Mayo's Bridge (also known as Richmond's 14th St. Bridge ) is located in Richmond, Virginia . A four lane structure, it transports U.S. Route 360 across the James River . Signage identifies the bridge as "Mayo's Bridge".
175-562: The bridge is in two sections, separated near the middle by Mayo's Island. The total length is 1,374 feet (north and south sections combined). The current structure was built in 1913, and accommodated heavy streetcar traffic. It is Richmond's oldest highway bridge across the James River. Prior to the construction of Mayo's Bridge, travelers had to utilize Coutts' Ferry, run by Patrick Coutts until his death in 1776 and later by his brother Rev. William Coutts until his death in 1787. The ferry landing
350-666: A Christmas gift the City of Savannah ...." After Sherman captured Savannah, he was ordered by Grant to embark his army on ships to reinforce the Union armies in Virginia, where Grant was bogged down in the Siege of Petersburg against Robert E. Lee. Sherman proposed an alternative strategy. He persuaded Grant that he should march north through the Carolinas instead, destroying everything of military value along
525-464: A Baltimore newspaper editor, Frank Key Howard , after he criticized Lincoln in an editorial for ignoring Taney's ruling. In Missouri, an elected convention on secession voted to remain in the Union. When pro-Confederate Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson called out the state militia, it was attacked by federal forces under General Nathaniel Lyon , who chased the governor and rest of the State Guard to
700-568: A Confederate invasion of Kentucky and gaining control over large amounts of Tennessee through the Battle of Stones River and the 1863 Tullahoma Campaign while fighting against the Confederate Army of Tennessee , whose commander, Braxton Bragg , was often criticized for a perceived lack of military skill. The Union army was briefly checked in its invasion of Georgia at the Battle of Chickamauga , and besieged at Chattanooga . Grant, now commanding
875-531: A battle, replaced him with the more aggressive Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood . Over the next six weeks, Hood would repeatedly attempt to attack a portion of Sherman's force which seemed isolated from the main body; each attack failed, often with heavy casualties for the Confederate army. Sherman eventually cut Hood's supply lines from the south. Knowing that he was trapped, Hood evacuated Atlanta on the night of September 1, burning military supplies and installations, causing
1050-515: A blockade of the Confederacy to suffocate the South into surrender. Lincoln adopted parts of the plan but opted for a more active war strategy. In April 1861, Lincoln announced a blockade of all Southern ports; commercial ships could not get insurance, ending regular traffic. The South blundered by embargoing cotton exports before the blockade was fully effective; by the time they reversed this decision, it
1225-509: A brilliant, almost bloodless, campaign of maneuver, the Tullahoma Campaign , and drove Bragg from Middle Tennessee. During this period, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and his 2,460 Confederate cavalrymen rode west from Sparta in middle Tennessee on June 11, intending to divert the attention of Ambrose Burnside 's Army of the Ohio , which was moving toward Knoxville, from Southern forces in
1400-635: A campaign that would capture Mobile and push east. But when news of the dire straits of Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland reached Washington, Grant was ordered to rescue them. On October 17, he was given command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, controlling all of the armies in the Western Theater. He replaced Rosecrans with Thomas and traveled to Chattanooga, where he approved a plan to open
1575-490: A course of ultimate extinction. Decades of controversy over slavery were brought to a head when Abraham Lincoln , who opposed slavery's expansion, won the 1860 presidential election . Seven Southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. The war began on April 12, 1861, when
1750-552: A defense against Hood, while taking the remainder of his army in the direction of Savannah, Georgia . Thomas's forces were divided: half were with him in Nashville and the other half with John M. Schofield , moving in pursuit from Atlanta, with other troops due to arrive from the Red River Campaign . Hood hoped to defeat Schofield before he could join forces with Thomas and before the reinforcements from Louisiana arrived. He had
1925-681: A draft law in April 1862 for men aged 18–35, with exemptions for overseers, government officials, and clergymen. The U.S. Congress followed in July, authorizing a militia draft within states that could not meet their quota with volunteers. European immigrants joined the Union Army in large numbers, including 177,000 born in Germany and 144,000 in Ireland. About 50,000 Canadians served, around 2,500 of whom were black. When
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#17330849660892100-400: A few miles south of the city and waited, hoping that Thomas would wreck his army on the Confederate fortifications. After a two-week preparation period in winter weather, during which he received great pressure from Grant and the Union government to attack, Thomas unleashed an overwhelming assault that sent Hood and his survivors in retreat to Franklin and then to Mississippi, never to recover as
2275-574: A few of the 117 battles the NPS classifies for this theater are described. Boxed text in the right margin show the NPS campaigns associated with each section. The focus early in the war was on two critical states: Missouri and Kentucky. The loss of either would have been a crippling blow to the Union cause. Primarily because of the successes of Captain Nathaniel Lyon and his victory at Boonville in June, Missouri
2450-411: A fighting force. There are stories of Federal cavalry pursuing the fleeing Confederates up to 100 miles over the next week. The western army was nothing but a shadow of its former self. Many men chose to desert because of the overall leadership that had been lost, Hood's poor planning and tactics leading to disaster in battle, and the realization by many that the war was truly over. By his own request, Hood
2625-478: A firm hand by Lincoln tamed Seward, who was a staunch Lincoln ally. Lincoln decided holding the fort, which would require reinforcing it, was the only workable option. On April 6, Lincoln informed the Governor of South Carolina that a ship with food but no ammunition would attempt to supply the fort. Historian McPherson describes this win-win approach as "the first sign of the mastery that would mark Lincoln's presidency";
2800-575: A great conflagration in the city. While Sherman rested his army in preparation for offensive operations to the east, Hood embarked on a campaign to defeat Sherman by interfering with his lines of communications from Chattanooga. He drove west through Alabama and turned north toward Tennessee, hoping that Sherman would follow him and do battle. This was partially effective because his movements, and raids by Nathan Bedford Forrest, were causing considerable consternation to Sherman. Sherman thought Hood's strategy to be folly. Even stating “If Hood takes his army to
2975-683: A launching pad for Sherman to capture the Confederate rail-hub of Atlanta and to march to the Atlantic, inflicting a major logistical and psychological blow to the Confederacy. After reaching the ocean, Sherman invaded the Carolinas. Operations in the Western Theater concluded with the surrender of Southern forces to the Union armies in North Carolina and Florida in May 1865 following General Robert E. Lee 's surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House . The Western Theater typically receives less attention than
3150-598: A long defensive line that was intended to block Union advances against the strategic city of Chattanooga in his rear. In April, Union cavalry under Col. Abel Streight moved against the railroad that supplied Bragg's army in Middle Tennessee, hoping it would cause it to withdraw to Georgia. Streight's brigade raided through Mississippi and Alabama, fighting against Nathan Bedford Forrest . Streight's Raid ended when his exhausted men surrendered near Rome, Georgia , on May 3. In June, Rosecrans finally advanced against Bragg in
3325-471: A man until she died in 1915 at the age of 71. The small U.S. Navy of 1861 rapidly expanded to 6,000 officers and 45,000 sailors by 1865, with 671 vessels totaling 510,396 tons. Its mission was to blockade Confederate ports, control the river system, defend against Confederate raiders on the high seas, and be ready for a possible war with the British Royal Navy . The main riverine war was fought in
3500-464: A minor victory at the Battle of Iuka (September 19), but poor coordination of forces and an acoustic shadow allowed Price to escape from the intended Union double envelopment. Price and Van Dorn decided to unite their forces and attack the concentration of Union troops at Corinth and then advance into West or Middle Tennessee . In the Second Battle of Corinth (October 3–4), they attacked
3675-563: A new Confederate capital at Bowling Green , set up by the Russellville Convention . The alternative government was recognized by the Confederate government, which admitted Kentucky into the Confederacy in December 1861. Using the rail system resources of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad , Polk was able to quickly fortify and equip the Confederate base at Columbus. The Union military command in
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#17330849660893850-699: A new supply line (the "Cracker Line"), allowing supplies and reinforcements to reach the city. Soon the troops were joined by 40,000 more, from the Army of the Tennessee under Sherman and from the Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker . While the Union army expanded, the Confederate army contracted; Bragg dispatched Longstreet's corps to Knoxville to hold off an advance by Burnside. The Battles for Chattanooga began in earnest on November 24, 1863, as Hooker took Lookout Mountain , which
