Summary
Chapter 7 discusses the American Civil War from 1863 to the conclusion of the war in 1865. As 1863 began, Union and Confederate armies continued to face each other across America. Hundreds of thousands had already died from sickness and combat as armies mobilized, as would hundreds of thousands more before the Civil War ended. A combination of tactics, technology and the size the armies produced particularly lethal battles Men wounded in battle but who survived numbered hundreds of thousands more. In both the Union and the Confederacy, such horrific carnage fueled frustration and efforts to pursue military operations that would bring final victory. Non-combatants also suffered in the war’s first years, but the extent paled compared to the misery at the war’s end. Much of this stemmed from Union strategy, though Confederate weaknesses also contributed. Even before 1863, the Lincoln administration pursued means to weaken southern economic and logistical capacity with a naval blockade and by emancipating slaves. By April 1865, all these factors had so eroded southern morale as to induce Confederate capitulation.
In the American Civil War, a system of pre-existing institutions, customs and procedures created armies larger than any previously seen in the Western hemisphere. Designed to raise manpower for war with a major external enemy, northerners and southerners instead used them against each other in the most destructive war ever fought in North America. Soldiers endured a form of combat more brutal than they could have imagined, and the scale of killing scarred the American public consciousness for years thereafter. Both sides struggled to find and execute a strategy that would bring final victory. In the end, the Union pursued various means to exhaust the Confederacy and destroy southern will to keep fighting. The war preserved the United States, but its end brought other challenges, some of which would also only be resolved through conflict.
In this chapter, students will learn about the major campaigns and battle from 1863 to 1865. Central to that discussion is an attempt to understand how men and women experience the Civil War. Emphasis will be placed on how Union strategy evolved from 1863 to 1865, including naval warfare’s role in that evolution.
Glossary
“Bleeding Kansas” – Ongoing bloody and brutal guerrilla warfare between pro-slavery and abolitionist settlers in the Kansas territory between 1854 and the American Civil war that highlighted the polarizing effects of possible extension of slavery.
John Brown – A radical abolitionist who, in 1859, led a small band that briefly captured a U.S. Army armory in Harper’s Ferry in Virginia in hopes of arming slaves in a general revolt against white slave holders. He was then captured and, in facing execution for his crimes, became a martyr for the cause of ending slavery and abolitionism.
smoothbore musket- Muzzle-loaded infantry firearm that predominated from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century until the advent of the rifled barrel. The ball projectile, along with the smooth bore, lessened accuracy and limited range.
rifled musket- The infantry firearm that replaced the smoothbore musket in the mid-nineteenth century in most western militaries. With a “rifled,” or grooved barrel, the projectile exited the barrel in a uniform spin, increasing range and accuracy over the smoothbore musket.
Minié bullet (or Minié ball)- A cone-shaped lead projectile developed in the mid-nineteenth century by French officer Claude Minié. Hollow-shaped at the base, the combustion of the gunpowder expanded the base of the bullet to contact the rifling in the barrel, increasing range and accuracy.
Abraham Lincoln- (1809-1865), The sixteenth president of the United States and commander-in-chief during the American Civil War (1861-1865), assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.
Jefferson Davis- (1808-1889), Mexican-American War veteran, U.S. senator, secretary of War in the Franklin Pierce administration, and during the American Civil War the president of the Confederate States of American.
border states- American states during the Civil War that had legal slavery but remained in the Union, such as Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.
Eastern Theater- The area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean where the heaviest conventional fighting occurred during the Civil War.
Western Theater- The area between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains during the Civil War that saw relatively smaller forces engaged compared to the Eastern Theater, but where fighting was often more irregular and vicious.
Anaconda Plan- Civil War strategy developed by U.S. General Winfield Scott. In order to deny the Confederacy resources to support its war effort, the plan called for a U.S. blockade of Confederate ports along the southern coastline and controlling the Mississippi.
Shenandoah Valley- A key agricultural region in western Virginia and parts of present-day West Virginia for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)- A Civil War battle on July 21, 1861 in northern Virginia, and the largest battle in American history to that point. The first major engagement of the conflict, Union failures in coordination and execution contributed to a Confederate victory.
