American Civil War: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Article Images

Line 1:

~~the civil war never happened.~~

{| style="float: right; clear: right; background-color: transparent"

~~it is a BIG lie.~~

| {{Infobox Military Conflict|

image=[[Image:American Civil War Montage 2.jpg|300px]]|

caption=Top left: [[William Starke Rosecrans|Rosecrans]] at [[Battle of Stones River|Stones River]], Tennessee; top right: Confederate prisoners at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]]; bottom: [[Battle of Fort Hindman]], Arkansas|

conflict=American Civil War|

partof=|

date= [[April 12]] [[1861]] – [[April 9]] [[1865]]|

place=Principally in the [[Southern United States]]|

Southwestern regions|

combatant1=<center>[[Image:US flag 34 stars.svg|65px|border]]

[[United States|United States of America]] ([[Union (American Civil War)|"Union"]]) |

combatant2=<center>[[Image:CSA FLAG 4.3.1861-21.5.1861.svg|65px|border]]

[[Confederate States of America]] ("Confederacy")|

commander1=[[Abraham Lincoln]],<br/>[[Ulysses S. Grant]] |

commander2=[[Jefferson Davis]],<br/>[[Robert E. Lee]] |

strength1=2,200,000 |

strength2=1,064,000|

casualties1=110,000 [[killed in action]],<br/>360,000 total dead,<br/>275,200 wounded|

casualties2=93,000 killed in action,<br/>258,000 total dead,<br/>137,000+ wounded|

}}

| {{Campaignbox American Civil War}}

The '''American Civil War''' (1861–1865), which is also known by several [[Naming the American Civil War|other names]], was a [[civil war]] between the [[United States|United States of America]] (the "[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]") and the [[Southern United States|Southern]] [[slave state]]s of the newly formed [[Confederate States of America]] under [[Jefferson Davis]]. The Union included all of the [[Free state (United States)|free states]] and the five slaveholding [[Border states (Civil War)|border states]] and was led by [[Abraham Lincoln]] and the [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican Party]]. Republicans opposed the expansion of slavery into territories owned by the United States, and their victory in the [[United States presidential election, 1860|presidential election of 1860]] resulted in seven Southern states declaring their [[secession]] from the Union even before Lincoln took office.<ref name="WhoFreed">James McPherson, Drawn With the Sword, from the article Who Freed the Slaves?</ref> The Union rejected secession, regarding it as [[rebellion]].

Hostilities began on [[April 12]] [[1861]], when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at [[Battle of Fort Sumter|Fort Sumter]] in [[South Carolina]]. Lincoln responded by calling for a large volunteer army, then four more Southern states declared their secession. In the war's first year, the Union assumed control of the border states and established a [[Union blockade|naval blockade]] as both sides massed armies and resources. In 1862, battles such as [[Battle of Shiloh|Shiloh]] and [[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]] caused massive casualties unprecedented in U.S. military history. In September 1862, Lincoln's [[Emancipation Proclamation]] made ending slavery in the South a war goal, which complicated the Confederacy's manpower shortages.

In the East, Confederate commander [[Robert E. Lee]] won a series of victories over Union armies, but Lee's reverse at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]] in early July, 1863 proved the turning point. The capture of [[Battle of Vicksburg|Vicksburg]] and [[Siege of Port Hudson|Port Hudson]] by [[Ulysses S. Grant]] completed Union control of the [[Mississippi River]]. Grant fought bloody battles of attrition with Lee in 1864, forcing Lee to defend the Confederate capital at [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], [[Virginia]]. Union general [[William Tecumseh Sherman|William Sherman]] captured [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and began his famous [[Sherman's March to the Sea|March to the Sea]], devastating a hundred-mile-wide swath of Georgia. Confederate resistance collapsed after Lee surrendered to Grant at [[Battle of Appomattox Courthouse|Appomattox Court House]] on April 9, 1865.

The war, the deadliest in American history, caused 620,000 soldier deaths<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9355164 American Civil War], [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref> and an undetermined number of civilian casualties, ended [[slavery]] in the United States, restored the Union by settling the issues of [[Nullification#Nullification and attempts at nullification in the US|nullification]] and [[secession]] and strengthened the role of the [[Federal government]]. The social, political, economic and racial [[Issues of the American Civil War|issues]] of the war continue to shape contemporary American thought.

== Causes of the war ==

{{main|Origins of the American Civil War|Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War}}

The coexistence of a slave-owning South with an increasingly [[anti-slavery]] North made conflict inevitable. [[Lincoln]] did not propose federal laws against slavery where it already existed, but he had, in his 1858 [[Lincoln's House Divided Speech|House Divided Speech]], expressed a desire to "arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction".<ref>Abraham Lincoln, House Divided Speech, Springfield, Illinois, [[June 16]] [[1858]]</ref> Much of the political battle in the 1850s focused on the expansion of slavery into the newly created territories.<ref>Shelby Foote, The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Perryville, page 34</ref><ref>Prevent, as far as possible, any of our friends from demoralizing themselves, and our cause, by entertaining propositions for compromise of any sort, on slavery extension. There is no possible compromise upon it, but which puts us under again, and leaves all our work to do over again. Whether it be a Mo. Line, or Eli Thayer's Pop. Sov. It is all the same. Let either be done, & immediately filibustering and extending slavery recommences. On that point hold firm, as with a chain of steel. - Abraham Lincoln to Elihu B. Washburne, [[December 13]] [[1860]]</ref><ref>Let there be no compromise on the question of extending slavery. If there be, all our labor is lost, and, ere long, must be done again. The dangerous ground—that into which some of our friends have a hankering to run—is Pop. Sov. Have none of it. Stand firm. The tug has to come, & better now, than any time hereafter. - Abraham Lincoln to Lyman Trumbull, [[December 10]] [[1860]]</ref> All of the organized territories were likely to become free-soil states, which increased the Southern movement toward secession. Both North and South assumed that if slavery could not expand it would wither and die.<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, page 241 and 253</ref><ref>Declarations of Causes for: Georgia, Adopted in [[January 29]] [[1861]]; Mississippi, Adopted in 1861 (no exact date found); South Carolina, Adopted in [[December 24]] [[1860]]; Texas, Adopted in [[February 2]] [[1861]]</ref><ref>The New Heresy, Southern Punch, editor John Wilford Overall, [[September 19]] [[1864]] is one of many references that indicate that the Republican hope of gradually ending slavery was the Southern fear. It said in part, "Our doctrine is this: WE ARE FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE THAT OUR GREAT AND NECESSARY DOMESTIC INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY SHALL BE PRESERVED."</ref>

Southern fears of losing control of the federal government to antislavery forces, and Northern fears that the [[The Slave Power|slave power]] already controlled the government, brought the crisis to a head in the late 1850s. Sectional disagreements over the morality of slavery, the scope of democracy and the economic merits of [[Free Soil Party|free labor]] vs. slave [[plantation]]s caused the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] and "[[Know Nothing|Know-Nothing]]" parties to collapse, and new ones to arise (the [[Free Soil Party]] in 1848, the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] in 1854, the [[Constitutional Union Party (United States)|Constitutional Union]] in 1860). In 1860, the last remaining national political party, the [[History of the United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]], split along sectional lines.

Both North and South were influenced by the ideas of [[Thomas Jefferson]]. Southerners emphasized the [[states' rights]] ideas mentioned in Jefferson's [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] and the right of revolution mentioned in the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Northerners ranging from the abolitionist [[William Lloyd Garrison]] to the moderate Republican leader [[Abraham Lincoln]]<ref>Lincoln's Speech in Chicago, [[December 10]] [[1856]] in which he said, "We shall again be able not to declare, that 'all States as States, are equal,' nor yet that 'all citizens as citizens are equal,' but to renew the broader, better declaration, including both these and much more, that 'all men are created equal.'"; Also, Lincoln's Letter to Henry L. Pierce, [[April 6]] [[1859]]</ref> emphasized Jefferson's declaration that [[all men are created equal]]. Lincoln mentioned this proposition in his [[Gettysburg Address]].

Historian [[Kenneth M. Stampp]] mentioned Confederate Vice President [[Alexander Stephens]] as an example of a Southern leader who called slavery "the cornerstone of the Confederacy" after Southern states seceded. After Southern defeat, Stephens said that the war was not about slavery but states' rights. Stampp said that Stephens became one of the most ardent defenders of the [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy|Lost Cause]].<ref>Stampp, The Causes of the Civil War, pages 63–65 (''A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States'') and pages 152-153 ([[Cornerstone Speech]])</ref>