4025-447: A patriotic fire under the North. On April 15, Lincoln called on the states to field 75,000 volunteer troops for 90 days; impassioned Union states met the quotas quickly. On May 3, 1861, Lincoln called for an additional 42,000 volunteers for three years. Shortly after this, Virginia , Tennessee , Arkansas , and North Carolina seceded and joined the Confederacy. To reward Virginia,
4200-421: A republic, but a third challenge faced the nation: maintaining a republic based on the people's vote, in the face of an attempt to destroy it. Lincoln's election provoked South Carolina 's legislature to call a state convention to consider secession. South Carolina had done more than any other state to advance the notion that a state had the right to nullify federal laws and even secede. On December 20, 1860,
4375-506: A sharp bend in the river and called the " Gibraltar of the Mississippi", Vicksburg was nearly invulnerable to naval assault. Admiral David Farragut had found this directly in his failed operations of May 1862. The overall plan to capture Vicksburg was for Ulysses S. Grant to move south from Memphis and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks to move north from Baton Rouge . Banks's advance was slow to develop and bogged down at Port Hudson, offering little assistance to Grant. Grant's first campaign
4550-505: A single corps of Buell's Army of the Ohio . That evening Bragg realized that he was facing Buell's entire army and ordered a retreat to Harrodsburg , where he was joined by Kirby Smith's Army of Kentucky on October 10. Despite having a strong combined force, Bragg made no attempt to regain the initiative. Buell was equally passive. Bragg retreated through the Cumberland Gap and returned to Murfreesboro by way of Chattanooga. While Buell
4725-415: Is one of the key tenets of a strategy of total war . Sherman's army left Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and was conducted in two columns separated by about 60 miles (97 km), the right under Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard and the left under Maj. Gen. Henry Warner Slocum . Between these columns, the destruction was significant and spawned hatred for generations. Most of the resistance to Sherman's armies
4900-457: Is one of two dominant peaks over the city. The next day, Grant planned a double envelopment of Bragg's position on the other mountain, Missionary Ridge . Sherman was to attack from the north, Hooker from the south, and Thomas was to hold the center. But Sherman's attack bogged down in confusion, and Grant ordered Thomas to launch a minor attack as a diversion to relieve pressure on Sherman. Thomas's troops continued their initial attack by charging up
5075-484: The 1860 presidential election . Southern leaders feared Lincoln would stop slavery's expansion and put it on a course toward extinction. His victory triggered declarations of secession by seven slave states of the Deep South , all of whose riverfront or coastal economies were based on cotton that was cultivated by slave labor. Lincoln was not inaugurated until March 4, 1861, giving the South time to prepare for war during
5250-473: The Army of Tennessee , in Tupelo, Mississippi , due south of Corinth. But he determined that an advance directly north from Tupelo was not practical. He left Maj. Gens. Sterling Price and Earl Van Dorn to distract Grant and shifted 35,000 men by rail through Mobile, Alabama , to Chattanooga. Even though he did not leave Tupelo until July 21, he was able to reach Chattanooga before Buell could. Bragg's general plan
5425-492: The Battle of Appomattox Court House , setting in motion the end of the war . Lincoln lived to see this victory but was shot by an assassin on April 14, dying the next day. By the end of the war, much of the South's infrastructure was destroyed. The Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and four million enslaved black people were freed. The war-torn nation then entered the Reconstruction era in an attempt to rebuild
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5600-479: The Battle of Stones River , Bragg surprised Rosecrans with a powerful assault on December 31, pushing the Union forces back to a small perimeter against the Stones River. But on January 2, 1863, further attempts to assault Rosecrans were beaten back decisively and Bragg withdrew his army southeast to Tullahoma . In proportion to the size of the armies, the casualties at Stones River (about 12,000 on each side) made it
5775-666: The Dred Scott decision was proof the Southern states had no reason to secede and that the Union "was intended to be perpetual". He added, however, that "The power by force of arms to compel a State to remain in the Union" was not among the "enumerated powers granted to Congress". A quarter of the US army—the Texas garrison—was surrendered in February to state forces by its general, David E. Twiggs , who joined
5950-598: The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in January 1863, ex-slaves were energetically recruited to meet state quotas. States and local communities offered higher cash bonuses for white volunteers. Congress tightened the draft law in March 1863. Men selected in the draft could provide substitutes or, until mid-1864, pay commutation money. Many eligibles pooled their money to cover the cost of anyone drafted. Families used
6125-669: The Mississippi River . Operations on the coasts of these states, except for Mobile Bay , are considered part of the Lower Seaboard Theater . Most other operations east of the Appalachian Mountains are part of the eastern theater . Operations west of the Mississippi River took place in the trans-Mississippi theater . The western theater served as an avenue of military operations by Union armies directly into
6300-475: The Overland Campaign , forcing Lee into a brutal siege of Petersburg . Sherman's Atlanta Campaign , on the other hand, was an unqualified success. At the start of the campaign, Sherman's Military Division of the Mississippi consisted of three armies: James B. McPherson 's Army of the Tennessee (Sherman's old army under Grant), John M. Schofield 's Army of the Ohio , and George H. Thomas 's Army of
6475-575: The Virginia to prevent its capture, while the Union built many copies of the Monitor . The Confederacy's efforts to obtain warships from Great Britain failed, as Britain had no interest in selling warships to a nation at war with a stronger enemy and feared souring relations with the U.S. By early 1861, General Winfield Scott had devised the Anaconda Plan to win the war with minimal bloodshed, calling for
6650-512: The Western theater , the Union made permanent gains—though in the Eastern theater the conflict was inconclusive. The abolition of slavery became a Union war goal on January 1, 1863, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation , which declared all slaves in rebel states to be free, applying to more than 3.5 million of the 4 million enslaved people in the country. To the west, the Union first destroyed
6825-406: The 168,649 men procured for the Union through the draft, 117,986 were substitutes, leaving only 50,663 who were conscripted. In the North and South, draft laws were highly unpopular. In the North, some 120,000 men evaded conscription, many fleeing to Canada, and another 280,000 soldiers deserted during the war. At least 100,000 Southerners deserted, about 10 percent of the total. Southern desertion
7000-591: The Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Insurance rates soared, and the American flag virtually disappeared from international waters, though reflagging ships with European flags allowed them to continue operating unmolested. After the war, the U.S. government demanded Britain compensate it for the damage caused by blockade runners and raiders outfitted in British ports. Britain paid the U.S. $ 15 million in 1871, but only for commerce raiding. Dinçaslan argues that another outcome of
7175-551: The Bahamas in exchange for high-priced cotton. Many were lightweight and designed for speed, only carrying small amounts of cotton back to England. When the Union Navy seized a blockade runner, the ship and cargo were condemned as a prize of war and sold, with proceeds given to the Navy sailors; the captured crewmen, mostly British, were released. The Southern economy nearly collapsed during
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7350-400: The British response to the U.S. was toned down, helping avert war. In 1862, the British government considered mediating between the Union and Confederacy, though such an offer would have risked war with the U.S. British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston reportedly read Uncle Tom's Cabin three times when deciding what his decision would be. The Union victory at the Battle of Antietam caused
7525-602: The British to delay this decision. The Emancipation Proclamation increased the political liability of supporting the Confederacy. Realizing that Washington could not intervene in Mexico as long as the Confederacy controlled Texas, France invaded Mexico in 1861 and installed the Habsburg Austrian archduke Maximilian I as emperor. Washington repeatedly protested France's violation of the Monroe Doctrine . Despite sympathy for
7700-559: The Commonwealth, which at its greatest extent was over half the state, and it went into exile after October 1862. After Virginia's secession, a Unionist government in Wheeling asked 48 counties to vote on an ordinance to create a new state in October 1861. A voter turnout of 34% approved the statehood bill (96% approving). Twenty-four secessionist counties were included in the new state, and
