• The War in the West (382-383)– During 1862 the Confederacy

won most of the major battles in the East. Union forces did not have a good commander

– However, the Union forces led by Ulysses S. Grant achieved great success in the West

– Ulysses S. Grant won a reputation as a determined military leader. President Lincoln found him invaluable, exclaiming “I can’t spare this man. He fights.”

• The War in the West (382-383)– Shiloh:

• Ulysses S. Grant, marching his men toward the Mississippi River, rested his troops near a small log church named Shiloh and waited for reinforcements

• On April 6, 1862, thousands of Confederate forces had pushed Grant’s soldiers, beginning the Battle of Shiloh

• Union forces had subdued the Confederates, Southern general Beauregard gave the order to retreat

– Both sides paid dearly: Union suffered more than 13,000 casualties, and the Confederacy about 10,000

– The Victory at Shiloh gave the North a great advantage in the fight to control the Mississippi River Valley

• The War in the West (382-383)– New Orleans

• Union control of the Mississippi River depended on the taking of New Orleans. It was the largest city in the South and a central port for supplying troops.

• Capturing New Orleans would allow the Union to cut off supplies to western Confederate forces

• Despite the heavy fighting and nearly 200 casualties, all but four Union warships arrived in New Orleans

• On April 29 New Orleans was forced to surrender

• The War in the West (382-383)– New Orleans

• By May 1862 the Union had achieved “a Deluge of Victories” in the West.

• After the South’s loss of 50,000 square miles of territory, 1,000 miles of navigable rivers, two state capitals, and its largest city, Confederate morale began to weaken

• The Eastern Campaigns (384-385)– While the Union racked up

important victories in the West, President Lincoln remained committed to capturing Richmond, Virginia, the Capital of the Confederacy

– Lincoln ordered General George B. McClellan to return to Virginia in the Spring of 1862. General McClellan trained his men well, but his effectiveness as a military leader suffered from his cautious nature.

• The Eastern Campaigns (384-385)– The Peninsula Campaign:

(384)• Lincoln reluctantly agreed to

McClellan’s strategy to take Richmond in what became known as the Peninsula Campaign

• Rather than marching directly to Richmond, McClellan transported more than 100,000 men, 300 cannons, and 25,000 animals by water to the peninsula between the York and James Rivers

• The Eastern Campaigns (384-385)– The Peninsula Campaign: (384)

• Yorktown and Seven Pines– April 1862, General McClellan’s

forces met the Confederates at Yorktown, Virginia.

– Lincoln told McClellan to attack but he refused; he claimed there were too many enemy troops

– General McClellan lay siege to Yorktown. He wrote if Lincoln wanted to defeat the rebels “he had better come & do it himself.”

– Meanwhile, General Johnston moved his Confederate troops to the peninsula

• The Eastern Campaigns (384-385)– The Peninsula Campaign: (384)

• Yorktown and Seven Pines– General Johnston (Confederates)

forces held Yorktown until the beginning of may

– Just as McClellan was about to overrun the Confederate defenses, Johnston began a month-long retreat toward Richmond, Virginia.

– May 31, 1862, the two sides clashed just east of Richmond in the Battle of Seven Pines.

– The South did not do well

• Eastern Campaign: – Seven Days’ Campaign: (385)

• Even though the Confederates were badly weakened, General McClellan, Union General, sat and waited.

• Robert E. Lee, General of Confederates, did not wait

• Lee sent a cavalry unit commanded by 29-year-old James E.B. “Jeb” Stuart to gather information on enemy positions.

• Using Stewarts information, the combined forces of Lee and Stonewall Jackson attacked the Union army in the Seven Days’ Battles.

• These fierce battles lasted from June 25 to July 1.

• Union causalities numbered nearly 16,000. Confederate casualties were even higher at 20,000 but the battles were considered a victory for the South because McClellan retreated

• President Lincoln soon removed McClellan and gave General John Pope command of the army in the field

• A Shift in War Goals: (385-386)– As the War dragged

on, many northerners began to question whether saving the Union without ending slavery was worth the price.

• A Shift in War Goals: (385-386)– Beginning to move against slavery:

(385)• After a fierce debate, Republicans,

Abraham Lincoln’s Party, pushed legislation through Congress in July of 1862 that authorized African Americans to serve in the military

• The legislation also freed slaves held by Confederate soldiers or by Confederate allies

• President Lincoln signed the legislation

• A Shift in War Goals: (385-386)– Beginning to move against slavery:

(385)• However, Horace Greeley, abolitionist

editor of the New York Tribune, soon criticized Lincoln for not making slavery the central war issue

• Lincoln replied by simply restating his original goal: “My paramount object in the struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.”

• Privately, Lincoln had already concluded that slavery was too important to the southern war effort to be left alone.

