Why did the American Civil War happen What drove the 11 southern states to break away
form the Confederate States of America and ignite a devastating conflict that tore the
whole nation apart to understand the American Civil War its battles politics and the reason
why it happened we must travel back to the early 1800s join us to explore the conflict year by year
1819 the newly born United States of America sat in a state of delicate balance 111 11 free
states 11 slave states from the outside looking in it appeared to be perfect harmony equal States
equal representation equal influence in federal affairs but this was only from the outside looking
in in reality there was no focus on balance for the Americans instead all that mattered now was
expansion Manifest Destiny that was the reason why the United States government was hellbent
on snagging more and more territory although the phrase wouldn't be coined until the mid 1800s the
belief held by by many Americans that it was the nation's Destiny to expand Westward as far as can
be done drove the us to do just that Delaware Pennsylvania New Jersey Georgia Connecticut
Massachusetts Maryland South Carolina New Hampshire Virginia New York North Carolina Rhode
Island Vermont Kentucky Tennessee Ohio Louisiana Indiana Mississippi Illinois and Alabama that was
the whole of the United States thus far as of 1819 but only a year later this would change in
1818 the Missouri territory previously obtained as part of the Louisiana Purchase began its push for
Statehood the following year the District of Maine would be allowed to break off from Massachusetts
and do the same it didn't take long for this to cause a conundrum for the Contemporary us however
because the addition of two more States had the potential to upset the numerical balance between
slave states and free states on the one hand Northerners and pro- abolitionists in Congress
argued that the addition of Missouri which seemed to quickly lean toward wanting to become a slave
state would expand slavery and thus bring them further away from their goals the Southerners
though were obviously in favor of adding another slave state and thus argued that any new candidate
for Statehood should have the right to decide for themselves just as the first 13 colonies
which side on the fence they want to fall on the debate in both the House of Representatives and
the Senate would continue into 1819 at which point Maine was now brought into the mix as Henry Clay
the speaker of the house at the time suggested that Missouri should be added to the Union as a
slave state but that Maine should also be added contrarily as a free state this proposal was
subsequently debated into yet another year when in 1820 the Senate added to the bill requiring
that any other territories north of the 36° 30 latitude line that had been agreed upon below
Missouri's lower border could only enter the Union as free states with everyone finally in
some level of agreement the Missouri Compromise was signed into law this triggered a tit fortat
war of adding one new slave state for every new free state and vice versa starting with Arkansas
in 1836 Michigan the next year and Florida in 1845 and since Florida was a slave state it was
assumed that the the next territory to enter the Union and statehood would be another free
state but this became complicated when Texas had a demanding request for the United States Annex us
now the history of Texas has been a roller coaster thus far and yet it was only now preparing for its
biggest climb yet Texas up until recently a part of Mexico after being freed from the grip of the
Spaniards wanted to join a different Union the USA the Texans pleas were initially ignored by the US
government which wasn't in much favor of annexing the nearby territory with growing pressure from
Britain for Texas to be an independent nation and America's undeniable thirst for expansion opinions
would soon change nevertheless and Texas would in fact join the union on December 29th 1845 here was
the issue that Texas wanted to be a slave state which would offset the balance the Northerners
had tried so hard to keep furthermore Texas had made claims to territories that put it in direct
conflict with its former host of Mexico and with Texas newly a part of the United States those
presumptuous claims were now the responsibility of the US something that Mexico didn't take lightly
recently elected President James K pulk however didn't care one bit what the Mexicans thought
instead he was an aggressive supporter of manifest destiny and quickly upon his inauguration hoped to
seize the contested territories thus pulk at first attempted to purchase his desired lands
he sent American Diplomat John Slidel to offer the administration in Mexico City $30 million
in exchange for California New Mexico and disputed territories along the Texas border the Mexicans a
gast and unshakeably against such an idea declines to even meet sidel which angered pulk the Manifest
Destiny supporter would not be swayed by this rejection and instead decided that if diplomacy
wouldn't work he would reel his neighbors into a war he knew the United States would win as a
result in the early weeks of 1846 the president sent American troops to the Texas border to egg
the Mexicans on and it worked it only took a few months for Mexican soldiers to fire on the
Americans and give pulk the excuse to declare war with the Mexican-American War underway debates
continued within the United States pertaining to the slave state versus free state debacle with the
free states now outnumbered the Northerners felt that pulk being a southerner himself was actually
committing his land grab in order to further bolster the slave state Advantage which boosted
north to south tensions still the war raged on with now famed generals like ulyses srant and
Robert E Lee showing their prowess and adding to their resumés while the Americans inched closer to
Mexico's capital the city was eventually taken and War Fair halted leading to the long awaited Treaty
of Guadalupe hialgo which now forced Mexico to seed not only the contested territories
in California Arizona Oklahoma and New Mexico but also lands of modern-day Nevada Utah Colorado and
Wyoming pulk had gotten his way and more but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows new land meant
more to fight over back home over the next few years Iowa Wisconsin and California would all
give their bids for Statehood eventually bringing about the Compromise of 1850 this series of bills
would address a multitude of things though mostly focused on the institution of slavery within the
Union in short it determines that California would join the Union as a free state but was required to
send one pro-slavery Senator to the senate in order to maintain the readjusted balance from
now on however slave or free States from the remaining territories gained from Mexico would
be decided as such by popular sovereignty this went all right at first as with the admission
to statehood of Minnesota in 1858 and Oregon in 1859 but predictably there was simultaneously
another reason for tensions to rise as part of the new establishment of popular sovereignty
Senator Steven Douglas suggested applying the strategy to a proposed newly organized Nebraska
territory that would at once repeal the Missouri compromised slave state border and split the
Nebraska territory in two now despite a struggle to actually pass the new bill that would become
known as the Kansas Nebraska Act the population ations of both territories were left to vote on
whether they wish to permit slavery or not the consequence of this and maybe unpredictably so
was that settlers began flooding to both Nebraska and Kansas settlers from both sides of the slavery
debate this slippery slope ushered in a tragic era known as Bleeding Kansas which would eventually
see Kansas enter the Union in 1861 surpr surprisingly as a free state this would be
the final state admitted to the union before the start of the Civil War why did things get to this
point how could such a Young Nation have fallen into battle with itself so fast why were the North
and South so opposed to each other the issue of slavery and thus the north versus South contention
can be blamed on vastly different cultural aspects of the two halves of America for the north slavery
was not really needed as the upper States had quickly become industrialized and thus didn't have
to rely on as much Manpower this gave Northern citizens the opportunity to unbiasedly consider
the moral standing of the entire institution of slavery prompting many to call it into question
supported by the ideas of European immigrants who had come from Nations that had already outlawed
slavery these Northerners began to turn toward abolitionism this was in total opposition to
their fellow Americans down south of course but this was because the South had failed to
industrialize as the North had instead Southerners were more economically dependent on free labor
for plantations and the like which meant that their personal finances and way of life could
be entirely affected by the Banning of slavery thus making it hard for a southerner to even
give the moral aspect a second thought though some did and still supported the institution and with
the invention of the cotton Jin the matter only became more solidified the South needed slavery
the problem then arose as the north wondered if southerners wanted to extend slavery even further
whereas the latter worried that the former was going to take the slaves they already had both
ironically would be right the North and South were miles away from reconciling this difference
debatably there was also the issue of federal versus state rights although this factor is hard
to blame entirely not only did the later formed Confederacy have a shockingly large bureaucratic
system for a collection of States who were opposed to overbearing Federal governments
but there had also been previous opportunities such as during the Nullification Crisis a few
decades prior for the South to go to war with the North or at least raise more of a Ruckus if state
rights were the core issue still it is true that many people at the time particularly in the South
had more loyalty to their state than country as a whole and State versus Federal disconnect
likely played somewhat of a role in tensions even if second fiddle to the slavery argument
the Fanning of of the Flames however came from a string of amplifying events the Fugitive Slave Act
for example have been part of the Compromise of 1850 and galvanized abolitionists as it
had made the federal government responsible for finding returning and penalizing escaped slaves
and anyone who aided them even if they made it to a free state with the Northerners deeply troubled
by this development political active citizens of the upper United States would soon form their own
opposition party to the pro-slavery Democrats the Republican party this new entity would also become
host to the controversial Abraham Lincoln shortly after its birth Lincoln had previously served in
the US House of Representatives in 1846 before joining the Republicans and running for Senate
a decade later although he lost the senate race to St Douglas the series of speeches and debates
that preceded the election had both catapulted him to popularity in the north while earning him
a fair share of enemies in the South his mere existence as a political entity thus stirred
the pot and increased tensions but then so did Bleeding Kansas Guerilla Warfare is one
way that this period from 1855 through 1859 has been described while Nebraska was somewh whatat
hit by the flood of both Pro and anti-slavery settlers hoping to sway the coming vote it was
Kansas that was truly beaten pro-slavery residents of neighboring states used legal
loopholes to cross the border and vote in Kansas's territorial elections setting off a domino effect
that would lead to a split government and allout violence historians estimate that anywhere from
50 to 200 Americans died as a consequence in the 4-year span something akin to pouring a couple
of gallons of gasoline on the growing fire burning towards Civil War Charles Sumner's
Congressional speech about Kansas would further heighten the situation a republican northerner
suar had actually memorized every last word in his impassioned speech titled the crime against Kansas
in which he lambasted the entire institution of slavery and even took direct Jabs at proslavery
Senators this instance serves as a clear example of the current level of tensions in the union and
Congress as South Carolina Representatives Preston Brooks and Lawrence Keat reacted to the damning
speech by physically assaulting Charles Summoner with a cane beating him so severely that he would
need three full years of leave to recover and this was only a year before one of the most
controversial and anger fueling incidents of the entire leadup to the Civil War it was The Dread
Scott case that soon put the move toward allout military conflict between the North and South
into hyperdrive the case revolved around a slave since birth by the name of Dread Scott after the
death of his original owner In 1832 Scott had been purchased by a man named John Emerson and
upon his death Scott and his family would then be transferred to the ownership of Emerson's wife
Irene previously scottt and his family have been brought along for travels across multiple free
