American Civil War (1861-1865)
Fighting commenced on April
12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a United States (Federal) military
installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, the first state to secede. South Carolina, however, claimed that Fort
Sumter was legally within its (territorial) waters.
During the American Civil War,
the North generally named a battle after the closest river, stream or creek, and
the South tended to name battles after
towns or railroad junctions. Hence the Confederate name Manassas after Manassas Junction, and the Union name
Bull Run for the stream Bull Run.
During the first year of the
Civil War, the Union assumed control of the Border
States and established a naval blockade as both sides
raised large armies. In 1862, major bloody battles, such as Shiloh and Antietam, were fought causing massive casualties
unprecedented in U.S. military history. In September 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation
made the freeing of slaves in the South a war goal, despite
opposition from Northern Copperheads who tolerated secession and slavery.
Emancipation reduced the
likelihood of intervention from Britain and France on behalf of the Confederacy.
In addition, the goal also allowed the Union to recruit African
Americans for
reinforcements, a resource that the Confederacy did not exploit until it was too
late. The Border States and War Democrats initially opposed emancipation, but
gradually accepted it as part of total war needed to save the Union.
European immigrants joined the
Union Army in large numbers too. 23.4% of all Union soldiers were
German-Americans; about 216,000 were born in Germany. In the East, Confederate
General Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of
Northern Virginia
and experienced a series of victories against the Army of
the Potomac. However, Lee's best general, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall"
Jackson, was
killed at the Battle of
Chancellorsville
in May 1863.
Lee's invasion of the North
was repulsed at the Battle
of Gettysburg in
Pennsylvania in July 1863; Lee, however, managed an orderly retreat to Virginia.
The Union Navy captured the port of New Orleans in 1862, and Ulysses S. Grant
seized control of the Mississippi River by capturing Vicksburg, Mississippi, in July 1863, thus splitting the
Confederacy. See also: Anaconda Plan: The United States Naval Plan of Divide and
Conquer and Turning Points of the
American Civil War.
More than 10,500 battles and skirmishes occurred during the
Civil War; 384 engagements (3.7 percent) were identified as the principal
battles and classified according to their historical significance.
The war produced an estimated
1,030,000 casualties (3% of the U.S. population, which today would equate to
nearly 9,000,000 souls), including approximately 620,000 deaths—two-thirds by disease.
Let's take a moment and think about it on today's terms. To put it into
perspective, 3% of the U.S. population equates to the combined population of the
present-day states of New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware,
South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota,
Vermont and Wyoming. See also American Civil War History, Facts, and
Statistics.
The war accounted for more casualties than all
other U.S. wars combined. Presently, the causes of the war, the reasons for its
outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of lingering
controversy. The main result of the war was the restoration of the Union. Also,
approximately 4 million slaves were freed in 1865. Based on 1860 United States
census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including
6% in the North and an extraordinary 18% in the South. See also: American Civil War Battles, Casualties, &
Statistics and Organization of Union and Confederate
Armies.
Civil War Turning Points:
England, France, and US Civil War:
American Civil War and International Diplomacy
Last Civil War Battle and Final Surrender:
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