Total War &Total War &the Republicthe Republic

Meaning of total war—mass and full commitment

The Demands of Total War Southern advantages—defenders of home

country with friendly population Lincoln’s leadership—inexperienced, fine

politician, judge of character with human touch

Suppression in Maryland—suspended habeas corpus, arrested sympathizers, bullied state election

Kentucky’s neutrality—Lincoln patient, waited for Confederate attack

Importance of the border states—population, production, rail centers, Washington, access to major river systems

General Winfield Scott, who developed the “Anaconda Plan.”

Opening Moves

Ironclads—new warfare begun

King cotton diplomacy—belligerent status, but King enough?

Grant’s character—iron will

Shiloh—“Lick ‘em tomorrow”

The southern Merrimac battles the northern Monitor in

the world’s first battle of ironclads.

Secretary of State William Seward, who warned European nations to stay out of conflict.

Ulysses. S. Grant, the one Union general who could and would take the fight to the enemy.

The two-day springtime Battle of Shiloh, which came to be known as “Bloody Shiloh.”

Lincoln fears “McClellan has slows”—arrogance, self-doubt, cautious to a fault

Lee’s generalship–“Audacity” and

“Stonewall”

Lee’s invasion fails—detach Maryland, isolate

Washington; cigars don’t

embolden McClellan at

Antietam, U.S.’s “bloodiest day”

General McClellan, an able administrator who was loved by his troops, he was too cautious to be a great field general.

Robert E. Lee, the greatest military

tactician of the war, won many

battles in the war ordinary generals

couldn’t have won.

“Burnside Bridge,” over Antietam Creek, which saw the last decisive

action of the Battle of Antietam.

END OF READING

Emancipation

Crittenden Resolution—war aim: preserving Constitution, Union Lincoln gives priority to the Union—slavery second to Union

Congressional attack on slavery—slaves are “contraband,” then free those used in war effort, then free those owned by rebels

Lincoln’s decision for emancipation—keep border states in Union, strike a blow against the Confederacy

Terms of the Proclamation—after Antietam, in enemy lines only?—emancipation for military reasons, not necessarily humane reasons

Reaction to the Proclamation—Europe swayed, redefined war Slaves within Union lines—Freedmen face racism, hostility Blacks in combat—Douglass: soldiers become citizens

Lincoln discusses the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet.

The Confederate Home Front Attempts to industrialize—better at industrial goods than

foodstuffs

New responsibilities, opportunities—women’s roles expand: spies, smugglers, manufacturers, managers, “government girls”

Soaring inflation—more money chasing few goods—why?

Centralization of power—more federal than federal; 1st conscription law

Opposition to Davis—state’s rights

Hostility to conscription—20-slave exemptions: “a rich man’s war and a

poor man’s fight”Alexander Stephens, VP of the Confederacy, who

accused Jefferson Davis of trying to be a dictator, he eventually abandoned the government.

The Union Home Front

Measures to raise money—taxes (1st income), bonds, “Greenbacks”

Western development (finally)

—Homestead and Land Grant College (land sales proceeds) Acts, 1862

Corruption and fraud–“shoddy,” 20% fraudulent expenditures

Moral decline—war brings out the worst—why?

Women and medicine—resistance at first; Clara Barton

The Union Congress went ahead with western settlement despite the war with

the Homestead Act and Land Grant College Act of 1862.

A Civil War nurse comforts a wounded soldier.

Women and teaching—another

profession taken over by women

Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus—across the North states vs. anti-war agitators; martial law

The Copperheads—peace Democrats against draft, emancipation

New York City draft riots—Irish attack draft officials, Republicans, African Americans—END OF READING

Women staff an outpost of the United States Sanitary

Commission.

A crowd of draft rioters takes out its

frustrations on a black man—

substitutes part of the controversy.

Clement Vallandigham of Indiana, labeled a Copperhead and banished to Confederacy for proposing armistice (1864 return).

Gone to Be a Soldier Disease and medical care—double

died from disease as bullets; doctors considered quacks

Decline of morality—boredom, horrors, no women

Southern soldiers and discipline—Americans not easily molded; southern social structure, elections erode discipline

The Civil War staple hardtack, sometimes called “worm castles” by the Union soldiers.

A “boning kit,” used by Civil War doctors,

whose main battlefield treatment

was amputation.

Differences between the two armies—acceptance of organization helps Union

Impact of technology—rifled barrels, minie balls increased range greatly increases casualties

Strength of defense—artillery devastating

defensive, not offensive, weapon, particularly with

exploding shells and canister loads

Soldiers’ hardening outlook—the

romance of battle is gone

The “rifled” Colt musket, which used a percussion cap and fired rifled minie balls like those to the right.

Union “Zouave” soldiers in dress that imitated French military styles of the time. Most Union

soldiers dressed more like the officer at the right.

The Union’s Triumph

Gettysburg—Lee on

offensive, July 1-3, 1863;

Pickett’s Charge Lee’s greatest

mistake

Capture of Vicksburg—July 4 surrender, with Port Hudson, seals Mississippi

Grant in command—coordinate

with Sherman and push on

Union’s summer offensive—attrition

General George Meade faces off against Lee at a Pennsylvania crossroads; some of the thousands of dead.

George Pickett’s men fought Pickett’s charge.

Only known picture of Abraham Lincoln at the Gettysburg Cemetery dedication at which he gave his address.

1864 election—remarkable wartime election: Lincoln (abolition) vs. McClellan (armistice)

Significance of Lincoln’s reelection—South’s toast

Thirteenth Amendment—abolition: no compensation

Abolition as a global movement—Britain spearheads; serfdom, too

Mac and his running mate went up the hill to unseat Lincoln, but both come tumbling down in cartoon; Lincoln wins election with a general that wins battles.

Confederacy’s abandonment of slavery—enlist slaves?; finally, begrudging rejection of values, institutions of “Old South”

March to the sea—a lesson in total war; in turn north, South Carolina gets worst

Lee’s Surrender—Richmond abandoned,

supplies captured, nowhere to go

General William Tecumseh Sherman, who said, “War is hell, and I’m going to make ‘em howl”; a scene from his 50-mile-wide march through Georgia.

Lee’s surrender to Grant at the little Virginia town of Appomattox Courthouse.

Lincoln’s assassination—made it worse…for the South

Cost of war —620,000;

South goes from richest to

poorest; U.S. is now singular

Spiritual toll of war

Abraham Lincoln shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre, just days after Lee’s surrender, while watching the English comedy My American Cousin. Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancé were also in the theatre box. Later in life, Rathbone would kill his wife, then attempt suicide, but survive, and would eventually die in an insane asylum.

Lincoln’s elaborate funeral cortege would make stops in many cities before

his eventual burial in Springfield, Illinois, his home.