The Civil War was fought during 1861 through 1865 between the Southern and Northern parts of the United States. The North, or the Union, wanted to abolish slavery, but the South, called the Confederates, wanted to keep slavery as well as secede from the Union. This war started at Fort Sumter and was won by the North. Hostility between the North and South grew noticeably after the year of the Missouri Compromise, 1820 (“Civil War” 1). In 1852, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book about slave life, became the second best-selling book in 19th Century America, behind the Bible, and opened the eyes of Northerners. A few years later, John Brown raided a government arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, hoping to distribute the weapons to slaves. However, he …show more content…
Union General Irvin McDowell believed his army of 35,000 would be able to defeat Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard’s 20,000, but the Confederates managed to hold him off while reinforcements arrived. Eventually the Confederates retreated upwards to Henry House Hill, where Confederate General Thomas Jackson got his troops ready to meet the Union advance (“Bull Run” 1). By 1 PM, many Union soldiers had been fighting for ten hours in addition to having marched six miles before the battle. Then Confederate backups began to arrive and by 2 PM began a counter attack. However, it ended in confusion because units on both sides shared uniforms of the same color and style. A regiment in Jackson’s brigade changed into blue uniforms and were thought to be Union support until it was too late and they had destroyed the battery, sparking panic. McDowell lacked the force needed as Union reserves could not come. His soldiers were tired and their line collapsed before troops fled (“The First Battle” 1). There were no important consequences for either side, but the battle did show the ferocity and bloodshed that was to come as the war progressed (Cooper 1). The next year, Thomas Jackson was burning a Union supply base, so Major General John Pope sent his forces to converge at Bull Run. Jackson moved his troops north to John Brawner’s farm, where a fierce battle soon took place; one of every three men was shot. There were 32,000 Union soldiers against 22,000 Confederates but Brigadier General Rufus King’s forces managed to hold off Jackson until evening. The same day, 25,000 men were arriving as Confederate reinforcements. Pope sent small brigades to advance one after
Even though the Union won the battle, it is clear that Sherman’s strategies that create a major loss on the Union as well. They have lost more men than the Confederate’s army. Sherman’s strategy
The battle of Second Bull Run was fought August 28-30, 1862. The battle took place in prince William county Virginia (Manassas). John Pope was the major general for the Union side and later joined with George Brinton McClellan. The Major General on the confederate side was Robert E. Lee. There were 62,000 soldiers and 14,000 casualties for the Union and 50,000 soldiers and 8,000 casualties for the confederate.
The Confederate army in Murfreesboro was commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg. Bragg had just returned from invading Kentucky before he arrived in Murfreesboro. In Kentucky, he had commanded the Army of Mississippi, and then he was joined my Maj. Gen. Kirby Smith’s army. This new combined army of around 38,000 was renamed the Army of Tennessee. Just like the Union General Buell, Bragg was cautious about engaging the Union troops and decided passivity was wise.
This was profound that the great minds of the Civil War and this particular battle looked past elementary obstacles such as food and water for troops. This was the cause of most of Bragg’s troop’s demise, not bullets but starvation. The length of the battle lasting only three days brought its own challenges that the Confederate leaders did not for see such as the logistical support for such a battle. The Union Army had the supply lines and the firepower to fend off the offensive attacks from Braxton and Bragg which left these two war hardened masterminds to muddle in poor decisions such as overruling General Breckenridge’s strong resistance of taking a high point in the Union line that would prove to be a strong point of heavy artillery for the South. This poor decision left the south once again under cannon fire from a numerically superior foe that was the Union Army.
Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston removed his army from Manassas to Culpeper, a move defensible area. When Union troops inspected the area the enemy held “Confederate works revealed that the enemy’s defenses had been far weaker than McClellan had claimed”(The Civil War Trust). Lincoln knew McClellan had overestimated the Confederate army, McClellan was most likely afraid that Johnston had a very well thought out defense strategy. Therefore, to save the lives of his troops he held back instead of attacking. Though McClellan was tricked by Johnston, he continued his march to the Confederate capital.
