The Super Summary of World History - Alan Dale Daniel [117]
3: Defeat Lee in Virginia,
4: Maintain a tight naval blockade
The War Begins
There are so many excellent books on the Civil War and its battles there is no need to recount the battles here (a few of the best books are listed at the end of the section); however, a couple of campaigns will be covered along with my opinions on what was going on in the war.
From the outset, Lincoln was determined to keep the South in the Union. After Lincoln’s inaugural address, where he said slavery could continue to exist where it was then legal, Virginia voted to stay in the Union. The key Border States were Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Each of these Border States allowed slavery but did not want a war with the North. After the South fired on the Fort Sumter, a federal military post in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, Lincoln used the event to call up troops to invade the South, thus making a tragic political blunder. He required each state to send men to put down the rebellion. Lincoln told Fort Sumter to fight, and he tried to resupply the fort, thereby guaranteeing the South would fire the first shots of the war. Then Lincoln used the fall of the fort as the reason to call up the troops. Thus, the South firing on Fort Sumter was not a surprise, and calling up troops was planned before the Confederates fired on the fort. All this makes it impossible to believe Lincoln tried to avoid the war. It is obvious he decided negations would serve no purpose, and went forward with a plan to start the war on his terms. Unfortunately, his moves pushed the states of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina to join the Confederacy. Not smart. After the second wave of secession, Lincoln negotiated with Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Delaware to keep them in the Union, and they stayed. At least he was a fast learner.
That was it; the Border States seceded because they refused to send their troops against the secessionist states, and because they thought the Federal Government was becoming an oppressor. These Border States, especially Virginia, were the key to maintaining a viable South. When the key Border States joined the secession the power of the rebellion grew dreadfully. After Virginia joined the Confederacy the capital of the rebellion moved to Richmond, Virginia, only a few miles from Washington DC. This small area between the two cities saw a Noah’s flood of blood spilled out between the two armies.
Figure 38 Ft Sumter Bombardment—1861
The first battle was at Bull Run in Virginia in July 1861. It was a Union defeat, and it gave General Jackson his famous name “Stonewall.” As southern troops were about to break during a Union assault on vital Confederate positions, a Confederate officer among them pointed to Jackson and his men saying, “There stands Jackson like a stone wall . . .” Responding gallantly, Confederate troops rallied and drove back the Union attackers. The blow to the Union at Bull Run was significant and led to a new general taking over with orders to get the Union Army of the Potomac ready to fight.
The new general, George McClellan, took over on July 26, 1861 and immediately set about creating a good army. In this he was a total success; however, being a good organizer and trainer of men does not make one a good battlefield general. McClellan decided to march on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, by coming down the peninsula to the east of the city. By coming from the Atlantic Ocean side he achieved surprise, and he outnumbered the Confederate troops significantly; nonetheless, George McClellan was a timid leader. He threw away his chance at an early capture of the Confederate capital via hesitation and fear. As the Union Army inched its way toward Richmond, General Joseph Johnson, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, fell wounded. This wound changed history. General Robert E. Lee, arguably one of the best military commanders of all time,[135] replaced him. Lee soon put McClellan on the run causing the Union Army to retreat to the Washington DC area. Many Union