Confederate Conscription Act- An April 1862 law in the Confederate states that made all able-bodied men between 18-35 years old eligible for the draft during the Civil War.
Enrollment Act- A March 1863 law in the Union states during the Civil War making all able-bodied men between 20-45 years old eligible for the draft; also allowed conscripted men to hire substitutes or avoid service for a $300 fee.
bounties- Cash bonuses during the Civil War offered to men upon enlistment to stimulate volunteering.
New York City Draft Riot- The largest and most lethal draft riot in the north during the Civil War. Taking place in the summer of 1863 in New York City, Irish immigrants angry about their conscription attacked and killed dozens of black residents.
Army of the Potomac- The largest Union army during the Civil War, numbering over 100,000 men.
George B. McClellan- (1826-1885), A Civil War Union general, responsible for forming the Army of the Potomac. Supremely capable of training men, his overly cautious nature during fighting made him a less successful combat leader.
Forts Henry and Donelson- Confederate forts during the Civil War on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, respectively; captured by Federal troops in February 1862.
Don Carlos Buell- (1818-1898), Union general during the Civil War and the leader of the Army of Ohio until relieved by Lincoln in late 1862.
Henry Halleck- (1815-1872), Union general during the Civil War in the Western Theater, head of the Department of the Missouri until becoming General-in-Chief of the Army during the summer of 1862.
Ulysses S. Grant- (1822-1885), The 18th president of the United States and a Union general during the Civil War. Grant became commander of all Union armies in 1864 after a succession of ineffectual leaders. His aggressive nature and battlefield capabilities helped defeat the Confederacy.
(Union) Army of the Tennessee- Union army that operated in the Western Theater during the Civil War; commanded at different times by notable generals U.S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman.
(Union) Army of the Ohio- Union army during the Civil War made up of troops from Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.
(Confederate) Army of Mississippi- Confederate army during the Civil War that operated in the Western Theater.
Battle of Shiloh- Civil War battle between April 6-7, 1862 in south Tennessee, and one of the key engagements in the Western Theater. Smashing Confederate hopes of retaking Tennessee, the Battle of Shiloh is also notable for one of the first shockingly bloody battles of the war.
New Orleans- One of the few centers of southern industry and finance for the Confederate States during the Civil War, captured by Union forces in April 1862.
Peninsula Campaign- A five month-long offensive by Union forces in eastern Virginia during the Civil War beginning in March 1862.
Battle of Fair Oaks (Seven Pines)- Civil War battle and southern defeat from May 31 to June 1, 1862 during the Peninsula Campaign.
Robert E. Lee- (1807-1870), General and Confederate commander of the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, eventually becoming overall commander of the Confederacy’s armies. His military talents allowed the Confederates to gain victories in many of the war’s early battles against numerically superior Union forces.
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson- (1824-1863), General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and one of Robert E. Lee’s best commanders in his Army of Northern Virginia. A gifted tactician, Jackson’s abilities led to key Confederate victories throughout the war until his death in May 1863 from pneumonia.
Valley Campaign- A campaign from May-June 1862 by Confederate forces led by Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson throughout the Shenandoah Valley. Using speed, deception, and terrain, Jackson distracted Union attention and drew Federal reinforcements away from the concurrent Peninsula Campaign.
Seven Days Battles- Seven successive Civil War battles beginning on June 25, 1862 as part of the Peninsula Campaign. A strategic victory for the Confederacy because their capital of Richmond was saved and Lee’s troops captured all-important supplies and arms.
Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)- Civil War battle begun on August 28, 1862 and lasting three days, much of it on the same ground in northern Virginia as the Battle of Bull Run one year earlier. The stunning Confederate victory ultimately led to the Southern invasion of Maryland and the Battle of Antietam.
Battle of Antietam- Civil War battle in Maryland fought on September 17, 1862 as part of Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the north. The bloodiest day in American history when both side’s casualties are combined, it was a Union strategic and operational victory, since the Confederate’s invasion and bid for a negotiated settlement failed.
