A chart history of the civil war, 1861-1865

Chapter I

Direct Causes — Slavery — Fort Sumter — Indirect Causes — Reasons for Differences Between the People of the North and the South — Beginnings of Slavery in America — About the Constitution — Conditions Favorable to Slave Labor — Missouri Compromise — Mexican War — Republican Party — Dred Scott Decision — Kansas Troubles — Sumner Outrage, - 9-20

Chapter II

How the Army was Organized — Keeds of an Army — Difficulties in Supplying an Army — Home Life of a Soldier — Preparations for War — Why the South was Better Prepared — Strength of the North — Hopes of the South, - 21-25

Chapter III

Military Events of 1861 — Baltimore — Western Virginia — Bull Run — Missouri

— Along the Coast — Kentucky — Trent Affair — Summary of 1861, - 26-31

Chapter IV

1862 in the West — The Objectives — Commanders and Positions — Mills Spring — Fort Henry — Fort Donelson — Island No. 10 — Pittsburg Landing — Siege of Corinth — Farragut's Operations at Mouth of Mississippi — Perryville — luka and Corinth — Stone River — Review of 1862 in the West, 33-47

Chapter V

In the East, 1862 — Study of Virginia — Shenandoah Valley — Routes to Richmond — Merrimac and Monitor — Peninsular Campaign — Lee's First Invasion of the North — Fredericksburg — Synopsis, 1862, in the East, - 48-61

CONTENTS.

Chapter VI

Congress — Conscription Act — Emancipation Proclamation — War in the West, 1863 — Vicksburg — Chattanooga and Chickamauga — Battle of Chattanooga — Synopsis in the West, 1863 — Armies and Commanders in the West, 62-75

CHAPTER Vn.

Events in the East, 1863 — Chancellorsville — Lee's Second Invasion of the

North — Gettysburg — Synopsis of 1863 — General Results, - - 77-81

CHAPTER Vni.

Changes in the Army — Conditions at Beginning of 1864 — Atlanta Campaign — Farragut at Mobile Bay — Hood's Movement Northward — Sherman's March to the Sea — Franklin and Nashville — Synopsis in the West, 1864, - - 82-95

CHAPTER IX.

War in the East, 1864 — Wilderness — Spottsylvania — Bloody Angle — Soldiers Suffering — Cold Harbor — Grant South of the James — Sheridan in Shenandoah Valley — Synopsis in the East, 1864 — General Eesults, 1864, 96-105

CHAPTER X.

Closing Events, 1865 — Pontoons — Sherman Moves North from Savannah — Wilson's Raid — Army of the Potomac— Commanders and Battles — Confederate Armies and Commanders — Confederate Armies Surrendered — The Close — Sheridan in the Valley — Battle Scene — Five Forks — Lee Surrenders — Conclusion, 107-117

INTRODUOTION.

The general movement throughout the nation to have the American flag float over every school-house is an indication of a feeling in the minds of thoughtful people that there is a need of some method by which the minds of the youth may be drawn to realize the value of an American citizenship. In other words, there is a need calling for the teaching of patriotism.

The flag is but a symbol. The manhood of America should have an intelligent idea of what it symbolizes. Man may know and appreciate the liberties he enjoys, but he should also know the cost of those blessings.

An intelligent study of the history of the nation is the only sure way of inculcating a love of country, and an appreciation of its value. The author of this little book, from many years' teaching, knows from painful experience the woful lack of information, among even graduates of our high schools, concerning the great events of 1861- 1865.

The events of that period were so stupendous that our school histories can afford the space but to touch the most important occurrences. Events that cost the death and suffering of thousands of men are told in a single sentence.

There is not sufficient ground-work given to lead to fuller reading and investigation of the subject. It is hoped by this book to give sufficient outline to lead to greater interest, and therefore to further reading.

What was done, why (and results), where, when, and who did it, are the five prismatic colors that make the white light of history.