All but one inter-regional crisis involved slavery, starting with debates on the three-fifths clause in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Other factors include sectionalism (caused by the growth of slavery in the deep South while slavery was gradually phased out in Northern states) and economic differences between North and South, although most modern historians disagree with the extreme economic determinism of historian [[Charles A. Beard|Charles Beard]].<ref> Kenneth M. Stampp, ''The Imperiled Union: Essays on the Background of the Civil War'' (1981) p 198; Woodworth, ed. ''The American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research'' (1996), 145 151 505 512 554 557 684; Richard Hofstadter, ''The Progressive Historians: Turner, Beard, Parrington'' (1969)</ref> The fact that seven immigrants out of eight settled in the North, plus the fact that twice as many whites left the South for the North as vice versa, contributed to the South's defensive-aggressive political behavior.<ref name="McPhersonExceptionalism">James McPherson, "Antebellum Southern Exceptionalism: A New Look at an Old Question," ''Civil War History'' 29 (September 1983)</ref> There was controversy over adding the slave state of [[Missouri]] to the Union that led to the [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820, the [[Nullification Crisis]] over the [[Tariff of 1828]] (although the tariff was low after 1846<ref name="Tariff">Allan Nevins, Ordeal of the Union: A House Dividing - 1852-1857, pages 267–269</ref>), the [[Gag rule]] that prevented discussion in Congress of petitions for ending slavery from 1835–1844, the acquisition of [[Texas]] as a [[slave state]] in 1845 and [[Manifest Destiny]] as an argument for gaining new territories where slavery would become an issue after the [[Mexican-American War]] (1846–1848), which resulted in the [[Compromise of 1850]].<ref> William E. Gienapp, "The Crisis of American Democracy: The Political System and the Coming of the Civil War." in Boritt ed. ''Why the Civil War Came'' 79–123</ref> The [[Wilmot Proviso]] was an unsuccessful attempt by Northern politicians to exclude slavery from the territories conquered from [[Mexico]]. There were unsuccessful attempts to end controversy over slavery in the territories through [[popular sovereignty]] and Southern attempts to annex [[Cuba]] (including the [[Ostend Manifesto]]) and [[Nicaragua]] as slave states. The extremely popular antislavery novel [[Uncle Tom's Cabin|''Uncle Tom’s Cabin'']] (1852) by [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]] greatly increased Northern opposition to the [[Fugitive Slave Law of 1850]].<ref>McPherson, ''Battle Cry'' pages 88–91</ref><ref> Most of her slave owners are "decent, honorable people, themselves victims" of that institution. Much of her description was based on personal observation, and the descriptions of Southerners; she herself calls them and Legree representatives of different types of masters.;Gerson, ''Harriet Beecher Stowe'', p.68; Stowe, ''Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1953) p. 39</ref>

There was the polarizing effect of slavery that split the largest religious denominations (the [[Methodism|Methodist]], [[Baptist]] and [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] churches)<ref>James McPherson, Drawn With the Sword, page 11</ref> and controversy caused by the worst cruelties of slavery (whippings, mutilations and families split apart). In Congress arguments over slavery became violent when [[United States House of Representatives|Representative]] [[Preston Brooks]] of [[South Carolina]] attacked [[Radical Republican (USA)|Radical Republican]] [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Charles Sumner]] with a cane after Sumner's "Crime against Kansas" speech.<ref>Fox Butterfield; ''All God's Children'' page 17</ref> Even rival plans for Northern vs. Southern routes for a [[transcontinental railroad]] became entangled in the [[Bleeding Kansas]] controversy over slavery. The old [[Second Party System]] broke down after passage of the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]] in 1854. The [[Dred Scott v. Sandford|''Dred Scott Decision'']] and [[Lecompton Constitution]] of 1857 were Southern attempts to admit Kansas to the Union as a slave state. The [[Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858]], [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown's raid]] in 1859 and the split in the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in 1860 polarized the nation between North and South. The [[United States presidential election, 1860|election of Lincoln in 1860]] was the final trigger for secession. During the secession crisis, many sought compromise. Two of these attempts were the "[[Corwin Amendment]]" and the "[[Crittenden Compromise]]." All attempts at compromise failed.

Southern secession was triggered by the election of Republican [[Abraham Lincoln]]<ref>David Potter, The Impending Crisis, page 485</ref> because regional leaders feared that he would stop the expansion of slavery and put it on a course toward extinction. Many Southerners thought either Lincoln or another Northerner would abolish slavery, and that it was time to secede. The slave states, which had already become a minority in the House of Representatives, were now facing a future as a perpetual minority in the Senate and Electoral College against an increasingly powerful North.

=== Slavery ===

A strong correlation was shown between the degree of support for secession and the number of plantations in the region; states of the [[deep South]] which had the greatest concentration of plantations were the first to secede. The upper South slave states of [[Virginia]], [[North Carolina]], [[Arkansas]], and [[Tennessee]] had fewer plantations and rejected secession until the [[Battle of Fort Sumter|Fort Sumter]] crisis forced them to choose sides. Border states had fewer plantations still and never seceded.<ref>James M. McPherson, ''Battle Cry of Freedom'' 1988 p 242, 255, 282-83. Maps on page 101 (The Southern Economy) and page 236 (The Progress of Secession) are also relevant</ref><ref>David Potter, The Impending Crisis, pages 503–505</ref>

The percentage of Southern whites living in families that owned slaves was 36.7 percent in the lower South, 25.3 percent in the upper South and 15.9 percent in the border states that fought mostly for the Union.<ref name="SStats">{{cite web|title=Selected Statistics on Slavery in the United States|url=http://members.aol.com/jfepperson/stat.html|accessdate=2007-10-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southernhistory.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=9406 |title=Historians and the extent of slave ownership in the Southern United States |accessdate=2007-11-23 |author=Otto H. Olsen |year=2004 |month=December |work=Civil War History |publisher=Southernhistory.net }}</ref> Ninety-five percent of blacks lived in the South, comprising one third of the population there as opposed to one percent of the population of the North. Consequently, fears of eventual emancipation were much greater in the South than in the North.<ref>James McPherson, Drawn with the Sword, page 15</ref>

[[Image:Abraham Lincoln seated, Feb 9, 1864.jpg|thumb|200px|right|'''[[Abraham Lincoln]]'''

16th [[President of the United States]] (1861–1865)]]

The Supreme Court decision of 1857 in [[Dred Scott v. Sandford|''Dred Scott v. Sandford'']] added to the controversy. [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Roger B. Taney|Roger B. Taney's]] decision said that slaves were "so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect",<ref>David Potter, The Impending Crisis, page 275</ref> and that slavery could spread into the territories. Lincoln warned that "the next ''Dred Scott'' decision"<ref>First Lincoln Douglas Debate at Ottawa, Illinois [[August 21]] [[1858]]</ref> could threaten northern states with slavery.

Northern politician [[Abraham Lincoln]] said, "this question of Slavery was more important than any other; indeed, so much more important has it become that no other national question can even get a hearing just at present."<ref>Abraham Lincoln, Speech at New Haven, Conn., [[March 6]] [[1860]]</ref> The slavery issue was related to sectional competition for control of the territories,<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, page 195</ref> and the Southern demand for a [[Slave codes|slave code]] for the territories was the issue used by Southern politicians to split the Democratic Party in two, which all but guaranteed the election of Lincoln and secession. When secession was an issue, South Carolina planter and state Senator John Townsend said that "our enemies are about to take possession of the Government, that they intend to rule us according to the caprices of their fanatical theories, and according to the declared purposes of abolishing slavery."<ref>John Townsend, The Doom of Slavery in the Union, its Safety out of it, [[October 29]] [[1860]]</ref> Similar opinions were expressed throughout the South in editorials, political speeches and declarations of reasons for secession. Even though Lincoln had no plans to outlaw slavery where it existed, Southerners throughout the South expressed fears for the future of slavery.

Southern concerns included not only economic loss but also fears of racial equality.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, page 243</ref><ref>David Potter, The Impending Crisis, page 461</ref><ref>William C. Davis, Look Away, pages 130–140</ref><ref>William W. Freehling, The Road to Disunion, page 42</ref> The Texas Declaration of Causes for Secession<ref name="Texas12">{{cite web|last=Winkler|first=E|title=A Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union.|publisher=Journal of the Secession Convention of Texas|url=http://members.aol.com/jfepperson/reasons.html#Texas|accessdate=2007-10-16}}</ref><ref name="AvalonProject">{{cite web|last=Winkler|first=E|title=A Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union.|publisher=Journal of the Secession Convention of Texas|url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/csa/texsec.htm|accessdate=2007-10-16}}</ref> said that the non-slave-holding states were "proclaiming the debasing doctrine of equality of all men, irrespective of race or color", and that the African race "were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race". Alabama secessionist E. S. Dargan said that emancipation would make Southerners feel "demoralized and degraded".<ref>[http://members.aol.com/jfepperson/bama4.html Speech of E.S. Dargan, in the Convention of Alabama, January 11, 1861]</ref>

Beginning in the 1830s, the U.S. [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] refused to allow mail which carried abolition pamphlets to the South.<ref>Schlesinger ''Age of Jackson'', p.190</ref> Northern teachers suspected of any tinge of abolitionism were expelled from the South, and abolitionist literature was banned. Southerners rejected the denials of Republicans that they were abolitionists.<ref> David Brion Davis, ''Inhuman Bondage'' (2006) p 197, 409; Stanley Harrold, ''The Abolitionists and the South, 1831–1861'' (1995) p. 62; Jane H. and William H. Pease, "Confrontation and Abolition in the 1850s" ''Journal of American History'' (1972) 58(4): 923–937.</ref> [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown's]] raid on the federal [[Harpers Ferry Armory]] greatly increased Southern fears of slave insurrections.<ref name="PotterOnBrown">David Potter, The Impending Crisis, pages 356–384</ref> The North felt threatened as well, for as Eric Foner concludes, "Northerners came to view slavery as the very antithesis of the good society, as well as a threat to their own fundamental values and interests".<ref> Eric Foner. ''Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War'' (1970), p. 9</ref>

== Secession begins ==

=== Secession of South Carolina ===

[[Image:Grand Army of the Republic by Swatjester.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Monument in honor of the Grand Army of the Republic, organized after the war.]]

South Carolina adopted the "[[Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union]]" on [[December 24]], [[1860]]. It argued for states' rights for slave owners in the South, but contained a complaint about states' rights in the North in the form of opposition to the [[Fugitive Slave Law of 1850|Fugitive Slave Act]], claiming that Northern states were not fulfilling their federal obligations under the Constitution. At issue were:

* The refusal of Northern states to enforce the fugitive slave code, violating Southern personal property rights;

* Agitation against slavery, which "denied the rights of property".

