A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 2: Westward Expansion and Civil WarPart 18: The Civil War (II)

THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK

• In March 1862, the Confederate States Navy made an effort to break the Union blockade of ports in the South.

• Two port cities in Virginia, Norfolk and Richmond, had suffered economic hardships as a result of the blockade. The Confederates sent out an ironclad vessel to attack the Union ships that were blocking the entry to Chesapeake Bay.

• The vessel, CSS Virginia, was made from the remnants of the USS Merrimack.

THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK

• After the Virginia sank two Union ships, the United States Navy responded by sending its own ironclad into combat.

• The USS Monitor attacked the Virginia in what is now known as the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack, or the Battle of Hampton Roads.

• Neither side won the battle.

• Both of the ironclads retreated to their ports and the blockade remained in force.

THE PENINSULA CAMPAIGN

• George McClellan, Commander of the Army of the Potomac, led the first major land offensive of the war in April 1862.

• McClellan’s objective was to capture Richmond, Virginia.

• He planned to lead his men out of Washington, DC, and onto the Chesapeake Bay. Then he planned to traverse the Virginia Peninsula to reach Richmond.

• The Confederate forces opposing McClellan’s campaign were led by Joseph Johnston.

ULYSSES S. GRANT

• While McClellan led Union forces against the Confederate States in the East, a separate offensive was made in the West.

• Ulysses S. Grant was a colonel placed in command of troops near Cairo, Illinois, in 1861.

• Cairo is strategically located at the intersection of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River.

• Grant’s objective was to advance down the Mississippi towards New Orleans.

THE BATTLE OF SHILOH

• By early April 1862, Grant and 50,000 soldiers had moved into southwestern Tennessee.

• On April 6, Confederate forces launched a surprise attack against them near a church called Shiloh, at the hamlet of Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River.

• The Confederates dominated the battle at first, but Grant received reinforcements on April 7 and the Union forces won.

• More than 23,000 men were killed or wounded during the battle, making it the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil until then.

THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS

At the end of April, 1862, the Union captured the city of New Orleans. New Orleans was the largest slave trading port in the South and also lay at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The capture of the city allowed Winfield Scott’s Anaconda plan to be put in action at last.

THE BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES

• Meanwhile, in the East, McClellan managed to overcome Confederate opposition and move his men along the Virginia Peninsula towards Richmond.

• On May 31, however, Johnston launched a surprise attack just as McClellan’s men reached the outskirts of Richmond.

• The outcome of the battle was inconclusive, with heavy losses on both sides and a total of 11,000 men dead or wounded.

• Johnston himself was among those wounded in action.

ROBERT E. LEE

• After Joseph Johnston was wounded, he was replaced by Robert E. Lee of Virginia.

• A year earlier, Winfield Scott had asked Lee to serve in the Union Army but Lee refused to fight against his own state.

• Lee was much more aggressive than Johnston and forced McClellan’s men to retreat.

• McClellan’s men lost control of the Virginia Peninsula. In the course of the retreat, more than 35,000 men on both sides were either killed or wounded.

THE SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN

• Lee was emboldened by his success in defeating McClellan.

• With morale rising in the Confederacy, he led 55,000 men through northern Virginia towards Washington, DC.

• The Union had established a supply depot on the railway line at Manassas Junction, the site of the First Battle of Bull Run.

• Lee’s men captured the depot in August 1862, with more than 18,000 soldiers on both sides either killed or wounded.

THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

• After his victory at Manassas Junction, Lee developed an ambitious strategy.

• He was determined to launch an attack on Union soil, and he needed to resupply his men.

• To launch an attack on the Union, he moved 55,000 men northwards through the Shenandoah Valley.

• At the same time, to secure resupplies, he sent Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson to attack and capture the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

• George McClellan accidentally found a copy of Lee’s orders to his subordinate commanders.

• McClellan moved his own 75,000 men to intercept Lee’s men while Stonewall Jackson was on his separate mission.

• On September 17, McClellan and Lee met at Antietam Creek in Maryland. That day remains the bloodiest single day in American history, with almost 23,000 men killed or wounded in less than twenty-four hours.

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

• The Union victory at Antietam was slight, but it was enough for Abraham Lincoln to justify what he did next.

• On September 22, Lincoln issued a proclamation that promised freedom to all slaves who lived in the Confederate States and were willing to join the war efforts of the Union.

• The proclamation did not apply to slaves in the Border States, and would come into effect on January 1, 1863.

A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 2: Westward Expansion and Civil WarPart 18: The Civil War (II)