 .

LENGTHENING ODDS
Immobilized in the trenches outside
Petersburg ❮❮ 130-131 since June 1864, the
Confederate force confronted a numerically
stronger, better-supplied enemy. With the
odds lengthening week by week, Lee’s only
recourse lay in bold action. But the chances of
success were never good.

152
 T H E FA L L O F P E T E R S B U R G A N D R I C H M O N D

The defeat at Five Forks,

sometimes called the “Waterloo
of the Confederacy,” threatened
Lee’s last remaining lines of
communication to the west and
south and his position was
untenable. The next morning,
Evacuation order April 2, he sent word to
Jefferson Davis’s order to evacuate the Confederate Jefferson Davis that Petersburg would
capital was issued on April 2. He and various members fall and that when it did, Richmond
of his cabinet abandoned the city that night, heading itself would have to be abandoned.
by train for Danville, Virginia. As it happened, the message had
barely reached the Southern
day, Philip Sheridan’s horsemen president, who was attending a
confronted General George E. Pickett’s Sunday-morning church service at
division at a crossroads known as the time, when Grant’s men launched
Five Forks, 20 miles (32km) southwest an all-out attack along Lee’s lines at
of Petersburg. Petersburg. The Confederates
Sheridan dispatched the Fifth Corps resisted, but only as a holding action
of the Army of the Potomac under designed to give the army time to
Major General Gouverneur K. Warren withdraw in some semblance of order
with orders to attack the Confederate from the beleaguered city. By the
left flank. Despite confusion in the following morning, Petersburg was April 2 morning to abandon the city, Richmond in flames
plan’s execution, the pincer attack in Union hands. the evacuation had commenced. Confederate troops destroyed the city’s arsenals and
worked. By 7 p.m., Pickett’s force Orders were given to torch everything factories before they fled. The explosions started fires in
had collapsed, with half the men The fall of Richmond of military or strategic value. residential areas, and all night long the citizens rushed
surrendering and the rest taking flight. With Petersburg fallen, Richmond After the civil authorities had away in “every description of cart, carriage, and vehicle.”
The Union breakthrough had finally could not be defended. As soon as Lee departed, the city was unpoliced and
been achieved. had telegraphed Jefferson Davis that the conflagrations spread uncontrolled
until the first Union detachments A F T ER
“We took Richmond at 8:15 arrived next morning to accept the
city’s formal surrender and to begin
dousing the flames. By then, much Following the fall of Richmond, the

this morning … The enemy left of the Southern capital was in ruins;
an estimated 25 percent of its
Confederacy became a country and a
cause without a capital. Lee’s retreating
army was its only remaining bulwark.
in great haste … ”
buildings had burned down, and
remaining hopes for the Confederacy
lay smoldering. EVACUATING RICHMOND
UNION GENERAL GODFREY WEITZEL, IN A TELEGRAM TO GRANT, APRIL 3, 1865 Jefferson Davis used the city’s last rail link
to escape to Danville, 130 miles (210km) to
the southwest, where he issued a defiant
promise to continue the struggle.

LINCOLN’S TRIUMPH
In contrast, Abraham Lincoln who happened
to be visiting the Army of the Potomac when
Richmond fell, traveled into the city barely a
day after Davis had left it. He was welcomed as
a liberator by the city’s black population. “You
are free, free as air,” the President told them. But
Lincoln would die within two weeks 154-155 ❯❯.

LAST BATTLES
Lee hoped to escape with his army to the
Danville area and fight on, but the move
was blocked by Grant . With this, Lee
had no option left but to surrender.

LINCOLN IN RICHMOND

153
 COLL AP SE OF TH E CON F EDER ACY 1865

The Assassination of Lincoln

With the war effectively won and the Union virtually restored, the nation needed a leader of vision Johnson. The warped goal was to
to heal the wounds of four years in which brother had fought brother. John Wilkes Booth’s remove the Union’s top leadership
in one bloody night, thereby avenging
murderous action on Good Friday of 1865 removed the man best fitted for the task. the Confederate defeat and giving the
South a chance to rally and gather