Nathan Bedford Forrest- (1821-1877), Confederate cavalry officer during the Civil War.
Braxton Bragg- A Confederate general during the Civil War, overall commander of the Army of Tennessee in the Western Theater. Bragg is also the namesake of the U.S. Army’s present-day Fort Bragg.
(Confederate) Army of Tennessee- The main Confederate army that operated in the Western Theater during the Civil War.
Battle of Perryville- A Civil War battle in central Kentucky on October 8, 1862. The result of a meeting engagement, Confederate troops led by Braxton Bragg retreated, ultimately ending the Confederacy’s one major offensive in the west.
contrabands- A Union term for runaway slaves. By classifying them “contraband of war,” or property seized that would benefit the enemy, Union forces were able to refuse the return of slaves to southern captivity.
Emancipation Proclamation (Preliminary & Final)- Orders given by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. The Preliminary Proclamation of September 22, 1862 stated that the U.S. government and military would recognize and maintain the freedom of the people in the rebelling states. The Final Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 stipulated the specific areas in which slaves were now free.
blockade- The denial of supplies to an enemy, such as the Union’s strategy during the Civil War to cut off Confederate trade with international partners. Most often executed with the use of ships that block water lanes, land forces can also block the transfer of materials, such as in the Berlin Blockade of 1948-49.
Ironclads- Ships covered in iron armor, typically steam-powered. First used in the Civil War by both the Union and Confederacy.
commerce raiders- Open-seas pillagers who stop and seize enemy vessels in order to disrupt commercial exchanges.
cotton diplomacy/King Cotton diplomacy- Attempts by southerner exporters during the Civil War to impose trade embargos on cotton in the belief that if cotton supplies dried up France and Britain would suffer, inducing their participation in the war on the side of the Confederacy.
William Rosecrans- (1819-1898), Union general during the Civil War who replaced Don Carlos Buell as the commander of the Army of Ohio, becoming the Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans was victorious in the Battle of Corinth and the Battle of Stones River, successes negated by the humiliating defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863.
(Union) Army of the Cumberland- A Union army in the Western Theater during the Civil War, led by William Rosecrans from what was formerly the Army of Ohio.
Battle of Fredericksburg- A Civil War battle in northeast Virginia fought between December 11-15, 1862. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia inflicted heavy losses on the Army of the Potomac as a result of the Union force’s near-suicidal frontal attacks that never reached their destinations.
Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro)- A Civil War battle in central Tennessee begun on December 31, 1862. The Confederate Army of Tennessee retreated on January 2, 1863 after suffering about a third of their number in casualties, giving the Union a much-needed victory after the disaster of Fredericksburg.
Flashcards
Annotated Bibliography
Ash, Stephen V. When the Yankees Came: Conflict and Chaos in the Occupied South, 1861–1865. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
Stephen Ash provides an overview of the Union Army’s occupation of Confederate territory during the Civil War. He examines how the experience of occupation varied by place, over time, and the different types of conflicts it could generate.
Attie, Jeanie. Patriotic Toil: Northern Women and the American Civil War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998.
Through the lens of the U.S. Sanitary Commision, Jeanie Attie scrutinizes how and why the organization of volunteer efforts among northern women raised issues and questions about the wartime constructions of class and gender roles.
Blair, William Alan. Virginia’s Private War: Feeding Body and Soul in the Confederacy, 1861–1865. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
This books brings to light the wartime attempts on the Virginian home front to provide food for its citizens and soldiers, raise manpower for the Confederate Army, and maintain good morale among the soldiers. Because so many battles occurred in this state, they slowly ground down the will and material ability of Virginians to support the Confederate war effort.
Caudill, Edward, and Paul Ashdown. Sherman’s March in Myth and Memory. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008.
This book is another contribution to the field of memory studies of the Civil War, focusing specifically on Sherman’s “March to the Sea” in late 1864. The co-authors decipher the myths about the “march” and discern groups have appropriated it to bolster the notions of the South’s “Lost Cause” on one hand, or the superiority of the North’s industrial might on the other.
