Portal:American Civil War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Nature · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology
 The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a bitter sectional rebellion between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, formed of eleven southern states' governments which moved to secede from the Union after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. The North's victory was eventually achieved by leveraging advantages in population, manufacturing and logistics and through strategic naval blockade preventing the Confederacy from access to the world's markets. In many ways the conflict's central issues (the role of federal government under the constitution, slavery, states' rights, treatment of African-Americans) are still not completely resolved; the Confederate Army's April 9, 1865 surrender at Appomattox did little to change many Americans' attitudes about threats posed by a powerful central government, the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth constitutional amendments in the years immediately after the war couldn't change attitudes of racial prejudice prevalent among Americans of the day, and the process of Reconstruction couldn't heal the deeply personal wounds inflicted by four brutal years of war and more than 970,000 casualties (3 percent of population), including approximately 560,000 deaths. As a result, controversies affected by the war's unresolved social, political, economic and racial tensions continue to shape contemporary American thought. The causes of the war, the reasons for the outcome, and even the name of the war itself, are subjects of much controversy, even today.  On the first day of battle, the Confederates struck with the intention of driving the Union defenders away from the Tennessee River and into the swamps of Owl Creek to the west, hoping to defeat Grant's Army of the Tennessee before it could link up with Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio. The Confederate battle lines became confused during the fierce fighting, and Grant's men instead fell back in the direction of Pittsburg Landing to the northeast. A position on a slightly sunken road, nicknamed the "Hornet's Nest", defended by the men of Brig. Gens. Benjamin M. Prentiss's and W.H.L. Wallace's divisions, provided critical time for the rest of the Union line to stabilize under the protection of numerous artillery batteries. Gen. Johnston was killed during the first day's fighting, and Beauregard, his second in command, decided against assaulting the final Union position that night. Reinforcements from Gen. Buell arrived in the evening and turned the tide the next morning, when he and Grant launched a counterattack along the entire line. The Confederates were forced to retreat from the bloodiest battle in United States history up to that time, ending their hopes that they could block the Union invasion of northern Mississippi.  The first and last significant battles were held in Virginia. The first major battle of the Civil War occurred on July 21, 1861; Union forces attempted to take control of the railroad junction at Manassas for use as a supply line, but the Confederate Army had moved its forces by train to meet the Union. The Confederates won the First Battle of Manassas (known as "Bull Run"in Northern naming convention) and the year went on without a major fight. The war was largely brought to conclusion by the surrender of the Confederacy's largest army, the Army of Northern Virginia, at Appomattox Courthouse. Richmond was the second capital of the Confederate States of America, after being moved from Montgomery, Alabama. The White House of the Confederacy, located a few blocks north of the State Capital, was home to the family of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. In April of 1865, Richmond was burned by a retreating Confederate Army and was returned to Northern control. Virginia was administered as the "First Military District" during the Reconstruction period (1865-1870) under General John Schofield. The state formally rejoined the Union on January 26, 1870.  She was a friend of Francis Scott Key and they participated together in a memorial service at Frederick, Maryland, when George Washington died. A central figure in the history of Frederick, she lived in a house that was to become a stop on the town's walking tour. In stories it is said that at 95 years of age she waved the Union flag out of her window despite opposition from Stonewall Jackson's troops, who were passing through Frederick in the Maryland Campaign. This event is the subject of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem of 1864, Barbara Frietchie. When Winston Churchill passed through Frederick in 1943, he stopped at the house and recited the poem from memory. Battles • Books • Campaigns • Cities • Industrialists • Museums • National Battlefields and Military Parks • Native Americans • Orders of battle • Prisons • Songs • Spies • States • Surgeons • Theaters • Weapons • Women • Veterans' Organizations Political leaders • Army • Armies • Chaplains • Generals • Officers • Soldiers • Navy • Admirals • Captains • Commanders • Naval ships • Officers • Ships Political leaders • Army • Armies • Chaplains • Corps • Departments • Generals • Officers • Regiments • Navy • Admirals • Ships • Officers April 301863 - Day's Gap - Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest skirmished with mule-mounted Federal raiders under Abel Streight in Cullman County, Alabama, but were repulsed by his rear guard units as the raiders escaped toward Georgia 1863 - Snyder's Bluff - As the Union main body crossed the Mississippi River below Vicksburg at Grand Gulf, infantry under William T. Sherman attacked northern approaches to hold Confederate defenders inside the Vicksburg fortifications 1864 - Jenkins' Ferry - Frederick Steele's Union Camden Expedition columns were attacked repeatedly while trying to cross the Saline River in Grant County, Arkansas, but Kirby Smith deployed his units piecemeal May 11862 - New Orleans - Union infantry under Benjamin Butler occupied the city, which surrendered without fighting 1863 - Chalk Bluff - William Vandever, commanding the 2nd Division of the Union Army of the Frontier, was repulsed in an attempt to prevent Confederate cavalry under John S. Marmaduke from crossing the St. Francis River 1863 - Chancellorsville - Joseph Hooker, commanding the Army of the Potomac, pulled back after initial success against the Army of Northern Virginia; later he confessed, "I just lost confidence in Joe Hooker" 1863 - Port Gibson - With two of his three Federal corps assembled on dry ground south of Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant pushed northeastward along the Bayou Pierre attempting to flank Confederate prepared fortifications at Grand Gulf May 21863 - Chancellorsville - After commanding the successful surprise attack on Oliver O. Howard's XI Corps and rolling up the Union Army's right flank, Stonewall Jackson was struck down by friendly fire while returning from scouting; he succumbed to pneumonia eight days later May 31863 - Fredericksburg - Union commander John Sedgwick pushed his reinforced VI Corps across the Rappahannock River and up Marye's Heights May 41862 - Yorktown - Early in the morning, Samuel P. Heintzelman ascended in an observation balloon and found Confederates had evacuated their earthworks 1863 - Salem Church - Union VI Corps assaults were repulsed with heavy casualties; after dark, Sedgwick withdrew across two pontoon bridges at Scott’s Dam  Explosion of the Sultana, carrying 2000 Union prisoners of war from Andersonville back to their home. The greatest maritime disaster in American history. Taken from the magazine Harpers Weekly, May 20, 1865
|
