RCWR - The Civil War (Lesson)
The Civil War
As you begin your study of the Civil War, view and listen to the presentation that follows.
North versus South
When Southern forces opened fire on Union forces at Fort Sumter, they began a war that would last four years and take the lives of 621,000 American soldiers. From the start, the Confederacy was at a serious disadvantage. The Southern economy differed greatly from the economy of the Northern states; and, in the end, the numerical and industrial superiority of the Northern economy proved too much for the South to overcome.
Habeas Corpus
Not all northerners supported President Lincoln's efforts to preserve the Union. Some were Confederate sympathizers (just as some Southerners were Union sympathizers.) Throughout the war, in some states Lincoln suspended the constitutional right of habeas corpus - the legal rule that anyone imprisoned must be taken before a judge to determine if the prisoner is being legally held in custody. The Constitution allows a president to suspend habeas corpus during a national emergency. Lincoln used his emergency powers to legalize the holding of Confederate sympathizers without trial and without a judge agreeing they were legally imprisoned. Over 13,000 Confederate sympathizers were arrested in the North.
Key Leaders of the Civil War
The political and military leaders of the Union and the Confederacy represented the different beliefs and values that separated the North from the South. The northern leaders thought it was illegal for the southern states to secede from the Union. They considered the Confederates outlaws, not citizens of a separate country. On the other hand, the Southern leaders put loyalty to their home states above everything else. They fought for the Confederacy to protect their homes, even though they may have had misgivings about secession.
View the presentation below. Use the arrows at the bottom of the presentation to navigate.
Civil War Generals
Learn more about the Generals who fought the Civil War. Use the arrows to expand the title for more information.
Confederate Generals
Robert E. Lee
Confederate Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia; one of the best generals in the Civil War; was offered command of the Union armies at the beginning of the war, but declined in favor of maintaining loyalty to his home state of Virginia; strongly supported reconciliation and rejected ideas about southern insurgency; after the war, served as president of Washington and Lee University (“Lee” was added to the university’s name in 1871 after Lee’s death in 1870; superintendent of the United States Military Academy (West Point) before the war
P.G.T. Beauregard
Full name: Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard; Confederate general of Louisiana Creole descent; started the Civil War by firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, when he commanded in Charleston, South Carolina. In July 1861, he won the First Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia; in 1862 he served at the siege of Corinth, Mississippi, and Shiloh in Tennessee; most known for his defense of Petersburg, Virginia which delayed the fall of Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. Trained in military and also civil engineering at the United States Military Academy (West Point); was also superintendent at West Point in 1861 before the war—he resigned from the United States Army when Louisiana seceded from the Union; served as an engineer officer in the Mexican-American War; along with General Joseph Johnston, Beauregard convinced C.S.A. President Jefferson Davis that the war needed to end; after the war, he went back to Louisiana and advocated for black civil rights and suffrage; served as a railroad executive, and became wealthy as a promoter of the Louisiana Lottery.
Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
Confederate general; was accidentally shot by Confederate forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville; survived shot at first (lost an arm), but then died 8 days later from pneumonia; his death negatively affected the morale of Confederate soldiers and the public.
J.E.B. Stuart
Confederate general known as “Jeb” for his initials; full name was James Ewell Brown Stuart; cavalry commander; one of the greatest commanders in American history and yet he also bears some responsibility for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg; died of his wounds at the Battle of Yellow Tavern
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Confederate Cavalry leader who served in the Ku Klux Klan (believed to be the first Grand Wizard,) but distanced himself from them by denying any formal connection when it became “ugly”; responsible for dissolving the 1st iteration of the Klan in 1869, but they have continued to operate over subsequent decades; he made a public speech about racial equality and reconciliation before a group of African Americans, seemed to change his views on race and equality after the war; former slave trader, wealthy landowner; enlisted in the army as a private and was promoted to general during the war.
Joseph Johnston
Confederate general who served in many situations during the war, but particularly during the Atlanta campaign; considered not sufficiently aggressive and was replaced by Lt. General Hood who then lost the entire city of Atlanta; was later given command of Confederate forces in the Carolinas and surrendered to Sherman after he heard of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia; died of pneumonia he developed after he served as a pallbearer at William T. Sherman’s funeral in 1891.
