Chapter 12

THE CIVIL WAR YEARS 1861-1865

While slavery is viewed as the main cause of the war, different lifestyles

and attitudes also played a part.Southerners believed that

Northerners were bad mannered and greedy. Northerners thought Southerners were backwards and

unsophisticated.

CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR

The issues of tariffs and slavery made many in the south feel that southern states were not being treated fairly

nor represented fairly in the decision making process in our government. Many believed that the Constitution

gave the rights to make decisions like these to the state governments.

STATES’ RIGHTS

Northern States Southern States

Economic Resources Firearms, cloth, iron, ships, boats, and shoes. The North also controlled most of the banking industry.

Mostly agricultural: cotton, corn, wheat, and livestock. Much of the South’s wealth was invested in slaves.

Human Resources 22 million 9 million ( of which 3.5 million were slaves)

Military Resources 16,000 soldiers No standing army; State Militias only. Georgia had one the best equipped.

RESOURCES OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH

Industry Atlanta’s factories could produce cannons, bullets, saddles, and railroad supplies and was a major transportation center. Georgia also had textile mills and mills for milling flour and meal. ( 33 cotton mills)

Agriculture At the beginning of the war, farmers were urged to reduce cotton production and to increase food crops.

Railroads In 1860, Georgia had over 1400 miles of railroad lines. This was more than any other Southern state. Atlanta was the railroad hub for Georgia and the South.

GEORGIA’S RESOURCES

Anaconda Plan: The original Union military strategy called for a blockade of

the south to “strangle” the south into submission. Lincoln did not believe this

would work.King Cotton Diplomacy: The South

believed that the North would tire of the war quickly and that European countries

would “need” their cotton and come to the aid of the Confederacy.

Neither side believed that the war would last longer than a few months.

MILITARY STRATEGIES

Fort Sumter: In South Carolina off the coast of Charleston. The first shots of the war were fired here.Battle of Bull Run: Manassas,

Virginia; People from D.C. came out to see the Union forces “defeat” the Confederate Rebels. General Jackson was given the nickname “Stonewall” at this battle. Union forces and the spectators were driven back with a

win for the Confederacy.

THE WAR

Fort Pulaski: Located at the mouth of the Savannah River. It was captured by Union forces in April of 1862, making Savannah useless to the cause.The General: This was a train that was boarded in Marietta by 20 Union soldiers dressed as civilians with the intent to ride the train into Georgia and destroy tracks, bridges, and telegraph lines. Confederate soldiers captured the group.

THE WAR

Union Draft Confederacy Draft

Originally asked for 50.000 volunteers. After the initial rush of patriotism the numbers fell off.

1st draft in US history. Originally included white men 18-35; later expanded to 17-50

Men who were ill or the only person caring for a widow, child, or other dependant were exempt.

Anyone could pay a fee and hire a substitute to take his place.

A man could avoid the draft by providing a substitute or paying a fee of $300.00.

Railroad employees, telegraph operators, workers in cotton mills, mines, or foundries, and shoemakers were exempt.

Over half of those drafted opted out through one of these choices. Many in the North also believed these exemptions were unfair and rioted in NY City in 1863, shouting, “Down with the rich” and attacking African Americans who were not citizens and were exempt as well.

20-slave exemption: for every 20 slaves on a plantation, 1 white man was exempt. This led many in the South to see the war as “ a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight”.

THE DRAFT (CONSCRIPTION)

Southern soldiers were not issued uniforms. Uniforms were mostly home

made.Weapons were scarce in the south.

Food supplies were limited with many living off the land, even eating alligator.

There were food riots.Disease and unsanitary conditions killed

many soldiers in both the north and south.Woman took over many of the roles at

home while the men were at war or killed. They worked in factories and farmed.

A SOLDIER’S LIFE

About 200,000 African-American soldiers fought for the Union.

At the end of the war 10% of the Union forces were African-American.

Many Georgia freedman hid on the islands off the coast of Georgia and joined the 21st

United Colored Troops and the South Carolina Colored Volunteers.

Although the South approved the drafting of slaves in early 1865, none were ever

actually drafted.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN SOLDIERS

Robert E. Lee is the commanding leader for the Confederacy.

Ulysses S. Grant is the commanding leader for the United States (Union).

William Tecumsah Sherman leads the march to the Sea through Georgia.

Battle of Antietam: Careless soldiers left a copy of Lee’s battle plans at an abandoned campsite and the Confederate soldiers were defeated as they entered Maryland.

