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American Civil War Strategies and Battles

Explore the advantages, disadvantages, and strategies of the North and South during the Civil War. Dive into key battles like Gettysburg and the Siege of Vicksburg, and learn about significant military leaders such as Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and more. Understand the impact of the Virginia Campaign and the transformation of warfare into total war. Witness the defining moments that shaped the outcome of this historic conflict.

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American Civil War Strategies and Battles

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  1. NORTH CIVIL WARADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES ADVANTAGES Larger population More industry More resources Better banking system More railroad mileage Abraham Lincoln More ships DISADVANTAGES Faced hostile people Southern territory unfamiliar

  2. SOUTH CIVIL WARADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES ADVANTAGES Strong popular support Familiar territory Superior military leadership DISADVANTAGES Smaller population Few factories Less food production Fewer railroad miles Fewer ships Jefferson Davis Belief in states’ rights

  3. Strategies • Use a Blockade to cut off the south. • Stops supplies and reinforcements • Control the Mississippi to cut the south in half • But the plan takes a lot of time • Lincoln does not want to wait and order the invasion of Virginia. Anaconda Plan King Cotton • South used a defensive war. • Try to make allies with other countries (Britain and France) • Europe needs cotton • South tries force them to help by controlling cotton trade.

  4. NORTH CIVIL WARSTRATEGIES • The Anaconda Plan • Blockade the South • Split the Confederacy by gaining • control of the Mississippi River • Capture Richmond, the Confederate • capital

  5. SOUTH CIVIL WARSTRATEGIES • WIN RECOGNITION AS AN • INDEPENDENT NATION • Capture Washington, D.C. • Seize central Pennsylvania • Defend homeland until • North tired of fighting • Get Britain to pressure • North to end blockade to • restore cotton supplies

  6. AIM: American Civil War Battles – Part 1

  7. Civil War Battle Map

  8. General George McClellan • Lincoln Appoints McClellan • trains “Army of the Potomac”

  9. CSA Feeling Good! Lee decides to venture into Union territory – Pennsylvania • Why do that?!? • Supplies • Get USA to move troops from Vicksburg on Miss River • CSA victory in the north will upset politics in the north

  10. [July 1-3, 1863] Gettysburg Overview • Small PA town, 3 day battle, TURNING POINT IN WAR, 94o & humid, CSA looking for shoes Day 1 • Confederates looking for shoes go into PA • Gets into a fight w/Union cavalry • Fighting attracts additional troops in this unlikely town of Gettysburg • Confederates took town, Union retreated to a HILL

  11. [July 1-3, 1863] Gettysburg Day 2 • 90,000 Union/ 75,000 Confederates • Little Round Top abandoned by mistake – Key position • Lee orders troops to Little Round Top (offensive strategy) • 20th Maine troops went to defend • Under command of Chamberlain • 20th Maine & Chamberlain: defend hill successfully

  12. [July 1-3, 1863] Gettysburg Day 3 • Lee commits Confederate troops to one final attack to center of Union line – Longstreet disagrees • Guns quieted in afternoon – Lee thought Union was weakened - orders CHARGE! • Pickett’s Charge: CSA loses 75% of men

  13. [July 1-3, 1863] Gettysburg So What? Results • Lee retreats to VA – Army/CSA never recovers • Lee deterred from going on offensive again • Each side loses 30% of men • Union: 23,000/CSA:28,000

  14. Review • How many days was Gettysburg fought for? • Who was the General at Gettysburg? • Why did the CSA forces decide to head into PA? • What did Lee expect would happen if they scored a win in the North?

  15. Siege of Vicksburg - What • Union Army of the Potomac in PA – Won Gettysburg • Union & forces want to gain complete control of the Miss. River • Vicksburg was one of the 2 CSA forts preventing control over the Miss. River • Strategic location • Grierson & cavalry • Weakened RR & transport • Distract rebels so infantry can get to Vicksburg

  16. Siege of Vicksburg - What • Weakened defenses – bombarded fort with gun/cannon fire • Starve out inhabitants – ate mules, dogs, rats • Siege: May (late) – July 6 WEEKS! • July 3rd (same day as Pickett’s Charge) - Terms of surrender offered • City Fell – July 4th

  17. Siege of Vicksburg – Results • A few days later last CSA holdout fell – CSA officially split in 2!

  18. Outside the lines November 19, 1863 - Gettysburg Address • Ceremony to dedicate a cemetery in Gettysburg, where Lincoln was asked to add a few remarks. Lincoln follows a two-hour speech with his two minute speech – Unifies nation! • Morale in CSA went down as war went on – Why? • March 1864 – Lincoln appoints U.S. Grant as commander of all Union armies

  19. Outside the lines • Grant appoints William Tecumseh Sherman commander of military division of Mississippi • Grant & Sherman’s commitment to WAR – TOTAL WAR • Essential to fight South’s CIVILIAN population • Why? • Civilians produced weapons, grew food and transported goods • Civilians & their willingness to fight keeps battle going

  20. The Virginia Campaign - What • From Wilderness to Petersburg, Grant keeps pushing Lee back • Not all battles won by Union • CSA lost 35,000 men (COULD NOT REPLACE) • USA lost 65,000 men (COULD REPLACE) • Grant is called a “butcher”

  21. The Virginia Campaign - Results • Union pushed back Confederate forces to south Virginia • Killed men who the CSA could not replace

  22. Sherman’s March to the Sea - WHAT • Sept 1864 – Sherman takes Atlanta “Burning of Atlanta” • Abandons supply lines @ Atlanta - creates line of destruction to the Sea • Lived off land as they went • Destroyed land as they went; freed approx 25,000 slaves who eagerly joined Union army • Ultimate goal – SOUTH CAROLINA • Why?

  23. Sherman’s March to the Sea – So What? – Results! • Example of TOTAL WAR (not sparing civilians & land • civilians are helping the war w/ food & weapons production, etc. • Continued to S.C. capital – Columbia! • Center of railroads, printing presses • Turns north - help Grant fight Lee

  24. Sherman’s March to the SeaNovember 15-December 20, 1864 • General William Tecumseh Sherman, Union troops push to Atlanta • Captures Atlanta (September 1864), marches to sea, wages total war • Union troops tear up rail lines, destroy crops, burn and loot towns • Sherman’s success helps Lincoln win re-election • Sherman captures Savannah As the Union army moved through the South, they would destroy train tracks by heating up the rails and bending them into a bow which became known as “Sherman’s Neckties”

  25. Sherman’s March to the Sea

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