In this book emphasis is placed on the first three. A knowledge of the why and the where in the mind of the student is essential to clear historic vision.

Chapter I. Causes Of The Great Civil War In America

Direct Causes. — Slavery was the direct cause of the civil war in the United States. By the middle of the 19th century, public opinion in all the more civilized communities, outside of our own, had become strongly opposed to the idea of human slavery.

Serfdom existed in Russia until 1863. Slavery in Brazil is in process of extinction, while the Spanish colonies still continue- to hold men in bondage. In 1860 our own " Land of the Free" held more slaves than could be found in all other civilized countries combined. When in 1860 the Republican party came into power by the election of Abraham Lincoln as President, the more Southern states became alarmed for the safety of the institution of slavery. Mr. Lincoln and the Republican party did ilot claim to have any power or right to interfere with slavery in the states where it already existed, but proposed to keep it out of the territories.

The South reasoned correctly when it said that the final result of keeping slavery out of the territories, would be the overthrow of the institution. Immediately the Gulf and South Atlantic States began to plan for secession, and South Carolina, taking the lead, seceded December 20, 1860. The example of South Carolina was soon followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. In February, 1861, delegates from the seceding states met at Montgomery, Alabama, and formed a new government under the name of The Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President.

These states at once took measures to get possession of the forts, arsenals and other property of the United States within their borders.

General Twiggs, who commanded in Texas, surrendered all the U. S. forces under him to the Confederate States.

Fort Sumter. — Not all the important posts along the coast were surrendered, among them Fort Sumter, controlling the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Major Robert Anderson, of Kentucky, commanded at this place, and great interest centered in the operations around Charleston,

South Carolina demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter. President Buchanan refused. It must be remembered that these events took place before Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, which inauguration transpired March 4, 1861.

The firing on Fort Sumter and the American flag by the Confederates under General Beauregard, on the morning of April 12, 1861, resounded like an electric shock throughout the North and South, to the extremes of East and West, The boom of the cannon at Fort Sumter startled the North from its dazed condition, and it realized for the first time that war was in the land. All sections were aroused to immediate action. In quick succession all the other slave-holding states, except Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, joined the Confederacy. These states, with West Virginia, remained loyal to the Union, though many individuals within their borders joined the Confederate army. Many good men up to this time had fears that patriotism in America was a thing of the past, but when occasion called for patriots, they came in ready response. Eighty thousand from the free states alone answered Mr. Lincoln's call for 75,000. Thus commenced the civil war, a war of desperate fighting and terrible suffering. A most intense feeling of hatred existed between the two sections. In ordinary war between two nations, contention ceases and peace follows, when one nation finds that it is unable to successfully resist the other ; but in the civil war it was a life and death struggle. Were the South successful in leaving the Union, other sections would claim the same right to secede. As a result, a few decades would find what is now a proud nation, separated into numerous, independent states. Europe and South America would thus be repeated. Commercial strife and standing armies jealously watching each other would be the result. The question with the North was, shall we figHt it out now and settle the strife for all time, or shall we leave it for future generations to determine ? If the nation survived, the Confederacy must die ; if the Confederacy lived, the nation would die. The Confederacy died, and with it slavery for which it fought.

REMOTE CAUSES OF THE REBELLION.

Some Reasons for the Differences Between the People of the North and the South. — In order to understand clearly the true causes which led to this unhappy strife between these two sections, speaking the same language, and living under the same laws, it is necessary to go back in history to study the conditions which have tended to separate them. Though the Southern people in their support of slavery placed themselves behind other parts of the civilized world, it must not be assumed that they were wanting in those attributes of character which go to make up a broad and generous manhood and civilization. They were entangled in a social system that had grown up among them, and had its roots reaching far back into their history. The people who settled these two sections, the North and the South, though both of English origin, were quite different.

The character of the settlers of the seventeenth century stamped itself on the generations following. During much of this century there was great religious and political strife in England. Most of the settlers of the North came to America because of religious oppression in the mother country.