7875-479: The Confederacy bombarded Fort Sumter in South Carolina . A wave of enthusiasm for war swept over the North and South, as military recruitment soared. Four more Southern states seceded after the war began and, led by its president, Jefferson Davis , the Confederacy asserted control over a third of the U.S. population in eleven states. Four years of intense combat, mostly in the South, ensued. During 1861–1862 in
8050-400: The Confederacy refused to exchange black prisoners. After that, about 56,000 of the 409,000 POWs died in prisons, accounting for 10 percent of the conflict's fatalities. Historian Elizabeth D. Leonard writes that between 500 and 1,000 women enlisted as soldiers on both sides, disguised as men. Women also served as spies, resistance activists, nurses, and hospital personnel. Women served on
8225-472: The Confederacy's river navy by the summer of 1862, then much of its western armies, and seized New Orleans . The successful 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River , while Confederate General Robert E. Lee 's incursion north failed at the Battle of Gettysburg . Western successes led to General Ulysses S. Grant 's command of all Union armies in 1864. Inflicting an ever-tightening naval blockade of Confederate ports,
8400-509: The Confederacy, France's seizure of Mexico ultimately deterred it from war with the Union. Confederate offers late in the war to end slavery in return for diplomatic recognition were not seriously considered by London or Paris. After 1863, the Polish revolt against Russia further distracted the European powers and ensured they remained neutral. Russia supported the Union, largely because it believed
8575-678: The Confederacy. As Southerners resigned their Senate and House seats, Republicans could pass projects that had been blocked. These included the Morrill Tariff , land grant colleges, a Homestead Act , a transcontinental railroad, the National Bank Act , authorization of United States Notes by the Legal Tender Act of 1862 , and the end of slavery in the District of Columbia . The Revenue Act of 1861 introduced income tax to help finance
8750-702: The Confederate Army was divided and could be defeated in detail. Further, he could not agree with his peer, Buell, now in Nashville, on a joint course of action. He sent Grant up the Tennessee River while Buell remained in Nashville. On March 11, President Lincoln appointed Halleck the commander of all forces from the Missouri River to Knoxville, Tennessee , thus achieving the needed unity of command, and Halleck ordered Buell to join Grant's forces at Pittsburg Landing on
8925-618: The Confederate capital was moved to Richmond . Maryland , Delaware , Missouri , West Virginia and Kentucky were slave states whose people had divided loyalties to Northern and Southern businesses and family members. Some men enlisted in the Union Army and others in the Confederate Army. West Virginia separated from Virginia and was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, though half its counties were secessionist. Maryland's territory surrounded Washington, D.C. , and could cut it off from
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#17330849660899100-531: The Confederate defenses. At this time, Beauregard decided not to make a costly defensive stand and withdrew without hostilities during the night of May 29. Grant did not command directly in the Corinth campaign. Halleck had reorganized his army, giving Grant the powerless position of second-in-command and shuffling divisions from the three armies into three "wings". When Halleck moved east to replace McClellan as general-in-chief, Grant resumed his field command, now named
9275-432: The Confederate defenses. When Sherman flanked the defensive lines (almost exclusively around Johnston's left flank), Johnston would retreat to another prepared position. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (June 27) was a notable exception, in which Sherman attempted a frontal assault, against the advice of his subordinates, and suffered significant losses, losing 3,000 men versus 1,000 for Johnston. Both armies took advantage of
9450-563: The Confederate side, General Albert Sidney Johnston commanded all forces from Arkansas to the Cumberland Gap . He was faced with the problem of defending a broad front with numerically inferior forces, but he had an excellent system of lateral communications, permitting him to move troops rapidly where they were needed, and he had two able subordinates, Polk and Maj. Gen. William J. Hardee . Johnston also gained political support from secessionists in central and western counties of Kentucky via
9625-457: The Confederate works twice at great cost at the start of the Siege of Vicksburg but then settled in for a lengthy siege. The soldiers and civilians in Vicksburg suffered greatly from Union bombardment and impending starvation. They clung to the hope that General Johnston would arrive with reinforcements, but Johnston was both cut off and too cautious. On July 4, Pemberton surrendered his army and
9800-526: The Cumberland . Opposing him was the Confederate Army of Tennessee , commanded by Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman outnumbered Johnston 98,000 to 50,000, but his ranks were depleted by many furloughed soldiers, and Johnston received 15,000 reinforcements from Alabama in April. The campaign opened with several battles in May and June 1864 as Sherman pressed Johnston southeast through mountainous terrain. Sherman avoided frontal assaults against most of Johnston's positions, instead maneuvering in flanking marches around
9975-527: The District of Columbia by seizing prominent figures, including arresting one-third of the members of the Maryland General Assembly on the day it reconvened. All were held without trial, with Lincoln ignoring a ruling on June 1, 1861, by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney , not speaking for the Court, that only Congress could suspend habeas corpus ( Ex parte Merryman ). Federal troops imprisoned
10150-581: The District of West Tennessee. But before he left, Halleck dispersed his forces, sending Buell towards Chattanooga , Sherman to Memphis, one division to Arkansas, and Rosecrans to hold a covering position around Corinth. Part of Halleck's reason for this was that Lincoln desired to capture eastern Tennessee and protect the Unionists in the region. While Halleck accomplished little following Corinth, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg succeeded Beauregard (on June 27, for health reasons) in command of his 56,000 troops of
10325-498: The Eastern Theater. This has much to do with the greater proximity of action in the east to capitals and to major population centers. However, some historians consider it the war's most important theater. While the Eastern Theater essentially remained in stalemate until 1864, Union troops in the west, beginning in 1861, were able to steadily surround and drive back the Confederate troops, forcing them into eventual capitulation. This
10500-641: The Eastern, both at the time and in subsequent historical accounts. The near-steady progress that Union forces made in defeating Confederate armies in the West and overtaking Confederate territory went nearly unnoticed. The campaign classification established by the United States National Park Service is more fine-grained than the one used in this article. Some minor NPS campaigns have been omitted and some have been combined into larger categories. Only
10675-402: The Mississippi River began to tighten. On April 7, while the Confederates were retreating from Shiloh, Union Maj. Gen. John Pope defeated Beauregard's isolated force at Island Number 10 , opening the river almost as far south as Memphis . On April 28, Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans , the South's largest city and most significant seaport. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler occupied
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#173308496608910850-450: The Mississippi River, and then east through Tennessee , Georgia, and the Carolinas. With the exception of the Battle of Chickamauga and some daring raids by cavalry or guerrilla forces, the four years in the West marked a string of almost continuous defeats for the Confederates; or, at best, tactical draws that eventually turned out to be strategic reversals. Union generals consistently outclassed most of their Confederate opponents, with
11025-559: The Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers, which effectively divided the unity of command so that Johnston controlled only a small force at Murfreesboro, Tennessee . Beauregard planned to concentrate his forces in the vicinity of Corinth, Mississippi , and prepare for an offensive. Johnston moved his force to concentrate with Beauregard's by late March. The preparations for the Union campaign did not proceed smoothly. Halleck seemed more concerned with his standing in relation to General-in-Chief George B. McClellan than he did with understanding that
11200-445: The Mississippi and beyond. Here, in the West, the truly decisive battles were fought. The West was by some measures the most important theater of the war. Capture of the Mississippi River has been one of the key tenets of Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott 's Anaconda Plan . Military historian J. F. C. Fuller has described the Union invasion as an immense turning movement, a left wheel that started in Kentucky , headed south down
11375-415: The Mississippi, to converge at Pittsburg Landing. He moved slowly in the direction of the critical rail junction at Corinth, taking four weeks to cover the twenty miles (32 km) from Shiloh, stopping nightly to entrench. By May 3, Halleck was within ten miles of the city but took another three weeks to advance eight miles closer to Corinth , by which time Halleck was ready to start a massive bombardment of
11550-420: The North, where anti-slavery sentiment had grown, and for the South, where the fear of slavery's abolition had grown. Another factor leading to secession and the formation of the Confederacy was the development of white Southern nationalism in the preceding decades. The primary reason for the North to reject secession was to preserve the Union, a cause based on American nationalism . Background factors in