L
incoln was in an upbeat mood on Lincoln had good reason to be disturbed. new forces to continue the struggle.
B E FOR E the morning of Good Friday, April From the beginning of his presidency, The timing of the attack was settled
14, 1865; a political colleague he had received hate mail, some of when Booth heard that Lincoln was to
remarked that he had never seen the which contained threats on his attend a performance of a comedy, Our
President Lincoln had every reason to be president looking so happy. Although life. Now lurked John Wilkes American Cousin, at Ford’s Theatre in
optimistic in the wake of Robert E. Lee’s he was very aware of the challenges Booth. The 26-year-old, a Washington on the Good Friday
surrender at Appomattox Court House. that lay ahead, the knowledge that the member of a celebrated evening. Initially, the President’s
But within six days, fate cruelly intervened. war was almost over gave him good American acting intention had been to take
reason to celebrate. Yet he was not
THE FIRST CONSPIRACY free of personal anxieties. Bird’s head grip
Although the president had no way of knowing,
John Wilkes Booth and a band of Southern A portentous dream
sympathizers had made plans to kidnap Just three days before, Lincoln had
Lincoln the previous year. Their hopes had been described to his wife and friends a
to hold the president as a bargaining tool in dream in which he had wandered
order to gain the release of Confederate through the rooms of a deserted Booth’s derringer pistol
prisoners of war ❮❮ 122-123 . At the time the White House only to find a body Ideal because of its size, Booth’s weapon was
plot was aborted, but the conspirators laid out in state. When he asked this single-shot, muzzle-loading pocket pistol.
remained in contact. an attendant who it was that It was recovered from the presidential box
had died, he was told it was the after Booth had fled Ford’s Theatre.
PUNCTURED HOPES president, killed by an assassin.
The dawning prospect of peace brought “I slept no more that night,” Trigger guard along General Ulysses S. Grant and his
great relief to Lincoln, who was intent on Lincoln told his audience, “and wife as guests of himself and the First
promoting reconciliation with the Rebel although it was only a dream, dynasty, was one of the Lady, but the general—no great lover of
states. Yet the very news that cheered the I have been strangely annoyed nation’s leading players and a social occasions—had made an excuse
president only reignited the anger of his by it ever since.” familiar face around Washington, D.C., and left town to visit relatives. In their
enemies. A speech in which Lincoln lent his where he often performed. A passionate place, Mary Todd Lincoln invited a
support to the cause of black enfranchisement supporter of the Confederate cause, the friend of the family, Major Henry
unwittingly sealed his fate. Booth was now The assassination Maryland-born actor was eager to leave Rathbone, and his fiancée, Clara Harris.
determined to silence him forever. A print captures the moment that John Wilkes Booth his mark on history through some great,
fired the fatal shot. Taking no chances, the assassin dramatic act. He had gathered around The events of the evening
holds a knife as he takes aim at President Lincoln’s head. him a group of followers who shared Booth knew the theater well, having
his hatred of the president, and over a performed there on many occasions.
period of months they had discussed A familiar figure backstage, he had no
various ways of doing him harm. trouble in gaining access to the building
and wandering around its corridors at
The plot takes shape will. In the course of the day he took
News of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox the precaution of drilling a small spy
brought matters to a head. The day hole in the door of the presidential
before, Booth had heard Lincoln give box, to provide him with a view
an impromptu of what was
speech from a Owner of the boarding house where the happening inside.
window of the conspirators met, Mary Surratt, hanged for That evening, he
White House, her alleged part in the plot, was the first waited until the
in which the woman executed by the U.S. government. play was well
president gave his underway before
support to the enfranchisement of black taking action. He knew the script
voters. For Booth, who was an ardent himself, and had settled on one line as
advocate of slavery, this was the final a cue for his deed—it always got a good
straw and it was time to act. reaction from the audience, and Booth
The plot that he and his co- hoped he could count on the laughter
conspirators hatched was multi- in the theater to help conceal the sound
pronged. Booth took it upon himself of the shot. Stealing into the
to assassinate Lincoln. A 20-year-old presidential box with his pistol, he shot
Confederate veteran named Lewis Lincoln in the head at the chosen
Powell was assigned the task of killing moment, and then leaped down onto
Secretary of State William Seward, the stage, shouting, “Sic semper tyrannis”
while 29-year-old George Atzerodt, (“Thus always to tyrants”), to the
the German-born owner of a Maryland astonishment of the theatergoers. Upon
carriage-repair business, was instructed landing, he broke his leg, but managed
to murder Vice President Andrew to limp to a horse he had waiting

