Notes

Battle of Bull Run

In July 1861, more than 30,000 Union troops were sent to battle Confederate forces waiting outside Washington, D.C. The two armies met at Bull Run, a creek near Manassas, Virginia. In the battle's first hours, Union troops gained the upper hand. But a determined stand led by Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson sent them scrambling back to Washington. Confederates nicknamed their hero Stonewall Jackson in honor of his refusal to yield to the Union armies. The battle was known as the Battle of Bull Run in the North and the Battle of Manassas in the South.

Battle of Shiloh

In February 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant directed an attack on and capture of two Confederate strongholds—Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. His bold action drove Confederate forces from western Kentucky and much of Tennessee, and boosted northern morale. However, in April, Grant's troops fought a terrible battle in southwest Tennessee. In just two days of fighting, nearly 25,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded. This battle, known as the Battle of Shiloh, horrified both the North and South.

Emancipation Proclamation

On September 22, 1862, President Lincoln formally announced the Emancipation Proclamation. Issued as a military decree, it freed all enslaved people in states still in rebellion after January 1, 1863. It did not, however, apply to border states that were loyal to the union or to places that were already under Union military control. Lincoln hoped the proclamation might convince some southern states to surrender before the January 1 deadline. Many northerners responded to the Emancipation Proclamation with great excitement. "We shout for joy that we live to record this righteous decree," rejoiced Frederick Douglass.

Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg

The focus of the Union's western military campaign was on the Mississippi River. The war strategy depended on gaining control of the river and cutting the South in half. In the spring of 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant placed Vicksburg—a Confederate stronghold—under siege. By July, Confederate troops were forced to surrender. Meanwhile, General Robert E. Lee devised a plan to demoralize the Union. Lee decided to invade the North at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. But after three days of intense fighting, Lee's army surrendered and would never again attempt to fight on Union soil. A few months later, President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address to recognize the fallen soldiers.

Sherman's March to the Sea

The Union's total-war strategy was implemented by General William Tecumseh Sherman. In May 1864, he set out from the Tennessee-Georgia border with 60,000 troops in a 250-mile march to capture the port city of Savannah, Georgia. During his "March to the Sea," Sherman ordered his men to destroy anything of potential value. His army tore up railroad tracks, destroyed buildings, and vandalized hundreds of private homes. As Sherman approached Atlanta, Confederate troops abandoned the city. Once Atlanta was emptied, Union troops burned it to the ground. Sherman continued eastward and captured Savannah in late December.

Lincoln Reelected

As 1864 drew to a close, Lincoln had much to celebrate. His military commanders were winning victories on the battlefield, and he had won reelection in November. The campaign had been difficult. Lincoln had lost some support even in his own party, and his presidency seemed in jeopardy. However, Union military victories boosted his popularity. Many Union soldiers were allowed to go home to vote. George McClellan, the Democratic candidate, won 45 percent of the popular vote, but Lincoln won the majority of the electoral votes. The reelection of Abraham Lincoln destroyed any last Confederate hope that the North would cave in and negotiate a peace.

Lee Surrenders to Grant

After a long, brutal, and bloody battle, General Robert E. Lee and his army made one last attempt to break the siege of General Grant's troops at Petersburg, Virginia. The Confederates failed. Recognizing that their situation was hopeless, Lee ordered a retreat from Petersburg on April 2, 1865. Richmond, left defenseless, was evacuated and set aflame. Lee's one final hope was to join with Confederate forces in North Carolina. But Lee and his starving, exhausted soldiers were unable to make the march south. They were trapped at the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. On April 9, Lee formally surrendered to Grant. "The war is over," Grant said, and "the rebels are our countrymen again."

On April 14, just days after General Lee surrendered, Lincoln attended a new comedy production at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. During the performance, actor and Confederate supporter John Wilkes Booth approached the President's private box. Booth fired a single shot into the back of Lincoln's head. Then, leaping to the stage, he was heard to cry out "Sic simper tyrannis!" ("Thus ever to tyrants," the motto of Virginia) and "the South is avenged." Mortally wounded, Lincoln died the next morning.

Enslaved African Americans Seek Refuge

On the battlefield, Union officers faced a dilemma: what to do with enslaved African Americans who came under their control. It was absurd, argued these officers, to return slaves to their owners. Early on, Union General Benjamin Butler had gathered hundreds of black refugees into his camps and set them to manual labor. He declared the fugitives under his protection to be contraband, or captured war supplies. General John Frémont went a step further, declaring that enslaved people who came under his command in Missouri were free. Fearing retaliation from the border states, Lincoln reversed Frémont’s order.

The Emancipation Proclamation

Analyze why Lincoln decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and what it achieved

In this section, we have learned the following:

Abolitionist impatience with Lincoln's policies and slavery's unpopularity in Europe convinced Lincoln it was time to address the issue of slavery.
In 1862, in the Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, Maryland, the Confederates suffered heavy casualties under General Robert E. Lee.
Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, a document that freed all enslaved people in states still in rebellion after January 1, 1863.
The proclamation, issued as a military decree, gave the southern states notice that the Union would take action to free all those who were enslaved.
For African Americans in the North, the proclamation made them eager to join the Union army and fight against slavery.
For white southerners, the call to free the slaves ended any desire for a negotiated end to the war. Confederate leaders felt they must fight to the end.
Participation of African Americans in the War Effort

Assess the different roles that African Americans played in the Civil War

In this section, we have learned the following:

More than 180,000 African Americans served in the Union army during the Civil War.
The Confederacy did not try to enlist African Americans because they did not think African Americans would fight to preserve slavery.
Some African Americans joined the fighting by organizing their own military units to help the Union.