* Assisting "thousands of slaves to leave their homes" through the Underground Railroad.

* The election of Lincoln "because he has declared that 'Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free,' and that the public mind must rest in the belief that slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction".

* "...elevating to citizenship, persons who, by the supreme law of the land, are incapable of becoming citizens". Most Northerners opposed the ''[[Dred Scott]]'' decision, although only a few New England states allowed blacks an equal right to vote.<ref>James McPherson, The Negro's Civil War, page 3</ref>

=== Secession winter ===

Before Lincoln took office, seven states had declared their secession from the Union. They established a Southern government, the [[Confederate States of America]] on [[February 9]] [[1861]]. They took control of federal forts and other properties within their boundaries with little resistance from outgoing President [[James Buchanan]], whose term ended on [[March 4]] [[1861]]. Buchanan asserted, "The South has no right to secede, but I have no power to prevent them."<ref>President James Buchanan, Message of [[December 8]] [[1860]]</ref> One quarter of the U.S. Army—the entire garrison in Texas—was surrendered to state forces by its commanding general, [[David E. Twiggs]], who then joined the Confederacy.

As Southerners resigned their seats in the Senate and the House, secession later enabled Republicans to pass bills for projects that had been blocked by Southern Senators before the war, including the [[Morrill Tariff]], land grant colleges (the [[Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act|Morill Act]]), a [[Homestead Act]], a trans-continental railroad (the [[Pacific Railway Acts]]), the [[National Banking Act]] and the authorization of [[United States Note]]s by the Legal Tender Act of 1862. The [[Revenue Act of 1861]] introduced the [[income tax]] to help finance the war.

[[Image:US Secession map 1861.svg|250px|thumb|left|<center>'''Status of the states, 1861.</center>'''

{{legend|#A40000| States that seceded before [[April 15]] [[1861]]}}

{{legend|#EF2929| States that seceded after [[April 15]], [[1861]]}}

{{legend|#D3D7CF| Territories}}]]

=== The Confederacy ===

Seven [[Deep South]] cotton states seceded by February 1861, starting with [[South Carolina]], [[Mississippi]], [[Florida]], [[Alabama]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Louisiana]], and [[Texas]]. These seven states formed the [[Confederate States of America]] ([[February 4]] [[1861]]), with [[Jefferson Davis]] as president, and a [[Confederate States Constitution|governmental structure]] closely modeled on the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]]. Within two months of the first shots at [[Fort Sumter]], four more slave states seceded and joined the Confederacy: [[Virginia]], [[Arkansas]], [[North Carolina]] and [[Tennessee]]. The northwestern portion of Virginia subsequently seceded from Virginia, joining the Union as the new state of [[West Virginia]] on [[June 20]] [[1863]].

[[Image:US Secession map 1865.svg|250px|thumb|left|<center>'''State and territory boundaries, 1864–5.</center>'''

{{legend|#D3D7CF| [[Bleeding Kansas|Kansas]], entered Union as a free state}}

{{legend|#EF2929| [[Confederate States of America|The Confederacy]]}}

{{legend|#FFD700| Union territories that permitted slavery}}]]

=== The Union states ===

Twenty-three states remained loyal to the Union: [[California]], [[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Illinois]], [[Indiana]], [[Iowa]], [[Kansas]], [[Kentucky]], [[Maine]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], [[Michigan]], [[Minnesota]], [[Missouri]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], [[New York]], [[Ohio]], [[Oregon]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Rhode Island]], [[Vermont]], and [[Wisconsin]]. During the war, [[Nevada]] and [[West Virginia]] joined as new states of the Union. [[Tennessee]] and [[Louisiana]] were returned to Union control early in the war.

The territories of [[Colorado Territory|Colorado]], [[Dakota Territory|Dakota]], [[Nebraska Territory|Nebraska]], [[Nevada Territory|Nevada]], [[New Mexico Territory|New Mexico]], [[Utah Territory|Utah]], and [[Washington Territory|Washington]] fought on the Union side. Several slave-holding [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes supported the Confederacy, giving the [[Indian Territory|Indian territory]] (now [[Oklahoma]]) a small bloody civil war.

=== Border states ===

The [[Border states (Civil War)|Border states]] in the Union were [[West Virginia]] (which was separated from Virginia and became a new state), and four of the five northernmost slave states ([[Maryland]], [[Delaware]], [[Missouri]], and [[Kentucky]]).

[[Maryland]] had numerous pro-Confederate officials who tolerated anti-Union [[Baltimore riot of 1861|rioting in Baltimore]] and the burning of bridges. Lincoln responded with [[martial law]] and called for troops. Militia units that had been drilling in the North rushed toward Washington and Baltimore.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 284–287</ref> Before the Confederate government realized what was happening, Lincoln had seized firm control of Maryland (and the separate [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]]), by arresting all the Maryland government members and holding them without trial.

In Missouri, an elected convention on secession voted decisively to remain within the Union. When pro-Confederate Governor [[Claiborne Fox Jackson|Claiborne F. Jackson]] called out the state militia, it was attacked by federal forces under General [[Nathaniel Lyon]], who chased the governor and the rest of the State Guard to the southwestern corner of the state. (''See also: [[Missouri secession]]''). In the resulting vacuum, the convention on secession reconvened and took power as the Unionist provisional government of Missouri.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 290–293</ref>

Kentucky did not secede; for a time, it declared itself neutral. However, the Confederates broke the neutrality by seizing [[Columbus, Kentucky|Columbus]], [[Kentucky]] in September 1861. That turned opinion against the Confederacy, and the state reaffirmed its loyal status, while trying to maintain slavery. During a brief invasion by Confederate forces, Confederate sympathizers organized a secession convention, inaugurated a governor, and gained recognition from the Confederacy. The rebel government soon went into exile and never controlled the state.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 293–297</ref>

After Virginia's 1861 declaration of secession from the U.S., Union supporters in fifty counties of northwestern Virginia voted on October 24, 1861 to approve the creation of the new state of West Virginia. The majority of the voters in what was to become West Virginia had voted against Virginia’s secession<ref>Crofts pg. 341. In the core Unionist enclave of northwestern Virginia the vote was 30,586 to 10,021 against secession, although the total vote in the counties that would become West Virginia was a closer 34,677 to 19,121 against.</ref>, although twenty six of the fifty counties had pro-secession majorities. About half of West Virginia's soldiers were Confederate.<ref>Although early estimates noted that Union soldiers from the region outnumbered Confederates by more than three to one, more recent and detailed studies have concluded that there were nearly equal numbers of Union and Confederate soldiers. http://www.wvculture.org/History/civwaran.html.</ref> This new state was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863.

Similar Unionist secessions attempts appeared in [[East Tennessee]], but were suppressed by the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis arrested over 3000 men suspected of being loyal to the Union and held them without trial.<ref>Mark Neely, ''Confederate Bastille: Jefferson Davis and Civil Liberties'' 1993 p. 10–11</ref>

== Overview ==

[[Image:American Civil War Chaplain.JPG|thumb|250px|A [[Roman Catholic]] Union army chaplain celebrating a Mass]]

Over 10,000 military engagements took place during the war, 40% of them in Virginia and Tennessee.<ref> Gabor Boritt, ed. ''War Comes Again'' (1995) p 247</ref> Since separate articles deal with every major battle and many minor ones, this article only gives the broadest outline. For more information see [[List of American Civil War battles]] and [[Military leadership in the American Civil War]].

=== The war begins ===

: ''For more details on this topic, see [[Battle of Fort Sumter]]''

Lincoln's victory in the [[United States presidential election, 1860|presidential election of 1860]] triggered South Carolina's declaration of secession from the Union. By February 1861, six more Southern states made similar declarations. On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the [[Confederate States of America]] and established their temporary capital at [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]], [[Alabama]]. A pre-war February [[Peace Conference of 1861]] met in Washington in a failed attempt at resolving the crisis. The remaining eight slave states rejected pleas to join the Confederacy. Confederate forces seized most of the Federal forts within their boundaries (they did not take Fort Sumter); President Buchanan protested but made no military response aside from a failed attempt to resupply Fort Sumter via the ship [[Star of the West]] (the ship was fired upon by [[The Citadel (military college)|Citadel]] cadets), and no serious military preparations.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 234–266</ref> However, governors in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania quietly began buying weapons and training militia units.

