What were the advantages in the North? What were the advantages in the South?
What are they fighting over?
Section 2: The War Continues...
If YOU were there...
You live in Maryland in 1864. Your father and brothers are in the Union army, and you want to do your part in the war. You hear that a woman in Washington, D.C., is supplying medicines and caring for wounded soldiers on the battlefield. She is looking for volunteers. You know the work will be dangerous, for you’ll be in the line of fire. You might be shot or even killed.
Would you join the nurses or
soldiers on the battlefield?
You live in Maryland in 1864. Your father and brothers are in the Union army, and you want to do your part in the war. You hear that a woman in Washington, D.C., is supplying medicines and caring for wounded soldiers on the battlefield. She is looking for volunteers. You know the work will be dangerous, for you’ll be in the line of fire. You might be shot or even killed.
Would you join the nurses or
soldiers on the battlefield?
Building Background: The shots fired at Fort Sumter made the war real. Neither the North nor the South was really prepared. Each side had some advantages - more industry and railroads in the North, a military tradition in the South. The Civil War touched almost all Americans. Some 3 million men fought in two armies. Thousands of other men and women worked also, providing food, supplies, and medical care. Americans could not escape the effects of war, as the fighting destroyed farms, homes, and cities.
Battle of Antietam
Confederate leaders hoped to have a major victory on northern soil. On September 4th, 1862, around 40,000 Confederate soldiers began crossing into Maryland. General Robert E. Lee decided to divide his army in order to attack Harper’s Ferry. Union soldiers, however, found a copy of Lee’s battle plan. Union General McClellan learned that Lee had divided his army. The two armies met along Antietam Creek in Maryland on September 17th, 1862. The battle lasted for hours. By the end of the day, the Union had suffered 12,000 casualties. The Confederate had 13,000 casualties. The Battle of Antietam, also known as the battle of Sharpsburg, was bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War- and of U.S, history. More soldiers were wounded and killed in the Battle of Antietam than the deaths of all Americans in the American Revolution, War of 1812, and Mexican-American War combined.
Fighting on Land and Water
While the two armies fought for control of the land, the Union navy controlled the sea. The North had most of the U.S. Navy’s ships and officers, and they were able to build more ships. The Union navy quickly moved to set up a blockade in southern ports. The blockade prevented the South from selling or receiving goods and it seriously damaged the southern economy. The Union blockade reduced the number of ships entering southern ports from 6,000 to 800 per year.
Clash of the Ironclads
Hoping to take away the Union’s advantage at sea, the Confederacy turned to a new type of warship - ironclads, or ships heavily armed with iron. The Confederates had captured a Union steamship and had turned it into an ironclad, renaming it the Virginia. In early March 1862, the ironclad sailed into Hampton Roads, Virginia, an important waterway guarded by Union ships. Before night, the Virginia easily sank two of the Union wooden warships. The Union navy built its own ironclad, the Monitor, which had a revolving gun tower. When the Virginia returned to Hampton Roads, the Monitor was waiting. After several hours of fighting, the Monitor forced the Virginia to withdraw. This success saved the Union ships and continued the blockade. The battle of the ironclads also showed that war on water was changing. The days of using wooden warships were ending.
The Siege of Vicksburg
“Vicksburg is the key!” President Lincoln declared that Vicksburg, Mississippi was important because of its location on the Mississippi River, a trade route and way of getting the Confederate troops supplies. If the Union could capture Vicksburg then they would have control of the Mississippi River and they would split the Confederacy in two. General Ulysses S. Grant was in charge of this responsibility for the Union. General Grant’s troops began the Siege of Vicksburg in mid-May 1863, cutting off the city and attacking it repeatedly. Food ran out so the Confederate soldiers were sick and hungry. On July 4th, 1863, Confederate General Pemberton surrendered to Union General Grant. Grant sent food to the Confederate soldiers and the civilians in Vicksburg. He knew that the Union win at Vicksburg was important to winning the war.
Emancipation ProclamationMillions of enslaved African Americans were at the heart of the nation’s bloody struggle. Abolitionists were people who wanted President Lincoln to free the slaves. In an 1858 speech, Lincoln declared, “There is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights listed in the Declaration of Independence - the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” However, Lincoln found emancipation, or the freeing of slaves, to be a difficult issue. |
Lincoln Issues the Proclamation
Northerners had many different opinions about abolishing slavery.
- The Democratic Party did not want emancipation. They feared that freed slaves would come north and take their jobs at a lower pay.
- Abolitionists wanted African Americans to be free. They thought the Union would stay divided until the problem was resolved.
- Lincoln worried about losing support for the war. He had tried giving African Americans more rights in the past and these laws were unpopular.
- As commander in chief, the president could free the slaves in the northern states. Freed African Americans could then be recruited into the Union army.
