The Civil War (1861-1865)

Gettysburg Address

(1863) a speech given by Abraham Lincoln after the Battle of Gettysburg, in which he praised the bravery of Union soldiers and renewed his commitment to winning the Civil War; supported the ideals of self-government and human rights

Anaconda Plan

1. Civil War strategy plan by Northern General Winfield Scott. 2. Called for a naval blockade to shut out European supplies and exports, a campaign to take the Mississippi Rives and, thereby, split the South, and a targeting of Southern cities in hopes that pro-Unionists would rise up in the South and overthrow the secession.

Civil War Advantages for the North

1. Greater population. 2. Better railroad lines and more established trade routes than the South. 3. More wealth. 4. Were able to use the moral issue of fighting slavery as motivation.

Civil War Advantages for the South

1. Only needed to resist being conquered. 2. Vast in land size. 3. Troops would fight in their familiar home territory. 4. Highly qualified senior officers including Robert E. Lee, Joseph Jonston, Albert Sidney Johnston, and Stonewall Jackson. 5. Inspired to protect their familiar institutions and culture.

Emancipation Proclamation

1863, Lincoln's proclamation made after a crucial victory at Antietam, allowed Lincoln to push for something radical; frees all slaves in areas under rebellion; this excludes the border states, keeping them on the side of the union, prevents foreign powers from entering the war for slavery, provides a rationale for the war, and allows blacks to enlist in the army.

Thirteenth Amendment

1865 - Freed all slaves, abolished slavery.

First Battle of Bull Run

1st real battle, Confederate victory, Washingtonian spectators gather to watch battle, Gen. Jackson stands as Stonewall and turns tide of battle in favor of Confederates, realization that war is not going to be quick and easy for either side.

Pickett's Charge

3rd day of Gettysburg, Lee asked Pickett to lead troops on a mile and a half run where they were then slaughtered by the union army

The Merrimack

A former wooden U.S. warship renamed the Virginia could easily destroy two wooden ships of the Union Navy. It was remodled by the confederates and was threatening to the Yankee blockading fleet.

Writ of Habaes Corpus

A legal protection requiring that a court determine if a person is lawfully imprisoned. Without it, people can be held in jail for indefinite periods even though they were not charged with a crime.

Conscription

A military draft

Copperheads

A vocal group of Northern Democrats who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates

War of Attrition

A war based on wearing the other side down by constant attacks and heavy losses.

Robert E. Lee

Appointed command of the Confederate Army in 1862 during the Civil War. Despite his skill he was forced to surrender to Ulysses S Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865.

Appomattox

April 1865., the Virginia town where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in 1865, ending the Civil War.

Second Battle of Bull Run

Decisive victory by General Robert E. Lee and Confederate forces over the Union army in August 1862.

African American Soldiers

Finally allowed to enlist in May 1863, African American soldiers accounted for more than one hundred eighty thousand troops and played a major role in the Union victory.

Fort Henry

Fort which was taken by Ulysses S Grant to secure the Cumberland River for the Union

Battle of Chancellorsville

General Lee divided is forces his troops attacked from the front and Jackson's' troops attacked the Union on its flan, or side. General Joseph Hooker withdrew his men. Confederate soldiers fired on and wounded Jackson, he developed pneumonia and died. This affected the morale of Confederate army and citizens.

Civil War Conscription

In 1863, Congress passed a federal conscription law in 1863, rioting in the North took place, when drafted individuals were permitted to avoid service to the war by hiring a substitute or paying $300. The Confederacy had started its draft beginning in 1862 because of their short supply of manpower; Southerners could also hire substitutes or purchase an exemption.

Civil War Ships

Ironclads were Civil War ships protected from cannon fire by iron plates bolted over the sloping wooden sides. Confederates outfitted an old wooden warship, the Merrimack, with iron railroad rails and renamed it the Virginia; it achieved devastating results. The Union's Monitor fought the Merrimack to a standstill.

Battle of Gettysburg

July 1-3, 1863 1. Lee invaded Pennsylvania from Virginia, pursued by Northern General Meade. 2. Lee was defeated and retreated to Virginia. 3. The bloodiest, most decisive battle of the Civil War. 4. Farthest northern advanced of the Confederacy.

Assassination of President Lincoln

Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre by the actor John Wilkes Booth days after the end of the Civil War. The action shocked the North who blamed the South for it. Much worse, it put Lincoln's Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, a much less astute politician than Lincoln, in the White House.

Greenbacks

Name for Union paper money not backed by gold or silver. Value would fluctuate depending on status of the war (plural)

Battle of Antietam

September 17, 1862 1. General George McClellan attempted to defeat Lee and shorten the war, but failed. 2. McClellan had discovered detailed plans for Lee's entire operation but ignores the opportunity because of cautiousness. 3. Lee's army was forced to retreat to Virginia after a bloody battle at Antietam. 4. McClellan's failure to pursue Lee led to Lincoln to remove him from command.

Battle of Fredericksburg

The Union, led by Major General Ambrose Burnside, was defeated and lost 12,000 men. General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, was the Confederate general who led in the defeat.

Siege at Vicksburg

Union army's six-week blockade of Vicksburg that led the city to surrender during the Civil War.

Ulysses S. Grant

an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.

Stonewall Jackson

general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War whose troops at the first Battle of Bull Run stood like a stone wall (1824-1863)

Martial Law

rule by the army instead of the elected government

Battle of Cold Harbor

the final battle of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign, fought on May 22, 1864, during the American Civil War, is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles. Thousands of Union soldiers were slaughtered in a hopeless frontal assault against the fortified troops.It was also one of Grant's biggest mistakes.