states and territories although at no point had they attempted to run or sue for their freedom
instead once Irene took ownership Scott attempted to buy their freedom off her Irene was obstinate
and insisted on keeping her slaves around which led dread and his wife Harriet to finally go the
route of a lawsuit they each filed on the basis of two Missouri statutes as they were currently
living with Irene in St Louis one stated that any slave taken to a free state would thus be
free and could not be returned to enslavement even if they left the Free State while the other
allowed for anyone to file a suit for wrongful enslavement the Scott couple was given logistical
support from abolitionists fellow churchgoers and ironically the family of their pre previous owner
this allowed them to actually take their case to court which was first shot down in 1847 on a
technicality but was given the option of a retrial the next trial would come in January of 1850 and
this time the Scots actually won their freedom Irene however quickly appealed the decision to
the Missouri Supreme Court 2 years later the court sided once more with Irene thus rein
slaving the Scott family unwilling to give up now Scott filed a federal lawsuit with the
United States circuit court for the District of Missouri the following year before the case could
be decided upon again Irene would transfer the Scots over to her brother John Sanford hence the
name of the new case Dread Scott versus Sanford in the spring of 1854 the Federal Court ruled
in favor of Sanford thus prompting to appeal yet again now to the United States Supreme Court this
final trial would start on February 11th 1856 with a growing list of abolitionist and even politician
supporters in favor of the Scots nevertheless less than a month later a decision was made and
once more Dread Scott had lost and not only this but the judge most notably credited for the final
ruling as asserted that no African-American even had the right to sue for anything in the federal
court because they lacked the ability to be United States citizens while the Scots would already
have their freedom by now thanks to Irene's new abolitionist husband and the help of their Old
owner family the case itself was the final straw for many abolitionists John Brown had now gone
down in history as one of America's most infamous abolitionists and on October 16th 1859 he would
prove exactly why he warned an army Watchman as he and a group of fellow abolitionists launched what
would be an ambitious But ultimately failed raid on Harper's Ferry after taking several hostages
from the town and capturing the US Armory and Arsenal the Raiders would be stalled by a local
militia as General Robert E Lee made his way into the town to wrap things up Brown and his men had
aimed to spark a local slave rebellion but instead many of the Raiders were killed once Lee and his
Marines arrived with brown himself being captured and later hanged for his acts of treason against
the state of Virginia John Brown had failed and he had died but his animosity for the South was
shared by far too many for the tide to be turned by this point with the election of anti-slavery
Northern govern ER Abraham Lincoln in 1860 to the presidency enough was enough immediately after the
future emancipator was elected to office the South Carolina General Assembly called for a convention
to consider secession much to the pleasure of the locals South Carolina thus voted unanimously
to leave the United States of America days later they issued a document justifying their decision
to seced and making one dramatically important point in the process a geographical line has
been drawn across the union and it truly had 10 more Southern States would follow suit and join
the newly founded Confederate States of America led by their chosen President Jefferson Davis
the union President Abraham Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy as legitimate insisting
that he wished to take no one's slaves and simply wanted to keep the Union together this meant nil
to the southerners who were rapidly attempting to create a unified Nation out of a handful of
States who had all made a big fuss about State autonomy and not just that but the South was at
a major disadvantage for the impending War precise numbers are debated but it can be estimated that
at the time of the mass secession and formation of the Confederacy the union boasted a population of
roughly 22 million million in comparison to the South's approximate 9 million of those numbers
the union would eventually enlist around 2 million soldiers whilst the Confederates would only tally
about 900,000 furthermore the Northerners had something close to 20,000 Mi worth of railroads
which was double what the Confederate States could claim thus giving the Union a better Advantage for
moving troops and supplies in Wartime and while it's often argued that the Confederate generals
such as Robert E Lee Stonewall Jackson James Long Street Nathan Bedford Forest and Patrick
curn gave the South a tactical military Edge on their upstairs neighbors the north was surely
ahead in other ways like the fact that they produced around 90% of goods in the former
United States at the time but still the union was losing its grip on the south and only had limited
Holdings left in Confederates States and it was about to lose another Fort Sumpter was the last
Union stronghold in South Carolina and strong is being generous it was outmanned and under
supplyed to say the least and with Southerners now cracking down on Union property within their
borders it was surrounded the Confederates attempted to force the little remaining Union
forces at the Fort to surrender the latter refused and the Confederates opened fire the Civil War had
begun Fort Sumpter failed to be evacuated by the Confederate deadline 6,000 Southerners now had
Charleston Harbor surrounded Cannon and mortar stared down the fort at 4:30 a.m. on April 12th
1861 a gunner at Fort Johnson set off a 10in mortar sending the explosive into the early
morning skies above Fort Sumpter the detonation lighting up the blue and telling all those around
one thing the Civil War had begun as the men of Fort Sumpter scurried to prepare local citizens
clambered to rooftops in hopes of watching the Monumental battle occur one by one the
Confederates began firing upon the union held Fort until every available Cannon and mortar across the
har was bombarding Sumpter the scarcely staffed Union Garrison fired back as best they could with
a little Manpower and cartridges they had but not much could be done the Confederates were
unrelenting the attack would continue into the following day at one point setting the roof of
the fort Ablaze but alas its Defenders refused to come out still so impressed by the stubborn
Valor of their foes the Confederates even began to cheer for each shot fired from the fort but
this was far from enough to stop the south in fact the Confederates were becoming increasingly
more aggressive in the early afternoon of April 13th the flag pole holding up the Union flag of
Fort Sumpter was hit and broken this moment of foreshadowing was followed by a chaotic period
of diplomatic negotiations which would finally find success it was agreed that the Union troops
would after all evacuate firing a salute to their makeshift tattered flag they were off and the
Confederates had won the first battle of the Civil War as a result of the Battle of Fort Sumpter and
the undeniable start of what would be a long and gruesome bloody domestic War President of the
Union Abraham Lincoln put out a call on April 15th for 75,000 militia volunteers to stop what he ref
referred to as an illegitimate Rebellion this act would trigger the remaining Confederate states to
be to officially leave the union and Lincoln would double down by calling for an additional 40,000
men to serve for a three-year span Jefferson Davis leader of the Confederate States countered with a
call for an additional 100,000 militia men of his own proposing a 12-month service at this
point in time neither side wanted the war to last long in fact some in the South had actually hoped
that the attack on Fort Sumpter would scare the union into diplomacy instead of an armed
conflict the Confederates knew they were greatly outnumbered and were smart enough to recognize the
obstacles they' need to overcome to beat the north however they weren't the only ones with concerning
weaknesses over in the union many of Lincoln's cabinet and his own generals question questioned
his ability to lead the nation through a war and yet Lincoln's generals themselves were their own
problem many had grown old or even unhealthy and nearly incapable altogether leaving the president
with some difficulty when it came to choosing who would lead his armies throughout the conflict
nevertheless armies needed to be led and plans needed to be made and as for what the North had
in store for the South one must only look at the Union's Anaconda Plan Lieutenant General Winfield
Scott was the man responsible for providing this strategy while it was only partially used in
technicality by the end of the war it seemed that Scott had rather precisely predicted the approach
of his nation's tactics it was his idea that the union should focus on a strong defense of
DC an unforgiving blockade of the south from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and a brutal Land and
Sea attack along the Mississippi River to sever the Confederates in two named for its attempt
to strangle the South into submission the Anaconda Plan seemed doable but the strategy on paper would
be shelv early into the war due to political pressure Lincoln hoped to ease by the end of
May nevertheless the union had already crossed the pomac and took hold of Arlington Heights this set
off the start of intermittent skirmishes that would carry on throughout the war between each of
the major battles with the first of the latter on Virginia soil coming in early June at the Battle
of big bethl the forces of the Confederates and the United States met at the Village of big bethl
on June 10th 1861 the North had hoped to create a buffer for themselves around Fort Monroe one
of the last Union strongholds in the area this would ultimately fail however leading to another
Confederate Victory and an unexpected direction that this war seemed to be going in the incapacity
of Lincoln's military leaders was showing already and the Confederates had starkly the opposite when
it came to their Generals in a unique win for the union however the Wheeling conventions around this
time resulted in the Northwestern counties of Virginia voting to break free from their current
state and begin the process of forming the new state of West Virginia which would Ally with the
north with momentums and their saes now the union decided it was time to begin the main objective
take Richmond and end the war once and for all as General Irvin McDow began the march with his
35,000 men the largest field Army yet gathered on the continent cheering civilians began to follow
the troops with picnic baskets and unwavering excitement they the Northerners believed that
their men were marching into an assured victory that would collapse the Confederacy and rebuild
their Nation what happened instead was the Battle of BU run mcdow's troops were made up almost
entirely of men who had responded to the Call to Arms by President Lincoln following the assault on
Fort Sumpter meaning that they lacked experience or even even understanding of what they were about
to face nevertheless McDow was leading them to seize a crucial railroad's Junction at Manasses
just near the bullrun stream that stood in their way it was here that the Confederate forces sat
waiting to defend however which all played into mcdow's plan the goal was to use his three columns
to confront the Confederate force in the front and right flank to eventually push them into
abandoning the railroad Junction as the Union Army was approaching the Confederate Army of the pomac
under the command of General Pierre GT borgard requested aid from Richmond a request that was
intended to be answered with reinforcement by the army of shenendoa under General Joseph E Johnston
Johnston though was being stalled by the Union force of 18,000 men under Major General Robert
Patterson Patterson was tasked with preventing the army of shenendoa from reaching bullrun
meanwhile McDow was getting closer and closer to board's defenses as they inched near McDow sent
roughly 5,000 of his men with Brigadier General Theodore runan to guard the rear while another
division under Brigadier General Daniel Tyler was dispatched to try and hit the Confederate right
flank this resulted in a smallscale clash between Daniel's force and the Confederate at blackburns
Ford where the Northerners were beaten back over with Patterson the union troops weren't doing much
better either despite having sent a telegraph to DC saying I have succeeded in accordance with the
wishes of the General in Chief and keeping General Johnston's forces at Winchester he
hadn't instead when Johnston had received word of Bard's situation he utilized a Cavalry screen to
give Patterson the slip and leave Winchester this was bad news for McDow Who currently outnumbered
the Confederate Force he faced by more than 10,000 if Johnston could make it to bull run before the
