Andersonville was a Southern prison for captured Union troops. They Union troops were treated horribly. At Andersonville the soldiers lacked life's basic necessities. The majority of the soldiers didn't have shelters. This resulted in the creation of "shebangs". A "shebang" is a shed that the soldiers built for shelters. Everything in the prison was divided into rations. Not everybody in the prison got what they needed. In the prison, 35,000 people were confined there. By summer, half of the population was dead. The soldiers were given rations cooked one day and raw the other. The soldiers hustled and smuggled required items around the prison. Many of the soldiers had to cook their rations. They were also forced to work. This prison was in fact, in-humane. After the war, the founder of prison was charged for his crimes and executed by hanging.
At this moment in the Civil War the war was in the Unions favor. Even though the war was in their favor, they had to make their next move. Their next move was to attack Atlanta. Atlanta was a symbol of Southern pride, if it was destroyed it would be a major blow to the South. Atlanta matter so much because it was one of the few cities still holding itself together since the war started. Atlanta's capture was crucial for two reasons: to ensure Lincoln's re-election and to increase northern support. The Confederacy were having problems at the time though. General Lee was forced to replace General Johnston because he was not aggressive enough. This was the Atlanta Campaign. When Sherman captured Savannah, he offered it as a Christmas gift to Lincoln.Sherman's march to sea was different though. After they captured Atlanta they decided to march to South Carolina. This march was very risky because Sherman had no way of communication to Lincoln and the fear of running out of food. Sherman had a policy of destruction that was meant to make the Georgians weary: hard war, total war, and scorched earth. Sherman wanted to break the Southerners spirits. During the march the Union army marched past many plantations. They were very friendly to the former slaves and asked them to join the march with them. Sherman was unsure about this because he did not want the former slaves to eat up his soldiers food. Sherman saw nothing wrong with slavery. But he set his personal affairs aside and helped them.
In 1863, the first major battle was fought in Georgia - Chickamauga and Chattanooga. At Chickamauga and Chattanooga, the Union's goal was to lure the Confederacy to Chickamauga, then strike them from there. The Union did lure the Confederacy out but ended up being trapped in Chickamauga until Union General Grant could open up a supply line. Chattanooga became a supply hub for the Atlanta Campaign. The Union then retreated to Chattanooga. The retreat for the Union was actually a good thing.The Confederacy decided not to pursue to retreating Union troops. The battle ended up with 20,000 Confederate casualties and 16,000 Union casualties. The Union, after some time, decided to blockade Georgia's coast with their navy. This hurt the Confederacy because this made it unable for them to export cotton and import needed goods. Lee decided not to waste troops on the navy and use them more wisely. The Mass. 54th regiment raided and destroyed the town of Darien in 1863. They did this right before their suicidal raid at Ft. Wagner in South Carolina. The regiment lost about half of their regiment. The were either killed, injured or captured.
In 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg took place. It was believed to be the turning point of The Civl War. General Lee had the same hopes as he did at Antietam at The Battle of Gettysburg. He wished to get recognition from foreign countries such as Great Britain and France. General Lee also wanted help from the Copperheads. The Copperheads were a group of people that did not like the Union,but they did not work with the Confederacy's government either. The Battle ended up a loss for the Confederacy. The Union managed to take control of the Mississippi River splitting the Confederacy in half. Lee's forces retreated to Virginia. The war resulted in the Confederacy loosing one-third of their troops and all together resulted in over 50,000 casualties. This battle definitely turned the Civil War in the Unions favor.
On September 17, 1862, the Battle of Antietam took place. Confederate General Lee wanted the Confederacy to be recognized as a country. To do this, General Lee invaded the North. Union General McClellan had the advantage of knowing Lee's plan because it was dropped by one of his officers. The Union Army intercepted the Confederates at Antietam Creek. During this war there were over 22,000 casualties. Things were not looking well for the Confederacy. Lee's army retreated to Virginia. This was McClellan's chance to end the war and destroy them while they were retreating. He did not do this because his troops were exhausted and saw no point in wasting troops. The battle was technically a draw, but Lincoln thought of it as a victory because the South did not get recognized. Since Lincoln felt so good about Antietam, he felt comfortable enough to pass the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation was a law banning slavery.The Emancipation was put into action January 1,1863. The Emancipation did go into action immediately though. Lincoln had many border states that based their economy on slavery, which Lincoln needed - Border States. There were also laws protecting slavery so the Emancipation was put on hold. Many Northerners acted prejudice against blacks. The final reason the Emancipation did go into action immediately was because premature action may be overturned in Lincoln's next election.