Faust, Drew Gilpin. Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
A social history, Mothers of Invention examines how the Civil War changed the lives of elite Southern women. Using letters and diaries, Drew Gilpin Faust charts their reaction to the absence of men fighting with Confederate armies and other challenges posed by the war, including how it affected their sense of identity.
Faust, Drew Gilpin. The Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New York: Knopf, 2008.
The Republic of Suffering is a social history that explores how Americans grappled with the Civil War’s unprecedented scale of death. Drew Gilpin Faust examines how the war challenged pre-existing attitudes about dying, and the efforts both during and after the war to inter, record, and memorialize the dead. She notes how post-war efforts reflected an expanded role for government, and enabled former enemies to bury lingering animosities.
Gallagher, Gary W. The Confederate War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Gary W. Gallagher debunks previous ideas that ascribed Confederate defeat in the Civil War to internal weaknesses such as poor civilian morale or lack of nationalism, noting that the Union also suffered from such problems. Rather, he emphasizes contingency: how people reacted to military events and episodes. Central to his treatment of the war is Robert E. Lee. Gallagher argues Lee not only understood Southern expectations and weaknesses, but that due to his early victories (and the defeats of other Confederate commanders), he became the primary hope for Confederate victory.
Gallagher, Gary W. The Union War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011.
In this companion book to The Confederate War, Gary W. Gallagher’s The Union War challenges the notion that northerners fought the Civil War to end slavery. Rather he demonstrates their chief motivation was to preserve the integrity of the United States, and with it democracy.
Geary, James W. We Need Men: The Union Draft in the Civil War. Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1991.
James Geary carefully traces the steps that led to the Union’s passage of the Enrollment Act of 1863 that established a national draft, analyzing both its impacts and its effectiveness.
Glatthaar, Joseph T. Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000.
Forged in Battle examines the contribution made by the approximately 180,000 black soldiers towards Union victory, specifically those who served with the United States Colored Troops (USCT). These units had white officers, and Glatthaar examines their relationship with the troops. While describing the development of successful white-black relationships within USCT regiments during the war, the book also notes how soldiers faced racial prejudice afterwards, during Reconstruction.
Grimsley, Mark. The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians, 1861-65. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Challenging popular myths that depict wanton northern destruction of southern communities, particularly those surrounding Sherman’s march through Georgia, The Hard Hand of War provides a critical assessment of Union policies towards non-combatants in Confederate areas. Mark Grimsley argues that the Lincoln administration initially sought to respect civilian property, but that as the war continued and the extent of southern support for secession made itself clear, it came to adopt harsher measures. At their worst, though, Union treatment of Confederate non- combatants was not as bad as portrayed in many popular accounts of the war.
Guelzo, Allen C. Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War & Reconstruction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Fateful Lightning is a new one-volume general history of the Civil War era, similar to McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom, addressing the origins of the conflict as well as the Reconstruction era that followed it. Guelzo’s engaging narrative encompasses political, social and cultural issues, as well as treatments of military campaigns, battles, and soldiers’ experiences.
Hall, Richard H. Women on the Civil War Battlefront. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006.
Richard Hall argues the women served more often and in more roles during the Civil War than is popularly accepted. These included uniformed service in the armies as well as spying, scouting, smuggling, and nursing. Hall uses case studies of women for whom sufficient documentary evidence exists, and includes a list of some 400 who served during the Civil War.
Jenkins, Wilbert L. Climbing up to Glory: A Short History of African Americans during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2002.
In this survey, Wilbert Jenkins argues not only that the Civil War was a critical moment in African-American history but also that African Americans exercised agency, albeit limited by explicit and implicit forms of racism, during the conflict. Later in Reconstruction they faced racial violence despite working together to affect political change.
Kennett, Lee B. Marching through Georgia: The Story of Soldiers and Civilians during Sherman’s Campaign. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
Lee Kennett breaks ground by approaching Sherman’s “March to the Sea” from the bottom up, compiling the experiences of soldiers and civilians on both the Union and Confederate sides. Kennett also gives attention to slaves’ perspectives. His analysis illustrates how the campaign devastated the will and material ability of Georgians to continue to support the Confederate war effort.
