Daniel O’Bryan

12/18/08 AP History

Civil War Test

Both the North and the South began the war with both different and distinct

advantages. The victor would be the side that exploited these advantages first and

attacked the others weaknesses. Their overall strategies for winning the war differed but

both sides had to use their advantages wisely, and avoid their disadvantages as much as

possible. In the beginning years of war the Confederates looked like they would win their

freedom, but through economical factors, political issues, leadership advantages, and

military expertise the North emerged victorious and the Union was preserved.

The North’s battle plan for victory was pretty straightforward; to win the war no

Confederacy could exist. This meant complete and total victory over the Confederate

army. In the beginning of the war the Union had many large economic advantages over

the Confederates, and as the war stretched longer the Confederates only got weaker

because of lack of soldiers, supplies, and ammo. The North had over 65% of the total

population and 75% of the nations industry. Another advantage the North had was that

almost and 80% of the railroads were located in the North so transporting people and

supplies was very easy. Also the North had a larger military force and a naval force with

which the South just could not compete. The North also had an established government

which had banking and financial means instead of the South which had to create a new

government before the war started. The North also had a distinct advantage in leadership.

With Abraham Lincoln, one of the smarted men in his time, and Ulysses S. Grant,
possibly the greatest military general in American history, the Union had an advantage in

leadership. Although the generals that came before Grant were nothing spectacular by

any stretch of the imagination, Lincoln appointed the right man in the most crucial time

of the War. Along with Sherman, Grant would win almost every battle he fought and was

one of the main reasons the Union came out on top.

The South on the other hand may have not had the economical and military

advantages of the North but they had three ways, instead of one, to emerge victorious. All

they had to was outlast the North because the Southern soldiers were fighting for their

homes and many people in the North would lose heart if the war stretched out too long.

The third way for Confederate victory was to receive European help. The South was

producing huge amounts of cotton, upon which Europe relied. If the war stretched too

long and no cotton was produced, European countries might intervene to end the war

quicker. If this happened it would be all over for the Union. There would be no way that

the North could handle a war with the South and with other European nations at the same

time. They lacked the manpower and resources to fight an extended, large scale,

worldwide war. The southern generals were far superior to the northern generals, with the

exception of Grant and Sherman.

The North had many bad generals however at the start of the war. This included

General McDowell who was tainted with the beginning defeat of his army and although it

was a well fought battle, Lincoln believed that McDowell would never recover. General

McClellan had been too cautious and instead of attacking he would delay and build up his

troops. McClellan believed that he was always outnumbered and was always requesting

more men. When ordered by Lincoln to attack, McClellan would find some excuse why
his army was not ready and sometimes just refuse to attack. Instead of sneaking up

behind Lee’s main army and capturing Richmond, McClellan delayed way too long and

by the time he arrived at Richmond McClellan had no choice but to unsuccessfully siege

the city. McClellan had many chances to destroy Lee’s army and win the war within the

first few years of war, but his slow marching and delayed attacks lost every one of these

opportunities for the North. Later, for this reason McClellan was relived of duty as the

General of the Potomac for this very reason.

Still the North was plagued with more terrible generals. General Burnside made a

rash attack at Fredericksburg and got his men slaughtered. General Joe Hooker had lost

his mind at a key moment in a battle and therefore gave up another Northern victory.

Although the North had these bad generals it did not mean that the North did not have

any early military victories.

The first major battle in the war was the Battle of Antietam. General McClellan

was put in control of the Army of the Potomac and he had Lee’s army trapped near the

Antietam Creek. McClellan was able to pin Lee’s army into a corner when he found

General Lee’s battle orders than on officer had dropped. McClellan moved slightly faster

to tried and stop Lee’s army. Lee had fooled the Army of the Potomac into thinking that

he had an exceeding amount of men and so, instead of an attacking, and ending the war,

McClellan hesitated and waited two days before attacking. By the time McClellan

decided to attack it was too late and AP Hill’s army was approaching from Harper’s

Ferry. The battle looked like a Union victory but AP Hill arrived with his army at the

perfect time and drove McClellan back. Lee’s army soon retreated back into the south

and the battle was said to be a draw, but had McClellan blown his third opportunity to
win the war. It was about this time that Lincoln decided that he needed a more aggressive

general that would be able attack and seize key moments to take out Lee’s army. This

was the bloodiest day in American history and was the end of General Lee’s first invasion

of then North.

Later that year Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation in an ingenious

scheme to substantially lessen the Confederate chances of winning and help solve the

Union’s soldier shortage. Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation the north and south

were fighting for more of a literal cause and not a moral cause. The Union was fighting to

end succession and the confederates were fighting for states rights. This was a war for

political and economic reasons not moral reasons. The Emancipation Proclamation

transformed the war from a war of politics and economics to morals and values. By

issuing the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln changed the war into a war for freedom

and humans’ rights. It gave the Union two key benefits. The Union was short on soldiers

and could really use the addition of all black regiments to help support and build up their

army. The Emancipation Proclamation also guaranteed that no European country would

help the Confederates because both England and France were very anti-slavery. This took

one of the south’s three ways of winning the war and gave the north some much needed

reinforcements.

