The War in the WestThe Big Idea

Fighting in the Civil War spread to the western United States.

Main Ideas

• Union strategy in the West centered on control of the Mississippi River.

• Confederate and Union troops struggled for dominance in the Far West.

Main Idea 1:Union strategy in the West centered on

control of the Mississippi River.

• Ulysses S. Grant was commander of Union forces in West– Bold and restless, he wanted to attack.

• Western campaignWestern campaign focused on taking control of Mississippi River.– Would cut off eastern part of Confederacy from food sources in

West– Union could use bases along the Mississippi to attack

communication and transportation networks.

• Grant’s Army of Tennessee captured Confederate forts on Tennessee and Cumberland rivers in February 1862.

• Both sides claimed victory in bloody two-day Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, but Grant’s forces had driven Confederates back into Mississippi.

Battle of ShilohBattle of Shiloh• Date- April 6 – April 7, 1862• Location- Hardin County, Tennessee

(Pittsburgh Landing)• Result- Union victory• Commanders

– Union- Ulysses S. Grant; Don Carlos Buell (reinforcements)

– Confederate- Albert Sidney Johnston; P.G.T. Beauregard

• Strength– Union-Union- Army of West Tennessee

(48,894)Army of the Ohio (17,918)

– Confederate-Confederate- Army of Mississippi (44,699)

• Casualties and losses – Union - 13,047- 1,754 killed; 8,408

wounded; 2,885 captured/missing– Confederates- 10,699- 1,728 killed;

8,012 wounded; 959 captured/missing.

Shiloh

The Fall of New Orleans

• U.S. Navy moved upriver to meet Grant, who was moving down the Mississippi.

• First obstacle was the port of New Orleans—largest Confederate city and gateway to the Mississippi.

• Fleet under Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans in April 1862.

• He then took Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi.

Siege of VicksburgSiege of Vicksburg• Date- May 18 – July 4, 1863• Location- Warren County, Mississippi• Result- Union victory• Belligerents

– United States (Union) – CSA (Confederacy)

• Commanders– Ulysses S. Grant– John C. Pemberton 

• Strength– Union- 77,000approx. – Confederates- 33,000

• Casualties and losses– Union- 4,835– Confederate- 32,697

(29,495 surrendered)

Vicksburg

Siege of Vicksburg

• Farragut ordered surrender of strategic Vicksburg, Mississippi, in May 1863.

• Location on 200-foot-high cliffs above the Mississippi made invasion nearly impossible.

• Grant decided to starve the city into surrender; began Siege of Vicksburg in mid-May.

• Facing starvation, city surrendered on July 4, 1863.

Civil War MortarsCivil War Mortars

Civil War MortarsCivil War Mortars

Dictator- Dictator- fired 200 pound mortar shells from a railroad platform propelled by 20 pounds of powder into the Confederate lines

Civil War MortarsCivil War Mortars

Main Idea 2: Confederate and Union troops struggled

for dominance in the Far West. • Union halted attempts by Confederate armies to control

lands west of the Mississippi in Colorado and Arizona in 1861.

• Confederates failed to take border state of Missouri, losing Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862.

– Cherokee Native Americans aided the Confederates, hoping that they would give them greater freedom.

• Pro-Confederate forces remained active in region throughout the war, forcing Union commanders to keep troops in area.

Battle of Pea RidgeBattle of Pea RidgeThe outcome of the battle essentially cemented The outcome of the battle essentially cemented Union control of Missouri. One notable fact of Union control of Missouri. One notable fact of this battle is that it was one of the few in which this battle is that it was one of the few in which a Confederate Army outnumbered a Union a Confederate Army outnumbered a Union Army.Army.

• Date- March 7 – March 8, 1862Date- March 7 – March 8, 1862• Location- Benton County, ArkansasLocation- Benton County, Arkansas• Result- Union victoryResult- Union victory• CommandersCommanders

– Union- Samuel R. CurtisUnion- Samuel R. Curtis– Confederate= Earl Van DornConfederate= Earl Van Dorn

• StrengthStrength– Union- Army of the SouthwestUnion- Army of the Southwest

(approx. 10,500)(approx. 10,500)– Confederate- Army of the WestConfederate- Army of the West

(approx. 16,000)(approx. 16,000)• Casualties and lossesCasualties and losses

– Union- 1,384Union- 1,384– Confederate- 2,000Confederate- 2,000

War in the West. Southern leaders believed it was important for the Confederacy to control the Southwest. Hopes of control ended in March 1862, however, when Union forces defeated the Confederates at Glorieta Pass near Santa Fe. During the same month, Confederates were also defeated at the Battle of Pea Ridge, the most significant battle west of the Mississippi River. The defeat cost the Confederacy control of Missouri. Except for Texas, the Southwest remained in Union hands throughout most of the war.