Linderman, Gerald F. Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War. New York: Free Press, 1987.
Embattled Courage is one of a number of books that focus specifically on the experiences of soldiers in the Civil War. Linderman’s argument stresses the notion of courage, examining what it meant to American men prior to the war, how it shaped their attitudes towards fighting, and how their conceptions of it changed in reaction to combat experiences.
McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
After its publication, Battle Cry of Freedom became the standard one-volume work on the “era” of the Civil War. McPherson begins in the antebelleum period, examining the events, developments and issues (particularly slavery) that after many decades precipitated southern secession in 1861. The book then addresses the war itself, and finally the period of Reconstruction. McPherson deftly addresses political, diplomatic, economic and social topics, as well as providing an engaging narrative of the war’s campaigns and battles. (An alternative is his Ordeal by Fire, written more as a student textbook).
McPherson, James. Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief. New York: Penguin, 2008.
As indicated in the subtitle, McPherson’s focus is on President Abraham Lincoln’s performance as wartime commander. The book assesses his relationships with his generals, his approach to strategy and operations, and the role of political concerns in his military policies.
Mitchell, Reid. The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Reid Mitchell probes such motivations of Union soldiers to volunteer for service, such as community and family values. Because so many units contained men hailing from the same counties or towns, camaraderie helped keep them fighting despite heavy losses.
Nolan, Alan T. Lee Considered: General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991.
Alan Nolan confronts the myths surrounding the Confederate general to offer a critical assessment of Robert L. Lee and his place in history. The book analyzes Lee’s strengths and weaknesses as a strategist and army commander, but also addresses issues beyond Lee’s military capabilities, such his attitudes towards secession and slavery.
Rable, George C. Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
George Rable’s book is as much a social history as a battle history of one of the greatest and bloodiest Union defeats of the war. While discussing commanders, plans, and the course of the battle, the book gives devotes attention to the motivations, perspectives and experiences of common soldiers, both before and during the fight.
Rafuse, Ethan S. A Single Grand Victory: The First Campaign and Battle of Manassas. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2002.
Rafuse’s book does not just recount the first Union campaign and major battle of the war. It also describes attitudes and expectations prevalent on both sides when the Civil War began, examining the motivation of men who volunteered for military service.
Reardon, Carol. Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.
Reardon’s book has become a prominent example of scholarly works that assess the discrepancy between an historical event and how it is treated in popular culture. She demonstrates how, soon after the failed Confederate assault on the last day of the battle of Gettysburg, popular versions of the attack began circulating that could only be loosely corroborated by participant’s accounts. In the years that followed, other factors – such as efforts to memorialize the fallen and reconciliation – contributed to cementing an account of the assault in popular memory that to this date contains biases and factual errors.
Roberts, William H. Now for the Contest: Coastal and Oceanic Naval Operations in the Civil War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
____This book examines three types of naval campaigns: the Union blockade of Confederate ports, the Confederate raiding of Union commerce, and the Union naval assets in support of operations ashore. William Roberts offers detailed analysis of both Union and Confederate Navies, and also explores the effects of steam engines, metal armor, and increasingly powerful cannon on naval warfare and Union victories.
Royster, Charles. The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.
Charles Royster compares and contrasts the levels of destruction propagated by Sherman and Jackson during the Civil War. Royster finds that Jackson quickly embraced the devastation believed the warfare to be apocalyptic in nature and victory to be achieved only by annihilation of the enemy. In time, Sherman also recognized that defeating the Confederacy required his forces to deprive the Confederacy of the will and material capability to continue fighting.
Reid, Brian Holden. America’s Civil War: The Operational Battlefield 1861-63. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2008.
This work is the second of a trilogy: the first addresses the Civil War’s origins, and the last (as yet unpublished) will discuss the conflict after 1863. In this book Reid focuses on and assesses Civil War operations in its first three years, though he also examines politics, strategy, and tactics to better inform his treatment of campaign planning and command.