battle was over which the union general soon heard was quite the possibility in spite of Patterson's
confidence otherwise this would change drastically unfortunately for McDow the change did happen The
Clash began on the morning of July 21st 1861 McDow sent two divisions from Centerville towards Sudley
Springs in hopes of ambushing the Confederate Left Flank at the same time another division was sent
as a distraction to the stone bridge intending to deceive the southerners this plan seemed doable
in theory but in reality inexperienced men and poor execution meant the Union
soldiers were fumbling the ball Colonel Nathan Evans of the Confederates defending the bridge
was able to determine that the attack on his force was only a distraction and swiftly reacted racing
with the main fragment of his troops to Matthews Hill to meet up with the real Union attack while
he was unable to stop McDow due to his inferior numbers Evans successfully stalled the Northerners
while reinforcements came his way although these reinforcements would soon collapse under Union
pressure the Confederate defense was failing and and its men were on the run there stands Jackson
like a stone wall rally behinds the virgins General Bernard B shouted to his beaten down
and nearly deserting men as Johnston and borgard arrived at Henry house Hill the union troops had
hesitated and were reorganizing their Advance giving the southerners time to do the same after
an hour the battle was back on and the tide began to notably change change Confederate forces were
able to capture Union artillery guns and the northern offensive was falling apart the Rebel
Yell rang out as the union troops were one by one pushed off of Henry house hill by 400 p.m. the
Confederates that won after losing their position the Northerners began what would at first be an
organized Retreat within the hour however any form of organization had gone out the window window
the southerners followed the fleeing enemy and turned the respectable defeat for the union into
an undeniable route though some of the northern troops would arrive home to Washington by the next
day their campaign had been crushed the weight of such a catastrophic and embarrassing loss
was violently damaging for President Lincoln's reputation but there was even more going against
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as the fighting got into full swing the union president's wartime decisions began to appear
tyrannical to some a Crackdown on dissension wasn't entirely unpredictable but would prove to
be an infringement on the First Amendment rights of many Americans nevertheless male telegraphs and
the Press became regularly censored and at times even silenced meanwhile anyone openly showing
support for the Confederates was at risk of being arrested even a democratic Congress man Clement
L Valen digam was arrested in his home state for speaking out against the war while the office of
the non-conformist Sunday Chronicle was destroyed by government officials all of this made many
start to think about ideas such as impeachment but as Lincoln built up his defenses around DC both
metaphorically and physically opposition was left in the dark meanwhile pressure from abolitionist
activists was increasing thus far Lincoln's main concern was the restoration of the Union but many
freed slaves turned activists were cranking up the heat on the president with the goal of pushing him
to make the war about abolition and emancipation not just winning back the Confederates Hest AE
however wasn't yet ready to change the focus of the war and instead signed off on the Congress P
confiscation act of 1861 this act gave the federal government the authority to seize
property from anyone deemed to be participating in the Rebellion property including but not limited
to Slaves these fugitive slaves would be classed as Contraband and were often then utilized to work
as laborers on Union infrastructure far from making the war about emancipation 4 days after
Congress passed the first confiscation act the battle was back on Brigadier General Nathaniel
Leon was about to come fa face to face with Brigadier General Ben mccullock and Major General
Sterling price of the Confederacy in Springfield Missouri for what would be known as the Battle
of Wilson's Creek this would be the first major clash of the Civil War west of the Mississippi
and one of the fewer times that the Union forces were actually outnumbered in an almost amusingly
ironic twist it turned out that both sides as of August 9th were planning to Ambush one another
both of these plans specifically hinging on the element of surprise with neither knowing what the
other was intending General Leon of the Union's tactic was to send 1,200 men under Colonel Fran
SEO wide around the Confederate right to the South while the remaining Force involved would swing
North and hit the southerners left the latter however actually had a similar plan but a stroke
of luck and rain caused General McCulla to abandon his plans this left the element of surprise fully
in the hands of the Northerners the marching of the Union broke the Silence of the morning calm
on August 10th Leon's plan unlike mulla's was still on and it had begun now the Confederate
forces were utterly dumbfounded by the Ambush they had failed to anticipate a surprise offensive
from the union troops and this allowed the lad's advance to play out at a swift Pace Lon and his
men were able to advance all the way to what would soon be known as bloody hill before being stalled
by the palaski Arkansas batter's defense attack while the palaski battery kept the Northerners
from advancing further general price and his men regrouped and headed for the hill where a gruesome
battle would subsequently break out for nearly 6 hours the union had begun The Clash with a clear
strategic advance AG but as the Warfare on Bloody Hill carried on the tide began to shift in favor
of the Confederates Mulla was eventually pitted against Seagal at sharp Farm where the Northerners
thus far triumphant flanking maneuver was crushed by the Counterattack from the southerners so badly
the Sigel and his troops abruptly retreated meanwhile Leon's luck was fading even more
drastically himself already weakened by wounds he'd obtained in the prior hours of
ruthless battle leyon was eventually struck down by the south requiring a hasty transfer of command
to Major Samuel Sturgis the northerner new leader wasn't incompetent but victory for him by now
seemed impossible with scarcely any ammunition left before the clocks even struck noon the
union was at a full Retreat back to Springfield a few weeks after the battle of Wilson's Creek the
union would finally get a win but this time by sea the Confederates for some time now had been
authorizing privateering along the Carolina coast which predictably triggered a military response
from the union this reaction however was poorly anticipated by the southerners at two forts in
particular Fort Clark and Fort hatus this resulted in both partially constructed forts falling into
Union hands after a naval bombardment forced the troops Manning Fort Clark to flee for Fort
hatus which itself would soon surrender it was a much-needed victory for the north but it was
followed by an even worse defeat the Confederates were about to take Lexington general price and
his 15,000 men reached Lexington Missouri on September 11th 1861 smallscale battle began
the next day as the Union forces attempted to stop the Confederate advance but price
was better prepared and surely determined it wouldn't take long for the southerners
to pin their opponent down in the college housing the union fortifications although
the remaining Northerners couldn't be beat out or into Surrender by the Confederates a twoh hour
artillery battle and delayed supplies caused price to hold off continuing the offensive temporarily
it is unnecessary to kill off the boys here patience will give us what we want he explained
less than a week later on September 18th however it seemed that price was satisfied
with the patience shown thus far despite strong union artillery the Confederates Advanced at
long last bottling up the Defenders once more 1 2 3 4 nine hours of cannon fire ensued meanwhile
the southerners were additionally in the process of capturing the nearby Anderson house which was
in use as a union hospital for wounded soldiers this stunning potential War crime at least in
the eyes of the Union prompted the Northerners to storm and retake the house but control would then
fall back to the Confederates more permanently 2 Days Later the city as a whole fell into Southern
Hands the following month would see yet another embarrassing defeat for the Union as distrust of
the president and his abilities were on the rise after some poorly executed reconnaissance across
the pomac river over in Virginia a decision was made to launch another Union attack this time
under the command of Abraham Lincoln's dear friend Colonel Edward Baker this Fay would be an utter
disaster due to horrendous planning and execution Baker himself would be slain and his men all
positions precariously at the edge of balls Bluff essentially cornered by the Confederates either
fled were killed two or leapt to their deaths off the bluff many of those who did Escape furthermore
drowned trying to cross the icy River the generals who had been involved in the campaign General
Charles Stone and even General George mlen were heavily scrutinized and stone would eventually be
blamed and charged with treason as a result mlen however was dis distant enough from the disaster
itself and would eventually be promoted to general-in-chief of all Union armies despite deep
mistrust between himself and the president this trust was building between DC and its overseas
counterparts now as well particularly the bonds between the union and Great Britain seemed to
be dwindling and on November 8th it would appear nearly nonexistent Britain thus far was acting a
bit sympath pathetic to the South largely because they missed the crucial cotton exports from the
now Confederate states as a result communication between the two entities led President Jefferson
Davis to dispatch two envoys over to the British mail ship the Trent to try and Garner official
support and recognition of the Confederacy unbeknownst to Washington on November 8th 1861
the month after the envoys joined the British on their ship us Captain wils intercepted the Trent
the captain then had his Lieutenant board the ship to search it at which point the Confederate envoys
were detained and the Brits told that they could leave on their own this triggered a hail storm
from Britain which deems the acts of Captain wils to have been both a violation of British
neutrality as well as a blatant violation of the law eventually under the demand of Great
Britain and unwillingness to go to war with their former overlords DC agreed to release
the prisoners and toiled to resolve the situation diplomatically while this would work for the time
being it was only the start of British influence on what the union was willing to do to win the
war nearly a year after the outbreak of the Civil War the fates of the United States of
America seemed to hang more in the balance than anyone had anticipated both sides of the conflict
had hoped for a Swift and minimally damaging War yet it was clear now that the end was far
from near and the union despite its laundry list of advantages was struggling the start of 1862
had scarcely seen any significant Confederate losses thus far however the north was coming
into the new year with fresh motivation and determination Brigadier General George Thomas and
His 4,000 Union troops were positioned at Logan's Crossroads as rain poured through the growing fog
the Confederates were only 10 mes away when they heard of the Northerners approach despite the poor
weather the southerners decided to launch an offensive with the goal of catching the Union
forces off guard before reinforc forc Ms could arrive the problem with this nevertheless was
that by the time the Confederate troops arrived at Logan's Crossroads they were wet tired and
unmotivated and their Antiquated Napoleonic typee flint lock muskets were horribly suited for such
rainy conditions still even as the Northerners now saw the attack coming General Felix zofer
LED his Southerners into the battlefield with high enthus iasm at first the Confederates seemed to
have taken the advantage in spite of their poorly working Weaponry the 15th Mississippi infantry and
20th Tennessee managed to push back the fourth Kentucky infantry second Minnesota and 10th
Indiana in the midst of the foggy and chaotic Clash however General zofer mistook the union
troops for his own and began to approach the fourth Kentucky infantry at which point he was
shot dead by the enemy this seemed to turn the tide rather quickly against the southerners who
were soon routed by the Union forces and chased into a disorganized Retreat leaving their dead
wounded and weaponry behind in the utter Panic this Victory following another only 9 days earlier
on January 10th at the Battle of Middle Creek finally gave the union something to celebrate and
some much needed morale boosters Kentucky 2o was becoming more weak from a Confederate perspective
opening up the door for further Northern influence in the state and over in Tennessee the union was