On [[March 4]] [[1861]], Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President. In his [[Inauguration|inaugural address]], he argued that the Constitution was a [[Preamble to the United States Constitution|''more perfect union'']] than the earlier [[Articles of Confederation|Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union]], that it was a binding contract, and called any secession "legally void".<ref>Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, Monday, [[March 4]] [[1861]]</ref> He stated he had no intent to invade Southern states, nor did he intend to end slavery where it existed, but that he would use force to maintain possession of federal property. His speech closed with a plea for restoration of the bonds of union.<ref>Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861</ref>

The South sent delegations to Washington and offered to pay for the federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. Lincoln rejected any negotiations with Confederate agents on the grounds that the Confederacy was not a legitimate government, and that making any treaty with it would be tantamount to recognition of it as a sovereign government.<ref name="PotterNegotiations">David Potter, The Impending Crisis, pages 572–573</ref> However, Secretary of State William Seward engaged in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed.<ref name="PotterNegotiations" />

[[Fort Sumter]] in Charleston, South Carolina, [[Fort Monroe]], [[Fort Pickens]] and [[Fort Zachary Taylor|Fort Taylor]] were the remaining Union-held forts in the Confederacy, and Lincoln was determined to hold Fort Sumter. Under orders from Confederate President [[Jefferson Davis]], troops controlled by the Confederate government under [[P. G. T. Beauregard]] bombarded the fort with artillery on April 12, forcing the fort's capitulation. Northerners rallied behind Lincoln's call for all of the states to send troops to recapture the forts and to preserve the Union. With the scale of the rebellion apparently small so far, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for 90 days.<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, page 274</ref> For months before that, several Northern governors had discreetly readied their state militias; they began to move forces the next day.<ref> See the account at [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1582180016&id=ub8cqVKoXwgC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA34&vq=baltimore&dq=schouler+massachusetts+civil&sig=g5za9rXjH9ttx1vzmWNN39F3YFQ]</ref>

Four states in the upper South (Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Virginia), which had repeatedly rejected Confederate overtures, now refused to send forces against their neighbors, declared their secession, and joined the Confederacy. To reward Virginia, the Confederate capital was moved to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]].<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 276–307</ref> The city was the symbol of the Confederacy; if it fell, the new nation would lose legitimacy. Richmond was in a highly vulnerable location at the end of a tortuous Confederate supply line. Although Richmond was heavily fortified, supplies for the city would be reduced by Sherman's capture of [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]] and cut off almost entirely when Grant besieged [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]] and its railroads that supplied the Southern capital.

=== Anaconda Plan and blockade, 1861 ===

{{main|Naval battles of the American Civil War|Union blockade|Confederate States Navy}}

[[Image:Scott-anaconda.jpg|thumb|350px|1861 cartoon of Scott's "[[Anaconda Plan]]"]]

[[Winfield Scott]], the commanding general of the U.S. Army, devised the [[Anaconda Plan]]<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 333–335</ref> to win the war with as little bloodshed as possible. His idea was that a [[Union blockade]] of the main ports would weaken the Confederate economy; then the capture of the Mississippi River would split the South. Lincoln adopted the plan, but overruled Scott's warnings against an immediate attack on Richmond.

In May 1861, Lincoln enacted the Union blockade of all Southern ports, ending most international shipments to the Confederacy. Violators' ships and cargos could be seized and were often not covered by insurance. By late 1861, the blockade stopped most local port-to-port traffic. The blockade shut down [[King Cotton]], ruining the Southern economy. British investors built small, fast "[[blockade runner]]s" that traded arms and luxuries from [[Bermuda]], [[Cuba]] and the [[The Bahamas|Bahamas]] in return for high-priced cotton and tobacco.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 378–380</ref> When captured, the blockade runners and cargo were sold and the proceeds given to the Union sailors, but the British crews were released. Shortages of food and other goods triggered by the blockade, foraging by Northern armies, and the impressment of crops by Confederate armies combined to cause [[hyperinflation]] and bread riots in the South.<ref> Heidler, 1651–53</ref>

On [[March 8]], [[1862]], the [[Confederate States Navy|Confederate Navy]] waged a fight against the [[United States Navy|Union Navy]] when the [[Ironclad warship|ironclad]] [[CSS Virginia|CSS ''Virginia'']] attacked the blockade; it seemed unstoppable but the next day it had to fight the new Union warship [[USS Monitor|USS ''Monitor'']] in the [[Battle of Hampton Roads|Battle of the Ironclads]].<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 373–377</ref> The battle ended in a draw, which was a strategic victory for the Union in that the blockade was sustained. The Confederacy lost the CSS ''Virginia'' when the ship was scuttled to prevent capture, and the Union built many copies of the USS ''Monitor''. Lacking the technology to build effective warships, the Confederacy attempted to obtain warships from Britain. The Union victory at the [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher]] in January 1865 closed the last useful Southern port and virtually ended blockade running.

=== Eastern Theater 1861–1863 ===

[[Image:CivilWarFifeandDrum.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A Union Regimental Fife and Drum Corps]]

Because of the fierce resistance of a few initial Confederate forces at [[Manassas, Virginia|Manassas]], [[Virginia]], in July 1861, a march by Union troops under the command of [[Major General|Maj. Gen.]] [[Irvin McDowell]] on the Confederate forces there was halted in the [[First Battle of Bull Run]], or ''First Manassas'',<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 339–345</ref> whereupon they were forced back to [[Washington, D.C.]], by Confederate troops under the command of Generals [[Joseph E. Johnston]] and [[P. G. T. Beauregard]]. It was in this battle that Confederate General [[Stonewall Jackson|Thomas Jackson]] received the [[nickname]] of "Stonewall" because he stood like a stone wall against Union troops.<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, page 342</ref> Alarmed at the loss, and in an attempt to prevent more slave states from leaving the Union, the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] passed the [[Crittenden-Johnson Resolution]] on [[July 25]] of that year, which stated that the war was being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.

Maj. Gen. [[George B. McClellan]] took command of the Union [[Army of the Potomac]] on [[July 26]] (he was briefly general-in-chief of all the Union armies, but was subsequently relieved of that post in favor of Maj. Gen. [[Henry Wager Halleck|Henry W. Halleck]]), and the war began in earnest in 1862. Upon the strong urging of President Lincoln to begin offensive operations, McClellan attacked Virginia in the spring of 1862 by way of the [[Virginia Peninsula|peninsula]] between the [[York River (Virginia)|York River]] and [[James River (Virginia)|James River]], southeast of Richmond. Although McClellan's army reached the gates of Richmond in the [[Peninsula Campaign]],<ref>Shelby Foote, The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Perryville, pages 464-519</ref><ref>Bruce Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, pages 263-296</ref><ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 424–427</ref> [[Joseph E. Johnston|Johnston]] halted his advance at the [[Battle of Seven Pines]], then General [[Robert E. Lee]] and top subordinates [[James Longstreet]] and Stonewall Jackson<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 538–544</ref> defeated McClellan in the [[Seven Days Battles]] and forced his retreat. The [[Northern Virginia Campaign]], which included the [[Second Battle of Bull Run]], ended in yet another victory for the South.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 528–533</ref> McClellan resisted General-in-Chief Halleck's orders to send reinforcements to [[John Pope (military officer)|John Pope's]] Union [[Army of Virginia]], which made it easier for Lee's Confederates to defeat twice the number of combined enemy troops.

Emboldened by Second Bull Run, the Confederacy made its first invasion of the North, when General Lee led 45,000 men of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] across the [[Potomac River]] into Maryland on [[September 5]]. Lincoln then restored Pope's troops to McClellan. McClellan and Lee fought at the [[Battle of Antietam]]<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 538–544</ref> near [[Sharpsburg, Maryland|Sharpsburg]], [[Maryland]], on [[September 17]] [[1862]], the bloodiest single day in United States military history.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 543–545</ref> Lee's army, checked at last, returned to Virginia before McClellan could destroy it. Antietam is considered a Union victory because it halted Lee's invasion of the North and provided an opportunity for Lincoln to announce his [[Emancipation Proclamation]].<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 557–558</ref>

[[Image:Conf dead chancellorsville 2.jpg|thumb|250px|Confederate dead behind the stone wall of Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, Virginia, killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville, May 1863]]

When the cautious McClellan failed to follow up on Antietam, he was replaced by Maj. Gen. [[Ambrose Burnside]]. Burnside was soon defeated at the [[Battle of Fredericksburg]]<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 571–574</ref> on [[December 13]] [[1862]], when over twelve thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded during repeated futile frontal assaults against Marye's Heights. After the battle, Burnside was replaced by Maj. Gen. [[Joseph Hooker]]. Hooker, too, proved unable to defeat Lee's army; despite outnumbering the Confederates by more than two to one, he was humiliated in the [[Battle of Chancellorsville]]<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 639–645</ref> in May 1863. He was replaced by Maj. Gen. [[George Meade]] during Lee's second invasion of the North, in June. Meade defeated Lee at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]]<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 653–663</ref> ([[July 1]] to [[July 3]] [[1863]]), the bloodiest battle of the war, which is sometimes considered the war's [[Turning point of the American Civil War|turning point]]. [[Pickett's Charge]] on [[July 3]] is often recalled as the [[high-water mark of the Confederacy]], not just because it signaled the end of Lee's plan to pressure Washington from the north, but also because Vicksburg, Mississippi, the key stronghold to control of the Mississippi, fell the following day. Lee's army suffered 28,000 casualties (versus Meade's 23,000).<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, page 664</ref> However, Lincoln was angry that Meade failed to intercept Lee's retreat, and after Meade's inconclusive Fall campaign, Lincoln decided to turn to the Western Theater for new leadership.

=== Western Theater 1861–1863 ===

While the Confederate forces had numerous successes in the Eastern theater, they were defeated many times in the West. They were driven from Missouri early in the war as a result of the [[Battle of Pea Ridge]].<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 404–405</ref> [[Leonidas Polk]]'s invasion of [[Columbus, Kentucky|Columbus]], [[Kentucky]] ended Kentucky's policy of neutrality and turned that state against the Confederacy.

[[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Tennessee]], fell to the Union early in 1862. Most of the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] was opened with the taking of [[Battle of Island Number Ten|Island No. 10]] and [[New Madrid, Missouri|New Madrid]], [[Missouri]], and then [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[Tennessee]]. The [[Union Navy]] captured [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orléans]]<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 418–420</ref> without a major fight in May 1862, allowing the Union forces to begin moving up the Mississippi as well. Only the fortress city of [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]], [[Mississippi]], prevented unchallenged Union control of the entire river.