154
 T H E A S S A S S I N AT I O N O F L I N C O L N

Reward poster but chose to surrender to the pursuing

A massive $100,000 was offered as a reward for the troops rather than die trapped in the
capture of Booth and his coconspirators. Pictured Virginia barn as it burned around him.
among them is Mary Surratt’s son, John, who
escaped conviction by fleeing the country. Toward a united country
Lincoln’s murder was unprecedented
outside. He then fled the city. at the time—no previous president
Booth’s two accomplices were less had ever been assassinated. His
successful. Powell entered William death deprived the nation of sound
Seward’s house and managed to leadership, while his successor,
make his way to the bedroom Andrew Johnson, was generally
where the statesman was lying considered lacking in wise counsel.
injured, having broken his arm Some Unreconciled Confederates
and jaw in a carriage accident applauded Booth’s deed; however, the
nine days earlier. When his gun bulk of the nation was united in grief.
jammed, Powell pulled a knife Although federal authorities were at
and stabbed his victim repeatedly, first suspicious of a Confederate
but not fatally. The brace conspiracy, Lincoln’s death helped
supporting Seward’s broken arm bind the nation in common sympathy.
diverted the worst of the blows,
When help arrived, Powell broke
off the attack, exited the house,
and, like Booth, escaped on
a waiting horse. Seward
subsequently made a full
recovery. As for Atzerodt, his
courage simply failed him.
He spent the evening drinking
in the bar of the hotel where
the vice president was staying,
then wandered off into the
night without having even
approached his target.

Lincoln fights for survival

Meanwhile, desperate attempts
were being made to save Lincoln’s hat
Lincoln’s life. Too badly injured Despite his impressive height of 6ft 4in (1.9m), Lincoln
to be taken back to the White was renowned for wearing tall or high hats. On the night
House, he was carried instead of his assassination, he wore this one, now in the
to a boarding house across the Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
street from the theater. But
there was little the doctors
could do. Fatally wounded A F T ER
by a single bullet to the brain,
the president died early the
following morning without Lincoln’s death plunged the nation into
having regained mourning and opened new wounds at a time
consciousness. The hunt when old ones had not yet started to heal.
for the conspirators
now began to intensify. POLITICAL AFTERSHOCKS
Vice President Andrew Johnson became
Capturing the culprits president. Thus a Southern Democrat,
Powell was the first to be drafted to attract swing voters in 1864, now
apprehended, three days headed a Republican administration.
after the attack, when he Lacking Lincoln’s political and moral authority,
returned to the boarding he was ill-equipped for the task of
house where the plot had Reconstruction .
been hatched. Powell found
federal agents sent to arrest the owner, THE FATE OF THE CONSPIRATORS

“But O heart! heart! heart! a Confederate sympathizer named

Mary Surratt, waiting for him there.
Atzerodt was tracked down three days
Eight suspects went on trial. Held in isolation,
their heads were covered in cotton-lined canvas
hoods with a slit for eating but no ear or
O the bleeding drops of red, later on a Maryland farm some 25 miles
(40km) from the capital. John Wilkes
eyeholes. Powell, Herold, Atzerodt, and Mary
Surratt were condemned to death and hanged

Where on the deck my Captain Booth managed to evade capture until

April 26, when he was traced to a barn
in Virginia and shot dead. Others who
on July 7, 1865. Three others received
sentences of life imprisonment, while another,
a carpenter at Ford’s Theatre accused of
lies, / Fallen cold and dead.” were party to the plot were also
arrested, including David Herold. He
assisting in Booth’s escape, got six years.

WALT WHITMAN, FROM HIS POEM, O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!, 1865 had accompanied Booth on his flight,

