War in the West

The Confederate States of America

1. South Carolina
2. Georgia
3. Alabama
4. Florida
5. Mississippi
6. Louisiana

7. Texas

8. Virginia
9. Arkansas
10. Tennessee
11. North Carolina

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North and South

• Families are torn apart in a civil war: basically a war between family
• Mary Todd Lincoln’s brothers fight for the South.
• Robert E. Lee’s nephews fight for the North.

War Goals

South

• The sole purpose of the war was for independence from the Union.
• Protection of land and family.
• Fight a defensive war.

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Two Front War

War in the East

• Gen. George McClellan
• Goal: Capture Richmond
• Battle of Bull Run
• Battle of Antietam
• The war in the East was stalemate, the North was making little progress

War in the West

• Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
• Goal: Capture Mississippi River
• Enforce Blockades
• Capture Richmond

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Eastern Theater

Battle of Bull Run

Battle of Antietam

Battle of Fredricksburg

Battle of Chancelorsville

Battle of Gettysburg

Eastern Theater

• Gen. George McClellan appointed Commander of the Army in the East.
• Quickly turns volunteer soldiers into a working army.
• Criticized for being too cautious and not taking the offensive.
• Battle of Bull Run
• Battle of Antietam

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Western Theater

• Gen. Ulysses S. Grant commands the western armies.
• Grant was asked to lead a defensive military campaign
• Grant wanted to be on the attack – wanted to invade the South
• February 1862 captures Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson along the Tennessee River and opens a route to invade the Deep South.

Battle of Shiloh

• Grant drives South along the Tennessee River with 48,800 men
• The South needed a win to make up for defeats in Kentucky and Tennessee.
• South also needed to stop the Union’s attack down the Mississippi Valley.
• Grant and his men rested at Shiloh Church
• April 6, 1862- Surprise attack - Confederate Army - 45,000 men – attack the Union Army

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Battle of Shiloh

• The Confederacy caught General Grant by surprise and almost destroyed his army the first day.
• Grant is defeated.
• Grant waits for backup, and Union reinforcements April 7, 1862
• Troops number 55,000.
• On second day, Grand invades and forced the Confederates back.
• Grant wins- Union control of the Mississippi almost complete.

Battle of Shiloh

• Battle of Shiloh - April 6-7, 1862
• Casualties:
• Union-13,047
• Confederate-10,694
• Grant regain territory and push the enemy back into Mississippi.
• Union control of the Mississippi almost complete.
• Winner: Union

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New Orleans

• As Grant battled his way down the Mississippi, the Union navy prepared to blast its way upriver to meet him.
• With 18 ships and 700 men, Admiral David Farragut prepared to attack New Orleans
• Two forts guarded the entrance to New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico
• Farragut decided to race past them.

The Fall of New Orleans

• Attack at night and hide the ships
• Sailors covered the ships in mud and attached trees to the ship
• Wooden ships were wrapped in chains to protect them like ironclads
• Farragut launched his attacked on April 24, 1862 and captured New Orleans on April 29
• The Union gains complete control of the Mississippi River.
• Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana isolated/split from the rest of the Confederacy.

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Western Theater

Ft. Henry

Ft. Donelson

Battle of Shiloh

Union Blockade

Capture of New Orleans

Siege of Vicksburg

• Located on a high cliff overlooking the Mississippi River
• Grant and his army constructed thirteen trenches and dirt forts around Vicksburg
• Union forces dug up to the Confederate line, tunneled underneath, and blew up the rebel trenches
• Vicksburg was cut off from supplies and communications
• 33,000 southerners trapped

Siege of Vicksburg

• Vicksburg was under siege for 47 days
• As food ran out, residents and soldiers survived by eating horses, dogs, and rats.
• The Confederate soldiers were also sick and hungry.
• On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered
• Grant immediately sent food to the soldiers and civilians.
• Vicksburg was the key to the Mississippi and the most important victory in the west.

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