General [[Braxton Bragg]]'s second Confederate invasion of Kentucky ended with a meaningless victory over Maj. Gen. [[Don Carlos Buell]] at the [[Battle of Perryville]],<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 419–420</ref> although Bragg was forced to end his attempt at liberating Kentucky and retreat due to lack of support for the Confederacy in that state. Bragg was narrowly defeated by Maj. Gen. [[William Starke Rosecrans|William Rosecrans]] at the [[Battle of Stones River]]<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 480–483</ref> in [[Tennessee]].

The one clear Confederate victory in the West was the [[Battle of Chickamauga]]. Bragg, reinforced by Lt. Gen. [[James Longstreet]]'s corps (from Lee's army in the east), defeated Rosecrans, despite the heroic defensive stand of Maj. Gen. [[George Henry Thomas]]. Rosecrans retreated to [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]], which Bragg then besieged.

The Union's key strategist and tactician in the West was Maj. Gen. [[Ulysses S. Grant]], who won victories at Forts [[Battle of Fort Henry|Henry]] and [[Battle of Fort Donelson|Donelson]], by which the Union seized control of the [[Tennessee River|Tennessee]] and [[Cumberland River|Cumberland]] Rivers; [[Battle of Shiloh|the Battle of Shiloh]];<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 405–413</ref> the [[Battle of Vicksburg]],<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 637–638</ref> cementing Union control of the Mississippi River and considered one of the [[Turning point of the American Civil War|turning points]] of the war. Grant marched to the relief of Rosecrans and defeated Bragg at the [[Battle of Chattanooga III|Third Battle of Chattanooga]],<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 677–680</ref> driving Confederate forces out of Tennessee and opening a route to Atlanta and the heart of the Confederacy.

=== Trans-Mississippi Theater 1861–1865 ===

{{see details| Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War}}

[[Guerrilla]] activity turned much of Missouri into a battleground. Missouri had, in total, the third most battles of any state during the war.<ref name="MissFacts">{{cite web|title=Civil War in Missouri Facts|url=http://home.usmo.com/~momollus/MOFACTS.HTM|date=1998|accessdate=2007-10-16}}</ref> The other states of the west, though geographically isolated from the battles to the east, had a few small-scale military actions take place. Confederate incursions into Arizona and New Mexico were repulsed in 1862. Late in the war, the Union [[Red River Campaign]] was a failure. Texas remained in Confederate hands throughout the war, but was cut off from the rest of the Confederacy after the capture of Vicksburg in 1863 gave the Union control of the Mississippi River.

=== End of the war 1864–1865 ===

[[Image:President-Jefferson-Davis.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jefferson Davis]], first and only President of the [[Confederate States of America]]]]

At the beginning of 1864, Lincoln made Grant commander of all Union armies. Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, and put Maj. Gen. [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] in command of most of the western armies. Grant understood the concept of [[total war]] and believed, along with Lincoln and Sherman, that only the utter defeat of Confederate forces and their economic base would bring an end to the war.<ref>Mark E. Neely Jr.; "Was the Civil War a Total War?" ''Civil War History'', Vol. 50, 2004 pp 434+</ref> This was total war not in terms of killing civilians but rather in terms of destroying homes, farms and railroad tracks. Grant devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the entire Confederacy from multiple directions: Generals George Meade and [[Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]] were ordered to move against Lee near Richmond; General [[Franz Sigel]] (and later [[Philip Sheridan]]) were to [[Valley Campaigns of 1864|attack the Shenandoah Valley]]; General Sherman was to capture [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]] and march to the sea (the Atlantic Ocean); Generals [[George Crook]] and [[William W. Averell]] were to operate against railroad supply lines in [[West Virginia]]; and Maj. Gen. [[Nathaniel Prentice Banks|Nathaniel P. Banks]] was to capture [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]].

Union forces in the East attempted to maneuver past Lee and fought several battles during that phase ("Grant's [[Overland Campaign]]") of the Eastern campaign. Grant's battles of attrition at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 724–735</ref> resulted in heavy Union losses, but forced Lee's Confederates to fall back again and again. An attempt to outflank Lee from the south failed under Butler, who was trapped inside the [[Bermuda Hundred Campaign|Bermuda Hundred]] river bend. Grant was tenacious and, despite astonishing losses (over 65,000 casualties in seven weeks),<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, pages 741-742</ref> kept pressing Lee's Army of Northern Virginia back to Richmond. He pinned down the Confederate army in the [[Siege of Petersburg]], where the two armies engaged in [[trench warfare]] for over nine months.

Grant finally found a commander, General [[Philip Sheridan]], aggressive enough to prevail in the [[Valley Campaigns of 1864]]. Sheridan defeated Maj. Gen. [[Jubal Anderson Early|Jubal A. Early]] in a series of battles, including a final decisive defeat at [[Battle of Cedar Creek|the Battle of Cedar Creek]]. Sheridan then proceeded to destroy the agricultural base of the [[Shenandoah Valley]],<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 778–779</ref> a strategy similar to the tactics Sherman later employed in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Sherman marched from Chattanooga to Atlanta, defeating Confederate Generals [[Joseph E. Johnston]] and [[John Bell Hood]] along the way. [[Battle of Atlanta|The fall of Atlanta]],<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 773–775</ref> on [[September 2]] [[1864]], was a significant factor in the reelection of Lincoln as president.<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, pages 774–776</ref> Hood left the Atlanta area to menace Sherman's supply lines and invade Tennessee in the [[Franklin-Nashville Campaign]].<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 812–815</ref> Union Maj. Gen. [[John M. Schofield]] defeated Hood at [[Battle of Franklin II|the Battle of Franklin]], and [[George H. Thomas]] dealt Hood a massive defeat at [[Battle of Nashville|the Battle of Nashville]], effectively destroying Hood's army.

[[Image:DeadUnionsoldiercivilwar.jpg|thumb|left|250px|A dead soldier in Petersburg, Virginia 1865, photographed by [[Thomas C. Roche]].]]

Leaving Atlanta, and his base of supplies, Sherman's army marched with an unknown destination, laying waste to about 20% of the farms in Georgia in his "[[Sherman's March to the Sea|March to the Sea]]". He reached the Atlantic Ocean at [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] in December 1864. Sherman's army was followed by thousands of freed slaves; there were no major battles along the March. Sherman turned north through South Carolina and North Carolina to approach the Confederate Virginia lines from the south,<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 825–830</ref> increasing the pressure on Lee's army.

Lee's army, thinned by desertion and casualties, was now much smaller than Grant's. Union forces won a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Five Forks]] on [[April 1]], forcing Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond. The Confederate capital fell<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 846–847</ref> to the [[XXV Corps (ACW)|Union XXV Corps]], composed of black troops. The remaining Confederate units fled west and after a defeat at [[Battle of Sayler's Creek|Sayler's Creek]], it became clear to Robert E. Lee that continued fighting against the United States was both tactically and logistically impossible.

Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on [[April 9]] [[1865]], at [[Appomattox Court House]].<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 848–850</ref> In an untraditional gesture and as a sign of Grant's respect and anticipation of folding the Confederacy back into the Union with dignity and peace, Lee was permitted to keep his officer's saber and his horse, [[Traveller (horse)|Traveller]]. Johnston surrendered his troops to Sherman on [[April 26]] [[1865]], in [[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]], [[North Carolina]]. On [[June 23]] [[1865]], at [[Fort Towson]] in the Choctaw Nations' area of the [[Oklahoma Territory]], [[Stand Watie]] signed a cease-fire agreement with Union representatives, becoming the last Confederate general in the field to stand down. The last Confederate naval force to surrender was the [[CSS Shenandoah|CSS ''Shenandoah'']] on [[November 4]] [[1865]], in [[Liverpool]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|England]].

== Slavery during the war ==

At the beginning of the war some Union commanders thought they were supposed to return escaped slaves to their masters. By 1862, when it became clear that this would be a long war, the question of what to do about slavery became more general. The Southern economy and military effort depended on slave labor. It began to seem unreasonable to protect slavery while blockading Southern commerce and destroying Southern production. As one Congressman put it, the slaves "…cannot be neutral. As laborers, if not as soldiers, they will be allies of the rebels, or of the Union."<ref>McPherson, ''Battle Cry of Freedom'' page 495</ref> The same Congressman—and his fellow Radical Republicans—put pressure on Lincoln to rapidly emancipate the slaves, whereas moderate Republicans came to accept gradual, compensated emancipation and colonization.<ref>McPherson, ''Battle Cry'' page 355, 494–6, quote from [[George Julian]] on 495.</ref> [[Copperheads (politics)|Copperheads]], the [[Border states (Civil War)|border states]] and [[War Democrats]] opposed emancipation, although the border states and War Democrats eventually accepted it as part of [[total war]] needed to save the Union.

In 1861, Lincoln expressed the fear that premature attempts at emancipation would mean the loss of the border states, and that "to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game."<ref>Lincoln's letter to O. H. Browning, [[September 22]] [[1861]]</ref> At first, Lincoln reversed attempts at emancipation by Secretary of War [[Simon Cameron]] and Generals [[John C. Fremont]] (in Missouri) and [[David Hunter]] (in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida) in order to keep the loyalty of the border states and the War Democrats.