155
 COLL AP SE OF TH E CON F EDER ACY 1865

Last Terms of Surrender

General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House left some 175,000 Confederate soldiers been fighting a losing battle, in his case
still in arms in three armies and numerous garrisons scattered across the South. The war’s final acts against two separate Union forces in the
north and south of the state. As soon as
were played out in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and even Liverpool, England. he heard of Johnston’s negotiations with
Sherman, he too sued for peace. On
whipped and will not fight.” Shocked May 8 at Citronelle, Alabama, he
into silence, Davis unwillingly gave
Johnston permission to put out peace A three-man detachment posted to
feelers to Sherman. Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp are
In the meeting that followed—held thought to have been the last Confederate
on April 17, in a log cabin near Durham soldiers to lay down their arms. They
Station—Sherman initially went finally emerged in July 1866, 15 months
beyond his remit from Washington. after Lee’s surrender.
He held out to Johnston the prospect
of the readmission of Southern states to agreed with General Edward Canby, the
the Union on terms of full citizenship Union commander-in-chief in the state,
with no threat of persecution for to accept terms similar to those that had
treason or war crimes. In doing so, he been offered to Lee and Johnston.
strayed into political rather than purely
military territory. He was subsequently
reprimanded by the authorities in
Washington and General Ulysses S.
“ My small force
Grant was sent to take over the
negotiations. Grant made it clear that is melting
while the military terms offered at
Appomattox still stood and applied to
Johnston’s army as well as Lee’s, there
away like
B snow before
The surrender of Johnston y far the largest and best could be no bargaining on the larger
Confederate General Johnston (on the right) surrenders organized of the Confederate postwar settlement.
to General Sherman on April 26, 1865. The two men armies remaining in the field after
became firm friends, and a quarter of a century later
Johnston was a pallbearer at Sherman’s funeral.
Lee’s surrender was the one confronting
General William T. Sherman in North
Johnston surrenders
When Davis was informed of Grant’s the sun …”
Carolina under the command of General conditions, he was eager to fight on. JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, APRIL 13, 1865
Joseph E. Johnston. Here, the balance of Johnston’s reply was scathing. “We have
B EFOR E power had altered in late March 1865, to save the people, spare the blood of By that time only one Confederate army
when Sherman made a successful the army, and save the high civic was still officially at war with the Union:
rendezvous with reinforcements from functionaries,” he told the Confederate that of the vast Trans-Mississippi
After April 9, 1865, when General Lee’s Wilmington. Confronted with the president. He added that “your plan, Department, under the command of
Army of Northern Virginia laid down its Union’s overwhelming superiority in I think, can do only the last.” The General Edmund Kirby Smith. Not having
arms , most of the South’s generals numbers, Johnston retreated westward to next day, April 26, Johnston agreed suffered the reverses that Johnston and
accepted that the cause was lost. the North Carolina state capital, Raleigh. to surrender the forces under his Taylor had known, Kirby Smith proved
command, including Confederate troops less willing to come to terms. On the
DIEHARD RESISTANCE Meeting with Davis in Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas, a day after Taylor’s capitulation, he flatly
Some Southern leaders, however, wanted to Johnston was preparing to abandon total of almost 90,000 men. refused a Union invitation to lay down
fight on. The most prominent of these diehards, Raleigh to Sherman’s advancing Union In Alabama, the Confederate his arms. On May 12 and 13, a final
Confederate President Jefferson Davis forces when word came of events at commander, General Richard Taylor, engagement was fought at Palmito Ranch,
was still urging resistance three weeks Appomattox. While still digesting the watched developments to the north with a Confederate outpost on the Rio Grande.
after Lee’s surrender. By then, he and his news, Johnston was summoned to a fatalistic gloom. Like Johnston, he had Twice the position fell to attacking Union
cabinet had abandoned the Confederate capital, meeting with Confederate regiments, and twice
Richmond, and fled south to Greensboro, President Jefferson Davis the defenders reclaimed
North Carolina. The cabinet met for the last in Greensboro, about it. Ironically, it was the
time on May 5, 1865, in Washington, Georgia, 80 miles (130km) away. Confederates who thus
after which Davis went into hiding. When the two men met won the last battle of the
on April 12, Davis— Civil War, at a cost of four
A NEW PRESIDENT without even requesting men killed and a dozen or
Meanwhile, events in Washington, D.C. had Johnston’s opinion of more wounded—the Union
taken a dramatic turn with the assassination of the military situation— force suffered 30 casualties.
President Lincoln ❮❮ 154-155, fatally shot on talked ramblingly of
April 14. Lincoln was succeeded by his vice gathering up deserters to Imprisoned president
president, the Southern War Democrat Andrew fight on. Once Johnston A contemporary sketch shows the
Johnson , who was swiftly sworn in as was eventually given a captured Jefferson Davis at Fort
17th President of the United States on chance to speak, he was Monroe on the Virginia coast. He was
the morning after the shooting. blunt: “My views are, sir, held a prisoner there for two years
that our people are tired until released on bail paid by wealthy
of war, feel themselves citizens from both North and South.

156
 L AST TER M S OF SU R R EN DER

Jefferson Davis captured The South’s fate was now firmly in constitution, with the power to Kirby Smith sent word to General Canby,
Meanwhile in Georgia, Jefferson Davis the hands of the U.S. Government, determine the qualifications required now in New Orleans, that he too was
had been captured near Irwinville. At headed by Lincoln’s successor, President of voters in future state elections. prepared to negotiate a surrender. The
dawn on May 10, Union cavalrymen Andrew Johnson. The first indication In the Trans-Mississippi region, document was signed on June 2.
surrounded the Confederate leader, his of Johnson’s intentions came in two Kirby Smith was starting to feel the
wife, their four children, and a small proclamations issued on May 29. One pressure of changed circumstances. As Final surrenders
group of loyal officials, all of whom had granted pardons and restored property news of Jefferson Davis’s arrest spread, Even then, some groups held out.
been camping out in a pine forest. The to almost all Southerners who were many of his men laid down their arms Brigadier General Stand Watie, a
Union troops consisted of two separate willing to take an oath of allegiance. and set off for home. With his army Cherokee in command of the Native
units, neither of which was aware The other, directed at North Carolina, dissolving around him, the general also American cavalry in Kirby Smith’s army,
of the other at first. In the ensuing set a pattern for states wishing to learned that Grant was sending the only accepted a ceasefire on June 23.
confusion, two of the cavalrymen rejoin the Union. Delegates were redoubtable General Philip Sheridan to On August 2, the Confederate cruiser
were killed as a result of “friendly fire.” to be elected to draft a new state enforce peace. Recognizing the inevitable, Shenandoah, which had been raiding
Union ships in international waters, was
in the Pacific when its crew learned of the
Victory parade capitulations. They continued to England,
Mounted Union officers ride down Pennsylvania rather than a U.S. port, where they risked
Avenue in Washington, D.C. during a Grand being tried for piracy. They surrendered
Review held on May 23–24, 1865. Soldiers from in Liverpool on November 6. The crew
both Meade’s and Sherman’s armies marched dispersed, and the British later turned the
on consecutive days. ship over to the U.S. government.

