The Civil War: Causes, Battles, and End

The following sample essay on “Civil War”: the events that led up to the Start of the Civil War, the battles during the Civil War and the end of the Civil war. How, when and why did the Civil War end? What battles took place during the Civil War and how did they affect the outcome of the Civil War? How, when and why the Civil War started? What events led up to the start of the Civil war?

There were a few abolitionists that were involved in events leading up to the Civil War.

Even though the Civil war didn’t actually begin until 1861there were people fighting for the same causes as the ones that caused the Civil War; slavery, state rights, the future of the new territories if they were going to be Free states or slave states. In October 16th -18th, 1859 John brown, in an attempt to amass arms for a slave insurrection, attacks the federal armory and arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

(Thomas, 2001) John Brown (May 9, 1800-December 2, 1859) was an abolitionist; he believed that the only way to take action against slavery was by using force.In 1856 Brown commanded forced in the Battle of Black Jack and the Battle of Osawatomie in Kansas. Some of his followers killed 5 pro-slave supporters at Pottawatomie. The attacks in October 1859 on the federal armory and at Harpers Ferry are what led to his capture and being tried for murder and treason.

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On December 2nd, 1859 Brown was hung for murder and treason. (Reynolds, 2005) “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done” Brown wrote this the morning of his hanging. (Reynolds, 2005) On November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln is elected President, with Hannibal Hamlin as his Vice president. He was the first Republican to win the presidency. Receiving only 40% of the popular vote. (this day in history novemeber 6, 2013) On December 20, 1860 South Carolina held a special convention, to vote on whether or not to withdraw from the union. With a unanimously vote South Carolina withdrew from the Union.This done as a consequence of Lincoln’s election, Lincoln against slavery and the states that were slaves didn’t like the idea of him being president. Even thou South Carolina seceded from the Union the rest of the south was still wrestling with the idea of seceded with South Carolina.

On January 9 1861 Star of the West, an unarmed merchant vessel secretly carrying federal troops and supplies to fort Sumter, is fired upon by South Carolina artillery at the entrance to Charleston harbor. She was hit three times by what were the first shots of the civil war. Thomas, 2001) January 9 – February 1, 1861 Mississippi (January 9th), Florida (January 10th ), Alabama (January 11th ), Georgia (January 19th ), Louisiana (January 26th ) , and Texas (February 1st ) follow South Carolina’s lead and seceded from the union. They waited until after the Fort Sumter to follow South Carolina. The states debated if seceding like South Carolina was the right thing to do, but after Fort Sumter was surrendered to South Carolina troops, the states believed that should follow South Carolina. Brinkley, 2012) (Thomas, 2001) In February 19861 delegates from six seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a government and they elected Jefferson Davis as the president of the confederate States of America. After this the demanded that the north surrender the federal forts located in the South, to the South. President Buchanan refused to surrender southern federal forts to the seceding states,so southern state troops seized them. (Thomas, 2001) (Morris) On March 4th, 1861 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth president of the United States.

At Lincoln’s inauguration, Lincoln said he had no plans to end slavery in those states where it already existed, but he also said he would not accept secession. He hoped to resolve the national crisis without warfare. (Morris) The start of the Civil War: In April 1861 Lincoln had planned to send supplies to Fort Sumter, to avoid hostilities in alerted the state in advance. South Carolina feared a trick, so they asked the commander of the fort, Robert Anderson to surrender immediately. After Anderson exhausted his supplies he offered to surrender, but it was rejected.On April 12th the Civil War began with shots fired at Fort Sumter. On the second day of the battle Fort Sumter surrendered to South Carolina troops. After the attack on fort Sumter four more states Virginia (Virginia was split on the decision to secede), Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the Confederacy.

When Virginia seceded Richmond became the Confederate capitol. (Morris) (Thomas, 2001) In April 1861 Lincoln declares a state of insurrection and calls for 75, 000 volunteers to enlist for three months of service.On the 19th Lincoln orders a blockade of all Confederate ports. On the 20th Colonel Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army. (Thomas, 2001) On May 24 Union troops cross the Potomac River from Washington and capture Alexandria, Virginia, and vicinity. Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth is killed by local innkeeper and is the first officer to die in the war. He becomes a martyr for the north. (Thomas, 2001) In June 1861Virginia’s western counties did not want to secede with the rest of the state, so on June 20th 1861 the state of West Virginia was born, and joined the Union.Also in June four slave states in the Union, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri. They were divided with their loyalties, a combination of political maneuvering and Union military pressure made them to decide to stay with the Union. (Morris) (Thomas, 2001) On July 21st, 1861 the first Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Manassas started. The public was demanding that General –in-Chief Winfield Scott to advance on the South. General Irvin McDowell was ordered to advance on Confederate troops stationed at Manassas Junction, Virginia.