The Hill needed to stay in Union forces for the remainder of the three day battle, or else a Union victory would be lost from view. The Regiment was determined to defend and stand strong against the 15th Alabama. They would not collapse, and they would defend with all that they had. A brutal, all-consuming fight, first with elements of the 47th Alabama, then with the entire 15th Alabama, brought the Mainers to the breaking point. In the midst of the battle Chamberlain realized that his flank was exposed, and while under fire he reorganized his line so that it bent back on itself and protected the vulnerable flank. "...we cannot fall back, if we do the rebs will sweep up the whole Union Army from here all the way to Culp's hill...
Rosecrans lost around 10,000 men and 28 cannons and Bragg lost around 9,000 men, but not many weapons. Taking into account the amount of troops and ground the Union side lost, the Confederates took an easy victory, but if you consider objectives, the battle was more of a draw. After counting losses and wounded, Rosecrans set up a meeting with his generals and commanders. Most of them
When he was an instructor at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington he memorized his lectures. He captured a large number locomotives and cars of the B&O. He captured Romney successfully. Jackson’s men held off uncoordinated Federal attacks from for 2 days in the Second Battle of Bull Run, until General James Longstreet arrived with Lee’s army. This was another victory for “Stonewall”.
After the recognition of destruction and death struck General Lee, the Confederate Army retreated back to Virginia on September 18th. Reacting as a cautious leader would, McClellan hesitated attacking the vulnerable troops of the Confederate’s as they escaped back into the safety of the South. With both sides wounded and tired, Lee’s bluster to keep the fight going gave the Confederates enough time to gather their wounded and abscond the scene of battle. After Lee took his soldiers back South, McClellan wrote ‘that after a “careful survey of the situation and condition of our army, the strength and position of the enemy, I concluded that the success of an attack on the 18th was not certain”’. McClellan’s hesitation in pursuit was seen as a
While commanding the 1st Division of the Cavalry Corps, Buford ran into the Army of Virginia which caused him to advise one of his brigades to defend against A.P Hill’s Confederate III Corps. “Buford’s skillful defensive troops alignments along with the bravery, dedication, and the skill of his men, gave the Union First Corps, under Major General John F. Reynolds, the time it needed to deploy to meet the Confederates outside of Gettysburg…” (Civil 1). Buford knew exactly what to do in a time of crisis. This was the foundation of Buford’s master plan.
The Battle of Fort Pillow, also known as the Fort Pillow massacre, was fought on April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River in Henning, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. The battle ended with a massacre of Union troops attempting to surrender to Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Military follower David J. Eicher said, “Fort Pillow marked one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history.” and the Confederates calling it uncivilized. In response the Confederacy passed a law in May 1863 demanding that black U.S. soldiers captured while fighting against the Confederacy would be tried as slave opposers in civil courts; a capital offense with automatic sentence of death.
While the other part of his army would take on longstreet at marye's heights. the union's army main attack was a success, but the counter attack of Jackson’s lead in the end to have a total of 9,000 either dead missing or wounded. This didn't change anything for their strategy. While that was happening Burnside's taking on the confederate soldiers as they were behind a stone wall, but the confederate soldiers were too strong for the federal soldiers trying to attack but with all their rifle and artillery there was no match to their impenetrable spot. a quote from Edward Porter Alexander’s states that “a chicken could not live on that
Thomas placed his troops defending supply locations, railroads, and bridges. Meanwhile, the Confederates were struggling to pull ahead with John B. Hood as their general, and they were “down 20,000 men,” (“Account”). This allowed hope for the Union. Later, Hood thought he would take his troops and attack the city. This, however, proved to be “not a realistic plan,” (“Account”).
John B. Hood’s headquarters warned Gen. Joseph that they will be attacking the Confederates on the left .The attack was to weaken the Confederates and to destroy their supply lines. When the Confederates got word of the attack, they moved 2 groups of men back to prepare for a future attack. If they didn’t get word that he was going to be attacked from the left, his men would have been defenceless because he was protecting the right. William T. Sherman was forced to take extreme precaution when it came to this battle.
Children’s participation on the Civil War The Civil War started on April 12, 1861 it was fought between the Union States “Northern states” of the United States and the states of the confederacy (Southern States). They were many causes of the Civil War, differences between northern and southern states on the idea of slavery, as well as trade, tariffs, and states rights. Children were an important role, they were a much bigger portion of the united states population in 1860, than in the 21st century, with persons under age 19 making up nearly half of the population compared to 25% less than today. The Civil War was also known as the “The Boy’s War”.