General Grant was very successful out west. He was able to work with the Navy

and planned a campaign down the Mississippi River, all the way to New Orleans which

was to be captured. His plan worked perfectly when he and the commander of the Navy

took over one of the South’s most necessary ports. If the north could take out the South’s
main ports then they would not be able to import any war supplies which would

potentially trap the South.

The Battle of Gettysburg was the most critical battle for the Army of the Potomac

Army under General Meade. Lee was attempting another campaign up North to get to a

much needed shoe factory for his troops. Lee was stopped by Meade and his Army of the

Potomac when the two armies accidentally bumped into each other. Lee had sent his

cavalry off away from the main army and they had yet to catch up with him so the

Confederates were not very well informed. During first day of battle the Confederates

pushed the Army of the Potomac until they eventually they fell back to Cemetery Ridge.

This was a good high ground with natural trenches and many stone formations. On the

second day of fighting the Confederates tried to advance but could not break the Union

lines. This was some of the best fighting the Army of the Potomac had ever done and they

held their positions like never before. On the third day of fighting an attack known as

“Pickett’s Charge” was ordered by General Lee in hopes of overcoming the Union

fortifications, but was completely disbanded as the men got mowed down and

slaughtered. With heavy losses and the battle almost lost, Lee called for a retreat. The

North had won this critical battle and in the process insured that Lee would never be able

to invade the North again. This took away the second of the three ways the south could

win the war. The only chance the South had now was to outlast the North.

General Grant had proven himself with the siege of Vicksburg. He had been

focusing all of his efforts on Vicksburg since 1862, and finally was able to destroy the

supply line. After a lot of prolonged fighting was able to march his army up to Vicksburg

and take it. The fort surrendered July 4, 1863 and Grant became commander of all
western armies. General Rosecrans captured Chattanooga but was counterattacked by the

Confederates and was under siege. Grant replaced Rosecrans with General Thomas who

opened up the supplies line. The Battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge

were giant victories for Grant and huge success for the North. Lincoln then promoted

Grant to be the supreme commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Grant knew to win the war he would not only have to capture Richmond but to

destroy Lee’s army once and for all. They crossed the Rappahannock River and tried to

turn Lee’s left flank and get between Richmond and the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee

launched a counter attack in Virginia and the fighting began. After four days of bloody

fighting, with still no clear victor, Grant began to march back north. His men thought he

was retreating like so many previous commanders but after he turned south again they

saw that it was not a retreat but another attempt to flank Lee’s forces. Grant continued the

campaign determined to break Lee’s army or flank them out into the open where they

could be destroyed by the greater numbers of Grant’s Army of the Potomac. At Cold

Harbor, Grant had tried a full scale frontal assault and was slaughtered. With such heavy

causalities Grant retreated and went back to trying to flank Lee. This was probably

Grant’s worst military call throughout the entire war but because of the unsuccessful

flanking assaults earlier in this campaign, Grant’s officers embellished how well the

Army of the Potomac was doing at Cold Harbor and Grant ordered a frontal attack.

Eventually by crossing the Jordan River Grant succeeded in getting behind Lee’s army

and threatened Petersburg. The Confederates just barley stopped the Union advance and

settled in for some trench warfare. These trench battles lasted for eight months. The

fighting was bloody and harsh but Grant had Lee trapped.
 General Sherman had set up a campaign against Joe Johnston’s army in the west.

Johnston was fired and General Hood replaced him. General Hood was not able to hold,

and Sherman took the city of Atlanta. Sherman had insisted on a total war victory so he

decided that he would march his army from Atlanta all the way to Savannah and then to

aid Grant at Petersburg. Sherman and his men had lived off the land destroying

everything and anything that could be of aid to the Confederacy and were able to

overtake Savannah by Christmas. Sherman then gave Savannah to Lincoln as a Christmas

gift.

The Election of 1864 was approaching fast and the two main candidates had horns

locked. Abraham Lincoln was up for reelection and the Democratic nominee, General

McClellan was a national war hero. McClellan wanted an immediate peace treaty which

would end the Civil war but Lincoln wanted to finish the fight that they had started.

Lincoln was expected to lose this election because of the loss of moral in the North but

after a few key victories the northern people could see that victory was near. Lincoln also

gave thirty day leave to many soldiers right around election time so they could cast their

vote. With the use of political swaying and military success Lincoln was able to keep his

position at the White House. This took away the South’s final route to victory because

Lincoln would never back down. The south would not be able to outlast the North for

another four year term because they did not have necessary supplies as well as many of

their main ports had been taken.

With Hood’s army gone and Lee trapped in the trenches, the war was basically

over. Sherman was destroying anything in his path up the coastline, and when Lee tried

to make a move and escape his trap in Petersburg, Grant intercepted him at Appomattox
Court and Lee surrendered and the fighting was over. The formal surrender took place in

April, 1865.

The North won this bloody, epic war not out of merciless fighting but out of

superior leaders and economic advantages. The South may have had more options for

victory, but the North was very efficient in taking these options away one by one. Once

the Army of the Potomac got rolling there was no stopping it. Grant fought an amazing

1864 campaign and with the re-election of Lincoln the Confederates hopes of succession

were smashed. The South may had a fast start but the North’s perseverance and economic

strength helped them finally overcome Lee’s army. This war was the bloodiest in

American history and was fought brilliantly from both sides. In the end the North was too

much for the South to handle and the Union was preserved.