WAR HIGHLIGHTS

Battle of Gettysburg (Pennsylvania): Confederate forces

attempt to invade the North and seize a supply of shoes at a shoe factory.

After 3 days of intense fighting, 7000 soldiers lay dead and 44,000 were

wounded or missing.Lincoln was so moved by the losses

suffered at Gettysburg that he traveled to the site for the dedication

of a cemetery and gave his famous Gettysburg address.

MORE WAR HIGHLIGHTS

In September 1863 General Bragg of the Confederacy defeated Union forces at Chickamauga in northern Georgia. Fighting continued in Chattanooga,

Tennessee.The “Battle Above the Clouds” was

fought on Lookout Mountain when 10,000 Union troops forced the 2,000 Confederate

defenders off the mountain.Confederate troops set up camp in Dalton,

Georgia for the winter.Grant sends Sherman and his troops to push the war into Georgia and the Deep

South.

THE WAR COMES TO GEORGIA

Sherman called his path to Atlanta “one grand skirmish”.From Chattanooga to Atlanta, Sherman circles Johnston’s Army and battles take place at: (see the map on page 271).

Dalton (Buzzard’s Roost and Dug Gap)

Resaca

Adairsville

Kennesaw Mountain

New Hope Church

Ezra Church

THE PATH TO ATLANTA

After losing at Jonesboro, General Hood orders the evacuation of Atlanta and that all military and railroad

equipment in Atlanta be destroyed.32,000 Union soldiers and 35,000 Confederate troops

are killed, wounded, or captured in the fight for Atlanta. It came at high cost to both sides.

Sherman ordered the remaining 1600 people in Atlanta to evacuate and that most of the remaining buildings to

be burned.He provided a tent city outside of Atlanta for the

refugees near a railroad station named Rough and Ready.

ATLANTA

Sherman’s next goal was to take the city of Savannah.

To provide for this march he issued Field Order No. 120 that ordered soldiers to “live off the land.” They would gather food from fields, collect horses and mules, and other supplies as they “marched” through Georgia. ( see the PP on Sherman’s March to the Sea)

He encountered minimal resistance from the state militia and destroyed most of the area.

In Milledgeville, Governor Brown appealed to the people to resist the invading forces. When Union forces arrived the town was undefended.

Savannah was given to President Lincoln as a “Christmas present.”

Field Order No. 15 gave confiscated lands from Jacksonville, FL to Charleston, SC to freed slaves. The land was later returned to the owners.

SHERMAN’S MARCH TO THE SEA

On April 1, 1865 General Lee sends word to President Jefferson Davis that he can not stop union troops from taking the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond Virginia.Lee wanted to continue fighting, but his troops were short of supplies, outnumbered, weary from years of fighting, and cut off from reinforcements (other troops).Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865 at the Appomattox courthouse and three days later about 25,000 confederate troops surrendered their weapons. They would not be tried for treason.Troops across the South continued fighting for several weeks longer.

SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX

THE END OF THE WAR

People celebrated in the streets of Washington D.C. at the news of Lee’s surrender. President Lincoln gave a

speech from the balcony of the White House and talked about his plans to reunite the Union. This angered a

Confederate sympathizer by the name of John Wilkes Booth. He decided to

assassinate the president.President Lincoln was hot and killed on April 15, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre.

IN THE NORTH

Union troops moved into Georgia a few days after Lee’s surrender.

They captured Macon and Columbus. General Cobb commanded the troops defending Macon and he was

outnumbered 13,000 to 3,000.A few weeks later Governor Brown formally surrendered the

Georgia Militia and its weapons.Georgia’s political leaders: Brown, Cobb, Alexander

Stephens, and Benjamin H. Hill were all arrested. Robert Toombs escaped capture and went to Europe.

Major Henry Wirz, the commander at Andersonville POW Camp was arrested, tried, found guilty, and executed for war

crimes. He was the only person convicted and hung .

IN THE SOUTH

Jefferson Davis was not ready to admit defeat and give up. He hoped that the Union would give up and allow the Southern states to remain independent. Davis and his family were captured near Irwinville, GA on May 10th. The “War of Northern Aggression/The War of Rebellion” was finally over.Many Southerners could not accept that the fact that they had lost. For many years after the war ended, Southerners struggled with the outcome. The South will face many challenges as they attempt to re-enter the Union.

THE CONFEDERACY FALLS