Unit 7 – The Civil War
I.
From Bull Run to Antietam
A.
The First Battle of Bull Run
- July 1861 (In Virginia)
General Irwin McDowell, commander of the Union troops, said he needed more time to get his 90-day
volunteers ready but Lincoln ordered him into action.
What was his objective?
March to Richmond, Virginia (Confederate Capitol).
General P.G.T Beauregard commanded a smaller force of Confederate soldiers and was positioned
along Bull Run, a stream 4 miles north of a Manassas.
The Union troops attacked on July 21 and drove the Southerners back, but who stopped the Union
advance? The 22,000 Confederate troops lead by “Stonewall” Jackson
The Union troops retreated for the safety of Washington and the Confederates were too disorganized
and exhausted to pursue the Union Army.
The 1
st
major battle of the Civil War was over (1
st
Battle of Bull Run) = Union had 2900 casualties,
2000 for the Confederacy.
DEFINE casualties. Someone who is injured, goes M.I.A. or is killed
B.
Preparing for War
Bull Run caused some Americans on both sides to suspect that winning the war might not be so easy.
1.
Strengths of the North and the South
North
= 2X more railroad and factories, better economy with more money in the bank, 2/3 of
the nation’s population and a navy.
South
= majority of military officers from the South, fighting a defensive war and were
fighting to preserve their way of life.
2.
Union Military Strategies
Lincoln ordered a naval blockade of the seceded states to block cotton from leaving and
manufactured goods from entering.
General Winfield Scott strategy was to cut the Confederacy in 2 by controlling the Mississippi
River and getting the South to seek peace,
Why was this plan (nicknamed Anaconda) scorned in the North?
It was going to take a long time and the North (Union) wanted a short war
3.
Confederate War Strategies
“All we ask is to be left alone” Jefferson Davis, Confederate President.
Southern Strategy called for a war of attrition. DEFINE Wearing out the other side
The South also planned to withhold cotton from England and France so those European
countries would put pressure on the Union.
Why did this strategy fail?
England and France found new markets in the Pacific
4.
Tactics and Technology
Most Civil War general had been trained to concentrate forces, attack the enemy and drive
them away.
The muskets and canons were ineffective because they were inaccurate.
How did bullets and rifling change this?
Bullets drifted less, rifles were accurate up to 500 yards
Shells
(devices that exploded in the air or when they hit something) and
canister
(shell filled
with bullets) made traditional tactics obsolete.
C.
War in the West
After the disaster at Bull Run, Lincoln named General George McClellan to build and command a
new army (The Army of Potomac)
Meanwhile, Union forces in the West invaded the Confederacy (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Tennessee) and this became the “war in the west”.