making more moves on February 6th 1862 the north took the battle to Fort Henry oddly
especially considering the potential significance of losing the fort the Confederates failed to put
up strong defenses a union Naval bombardment would shortly push the stronghold to surrender however
Confederate Brigadier General Lloyd Tillman had already rounded up his troops from Fort Henry
and secretly moved them to Fort Donaldson not too far away 10 days later Donaldson would fall
to the union the capture of both Fort Henry and Fort Donaldson meant that the Cumberland
and Tennessee Rivers were no longer accessible for the Confederates which would prove to be a
huge victory for the union and allows the north to keep the South cut off from both waterways
for the rest of the war entirely Union efforts to capture Coastal territory continued as well with
another Northern General Ambrose Burnside eyeing up the island of Rowan o on January 11th General
Burnside had set off with a fleet of 80 ships and 15,000 men down to their destination at the Outer
Banks though the trip would only take a couple of days the actual battle would be delayed by several
several weeks due to unideal weather conditions still with 10,000 of his troops Burnside would
soon launch his offensive at which point he found himself face to face with confederate
Colonel Henry Shaw and only 2,500 men the Union's previous victories and notable numeric Advantage
seemed to foreshadow the results of the clash as the Triumph would be clear and precise with yet
another southern surrender after being overwhelmed by Northern forces on February 8th the island fell
to the union and the Takeover of the coasts seemed to be in full swing giving the North and Lincoln a
long craved swell of optimism with this new Boost of confidence and momentum President Lincoln had
his troops hitting the Confederates at any weak points they could Arkansas and Missouri became
significant targets throughout this period as the north pushed through the border states and into
the South with both Union and Confederate forces of Missouri Under New Management it appeared that
a nearby struggle was imminent on one side was the Union Army of the Southwest under the command of
Brigadier General Samuel Ryan Curtis whereas the Confederate Army of the West took its orders from
Major General Earl Van Dorne the latter boasted about 16,000 men while whilst the union this
time was outnumbered by over 5,000 predictably then it was the Confederates who were planning
an attack General Van Dorne concocted a plan to meet the Union forces where they were stationed
around Little Sugar Creek and Ambush them from the rear an ambitious plan and exhausting Journey the
campaign wouldn't be easy but Van Dorne believed it' be worth it thus as the Confederates neared
the Northerners the general split his forces in two one force under molik to swing around the west
of P Ridge and the other portion under general price would go through the Bentonville detour
to Telegraph Road and meets up with mullik as they jointly attacks the union rear near Elkhorn Tavern
in actuality the Union forces got a heads up and instead of waiting for the Ambush Curtis LED his
men to meet with Confederates near the tavern shots were soon fired and the battle ensued with
a major hit to Southern morale coming early on when General Mulla was killed in action followed
shortly by his second in command James McQueen mckintosh being slain as well nevertheless the
Confederates though without their leaders managed to take the tavern and Telegraph Road by the day's
end still the following day would see curtis' successful Counterattack pushing the southerners
back and in time handing the union control of neighboring Missouri and a foothold remaining in
Arkansas what had started as a strong war effort for the Confederates was beginning to look like a
crumbling defense nonetheless the union had its own challenges at hand one in particular coming
in the form of General George B mclen aside from the issue of mlen having a near complete
lack of trust in and apparent absence of respect for President Lincoln via contemporary stories
told of the General George's strategy throughout the Civil War could almost be described as timid
after the indecisive results of the history-making battle of iron clads the union was hoping to find
new triumph over at Richmond General mlen was put in charge of this new campaign but he had
a different idea of how to go about it than the president did while Lincoln wanted to send George
South to Richmond the latter was more inclined to head up via the peninsula by the York and James
Rivers opening up his land Army to Naval Aid and utilizing the union held Fort Monroe as a
Launchpad although it wasn't his first plan the president agreed to authorize mlen version and
the campaign was ready to begin the problem with this however was that the Confederates had been
expecting an incursion from that exact position and thus were readily prepared though lacking
in numbers compared to the 100,000 Union troops and nearly 400 ships the southerners were Keen to
defend their city and mlen was willing to do his part but slowly The General eneral though not bad
at his job was a detailed planner and hesitant in times he quite likely didn't need to be throughout
the campaign upon the outbreak of armed action at Yorktown mlen had already been under the
impression that the enemy forces numbered the same or maybe even more than his own this wasn't
entirely true but George nevertheless formed his strategy accordingly reacting overly cautious much
to the annoyance of President Lincoln eventually after the month-long Siege he had chosen over
an assault on the Southern Line mlen and his troops would take Yorktown though only because
the Confederates evacuated this was a planned withdrawal by the south in order to head back
to defend Richmond more closely but the slow to acts mlen saw it as his own victory in reality all
he'd really done was given the Confederates time to regroup and reinforce the real defense with
mlen yet again taking a slower paced and possibly poorly calculated approach the southerners led by
General Joseph E Johnston made their way back to Fort McGruder to set up their new defensive
establishing a rear guard Johnston positioned his men along a series of routs while Major
General James Long Street brought his troops to Fort McGruder directly the Union force commanded
by Major General Joseph Hooker launched the next step in the Peninsula Campaign an attack on Fort
McGruder before the clock could even strike noon the battle was on the union aggression
was met with a powerful Confederate counter offensive launching hooker's line back this
was a good start for the South but more Union troops led by Brigadier General Philip Kierney
soon arrived to reinforce the offensive line and this time it was the Confederates who were pushed
back into their defenses the bloody battle raged on into the dark of night before the Confederates
once more carried out an intentional withdrawal back toward Richmond as expected mlen portrayed
this as yet another victory for himself but in reality the southerners saw the entire battle
as having only been a means of stalling the union to begin with which they did their real
objective was of course Force to protect Richmond and now having stalled the Peninsula Campaign from
its end goal for over a month the Confederates had given themselves ample time to build up the
Manpower needed to protect their Capital the war was looking more and more tiring but it was only
mid 1862 and there was so much fighting left to do up and cominging star of the Union Civil War
effort General ulyses S Grant had been leading his own Army over in Tennessee near Shiloh Church when
on April 6th General Johnston and his men pounced the Union forces were blindsided by the incursion
and the Confederates found early success as they drove the Northerners back in the direction of
Pittsburgh Landing this early success on the part of the South came in spite of the fact that many
men on both sides had scarcely if ever seen battle before and what seemed to be a swift Confederate
victory was soon becoming more of a challenge as reinforcements commanded by Union general
Don Carlos bule began to arrive as the Confederate effort was suddenly weakened under the union push
back General Albert Sydney Johnston would become a Monumental casualty after being shot through
an artery in his leg and bleeding to death on the battlefield when command shifted to General board
as Knight set in the attack was called off and the rebels retreated the union could call this a
win but some would say it was a peric victory in reality due to the record setting and startling
number of casualties the brutal brawl had killed wounded or lost over 13,000 Union men while the
Confederates counted more than 10,000 casualties this was the most deadly battle in US history thus
far and no one was taking it lightly on a brighter note for the north however a late April campaign
ended in the seizure of the vital Confederate City of New Orleans and better control of the Lower
Mississippi and in more promising Fortune for the South Stonewall Jackson Was preparing for a new
Confederate offensive with the odds seemingly in his favor I do not remember having ever seen such
rejoicing the people seemed near frantic with joy our entrance into Winchester was one of the
most stirring scenes of my life Jackson recalled of the event the Confederates had been entangled
with Union forces under General Nathaniel banks at Strasburg before the latter began a feverish
Retreat toward the town of Winchester Jackson was quick to react to this and gave Chase but he
was struggling to determine the intended route of the retreating Northerners and subsequently began
dividing up his own men to chase down the Union Soldiers from any angle some of Jackson's troops
would meet up with the Northerners as a result dashing their hopes of reaching safety for the
Yankees at Middletown Valley Pike and New Town General Banks's remaining men would eventually
reach Abrams Creek Camp Hill and Bowers Hill where they braced for Jackson's arrival the
morning of May 25th was lit up with confederate fire as the f began the first Target of Stonewall
Jackson was the union Left Flank which had been perched at top Camp Hill this initial objective
however was proving to be a bit too difficult for the general to see its worth anymore and he
soon turned to Bower's Hill and its Defenders it wouldn't take long in fact only an hour for the
Confederates to regain the upper hand and send the Northerners back on the run the citizens
of Winchester made Banks's new Retreat even more difficult as in a stunning display of opposition
they started shooting at the union men trying to flee Stonewall and his soldiers contrarily
were greeted with cheers and open arms as they attempted to yet again pursue the Northerners
the worn out and stalled Confederates eventually fell back enough to let the surviving Union forces
slip by and the aftermath of this Southern Victory nearly saw Jackson get pinched between a fresh sh
of Union troops taken from the Richmond campaign with the aim of trapping the Confederate Stonewall
Brigade the latter managed to squeeze through the Gap however and the union was out of luck
once more General George B mclen despite recent setbacks was still focused on taking Richmond
and Confederate General Robert E Lee was just as determined to stop him General Joseph E Johnston
was responsible for taking on the inevitable Union attack on Richmond prompting Lee and Confederate
President Jefferson Davis to urge the general toward making an updated plan Johnston got to work
and he quickly noted something quite convenient the Union Fourth Corp under the command of General
arasmus D Keys was on its own mullen's Force had been first divided into two but the fourth core
had separated itself from The Others When Keys moved them to a vill by the name of seven pines to
the great pleasure of the Confederates there were only three main roads leading to this town and one
sketchy Grapevine Bridge Johnston's plan thus fell into place and his men would encircle seven pines
via 9M Road Charles City Road and Williamsburg Road meanwhile recent rainfall would make the
bridge path more or less impossible to cross the battle would then ensue in reality a combination
of bad weather and administrative Kur fuff made Johnston's plan look a little more chaotic than
had been anticipated as the Confederates stumbled over to seven pines Northern General Silas Casey
caught sight of the approaching Army nevertheless when Wy confederate general DH Hill launched his
portion of the attack Casey had failed to prepare his own troops for defense and was rapidly pushed
back Hills men ever were on their own as he hadn't waited for the rest of the Confederate Wings to
get to their positions and as the union third core began to enter the battlefield Hill was starting
to see the consequence of his decision General GW Smith answered the call from Hill to Aid his
attack at the same time Union general Edwin V suner was taking his second core across the
Great Vine bridge to rescue his own comrades somehow the rickety Bridge managed to hold
and allowed the troops to pass through despite the Confederate assumption that it wouldn't be
doable this meant that instead of helping Hill beat back the fourth core the Confederate backup