Reaction to the Proclamation
New Year’s Eve, December 31st, 1862: In many African American churches, worshippers prayed, sang, and gave thanks. When the clocks struck midnight, millions were free. Abolitionists rejoiced. Frederick Douglass predicted on January 1st, 1863, that the freedom of slaves would change everything for this country. Slavery was a system though and it continued to exist in slave states. The proclamation encouraged many enslaved Africans to escape southern areas when the Union troops came near. They flocked to the Union camps and followed the troops in order to protect themselves. The loss of these slaves affected the South during the war.
African Americans Participate in the War
As more soldiers were killed in battle, the Union needed even more troops. African Americans were ready to volunteer. Not all white northerners were ready to accept them, but they eventually had to because they needed soldiers. Frederick Douglass believed that African Americans should gain rights if they served in the war.
The War Department gave contrabands, or escaped slaves, the right to join the Union army in South Carolina. Free African Americans in Louisiana and Kansas also formed their own units or groups in the Union army. By the spring of 1863, African American army units were proving themselves to be very brave on the battlefield. About 180,000 African Americans served with the Union army. They received $10 a month, while white soldiers got $13.
African Americans were treated terribly by the Confederates in the South. If African American soldiers were caught, Confederates often killed them or sold them into slavery. In the 1864 election, Lincoln spoke about possibly rewarding African American soldiers by giving them the right to vote.
The War Department gave contrabands, or escaped slaves, the right to join the Union army in South Carolina. Free African Americans in Louisiana and Kansas also formed their own units or groups in the Union army. By the spring of 1863, African American army units were proving themselves to be very brave on the battlefield. About 180,000 African Americans served with the Union army. They received $10 a month, while white soldiers got $13.
African Americans were treated terribly by the Confederates in the South. If African American soldiers were caught, Confederates often killed them or sold them into slavery. In the 1864 election, Lincoln spoke about possibly rewarding African American soldiers by giving them the right to vote.
Growing Opposition
Lincoln was very busy and stressed about the huge responsibilities he had. Besides running the war, he had to deal with growing tensions in the North.
Copperheads
A group of northern Democrats began speaking out against the war because they did not like that so many soldiers were losing their lives. They called themselves Peace Democrats, but their enemies called them Copperheads, comparing them to a poisonous snake. Many Copperheads were midwesterners that agreed with the South and did not want abolition. They wanted the war to be over. Lincoln saw the Copperheads as a threat to the war effort so he put them in jail. Lincoln’s action angered many people because they did not think this was fair.
Northern Draft
In March 1863, Congress approved a draft, or forced military service. If men were rich and had $300, they could buy their way out of military service. However, many men could not afford this so they had to become soldiers. Everyone who did not support the war would call the Civil War a “rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight,” which means that rich men wanted the war, but they were forcing poor men to fight it for them. In July 1863, fights broke out in New York City during a draft and more than 100 people died. After this tense situation, the northern Democrats nominated former General George McClellan for president in 1864. They wanted the war to end immediately. Lincoln defeated McClellan though.
Life for Soldiers and the Civilians
On the Battlefield
Civil War armies fought in an old way (marching in a square at each other), which produced many casualties. Rows of troops fired and sent cannonballs at each other, and then fought with their bayonets when they reached their enemy. Many men died trying to gain every inch of ground. Doctors and nurses in the field saved many lives, but they had no medicine to stop infections. Soldiers had to have their legs and arms amputated without any pain medicine. Infections from even little injuries could cause death. The biggest killer in the Civil War was typhoid, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. More soldiers (twice as many) died from illness than from fighting.
Prisoners of War
It is difficult to imagine what life was like for a soldier who was captured by the enemy. They were called prisoners of war and they were packed into prison camps. Soldiers had little shelter, food, or clothing. Starvation and disease killed thousands of prisoners.
Life as a Civilian
The war effort needed everyone - women, as well as young and old people had to help in any way they could. They had to work in factories and farms. On the farms, women and children did the chores that the men usually did. Southern women also managed farms and plantations because their husbands were away at war.
Clara Barton organized the collection of medicine and supplies for delivery to the battlefield. At the hospitals that treated soldiers, she was called an angel because she cared for the wounded
Clara Barton organized the collection of medicine and supplies for delivery to the battlefield. At the hospitals that treated soldiers, she was called an angel because she cared for the wounded
and assisted doctors. Barton’s work formed the future American Red Cross. In the South, Sally Louisa Tompkins created a small hospital in Richmond, Virginia, which grew into a major hospital by the end of the war. She was made a captain in the Confederate army because they valued her effort during the Civil War.
Summary and Preview: Many lives were changed by the war. In the next section you will learn about the end of the war.