Sears, Stephen W. To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
To the Gates of Richmond offers a sweeping narrative of the Union’s greatest attempt to capture the Confederate capital. Stephen Sears presents a detailed account of plans, operations and combat, assessing the strengths and failures of commanders George McClellan, Robert E. Lee, and Joseph E. Johnston.
Shea, William L., and Terence J. Winshell. Vicksburg Is the Key: The Struggle for the Mississippi River. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003.
Shea and Winshell argue that the Union seizure of Vicksburg stood as the decisive moment in the Civil War. The Union deprived the Confederacy of the north-south route along of the Mississippi, as well as the east-west railroad arteries connecting Texas and Louisiana to the rest of the Confederacy. The resulting logistical challenges could not be overcome by the Confederates. This book analyzes the military commanders, combat operations, and tactics for both sides.
Stoker, Donald J. The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
The Grand Design recounts the war by examining the evolution of each belligerent’s strategy. Donald Stoker examines political goals and strategic options, as well as the impact of key leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E, Lee and Ulysses S. Grant.
Symonds, Craig L. The Civil War at Sea. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Craig Symonds book offers a concise overview of naval warfare during the Civil War. The Civil War at Sea discusses new technologies such as ironclads and torpedoes, the Union blockade and Confederate commerce raiders, riverine operations, and campaigns against major southern ports.
Weigley, Russell F. A Great Civil War: A Political and Military History, 1861-65. Indiana: University of Bloomington Press, 2000.
Readers who want an overview that addresses the war’s causes and outcome, or a work that gives more attention to social issues, will want to consider McPherson or Guelzo’s books mentioned above. But for those looking for a comprehensive, rigorous treatment of the Civil War’s political and military events will find no better option than Russell Weigley, who for many years was considered the dean of American military historians.
Woodworth, Steven E. Beneath a Northern Sky: A Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, 2003.
Beneath a Northern Sky offers a solid introduction to the Gettysburg campaign. Drawing upon a large body of literature, it provides a comprehensive narrative covering planning, operations, a detailed account of the three-day battle, and the Confederate retreat.
Woodworth, Steven E. Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998.
Steven Woodworth offers a brief survey of the key engagements at Chickamauga and Chattanooga during fall of 1863. He places these campaigns in context, noting they stemmed from the Union victory at Vicksburg in July 1863. Woodworth provides analyses of such military leaders as William Rosecrans and Braxton Bragg, and of such factors as terrain, transportation, and intelligence.
Expanded Bibliography
Adams, George Worthington. Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996.
Adams, Michael C. C. Our Masters the Rebels: A Speculation on Union Military Failure in the East, 1861–1865. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.
Ash, Stephen V. When the Yankees Came: Conflict and Chaos in the Occupied South, 1861–1865. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
Attie, Jeanie. Patriotic Toil: Northern Women and the American Civil War. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998.
Ayers, Edward L. In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859–1863. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003.
Beringer, Richard E., Herman Hattaway, Archer Jones, and William N. Still. Why the South Lost the Civil War. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1986.
Blair, William Alan. Virginia's Private War: Feeding Body and Soul in the Confederacy, 1861–1865. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Browning, Robert M. From Cape Charles to Cape Fear: The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1993.
Success s All That Was Expected: The South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. Washington, DC: Brassey’s, 2002.
Burton, William L. Melting Pot Soldiers: The Union’s Ethnic Regiments. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1988.
Campbell, Jaqueline Glass. When Sherman Marched North from the Sea: Resistance on the Confederate Home Front. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
Castel, Albert E. Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992.
Caudill, Edward, and Paul Ashdown. Sherman’s March in Myth and Memory. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008.
Clark, John Elwood. Railroads in the Civil War: The Impact of Management on Victory and Defeat. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2001.
Connelly, Thomas Lawrence. The Politics of Command: Factions and Ideas in Confederate Strategy. Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press. 1973.
The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society. New York: Knopf, 1977.
Cozzens, Peter. Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008.
