The Super Summary of World History (42 page)

Early in the war, during the Peninsula Campaign by the Union,
Stonewall
Jackson
attempted in vain to convince
Robert
E.
Lee
and Confederate President
Jefferson
Davis
to invade the North. The Union Army of the Potomac was fighting east of Richmond, Virginia, leaving the way north lightly guarded. Jackson advocated an invasion driving for Baltimore, Maryland or Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and destroying the rail lines and factories located in these regions. Such a strategy would also force the abandonment of the Richmond campaign. If this worked and resulted in an early southern victory, the South could remain intact. Only in this condition would the Confederacy have a chance of surviving as a nation. By waiting for the Union invasion it was bound to lose territory, thereby minimizing its chances of success even if it “won” the war.

With few exceptions the South fought the war with fewer men and on its own soil. It is also estimated as many as 300,000 white male southerners fought for the Union Army, and another 200,000 mostly southern blacks joined the Union as well. A loss of nearly 500,000 men to the North was a telling blow to the South. If an infantry division in1860 was about 10,000 men, the defection equals the loss of between 30 to 50 divisions! Some northerners fought for the South, but the numbers are few and speculative.

As their economy fell apart, the southern armies were reduced to rags and very little food (fried corn was a staple). Northern determination to continue the war and its nearly unlimited supply of men and materials crushed the South. As long as the North held its determination and focused its power on achieving victory the South was doomed. Only if the North quit could the war end with a southern victory; however, if we examine this “victory by the South” scenario we might notice a few problems. Assume the North ran out of steam in 1863 after capturing New Orleans, Kentucky, Missouri, and a lot of Tennessee. The remaining South would be in extremely poor shape, and the North would never give back the area it bled to win. The results of such a “victory” are impossible to discern, nevertheless, with its lack of resources, damaged economy, and weak central government the smart money would bet on a quick economic and political failure followed by a request to re-enter the Union.
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The Confederate states were small in number and resources, hence, a “victory” that lost large tracts of territory to the Union guaranteed the non-viability of the remaining states. Why the South fought on after 1863 and the loss of the Mississippi River is a mystery; although, most pin it on pride (I pin it on stupidity).
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The South’s political leadership and its governmental system started disjointed and uncoordinated, and then never changed. Many southern state governments held back men and resources to protect their own state, and constantly argued with their central government about recruitment and supplies as the war went on. As a result, the Confederacy failed to maintain its economy, muster troops, or feed and clothe its troops. In a very short time the roads, railroads, economy, and small industrial base were in shambles. The Union blockade stopped the export of cotton and tobacco devastating the Confederate economy. The southern nation only maintained itself through the superhuman exertions of its excellent armies. The Confederate troops held on through hell itself and then some. How these men kept fighting with such astounding bravery and endurance while starving and freezing is remarkable. It is clear from the economic situation of the Confederacy they had lost the war economically before the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. Yet they fought on, winning victory after victory; nevertheless, the end was not in doubt as long as the Union kept fighting. Lincoln recognized this fact from the first.

Figure 37 Principle Campaigns of the Civil War—
1: Split the South down the Mississippi,
2: Split the South across Georgia,
3: Defeat Lee in Virginia,
4: Maintain a tight naval blockade

The
War
Begins

There are so many excellent books on the Civil War and its battles there is no need to recount the battles here (a few of the best books are listed at the end of the section); however, a couple of campaigns will be covered along with my opinions on what was going on in the war.

From the outset, Lincoln was determined to keep the South in the Union. After Lincoln’s inaugural address, where he said slavery could continue to exist where it was then legal, Virginia voted to stay in the Union. The key Border States were Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Each of these Border States allowed slavery but did not want a war with the North. After the South fired on the
Fort
Sumter
, a federal military post in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, Lincoln used the event to call up troops to invade the South, thus making a tragic political blunder. He required each state to send men to put down the rebellion. Lincoln told Fort Sumter to fight, and he tried to resupply the fort, thereby guaranteeing the South would fire the first shots of the war. Then Lincoln used the fall of the fort as the reason to call up the troops. Thus, the South firing on Fort Sumter was not a surprise, and calling up troops was planned
before
the Confederates fired on the fort. All this makes it impossible to believe Lincoln tried to avoid the war. It is obvious he decided negations would serve no purpose, and went forward with a plan to start the war on his terms. Unfortunately, his moves pushed the states of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina to join the Confederacy. Not smart. After the second wave of secession, Lincoln negotiated with Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Delaware to keep them in the Union, and they stayed. At least he was a fast learner.