He attacked on July 21st, he was initially successful, but when confederate reinforcements arrived the South was victorious and the Federal troops retreated towards Washington. (Morris) (Thomas, 2001) In July 1861 Lincoln realizing the threat of a protracted way and that the army’s need for better organization and training he replaced McDowell with General George B. McClellan. By July the blockade of the southern coast had began effectively. The respond to the North blockaded the coast the South built small, fast ships that could outmaneuver the Union vessels. Morris) (Thomas, 2001) On November 8 1861 the Union Navy seizes Confederate commissioners to Great Britain and France — James A. Mason and John Slidell – from the British steamer Trent, inflaming tensions between the United States and Great Britain. (Brinkley, 2012) (Thomas, 2001) In November 1861 Julia Ward Howe, inspired after seeing a review of General McClellan’s army in the Virginia countryside near Washington, composes the lyrics to “the battle hymn of the republic. ” It is published in the Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. (Brinkley, 2012) (Thomas, 2001) On February 6 1862 General Ulysses S.Grant captures fort Henry, Tennessee. Ten days later he accepts the “unconditional and immediate surrender” of Fort Donelson. These victories open up the state of Tennessee for union advancement. (Thomas, 2001) On March 9 1862 the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly the sunken USS Merrimack, which the confederates had raised from the Norfolk navy yard and rebuilt as a ironclad) battle for five hours even collided five times, the battle ending in a draw at Hampton roads. Even though the neither side won the North kept the South from getting supplies from the rest of world. Thomas, 2001) On April 6-7, 1862 40,000 confederate soldiers that were commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston struck a line of Union soldiers there were occupying Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The federal forces were unprepared for the attack from the Confederate soldiers, it drove them from their camps and Ulysses S. Grant’s whole command was threatened.

Not all the federal soldiers were drove away; some were determined to make a stand, by the afternoon of the 6th there was a battle line established at the sunken road, known as the ‘Hornet’s Nest. There were mass artillery that help turn the battle in favor of the Confederates, they surrounded the federal soldiers and captured, killed, or wounded most of them. On the first day, during one of the attacks General Johnston was wounded mortally he got replaced by P. G. T Beauregard. The first day attacks continued into the night, and the federal soldiers were able to hold the Confederate soldiers off. On the second day of the battle the federals got reinforcement, there number went to 40,000 which outnumbered Beauregard’s 30,000 soldiers.Grant made a counter attack which overpowered the already weak Confederate forces. Beauregard was force to retire from the field. This battle was only two days long but produced more than 23,000 casualties, and the time of the battle it was the bloodiest battle in American history. (Shiloh Battle, 2013) On April 25 1862 a fleet of Union ironclads and wooden vessels, this was commanded by David G. Farragut gathered in the Gulf of Mexico.

There were weak forts in the mouth of the Mississippi and the fleet smashed through them, and sailed up to New Orleans.New Orleans was defenseless because the high commanders for the Confederates was expecting an attack form the north. (Brinkley, 2012) On May 8 1862 Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley campaign begins successfully with a victory at the battle of McDowell in Virginia. “If this valley is lost, Virginia is lost. ” Said by Stonewall Jackson during his three month valley campaign he led. He understood that the valley was the bread and basket for the south. On August 29-30 1862, the second Battle of Bull Run or Manassas took place. This battle was one by south again, with the north losing 16,000 soldiers and the south losing 9,000 soldiers.Stonewall Jackson was the general for the Confederates and John Pope was the General for the Union. On September 17, 1862 the Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg in Maryland began. The Battle took place in Farmer Miller’s cornfield. This battle is known as the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War, because there was 23,500 men were killed in the bloody lane. The bridge that the Confederate soldiers held the Union soldiers for four hours was called, Burnside. Even though the South started running out of ammunition and started through rocks, the South won the Battle.On December 13-15 1862 the Battle of Fredericksburg took place.

The Confederate general was Robert E. Lee, and the Union general was Burnside. The North had 122,000 soldiers and the South had 78,500 soldiers, but the South was still able to win the battle. During this battle there were 9,000 Union soldiers killed and only 1,500 Confederate soldiers killed. (Brinkley, 2012) (Morris) In January 1863 in an effort to placate the slave-holding Border States (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware were the Border States. They had soldiers fighting on both sides. Lincoln resisted the demands of radical Republicans for complete abolition. Yet some Union generals, such as General B. F. Butler, declared slaves escaping to their lines “contraband of war,” not to be returned to their masters. Other generals decreed that the slaves of men rebelling against the Union were to be considered free. Congress, too, had been moving toward abolition. In 1861, Congress had passed an act stating that all slaves employed against the Union were to be considered free. In 1862, another act stated that all slaves of men who supported the Confederacy were to be considered free.Lincoln, aware of the public’s growing support of abolition, issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring that all slaves in areas still in rebellion were, in the eyes of the federal government, free. (Morris) (Thomas, 2001) (Brinkley, 2012) On March 3, 1863 President Lincoln signs a federal draft act. Because of recruiting difficulties, an act was passed making all men between the ages of 20 and 45 liable to be called for military service. Service could be avoided by paying a fee or finding a substitute.The act was seen as unfair to the poor, and riots in working-class sections of New York City broke out in protest. A similar conscription act in the South provoked a similar reaction. On April 30th through May 6th, 1863 the Battle of Chancellorsville took place.

