The Civil War: A Military History
The full story behind America's bloody conflict against itself.
Of all of history’s wars, almost none have been as bloody and bitter as the American Civil War. It was primarily fought over the question of slavery. Beyond this, the war decisively settled many other issues regarding states’ rights, including secession and nullification of federal law.
State sovereignty
Before the American Revolution, the Thirteen Colonies were autonomous entities, administered by locally elected councils and a royal government. The Colonies were all very different from each other, in terms of culture and religion. Anglicans resided in the Deep South, while Puritans dominated New England.
All of these disparate Colonies were loosely united by their common resentment of London’s rule. In 1774, each Colony sent delegates to a Continental Congress, in order to pose a united front against the British government. After the British were expelled, the American Colonies still found themselves very aversive to the idea of any centralized government. They did not initially accept the authority of Congress.
At first, the newly founded United States was governed by the decentralized Articles of Confederation. Recognizing the independence of the states, it established a weak central government, which was primarily responsible for foreign policy. But in short time, the weak national regime proved to be too unstable and impractical. So a much stronger national government was created, which received new powers to regulate domestic issues as well. One of those issues would be slavery.
North-South divide
As European immigrants flooded into the ports of Boston and New York, the American North found itself a cheap source of labor. Even during the Civil War, the North received a large number of immigrants. This proved to be vital to the Union’s war effort. Entire German-speaking regiments were organized, and they deployed European-style military tactics on the battlefield. Many Irish and Scottish people also served on the North’s behalf. Many of these immigrants did not see themselves as primarily Americans, but it didn’t affect the war effort.
Meanwhile, the South’s economy was dominated by its black slave labor. Blacks were brutally forced to work on cotton and tobacco plantations. Others toiled in small farms, towns, and even in factories.
The North’s calls to abolish slavery were met with resistance by the slave-owning South. Beyond the morality, many Southerners had practical concerns about the abolition of slavery. Getting rid of slavery would starve the South of its labor force.
With the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the South knew that the abolition of slavery was imminent. Their economic ruin was inevitable. So they made a last-ditch effort to simply secede from the Union. Invoking the ideas of the American Revolution, the Southerners saw themselves as breaking off from a tyrannical centralized regime. As more and more Southern states left the Union, a civil war appeared unavoidable.
Although the Articles of Confederation would have allowed the South to secede, the Constitution did not. The Constitution required the states to remain in an indissoluble Union. But the Southern Rebels rejected this interpretation of federal law. They founded a Confederate government to oppose the Federal government in Washington.
“And the war came”
On April 12, 1861, the war began when the Rebels fired on the Federal Fort Sumter. In anticipation of civil war, both sides had already been amassing troops. Everyone involved had expected the outbreak of violence within a matter of weeks. The two rival capitals, Washington and Richmond, were less than a hundred miles apart. It was a battle for the nation, both literally and figuratively. The two sides hoped that a quick battle would be sufficient to resolve the issue.
On July 19, General Irwin McDowell moved southward with 38,000 Union troops. He assaulted General Beauregard at Bull Run. McDowell believed that his enthusiastic Union troops outnumbered the Confederates two to one. But 12,000 Rebel reinforcements were hauled in by train during the battle. Bull Run ended in a catastrophic defeat for the Northern forces. It became haunting clear that the civil war would be a bloody, protracted conflict.
Both sides organized more and more troops. The war quickly escalated out of control. President Lincoln had initially asked for volunteers for a mere 90 days. Now, he began to ask for three-year enlistments.
Professional soldiers
Very few forces on either side were professional soldiers. For the most part, the US Army remained loyal to the federal government. However, the Army was very small. Most of it was peppered across the Western frontier, or in coastal forts. This meant that most troops were either new recruits, state militiamen, or else came from volunteer companies. Training those fresh troops took a very long time. Some officers served in the Mexican War nearly twenty years before. But other than that, no one had much real experience in combat. So the troops had to rely heavily on the speculation of military theorists.
