Chapter 11: Farewell to the Ninety Days' War

Fremont was unable to put together a small army to break through Sterling Price's barrier. His reputation
dropped and he lost half of Missourian command. Then, he issued a proclamation and declared martial law,
announced the death penalty for guerrillas behind Union lines, confiscated property of Confederates and
freed slaves. Lincoln wanted to keep Kentucky in the Union. Lincoln later ordered him to modify his
emancipation. The led to a divide between Fremont and Lincoln.
This stirred up a controversy, especially after the Union defeat at the Battle of Bull Run. Slave labour was
very important to the southern war effort that the government started drafting slaves before it started drafting
white men. Lincoln should now be allowed to confiscate their property (slaves) since the Confederates had
forfeited their rights.

Beauregard created the new Confederate flag. The Confederates became more and more confident as they
won more battles like the Battle of Bull Run. Since mid-July, the Confederacy had won most of the
important land battles.

Chapter 12: Blockade and Beachhead: The Salt-Water War, 1861-1862

British merchants became convinced of a neutrality since they were trading in war weapons with both the
parties. Due to presence of confederate privateers, or commerce raiders, many of the British ships which
took back Northern goods were destroyed. This was a tactic to discourage the British from intervening in the
war.
Southerners decided to embargo cotton exports, thinking King Cotton would convince the British to help
them. Crop failures in western Europe from 1860-1862 increased British dependence on American grain and
flour, provided by the Union North.

By 1862, Britain allowed the northern blockade to increase. The Confederates wanted to secure diplomatic
recognition of the South's nationhood. Lincoln ignored the British, because he believed taking on two wars
would destroy the Union. In 1861, British India was giving the Union saltpeter, an important ingredient of
gunpowder. But the war brought the supply of saltpeter down, so Seward sent someone to buy all available
supplies of saltpeter in England and in India. But the British government put an embargo on all shipments to
the US until everything was settled. Still, the Union military successes in the West helped mollify many
Northerners.

Chapter 13: The River War in 1862

Lincoln urged Ulysses S. Grant to go ahead. He attacked at Fort Henry and used gunboats to capture and
destroy Confederate vessels. Soon, Tennessee had a Union highway into the Deep South. In a war after this,
Nathan Bedford Forrest soon became the South's most important commanders. In another war against
Buckner, Grant forced the surrender of thirteen thousand men, and he was promoted to major general.
Grant's victories made the rebel morale go down. At the Battle of Shiloh, Confederate forces surprised
Union troops and drove them across the Tennessee River. Although the Union did get backup and win the
battle, it was one of the most bloody battles in the Civil War.

Due to martial law and conscription by the Confederates. Confederate dollar dropped. At the same time, the
Union government released political prisoners, suspended conscription, and had enough money for the war
to keep them afloat.

Chapter 14: The Sinews of War

By December of 1861, the Southern Confederates no longer had enthusiasm of the war. Conscription was
initiated to start volunteering by threat of coercion instead of actually coercing people into joining the army;
this idea worked and the Confederate increased by 200,000 in 1862. Conscription represented government
power that extended too far, especially in terms of Confederate provisionary government.

The Confederates financed itself through paper dollars and its value depreciated almost immediately. This
inflation became a "confiscatory taxation" that mostly affected the poor. It also led to more class tension and
the lower white classes began to feel alienated to the Confederate cause as they suffered.

The northern economy, on the other hand, was more adapted to the war. It relied on loans for only a part of
its war financing. The rest of its financing, it did through revenues and increased taxes a lot. Their tax was
progressive, since it exempted most wage-earners and only taxed the rich.

Chapter 15: Billy Yank's Chickahominy Blues

The Chickahominy river runs north of Richmond. Confederate army commander Johnston commanded the
Southern army in the field near Seven Pines, east of Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. When he
was shot, Robert E Lee took control. The battle at Seven Pines continued, but cost the Confederates more
than 6,000 men. Lee had a new plan; he believed Richmond could not be held against the enormous Union
army. The Confederates had only three options: abandon Richmond, fight a defensive battle for Richmond,
or attack. Lee urged the Confederacy to attack. He was planning to launch an attack along with Stonewall
Jackson, but when Jackson didn't show up, he went alongside the Chickahominy and defeated the Unionist
McClellan. Called the Seven Days' War, there were the most number of casualties in it.