James Longstreet
Confederate commander, general of Northern Virginia; argued with General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg over tactics; supervised Pickett’s Charge
Union Generals
Ulysses S. Grant
American military officer and politician (18th president-1869-1877); briefly Secretary of War after the Civil War; known for his “total war” philosophy; worked to implement Reconstruction
George McClellan
Chief Union general; efficient planner and organizer, but was criticized for being overly cautious; allowed Confederate armies to escape on multiple occasions. Prolonged the war as a result of inaction. Lincoln was removed from command; was a Democratic candidate against Lincoln and ran on a platform of negotiated peace with the South.
Winfield Scott
Longest serving active duty general in U.S. history (53 years); at the start of the Civil War he was the general in charge of the Union army; realized his health and age could be a problem, so he offered his command to Robert E. Lee. Scott’s plan to slowly destroy the C.S.A. was opposed to the public’s desire for a quick end to the war; Scott’s Anaconda Plan was to utilize a naval blockade and an invasion of the Mississippi River Valley; Union armies ultimately subscribed to Scott’s Anaconda Plan; when Robert E. Lee sided with the Confederacy because of loyalty to the State of Virginia, George McClellan took Scott’s command.
William T. Sherman
Most known for his March to the Sea in the fall of 1864 and his “scorched earth” policy when marching north through South Carolina because the Union believed that South Carolina was responsible for secession and the war. Also known for the capture and burning of Atlanta, the industrial and railroad hub of the Confederacy; during Grant’s presidency, Sherman was the Commanding General of the United States Army; also served in the West in conflicts with Indian tribes.
Ambrose Burnside
Union general, governor of Rhode Island, 1st president of the National Rifle Association (NRA); most noted for his remarkable facial hair---and for whom “sideburns” were named.
Philip Sheridan
Union general with close ties to Ulysses S. Grant; decimated the Shenandoah Valley region and after the war, played an important role in Reconstruction; fought in the Indian wars in the west and was responsible for the development of Yellowstone National Park.
Emancipation Proclamation
When the Civil War broke out, the Union did not have a stated war goal of ending slavery. The goal was to reunite the Union. However, as the war raged (and went poorly for the Union at first) it became clear that the war must also focus on ending slavery. Lincoln used his emergency powers again to issue the Emancipation Proclamation after the Battle of Antietam. It emancipated (freed) all slaves held in the Confederate states. Lincoln did not expect Confederate slaveholders to free their slaves, but he thought news of the proclamation would reach southern slaves and encourage them to flee to the North. Lincoln believed one reason southern whites were free to join the Confederate Army was because slaves were doing war work that, otherwise, the whites would have to do. Encouraging slaves to flee north would hurt the Southern war effort.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves held in the Union states, it was warmly welcomed by African Americans living in Union States. They understood the proclamation announced a new goal for the Union troops - besides preserving the Union, the troops were fighting for the belief that the United States would abolish slavery throughout the nation.
Emancipation Proclamation: A Matter of Manpower
The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves residing in the territory in rebellion against the federal government—the Confederate States of America---where Lincoln had no control---no power to actually free the enslaved people at that time.
This encouraged slaves in the South to attempt to escape. As the number of runaway slaves climbed, the South's ability to produce cotton and food declined. To counter this, the South devoted some of its manpower to keeping slaves from running away. In addition, following the proclamation, the North began to allow African Americans to join the Union Army. While few African Americans served in combat, more than 150,000 African Americans took the place of white soldiers by garrisoning forts and working behind the front lines. This was the equivalent of giving the North a new army larger than any of the South's. Some historians believe this was enough to guarantee a Northern victory.
The Emancipation Proclamation had a very practical effect on the outcome of the war. When thinking about it, do not forget its impact on manpower and the outcome of the Civil War.
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do that. I have here stated my purpose according to my official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men, everywhere, could be free.
- Abraham Lincoln, replying to the appeal of editor Horace Greeley [August 1862] that he emancipate the slaves.
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