The Army of Tennessee was set up for failure from the beginning because of Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s decisions, when it came to allocating generals and resources. With Davis’s primary focus on the Army of Virginia, the Army of Tennessee fell on the back burner and ultimately led to the overall defeat of the Confederacy and the end of the Civil War. His poor choice in generals to lead the Army of Tennessee led to ineffective communication, poor planning, and lack of supplies amongst the army throughout the entire war. Gideon Pillows lack of respect for Davis was shown as he commanded the Army of Tennessee originally, as well as his lack to follow orders and communicate effectively to the capital on his whereabouts and problems …show more content…
This was a struggle for the Army of Tennessee as they suffered with ways to get it. The main railway was cut off between the east and west confederacy leaving the Army of Tennessee in a bigger bind. Although, they may have not been as depended on it, “To add insult to injury the East Tennessee rail line drained off troops to guard its bridges, yards, and depots, but it rarely brought supplies or reinforcements to the Army of Tennessee.” Many letters were sent in desperation, but were ignored by President Davis. This only put another strain on the western army as well as the Anaconda plan. They were slowly forced out of western territories due to Union forces and were growing weaker as the war went …show more content…
Was it because of Lee, victories, or the capital? All these reasons would be true, but the main reason would be Lee. Lee lacked training from an institution, but showed a great skill in leadership when he fought in the United States army before the succession. Once the commander of the Army of Virginia, he showed effective communication with Davis and was able to secure many victories with his strategic planning. Lee knew how important it was to prevent the capital from falling during the Civil War, which is why he protected it with everything. If the capital fell, the moral of the people who supported the confederacy would fall. Just like it did with Sherman’s March to the Sea and Carolinas. Once the support was lost it will be even harder to continue. Many argue that if the Army of Tennessee had a commander as great as Lee that the Confederacy might of won. However, given the odds of the Union, the Confederacy would of still fell, but it would of taken longer. Another issue at hand was Davis, many of the commanders he appointed to command the Army of Tennessee were egotistical and felt that they were demoted or not receiving the recognition they deserved. Davis bond with Lee probably prevented him from finding another great
These civil war battles were a major victory for General Ulysses Grant from the Union and a disaster for the Confederate forces in the South. General Grant seized Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee as a way to invade the South directly. Both forts were important for the South because of Tennessee and Cumberland rivers ways as supply line. Factors that played an important role in the Unions victory were Grant’s character traits and the weather. General Grant’s leadership and critical traits of initiative, aggressiveness, constantly seeking creativity, inventive, and resourcefulness were key to the Unions victory.
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.
The election of 1860 was an election to decide between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas as the 16th president. Lincoln was not a fan favorite, but he won the election, due to Electoral College system. Lincoln made his position on slavery very clear. He wanted to end slavery. The people in the south opposed to the idea of abolishing slavery.
The clash of Cold Harbor occurred from May 31 to June 12, 1864 in Virginia between the union and confederate strengths and it resulted in a victory for the confederacy. The charging officers were Robert E. Lee for the confederacy and for the Union their leaders were General Ulysses S. Gift and George G. Meade. It is recognized as one of the bloodiest yet most key and trim sided battles of the American Civil War. The Battle of Cold Harbor was additionally one of the last clashes of the union drove by General Grant and as a major aspect of his 1864 overland campaign.
However, Lee then made a surprising move by launching an offensive defense that left a significant number of his troops to defend the heavily armed forces that entrenched into their land. At the end of the war Lee, troops emerged the victor because he was keen on each step that was made by Hooker. Irrespective of the number of men, Lee had Lee struck hard in any chance that Hooker hesitated (Scott Hartwig, 2014). The Confederate army also had the spirit of a must-win situation as compared to the Union Army that depended on their large number not considering the terrain of the land. McClellan's plans were not coordinated and were poorly executed.
He wanted to take the offensive and break the Union’s will to fight. George McClellan was also supposed to win the election, but they ended up losing. This was one of the most terrible losses for the Confederacy because they had now lost the election and the battle. Lee chose to blame it on himself.
The North had beaten the South in the Civil War. The North won the war for many reasons; they had some advantages over the South, a great leader, and the desire to win. The North and South fought many battles before the Civil War ended. Each battle had a different outcome and some encouraging the fight and some ended in despair.