was suddenly face to face with the second core by the end of the night the battle was growing
and the fourth core was no longer surrounded meaning both sides could keep funneling in troops
over on the Confederate side the situation wasn't seeming too bad as Johnston began to examine the
lines the problem was that he was shot in the arm moments later and then hit in the leg and chest by
fragments from a union artillery shell though he was cautioned by one of his men that he rode far
too close to the Flying bullets from the battle he Shrugged off the concern with a confident Colonel
there is no use dodging when you hear them they have passed from there the Confederate offensive
snowballed although they locked out given the Northerners equal exhaustion and unwillingness
to continue The Clash came to an indecisive end and General Lee was subsequently sent to take
over the Confederate troops involved in light of Johnston's incapacity the war was looking more
and more tiring but it was only mid 1862 and there was so much fighting left to do over the following
months the union took nearly full control of the Mississippi iipp River with a success at
the Battle of Memphis leaving now only Vicksburg in their way this was before Lincoln signed off on
the second confiscation act which expanded on the first and supplied more opportunities for
confederate slaves to be freed that was followed by the Battle of Cedar Mountain and the Second
Battle of Bull Run which saw a Confederate victory that would soon be overshadowed by Northerners
discovering General Lee's plans for the next engagement that next Clash would be the Battle
of antium which remains to this day the bloodiest 24 hours in the history of the entire Civil War
the Confederate attempts to launch a large-scale invasion of Union territory had failed around the
same time that the South's hopes of winning over Kentucky through the Heartland campaign still the
pressure was increasing from Great Britain as it was on the verge of joining the war diplomatically
ly in support of the Confederates willing to do almost anything to prevent such a catastrophe for
the north president linkoln finally announced his intention to pass the Emancipation Proclamation
by the start of 1863 if the war was not over by now though the Native Americans had also
been picking sides choosing whoever they believed would win and provide them with additional rights
by the war's end the final month of 18 62 saw the brutal Battle of Fredericksburg which allegedly
got so bad for the union that a Confederate Sergeant Kirkland couldn't help but run onto
the battlefield and begin treating the Yankee wounded prompting a temporary ceasefire in the
end however the union war department had been too slow to provide supplies for their men and
the soldiers were unable to keep up the poorly organized attack the South had won yet another
battle with Northern morale plummeting Lincoln's popularity dropping and Union men deserting
president Davis of the Confederacy finally reacted to the proposed Emancipation Proclamation he
declared that it was nothing more than an attempt to excite survi war and furthermore added that any
black US soldiers would not be treated by the same standards as white prisoners of War Days
Later the Battle of Stones River would finally bring about some Union revenge and a much needed
morale boost it also marked the final days of 1862 over a year and a half of the war had already gone
by but it was far from over January 1st 1863 marks the Monumental shift of meaning for the
Civil War although not in the way that many today are under the impression at did the Emancipation
Proclamation didn't actually free all slaves and in fact was only intended to free slaves
in Rebel States though not all of them southern secessionist states that were already occupied
by the north were exempt from the proclamation as were all border states furthermore those States
who had left the union for the Confederacy and were not exempt weren't going to just let go of
the slaves that they've been fighting all this time to keep this meant that Northern military
enforcement would be required for the proclamation to mean anything nevertheless the act itself meant
something to so many it also officially allowed black men to join the Union Army and Navy opening
the doors for hundreds of thousands of freedom craving men to join the war effort by the end of
it all roughly 200,000 black soldiers had risked their lives to protect their fellow countrymen
at the same time the north enacted a draft for its citizens the Confederacy had done the same
a year prior but for the union this was a sign of the times the war wasn't going as smoothly as
President Lincoln had hoped thus as conscription went into effect in the north both sides prepared
for battle once more the union had two goals at the moment take down General Lee and Richmond
and capture Vicksburg thus fully controlling the Mississippi River the latter objective was highly
concerning for the South which had thus far been struggling to maintain their Tennessee Border as
as the Mississippi Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers made it hard to keep the Northerners
out furthermore General Grant had already seized control of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers
with a capture of Fort Henry and Fort donalson Union Admiral David faragate had also taken New
Orleans cutting the Confederates off from the Gulf of Mexico while the capture of Memphis had nearly
wrestled the Mississippi away from the south already still without Vicksburg this couldn't
be done Grant was now determined to take the city and the river with it in the summer of 1862 he had
made his first attempt alongside General William T Sherman but the early attempt ended in a decisive
defeat and withdraw at the Battle of the chikasaw Bayou although the Northerners were ready to Try
Again by The Following spring up until this point Grant and his men had struggled to even gain
access to Vicksburg due to the surrounding swamps bayu and otherwise seemingly impregnable terrain
feeling Innovative and quite a bit stubborn Grant put his men to work to change this for weeks they
drained bayus built Bridges and formed roads that could actually be utilized to reach the
city trekking along their newly constructed path through Louisiana and across the river Grant and
his army marched into battle having been called on by the general to assist rear Admiral David Dixon
Porter led a naval Force along the river to back the land troops despite being under heavy fire
from Confederate defenses Porter and his men ran the gauntlet like Champs losing only a single ship
in the process and providing necessary support to Grant by April 29th 1863 everyone was in position
and ready to launch the attack Grant's plan was as follows Sherman would be sent to feain an
attack at Snyder's Bluff Colonel Benjamin Garrison would leave need a raid further Inland to bring
Confederate forces away from Vicksburg Porter would continue to provide reinforcement to the
lands troops and Major General John A mcland and his 13th Army Corps would aim for another landing
on the East Bank of grand Gulf this bank was heavily fortified with confederate Defenders at
the ready but Grant was confident in his strategy starting off the Fay was Porter and his gunboats
which opened fire around 8:00 a.m. targeting Fort Wade followed by Fort cin and their defenses the
southerners responded with their own artillery fire rather immediately triggering a battle
that would last for hours into the afternoon the union Navy eventually overpowered Fort Wade but
then began to struggle with the less susceptible Fort cin even with the initial success against
the first Fort subsequently Porter and Grant eventually decided to pull back as they saw
the second line of defense as impenetrable the battle of the grand Gulf had ended and Grant had
once more hit a brick wall Vicksburg was feeling more and more Untouchable but the general refused
to quit while Grant had his sights locked on Berg Union general Joseph Hooker was tasked
with something about the thorn in the north side that thorn was General Lee Hooker also had
Ambitions of seizing the Confederate capital city but that couldn't be done without first
getting the Slick Virginian out of his way thus hooker and his army of 115,000 prepared for an
attack on Lee's DWI kindled force of only 60,000 the union Commander split his troops into three
sending two thirds over to Frederickburg to feain an assault there while hooker took the rest of his
men to the real Target Lee knowing what was coming decided to take a strategic gamble considering his
numerical inferiority he first divided out 10,000 of his 60,000 men which would be Comm commanded by
General jubil early these troops would remain in Fredericksburg to defend the city meanwhile Lee
would take the left over 50,000 soldiers to face off with hooker's Army of the bomac in a forest
just west of Chancellorsville battle erupted for some reason despite the clear advantage in numbers
and his prior enthusiasm hooker suddenly ordered his men to fall back in defensive positions giving
Lee a new Edge in yet another bold move the confederate general then split his troops yet
again this time sending his trusty colleague Stonewall Jackson with one portion around the
Union's Left Flank Stonewall marched his men straight into battle with the Union 11 Corp
Lee on the other hand would soon catch wind of an approaching Union force to the east prompting
him to again divide his men so he could Face Off With His attackers near Salem Church the battle
overall would result in an unexpected and rather spectacular Confederate Victory but there would
be one Casualty that the South would soon suffer heavily from in particular the death of stone wall
Jackson while returning to camp in the dark of night alongside some of his men the 18th North
Carolina Infantry Regiment opened fire without waiting for the group to identify themselves as
they believed them to be Union Soldiers Stonewall was shot three times in the process twice in the
left arm and once in the right hand over the next few days he would have his left arm amputated
and shortly died of pneumonia complications the response from General Lee would indicate
what a symbolic blow this was for the South I have lost my right arm I'm bleeding at the
heart after the rebel Victory though at a steep cost the Confederates looked for another win
diplomatically responding to the Emancipation Proclamation Jefferson Davis solidified his
earlier statements and more through the retaliatory act which went so so far as
enabling the execution of Northern black soldiers and their white officers this Hefty political move
was followed by another series of armed clashes of course the Battle of Raymond would see a union
Triumph in Mississippi but the Battle of Jackson was a bit more indecisive meanwhile Grant had
been busy finally chipping away at the path to his ultimate Target the roads to Vicksburg
is open grants told William T Sherman in a request for reinforcements the Confederate
higher ups were currently caught in disputes over their next move opening up the door for
the union to take full advantage this would result in the highly significant Battle of champion Hill
and the hill of death as deemed by Alvin P hovi after the fact the result was a Monumental Union
victory Tory and a huge step forward for Grant and his Vicksburg campaign another Triumph for
the campaign at the Battle of The Big Black River Bridge would follow putting increasing pressure
on Vicksburg as the Yankees were Now set up to besiege the city 15 miles of trenches were in the
works as the siege of vickburg began Grant was confident that this time the city would be his
The Siege began on May 18th trapping the 29,000 strong Confederate Force Under General John C
pton and the civilians of Vicksburg in the city with no supplies and under constant brain rattling
bombardment pton and all those remaining in the city after 47 days surrendered on the 4th of July
1863 Grant's dreams had come true he had taken Vicksburg and thus the Mississippi but a lot had
happened elsewhere in his absence the Battle of Brandy Station in Virginia played out in
early June and would set the record as the largest Cavalry clash in the entire War the tussle ended
with the Union troops being styed and another battle only days later the Battle of second
Winchester cleared the Yankees from the shenon DOA Valley it seems that Grant's luck was better than
his comrades although the Union as a whole found a victory on June 20th when West Virginia officially
joined it as a new state this gave the Northerners something to celebrate but just days later and
hours before Grant would seize Vicksburg one of the most tragic events of the war and America's
history was to take place the Battle of Gettysburg General Robert E Lee was the man responsible
hoping to move the conflict out of War exhausted Virginia Lee looked to take the fighting straight
to the north starting in Pennsylvania with a 75,000 strong Army Lee marched into the union
state tailed by Union General George Gordon me and his 95,000 men the opposing forces march on until
they reach the town of Gettysburg where Lee stops and begins preparation for the brutal attack that
is to come meanwhile Confederate Major General Henry Heth was on his way to wle when his Force
