Final Battles of the Civil War

Lecture 2: Key Events During the Civil War

Multiple Choice

Who was the 54th Massachusetts?

• Black American infantry regiment

• British naval fleet
• Confederate Special Forces

• important battle during the Civil War

• General James G. Blunt

" They make better soldiers in every respect than any troops I have ever had under my command. " 

Both sides used dug out fortifications to protect and conceal soldiers. Pictured here Union soldiers begin work on a trench using shovels.

Trenches

Union forces marched to Richmond. Confederate general Robert E. Lee was waiting at Fredericksburg in trenches.

Confederate Victory

General Ulysses S. Grant surrounded the Confederate city of Vicksburg and began a siege.

Union Victory

​Battle Strategies

During the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville Lee divided his forces. Some Confederates attacked main Union lines, others moved to a spot at the far end of the Union line. This flank maneuver left the Union caught between two Confederate forces.

​Battle Tatics

Word Cloud

Which Civil War tactical moves were most effective?

​The South feared that arming Black Americans would lead to a general revolt.

Excluded in the South

The North needed more soldiers to fight the Confederacy. Congress passed the Militia Act allowing the formation of all Black American regiments with white officers.

Enlisted in the North

​Key Events...Black Americans in the Civil War

In less than one year Lincoln had three different generals try and fail to lead the Union to victory.

Problems with Union Leaders

Lee was aggressive in combat. This made the smaller Confederate forces victors at the start of the war.

Robert E. Lee leads CSA

​Comparing Leadership Union and Confederate

Word Cloud

Which had the larger impact for the Union...Enlistment of Black Americans or Problems with military leadership?

• Robert E. Lee

"Create a panic and virtually destroy the [Union] army." 

​At the Battle of Gettysburg

Confederate General

​George Pickett led thousands of soldiers in an attack on the Union position at Cemetery Ridge. The attack cost half of all those who took part in the charge. The charge is known as Pickett's Charge.

​Day Three Battle Map

• Robert E. Lee

"The army did all it could. I fear I required of it impossibilities." 

​On the Battle of Gettysburg

​The survivors of Pickett's Charge meeting in 1913.

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Word Cloud

Did Robert E. Lee's aggressive style lead to the Confederate defeat during the Civil War?

-Abraham Lincoln, from the Gettysburg Address

" These dead shall not have died in vain...Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. " 

• Most of the fighting took place in the South

• Union forces used total war to destroy all the South's ability to fight

• March 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was given command of all Union armies

​

Final Battles of the Civil War

The Union wanted to cut off Florida’s supplies from the rest of the Confederacy. The Confederates won the Battle of Olustee near Jacksonville, Florida in 1864.

​Florida during the Civil War

Other Events During the Civil War

Political Events

• President Lincoln won reelection in 1864.

• In early 1865, Congress banned slavery by passing the Thirteenth Amendment.

—from U.S. Grant: Letters to W.T. Sherman Outlining Strategy for Spring 1864,
                                 by W.T. Sherman

" You I propose to move against Johnston’s army, to break it up, and to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources." 

Shermans March to the Sea

Total War

The Confederacy fought on. The Union was determined to break the South's will to continue the fight. To break this will, Sherman burned much of the city of Atlanta in November 1864. Sherman then had his troops march across Georgia toward the Atlantic, burning cities and crops as they went. This trail of destruction is known as Sherman's March to the Sea

• General Sherman burned much of Atlanta to break the South’s will. Along his March to the Sea, he burned other cities and crops.

• General Lee withdrew from Petersburg, and the Union army marched toward Richmond. Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled the city.

• Lee surrendered to General Grant in Appomattox, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.

The South Surrenders

Word Cloud

Did the Union's plan of Total War go too far in destroying the South during the Civil War?

​American Wars: Battle Deaths

Multiple Choice

What happened at the Battle of Gettysburg?

• Union victory
• Confederate victory
• Treaty signed
• battle was a draw

Multiple Choice

Why did Union General William T. Sherman launch total war against the Confederacy?

• To break the South's will to fight
• To gain control of Confederate resources
• To negotiate a peaceful resolution
• To establish a military dictatorship

Multiple Choice

Why did President Lincoln put General U.S. Grant in charge of the Union Army?

• Grant was a close friend of President Lincoln
• Grant had a proven track record of winning battles

• Grant was the only available candidate for the position
• Grant promised to end the war quickly

Multiple Choice

How did the Union and Confederate use different tactical moves to effect the outcome of major battles during the Civil War?

• The Union and Confederates both had equal numbers and resources during battles

• The Union used superior numbers and resources, while the Confederates relied on defensive tactics like entrenchments

• The Union used guerrilla warfare tactics, while the Confederates focused on traditional military strategies

• The Union and Confederates both relied on defensive tactics like entrenchments and fortifications

Multiple Choice

"I have never advocated [war] except as a means of peace."

U.S. Grant, Union War General

What word defines Grant's overall military strategy?

• resolution

• peace

• ruthlessness

• tranquil

Multiple Choice

Where did Union troops meet up with Confederate troops as they advanced west from Jacksonville?

• Battle of Olustee
• Battle of Vicksburg
• Battle of Antietam
• Battle of Gettysburg

Multiple Choice

Which Battle is identified as a Confederate victory and kept the Union from taking Florida's capital?

• Battle of Antietam
• Battle of Natural Brige

• Battle of Olustee
• Battle of Shiloh

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is true according to the map?

• Union controlled important port cities, but Confederates controlled the inland areas of Florida

• Confederates won control of the entire peninsula but the Union won battles in Mississippi's coast

• Florida was loyal to the Union during the Civil War

• Florida played no role during the Civil War and supplied food to the Union

Poll

Civil War Quiz in Friday May 3

• yes

• yes, yes

• yes, yes, yes

• no (but really yes)