Lincoln mentioned his Emancipation Proclamation to members of his cabinet on [[July 21]] [[1862]]. Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] told Lincoln to wait for a victory before issuing the proclamation, as to do otherwise would seem like "our last shriek on the retreat".<ref>Stephen B. Oates, Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths, page 106</ref> In September 1862 the [[Battle of Antietam]] provided this opportunity, and the subsequent [[War Governors' Conference]] added support for the proclamation.<ref>Images of America: Altoona, by Sr. Anne Francis Pulling, 2001, 10.</ref> Lincoln had already published a letter<ref>Letter to Greeley, [[August 22]] [[1862]]</ref> encouraging the border states especially to accept emancipation as necessary to save the Union. Lincoln later said that slavery was "somehow the cause of the war".<ref name="SecondInaugural"> Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, [[March 4]] [[1865]]</ref> Lincoln issued his preliminary [[Emancipation Proclamation]] on [[September 22]] [[1862]], and said that a final proclamation would be issued if his gradual plan based on compensated emancipation and voluntary colonization was rejected. Only the District of Columbia accepted Lincoln's gradual plan, and Lincoln issued his final Emancipation Proclamation on [[January 1]], [[1863]]. In his letter to Hodges, Lincoln explained his belief that "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong … And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling ... I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me."<ref> Lincoln's Letter to A. G. Hodges, [[April 4]] [[1864]]</ref>

Since the Emancipation Proclamation was based on the President's war powers, it only included territory held by Confederates at the time. However, the Proclamation became a symbol of the Union's growing commitment to add emancipation to the Union's definition of liberty.<ref>James McPherson, The War that Never Goes Away</ref> Lincoln also played a leading role in getting Congress to vote for the Thirteenth Amendment,<ref name="WhoFreed">James McPherson, Who Freed the Slaves?</ref> which made emancipation universal and permanent.

Enslaved African Americans did not wait for Lincoln's action before escaping and seeking freedom behind Union lines. From early years of the war, hundreds of thousands of African Americans escaped to Union lines, especially in occupied areas like Norfolk and the Hampton Roads region in 1862, Tennessee from 1862 on, the line of Sherman's march, etc. So many African Americans fled to Union lines that commanders created camps and schools for them, where both adults and children learned to read and write. The American Missionary Association entered the war effort by sending teachers south to such contraband camps, for instance establishing schools in Norfolk and on nearby plantations. In addition, nearly 200,000 African-American men served with distinction as soldiers and sailors with Union troops. Most of those were escaped slaves.

Confederates enslaved captured black Union soldiers, and black soldiers especially were shot when trying to surrender at the [[Fort Pillow Massacre]].<ref>Bruce Catton, ''Never Call Retreat'', page 335</ref> This led to a breakdown of the prisoner exchange program, and the growth of prison camps such as [[Andersonville National Historic Site|Andersonville prison]] in Georgia where almost 13,000 Union prisoners of war died of starvation and disease.<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, pages 791–798</ref>

In spite of the South's shortage of manpower, until 1865, most Southern leaders opposed arming slaves as soldiers. They used them as laborers to support the war effort. As [[Howell Cobb]] said, "If slaves will make good soldiers our whole theory of slavery is wrong." Confederate generals [[Patrick Cleburne]] and [[Robert E. Lee]] argued in favor of arming blacks late in the war, and [[Jefferson Davis]] was eventually persuaded to support plans for arming slaves to avoid military defeat. The Confederacy surrendered at [[Appomattox, Virginia|Appomattox]] before this plan could be implemented.<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, pages 831-837</ref>

A few Confederates discussed arming slaves since the early stages of the war, and some free blacks had even offered to fight for the South. In 1862 Georgian Congressman Warren Akin supported the enrolling of slaves with the promise of emancipation, as did the Alabama legislature. Support for doing so also grew in other Southern states. A few all black Confederate militia units, most notably the [[1st Louisiana Native Guard]], were formed in Louisiana at the start of the war, but were disbanded in 1862<ref>Bergeron, Arthur W., Jr. Louisianans in the Civil War, "Louisiana's Free Men of Color in Gray", University of Missouri Press, 2002, p. 107-109.</ref>. In early March, 1865, Virginia endorsed a bill to enlist black soldiers, and on March 13 the Confederate Congress did the same.<ref>Jay Winik, ''April 1865. The Month that Saved America'', p.51-59</ref>

The Emancipation Proclamation<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 557–558 and 563</ref> greatly reduced the Confederacy's hope of getting aid from Britain or France. Lincoln's moderate approach succeeded in getting border states, War Democrats and emancipated slaves fighting on the same side for the Union. The Union-controlled border states (Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia) were not covered by the Emancipation Proclamation. All abolished slavery on their own, except Kentucky and Delaware.<ref name="SlavDela">{{cite web|last=Harper|first=Douglas|title=SLAVERY in DELAWARE|url=http://www.slavenorth.com/delaware.htm|date=2003|accessdate=2007-10-16}}</ref> The great majority of the 4 million slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, as Union armies moved South. The [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th amendment]],<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 840–842</ref> ratified [[December 6]] [[1865]], finally freed the remaining slaves in Kentucky, Delaware, and New Jersey, that numbered 225,000 for Kentucky, 1,800 in Delaware, and 18 in New Jersey as of 1860.<ref>U. S. Census of 1860</ref>

== Threat of international intervention ==

Entry into the war by Britain and France on behalf of the Confederacy would have greatly increased the South's chances of winning independence from the Union.<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, pages 546–557</ref> The Union, under Lincoln and Secretary of State [[William Henry Seward]] worked to block this, and threatened war if any country officially recognized the existence of the Confederate States of America (none ever did). In 1861, Southerners voluntarily embargoed cotton shipments, hoping to start an economic depression in Europe that would force Britain to enter the war in order to get cotton. [[Cotton diplomacy]] proved a failure as Europe had a surplus of cotton, while the 1860–62 crop failures in Europe made the North's grain exports of critical importance. It was said that "King Corn was more powerful than King Cotton", as US grain went from a quarter of the British import trade to almost half.<ref> McPherson, ''Battle Cry'' 386</ref>

When the UK did face a cotton shortage, it was temporary, being replaced by increased cultivation in Egypt and India. Meanwhile, the war created employment for arms makers, iron workers, and British ships to transport weapons.<ref>Allen Nevins, ''War for the Union 1862–1863'', pages 263–264</ref>

[[Charles Francis Adams, Sr.|Charles Francis Adams]] proved particularly adept as [[ambassador|minister]] to Britain for the Union, and Britain was reluctant to boldly challenge the Union's blockade. The Confederacy purchased several warships from commercial ship builders in Britain. The most famous, the [[CSS Alabama|CSS ''Alabama'']], did considerable damage and led to serious [[Alabama Claims|postwar disputes]]. However, public opinion against slavery created a political liability for European politicians, especially in Britain. War loomed in late 1861 between the U.S. and Britain over the [[Trent Affair]], involving the Union boarding of a British mail steamer to seize two Confederate diplomats. However, London and Washington were able to smooth over the problem after Lincoln released the two.

In 1862, the British considered mediation—though even such an offer would have risked war with the U.S. [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]] reportedly read ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin|Uncle Tom’s Cabin]]'' three times<ref>Stephen B. Oates, The Approaching Fury: Voices of the Storm 1820–1861, page 125</ref> when deciding on this. The Union victory in the [[Battle of Antietam]] caused them to delay this decision. The [[Emancipation Proclamation]] further reinforced the political liability of supporting the Confederacy. Despite sympathy for the Confederacy, France's own [[French intervention in Mexico|seizure of Mexico]] ultimately deterred them from war with the Union. Confederate offers late in the war to end slavery in return for diplomatic recognition were not seriously considered by London or Paris.

== Aftermath==

Since the war's end, it has been arguable whether the South could have really won the war. A significant number of scholars believe that the Union held an insurmountable advantage over the Confederacy in terms of industrial strength and population. Confederate actions, they argue, could only delay defeat. This view is part of the [[Lost Cause]] historiography of the war. Southern historian [[Shelby Foote]] expressed this view succinctly in [[Ken Burns]]'s television series on the Civil War: "I think that the North fought that war with one hand behind its back.… If there had been more Southern victories, and a lot more, the North simply would have brought that other hand out from behind its back. I don't think the South ever had a chance to win that War."<ref>Ward 1990 p 272</ref> The Confederacy sought to win independence by out-lasting Lincoln. However, after Atlanta fell and Lincoln defeated McClellan in the election of 1864, the hope for a political victory for the South ended. At that point, Lincoln had succeeded in getting the support of the border states, War Democrats, emancipated slaves and Britain and France. By defeating the Democrats and McClellan, he also defeated the [[Copperheads]] and their peace platform.<ref>McPherson, Battle Cry, pages 771–772</ref> Lincoln had also found military leaders like Grant and Sherman who would press the Union's numerical advantage in battle over the Confederate Armies. Generals who did not shy from bloodshed won the war, and from the end of 1864 onward there was no hope for the South.