stumbles upon that of Union Brigadier General John Buford the latter fires on the former and
the battle unexpectedly Begins the Confederates respond well to Union fire and start pushing the
Northerners back along Chambersburg Pike though stalled the southerners are not being stopped
Major General John F Reynolds Union 1 and 11 cores soon arrive to support Buford but it still
wouldn't be enough Reynolds is fatally shot in the neck just as the battle is picking up and more
Confederate reinforcements are joining the fight General Robert rhs and general juble early clash
with the Union troops nearby and together the rebels begin to box the Yankees in at Gettysburg
as the union line collapses many soldiers are able to flee along a nearby railroad but others are now
stuck in the town the remaining Defenders decide to regroup on Cemetery Hill to the South holding
out in a fish hook formation the union men are still surrounded by Southerners though the battle
is not yet lost Union general Dan sickles acts next taking his three cores up to emmittsburg
Road and the peach orchard where they run into Confederate forces under the command of General
James Long Street sickle's plan backfires abruptly requiring General Mees to send the entirety of his
five core troops to support him with long street now focusing his attack on the union left General
Lee sends Hill to take the center and general Richard uul to go for the right long Street's
men hit sickles around Devil's Den and little rounds top but to shockingly no avail as the
union scrambles to bring in more reinforcements over at the peach orchard to the contrary sickle's
men Faire quite worse casualties are already t in up in unimaginable numbers as day two of
the battle rages on the Yankees quickly fill the Gap left behind by the reinforcements sent to Aid
sickle and managed to knock the rebels back at the center to the right generals uul and early aim to
Route the Northerners on and around Cemetery Hill as Darkness rolls in the union holds off at first
but the Confederates soon overwhelm The Defenders nor than reinforcements would shortly renew the
fighting on the hill however but meanwhile another confederate general Edward Johnson
launches an attack on the union extreme right at kulps Hill with many of these troops having
been sent to assist elsewhere Union General George Green is left with only 1,300 men to fight off the
4,500 Confederates numerical superiority AIDS the southern but Green's men hang in there as day two
winds to a close Gettysburg has already become the bloodiest battle of the Civil War day three will
be no better for most as morning comes General Lee sends reinforcements to his men at culps Hill but
so does General me the tables have now turned and it's the rebels who lack proper numbers
nevertheless the Confederates engage and a 7-hour fay commences at first the Confederates seemed to
be better off but by noon the tide has turned in the Union's favor Lee instead of calling
more troops to the aid of the right orders a fullscale attack on the union left something me
had stunningly predicted making him the first to actually outsmart Robert E Lee the center assault
would turn into the largest artillery barrage to ever occur in the Western Hemisphere a spectacular
show but to no success for the Confederates as the southerners are forced to March through a mile of
open unprotected ground leading across emmittsburg Road the Northerners open heavy fire ripping apart
the rebel attack as Lee pushes for the assault to continue the Confederates attempt a last ditch
effort to collapse the union rear with an attack led by General Jeb Stewart but this fails too the
entire Southern offensive is collapsing on every side and it soon becomes clear that the Yankees
have won the Battle of Gettysburg eventually accepting that fact Lee withdraws toward the
pomac and back into Virginia it is said that Lee told his men as early as in their Retreat that the
entire situation was his fault and he believed this so deeply that he offered his resignation
to President Jefferson Davis after the fact and his guilt was not without reason his attempts to
take the war to the North had caused casualties so high that the wounded alone outnumbered citizens
of the town 12 to1 more than 50,000 men had been killed wounded or missing by the end of the 3
days homes and churches had to be transformed into hospitals for the wounded and bullet holes
riddle the town part of the battlefield would shortly be turned into a national cemetery for
fallen Union Soldiers slain Confederates were not so lucky after the catastrophe that was Gettysburg
the Union victory was in many ways overshadowed by the tragedy itself and the still ongoing War
not only that but the excitement for many of the 54th Massachusetts colored infantry becoming the
first African-American volunteer regiment to see combat in the war was marred by the draft riots
that followed angry New Yorkers who felt that the conscription system favored the rich began
to attack the Dr craft office and black churches and the anger swiftly spread the South was fairing
little better however as the war was radically draining its economy and raising the question
of how much longer they could even continue to fight skirmishes and smallscale clashes carried
on through July at the end of the month President Lincoln issued general order 252 declaring that
for for every black us prisoner of war executed by the south one Confederate prisoner of war would be
killed in return tensions were on the rise and the rebels didn't react well Laurence Kansas
was set to face the South's wrath as the day began on August 21st 1863 Rebel gorillas led by
William Clark quantril led a raid on the town that resulted in a massacre much of Lawrence was burnt
to the ground and at least 160 men and boys were murdered this wasn't even War it was a mass scale
homicide and it represented the extreme anger and Desperation felt by many from the south as the war
carried on and the Confederacy struggles to keep up as such the union soon captured Chattanooga
GA Tennessee elsewhere at the Battle of chaga the Confederates found some hope with a victory and
general braxon Bragg followed It Up by launching a Siege on Union occupied Chattanooga Lee and me
meanwhile clashed in Virginia at the Bristo station campaign Abraham Lincoln gave the
Gettysburg address at the dedication of the soldiers National Cemetery and Lee was aiming
to hold out the Confederate War efforts just long enough to manipulate low Northern morale
into electing a southern sympathizer in Lincoln's upcoming reelection sadly for the rebels however
the siege of Chattanooga eventually failed and Bragg was forced into Georgia while another
Confederate Siege on Knoxville also fell short the South had started the war strong but it seems that
all the North's technical advantages were finally paying off both sides wanted the war to end but
neither was ready to give in Lee's ultimate plan could still work but Lincoln had another offer to
make any Confederate willing swear an oath to the United States and your Rebel acts will be forgiven
by now the union was ready to try and truly [ __ ] the Confederacy by launching a campaign aimed at
digging even deeper into important Southern territories this would be the largest army
navy combined campaign to be launched at any point throughout the war the main target was the capital
of Louisiana shreport which if captured could potentially give the Northerners an opportunity
to next dig into Texas the whole thing however was problematic from the very start for one on
the Navy side rear Admiral David Dixon Porter had agreed to join the campaign under the assumption
that Major General William T Sherman would be the land commander and Sherman himself had intended to
do so but with General ulyses Grant preoccupied with other Northern objectives and insisting
that Sherman stay and assist him Major General Nathaniel P Banks would instead be the one to
take the Reigns something Porter nor Sherman were pleased to hear in fact Sherman even went as far
to send a contingent of his own men 10,000 of his very best torter specifically stating that
this favor was in case Banks abandoned the naval forces if his own land troops got into trouble and
the problem with General Banks was that he wasn't even much of a military man technically he wasn't
one at all he was a politician more than anything which is exactly why he needed this campaign for
the military experience and hopefully success that it would bring him the problem then with
Banks's plan was the fact that he intended to use three entirely separate forces Porter's 19
boat strong Fleet Banks own 20,000 men from the New Orleans area and Major General Frederick steel
with another 10,000 coming from Little Rock since none of these groups could communicate with each
other easily throughout the campaign the entire plan begs to become an unorganized disaster or
as one Union general said one damn blunder from beginning to end the red River campaign ended in
a Yankee Retreat and a much- needed break for the Rebels the Confederates also managed to seize Fort
Pillow in Tennessee around the same time murdering 300 surrendered Union soldiers in the process
many of whom were black General Grant shortly after demanded that all prisoner exchange talks
be halted until the South agreed to treat black prisoners of war the same as white Grant was also
busy preparing for what would be one of the most horrendous engagements of his entire career the
battle of the Wilderness Lee's army will be your objective where he goes there you will go also
and thus the Northerners would this Lee chasing Army consisted of the army of the pomac jointly
commanded by Major generals Governor K Warren Winfield s Hancock and John Sedrick alongside
Ambrose Burnside and his independent ninth Corp on the Confederate side was General Lee the chased at
the helm working with him however was a bit of a rag tag group of commanders as the South was still
reeling and struggling to recover from the loss of Stonewall Jackson Lee's right hand nevertheless
AP Hill and Richard s uul though not as skilled as Stonewall were ready to fill the gaps and
Lee's close friend at James Long Street was prepared to tag along in the early days of
May General Grant had opted to take his men out of the Wilderness of Spotsylvania and into open
ground in their preparations for a face off with the Confederates Lee on the other hand had ordered
his men to try and trap tra the union troops in a battle within the Wilderness as the difficult
terrain would give the southerners the upper hand these simultaneous strategies eventually led to
the Northerners catching wind of the approaching Rebels General Warren reacted by sending out a
division to investigate the situation while the rest of the Union forces attempted to avoid a
possible Clash before escaping the wooded terrain the situation however would not end in the Yankees
favor the very moment we appeared they gave us a volley at long range but evidently with very
deliberate aim and with serious effect a union officer would later Testify the Confederate
force that Warren had aimed to Simply investigate was actually the entire core under General Ule
and upon being watched they reacted with rapid hostility the battle began at saund field and
evolved into what one described as bushwacking on a grand scale as the thick foresting made for
a confusing Battlefield over with General Hill another battle had broken out Along The Plank
Road as the Confederates there ran into General sedwick's division in their attempts to cut the
Northerners off from the highly important Brock Road for the first portion of each engagement the
favor seems to shift back back and forward with no clear winner but the outnumbered Southerners
were surely disadvantaged under Hill General Long Street was intended to come and assist Hill and
his attack as nightfell which caused the ladder to hold off from re-engaging at dawn As Long
Street was yet to arrive this meant that the union attacks that morning proved disastrous for Hill
that is until long Street's heroic AR Ral hours behind schedule the battle around Plank and Brock
roads would thus carry on for a while longer with what seemed to be a growing Confederate
favor for some time but would eventually end in eventual though partial Union victory the
southerners would complete the Endeavor with the upper hand however after General John B Gordon
routed Yankee troops along the turnpike on May 6th even taking two Union Generals as prisoners
in the process the consequence for the north was damning the battle had cost them double the
number of casualties as it had the South and the situation became so dire that General Grant wildly
uncharacteristically broke down in tears in his tent at word of the situation yet Grant nor the
north was ready to give up instead of following the Battle with a full retreat they marched on
Deeper South to Richmond throughout May the union was now daringly carrying out two simultaneous
campaigns grants Overland and Sherman's Atlanta the Overland campaign had begun with the battle
of the Wilderness and the depressing draw at best couples with the Raging Fire the battle
had caused it all seemed like a bad Omen for the newly launched campaign but as Grant told
a reporter there is no turning back the campaign was far from over in fact the next Clash occurred