Stand Watie
Principal chief of the Cherokee Nation since 1862,
Brigadier General Stand Watie commanded the First
Indian Brigade under General Kirby Smith. Before the war,
he had been a successful plantation- and slave-owner.

A F T ER

The restoration of peace left huge

questions about the direction the
reunited nation would take. First and
foremost, former Confederate soldiers
had to be resettled.

LIVES TO REBUILD
By the terms offered to Robert E. Lee and
his army at Appomattox Court House
soldiers who surrendered were free to
return home with their horses or mules and,
in the case of officers, with their sidearms as
well. They carried with them signed parole
passes that guaranteed them the right to remain
undisturbed as long as they kept their paroles
and “the laws in force where they reside.”
Yet many soldiers returned to find their
homesteads ravaged. In addition, the former
Confederacy’s transport infrastructure had
been badly damaged, with much of the region’s
rail network destroyed. A huge task of national
reconstruction lay ahead.

157
 ACKNOWLEDGM ENTS

Acknowledgments
The publisher would like to thank the Institution, NMAH, Washington, D.C.: D.C.: LC-DIG-pga-00385 (br); 58 The Bridgeman Art Library: ©
following for their kind permission to (br). 18 Corbis: Bettmann (t). Getty LC-USZC4-1739 (bl). 40 Kansas State Chicago History Museum, USA (b).
reproduce their photographs: Images: FPG (cl). Smithsonian Historical Society: (tl). Smithsonian 58-59 Library Of Congress,
Institution, NMAH, Washington, D.C.: Institution, NPG, Washington, D.C.: Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG-pga-03975
Key: a-above; b-below/bottom; (b). 19 Library Of Congress, (tr). The State Historical Society of (t). 59 Corbis: (br). Library Of
c-center; f-far; l-left; r-right; t-top. Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG- Missouri: (b). 41 Corbis: Bettmann Congress, Washington, D.C.:
ppmsca-09398 (b). Smithsonian (t). Library Of Congress, Washington, LC-DIG-cwpb-07216 (c). 60 Corbis:
Smithsonian sources: National Institution, NPG, Washington, D.C.: D.C.: LC-DIGpga- 02051 (b). 43 Bettmann (bl). 61 Library Of
Museum of American History (tr). 20 The Bridgeman Art Library: Library Of Congress, Washington, Congress, Washington, D.C.:
(NMAH), National Portrait Gallery Private Collection/© Michael D.C.: LC-USZ61-146 (t). 42-43 Corbis: LC-DIG-pga-00540. 62 Corbis: Tria
(NPG), Cooper-Hewitt National Graham- Stewart and Art Galleries, Francis G Mayer. 43 Library Of Giovan (tr). 62-63 Getty Images:
Design Museum, National Museum of UK (t). Smithsonian Institution, NPG, Congress, Washington, D.C.: James Green/Robert Harding. 63
African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C.: (b). 21 The LC-DIG-npcc-19646 (r). Smithsonian Library Of Congress, Washington,
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bridgeman Art Library: © Institution, NPG, Washington, D.C.: D.C.: LC-DIG-ppmsca-20506 (tl). 64
National Postal Museum Massachusetts Historical Society, (t). 44-45 Library Of Congress, Library Of Congress, Washington,
Boston, MA, USA (l). Library Of Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG-pga-01860. D.C.: LC-DIG-cwpb-01693 (bl).
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Confederate Memorial Hall, New TopFoto.co.uk: The Granger Collection Muench (tl). Getty Images: Time & Washington, D.C.: (br). 64-65
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War Archive (r); Gettysburg National Washington, D.C.: LC-USZ62-92043 Institution, NMAH, Washington, D.C.: Arts, Boston: Gift of Maxim Karolik
Military Park Museum, Pennsylvania, (t). TopFoto.co.uk: The Granger (bl). 46-47 Corbis: Bettmann for the M and M Karolik Collection of
USA/Photo © Civil War Archive (l). 6 Collection (bl). 23 Getty Images: (l). (background). 47 Getty Images: (br); American Paintings, 1815-1865,
Junior Gonzalez/fstop (tc); Owaki/ Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, LC-DIGpga- 00540 (cr). Library Of 45.890 (t). 66 The Bridgeman Art
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NMAH, Washington, D.C.: (br). 7 Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art of the Confederacy, Richmond, Library Of Congress, Washington,