11725-545: The North. It had anti-Lincoln officials who tolerated anti-army rioting in Baltimore and the burning of bridges, both aimed at hindering the passage of troops to the South. Maryland's legislature voted overwhelmingly to stay in the Union, but rejected hostilities with its southern neighbors, voting to close Maryland's rail lines to prevent their use for war. Lincoln responded by establishing martial law and unilaterally suspending habeas corpus in Maryland, along with sending in militia units. Lincoln took control of Maryland and
11900-425: The Ohio River I’d give him rations”. The confederate western army was already greatly reduced and The Federal Western Command had more than enough men in reserve to deal with Hood's invasion. Leaving Sherman virtually unopposed taking 65,000 men and marching through Georgia to the Sea. He sent Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas with portions of the Army of the Cumberland and most of the cavalry corps to Nashville to coordinate
12075-408: The South's post-war recovery. Cotton diplomacy proved a failure as Europe had a surplus of cotton, while the 1860–62 crop failures in Europe made the North's grain exports critically important. It also helped turn European opinion against the Confederacy. It was said that "King Corn was more powerful than King Cotton," as U.S. grain went from a quarter to almost half of British imports. Meanwhile,
12250-416: The South. The Confederacy turned to foreign sources, connecting with financiers and companies like S. Isaac, Campbell & Company and the London Armoury Company in Britain, becoming the Confederacy's main source of arms. To transport arms safely to the Confederacy, British investors built small, fast, steam-driven blockade runners that traded arms and supplies from Britain, through Bermuda, Cuba, and
12425-401: The Tennessee River, heading south, and interdicting the Confederate supply lines from Georgia. He began operations on August 18 and used a two-week bombardment of Chattanooga as a diversion. The Confederate high command reinforced Bragg with a division from Mississippi as well as a corps previously of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by James Longstreet . Rosecrans pursued Bragg into
12600-420: The Tennessee River. On April 6, the combined Confederate forces under Beauregard and Johnston surprised Grant's unprepared Army of West Tennessee with a massive dawn assault at Pittsburg Landing in the Battle of Shiloh . In the first day of the battle, the Confederate onslaught drove Grant back against the Tennessee but could not defeat him. Johnston was mortally wounded leading an infantry charge that day; he
12775-401: The Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeated the Confederate Army of Mississippi , commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston , at the Battle of Shiloh , driving it out of western Tennessee and subsequently marching into Mississippi and capturing Corinth. Grant's troops marched towards and captured Vicksburg in 1862–1863. Meanwhile, the Army of the Ohio experienced success, blocking
12950-416: The Tennessee. Grant moved swiftly, starting his troops up the Tennessee River toward Fort Henry on river transports on February 2. His operations in the campaign were well coordinated with United States Navy Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote . The fort was poorly situated on a floodplain and virtually indefensible against gunboats, with many of its guns under water due to flooding winter rains. Because of
13125-492: The U.S. and Britain over the Trent affair , which began when U.S. Navy personnel boarded the British ship Trent and seized two Confederate diplomats. However, London and Washington smoothed this over after Lincoln released the two men. Prince Albert left his deathbed to issue diplomatic instructions to Lord Lyons during the Trent affair. His request was honored, and, as a result,
13300-705: The U.S. served as a counterbalance to its geopolitical rival, the U.K. In 1863, the Imperial Russian Navy 's Baltic and Pacific fleets wintered in the American ports of New York and San Francisco, respectively. Western theater of the American Civil War The western theater of the American Civil War encompassed major military operations in the states of Alabama , Georgia , Florida , Mississippi , North Carolina , Kentucky , South Carolina and Tennessee , as well as Louisiana east of
13475-471: The Union Army or pro-Union guerrilla groups. Although they came from all classes, most Southern Unionists differed socially, culturally, and economically from their region’s dominant prewar, slave-owning planter class. At the war's start, a parole system operated, under which captives agreed not to fight until exchanged. They were held in camps run by their army, paid, but not allowed to perform any military duties. The system of exchanges collapsed in 1863 when
13650-501: The Union blockade. The Confederacy purchased warships from commercial shipbuilders in Britain, with the most famous being the CSS ; Alabama , which caused considerable damage and led to serious postwar disputes . However, public opinion against slavery in Britain created a political liability for politicians, where the anti-slavery movement was powerful. War loomed in late 1861 between
13825-460: The Union hospital ship Red Rover and nursed Union and Confederate troops at field hospitals. Mary Edwards Walker , the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor , served in the Union Army and was given the medal for treating the wounded during the war. One woman, Jennie Hodgers, fought for the Union under the name Albert D. J. Cashier. After she returned to civilian life, she continued to live as
14000-481: The Union marshaled resources and manpower to attack the Confederacy from all directions. This led to the fall of Atlanta in 1864 to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman , followed by his March to the Sea . The last significant battles raged around the ten-month Siege of Petersburg , gateway to the Confederate capital of Richmond . The Confederates abandoned Richmond, and on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant following
14175-462: The Union squadron for nearly three hours before he determined that further resistance was useless. The Tennessee River was then open for future Union operations into the South. Fort Donelson , on the Cumberland River , was more defensible than Henry, and Navy assaults on the fort were ineffective. Grant's army marched cross-country in pursuit of Tilghman's men and attempted immediate assaults on
14350-421: The Union threat, they appointed Johnston to command the Confederate forces in the Carolinas, including the remnants of the Army of Tennessee. Concentrating his forces, which he named the Army of the South , Johnston attacked at the Battle of Bentonville (March 19–21), where he unsuccessfully attempted to defeat one wing of Sherman's army (under Henry W. Slocum) before it could reach Goldsboro or reunite with
14525-488: The Union would win if it could resupply and hold the fort, and the South would be the aggressor if it opened fire on an unarmed ship supplying starving men. An April 9 Confederate cabinet meeting resulted in Davis ordering General P. G. T. Beauregard to take the fort before supplies reached it. At 4:30 am on April 12, Confederate forces fired the first of 4,000 shells at the fort; it fell the next day. The loss of Fort Sumter lit
14700-482: The Union, this was never likely, so they sought to bring them in as mediators. The Union worked to block this and threatened war if any country recognized the Confederacy. In 1861, Southerners voluntarily embargoed cotton shipments, hoping to start an economic depression in Europe that would force Britain to enter the war, but this failed. Worse, Europe turned to Egypt and India for cotton, which they found superior, hindering
14875-473: The Union-held Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is located in the harbor of Charleston , South Carolina. Its status had been contentious for months. Outgoing President Buchanan had dithered in reinforcing its garrison, commanded by Major Robert Anderson . Anderson took matters into his own hands and on December 26, 1860, under the cover of darkness, sailed the garrison from the poorly placed Fort Moultrie to
15050-626: The Union. A February peace conference met in Washington, proposing a solution similar the Compromise; it was rejected by Congress. The Republicans proposed the Corwin Amendment , an alternative, not to interfere with slavery where it existed, but the South regarded it as insufficient. The remaining eight slave states rejected pleas to join the Confederacy, following a no-vote in Virginia's First Secessionist Convention on April 4. On March 4, Lincoln
15225-460: The Vicksburg defensive guns and were able to ferry Grant's army across the river to land south of Vicksburg at Bruinsburg . Grant employed two strategic diversions to mask his intentions: a feint by Sherman north of Vicksburg and a daring cavalry raid through central Mississippi by Colonel Benjamin Grierson , known as Grierson's Raid . The former was inconclusive, but the latter was a success. Grierson
15400-507: The Virginia Assembly for the right to build a bridge, but none were successful in receiving permission. Around the mid-1780s, John Mayo, son of William Mayo (the man who had laid out the plan for Richmond), was given the opportunity to build a toll bridge but died soon after. His son, John Mayo Jr., inherited his estate and finally completed the first bridge across the James in 1788. This bridge
15575-514: The West, however, suffered from a lack of unified command, organized by November into three separate departments: the Department of Kansas , under Maj. Gen. David Hunter , the Department of the Missouri , under Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck , and the Department of the Ohio , under Brig. Gen. Don Carlos Buell (who had replaced Brig. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman ). By January 1862, this disunity of command