only hours later at the Spotsylvania Courthouse where Lee managed to stall his adversary yet
again for 2 weeks straight until Grant finally disengaged after losing roughly another 18,000
men the union general pushed on for Richmond off and on clashes would follow as Grant and
his men trudged towards the Confederate capital and the Battle of Cold Harbor would see the
union take another unwanted hit after 6 weeks the campaign came to a close but not before racking up
around 55,000 Northern casualties and seeing the third and fourth bloodiest battles of the entire
War still Grant was aiming for a war of attrition now and to this extent with the battle of the
South having totaled around 33,000 casualties the union had actually claimed a strategic victory
over with General Sherman he and his men had been ordered to take the key Confederate city
of Atlanta and thus beginning in Tennessee they started their March as the campaign
carried on a few things were happening elsewhere in the Union on June 8th 1864 for example Abraham
Lincoln officially received the nomination for reelection unfortunately for Grant news
for him was less positive as many in DC were now calling him the butcher due to his strategy of
sacrificing tens of thousands of men now in hopes of saving more later by ending the war or sooner
furthermore other battles were ongoing such as the Battle of Bryce's Crossroads where General Samuel
Sturgis was crushed by the highly outnumbered Confederate Force Under General Nathan Bedford
Forest Sherman however was Ill concerned about his comrades labors as his campaign would prove
triumphant after a string of combat along the way the Confederates under General John
Hood would eventually Retreat from the city of Atlanta entirely surrendering it to the incoming
Yankees the latter would hold the city until November at which point Sherman had ordered for
all military resources in the city to be burned to the ground which would unintentionally result
in an out ofcontrol fire that leveled the city as the heat of the summer beat down on both battle
worn and battle ready men of North and South the Confederates too were attempting to make
significant moves confederate general jubil early was hoping to take pressure off of Petersburg and
Richmond which had been under siege by the union since the end of the Overland campaign
thus he clashed with Northerners at the Battle of Monocacy in Maryland where he would ultimately win
but many from the north still claimed it to be a tactical Victory and stopping the Confederates
from reaching DC early would eventually reach the defenses of Washington nonetheless but he would
withdraw from the attack the same day as the war thus raged on through the summer it wasn't just
the land forces who saw battle one contest in particular saw a joint effort at the start of
August when the north aimed its sights at Mel Alabama the Battle of Mel Bay technically just
outside of moel B Alabama was a joint land and Naval effort by the north to capture the
Confederate Port that had become increasingly crucial for the south after the fall of New
Orleans Union Admiral David faragut sped his Fleet through the bay behind four ironclads to take on
the small Confederate flotilla and two formidable forts standing in the way the battle was well
fought by the Confederates But ultimately ended in a I Victory though the city of Mel itself would
remain in Confederate hands nevertheless the port now belonged to the north violence was still at a
high around Petersburg as well Jew to the ongoing Siege and the following month a battle broke out
at Winchester again for the third time following his attempted attack on Washington General jubil
early had remained in the shenendoa valley which the South had been using for some time
now to launch their incursions against the north this eventually led to the union deciding it was
time to free the shin andoa of their adversaries sending General Philip Sheridan to do the deed the
battle officially broke out at Winchester when General Sheridan and his army of the shenendoa
were attempting to pass through the narrow canyon near Barry rille Pike the Confederates in the form
of General Steven D ramer's division open fire essentially trapping the soldiers and wagon trains
within the canyon the goal wasn't necessarily to defeat the drastically larger Union force
but rather to stall its Advance giving General early enough time to race the remainder of his
forces to join the defense after having heard of Sheridan's upcoming attack by the time the
Northerners finally gathered themselves enough to launch their own assault Major General Robert
E rhs and John B Gordon had arrived to Aid Ramer and the fight was on the Yankees slowly but surely
beat down the Confederates under Ramer while his comrades fought their own battles all around him
General Gordon and his men were locked in one of those clashes although they seemed to be fairing
in a bit better for the time being the grass and Earth was cut and torn up by a perfect sheet of
lead bullets sought the hiding places of the men with fatal accuracy blood was on everything was
everywhere was spattered on bushes was gathered in ghastly puddles on the ground was the description
given by one of the Union Soldiers present General rhs was also launching a strong Counterattack
nearby as both Ramer and Gordon were gaining ground even if it was ground they had previously
lost as the battles raged on the Northerners began to worry that the whole exertion could end
up going in the rebels favor thus General Sheridan decided to call in backup from an old friend I've
got crook here with 10,000 men and I am going to throw them in and whip these fellows in the end
Sheridan wasn't entirely wrong the Confederates would face defeat and the city fell to the union
and what seems to be a pattern of recent this would prove to be the bloodiest battle ever fought
in the shed andoa Valley with Sheridan losing over 10% of his entire Army in the hard-fought
victory the Confederates would lose roughly 4,000 scarcely less than the much larger Union force
they had faced yet Sheridan was wasn't done with jubil early in fact he still wanted him out of
the shenendoa entirely after the battle of third Winchester early had worked to withdraw back to
Fisher's Hill which he believed would provide safety for his absolutely rattled troops known
as the Gibralter of the valley the hill could be a crucial grounds to hold if properly defended early
however was unable to even set up proper defenses before Sheridan and his army arrived on their
heels General crook sent off by Sheridan ambushed jubil early and his men on their Left Flank while
the other Union forces served as a distraction the Confederates despite their best efforts were
forced to retreat yet again being chased until Woodstock the following months would see the union
Ina the burning to downright destroy the Bread Basket of the Confederacy and eventually wrestle
the whole of the shenendoa Valley from the south alt together the union was looking more and more
Grim for the rebels over in the union it appeared that the war was as close as ever to ending in the
previous months it had been General Robert E Le's belief that if he and his Confederates could hold
off for just long enough the war exhausted and dissatisfied Northerners would choose to elect a
southern sympathizing president in their upcoming election this never came to fruition however the
election had come down to a Faceoff between the Republican incumbent President Abraham Lincoln
of course and his old wishy-washy General George mclen of the democratic party President Lincoln
and his VP Andrew Johnson would win in an electoral college Landslide though the popular
vote wasn't embarrassingly far off between the two candidates the electoral votes divided up to
212 votes for the commanderin-chief and 21 for his Challenger if Lee had any hopes left of the Union
government ending the war favorably for both sides they must have been like a dying Flame rubbing
salt into the wound in November General Sherman of the north began his March to the Sea after
the fall of Atlanta and the subsequent Confederate Retreat Sherman decided to really Hammer home his
Triumph splitting his army in two Sherman himself took one portion 62,000 strong on a journey
through the state of Georgia until they reached Savannah with a sole goal of wreaking havoc
the Northerners on one hand began to destroy Confederate infrastructure and Necessities
such as Farms railroads and the like at the same time while Sherman ordered his men to refrain from
murdering any Southern civilians he also wanted to make their lives absolutely miserable the thought
process was that if the rebels lost Mass amounts of infrastructure and material as well as the
support of their Everyday People people their war effort would collapse and the union would
officially win once and for all thus the yanes did just that as they marched towards the Savannah for
the most part no one Disturbed their destruction effort though at one point Sherman and his army
skirmished with a wildly outnumbered Confederate Cavalry that ended up having to flee alt together
they too ironically took a scorched Earth approach on their March ahead of the Union men Burning
Bridges Barns and anything the Northerners could have used to their advantage the latter still
reached Savannah as planned and took the city presenting it to the newly reelected president
as an early and grandiose Christmas gift the end of the year also saw the battle move to Tennessee
where the southerners were crushed at the Battle of Nashville and as the holidays passed 1864 wound
to a close as the war still failed to be resolved though the South appeared to be losing Steam and
the north quite the contrary the Confederates were yet to consider surrender it would be difficult
but not impossible to carry on and so they would fittingly as if to come full circle the focus of
the war now lay on the Carolinas where it all began the union brought the battle to North
Carolina in the early days of 1865 with a second assault on the crucial Confederate stronghold of
Fort fiser a few months prior the North had actually attempted to take the North Carolina
Port but It ultimately failed and thus decided to try again in January for before this endeavor
to seize the South's only remaining sea port on the Atlantic Major General Alfred Terry was put
in charge of the army of the James portion of the campaign while rear Admiral David D Porter led a
Navy Marine force of roughly five dozen vessels and their troops the land troops would be split
into two portions one US colored Troops commanded by Brigadier General Charles J Payne and the other
division teaming up with the Marines and sailors under Brigadier General adelbert Ames the latter
would hit the fort itself while the former aims to take out the Confederate Defenders under Major
General Robert hul the incursion went remarkably smoothly Hox scarcely put up any real resistance
and though fighting over the fort itself proved rough the Yankees found victory that same evening
this was not only a military Triumph but also a major win for Grant's strategy of a war of
attrition and it was just the start of the Union's harassment of the Carolinas General Sherman was on
his way a month after the hit on North Carolina Sherman invaded its lower neighbor the target was
Colombia and the goal was actually an utter Rampage through the already evacuated City
a drunken soldier with a musket in one hand and a match in the other is not a pleasant visitor to
have about the house on a dark windy night one Union general remarked of the sack between the
destruction dished out by the soldiers themselves and raging fires that no one quite knows who
actually started the city was over half leveled by the end of it all in the words of Sherman himself
though I never ordered it and never wished it I have never shed any tears over the event because
I believe that it hastened what we all fought for the end of the war back up north only days later
the Confederates faced another disaster the union capture of Fort fiser and the later evacuation of
Fort Anderson on the Cape Fear River meant that the Yankees had a pretty easy shot at moving all
the way down to seiz Wilmington and rendevu with Sherman and his men General hul on the
other hand was aiming to set up a strong defense over Wilmington while waiting for reinforcements
under Lieutenant General William J Hardy to arrive Ho's early defense would be impressive
even earning him the nickname of the ston wall of Forks Road nevertheless inferior numbers forc the
rebels to tactically withdraw from Sugarloaf and move their defensive lines to Forks Road Hox sent
word to Hardy that he believed they could in fact keep the Union forces out of Wilmington upon his
arrival but Hardy would never arrive after all in fact it was General braxon Bragg's authority
to the former who ordered Hardy not to go to Wilmington and stunningly despite hoa's continued
successful efforts to repel Union attacks at Forks Road mags then ordered the tenacious General and
his thousands of seasoned veterans to abandon Wilmington altogether and so they did back home
in the Union as the war raged on down south the second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln took place
on March 4th 1865 as eager Northerners flooded DC in the face of incessant rain and ridiculously