On the other hand, James McPherson has argued that the North’s advantage in population and resources made Northern victory possible, but not inevitable. The [[American War of Independence]] and the [[Vietnam War]] are examples of wars won by the side with fewer numbers. Confederates did not need to invade and hold enemy territory in order to win, but only needed to fight a defensive war to convince the North that the cost of winning was too high. The North needed to conquer and hold vast stretches of enemy territory and defeat Confederate armies in order to win.<ref>James McPherson, Why did the Confederacy Lose?</ref>

Also important were Lincoln's eloquence in rationalizing the national purpose and his skill in keeping the border states committed to the Union cause. Although Lincoln's approach to emancipation was slow, the Emancipation Proclamation was an effective use of the President's war powers.<ref name="WarLeader">{{cite web|last=Fehrenbacher|first=Don|title=Lincoln's Wartime Leadership: The First Hundred Days|url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/9/fehrenbacher.html|date=2004|publisher=University of Illinois|accessdate=2007-10-16}}</ref>

{| align=right class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin:2em"

|+ Comparison of Union and CSA<ref>Railroad mileage is from: [[Chauncey Depew]] (ed.), ''One Hundred Years of American Commerce 1795–1895'', p. 111; For other data see: [http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1860c-01.pdf 1860 US census] and Carter, Susan B., ed. ''The Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition'' (5 vols), 2006.</ref>

! !! Union !! CSA

| Total population || 22,000,000 (71%) || 9,000,000 (29%)

| Free population || 22,000,000 || 5,500,000

| 1860 Border state slaves || 432,586 || NA

| 1860 Southern slaves || NA || 3,500,000

| Soldiers || 2,200,000 (67%) || 1,064,000 (33%)

| Railroad miles|| 21,788 (71%) || 8,838 (29%)

| Manufactured items || 90% || 10%

| Firearm production || 97% || 3%

| Bales of cotton in 1860|| Negligible || 4,500,000

| Bales of cotton in 1864|| Negligible || 300,000

| Pre-war U.S. exports|| 30% || 70%

The more industrialized economy of the North aided in the production of arms, munitions and supplies, as well as finances, and transportation. The table shows the relative advantage of the Union over the Confederate States of America (CSA) at the start of the war. The advantages widened rapidly during the war, as the Northern economy grew, and Confederate territory shrank and its economy weakened. The Union population was 22 million and the South 9 million in 1861; the Southern population included more than 3.5 million slaves and about 5.5 million whites, thus leaving the South's white population outnumbered by a ratio of more than four to one compared with that of the North.<ref name="Tread">{{cite book|last=Crocker III|first=H. W.|title=Don't Tread on Me|publisher=Crown Forum|date=2006|location=New York|pages=162|isbn=9781400053636}}</ref> The disparity grew as the Union controlled more and more southern territory with garrisons, and cut off the trans-Mississippi part of the Confederacy. The Union at the start controlled over 80% of the shipyards, steamships, river boats, and the Navy. It augmented these by a massive shipbuilding program. This enabled the Union to control the river systems and to blockade the entire southern coastline.<ref> McPherson 313–16, 392–3</ref> Excellent railroad links between Union cities allowed for the quick and cheap movement of troops and supplies. Transportation was much slower and more difficult in the South which was unable to augment its much smaller rail system, repair damage, or even perform routine maintenance.<ref>Heidler, David Stephen, ed. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2002), 1591–98</ref> The failure of Davis to maintain positive and productive relationships with state governors (especially governor [[Joseph E. Brown]] of Georgia and governor [[Zebulon Vance]] of North Carolina) damaged his ability to draw on regional resources.<ref> McPherson 432–44</ref> The Confederacy's "[[King Cotton]]" misperception of the world economy led to bad diplomacy, such as the refusal to ship cotton before the blockade started.<ref>Heidler, David Stephen, ed. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2002), 598–603</ref>

The Emancipation Proclamation enabled African-Americans, both free blacks and escaped slaves, to join the Union Army. About 190,000 volunteered,<ref name="SpartSchool">{{cite web|title=Black Regiments|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWcolored.htm|accessdate=2007-10-16}}</ref> further enhancing the numerical advantage the Union armies enjoyed over the Confederates, who did not dare emulate the equivalent manpower source for fear of fundamentally undermining the legitimacy of slavery. Emancipated slaves fought in several key battles in the last two years of the war.<ref> John Hope Franklin, ''The Emancipation Proclamation'' (1965)</ref> European [[Immigration to the United States#Immigration 1790 to 1849|immigrants]] joined the [[Union Army]] in large numbers too. 23.4% of all Union soldiers were [[German-Americans]]; about 216,000 were born in [[Germany]].<ref>Faust, page 523. Quoting from an 1869 ethnicity study by B. A. Gould of the [[United States Sanitary Commission]].</ref>

===Reconstruction===

Northern leaders agreed that victory would require more than the end of fighting. It had to encompass the two war goals: Secession had to be totally repudiated, and all forms of slavery had to be eliminated. They disagreed sharply on the criteria for these goals. They also disagreed on the degree of federal control that should be imposed on the South, and the process by which Southern states should be reintegrated into the Union.

Reconstruction, which began early in the war and ended in 1877, involved a complex and rapidly changing series of federal and state policies. The long-term result came in the three "Civil War" amendments to the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]]: the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery; the Fourteenth Amendment, which extended federal legal protections equally to citizens regardless of race; and the Fifteenth Amendment, which abolished racial restrictions on voting.

Reconstruction ended in the different states at different times, the last three by the [[Compromise of 1877]].

For details on how white Democrats in the South subverted the protections of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] until the [[American Civil Rights movement]], see

*[[Disfranchisement after the Civil War]]

*[[Jim Crow laws]]

*''[[United States v. Cruikshank]]'' (1875)

*''[[Civil Rights Cases]]'' (1883)

*''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' (1896)

*''[[Williams v. Mississippi]]'' (1898)

*''[[Giles v. Harris]]'' (1903)

*[[Reconstruction]]<ref>Eric Foner, Reconstruction - America's Unfinished Revolution - 1863-1877, Harper & Row, 1988</ref>

*[[Redemption (United States history)]]

=== Results ===

All slaves in the Confederacy were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, which stipulated that slaves in Confederate-held areas, but not in border states or in Washington, D.C., were free. Slaves in the border states and Union-controlled parts of the South were freed by state action or by the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]], although slavery effectively ended in the U.S. in the spring of 1865. The full restoration of the Union was the work of a highly contentious postwar era known as [[Reconstruction]]. The war produced about 970,000 casualties (3% of the population), including about 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease.<ref name="StatsWarCost">{{cite web|last=Nofi|first=Al|title=Statistics on the War's Costs|publisher=Louisiana State University|date=[[2001-06-13]]| url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070711050249/http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/other/stats/warcost.htm|accessdate=2007-10-14}}</ref> The war accounted for more casualties than all other U.S. wars combined.<ref>James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, page xix (from the introduction by C. Vann Woodward as of 1988)</ref> The [[Origins of the American Civil War|causes of the war]], the reasons for its outcome, and even [[Naming the American Civil War|the name of the war itself]] are subjects of lingering controversy today. About 4 million [[African American|black]] [[slavery|slaves]] were freed in 1865. Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of all [[European American|white]] males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6% in the North and an extraordinary 18% in the South.<ref name="HarvardCraig">{{cite web|last=Lambert|first=Craig|title=The Deadliest War|publisher=Harvard Magazine|date=May-June 2001| url=http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/050155.html|accessdate=2007-10-14}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of American Civil War topics]]

* [[Abolitionism]]

* [[African Americans in the Civil War]]

* [[German-Americans in the Civil War]]

* [[Canada and the American Civil War]]

* [[United States casualties of war|Casualties of the American Civil War]]

* [[List of Medal of Honor recipients]]

* [[Military history of the Confederate States]]

* [[National Civil War Museum]]

* [[Naming the American Civil War]]

* [[New York Draft Riots]]

* [[List of people associated with the American Civil War]]

* [[List of wars involving the United States]]

* [[Official Records of the American Civil War]]

* [[Opposition to the American Civil War]]

* [[Photography and photographers of the American Civil War]]

* [[Rail transport in the American Civil War]]

* [[U.S. Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War]]

* [[American Civil War spies]]

* [[List of wars and disasters by death toll|List of wars by death toll]]

* [[Confederados]]

=== Cinema and Television ===

====Films about the war====

* ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' (1915)

* ''[[The General (1927 film)|The General]]'' (1927)

* ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939)

* ''[[Friendly Persuasion (film)|Friendly Persuasion]]'' (1956)

* ''[[Raintree County (film)|Raintree County]]'' (1957)

* ''[[The Horse Soldiers]]'' (1959)

* ''[[Major Dundee]]'' (1965)

* ''[[Shenandoah (film)]]'' (1965)

* ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'' (1966)

* ''[[The Blue and the Gray]]'' (1982)

* ''[[Glory (film)|Glory]]'' (1989)

* ''[[Gettysburg (movie)|Gettysburg]]'' (1993)

* ''[[Andersonville (film)|Andersonville]]'' (1996)

* ''[[Ride with the Devil (1999)|Ride with the Devil]]'' (1999)

* ''[[Gods and Generals (film)|Gods and Generals]]'' (2003)

* ''[[Cold Mountain (film)|Cold Mountain]]'' (2003)

* ''[[North And South Miniseries|North and South (TV miniseries)]]'' (Book I - [[November 3]] [[1985]] Book II - [[May 4]] [[1986]] Book III - [[February 27]] [[1994]])</div>

==== Documentaries about the war ====

*''[[The Civil War (documentary)|The Civil War]]'' (1990)

=== Games ===

====Board Games====

* ''[[A House Divided (board game)]]'' (2001)

* ''[[Battle Cry (game)]]'' (2000)

* ''[[Gettysburg (game)]]'' (1958)

* ''[[Terrible Swift Sword]]'' (1976)

====Computer Games====

* ''[[Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War]]'' (2006)

* ''[[The History Channel: Civil War - A Nation Divided]]'' (2006)

* ''[[Take Command]]'' (2004)

====Miniatures Games====

* ''[[Enduring Valor: Gettysburg in Miniature]]'' (2002)

== Notes ==

== References ==

; Overviews

* Beringer, Richard E., Archer Jones, and Herman Hattaway, ''Why the South Lost the Civil War'' (1986) influential analysis of factors; ''The Elements of Confederate Defeat: Nationalism, War Aims, and Religion'' (1988), abridged version

* [[Bruce Catton|Catton, Bruce]], ''The Civil War'', American Heritage, 1960, ISBN 0-8281-0305-4, illustrated narrative

* Crofts, Daniel W. ''Reluctant Confederates: Upper South Unionists in the Secession Crisis.'' (1989).