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D.C.: NMAH (tr) NPG (tc). 8 Congress, Washington, D.C.: Tria Giovan (t). Library Of Congress, Bettmann (tl); David Muench (bl).
Smithsonian American Art Museum, LC-DIG-pga-00335 (bl). 28-29 Corbis: Washington, D.C.: LC-USZC4-13352 Library Of Congress, Washington,
Washington, D.C. 10-11 Corbis: Bettmann (background). 30 The (b). 50 The Bridgeman Art Library: D.C.: LC-DIG-ppmsca-20512 (br). 70
Bettmann (background). TopFoto. Bridgeman Art Library: © Collection Gettysburg National Military Park Corbis: Bettmann (tl); LC-DIG-
co.uk: The Granger Collection. 12 The of the New-York Historical Society, Museum, Pennsylvania, USA/Photo © ppmsca-20602 (tr). Library Of
Bridgeman Art Library: Private USA. 31 Corbis: (bl); Bettmann (tr). Civil War Archive (tr). Corbis: Tria Congress, Washington, D.C.:
Collection (br). Corbis: Bettmann (tl). Getty Images: The Bridgeman Art Giovan (bl). 51 The Bridgeman Art LC-DIG-pga-01231 (bl). 71 Library Of
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D.C.: LC-DIGppmsca- 09398 (tr). Institution, NPG, Washington, D.C.: USA/James E. Roberts and Martha LC-DIG-cwpb-04106 (b). Smithsonian
Photo Scala, Florence: © 2010. Image (t). 32-33 The Bridgeman Art Library: Delzell Memorial Funds (l); Private Institution, NPG, Washington, D.C.:
copyright The Metropolitan Museum Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Collection/Photo © Civil War Archive (tr). 72 Getty Images: Hulton Archive
of Art/ Art Resource (bl). 12-13 Virginia, US (b). 33 Corbis: Bettmann (tr). 52 The Bridgeman Art Library: (br). 72-73 The Bridgeman Art
Corbis: Bettmann (background). 13 (t). 34 The Art Archive: Culver Private Collection/Peter Newark Library: Antietam Battlefield Park,
The Bridgeman Art Library: © Pictures (l). The Bridgeman Art American Pictures (bl). Naval Maryland, USA/Photo © Civil War
Massachusetts Historical Society, Library: © Chicago History Museum, Historical Foundation, Washington, Archive (t). 73 Corbis: Bettmann (br)
Boston, MA, USA (cr); St. Louis Art USA (br). 35 The Bridgeman Art D.C.: (br). 52-53 Corbis. 53 Dorling (bl). 74 Library Of Congress,
Museum, Missouri, USA (br). Corbis: Library: © Collection of the New-York Kindersley: US Army Heritage and Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG-
Bettmann (t). 14 The Bridgeman Art Historical Society, USA (b). New York Education Center - Military History cwpb-03791 (t). 75 Alamy Images:
Library: St. Louis Art Museum, State Military Museum & Veterans Institute (bl). Library Of Congress, Witold Skrypczak (br). Corbis:
Missouri, USA (tr). Smithsonian Research Center, Division of Military Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG- Medford Historical Society Collection
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(cl) (bl). 14-15 Corbis: Owaki/Kulla Congress, Washington, D.C.: Medford Historical Society Collection. D.C.: LC-USZ62-134479 (bl). 76-77
(t). 15 The Bridgeman Art Library: LC-DIG-pga-00335 (t). 37 Corbis: 55 The Bridgeman Art Library: Private Corbis: George H.H. Huey (b). 77 The
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Corbis: Bettmann (bl). Library Of Library Of Congress, Washington, Institution, NMAH, Washington, D.C.: (tl). 78 Library Of Congress,
Congress, Washington, D.C.: D.C.: LC-DIG-cwpbh-01095 (l). 36-37 (cb). 56 Corbis: Bettmann (l). 56-57 Washington, D.C.: LC-DIGppmsca-
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TopFoto.co.uk: The Granger Collection York. 38 Corbis: Bettmann (b). 39 History Museum, USA. 57 Corbis: NMAH, Washington, D.C.: (t). 79
(b). 17 Corbis: David J. & Janice L. Corbis: Tria Giovan (bl). Getty Images: Bettmann (tl). Library Of Congress, Alamy Images: offiwent.com (bl).
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TopFoto.co.uk: The Granger Collection. cwpb-06714 (t). 104 Library Of Images: (br). Smithsonian Institution, (background). 148 Library Of
82 Corbis: Bettmann (tl) (br). Congress, Washington, D.C.: NMAH, Washington, D.C.: (cl). 124 Congress, Washington, D.C.:
Smithsonian Institution, NPG, LC-DIG-cwpb-03431. 105 Corbis: Library Of Congress, Washington, LC-USZ62-127599 (b). The US
Washington, D.C.: (tr) (bl). 82-83 Medford Historical Society Collection D.C.: LC-DIG-cwpb-02570 (bl); National Archives and Records
Corbis: Bettmann (background). 83 (t). Library Of Congress, Washington, LC-DIG-ppmsca-12615 (cr). 125 Administration: (t). 148-157 Corbis:
Corbis: Bettmann (tc) (tr). Getty D.C.: LC-DIG-pga-04032 (b). Library Of Congress, Washington, Frans Lanting (t); LC-DIG-pga-03898
Images: (br). Library Of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, D.C.: LC-USZ62-115849 (t). (t). 149 Library Of Congress,
Washington, D.C.: LC-DIGpga- 01846 Washington, D.C.: (cr). 106 Library Of Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG-
(cr). 84 Corbis: Bettmann (t). 84-85 Congress, Washington, D.C.: Washington, D.C.: (br); LC- ppmsca-10978 (b). 150 Alamy
Dorling Kindersley: Courtesy of the LC-DIGppmsca- 21043 (br). USZ62-111179 (b). 126 Library Of Images: Historical Art Collection
Southern Skirmish Association (t). 85 Smithsonian Institution, National Congress, Washington, D.C.: (HAC) (bl). Smithsonian Institution,
The Bridgeman Art Library: © Postal Museum, Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG-cwpb-03994 (t). 127 Virginia NPG, Washington, D.C.: (cl). 151 The
Collection of the New-York Historical (tl); LC-DIG-cwpb-01958 (r). 107 Historical Society: (b). 128 Library Of Bridgeman Art Library: Museum of
Society, USA (cr). Corbis: Tim Shaffer/ Library Of Congress, Washington, Congress, Washington, D.C.: the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia,
Reuters (bl). Getty Images: Hulton D.C.: LC-DIG-ppmsca-23180 (tl). LC-DIG-stereo-1s01824 (l). 129 The USA/Photo © Civil War Archive (b).
Archive (br). Smithsonian Institution, 108-109 The Bridgeman Art Library: Bridgeman Art Library: American Library Of Congress, Washington,
NMAH, Washington, D.C.: (t). 86 Private Collection/Peter Newark Antiquarian Society, Worcester, D.C.: LC-USZ62-105560 (t). 152
Library Of Congress, Washington, American Pictures. 110 Corbis: Massachusetts, USA (b). Getty Library Of Congress, Washington,
D.C.: LC-USZC4-4609 (l). Smithsonian Bettmann (br); LC-DIG-cwpb-03994 Images: (br). Library Of Congress, D.C.: LC-DIG-cwpb-06014 (tl).
Institution, NPG, Washington, D.C.: (bl). Library Of Congress, Washington, Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG- 152-153 The Bridgeman Art Library:
(b). 87 Library Of Congress, D.C.: LC-DIG-pga-01881 (tr). New ppmsca-21134 (t). 130 Library Of (b). 153 Corbis: Bettmann (tr).
Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG- Britain Museum of American Art: Congress, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
ppmsca-20701 (br). Photo Scala, Skirmish in the Wilderness, 1864, Oil LC-DIG-ppmsca-21357 (t). 131 The D.C.: National Postal Museum (t) NPG
Florence: © 2010. Photo The Newark on canvas, mounted on masonite, 18 x Bridgeman Art Library: Detroit (br). 154 Corbis: Bettmann (l).
Museum/Art Resource (l). 88 Alamy 26 ? in., New Britain Museum of Institute of Arts, USA/Founders Library Of Congress, Washington,
Images: North Wind Picture Archives American Art, Harriet Russell Stanley Society purchase and Dexter M. Ferry D.C.: LC-DIG-highsm-04710 (t). 155
(tr). Library Of Congress, Washington, Fund, 1944.05. Photo Alex Morganti Jr. fund (t). Corbis: Bettmann (bl). Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
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88-89 Library Of Congress, (background). 111 Getty Images: Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, Of Congress, Washington, D.C.:
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Bettmann (bl); Medford Historical Washington, D.C.: (t) (tr). TopFoto.co. the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C.: (t). 157 Library o f
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the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia: Library Of Congress, Washington, Memorial Hall, New Orleans (b).
Photography by Katherine Wetzel (br). D.C.: LC-USZ6-201 (cr). TopFoto. Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, All other images © Dorling Kindersley