When the United States was first founded, most American troops were trained and organized according to the drill books and tactical doctrines of Great Britain. But with the influx of European volunteers for the Union’s crusade, French military tactics were introduced. This was especially true after the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon was a widely beloved figure in the United States. Many US troops imitated Bonaparte’s famous hand-in-coat pose. They voraciously consumed books about Napoleon’s grand strategies and tactics. Clausewitz was an esteemed source in this matter.
Industrial warfare
But a lot had changed since Napoleon’s tragic downfall at Waterloo. Technology had taken quantum leaps. The spread of railways increased the mobility of the military. This lesson was learned the hard way by the Union at Bull Run. The invention of the telegraph accelerated the speed of communications.
Firearms had undergone a radical transformation, and were virtually unrecognizable from the early part of the century. In the Napoleonic days, most infantry were equipped with flintlock muskets. Shots were fired at an underwhelming speed of one to four shots, and they were very inaccurate. Infantry tended to fight shoulder-to-shoulder, or else by coalescing into dense columns. Those tactics had been used, to great success, by the American Army against Mexico.
Little did the Americans of either side know, the introduction of the percussion system would revolutionize firepower. It became much faster to load up a gun. It reduced the number of misfires. Barrels began to be rifled, which made the bullets more stable and accurate. Thanks to those improvements in firepower, rifles now became a common feature of warfare. In the Crimean War, the British were able to inflict casualties against the Russians at distances unheard of before.
So when the two sides of the American Civil War fought in traditional infantry formations, but using rapid-firing rifles, it resulted in a ghastly bloodletting. Fighting at close range was no longer possible, it was quickly learned. Casualties were prohibitively high. Charges on open ground could no longer be used. So formations became looser.
Trench warfare
As the Civil War progressed, many troops resorted to digging into trenches to avoid the relentless barrage of artillery. Because of this, the Civil War better resembled the brutal trench warfare of World War One than it did the old Napoleonic Wars.
Trench warfare was easily one of the most groundbreaking developments of the Civil War, from a military historical perspective. At first, US troops dug simple rifle pits, which were only big enough to fit a single soldier. But Robert E. Lee, who had been trained as an engineer, developed much more elaborate fortifications to protect against rifle fire.
Trenches posed a massive threat to the Union cause. Northern forces made a futile attempt to storm the entrenched fortifications at the ill-fated Battle of Fredericksburg. General Ulysses S. Grant was able to outmaneuver the trenches by sniffing out open flanks. Grant learned that siege warfare was the only way to break the stalemate of the trenches. These outcomes are very similar to what happened in World War One about 50 years later.
Theaters
In the spring of 1862, warfare broke out all across America. But the major operations only took place in two theaters of war.
In the East was the Army of the Potomac, led by General George McClellan. McClellan and his Union forces faced off against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
In the West, General Grant pushed along the Tennessee River toward the Rebels in Mississippi.
Ulysses
Ulysses S. Grant, named after a Homeric hero, certainly possessed the grandiosity of his namesake. However, his appearance was much less remarkable than his achievements. He had cold blue eyes, and a gruff masculine square jaw, which was covered by a messy light brown beard. His unkempt facial hair matched the untidiness and informality of his uniform. But the shabby, liquor-guzzling Ulysses enjoyed the full confidence of President Lincoln. When the press expressed skepticism about Grant, Lincoln replied, “He fights.”
In February of 1862, General Grant assaulted two vital positions near Nashville. Those were Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. When the Confederates at Donelson asked for peace terms, the no-nonsense general barked, “No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” The Rebels took him at his word, and 14,000 men promptly laid down their arms. Because of this, he earned the nickname Unconditional Grant. Nashville fell shortly afterward.
In response to Grant’s successes, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston launched a last-ditch surprise assault on Grant’s men at Shiloh on April 6. Against all expectations, Grant managed to hold off the enemy long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Johnston was killed in the process. The next day, Grant launched a counter-attack of his own, which forced the Rebels into retreat.