15750-519: The West, where major rivers gave access to the Confederate heartland. The U.S. Navy eventually controlled the Red, Tennessee, Cumberland, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers. In the East, the Navy shelled Confederate forts and supported coastal army operations. The Civil War occurred during the early stages of the industrial revolution, leading to naval innovations, notably the ironclad warship . The Confederacy, recognizing
15925-566: The Western territories destined to become states. Initially Congress had admitted new states into the Union in pairs, one slave and one free . This had kept a sectional balance in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives , as free states outstripped slave states in numbers of eligible voters. Thus, at mid-19th century, the free-versus-slave status of the new territories was a critical issue, both for
16100-532: The Yazoo, McClernand asserted control. He inexplicably detoured from his primary objective by capturing Arkansas Post on the Arkansas River , but before he could resume his main advance, Grant had reasserted control, and McClernand became a corps commander in Grant's army. For the rest of the winter, Grant attempted five separate projects to reach the city by moving through or reengineering, rivers, canals, and bayous to
16275-633: The agricultural heartland of the South via the major rivers of the region (the Mississippi , the Tennessee , and the Cumberland ). The Confederacy was forced to defend an enormous area with limited resources. Most railroads ran from north to south, as opposed to east to west, making it difficult to send Confederate reinforcements and supplies to troops further from the more heavily populated and industrialized areas of
16450-515: The blockade was the rise of oil as a prominent commodity. The declining whale oil industry took a blow as many old whaling ships were used in blockade efforts, such as the Stone Fleet , and Confederate raiders harassed Union whalers. Oil products, especially kerosene, began replacing whale oil in lamps, increasing oil's importance long before it became fuel for combustion engines. Although the Confederacy hoped Britain and France would join them against
16625-445: The bloodiest battle of the war. At the end of the campaign, Bragg's threat against Kentucky had been defeated, and he effectively yielded control of Middle Tennessee. Abraham Lincoln believed that the river fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi , was a key to winning the war. Vicksburg and Port Hudson were the last remaining strongholds that prevented full Union control of the Mississippi River. Situated on high bluffs overlooking
16800-470: The chance at the Battle of Spring Hill in Tennessee (November 29, 1864), but the Union troops were able to slip through the trap, due to the Confederate failure to cut the Columbia-to-Franklin turnpike in the Union rear. At the Battle of Franklin the following day, Hood launched repeated massive frontal assaults against strong entrenchments and suffered severe casualties. The battle of Franklin cost
16975-509: The city to Grant. In conjunction with the defeat of Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg the previous day, Vicksburg is widely considered one of the turning points of the war. By July 8, after Banks captured Port Hudson, the entire Mississippi River was in Union hands, and the Confederacy was split in two. After his victory at Stones River, Rosecrans occupied Murfreesboro for almost six months while Bragg rested in Tullahoma, establishing
17150-442: The city with a strong military government that caused considerable resentment among the civilian population. Although Beauregard had little concentrated strength available to oppose a southward movement by Halleck, the Union general showed insufficient drive to take advantage of the situation. He waited until he assembled a large army, combining the forces of Buell's Army of the Ohio, Grant's Army of West Tennessee, and Pope's Army of
17325-430: The confederacy far too many experienced officers and men. David J. Eicher wrote that Hood mortally wounded his army at Franklin but killed it at the Battle of Nashville Schofield although taking high casualties was able to retreat in good order to Nashville. The Battle of Franklin had been a blunder the South could not afford. December 15–16. At Nashville, facing the combined force of Schofield and Thomas, he dug in
17500-508: The convention unanimously voted to secede and adopted a secession declaration . It argued for states' rights for slave owners but complained about states' rights in the North in the form of resistance to the federal Fugitive Slave Act, claiming that Northern states were not fulfilling their obligations to assist in the return of fugitive slaves. The "cotton states" of Mississippi , Florida , Alabama , Georgia , Louisiana , and Texas followed suit, seceding in January and February 1861. Among
17675-453: The country, bring the former Confederate states back into the United States, and grant civil rights to freed slaves. The war is one of the most extensively studied and written about episodes in the history of the United States . It remains the subject of cultural and historiographical debate . Of continuing interest is the fading myth of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy . The war was among
17850-471: The crisis was Secretary of State William H. Seward , who had been Lincoln's rival for the Republican nomination . Embittered by his defeat, Seward agreed to support Lincoln's candidacy only after he was guaranteed the executive office then considered the second most powerful. In the early stages of Lincoln's presidency Seward held little regard for him, due to his perceived inexperience. Seward viewed himself as
18025-635: The de facto head of government, the " prime minister " behind the throne. Seward attempted to engage in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed. Lincoln was determined to hold all remaining Union-occupied forts in the Confederacy: Fort Monroe in Virginia, Fort Pickens , Fort Jefferson , and Fort Taylor in Florida, and Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces opened fire on
18200-466: The defensive stand by a portion of the line led by the Union XIV Corps , commanded by Major General George H. Thomas ("The Rock of Chickamauga"), the Union Army would have been completely routed. Rosecrans, devastated by his defeat, withdrew his army to Chattanooga, where Bragg besieged it, occupying the high ground dominating the city. Back in Vicksburg, Grant was resting his army and planning for
18375-553: The direction of Richmond and in the Shenandoah Valley ; capture Mobile with an army under Nathaniel Banks ; and destroy Johnston's army while driving toward Atlanta. Most of the initiatives failed: Butler became bogged down in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign ; Sigel was quickly defeated in the valley; Banks became occupied in the ill-fated Red River Campaign ; Meade and Grant achieved a string of strategic victories during
18550-521: The eastern Confederacy. Union operations began with attempting to secure Kentucky in Union hands in September 1861, as more than half of Kentucky was under Confederate control by late 1861 into 1862. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant 's Army of the Tennessee had early successes in Kentucky and western Tennessee in 1861 and 1862, capturing the important strategic locations of forts Henry and Donelson . The Army of
18725-486: The ensuing guerrilla war engaged about 40,000 federal troops for much of the war. Congress admitted West Virginia to the Union on June 20, 1863. West Virginians provided about 20,000 soldiers to each side in the war. A Unionist secession attempt occurred in East Tennessee , but was suppressed by the Confederacy, which arrested over 3,000 men suspected of loyalty to the Union; they were held without trial. The Civil War
18900-430: The essential role of cotton in the European economy. The European aristocracy was "absolutely gleeful in pronouncing the American debacle as proof that the entire experiment in popular government had failed. European government leaders welcomed the fragmentation of the ascendant American Republic." However, a European public with liberal sensibilities remained, which the U.S. sought to appeal to by building connections with
19075-401: The exception of cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest . Lacking the proximity to the opposing capitals and population centers (and the accompanying concentration of newspapers) of the East, the astounding Confederate victories, and the fame of Eastern generals such as Robert E. Lee , George B. McClellan , and Stonewall Jackson , the Western theater received considerably less attention than
19250-532: The fires were accidental, others a deliberate act of vengeance. On that same day, the Confederates evacuated Charleston. On February 18, Sherman's forces destroyed virtually anything of military value in Columbia. The last significant Confederate seaport, Wilmington , surrendered on February 22. When Confederate President Jefferson Davis and general-in-chief Robert E. Lee felt that Beauregard could not properly handle
19425-492: The first to use industrial warfare . Railroads, the electrical telegraph , steamships, the ironclad warship , and mass-produced weapons were widely used. The war left an estimated 698,000 soldiers dead, along with an undetermined number of civilian casualties, making the Civil War the deadliest military conflict in American history. The technology and brutality of the Civil War foreshadowed the coming World Wars . The origins of