That was it; the Border States seceded because they refused to send their troops against the secessionist states, and because they thought the Federal Government was becoming an oppressor. These Border States, especially Virginia, were the key to maintaining a viable South. When the key Border States joined the secession the power of the rebellion grew dreadfully. After Virginia joined the Confederacy the capital of the rebellion moved to Richmond, Virginia, only a few miles from Washington DC. This small area between the two cities saw a Noah’s flood of blood spilled out between the two armies.

Figure 38 Ft Sumter Bombardment—1861

The first battle was at
Bull
Run
in Virginia in July 1861. It was a Union defeat, and it gave General Jackson his famous name “Stonewall.” As southern troops were about to break during a Union assault on vital Confederate positions, a Confederate officer among them pointed to Jackson and his men saying, “There stands Jackson like a stone wall . . .” Responding gallantly, Confederate troops rallied and drove back the Union attackers. The blow to the Union at Bull Run was significant and led to a new general taking over with orders to get the Union Army of the Potomac ready to fight.

The new general,
George
McClellan
, took over on July 26, 1861 and immediately set about creating a good army. In this he was a total success; however, being a good organizer and trainer of men does not make one a good battlefield general. McClellan decided to march on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, by coming down the peninsula to the east of the city. By coming from the Atlantic Ocean side he achieved surprise, and he outnumbered the Confederate troops significantly; nonetheless, George McClellan was a timid leader. He threw away his chance at an early capture of the Confederate capital via hesitation and fear. As the Union Army inched its way toward Richmond, General Joseph Johnson, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, fell wounded. This wound changed history. General Robert E. Lee, arguably one of the best military commanders of all time,
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replaced him. Lee soon put McClellan on the run causing the Union Army to retreat to the Washington DC area. Many Union generals were so dismayed by General McClellan’s conduct they called him a traitor. At one point General Lee was attacking the Union positions and gaining little except exorbitant casualties. Worse, the position abandoned to retreat to Washington, DC was the best defensive position of all. If McClellan had dug in and repelled several more Confederate assaults, he may have damaged Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia beyond repair. Instead, he fled. Lee had lost so many troops because he was trying desperately to completely destroy the Union army, but the terrain and his subordinates worked against his plans.

Even after several Confederate victories Lee worried about the situation. Following consultations with Jefferson Davis, Lee’s army planned to invade Maryland because the state’s many southern sympathizers might be persuaded to join the South if an army arrived to assist them. If Maryland joined the rebellion it would be a immense blow to the Union. Lee marched off to Maryland, however, one of Lee’s lieutenants lost the entire invasion plan which was soon found by Union forces under McClellan. Someone wrapped the plans in a bunch of cigars and promptly lost the cigars along with the plans. After the plans came to light, McClellan bragged he could crush Lee because under the attack plan Lee divided his already limited forces; therefore, if McClellan attacked a portion of Lee’s divided army with his entire Union army he could destroy it before other Confederate units could help. McClellan could then turn and destroy the reduced Rebel army before it retreated to Virginia. Given the larger size of the Union Army, the task should have been within easy reach of even the bungling McClellan; even so, McClellan outdid himself in his search for defeat. The lost plans led to the great battle at Antietam, where McClellan assaulted a portion of Lee’s army trapped with its back against the Potomac River.

Antietam
and
Emancipation

The great battle at
Antietam
(Sharpsburg) came to pass on September 17, 1862. As usual, McClellan squandered many chances to destroy Lee’s trapped army, or at least cause it irreparable harm. After many hours of fruitless frontal assaults against well established Confederate defensive positions the Union attack stalled. At the last moment Lee managed to recombine his divided army, defeat another Union attack, and retreat back from whence he came across the Potomac. McClellan remained frozen in position, thus allowing the battered men in grey to escape. Lincoln was livid and moved to find a new general. Meanwhile, a Maryland woman witnessed the southern troops passing by her home and in her diary wondered if these were the men who had defeated “ . . . our gleaming legions.” She described the southern soldiers as men in rags, no shoes, and so hungry their ribs were showing. She reported their battle standards were the only non-ragged thing about them. Anyone reading the diary would know the South had already lost in September of 1862.

In spite of the poor outcome at Antietam, Lincoln declared a Union victory and issued the
Emancipation
Proclamation
freeing
the
slaves
held
in
the
southern
states
still
in
rebellion
. Note it did
not
free the slaves in states that were not in rebellion such as Kentucky and Maryland. The issue of what to do with these slaves remained until after the war.
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Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a political move to assure nations overseas, such as England and France, that the North was against slavery. This put the southern cause in a bad light overseas since England and Europe banned slavery years before and did not want to hint at any kind of support for the institution. Now the South could never convince any powerful European nation to sustain it in the war. Gaining European support was a key reason Lee invaded the North. Southern victories in the North might convince some European nations to recognize the Confederacy as a viable state; hence, gaining support for independence. By issuing this proclamation, Lincoln put a major political and strategic dent in southern hopes.