The Civil War

Social Studies LLDVMr. Pinto

Chapter 11, section 1

The Civil War Begins

• Confederates took over all military installations in the south.

• South Carolina’s Fort Sumter still held by Union – April 12, 1861 at 4:40 am, the

Confederacy began an attack on the fort.

– The North had a rush of army enlistment– Virginia left the Union

Advantages on both sides

Union• More fighting power• Greater food

production• More railroads• Lincoln was a great

leader

Confederacy• “King Cotton” money• Great generals• Strong military

tradition• Motivated to defend

their homeland

Union and Confederate Strategies

Union• 1. Blockade Southern

Ports to stop the export of cotton and import of manufactured goods

• Use the Mississippi River to split the Confederacy in 2

• Capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, VA.

* Called the Anaconda Plan*

Confederacy• Mostly defensive

strategy• If the opportunity

arose, invade the North and take Washington

Bull Run

• Union General McDowell led an attack

• Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson led Confederacy to victory

Union armies in the west

• General George McClellan appointed leader of the Union Army– General Ulysses S. Grant led Western

forces to victory at Shiloh• Taught both armies about using scouts,

building forts and digging trenches

– General David G. Farragut led 40 ships to take New Orleans for the Union

A Revolution in Warfare

• Ironclads– Ships plated w/ iron to prevent burning,

shield cannon fire, and ram wooden ships• North’s Monitor vs. South’s Merrimack

• New Weapons– Rifle and minie ball– Hand grenades and land mines

The War for the Capitals

• McClellan defeated by General Robert E. Lee on his drive to Richmond

• At Antietam, 26,000 Americans died (most in 1 day throughout American history)

• It was a draw, but the South was far weaker

• McClellan chose not to go for victory and was fired by Lincoln