Union General Joseph Hooker took his army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock fords on April 30, 1863; this placed them on Confederate General Lee’s vulnerable flank. Even though the Union forces were quick big General Lee decided to attack instead of retreating. General lee opted to attack General Hooker while he was still the thick wilderness.General Lee and Stonewall Jackson conceived a plan on May 1, 1863, that is now said to be one of the boldest plans of the Civil War. Jackson took 30,000 Confederate soldiers an attack on the right side of the Union Soldiers; this shocked the Union troops and Hookers position. During this attack the fog in the air was so think that Union troops where shooting Union troops and Confederate troops were shooting Confederate troops. While this was happening Stonewall Jackson got shot three times by his people and died. The last words he spoke were “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shades of the trees. The South had 45,000 soldiers and the North had 70,000 soldiers, but the south was still able to win. (Chancellorsville) On June 9th, 1863 Confederate cavalry under Jeb Stuart clash with the Union mounts of Alfred Pleasonton in an all day battle at brandy stations, Virginia. Some 18,000 troops — approximately nine thousand on either side take part, making this the largest cavalry battle on American soil. In the end, Stuart will hold the field.

Yet this battle signals the rise and future domination of Union cavalry in the eastern theater.This battle is known as the largest cavalry battle on the North American continent, 17,000 cavalry soldiers fought in this battle. (Brinkley, 2012) (Thomas, 2001) On July 1-3 1863 the Battle of Gettysburg is fought in Pennsylvania. General Lee had his army around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, upon the approach of the Union General George G. Meade forces. On the 1st of July the confederates drove the Union troops through Gettysburg to Cemetery hill. On the 2nd of July Lee attacked the Union troops and serve fighting went on in Devil’s Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill.In the afternoon of July 3rd Lee attacked the center of the Union troops on Cemetery ridge, Lee’s was repulsed with heavy losses, in what is known as Pickett’s Charge. This was Lee’s second invasion on the north and he failed at it. (Brinkley, 2012) (Gettysburg , 2013) On November 19, 1863 Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address, in which he reiterates the nation’s fundamental principle that all men are created equal. The Gettysburg address is known as one of the best speeches of American History. (Brinkley, 2012) (Thomas, 2001) October 19 a Union victory at Cedar Creek ends the Confederate threat in the Shenandoah Valley.November 8 Lincoln is reelected president, with Andrew Johnson as Vice President. November 16 Sherman leaves Atlanta and begins his “march to the sea,” in an attempt to demoralize the South and hasten surrender.

December 15-16 General George Henry Thomas wins the Battle of Nashville, decimating John bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee. December 21 Savannah falls to Sherman’s army without resistance. Sherman gives the city to Lincoln as a Christmas present. January 31 1865 Congress passes the thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery throughout the United States.On March 29, 1865 the Appomattox campaign begins, with grant’s move against lee’s defenses at Petersburg, Virginia. On April 2nd, 1865 Petersburg falls, and the Confederate government evacuates its capital, Richmond. Confederate corps commander Ambrose Powell Hill is killed in action while attempting to rally his men. On April 9th Robert E. lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox. (Brinkley, 2012) (Thomas, 2001) (Morris) On April 14th, 1865 John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford’s theater; Secretary of State William H.Seward is stabbed and wounded in an assassination attempt inside his Washington home. On, April 15th, Lincoln dies, and Andrew Johnson is inaugurated as President. On, April 26th, Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to William T. Sherman in North Carolina; John Wilkes Booth is shot in a barn in Virginia and dies. (Brinkley, 2012) (Morris) (Thomas, 2001) On May 10th, Jefferson Davis is captured and taken prisoner near Irwinville, Georgia. On, May 26 in New Orleans, terms of surrender are offered to General E. Kirby Smith, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department. His acceptance on June 2 formally ends Confederate resistance.On June 30th, all eight conspirators are convicted for the assassination of President Lincoln; four are sentenced to death. (Morris) (Jafferson davis, 2013) (Thomas, 2001)

The End of the Civil War: The official date the Civil War ended was on April 9th, 1865, this is the day that General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of the Northern Virginia at the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House. There is some battles or fights after this date but April 9th 1865 is the generally date that is cited as the end of the Civil War. (Brinkley, 2012) (Morris).