McClellan
Meanwhile in the East, McClellan assembled 180,000 men to oppose the 50,000 Rebels defending Richmond. But for some reason, the Union general wrongly believed he was outnumbered three to one. It required President Lincoln’s personal intervention to convince him to move southward.
Still unwilling to mount a direct attack on Confederate strongholds, McClellan swung his army around Richmond to assault from the southeast. He moved up the peninsula between York River and James River. Initially, he made some good progress. Confederate counterattacks were weak and poorly coordinated, even after the formidable Robert E. Lee took command. But the overly cautious McClellan failed to exploit this success.
On July 1, 1862, Lee assaulted McClellan’s forces at Malvern Hill. Although Little Napoleon managed to repulse Lee’s men, he made a terrible decision not to launch a counterattack. Instead, he sheepishly made his own retreat. This failure allowed Lee to move up his men by train to assault the Union capital at Washington. After crushing Union troops at a second Battle of Bull Run, Lee followed up his victory with an invasion of the North.
On September 17, Lee again confronted McClellan near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Lee was again outnumbered. Having been trained as an engineer, he decided to dig trenches along the Antietam Creek, where he awaited an inevitable Union assault. For much of the day, Union General Ambrose Burnside made vain attempts to push his men over a narrow bridge. His losses were both unnecessary and costly. When reinforcements arrived, the Creek was shallow enough to be forted. Finally, the Union appeared to be the winners of the battle. But McClellan again refused to attack, fearing a dry-up of his reserves. This enabled a Confederate counterattack, which pushed the Northerners back again. Lee had won the battle, but both sides lost over 12,000 men. It was the bloodiest day of the whole war. Lee’s Confederate Army was so weakened, that he had to abandon his offensive against the North and retreat back to Virginia.
Crusade for liberty
Following the victory at Antietam, President Lincoln seized the opportunity to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. Taking effect on January 1, 1863, the Proclamation radically redefined the war’s goals. It was no longer a fight to save the Union. Now, it was a fight to free the slaves. Lincoln’s Proclamation of freedom was an excellent military move. Immediately, it dashed Richmond’s hopes of receiving any foreign assistance, since most of the Western world had already abolished slavery. Despite its desire for American cotton, Great Britain refused to intervene on behalf of slavery. The British chose to stay out of the war entirely.
With the destruction of slavery as an explicit wartime goal, the Confederacy abandoned all hopes of a negotiated settlement. A Union victory would mean economic disaster and social transformation. For the obstinate Rebels, it would have to be a war to the death.
War of attrition
The year of 1863 was very encouraging for the Rebel South. McClellan was reluctant to hunt down Lee, forcing a frustrated Lincoln to replace him with Ambrose Burnside. But the change did not help.
Burnside led wave after wave of suicidal frontal assaults on Confederate strongholds at Fredericksburg on December 13. No fewer than 12,500 Union solders were killed or wounded. Not a single yard of ground was gained, despite the bloodshed. Burnside’s miserable missions ended at Rappahannock River, and he was replaced by General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker.
As the new commander of the Potomac Army, Hooker planned a two-pronged assault on Lee at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. But Hooker lost his nerve and, despite his numerical superiority, stayed on the defensive. He was badly beaten as a result.
By the middle of May, Hooker was still stuck behind the Rappahannock River, having already lost 17,000 men. Once again, Lee followed up his victory with an invasion of the North. The Confederacy knew that it was incapable of winning a purely defensive war. So the South’s only hope was to decisively strike at Washington, hoping to gain some concessions.
Lee strikes
First, Lee crossed into the Shenandoah Valley, hoping to outflank the Union forces. He proceeded to invade into Pennsylvania. Little did he know, the Potomac Army, this time led by General George Meade, was closing in for the kill. What ensued was the fateful Battle of Gettysburg. Meade managed to hold back Lee’s attack. He did not follow it up with a counterattack. Regardless, Lee fell back into retreat on the Fourth of July.
That same day as Gettysburg, on the Fourth of July of 1863, Grant had captured Vicksburg in the Western theater. This meant that the entire Mississippi River was now in Union hands, splitting the Confederacy in half. The Union Navy imposed a naval blockade, which began a long process of strangling the South to death.