19600-404: The fort from the rear, but they were unsuccessful. On February 15, the Confederate forces under Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd attempted to escape and launched a surprise assault against the Union right flank (commanded by Brig. Gen. John A. McClernand ), driving McClernand's division back but not creating the opening they needed to slip away. Grant recovered from this temporary reversal and assaulted
19775-492: The fortified Union troops but were repulsed with serious losses. Retreating to the northwest, they escaped pursuit by Rosecrans's exhausted army, but their objectives of threatening Middle Tennessee and supporting Bragg were foiled. On October 24, the Union government replaced Buell with Rosecrans, who renamed his force the Army of the Cumberland . After a period of resupplying and training his army in Nashville, Rosecrans moved against Bragg at Murfreesboro just after Christmas. In
19950-439: The homefront economy could no longer supply. Surdam contends that the blockade was a powerful weapon that eventually ruined the Southern economy, costing few lives in combat. The Confederate cotton crop became nearly useless, cutting off the Confederacy's primary income source. Critical imports were scarce, and coastal trade largely ended as well. The blockade's success was not measured by the few ships that slipped through but by
20125-493: The imposing ridge, breaking the Confederate line and causing them to retreat. Chattanooga was saved. Combined with the failure of Longstreet's Knoxville Campaign against Burnside, politically sensitive eastern Tennessee was free of Confederate control. An avenue of invasion pointed directly to Atlanta and the heart of the Confederacy. Bragg, whose personal friendship with Confederate President Jefferson Davis saved his command following his defeats at Perryville and Stones River,
20300-545: The international press. By 1861, Union diplomats like Carl Schurz realized emphasizing the war against slavery was the Union's most effective moral asset in swaying European public opinion. Seward was concerned an overly radical case for reunification would distress European merchants with cotton interests; even so, he supported a widespread campaign of public diplomacy. U.S. minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams proved adept and convinced Britain not to challenge
20475-461: The mission, he was repulsed in bloody assaults against Chickasaw Bayou in late December. Political considerations then intruded. Illinois politician and Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand obtained permission from Lincoln to recruit an army in southern Illinois and command it on a river-born expedition aimed at Vicksburg. He was able to get Sherman's corps assigned to him, but it departed Memphis before McClernand could arrive. When Sherman returned from
20650-590: The movement to abolish slavery and its influence over the North. Southern states believed that the Fugitive Slave Clause made slaveholding a constitutional right. These states agreed to form a new federal government, the Confederate States of America , on February 4, 1861. They took control of federal forts and other properties within their boundaries, with little resistance from outgoing President James Buchanan , whose term ended on March 4. Buchanan said
20825-472: The need to counter the Union's naval superiority, built or converted over 130 vessels, including 26 ironclads. Despite these efforts, Confederate ships were largely unsuccessful against Union ironclads. The Union Navy used timberclads, tinclads, and armored gunboats. Shipyards in Cairo, Illinois, and St. Louis built or modified steamboats . The Confederacy experimented with the submarine CSS Hunley , which
21000-418: The new Confederacy sent delegates to Washington to negotiate a peace treaty. Lincoln rejected negotiations, because he claimed that the Confederacy was not a legitimate government and to make a treaty with it would recognize it as such. Lincoln instead attempted to negotiate directly with the governors of seceded states, whose administrations he continued to recognize. Complicating Lincoln's attempts to defuse
21175-456: The newly created Military Division of the Mississippi , took command, and received reinforcements from the Army of the Tennessee, as well as from the eastern Army of the Potomac . The siege of Chattanooga was lifted in November 1863. Following his elevation by Abraham Lincoln to General-in-Chief, Grant put Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in charge of the combined armies. Chattanooga served as
21350-400: The north of Vicksburg. All five were unsuccessful; Grant explained afterward that he had expected these setbacks and was simply attempting to keep his army busy and motivated, but many historians believe he really hoped that some would succeed and that they were too ambitious. The second campaign, beginning in the spring of 1863, was successful and is considered Grant's greatest achievement of
21525-417: The ordinances of secession, those of Texas, Alabama, and Virginia mentioned the plight of the "slaveholding states" at the hands of Northern abolitionists. The rest made no mention of slavery but were brief announcements by the legislatures of the dissolution of ties to the Union. However, at least four—South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas —provided detailed reasons for their secession, all blaming
21700-433: The previous neutrality of Kentucky, the Confederates could not build river defenses at a more strategic location inside the state, so they settled for a site just inside the border of Tennessee. Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman withdrew almost all of his garrison on February 5, moving them across country 11 miles (18 km) to the east to Fort Donelson. With a reduced crew manning the cannons, Tilghman fought an artillery duel with
21875-636: The proclaimed neutrality of the state; while most of the state government remained loyal to the Union, the pro-Confederate elements of the legislature organized a separate government in Russellville that was admitted into the Confederate States. This sequence of events is considered a victory for the Union because Kentucky never formally sided with the Confederacy, and if the Union had been prevented from maneuvering within Kentucky, its later successful campaigns in Tennessee would have been more difficult. On
22050-505: The railroads as supply lines, with Johnston shortening his supply lines as he drew closer to Atlanta, and Sherman lengthening his own. However, Davis was becoming frustrated with Johnston, who he viewed was needlessly losing territory and was refusing to counterattack or even discuss his plans with Davis. Just before the Battle of Peachtree Creek (July 20) in the outskirts of Atlanta, Jefferson Davis lost patience with Johnston's strategy and, fearing that Johnston would give up Atlanta without
22225-432: The rugged mountains of northwestern Georgia, only to find that a trap had been set. Bragg started the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19–20, 1863) when he launched a three-division assault against Rosecrans's army. A command misunderstanding allowed a major gap to appear in the Union line as reinforcements arrived, and Longstreet was able to drive his corps into that gap and send the Union Army into retreat. If not for
22400-427: The run up to the Civil War were partisan politics , abolitionism , nullification versus secession , Southern and Northern nationalism, expansionism , economics , and modernization in the antebellum period . As a panel of historians emphasized in 2011, "while slavery and its various and multifaceted discontents were the primary cause of disunion, it was disunion itself that sparked the war." Abraham Lincoln won
22575-412: The scattered Confederate defenders as to his first true objective, which was the state capital Columbia . He faced the smaller and battered Army of Tennessee, again under the command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. On February 17, Columbia surrendered to Sherman. Fires began in the city, and most of the central city was destroyed. The burning of Columbia has engendered controversy ever since, with some claiming
22750-568: The southwestern corner of Missouri (see Missouri secession ). Early in the war the Confederacy controlled southern Missouri through the Confederate government of Missouri but was driven out after 1862. In the resulting vacuum, the convention on secession reconvened and took power as the Unionist provisional government of Missouri. Kentucky did not secede, it declared itself neutral. When Confederate forces entered in September 1861, neutrality ended and
22925-471: The stalwart island Fort Sumter. Anderson's actions catapulted him to hero status in the North. An attempt to resupply the fort on January 9, 1861, failed and nearly started the war then, but an informal truce held. On March 5, Lincoln was informed the fort was low on supplies. Fort Sumter proved a key challenge to Lincoln's administration. Back-channel dealing by Seward with the Confederates undermined Lincoln's decision-making; Seward wanted to pull out. But
23100-549: The start of a campaign prevented it). As he approached Perryville, Kentucky , he began to concentrate his army in the face of Confederate forces there. Bragg was not initially present with his army, having decided to attend the inauguration ceremony of a Confederate governor of Kentucky in Frankfort . On October 8, fighting began at Perryville over possession of water sources, and as the fighting escalated, Bragg's Army of Mississippi achieved some tactical success in an assault against
23275-446: The state reaffirmed its Union status while maintaining slavery. During an invasion by Confederate forces in 1861, Confederate sympathizers and delegates from 68 Kentucky counties organized the secession Russellville Convention, formed the shadow Confederate Government of Kentucky , inaugurated a governor, and Kentucky was admitted into the Confederacy on December 10, 1861. Its jurisdiction extended only as far as Confederate battle lines in