Cunningham, O. Edward. Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862. Edited by Gary D. Joiner and Timothy B. Smith. New York: Savas Beatie, 2007.
Downs, Jim. Sick From Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Escott, Paul D. After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978.
Feis, William B. Grant's Secret Service: The Intelligence War from Belmont to Appomattox. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002.
Fellman, Michael. Inside War: The Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri during the American Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Fishel, Edwin C. The Secret War for the Union: The Untold Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1996.
Förster, Stig, and Jorg Nagler, On the Road to Total War: The American Civil War and the German Wars of Unification, 1861–1871. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Freehling, William W. The South vs. the South: How Anti-Confederate Southerners Shaped the Course of the Civil War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Freeman, Douglas Southall. R.E. Lee: A Biography. 4 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s & Sons, 1934 [one-volume abridgement Lee, edited by Richard Harwell, published Simon & Schuster, 1997].
Geary, James W. We Need Men: The Union Draft in the Civil War. Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1991.
Glatthaar, Joseph T. The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns. New York: New York University Press, 1985.
Soldiering in the Army of Northern Virginia: A Statistical Portrait of the Troops Who Served Under Robert E. Lee. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011.
Goodheart, Adam. 1861: The Civil War Awakening. New York: Random House, 2011.
Griffith, Paddy. Battle Tactics of the Civil War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.
Grimsley, Mark, and Brooks D. Simpson, eds. The Collapse of the Confederacy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001.
Guelzo, Allen C. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Hagerman, Edward. The American Civil War and the Origins of Modern Warfare. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988.
Hall, Robert H. Women on the Civil War Battlefront. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006.
Harsh, Joseph L. Confederate Tide Rising: Robert E. Lee and the Making of Southern Strategy, 1861–1862. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1998.
Hattaway, Herman. How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983.
Hennessy, John J. Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Reprint, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.
Hess, Earl J. The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1997.
Field Armies & Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns, 1861–1864. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005.
Jenkins, Wilbert L. Climbing Up to Glory: A Short History of African Americans During the Civil War and Reconstruction. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2002.
Jones, Archer. Civil War Command and Strategy: The Process of Victory and Defeat. New York: Free Press, 1992.
Jones, Howard. Blue & Gray Diplomacy: A History of Union and Confederate Foreign Relations. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.
Josephy, Alvin M. The Civil War in the American West. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.
Kennett, Lee B. Marching through Georgia: The Story of Soldiers and Civilians during Sherman's Campaign. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
Luraghi, Raimondo. A History of the Confederate Navy. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1996.
Martin, David G. Gettysburg, July 1. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Books, 1996.
Martin, Samuel J. General Braxton Bragg, C.S.A. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011.
Marszalek, John F. Sherman: A Soldier’s Passion for Order. New York: Free Press, 1993.
Commander of all Lincoln’s Armies: A Life of General Henry W. Halleck. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004.
Marvel, William. Lee’s Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
The Alabama and the Kearsarge: The Sailor’s Civil War. University of North Carolina Press, 2007.
Maslowski, Peter, Treason Must be Made Odious: Military Occupation and Wartime Reconstruction in Nashville, Tennessee, 1862–65. Millwood, NY: KTO Press, 1978.
McDonough, James Lee. War in Kentucky: From Shiloh to Perryville. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1994.
McFeely, William S. Yankee Stepfather: General O. O. Howard and the Freedmen. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994.
McMurry, Richard M. Two Great Rebel Armies: An Essay in Confederate Military History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
McPherson, James M. Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861–1865. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012.
McWhiney, Grady. Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1982.
Mitchell, Reid. The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Newell, Clayton R., and Charles R. Shrader. Of Duty and Faithfully Done: A History of the Regular Army in the Civil War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011.
Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg, The Second Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987.
Reed, Rowena. Combined Operations in the Civil War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1978.
Roberts, William H. Now for the Contest: Coastal and Oceanic Naval Operations in the Civil War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
Civil War Ironclads: The U.S. Navy and Industrial Mobilization. Johns Hopkins UP, 2007.