In former times it was considered disloyal to one's king and country not to conform to the state religion. Multitudes in different ages have had their fidelity to religious convictions tested, even to the martyr's death. Some of the time it was the Puritan who suffered, sometimes the Quaker, and at others, the Roman Catholic w^ho endured persecution for the cause he believed to be right. The Puritans of England sought a purer system of faith and worship, in opposition to all religious forms. The Cavaliers were loyal to both the ' state religion and their king.

The Puritans were largely from the middle classes — the yeomanry, the pride and support of England. The Cavaliers belonged largely to the aristocracy and nobility.

The representatives of these two elements of society in coming to America settled in different parts of the country, and were separated from the beginning by these characteristics and religious differences. New England was settled by the Puritans, Pennsylvania by the Quakers, Maryland, by the Roman Catholics, who all sought an asylum from religious oppression.

Virginia and much of the South was settled after the first twenty years, largely b}^ the other class for financial and commercial reasons. The northern section from the nature of the climate and soil combined, together with the sturdy character of the people, was occupied by small farmers and manufacturers.

The people of the South brought with them from England the idea of large estates, and the climate and soil aided to perpetuate this ideal. The one section became a manufacturing community in which cities and schools multiplied. The other became agricultural with few cities, and fewer educational advantages except to the wealthy.

The Begmning of Slavery in America. — In 1619 a Dutch trading vessel brought some negroes to Jamestown, whom they sold to the settlers for slaves. Thus but twelve years after the first settlement, slavery was planted in America. Here was sown the germ of discord which brought forth bitter fruit. It is interesting to note that near Jamestown, the seed-bed of slavery, was fought some of the most desperate battles in its support, that but a few miles distant are Richmond, Petersburg and Appomattox, all associated with its final overthrow.

In contrast it is well to note that in the North, Harvard college was founded but seventeen years after the settlement at Plymouth ; plantings of two very different institutions — slavery and schools. Each bore its corresponding harvest. Slavery spread through most of the colonies, but slave labor was unprofitable in the North, and gradually died out.

Northwest Territory. — By the famous ordinance of 1787 organizing the Northwest Territory, slavery was prohibited within its boundaries. Washington and Jefferson, though both slave-holders, wished to exclude slavery from all territory not organized into states. This shows the anti-slavery sentiment even at this early date.

About the Constitution. — A few years' test was sufficient to prove the " Articles of Confederation," which had been adopted formally in 1781, a failure. The present Constitution was framed, and, after a long struggle, was adopted, and became the supreme law of the land, in 1789. The Constitution is a compromise between two conflicting principles of government ; one holding to the idea of a strong central government, with little power left to the states, the other favored giving most of the power to individual states, leaving only a limited, delegated power to the general government. Neither extreme was satisfied with the Constitution as adopted. Neither was probably right, as it has proven a most happy compromise on the balance of power between the overshadowing, dangerous centralization of power on one hand, and the discord and weakness arising from too much authority in the hands of individual states, on the other. Since the adoption of the Constitution there have been two classes, one favoring a strong central government, the other advocating state rights. The idea that a state could nullify a United States' law, or leave the Union if it so desired, was not confined to the South. But it became a more fixed doctrine in that section through the teachings of John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. This state attempted in 1832 to nullify the United States' law in regard to tariff. This doctrine of secession might have remained through all time a mere theory of government, had not the overshadowing question of slavery brought it into prominence. But the Constitution compromised also on the subject of slavery. This was not so fortunate as the other compromise, though probably necessary in order to establish the present government. The Constitution could not have been adopted had not concessions been made by both parties.

As an indication of the sensitiveness on the subject of slavery at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, the word slave does not appear in it until used in the Xlllth amendment, which abolishes slavery in the United States. ''Persons held to service or labor" is the term used.

The framers of the Constitution hoped and expected that slavery as an institution would die a natural death.