With the fall of Vicksburg to Union forces, the South lost control of the lower Mississippi River and therefore divided the southern states, leaving Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas isolated from the rest of the southern states and cutting off Richmond (Vicksburg Siege, n.d.). Without southern control of the Mississippi River, the North now had access to continue bringing reinforcements and supplies to continue the war. The Siege of Vicksburg has been described as a decisive victory that would give the North an upper hand in the Civil War. The city of Vicksburg was crucial to the control of the Mississippi River and the movement and maneuvers of southern troops and supplies during the Civil War, unity of command in the south, and held key terrain features vital to an offensive position along the Mississippi
The battle ended Lee’s encroachment on the North and helped to turn the tide of the war around the Union. In the summer or 1864 Ulysses S. Grant had acquired control, and pulverized much of Richmond, the Confederates capitol, and Petersburg. On April 2nd 1865 when Lee was forced to leave Richmond the destiny of the war became clear to him and a week later Lee surrendered to Grant privately at a house in Appomattox, Virginia. Lee even told an assistant “I suppose there is nothing left for me to do but go see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand
On July 1-3, 1863 in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Confederate and Union armies clash in what would be the deadliest battle of the Civil War. Maj. Gen. George Meade of the Union Army of the Potomac and Gen Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia were significant leaders of the turning point of the War by a decisive victory by the Union. Costly missed opportunities and lack of intelligence lead to failure by the Confederate army. The Union Army relies on their impenetrable defenses to hold the assault especially Pickett’s Charge on the third day. Before Gettysburg, both armies of the Potomac and Northern Virginia recently fought at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Individual state’s governors opposed him openly, as did a few of his generals including P.G.T Beauregard who “claimed” Davis held him back from attacking Washington D.C. (Crews, 2004). The Confederate Congress could not get along, and when Davis’ asked for a three year conscription law, the Congress was incredibly short-sighted and agreed to only one year of conscription for troops (Strode, 2015). This limited the amount of cohesion that the Confederate Army could create and experience that troops would receive. Jefferson’s own appointed vice president, Alexander Stephens, opposed everything Jefferson did and criticized him harshly (Crews, 2004). Two men who were supposed to work together in coordination ended up barely managing to withstand the others presence (Crews, 2004).
“Brimming with confidence, Lee decided to go on the offensive and invade the North for a second time (the first invasion had ended at Antietam the previous fall).” (History.com) “On the Union side, President Abraham Lincoln had lost confidence in the Army of the Potomac’s commander, Joseph Hooker, who seemed reluctant to confront Lee’s army after the defeat at Chancellorsville.” (History.com) After, Abraham Lincoln put trust in Union Army’s leader George Meade, who led the Federals to victory. “Through a spy, Lee received a report that Hooker’s Army of the Potomac was at Frederick, Maryland, under a new commander, Gen. George G. Meade, who had just replaced Hooker.”
He went through with Lee’s plans even though he disagreed and knew it was a death sentence for his troops, but he did it for his country and livelihood. Even though Longstreet’s strategies and plans had been brushed off by General Lee, his thoughts and concerns had been correct. The Confederate Army suffered mass casualties during the battle because they were invading without the advantage of high ground, which was what Longstreet had tried to warn Lee about. Although General Lee made Longstreet’s comments seem unintelligent, his thoughts were correct, and if Lee had taken his plans into consideration, their army may not have been so badly defeated. Although Longstreet did not influence the battle plans, he did give the Confederacy a better shot to win the battle but showing up when he did, however late he was.
Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were Confederate leaders. Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant were Union leaders. Ulysses S. Grant contributed greatly to the outcome of the Civil War, mainly due to his strategy of total war. This destruction of equipment, food, and other essential items made it difficult for the South to keep fighting, and it was also difficult for the South to receive additional supplies because their ports were blockaded, the Union controlled the Mississippi, and they had cut off and lost the sympathy of Europe. Consequentially, this was the effect of Jefferson Davis.
The rising numbers of death in the South tremendously weakened their army, which allowed for a Northern succession. William C. Davis asserts, “Industrially the South couldn’t keep up in output and in manpower. By the end of the war, the South had, more or less, plenty of weaponry still, but it just didn’t have enough men to use the guns”. Having such a small army, the South was not able to sustain a decent amount of soldiers for the war. Henceforth, the Northern advantage of having more soldiers had a large impact on the Southern loss in the Civil