* Davis, William C. ''The Imperiled Union, 1861–1865'' 3v (1983)

* Donald, David ''et al. The Civil War and Reconstruction'' (latest edition 2001); 700 page survey

* Eicher, David J., ''The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War'', (2001), ISBN 0-684-84944-5.

* Fellman, Michael ''et al. This Terrible War: The Civil War and its Aftermath'' (2003), 400 page survey

* [[Shelby Foote|Foote, Shelby]]. ''[[The Civil War: A Narrative]]'' (3 volumes), (1974), ISBN 0-394-74913-8. Highly detailed narrative covering all fronts

* [[James M. McPherson|McPherson, James M.]] ''Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era'' (1988), 900 page survey; Pulitzer prize

* [[James M. McPherson]]. ''Ordeal By Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction'' (2nd ed 1992), textbook

* [[Allan Nevins|Nevins, Allan]]. ''[[Ordeal of the Union]]'', an 8-volume set (1947–1971). the most detailed political, economic and military narrative; by Pulitzer Prize winner

** 1. Fruits of Manifest Destiny, 1847–1852; 2. A House Dividing, 1852–1857; 3. Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos, 1857–1859; 4. Prologue to Civil War, 1859–1861; 5. The Improvised War, 1861–1862; 6. War Becomes Revolution, 1862–1863; 7. The Organized War, 1863–1864; 8. The Organized War to Victory, 1864–1865

* Rhodes, James Ford. [http://www.bartleby.com/252/ ''History of the Civil War, 1861–1865 (1918)], Pulitzer Prize; a short version of his 5-volume history

* Ward, Geoffrey C. ''The Civil War'' (1990), based on PBS series by [[Ken Burns]]; visual emphasis

* Weigley, Russell Frank. ''A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861–1865'' (2004); primarily military</div>

; Reference books and bibliographies

<div class="references-small">* Blair, Jayne E. ''The Essential Civil War: A Handbook to the Battles, Armies, Navies And Commanders'' (2006)

* Carter, Alice E. and Richard Jensen. ''The Civil War on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites-'' 2nd ed. (2003)

* Current, Richard N., ''et al.'' eds. ''Encyclopedia of the Confederacy'' (1993) (4 Volume set; also 1 vol abridged version) (ISBN 0-13-275991-8)

* Faust, Patricia L. (ed.) ''Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War'' (1986) (ISBN 0-06-181261-7) 2000 short entries

* Esposito, Vincent J., ''West Point Atlas of American Wars'' online edition 1995

* Heidler, David Stephen, ed. ''Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History'' (2002), 1600 entries in 2700 pages in 5 vol or 1-vol editions

* Resch, John P. ''et al.'', ''Americans at War: Society, Culture and the Homefront vol 2: 1816–1900'' (2005)

* Tulloch, Hugh. ''The Debate on the American Civil War Era'' (1999), historiography

* Wagner, Margaret E. Gary W. Gallagher, and Paul Finkelman, eds. ''The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference'' (2002)

* Woodworth, Steven E. ed. ''American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research'' (1996) (ISBN 0-313-29019-9), 750 pages of historiography and bibliography</div>

; Biographies

<div class="references-small">* ''American National Biography'' 24 vol (1999), essays by scholars on all major figures; [http://www.anb.org/aboutanb.html online and hardcover editions at many libraries]

* McHenry, Robert ed. ''Webster's American Military Biographies'' (1978)

* Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders'', (1964), ISBN 0-8071-0822-7

* Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders'', (1959), ISBN 0-8071-0823-5</div>

; Soldiers

<div class="references-small">* Hess, Earl J. ''The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat'' (1997)

* McPherson, James. ''For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War '' (1998)

* Wiley, Bell Irvin. ''The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy'' (1962) (ISBN 0-8071-0475-2)

* Wiley, Bell Irvin. ''Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union'' (1952) (ISBN 0-8071-0476-0)</div>

; Primary sources

<div class="references-small">* Commager, Henry Steele (ed.). ''The Blue and the Gray. The Story of the Civil War as Told by Participants.'' (1950), excerpts from primary sources

* Hesseltine, William B. ed.; ''The Tragic Conflict: The Civil War and Reconstruction'' (1962), excerpts from primary sources</div>

== External links ==

* [http://www.historicalpreservation.org/civilwar/ohio/ Ohio in the Civil War Archive: Collaborative research archive]

* [http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/reasons.html Declarations of Causes of Secession]

* [http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?documentprint=76 Alexander Stephens' Cornerstone Speech]

* [http://www.civilwarhome.com/lincolntroops.htm Lincoln's Call for Troops]

* [http://www.civil-war.net The Civil War Home Page]

* [http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/index.html Civil War photos] at the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]]

* [http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?FeatureID=198 Civil War in Virginia]

* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/books-title.htm Online texts of Civil War books] at the [[National Park Service]]

* [http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/generals.html University of Tennessee: U.S. Civil War Generals]

* [http://www.pbs.org/civilwar ''The Civil War''], a [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] documentary by [[Ken Burns]]

* Individual state's contributions to the Civil War: [http://www.militarymuseum.org/HistoryCW.html California], [http://www.floridamemory.com/OnlineClassroom/FloridaCivilWar/index.cfm Florida], [http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/ Illinois #1], [http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/ Illinois #2], [http://www.ohiocivilwar.com/ Ohio], [http://www.pacivilwar.com/ Pennsylvania]

* State declarations of the causes of secession: [http://www.civilwar.com/decms.htm Mississippi], [http://www.civilwar.com/decga.htm Georgia], [http://www.civilwar.com/dectx.htm Texas], [http://www.civilwar.com/decsc.htm South Carolina]

* [http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_civ.htm Civil War Memorials in & around D.C.] (with photos)

* [http://www.vlib.us/eras/civil_war.html WWW-VL: History: USA Civil War 1855-1865]

* [http://www.civil-war-journeys.org Description and Pictures of Civil War Battlefields] Over 2,100 pictures from Civil War sites

</div>

*[http://www.gettysburg.edu/library/gettdigital/civil_war/civilwar.htm Civil War Era Digital Collection at Gettysburg College] This collection contains digital images of political cartoons, personal papers, pamphlets, maps, paintings and photographs from the Civil War Era held in Special Collections at Gettysburg College.

[[Category:American Civil War| ]]

[[Category:1860s in the United States]]

[[Category:History of the United States (1849–1865)]]

[[Category:Rebellions in the United States]]

[[Category:Wars involving the United States|Civil War]]

[[als:Sezessionskrieg]]

[[ang:Americanisc Ingefeoht]]

[[ar:الحرب الأهلية الأمريكية]]

[[ast:Guerra de Secesión]]

[[bn:মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের গৃহযুদ্ধ]]

[[bs:Američki građanski rat]]

[[bg:Американска гражданска война]]

[[ca:Guerra civil dels Estats Units]]

[[cs:Americká občanská válka]]

[[cy:Rhyfel Cartref America]]

[[da:Amerikanske borgerkrig]]

[[de:Sezessionskrieg]]

[[et:Ameerika Ühendriikide kodusõda]]

[[el:Αμερικανικός Εμφύλιος Πόλεμος]]

[[es:Guerra Civil Estadounidense]]

[[eo:Usona Enlanda Milito]]

[[eu:Ameriketako Estatu Batuetako Gerra Zibila]]

[[fa:جنگ داخلی امریکا]]

[[fr:Guerre de Sécession]]

[[gd:Coghadh Cathara Ameireaganach]]

[[gl:Guerra Civil Estadounidense]]

[[ko:남북 전쟁]]

[[hi:अमरीकी गृहयुद्ध]]

[[hr:Američki građanski rat]]

[[io:Usana Civila Milito]]

[[id:Perang Saudara Amerika]]

[[ia:Guerra Civil American]]

[[is:Bandaríska borgarastríðið]]

[[it:Guerra di secessione americana]]

[[he:מלחמת האזרחים האמריקנית]]

[[kn:ಅಮೇರಿಕಾದ ಅಂತಃಕಲಹ]]

[[la:Bellum Civile Americanum]]

[[lt:JAV pilietinis karas]]

[[hu:Amerikai polgárháború]]

[[mk:Американска граѓанска војна]]

[[mt:Gwerra Ċivili Amerikana]]

[[mr:अमेरिकन गृहयुद्ध]]

[[nl:Amerikaanse Burgeroorlog]]

[[ja:南北戦争]]

[[nap:Uerra civile merricana]]

[[no:Den amerikanske borgerkrigen]]

[[nn:Borgarkrigen i USA]]

[[om:U.S. Civil War]]

[[nds:Amerikaansche Börgerkrieg]]

[[pl:Wojna secesyjna]]

[[pt:Guerra Civil dos Estados Unidos da América]]

[[ro:Războiul civil american]]

[[ru:Гражданская война в США]]

[[scn:Guerra civili miricana]]

[[simple:American Civil War]]

[[sk:Americká občianska vojna]]

[[sl:Ameriška državljanska vojna]]

[[sr:Амерички грађански рат]]

[[sh:Američki građanski rat]]

[[fi:Yhdysvaltain sisällissota]]

[[sv:Amerikanska inbördeskriget]]

[[ta:அமெரிக்க உள்நாட்டுப் போர்]]

[[th:สงครามกลางเมืองอเมริกา]]

[[vi:Nội chiến Hoa Kỳ]]

[[chr:ᏴᏩᏁᎬ Civil ᏓᏄᏩ]]

[[tr:Amerikan İç Savaşı]]

[[uk:Громадянська війна в США]]

[[zh:南北战争]]