muddy roads to witness the historic event one would almost fail to believe that the general
satisfaction in President Lincoln had actually suffered greatly at times throughout the war
even among the cheering crowds however there still stood those who refused to see the good in their
leader one such man in particular was John wils Booth the president's future assassin although
would not act now it is said that he later made remarks about how close he was to Lincoln and how
easily he could have killed him at that moment furthermore underscoring the state of tensions
in the north despite the president's successful reelection famed abolitionist and freed slave
Frederick Douglas stated of the inauguration I felt then that there was murder in the air
I felt that I might see him fall that day it was a vague presentiment but Abraham Lincoln
would not fall that day and the inauguration went on steadily enough as the president gave
a powerful speech to eager citizens hanging on to his every word it marked a day of Celebration and
hope which would days later be starkly contrasted to the mood of the South as General Sherman took
yet another one of his cities the paper said Sherman and his army were struggling through
the swamps in the Carolinas and it was greatly feared that the Confederates would get together
and do them up before they could get to Coast what a lot of faint Hearts they must be down
there in New York the words of Theodore Upson demonstrated the Steep irony of the worried
Northerners who had no idea of the scorched Earth Rampage Sherman and his men had been on
taking and burning towns to the ground the general and his army were far from struggling and not only
were the Confederates failing to get together and defeat the Yankees but the rebels were
instead evacuating City by city as Sherman would near and the next of these towns to fall to the
union would be fville as North Carolina continues to be battered by the Northerners finally though
Sherman would face significant resistance as he attempted to lead his men out of fville
toward Bentonville the southerners in spite of it all still weren't ready to throw in the towel
assume command of the army of Tennessee and all troops in Department of South Carolina Georgia
and Florida concentrate all available forces and drive back Sherman these were General Lee's words
to General Joseph E Johnston whom he'd recently convinced President Jefferson Davis to approve
as the replacement for General PGT borgard who had thus far failed to impress the Confederate
commanderin-chief as Sherman was inching closer and closer to meeting up with General Grant Lee
knew that something had to be done and Sherman knew something was coming on the one hand with the
Yankees divided into two thir 3,000 strong groups under orders to keep a close eye out for incoming
Confederates those Rebels they spoke of were not yet United either General Hardy had just arrived
at Raleigh after a small Skirmish at fville while the hesitant to participate in what he saw as a
lost cause General Johnston was still on his way to join his comrade I can whip Joe Johnston
Sherman had confidently asserted as he and his men marched to W Goldsboro under the shadow of the
impending attack but as more Confederate troops came near it didn't seem quite so clear that the
Northerners would in fact whip their adversaries when the battle actually began the Confederates
did take an early Advantage it wasn't until the union managed to get off their Counterattack that
the tidde changed and the Yankee reinforcements pushed Johnston and his troops into a withdrawal
I can do no more than annoy him Johnston told Lee of the man who had been all too prepared to
win from the start Sherman couldn't be stopped now nor could the union and the South knew it
it would only be a matter of weeks before no one was left in denial the Confederate
flame was dying like a match scarcely shielded from a swift gust of icy wind Lee knew it John
knew it they all did and yet they weren't ready to give up not yet General Lee and General John
B Gordon in particular couldn't let go just yet instead they opted to embark on what would become
known as Lee's last offensive as the struggle was closing in on Petersburg Virginia at the end of
March Lee and Gordon concocted a daring plan with the aim of seizing Union controlled Fort Stedman
with generals William Wallace James Walker and Robert ransome Gordon awaited the perfect
second to launch his ingenious Ambush one of the General's Sharpshooters Oscar Whitaker describes
the waiting period thus General Gordon got us to close up around him that night while he stood on
a stump and told us how Lee was situated what a long line we were having to keep up in front of
us he said was Fort Stedman he told us if we would take it he would have our names in every paper in
the south of course we being old Soldiers told him he would do it he told us for not a man to
load his gun and at a signal from him to rush over to the Fort knock down and drag out and he
would have 50,000 troops in behind us the troops next did their best Shakespearean performance
sending out a group of armed soldiers to the federal picket line to feain desertion as their
Commander convincingly shouted oh boys come back don't go the next sounds to be heard were that of
gunfire at hands toand combat with a three- shot signal from Gordon's revolver the battle was on
daylight was yet to break as the Confederates launched themselves into action in a formation
with Pioneer detachments leading Columns of Sharpshooters followed by infantry the southerners
moved forward the deception tactic continued as Gordon's commanders had already learned the
identity of the fort's officers so they could pass as more Confederate deserters or even fellow Union
troops who were simply falling back while the chaos erupted under the early morning Darkness
the rebels focused on their targets battery 10 for General General Walker and batteries 11 and
12 for General Evans furthermore a Cavalry Force stayed position to join the scuffle once the union
obstacles were dealt with truly rounding out the southern assault for the union men of the fort
nothing made sense Slumber card games and what it seems to be a typical night on guard were
interrupted by gunfire cheering Southerners as batteries were beaten and the unexpected presence
of Rebel Sharpshooters right in their faces eventually the fort opened fire with cannons but
the Confederates under Captain Carson managed to escape the line of fire unscathed the captain then
ordered men to put a bullet through any Yankee in sight and it wouldn't take long for northerners
to begin to surrender still two entire Union regiments were yet to even realize that the Amber
was underway until they themselves were bombarded by the Invaders any chance of
the Yankees putting up any relevant defensive seemed nearly non-existent by now and a brave
yet insufficient effort to retake what they were losing under brette Brigadier General Napoleon
McLaughlin crumbled in an instant as general Gordon waltzed into the fort to personally
relieve McLaughlin of his command claiming at this point that his men's success had thus far exceeded
his own expectations if the South needed a morale booster they were getting it now after taking Fort
Stedman the Confederates turned their sights on the nearby Fort Haskell and Fort mcgilvery
the first thing the boys knew they were firing down our line from the right to the left of the
regiment one northerner recall to the next Advance the boys were asleep in their bunks at the first
volley but grabbed guns and CAU boxes not even stopping to dress some were barefooted some only
with shirts and pants on the regiment had been practically cut in two the right took shelter
in the rear in some old rifle pits while C B&G ran into Fort Haskell he continued unfortunately
for General Gordon however the Defenders of this fort had actually been alerted of the approaching
Army and the rebels proved unable to push past the subsequent gunfire as they arrived the Confederate
forces elsewhere were also meeting some resistance now as the element of surprise no longer aided
them but alas the Yankees were still struggling to stay upright the attackers were inches away from
a total Victory as day broke and the union men voled to keep them out of additional Forts and
City Point Confederates attempting to take Fort mcgilvery were captured others were hammered with
Union fire General Gordon was growing exacerbated what had happened to his spectacular assault the
southerners were now not only grasping to regain the upper hand but they were trapped they still
held Fort stemman but Forts mcgilvery and Haskell remained in Union hands as did the
land surrounding Fort stman meaning the rebels had nowhere to even go without a surrender
running out of ammunition and opportunity General Gordon made The Reluctant call to
attempt a retreat a place of fearful Slaughter the retreat was called as the Yankees drilled the
fleeing Confederates with artillery and gunfire the victims had ceased fighting and were now
struggling between imprisonment on the one hand and death or home on the other 2,600 of those
victims Southerners wouldn't make it home the utterly heart-shattering loss for the
Confederates at Fort stemman would be quickly followed by another defeat at the Battle of
Five Forks by this point General Lee was beginning to accept the fate of his efforts seeing no hope
left of holding off the North Lee decided it was finally time to abandon Petersburg and Richmond
letting both crucial cities fall to the Union in a monument mental blow to what was left of
the Confederate resistance the war was dwindling to a close but the biggest hit was Yet to Come
April 9th would see the worst of it all for the Confederates the next few hours would Mark
possibly the biggest Fall From Grace of the entire War as Lee and his men withdrew from the besieged
cities of Petersburg and Richmond their journey to toward North Carolina and their fellow troops
under Johnston took them in the direction of appam matic's Courthouse with Yankees hot on their tail
many Rebels were simply giving up and deserting while few were left with any eagerness or real
hope Lee was becoming increasingly surrounded as the union closed in on the biggest thorn in
their side for the past few years armed conflict erupted once more more though stunningly at the
Confederate initiative the unshakable and rather ambitious General Gordon wanted to
try yet another offensive triggering a battle at aamax Courthouse Gordon's plan just as at Fort
Stedman started with Great Southern favor but the tide eventually turned and the exacerbated
Lee knew that there was no coming back from this point beaten exhausted and and out of options Lee
said there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die
a thousand deaths unfortunately for Lee and his wish for death over surrender the ladder was the
only plausible option for his army of Northern Virginia thus Lee sent word to grant that it was
time to come to the table at 1:00 in the home of Wilmer McLean the two great generals of the Civil
War were now face to face the meeting began with an odd exchange of small talk between the men who
had scarcely known each other prior with their only real interaction having come from during
the Mexican American War the interaction quickly evolved into surrender negotiations during which
Grant was quite generous in offering out Pardons and even Union rations for the starving Rebels
Lee would soon accept the set out terms and the surrender was concluded Grant had finally bested
his Southern counterpart but when his men began to cheer in celebration he silenced all those
celebrating in the face of Lee the war is over the rebels are our countrymen again the war as
granted said was over at least for the most part smallscale battles would continue through April
into may but none more than last ditch efforts by rebels in denial General Johnston and his
troops would surrender on April 26th General Richard Taylor on May 4th and the last major
Army under General Simon bivar Buckner on May 26th after the final battle and Confederate
win on the 12th in palmo Ranch Texas When The War ended the United States of America were no
longer referred to as a plural unit people went from saying the United States are to the United
States is though reconstruction and healing would take time it would work out but even if
in the end there was unity and more strength than ever before there was also a Monumental amount of
money and lives that have been lost this bloody war in US history costing $6.7 billion saw the
death of 290,000 rebels 365,000 Yankees 50,000 civilians and 880,000 slaves it was the first
modern war in terms of its upgraded weaponry and Technology adjacent to the scale of Destruction
and the conflict itself in the end the side of emancipation unity and industrialization among
much more one America survived though hundreds of thousands of its men women and children did Not
Looking Back Now the Civil War can be viewed as a senseless period of violence that could have been
solved instead by words and policies for others it's viewed as a moral war between good and bad
or Freedom versus slavery the real meaning and necessity of the conflict May forever be up for
debate but today if you ask anyone outside the United States every American is a Yankee thank
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