23450-631: The state. At the start of the Tullahoma Campaign, Morgan moved northward. For 46 days as they rode over 1,000 miles (1,600 km), Morgan's cavalrymen terrorized a region from Tennessee to northern Ohio, destroying bridges, railroads, and government stores before being captured; in November they made a daring escape from the Ohio Penitentiary, at Columbus, Ohio , and returned to the South. After delaying for several weeks in Tullahoma, Rosecrans planned to flush Bragg out of Chattanooga by crossing
23625-452: The substitute provision to select which man should go into the army and which should stay home. There was much evasion and resistance to the draft, especially in Catholic areas. The New York City draft riots in July 1863 involved Irish immigrants who had been signed up as citizens to swell the vote of the city's Democratic political machine , not realizing it made them liable for the draft. Of
23800-451: The thousands that never tried. European merchant ships could not get insurance and were too slow to evade the blockade, so they stopped calling at Confederate ports. To fight an offensive war, the Confederacy purchased arms in Britain and converted British-built ships into commerce raiders . The smuggling of 600,000 arms enabled the Confederacy to fight on for two more years, and the commerce raiders targeted U.S. Merchant Marine ships in
23975-434: The two Confederate armies. His army headed swiftly northeast toward Jackson. Meanwhile, Grant brought with him a limited supply line. The conventional history of the campaign indicates that he cut loose from all of his supplies, perplexing Pemberton, who attempted to interdict his nonexistent lines at Raymond on May 12. In reality, Grant relied on the local economy to provide him only foodstuffs for men and animals, but there
24150-479: The war (and a classic campaign of military history). He knew that he could not attack through Mississippi from the northwest because of the vulnerability of his supply line; river-born approaches had failed repeatedly. So, after movement became possible on dirt roads that were finally drying from the winter rains, Grant moved the bulk of his army down the western bank of the Mississippi. On April 16, U.S. Navy gunboats and troop transports managed at great risk to slip past
24325-430: The war created jobs for arms makers, ironworkers, and ships to transport weapons. Lincoln's administration initially struggled to appeal to European public opinion. At first, diplomats explained that the U.S. was not committed to ending slavery and emphasized legal arguments about the unconstitutionality of secession. Confederate representatives, however, focused on their struggle for liberty, commitment to free trade, and
24500-478: The war due to multiple factors: severe food shortages, failing railroads, loss of control over key rivers, foraging by Northern armies, and the seizure of animals and crops by Confederate forces. Historians agree the blockade was a major factor in ruining the Confederate economy; however, Wise argues blockade runners provided enough of a lifeline to allow Lee to continue fighting for additional months, thanks to supplies like 400,000 rifles, lead, blankets, and boots that
24675-485: The war progressed and William Tecumseh Sherman's Union armies moved southeast from Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1864 and 1865, the definition of the theater expanded to encompass their operations into Georgia and the Carolinas . The Virginia front was by far the more prestigious theater. ... Yet the war's outcome was decided not there but in the vast expanse that stretched west from the Appalachian Mountains to
24850-543: The war were rooted in the desire of the Southern states to preserve the institution of slavery . Historians in the 21st century overwhelmingly agree on the centrality of slavery in the conflict. They disagree on which aspects (ideological, economic, political, or social) were most important, and on the North 's reasons for refusing to allow the Southern states to secede. The pseudo-historical Lost Cause ideology denies that slavery
25025-579: The war. In December 1860, the Crittenden Compromise was proposed to re-establish the Missouri Compromise line, by constitutionally banning slavery in territories to the north of it, while permitting it to the south. The Compromise would likely have prevented secession, but Lincoln and the Republicans rejected it. Lincoln stated that any compromise that would extend slavery would bring down
25200-626: The water line, Mayo's Bridge is currently Richmond's only bridge subject to flooding. Large floodgates in Richmond's flood wall protect the surrounding areas on each side during James River flooding. The bridge's closeness to the river surface has made the sidewalks on either side of it popular fishing locations. 37°31′45.4″N 77°26′2.7″W / 37.529278°N 77.434083°W / 37.529278; -77.434083 American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names )
25375-600: The way, similar to his march to the sea through Georgia. He was particularly interested in targeting South Carolina , the first state to secede from the Union, for the effect it would have on Southern morale. Sherman's plan was to bypass the minor Confederate troop concentrations at Augusta, Georgia , and Charleston, South Carolina , and reach Goldsboro, North Carolina , by March 15, 1865, where he would unite with Union forces commanded by John M. Schofield and Alfred H. Terry . As with his Georgia operations, he marched his armies in multiple directions simultaneously, confusing
25550-448: The weakened Confederate right. Trapped in the fort and the town of Dover, Tennessee , Confederate Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner surrendered his command of 11,500 men and many needed guns and supplies to Grant's demand for "unconditional surrender". The combined victories at Henry and Donelson were the first significant Union victories in the war, and two major rivers became available for invasions into Tennessee. Johnston's forward defense
25725-436: The winter of 1860–1861. Nationalists in the North and "Unionists" in the South refused to accept the declarations of secession. No foreign government ever recognized the Confederacy. The U.S. government, under President James Buchanan , refused to relinquish its forts that were in territory claimed by the Confederacy. According to Lincoln, the American people had shown they had been successful in establishing and administering
25900-474: The world" within a few years. Some European observers at the time dismissed them as amateur and unprofessional, but historian John Keegan concluded that each outmatched the French, Prussian, and Russian armies, and without the Atlantic, could have threatened any of them with defeat. Unionism was strong in certain areas within the Confederacy. As many as 100,000 men living in states under Confederate control served in
26075-534: Was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union. The central conflict leading to war was a dispute over whether slavery should be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states , or be prohibited from doing so, which many believed would place slavery on
26250-401: Was a constant stream of wagons carrying ammunition, coffee, hardtack, salt, and other supplies for his army. Sherman's corps captured Jackson on May 14. The entire army then turned west to confront Pemberton in front of Vicksburg. The decisive battle was at Champion Hill , the effective last stand for Pemberton before he withdrew into his entrenchments around the city. Grant's army assaulted
26425-570: Was a significant victory in a strategic sense because it broke the end of the Confederate Western defensive line and opened the Cumberland Gap to East Tennessee, but it got Buell no closer to Nashville.) In Halleck's department, Grant demonstrated down the Mississippi River by attacking the Confederate camp at Belmont to divert attention from Buell's intended advance, which did not occur. On February 1, 1862, after repeated requests by Grant, Halleck authorized Grant to move against Fort Henry on
26600-502: Was a two-pronged movement. William T. Sherman sailed down the Mississippi River with 32,000 men while Grant was to move in parallel through Mississippi by railroad with 40,000. Grant advanced 80 miles (130 km), but his supply lines were cut by Confederate cavalry under Earl Van Dorn at Holly Springs , forcing him to fall back. Sherman reached the Yazoo River just north of the city of Vicksburg, but without support from Grant's half of
26775-483: Was able to draw out significant Confederate forces, dispersing them around the state. Grant faced two Confederate armies in his campaign: the Vicksburg garrison, commanded by Maj. Gen. John C. Pemberton , and forces in Jackson , commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston , the overall theater commander. Rather than simply heading directly north to the city, Grant chose to cut the line of communications (and reinforcement) between
26950-446: Was apparent because no strategy for operations in the Western theater could be agreed upon. Buell, under political pressure to invade and hold pro-Union East Tennessee , moved slowly in the direction of Nashville , but achieved nothing more substantial toward his goal than minor victories at Middle Creek (January 10, 1862) under Col. James A. Garfield and Mill Springs (January 19) under Brig. Gen. George Henry Thomas . (Mill Springs
27125-406: Was at a place called the "Sandy Bar" at the end of 18th Street. The ferry was kept up for many years after the bridge was built as the 6.25¢ toll was impressive and the bridge was often broken, thus necessitating the ferry. Patrick Coutts was something of a legend in old Richmond. This stemmed from the story that he had crossed the river not by ferry or bridge, but by sturgeon. Many people petitioned