On July 9, Lee’s calvary suffered a surprise attack at Brandy Station. It was the largest calvary battle of the war. Although it ended in a draw, it shattered the myth of Confederate invincibility.
Death to Richmond
Grant’s seemingly endless string of successes won him command of all Union forces by March of 1864. Lincoln had full confidence in Grant. Unlike his previous generals, the commander-in-chief did not feel the need to meddle in his plans.
Grant faced a number of ambushes from Confederate forces. Instead of retreating, he boldly attempted to outflank them. By June, the Union Army led a full-scale assault against the Rebels at Cold Harbor. Within less than an hour, Grant lost seven thousand men. So he promptly broke off his plans.
But Grant was far from done. On June 12, covered by General Sheridan’s diversionary raid, Ulysses slipped past Confederate lines. He unleashed his fury on Petersburg, which was part of the same defensive network as the Confederate capital at Richmond.
Grant prepared for a brutal siege. It was time for trench warfare. As Grant tightened his chokehold on the Confederates, Rebel General Jubal Early made a vain attempt to distract the Union troops with an invasion of Maryland. For a time, Washington was threatened. Sheridan’s cavalry raced northward to defend the capital.
Meanwhile, in the West, General William Tecumseh Sherman made steady progress. Atlanta fell to Union troops by early September. He then began his famous March to the Sea. Central Georgia was ravaged in the process, cutting off vital supplies to the Confederacy. Hunger abounded in Richmond. Sherman continued to make gains, as he threateningly encircled the Rebel capital. By the end of October, only a single supply route, the South Side Railroad, was left unscathed.
Surrender of Lee
At the dawn of 1865, General Lee’s position grew increasingly desperate. He had only 60,000 men left to hold down the 37 miles of trenches around Richmond and Petersburg. Despite being starved out, the Rebels were ready to fight to the death. They beat back a Union invasion in February.
Still, Lee knew that his position was rapidly becoming indefensible. But he continued to fight. On March 25, he seized Fort Stedman in an attempt to widen the narrow corridor still open to the South. Union forces retook it, and followed up by conquering more forts. On April 1, Sheridan led a fearsome assault on the Confederates, whose resistance collapsed.
The war was nearing a Union triumph. Lee hoped to escape and regroup with Confederates in North Carolina, but Grant hunted him down aggressively. With only 30,000 starving troops left at his disposal, General Lee finally asked for an armistice. On April 9, Grant accepted the unconditional surrender of Lee’s forces at the Appomattox Courthouse. A week after, Lincoln was assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer.
Lost Cause
Over the course of four bloody years, about 700,000 men were killed or wounded. The South was left in ruins. The war might have been even bloodier had it gone on. Historians wonder why the Confederate resistance crumbled so quickly.
Contrary to his mythos, Lee was not as gifted a general as one might think. His actual wartime record falls very short of this carefully crafted persona. Much of Lee’s image was cultivated by his supporters. They liked Lee for his Southern style, and his charming gentlemanly polish. Lee represented the idealized version of a Confederate fighter, not necessarily the reality.
Lee did have some experience from the Mexican War, and he deployed his engineering skills to great effect when building defenses at Fredericksburg. He was also a charismatic leader, capable of rallying the troops. But he was ineffective during his offensive campaigns, and was unable to control his subordinates.
Lee’s legendary status remains the bleeding heart of the Lost Cause mythology. Pro-Southern historians simply refused to accept that Lee had been defeated so decisively. They inaccurately insisted that the South might have won with better guns or numbers. But this is not true. Usually, the Southerners matched their Union counterparts on the battlefield. Especially near the end of the war, Lee was defeated by Grant again and again.
But beyond Lee’s personal performance, none can deny that the Confederacy was thoroughly defeated. States that were sympathetic to the South were very reluctant to incur the ire of Washington. This kept the Rebels isolated, and ensured the triumph of Lincoln and the colorblind liberty he represented.
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