Fort Sumter was the first official battle of the Civil War. The Union contained forts in South Carolina, a state that seceded from the Union. One of those forts was Fort Sumter. It is located in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Lincoln sent food to troops at the fort. This was the South's opportunity to either end the war and let the food pass or attack the convoy of food. The South decided to attack the convoy and Battle at Fort Sumter...took place. The Battle at Fort Sumter was significant because it was the South's chance to end what they had started. Bull Run was the second official battle of the Civil War. At Bull Run, the Union underestimated the Confederacy. They thought they were going to have any easy win, so they allowed civilians to bring their families and have picnics on the battlefield. They Union was obviously over confident. The battle was fought and the favor was in the North's favor. That is until General "Stonewall" Jackson showed up. General Jackson was a Confederate general who brought reinforcements for the Confederacy at Bull Run. He obtained his nickname because no one was able to get past his troops, resulting in a Confederate Victory.
The Union and the Confederacy were different in many ways. They also had different strengths and weaknesses. The Union had many strengths though. They contained a larger population of twenty-two million free citizens. The Union also had a very diverse economy. Many people in the Union did not just work in factories, many also even grew food of their own. The factories made military supplies for Union Army, making any needed resources available to them. The Union also had many railroads. These railroads made it easier for the Union to transport troops and supplies. The Union contain a strong navy as well. Now all these strengths may seem good, the Union did have weaknesses. They Union had to conquer a large amount of land, which is difficult. The Union also had to conquer foreign land. The Confederate strengths were that they had to defend. This was any advantage because they do not have to waste troops on meaningless attacks. The Confederate soldiers were also very skilled. Another strength for the Confederacy was that they had former officers in the U.S. Army with military experience. Some Confederate weaknesses were that they had few factories making it difficult to produce weapons. They also did not have many railroads making it harder to travel and transport troops and supplies.
In 1861, Georgia decided to secede from the Union as South Carolina did. But there were two types of people in Georgia - Secessionist and Cooperationists. The Secessionist wanted to leave the Union and join the South. The Cooperationist on the other hand wanted to stay with the Union. The two sides agreed on an official vote. The vote favored in secession, but was not unanimous in other states. Alexander Stephens was a Georgian Politician. He was not sure about the secession at first. He also supported the Compromise of 1850 as long as the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. After some deep thinking, he soon realized that secession was unavoidable. Later on, he was soon chosen to be the Vice President of the Confederacy.
In 1857, a slaves named Dred Scott was discriminated against. Dred Scott, a slave, had lived in free states more than several years. When he attempted to sue for his freedom, he was not allowed to because he was not a legal citizen. Since he was not a citizen, he was not allowed to sue anyone in court. Abolitionist did not take this lightly, they were enraged because blacks were not allowed to become citizens. Pro-Slavery Southerners were also angered about this act of discrimination. Three years later in the year 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as president of the United States. His election confused many states because he was not on the ballet for ten states. After one year of presidency, South Carolina confesses that they do not like the way Lincoln runs the government. Due to this the South secede from the Union.
Kansas and Nebraska needed to be admitted as a free and slave state. The Confederacy suggested to put the Kansas - Nebraska Act in action. Instead of one state automatically becoming a slave and free state, the states' people got to vote on weather they wanted their state to become a slave or free state. This would have either resulted in a disruption of free to slave states or it may even keep the ratio the same. This did make the Union and Confederacy unhappy. Kansas ended up becoming a free state and Nebraska as well. Even though this did uneven the the amount of free to slave states, the Confederacy could not argue against the choice of the people. This ended up in a blow to the face for the Confederacy.
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