FIGHTING THE CIVIL WAR
CSA Advantages
 7 out of 8 military colleges were in the South.
 Strong military history and tradition would favor the
Confederacy.
 Many southern soldiers were already trained to
shoot and ride horses, and would be defending their
own lands.
CSA Advantages
 Hundreds of military officers resigned from
the U.S. army to fight for the South.
 Talented Robert E. Lee had been offered
command of Union troops, but turned it
down to fight with Virginia.
CSA General Robert E. Lee
Union Strengths
 ¾ of the Navy’s officers were from the
North, and the Union controlled the seas.
 North’s population in 1860 was 22 million,
the South’s was 9 million.
 90% of the nation’s factories were in the
North.
Union Strengths
 The South had only ½ as many miles of
railroad track as the North.
 The North controlled the national treasury
and continued to gain revenue from tariffs
(taxes on trade).
Paying for the War
 Legal Tender Act – created a national currency and
allowed the federal government to issue paper
money for the first time – known as greenbacks.
 Issued to finance war, the paper money
depreciated in terms of gold and became the
subject of controversy.
 Sales of war bonds and a temporary income tax
(the first) helped pay the $4 billion cost
Greenbacks
Paying for the War
 The South had smaller banks and most planters
were in debt.
 They couldn’t raise much money from taxes on trade
because the Union Navy blockaded southern ports.
 The South resorted to taxing its citizens, but many
refused to pay.
 They printed Confederate money, but this caused
high inflation and the money became worthless (a
barrel of flour cost $1000 by war’s end.)
Obstacles/Division within the Union
 Lincoln had to deal with political
disagreement within his own
Republican party in the North.
 Lincoln’s goal to preserve
the union, even if he had to
leave slavery alone, did not satisfy
abolitionists.
Division
 War Democrats – supported the war to preserve the
Union, but opposed ending slavery.
 Peace Democrats - became known as Copperheads
because Republicans viewed them as traitors. They opposed the
war and wanted to restore the union through negotiations.
Division
 Democrats and Republicans disagreed over conscription –
the draft. Riots erupted in northern cities.
 Criticism of Lincoln’s suspension of writs of habeas corpus –
the right to be charged with a crime or be released.
 The South tried to gain support from Britain and
France. Both countries utilized southern cotton for
their textile factories.
 Confederate diplomats aboard the British ship Trent
were taken into custody by Union navy and held for
several weeks. This incident, which led to discussion
of war between the U.S. and Britain, became known
as the “Trent Affair”.
Civil War Weapons/Technology
 The telegraph made it easier for military and
political leaders to communicate, and for news
of battles to reach the public.
 The Civil War was the first modern war. Armies
had traditionally fought in long lines, facing
each other at close range. New weapons that
were more accurate at greater distances would
eventually change the way armies fought.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3VtnSSDE3g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nr4UWioC7w
Civil War Innovations
 Aerial Reconnaissance –Balloon Corps
 Rifling –putting grooves in musket barrels and
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artillery to create spin that resulted in greater
accuracy over longer distances
Minie balls –new bullett
Gatling Gun –ancestor of modern machine gun
Army ambulance corps
Naval mines and torpedoes
Ironclad warships
Submarine (rudimentary) – H. L. Hunley
Battle of the Ironclads, Hampton Roads, VA (1862)
War of Attrition
 Armies began using trenches
and barricades for protection.
 Combination of better weapons
and new strategies led to
mass casualties and the need
for greater numbers of
soldiers.
 Attrition: wearing down the
other side by exhausting their
supply of resources & men
of
Petersburg trenches
Union Strategy
 Anaconda Plan –a strategic plan proposed by
Winfield Scott to slowly strangle the South, ending
the Civil War before it had begun.
 The Union would blockade Confederate sea ports,
and send troops and gunboats down the Mississippi
River to divide the Confederacy. Once commerce was
sealed off, Southerners were expected to compel
their Secessionist leaders to “make terms.” Success
would take time, but entail less bloodshed.
Anaconda Plan
Anaconda Plan
 This diplomatic strategy was not adopted because
Union military leaders and the war-fevered press
claimed that to aggressively destroy the Confederate
armies was the only way to win the war.
 Key parts of the plan would be adopted later in
conjunction with major military offensives in the
South.
CSA Strategies
 The South was fighting a defensive war, one which
Jefferson Davis saw as similar to the American war
for independence: if the South could avoid major
losses and prolong the war, the North, like the
British, should tire of the costs of war and release
them.
 Many believed that military traditions, hunting and
rural life made southerners better fighters, and that
one dynamic victory could determine the war’s
outcome.
CSA President Jefferson Davis