Rowland, Thomas J. George B. McClellan and Civil War History: In the Shadow of Grant and Sherman. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1998.
Royster, Charles. The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.
Rubin, Anne S. A Shattered Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy, 1861–1868. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005.
Rutkow, Ira M. Bleeding Blue and Gray: Civil War Surgery and the Evolution of American Medicine. New York: Random House, 2005.
Sears, Stephen W. George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1988.
Chancellorsville. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam. New York: Da Capo Press, 1999.
Shea, William L., and Terence J. Winshell. Vicksburg Is the Key: The Struggle for the Mississippi River. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003.
Simpson, Brooks D. Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822–1865. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Still, William N. Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1971.
Sutherland, Daniel E. A Savage Conflict: The Decisive Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
Symonds, Craig L. Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography. New York: Norton, 1992.
Tap, Bruce. Over Lincoln's Shoulder: The Committee on the Conduct of the War. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Thomas, Emory M. Robert E. Lee: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1995.
Urwin, Gregory, ed. Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004.
Wheelan, Joseph. Terrible Swift Sword: The Life of General Philip H. Sheridan. Boston: Da Capo, 2012.
Wilson, Mark R. The Business of Civil War: Military Mobilization and the State, 1861–1865. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010.
Woodworth, Steven E. Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990.
Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998.
Annotated Weblinks
Site: Civil War Trust
URL: http://www.civilwar.org
Description: This is the premier web site for learning about the American Civil War. The site also has sections that address the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Students have access to numerous types of materials, including maps, videos, articles, images, and primary sources, that explore a multitude of specific battles, and well as particular issues.
Site: Digital Library of Georgia, Civil War & Reconstruction, 1861-1877
URL: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/TimePeriods/CivilWar.html?Welcome
Description: The Digital Library of Georgia has compiled a large online collection that allows visitors to see the Civil War through the primary sources of one state.
Site: The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War
URL: http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/
Description: The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War is a digital archive project that focuses on two communities, one Northern and the other Southern. You will find thousands of letters and diaries, newspaper articles, speeches, and census and church records from Franklin County, Pennsylvania and Augusta County, Virginia, from 1859 to 1870.
Site: Library of Congress, Selected Civil War Photographs
URL: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
Description: Follow this link to see the Library of Congress’s fairly comprehensive Civil War photograph collection, complete with detailed notes for each image.
Site: National Archives, Pictures of the Civil War
URL: http://www.archives.gov/research/military/civil-war/photos/index.html
Description: The National Archives has produced a topically-divided Civil War photograph collection that you can find at this link.
Site: Library of Congress, Civil War Maps, 1861-1865
URL: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/civil_war_maps/
Description: This collection from the Library of Congress features historical reconnaissance, sketch, and theater-of-war maps from, among others, Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and William T. Sherman.
Site: Yale Law School, The Avalon Project, General Orders No. 100: The Lieber Code
URL: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lieber.asp
Description: General Orders No. 100, otherwise known as the Lieber Code after its author, Francis Lieber, was the first attempt to codify the laws of war. President Abraham Lincoln signed the order on 24 April 1863 to dictate how Union soldiers should conduct themselves in war. Follow this link to read General Orders No. 100, the predecessor to the Hague Conventions’ Laws and Customs of War on Land.
Site: Naval History & Heritage Command, Civil War
URL: https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/civil-war.html
Description: Follow this link for a comprehensive website about naval warfare during the Civil War, including biographies, resources, images, and ship histories.
Site: Library of Congress, Abraham Lincoln Papers
URL: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html
Description: If you would like to see and read actual letters from Abraham Lincoln, be sure to visit the Abraham Lincoln Papers project from the Library of Congress with its more than 20,000 documents.
Site: Making of America, Cornell University
URL: https://collections.library.cornell.edu/moa_new/waro.html
Description: This site hosts images of the pages from of The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. This is an excellent collection of primary sources detailing military operations.
Site: eHistory, Ohio State University
URL: http://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records
Description: This site hosts text from of The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Whereas the Making of American site noted above provide images from the actual printed volumes, ehistory, simply provides text from tehe records.