Conditions Favorable to Slave Labor. — The climate, soil, and products of the South made large estates and slave labor more profitable than in other parts of the country. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, in 1793, was another aid in the same line. Before this invention it was a slow, tedious process to separate the seed from the cotton wool, and slave labor, as a result of this invention, became more than ever valuable.

From this time until the close of the civil war, the question of the extension of slavery in the Union became a subject of strife. The struggles occurred whenever a new state was to be admitted to the Union, or a new territory added to its dominion. Each section sought to obtain the balance of power. As the free states claimed no right to interfere with slavery already existing in a state, the conflict was necessarily over the admission of new states and the growth of territory.

The Missouri Compromise. — At the close of the Revolutionary war, the Mississippi River was the western boundary of the United States, but Spain held the mouth of this river. Slavery had been excluded from the North West Territory, but permitted south of the Ohio River. In 1800, Spain ceded that vast territory lying directly west of the Mississippi River, known as Louisiana, to France.

In 1803 the United States bought this territory of France for $15,000,000. In 1812 Louisiana, a part of this purchase, lying at the mouth of the river, entered the Union as a slave state. When in 1819 Missouri applied for admission into the Union as a slave state, the anti-slavery people objected. The difficulty was settled by the "Missouri Compromise." By this bill Missouri was admitted as a slave state, but slavery was to be forever excluded from the territory north of 36'' — 30', the southern line of Missouri. A glance at the map will show that at that time most of the territory was north of this line. This appeared to be much in favor of the North. But more territory was to be added to tlie constantly increasing possessions of the nation, causing great disturbance to its peace.

Mexican War. — In 1845 Texas, having previously gained its independence of Mexico, applied for admission to the Union. The North opposed this for two reasons : it would result in war with Mexico and add more slave states to the Union. Texas was admitted, and in consequence came the Mexican war. As a result of this war, the United States acquired all that large territory west of the Rocky Mountains and south of Oregon. By a treaty with England in 1846, the disputed tract of Oregon and Washington became a part of the United States. When in 1850 California applied for admission as a free state, the old slavery question again appeared.

As a compromise different bills were passed covering the following propositions :

1. California was admitted as a free state.

2. Utah and New Mexico were organized as territories with the privilege of admission as free or slave states as each might choose.

3. Texas boundary line was established.

4. The ''Fugitive Slave Law" was passed.

5. An act providing for the suppression of slave trade in the District of Columbia was passed. The Fugitive Slave Law aroused much bitterness of feeling in the North. This agitation showed its determination in large conventions of the indignant people of the North, and in the aid given to slaves escaping from bondage. From this time the bitterness of feeling between the North and the South grew in intensity. In 1854 Senator Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, introduced a bill to organize Kansas and Nebraska into territories, and to permit the slave-holder to take his slaves there. This bill became a law, thus practically repealing the '' Missouri Compromise," as some of these territories lay north of 36° — 30'.

EXERCISE ON MAP I.

TERRITORIAL GROWTH.

Name the thirteen original states.

There are now sixteen occupying the same territory.

Name the other three.

Why and when was each separated from the original state ?

What was the western boundary of the United States at the close of the Revolution ?

What states were carved out of the North West territory ?

What state claimed Kentucky, and why ? Tennessee, and why ? Mississippi, and why ? Alabama, and why ?

Why did Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts claim a part of the North West territory ?

(A suggestion : Trace the north and the south boundaries of each of these states, to see where they strike the North West territory.)

Give account of the Louisiana purchase.

How many states have been formed from the Louisiana purchase?

Are there any territories yet remaining in this purchase ?

From whom, and when was Florida purchased ?

How and when did Texas become a part of the Union ?

How and when did the Oregon country become a part of the Union ?

What was the result of the annexation of Texas ?

What states and territories are included in the territory obtained from Mexico as a result of the Mexican war ?

Trace the Missouri Compromise line.

What was the real '' Mason and Dixon's line" ?

