Lincoln took office
Confederates took Fort Sumter
Lincoln asked for volunteers for the Union Army
Virginia seceded
Capitol moved to Richmond
Western part of the state remained in the Union
Became the state of West Virginia
Three more states seceded
Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina
Border states remained in the Union
Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky, and Delaware
All slave states
Northern Advantages
Larger population
More men of fighting age
Superior manufacturing and food production
2/3 of the country's railroad mileage
Superior civilian leadership
Southern Advantages
Defending their own soil
Better military leadership
More used to guns and horses
Cotton
The First Battle of Bull Run
First battle of the war
Attempt to capture Richmond
Union met with resistance at Bull Run Creek
Union had initial advantage
Confederate reinforcements led by Thomas Jackson turned the tide and
defeated the Union Army and forced it to retreat back to Washington
Gained the nickname Stonewall
Modern warfare
Breech-loading rifles
Ironclads
Monitor-North
Merrimac-South
Three-pronged Union strategy
Campaign to take Richmond
After Bull Run Lincoln put George McClellan in charge
Very cautious man
Replaced Winfield Scott
Western Campaign
Led by Ulysses S. Grant
Meant to split Confederate forces
Very successful at first
Battle of Shiloh
1862
Union army surprised by Confederates
Fighting went on all day then more Union troops arrived and the
Confederates were driven from the field
More than 13,000 Union troops killed or wounded
More than 10,000 Confederates killed or wounded
Failure to hold Union army meant they would still be able to advance
and this part of the strategy would succeed
Blockade of the Confederate coastline
Cut off commercial lifeline with Europe
Blockade running not enough to make up for regular trade
Attacked port cities
David Farragut took New Orleans and began to advance north to meet
Grant
The Second Battle of Bull Run
Summer of 1862
McClellan after many battles was unable to take Richmond
McClellan pulled back
Robert E. Lee went on the attack and beat McClellan at Bull Run
Union army no closer to Richmond than at the beginning of the war
Antietam
After victory Lee began to push into Union territory
McClellan pursued him but was unable to catch him until Lee’s orders
were found wrapping a bunch of cigars
McClellan caught Lee at Antietam Creek in Maryland and a great battle
took place
Lee was outnumbered 70,000 to 40,000
More than 22,000 dead or wounded
About even on both sides
McClellan failed to finish Lee off
Lee retreated to VA
Lincoln fired McClellan
Slavery became the main issue
At first neither side declared slavery to be the central issue
North
Preservation of the Union
South
States Rights
Lincoln did not think the North would support a war over slavery
Three things changed his mind
Bloody fighting made the North want to hurt the South as much as
possible
Ending slavery would do that
Slavery helped the southern war effort
Slavery was a crucial issue with Britain
Britain would not support a war to preserve the Union but would to
end slavery
Britain was torn on whether or not to support the Confederacy
Liked the Union splitting up but did not support slavery
Emancipation Proclamation
January 1, 1863
Freed slaves in states in rebellion against the United States
Did not apply to border states
British opinion supported the Union
Encouraged the recruitment of blacks in the Union army
Nearly 300,000 served
Both sides adopted the draft
Life behind the lines
South suffered shortages
North prospered
Congressional actions
Morrill Tariff of 1861
Raised tax to 25%
By 1864 it was 47%
Transcontinental railroad
Homestead Act
1862
160 acres of public land given to anyone who would occupy and
cultivate it
Morrill Land-Grant Act
1862
Gave land to states and territories to build colleges that would
teach agricultural and mechanical skills
National Banking Act
1863
Did away with state banks and set up a system of national banks
Created a uniform currency
Women
Began taking men’s jobs
Nursing
Dorothea Dix
Superintendent of nurses in the North
Many people had doubts about women working in army hospitals
Prisons were terrible
Lincoln replaced McClellan with Ambrose Burnside
Lost at Fredericksburg and was replaced by Fighting Joe Hooker
Battle of Chancellorsville
Hooker lost badly
Lincoln replaced Hooker with George Meade
Stonewall Jackson was fatally wounded
Battle of Gettysburg
Lee marched north
Meade followed and met him at Gettysburg
Three days of very brutal fighting
Many casualties
Lee-28,000 out of 75,000
Meade-23,000 out of 88,000
Meade did not finish Lee off and let him retreat south
Gettysburg Address
November 1863
Battle of Vicksburg
Grant victorious
Completed the western campaign
Lincoln made Grant the supreme commander of the Union Army
William T. Sherman took charge of the army in the west and Grant took
over the eastern campaign
Decided to wear Lee down with superior numbers
Election of 1864
Lincoln beat McClellan due to recent military successes
Grant took Richmond
Confederates burned it
Lee retreated west
Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox
The war was over
Lincoln was shot and killed five days later by John Wilkes Booth
