Civil War - MSN Encarta

Article Outline

Introduction; Causes of the Civil War; The Fight Over Slavery; Civil War Begins; Civil War, 1861; Civil War, 1862; Civil War, 1863; Civil War, 1864; Civil War, 1865; The War Ends; Assessment of the Civil War

Shenandoah Valley

Other Union victories followed. After Early’s threat to Washington, Lee gave him a free hand to operate in the Shenandoah Valley. Lee hoped that Grant would be forced to weaken his grip on Petersburg to meet the new threat. Grant acted as Lee anticipated, but the federal commander sent a general who proved to be more than a match for Early. In three battles, at Winchester on September 19, at Fishers Hill on September 22, and at Cedar Creek on October 19, Philip H. Sheridan not only drove Early’s troops from the valley but also devastated the area so thoroughly that its rich farms could no longer send food and supplies to Lee’s troops.

Political Conventions

While the armies went about their deadly business in the spring and summer of 1864, Northern politicians started the machinery for another presidential election. Many people in the North were dissatisfied with Lincoln. Battle losses in the East had been staggering, and Grant had neither destroyed Lee’s army nor taken Richmond. Many Republicans complained that Lincoln was too moderate on the slavery question or was too easygoing in the prosecution of the war. A great many Democrats had come to believe that the South could not be defeated and wanted peace at almost any price.

The Republican National Convention met in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 7. To attract War Democrats, the name of the party was changed to the National Union Party. Although many delegates would have been happy to replace Lincoln, the administration’s control of the party machinery secured his renomination with ease. His running mate was Andrew Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee who had remained loyal to the Union. The platform called for the unconditional restoration of the Union.

On August 29 the Democratic National Convention met in Chicago, Illinois. The delegates hoped to elect their candidate by playing up the war situation as it was at that moment, with Grant’s having failed to take Richmond and Sherman stalled outside Atlanta. The Democratic platform declared the war a failure and demanded that immediate efforts be made to bring the fighting to an end. The delegates nominated George B. McClellan for president and George H. Pendleton, senator from Ohio, for vice president. Ten days later, McClellan accepted the nomination but he refused to support the platform plank that called for peace without the restoration of the Union, thinking that it was an affront to the troops he had commanded.

Election of 1864

The election in the North took place on November 8. As late as August 23, 1864, Lincoln had commented to his Cabinet that it seemed “exceedingly probable” that he would not be reelected. However, he had not foreseen the steady succession of Northern victories. Before November the mood of the people changed. On election day the popular vote was 2,218,388 for Lincoln and 1,812,807 for McClellan. The popular margin was not nearly so large as that in the electoral college, where Lincoln polled 212 to McClellan’s 21.

There was no 1864 presidential election in the South. Under the Confederate constitution, the president was elected for six years, and thus no election was held after 1861.

Sherman’s March to the Sea

One week after the election, Sherman’s troops, numbering about 60,000 men, marched out of Atlanta toward the east. They did not know their destination, but following parallel routes, they marched across Georgia along a 97-km (60-mi) front. Although under strict orders not to destroy private property, they burned and looted plantations and public buildings. Slaves by the thousands left their masters and followed the Union troops to freedom. Neither the Confederacy nor Georgia could offer much resistance. In his 1864 march across Georgia, Sherman applied the military concept of war against civilian property. He made a desert of the land through which he passed, destroying major Confederate sources of supply for Southern armies. He also brought home the war to the Southern people behind the lines in the hope that, by breaking their morale, he would weaken the will to fight. In short, he fulfilled his grim boast: “I can make this march, and make Georgia howl!”

On December 10 Sherman deployed his men around Savannah, Georgia. Fort McAllister, the principal defense of the city, fell on December 13. On December 20 General William J. Hardee, who commanded the small force that the Confederate government could spare for the defense of the city, withdrew his men to positions north of the Savannah River. Two days later, Sherman telegraphed to Lincoln: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.”

While holding Atlanta, Sherman had tried time after time to corner the Confederate army that Hood had withdrawn from that city. Hood kept out of reach. Sherman assumed that when Hood left Atlanta, he would strike north into Tennessee. To defend the state and prevent an invasion of the North, Sherman placed Thomas in command of all the troops left behind on the western front.

Nashville

Thomas concentrated his forces in Nashville, Tennessee. General John M. Schofield, following the Confederates with part of the Union troops, clashed with Hood on November 30 in the bloody Battle of Franklin. Although victorious, Schofield withdrew his troops to Nashville. Hood followed and took up positions on the high ground south of the city.

Thomas made his plans deliberately, so deliberately that Grant, impatient at the delay, almost removed him from his command. On December 15 Thomas struck. The Confederates fought stubbornly but lost ground. The next day, Thomas renewed the attack. The result was a smashing Union victory. Hood’s army was so disastrously defeated that it fell apart. Many of the Confederates drifted back to their homes, the war over so far as they were concerned.

Civil War, 1865

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