American Civil War

C

The Border States

Although a military stalemate prevailed for much of 1861, the North scored some critical successes in securing the border states of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri, where Unionist sentiment prevailed but where secessionists were also strong. Maryland's importance lay in its proximity to Washington and in Baltimore's position as a key railway link to the midwest. Kentucky and Missouri were important to Northern war strategy because they controlled the approaches to the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland river valleys, through which Union forces could bring the war into the Confederate heartland. To ensure Maryland's loyalty, Union troops occupied Baltimore and imposed martial law. Kentucky sought to remain neutral, but in September 1861, when Confederate troops crossed into the state, Kentuckians enlisted overwhelmingly in the Union cause. In Missouri, Union troops helped to secure the state, while driving the pro-Confederate governor into exile. In Virginia, the western counties repudiated the ordinance of secession, formed a provisional government, and in 1863 were admitted to the Union as the new state of West Virginia.

D

The Peninsular Campaign

With his reorganized Army of the Potomac, McClellan was finally prepared to take the offensive in the spring of 1862. Rejecting the strategy of an overland march on Richmond, he moved his army of 100,000 men into the peninsula between the James and York rivers. From this point, south-east of Richmond, he advanced on the Confederate capital. In the Battle of Fair Oaks and Seven Pines (May 31-June 1), a Confederate attack was repulsed, and Lee was chosen to replace the wounded General Joseph E. Johnston as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. By June, McClellan's army approached Richmond. The cautious commander, however, overestimating Confederate strength, halted his march and waited for reinforcements. Meanwhile, General Stonewall Jackson moved his Confederate army up the Shenandoah Valley and crossed the Potomac. Although turned back, he succeeded in convincing the Northern high command that he posed a threat to Washington. In response, the government withheld from McClellan the reinforcements he felt necessary for an attack on Richmond.

Seeking to exploit McClellan's excessive caution, Lee, reinforced by Jackson's men, marched an army of 85,000 against the Union forces massed near Richmond. In the Seven Days' Battle (June 25-July 1), neither side was capable of delivering a mortal blow to the other. Nevertheless, McClellan, believing himself vastly outnumbered, ordered a retreat to the James River, thus dismally concluding his Peninsular campaign. A disappointed Lincoln named as his general in chief Major General Henry Halleck, who had had some recent successes in the West. McClellan retained command of the Army of the Potomac, but Lincoln brought from the West General John Pope to head a new army, consisting largely of troops that had been held back in northern Virginia to check Jackson.

E

Union Defeats in the East

Pope's tenure was short-lived. On August 30, in the Second Battle of Bull Run, the combined Confederate forces of Lee, Jackson, and General James Longstreet inflicted heavy casualties on Union troops and sent them reeling back to Washington, where Pope was relieved of his command. Following up on this victory, Lee in September 1862 startled the North by invading Maryland with some 50,000 troops. Not only did he expect this bold move to demoralize Northerners, he hoped a victory on Union soil would encourage foreign recognition of the Confederacy. McClellan, with 90,000 men, moved to check Lee's advance. On September 17, in the bloody Battle of Antietam, some 12,000 Northerners and 12,700 Southerners were killed or wounded. Lee was forced back to Virginia; Lincoln, angered that McClellan made no effort to cut off Lee's retreat, relieved the general of his command.

In late 1862, the Army of the Potomac resumed its offensive towards Richmond, this time under the command of General Ambrose E. Burnside. On December 13, he unwisely chose to challenge Lee's nearly impregnable defences around Fredericksburg, Virginia, on the Rappahannock River. In still another disaster, Union forces suffered more than 10,000 killed or wounded and were forced to retreat to Washington. Burnside too was relieved of his command.

F

Grant's Initial Successes on the Mississippi

While a stalemate settled over the eastern front, Union military operations in the West proved far more successful. The objective was control of the Mississippi Valley, thereby splitting the Confederacy in half and cutting off the flow of men and supplies from Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. Early in 1862, Grant, with the support of a fleet of ironclad ships, succeeded in capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee, on the Tennessee River. With the later capture of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, on the Cumberland River, along with about 16,000 Confederate troops, the way was clear to sweep down the Mississippi. Meanwhile, west of the river, Union troops defeated a Confederate force at Pea Ridge, Arkansas (March 6-8), consolidating Union control of Missouri.

Falling back from its position around Nashville, Tennessee, the Confederate army in northern Tennessee retreated south towards Mississippi, where it tried to establish a new line of defence. Grant halted his advance at Shiloh, Tennessee, and waited there to be reinforced by an army under General Don Carlos Buell. Hoping to destroy Grant's army before the reinforcements arrived, a Confederate force under Beauregard and General Albert S. Johnston staged a nearly successful surprise attack on April 6. With the arrival of Buell's men, however, the combined Union force repulsed the attack, and the Confederates retreated into Mississippi. On May 30, Corinth, Mississippi, a railway centre critical to Southern defences, fell, and by early June, Union troops had overrun most of west and east Tennessee and controlled the Mississippi as far south as Memphis, Tennessee.

G

The Capture of New Orleans and the Battle of Murfreesboro

In a coordinated strategy, Union forces also moved up the Mississippi from the south. In April, a naval squadron commanded by Captain David G. Farragut penetrated Confederate defences at the mouth of the Mississippi and forced the surrender of New Orleans, Louisiana. On May 1 Union troops under General Benjamin F. Butler moved into the Confederacy's largest city and principal port. During the last months of 1862, Grant consolidated his position along the Mississippi. Buell, ordered to move on Chattanooga, Tennessee, clashed indecisively with Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg. In December, General William S. Rosecrans, who had replaced Buell, confronted Bragg's troops in a three-day battle on the Stones River near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, forcing them to retreat. Meanwhile, Grant prepared for an assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi, the last remaining Confederate stronghold in the West, high on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Considered by the Confederates an impregnable fortress, Vicksburg resisted Union attacks, and Grant's army was bogged down in the rugged terrain guarding the north and east approaches to the city.