92 Library Of Congress, Washington, co.uk: The Granger Collection (t). 114 Washington, D.C.: (t). 135 For further information see:
D.C.: LC-DIG-ppmsca-20161 (t). State The Bridgeman Art Library: Private Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, www.dkimages.com
Museum of PA, PA Historical and Collection/Photo © Civil War Archive Washington, D.C.: (b). TopFoto.co.uk:
Museum Commission: (b). 93 Corbis: (b). New Britain Museum of American (tr). 136 Corbis: Bettmann (b). The The publisher would also like to
Bettmann (br). Smithsonian Art: Skirmish in the Wilderness, 1864, State Historical Society of Missouri: thank the following people at the
Institution, NMAH, Washington, D.C.: Oil on canvas, mounted on masonite, (t). 137 Kansas State Historical Smithsonian Institution for their
(t). 94 Dorling Kindersley: Gettysburg 18 x 26.25 in., New Britain Museum of Society: (t). Library Of Congress, kind assistance:
National Military Park, PA (b). Library American Art, Harriet Russell Stanley Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG-
Of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Fund, 1944.05. Photo Alex Morganti cwpb-06208 (br). 138 Corbis: Smithsonian Project Coordinator:
LC-USZ6-284 (t). 95 Alamy Images: (t); LC-DIG-ppmsca-23676 (br). 115 Bettmann (bl). Library Of Congress, Ellen Nanney
Ivy Close Images (b). Library Of Library Of Congress, Washington, Washington, D.C.: LC-DIGcwpb-
Congress, Washington, D.C.: D.C.: LC-DIGppmsca- 21457 (cl). 116 03415 (t). 139 Atlanta Cyclorama and National Museum of American
LC-USZC4-1825 (t). 96 Getty Images: Corbis: Bettmann (br). Library Of Civil War Museum: (b). 140 The History: Jennifer Jones, Kathleen
(t). 97 Getty Images: (t). Library Of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Bridgeman Art Library: Siege Golden, David Miller, Barton Hacker,
Congress, Washington, D.C.: LC-USZ62-53692 (tr). Smithsonian Museum, Petersburg, Virginia, USA/ Lisa Kathleen Graddy, Barbara
LC-USZ62-90939 (bl). Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, Washington, D.C.: Photo © Civil War Archive (r). Library Clark Smith, Debbie Hashim, Harry
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(br). 98 Corbis: Bettmann (b). Library American Antiquarian Society, LC-DIG-ppmsca-20772 (l). 141 Kritikson, Stacey Kluck, Shannon
Of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Worcester, Massachusetts, USA (t). Corbis: Bettmann (t). Library Of Perich
LC-DIG-pga-01871 (t). 99 Florida Library Of Congress, Washington, Congress, Washington, D.C.:
Center for Instructional Technology: D.C.: LC-DIGcwpb- 00698 (br). 118 LC-DIG-cwpb-03159 (br). 142 Library National Portrait Gallery: James G.
(bl). Getty Images: (t). 100 Library Of Congress, Washington, Of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Barber, Beverly Cox, Lizanne Reger,
Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, D.C.: LC-DIGppmsca- 21161 (bl). LC-DIG-pga-01852. 143 Getty Mark Gulezian
Washington, D.C.: (t). 101 Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, Images: Science and Society Picture
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, Washington, D.C.: (t). 119 Library Of Library (t); LC-USZ62-4697 (cr). National Museum of African American
D.C.: NMAH (t) (br). Library Of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Library Of Congress, Washington, History and Culture: Lonnie Bunch
Congress, Washington, D.C.: (bl). 102 LC-DIG-pga-01674. 120 Alamy D.C.: LC-DIGcwpbh- 00679 (bc). Smithsonian American Art Museum:
Library Of Congress, Washington, Images: Classic Image (t). Getty 144-145 Getty Images. 146 Corbis: Richard Sorenson
D.C.: LC-DIGppmsca- 21066 (b). Images: (b). 121 VMI Museum, Bettmann (tl). Library Of Congress,
Smithsonian Institution, NMAH, Lexington, VA: (r) (l). 122 Getty Washington, D.C.: LC-DIG-
Washington, D.C.: (t). 103 Corbis: Tria Images: (b). Smithsonian Institution, ppmsca-21458 (tr). Smithsonian
Giovan (c). Library Of Congress, NMAH, Washington, D.C.: (tl). 123 Institution, NPG, Washington, D.C.:

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