Why was the boundary between the free and the slave states afterward called the Mason and Dixon's line?

The RepuUicoin Party. — A new party, the Republican by name, was organized, based upon the principle of opposition to the extension of slavery. In the Presidential election of 1856, in which John C Fremont was the Republican candidate, and James Buchanan the Democratic nominee, the subject of slavery was, for the first time, made an issue between the opposing parties.

By the Dred Scott decision the ''Missouri Compromise" was declared unconstitutional, that slaves could be held in any territory ; and that slave owners could take their slaves into any state in the Union without losing their right of property in such persons.

Kansas Troubles. — As by the Kansas-Nebraska bill these territories were open to slavery if the inhabitants should so decide, free-soil men from the North flocked to settle Kansas and thus vote out slavery. The South also sent its representatives and war raged between the free-soil and pro-slavery settlers.

Both presidents, Pierce and Buchanan, took the part of the pro-slavery party in Kansas ; but the final result was that Kansas came into the Union as a free state. The Kansas struggle was but the picket firing preluding the great national strife.

The Sumner Outrage. — In May, 1856, Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, made a two-days' speech in the senate on what he called the ''Crime against Kansas." This great effort so aroused the anger of the pro-slavery members and the South in general, that two days after the speech, as Mr. Sumner was quietly writing at his desk in the senate chamber, he was attacked by Preston S. Brooks, a member of the House from South Carolina, and nephew of Mr. Butler of the same state, to whom Mr. Sumner alluded when he said : "He cannot open his mouth, but out flies a blunder." The attack was so sudden that before Mr. Sumner could rise from his desk, and before his friends could come to his rescue, he became unconscious from the heavy blows upon his head, inflicted by the cane in the hands of Mr. Brooks.

The effect of this cowardly and brutal assault was to intensify the bitterness already existing between the North and the South ; at the

North Mr. Sumner was defended, and resolutions and indignation meetings denouncing Mr. Brooks's action were of common occurrence.

Thus the Sumner assault became a factor in the great slavery contest of the nation.

John Brown. — Another event had a like eflPect upon the feelings of the people. John Brown, one of the Kansas anti-slavery settlers, conceived the idea of immediate freedom of the slaves, and gathering a small company of both black and white men, attacked the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry. Most of his associates were killed or imprisoned, and he was captured, tried and hung by the authority of the State of Virginia. John Brown's act was generally condemned by the people of the North as well as the South, though a few considered him a martyr to freedom. Afterwards, in commemoration of the spirit of the act, the soldiers' rallying song, " John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave, but his soul goes marching on," became famous.

Republican Party. — There had always been an anti-slavery element in both the Whig and the Democratic parties, but the Republican party was the first to declare openly against the extension of slavery. The Democratic party became the pro-slavery party. When in 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President the South was ripe for secession. By the long struggle outlined in the preceding pages, the South had become so frenzied in its opposition to the sentiments of the North, and the infringement upon what it considered its rights, that it was ready to follow its most extreme leaders, and the result was secession and luar.

Chapter II. How The Army Was Organized

As we are to study a great war, it is well to know something of the organization of the army, the terms used, and the difficulties to be overcome. The Company is the smallest organized unit of the army. A Captain and two Lieutenants are the commissioned officers of the company. Ten or twelve companies form a regiment. A Colonel, a Lieutenant-Colonel, and a Major constitute the officers of a regiment. The regiment is a kind of family. To be awav from the regiment meant to the soldier to be absent from home. From three to five regiments were placed in a brigade, with either a Brigadier-General or a Colonel commanding. From two to four brigades constituted a division, commanded either by a Major-General or a senior Brigadier- General. Usually three divisions formed a corps, commanded by a Major-General.

The army was not divided into corps at the beginning of the war, but as it grew in number it became necessary in order to skilfully handle so large a body of men.

Divisions of the Army. —

Army Commander Senior Major-General.

Corps " Major-General.

Division " Junior Major-General.