27300-449: Was broken. As Grant had anticipated, Polk's position at Columbus was untenable, and he withdrew soon after Donelson fell. Grant had also cut the Memphis and Ohio Railroad that previously had allowed Confederate forces to move laterally in support of each other. General P.G.T. Beauregard had arrived from the East to report to Johnston in February, and he commanded all Confederate forces between
27475-418: Was built on the site of the city's first bridge completed in 1788 by John Mayo Jr., the grandson of the man who first laid out Richmond's grid pattern. During the American Civil War the bridge was burned by retreating Confederate soldiers on April 8, 1865. In 1882, the a portion of the bridge collapsed with nine people on it; however, no one was killed or badly hurt in the incident. Rising just 30 feet above
27650-450: Was considered by Jefferson Davis to be the most effective general in the Confederacy at that time. On the second day, April 7, Grant received reinforcements from Buell and launched a counterattack that drove back the Confederates. Grant failed to pursue the retreating enemy and received enormous criticism for this and for the great loss of life—more casualties (almost 24,000) than all previous American battles combined. Union control of
27825-533: Was done through a steady series of Union victories in major battles, interrupted by only a single defeat, which took place at Chickamauga. The Western Theater was an area defined by both geography and the sequence of campaigning. It originally represented the area east of the Mississippi River and west of the Appalachian Mountains . It excluded operations against the Gulf Coast and the Eastern Seaboard , but as
28000-691: Was facing Bragg's threat in Kentucky, Confederate operations in northern Mississippi were aimed at preventing Buell's reinforcement by Grant, who was preparing for his upcoming Vicksburg campaign. Halleck had departed for Washington, and Grant was left without interference as commander of the District of West Tennessee. On September 14, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price moved his Confederate Army of the West to Iuka , 20 miles (32 km) east of Corinth. He intended to link up with Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn 's Army of West Tennessee and operate against Grant. But Grant sent forces under Maj. Gens. William S. Rosecrans and Edward Ord to attack Price's force at Iuka. Rosecrans won
28175-488: Was finally relieved of duty and replaced by General Joseph E. Johnston . In March 1864, Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and went east to assume command of all the Union armies. Sherman succeeded him in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi. Grant devised a strategy for simultaneous advances across the Confederacy. It was intended to destroy or fix Robert E. Lee's army in Virginia with three major thrusts (under Meade , Butler , and Sigel ) launched in
28350-557: Was from Georgia militia and home guards, although Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps from the Army of Tennessee and some troops from the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida were also present but scattered. At Savannah on December 17, Sherman encountered about 10,000 defending troops under Maj. Gen. William J. Hardee . Following lengthy artillery bombardments, Hardee abandoned the city and Sherman entered on December 22, 1864. He telegraphed to President Lincoln, "I beg to present you as
28525-578: Was held in the Union. The state of Kentucky, with a pro-Confederate governor and a pro-Union legislature, had declared neutrality between the opposing sides. This neutrality was first violated on September 3, when Confederate Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk occupied Columbus , considered key to controlling the Lower Mississippi . Two days later Union Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant , displaying the personal initiative that would characterize his later career, seized Paducah . Henceforth, neither adversary respected
28700-408: Was high because many soldiers were more concerned about the fate of their local area than the Southern cause. In the North, " bounty jumpers " enlisted to collect the generous bonus, deserted, then re-enlisted under a different name for a second bonus; 141 were caught and executed. From a tiny frontier force in 1860, the Union and Confederate armies grew into the "largest and most efficient armies in
28875-405: Was made of bullion lost from mints. He stated that it would be US policy "to collect the duties and imposts"; "there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere" that would justify an armed revolution. His speech closed with a plea for restoration of the bonds of union, famously calling on "the mystic chords of memory" binding the two regions. The Davis government of
29050-566: Was marked by intense and frequent battles. Over four years, 237 named battles were fought, along with many smaller actions, often characterized by their bitter intensity and high casualties. Historian John Keegan described it as "one of the most ferocious wars ever fought," where, in many cases, the only target was the enemy's soldiers. As the Confederate states organized, the U.S. Army numbered 16,000, while Northern governors began mobilizing their militias. The Confederate Congress authorized up to 100,000 troops in February. By May, Jefferson Davis
29225-505: Was not successful, and with the ironclad CSS Virginia , rebuilt from the sunken Union ship Merrimack . On March 8, 1862, Virginia inflicted significant damage on the Union's wooden fleet, but the next day, the first Union ironclad, USS Monitor , arrived to challenge it in the Chesapeake Bay . The resulting three-hour Battle of Hampton Roads was a draw, proving ironclads were effective warships. The Confederacy scuttled
29400-460: Was pushing for another 100,000 soldiers for one year or the duration, and the U.S. Congress responded in kind. In the first year of the war, both sides had more volunteers than they could effectively train and equip. After the initial enthusiasm faded, relying on young men who came of age each year was not enough. Both sides enacted draft laws (conscription) to encourage or force volunteering, though relatively few were drafted. The Confederacy passed
29575-563: Was relieved of command of the Army of Tennessee and Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor was appointed temporary commander of the army. Sherman's Savannah Campaign is more popularly known as the March to the Sea. He and Grant believed that the Civil War would end only if the Confederacy's strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare were decisively broken. Sherman therefore applied the principles of scorched earth , ordering his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian infrastructure along their path. This policy
29750-465: Was reluctant to develop this situation because he was outnumbered by Buell; if he had been able to combine with Kirby Smith, he would have been numerically equal, but Smith's command was separate, and Smith believed that Bragg could capture Louisville without his assistance. Buell, under pressure from the government to take aggressive action, was almost relieved of duty (only the personal reluctance of George H. Thomas to assume command from his superior at
29925-763: Was sworn in as president. In his inaugural address , he argued that the Constitution was a more perfect union than the earlier Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union , was a binding contract, and called secession "legally void". He did not intend to invade Southern states, nor to end slavery where it existed, but he said he would use force to maintain possession of federal property, including forts, arsenals, mints, and customhouses that had been seized. The government would not try to recover post offices, and if resisted, mail delivery would end at state lines. Where conditions did not allow peaceful enforcement of federal law, US marshals and judges would be withdrawn. No mention
30100-439: Was the principal cause of the secession, a view disproven by historical evidence, notably some of the seceding states' own secession documents . After leaving the Union, Mississippi issued a declaration stating, "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the world." The principal political battle leading to Southern secession was over whether slavery would expand into
30275-623: Was to invade Kentucky in a joint operation with Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith , cut Buell's lines of communications, defeat him, and then turn back to defeat Grant. Kirby Smith left Knoxville on August 14, forced the Union to evacuate Cumberland Gap , defeated a Union force at the Battle of Richmond (Kentucky) taking over 4,000 prisoners, and reached Lexington on August 30. Bragg departed Chattanooga just before Smith reached Lexington, while Buell moved north from Nashville to Bowling Green. But Bragg moved quickly and by September 14 had interposed his army on Buell's supply lines from Louisville . Bragg
30450-525: Was too late. " King Cotton " was dead, as the South could export less than 10% of its cotton. The blockade shut down the ten Confederate seaports with railheads that moved almost all the cotton. By June 1861, warships were stationed off the principal Southern ports, and a year later nearly 300 ships were in service. The Confederates began the war short on military supplies, which the agrarian South could not produce. Northern arms manufacturers were restricted by an embargo, ending existing and future contracts with
30625-443: Was very rudimentary and consisted of “large logs, raft-like, spiked to the rocks, with rough floor laid on the logs” on the north side of Mayo's Island and of a pontoon bridge that had planks laid on top of a series of boats on the south side. This bridge was destroyed the winter after its completion by ice floes dragging the bridge away. It was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt in 1814, 1816, 1823, 1865, 1870, 1877, 1882, and 1899. It
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