• Lincoln hoped that if slaves learned that the North was fighting to free them, they would desert their masters, thereby weakening the South’s economy

• A Shift in War Goals: (385-386)– The Emancipation Proclamation: 386

• President Lincoln lacked the constitutional authority to abolish slavery.

• As commander in chief of the armed forces, however, he did have the military authority to institute military measures

• Thus, in July of 1862, Lincoln informed his Cabinet that he planned to issue a new military order: As of a certain date, all slaves living in areas still rebelling against the United States would be free

• To quiet constitutional concerns about this order, Lincoln assured his cabinet that this Emancipation Proclamation would apply only to the Confederate States. This assurance also relieved concerns about the status of slaves in the border states

• President Lincoln planned to keep his plan secret until the Union won a major military victory

• To issue the proclamation while the war was going badly for the Union would look like an act of desperation. The needed victory came in 1862

• Antietam: (386-387)– General Robert E. Lee went on the offensive in

September of 1862.– Confederate diplomats still believed that Britain

might offer support to the Confederacy– Most British government officials were ready to

formally recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation. They were waiting, though, to see if General Lee could win a major victory on Union soil

– On September 4, 1862, Lee began crossing the Potomac River into Maryland with about 40,000 men.

– Over the next few days, however, Lee lost about 5,000 soldiers as exhausted, hungry, and sick troops fell by the wayside

– Union forces lost track of Confederate troops for 4 days. Then two Union soldiers happened upon a copy of Lee’s battle plans wrapped around a discarded pack of cigars

• Antietam: (386-387)– Armed with the information from the

discarded pack of cigars, General McClellan planned a counterattack

– With some 75,000 troops, McClellan met Lee at Antietam Creek in Maryland

– The Battle of Antietam raged all day, becoming the bloodiest single-day battle in all of U.S. Military History

– The Confederates suffered more than 13,000 casualties; the Union more than 12,000.

– Despite the Union army’s good showing at Antietam President Lincoln fired McClellan AGAIN after he allowed the Confederate troops to escape to Virginia

• Antietam: (386-387)– Although the Battle of Antietam was not a

resounding victory for the Union, it raised confidence in the North.

– A major Confederate offensive had failed. This proved that General Lee could be defeated.

– Lee’s loss also cost the South any hope of support from European Countries

– The Union victory at Antietam gave Lincoln the necessary political support to move forward with his plans to free the slaves in the South

– On September 22, the president issued a preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation that would go into effect the first year of the war.

– When January 1, 1863, found the Confederacy still in rebellion, Lincoln’s Proclamation brought a decisive change in the war

• African Americans Take Up Arms: (387-388)– Both the July 1862 act allowing

African Americans to serve in the military and the Emancipation Proclamation encouraged African Americans to enlist in the Union army

– Frederick Douglass viewed military service as a step toward citizenship for African Americans

– African American troops faced a danger that the white Union soldiers did not. Black soldiers captured by the Confederates were treated as outlaws. They could face execution or be sold into slavery

• African Americans Take Up Arms: (387-388)– Many of the first African American soldiers

recruited by the Union served in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.

– This regiment earned an honored place in U.S. military history.

– In July of 1863, Union forces began attacking Confederate-held forts near Charleston, South Carolina.

– The 54th Infantry would lead the attack on Fort Wagner – the first time African American troops had been assigned a key role in a military campaign

– Union forces suffered staggering losses in a prolonged fight. The siege ended September 6, when Confederate forces decided to evacuate the fort

• African Americans Take Up Arms: (387-388)– Despite courageous performances by

the African American troops the Union army did not offer them full equality. For much of the war, black soldiers earned about half the pay of white soldiers.

– After much criticism by black soldiers and their commanding officers, Congress equalized the pay scale in June of 1864.

– Only about 100 African Americans were commissioned as junior officers

– Martin Delany became the first African American promoted to the rank of Major

– Nearly 180,000 African American Men served in the Union Army, and more than 32,000 lost their lives.

– More than 20 African American soldiers and sailors won the Congressional Medal of Honor

• New Union Commanders: (388-389)– After the Battle of Antietam,

President Lincoln chose Ambrose E. Burnside to replace General McClellan

– Fredericksburg: On December 11 and 12, 1862, General Burnside sent some 114,000 Union soldiers across the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, Virginia

– General Lee and some 75,000 Confederate soldiers controlled the hills above the town

– The North was slaughtered

• New Union Commanders (388-389)– Chancellorsville:

• President Lincoln transferred Burnside and gave command of the eastern forces to General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker.

• By April 30, 1863, Hooker had positioned his men in a deep forest known as the Wilderness, near Chancellorsville, Virginia

• The South won Chancellorsville but paid dearly for the win:

– Stonewall Jackson was mistaken s a Union cavalryman and shot and killed by his own men