Brigade " Brigadier-General.

Regiment " Colonel.

Company " . Captain.

Needs of an Army. — An army must be fed, clothed, and sheltered as far as possible. It must have arms and ammunition. Its sick and wounded must be cared for. At the head of each department, corresponding to these needs, is an officer whose duty it is to see that the men of his command are supplied with what is necessary in his department. The Quartermaster and Commissary supply the bodily needs of the men ; the Ordnance officer, the arms and ammunition ; and the Medical department cares for the sick and the wounded. The heads of these departments compose a part of the staff of the commanding officer.

The staff are the assistants of the commanding officer. Each has his special duties to perform. Each is held responsible for the successful execution of his specific duty.

Difficulties in Supplying an Army. — A Union or a Confederate army rarely numbered less than forty thousand men. The Army of the Potomac several times exceeded 100,000 men. It is a very difficult task to supply and manipulate so large a number of men, and at the same time to move against an enemy ever ready to defeat and destroy. Not only the men, but a vast number of animals, must be cared for. It would take at least' 4,000 six-horse teams to supply an army of 100,000 men but a short distance from its "base." Besides these, the horses of the officers, artillery, and cavalry, and a long train of ambulances for the sick and wounded, must be included. These facts must be kept in mind if we would fully realize the difficulty in handling a large army. In order to be supplied, such vast bodies of men must move along navigable rivers or along railroads. The ordinary wagon train can supply an army but a few miles from its base of supplies. A knowledge of these things will make quite clear many facts of history.

Napoleon lost his great army of nearly half a million men in the Russian snows because he had moved so far away from his base of supplies. When the Russians burned Moscow, he had neither shelter nor food for his army. It will be remembered that the valleys of Lake Champlain and the Hudson river were of great importance in all the intercolonial wars, as well as in our two wars with England. Before the time of railroads these navigable waters formed the only highw^ay by which armies could march to and fro and be supplied. The difficulty in passing that little strip of land between Lake

Champlain and the Hudson river caused the overthrow and surrender of General Burgoyne.

Home Life of a Soldier. — Does a soldier have a home ? Yes, or something that takes its place. He must have a place where he can eat, rest and sleep. He must have a social life. Even amidst the constant danger and the tedious duties of camp, his is not necessarily a gloomy life. A tin plate, a tin cup, a case-knife, and a part ownership in a frying pan and kettle comprised his kitchen utensils. When the bacon fries and the coffee boils — real coffee, which the northern housewife vainly tried to imitate by the substitution of parched wheat and barley during war times — he transfers his meal from the rail fire to the table of his invention or discovery, and eats with an appetite born of labor and exposure. His dwelling house consisted of a half ownership in what " the boys " called a " dog tent," which was made from two pieces of cloth about six feet square, buttoned together, and drawn over a horizontal stick which rested on the crotched ends of two perpendicular sticks about three or four feet high. At the open end he built his fire, and dividing his house into compartments, he makes his bed of knapsack and blanket, and with his feet to the fire, sleeps the sleep of the weary. When on the march, through sun, or rain, or snow — snail like — he carries his house and furniture with him.

Much of the time the soldiers had insufficient food, and that not of a proper kind. When in camp it was often a puzzle to know how to occupy the time. Story-telling, whittling, games of all kinds, writing, reading, whenever reading matter was to be obtained, were the chief occupations, varied by mending and a little washing occasionally.

The real home was an experience of the past, or known only in the dreams of night.

Preparations for War. — At the fall of Fort Sumter the Northern people realized that war was upon them — a dread reality. Before this they could not believe that the South would resort to so extreme measures. Neither section understood the other. The impetuous South believed that the Northern people were lacking in chivalry, and would not fight ; but beneath their apparent stoicism burned the fires of patriotic zeal. Many of the Northern people did not favor coercing the South, and did not believe that it could be compelled by force to remain in the Union. " Let the erring sisters go " was their advice.