The high casualties during the battles was due to the traditional tactics being employed and the modern
weapons being used. Attacks changed throughout the war as the new rifle came into soldiers' hands. The
strategy used by many generals - the close-front attack - explains why the Civil War was so long and cost so
many lives.

Chapter 16: We Must Free the Slaves or Be Ourselves Subdued

Despite the number of casualties in the Seven Days' War, the Southerners' morale rose again. Northern
morale plummeted and Lincoln realized that stopping recruitment was a bad idea. He was afraid that
implementing a draft would worry the public, so Seward made a plan to tell the public that they had to
"volunteer" and defeat the rebellion once and for all. Republicans were sure that the fate of the nation could
not be separated from the fate of slavery.

On the other hand, the "copperhead" faction opposed turning the Civil War into a total war, which would
eventually destroy the old South instead of restore the entire Union. This term was coined by Republicans,
since they felt that opposing the way the war was turning into was going against the Republicans and their
way of life.

Chapter 17: Carry Me Back to Old Virginny

Antietam, called Sharpsburg by the South, was one of the few battles in which commanders of both sides
chose the field on purpose and pre-planned their tactics. The Confederates used cover instead of trenches.
McClellan used many troops and crated diversions. Still, it was not very well executed.

Still, Antietam could be considered a Union success. One-third of the rebels died. When Lincoln recognized
it as a Union victory, Confederates gave up hope for British recognition. Antietam, would soon lead to the
Emancipation Proclamation, showing that Antietam was a big turning point in the war.

Chapter 18: John Bull's Virginia Reel

The war in 1862 led to Confederate hope that they might get European diplomatic recognition again. British
view of Southerners as trying to get their freedom failed since they had slavery. The English prided
themselves on stopping the transatlantic slave trade and abolishing slavery in the West Indies; thus, they
couldn't support the South. But, also, since the North didn't fight for freedom, the British didn't see how they
were any better. Since they didn't care about removing slavery, the British didn't support them.

The Battle of Antietam led to issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The battle was also significant
since it warned the British that they shouldn't fight against a government that now wanted freedom, since
Britishers had claimed they would support the Union if they worked to abolish slavery.

Southern response to emancipation was terrible. Many abolition prisoners were executed. These massacres
bothered the Union, who threatened to attack; this was a reason why they were afraid to use blacks in
combat, since they could be captured and killed. Still, the Union now had the British support and the
Emancipation Proclamation was a turning point in the war.

Chapter 19: Three Rivers in Winter, 1862-1863

Even though McClellan failed at beating Lee at Antietam, Lincoln still expected the Army of the Potomac to
fight the rebels. But McClellan protested; he thought he was the hero of Antietam and believed he could do
whatever he wanted. On November 7, Lincoln replaced McClellan with Burnside.

Burnside fought at the battle of Fredericksburg, but lost. The commanders in the Union forces were terrible,
whereas the Confederate side had good fighting skills and leadership. The Union suffered many casualties,
but the Confederates lost less than 5,000.

Meanwhile, the Confederates seemed to be winning in the West. At Stones River, the Army of Tennessee
claimed to win and appeased the copperhead offensive against the war policy in the North. More problems
arose for the North, however, when the Army of the Potomac travelled through Rappahannock and led to a
"Mud March". Burnside had to call the whole thing off. Lincoln appointed Joe Hooker as Burnside's
successor.
Grant's army was suffering. Despite Lincoln's faith in him, he allowed Secretary of State Stanton to
investigate what was going on in the Army of the Tennessee.
Chapter 20: Fire in the Rear
"The fire in the rear" was Lincoln's fear of the northwest Democrats. Vallandigham became leader of the
Peace Democrats in 1863 and wanted to restore the Union. Many Peace Democrats believed the Republicans
caused the war and believed he could do better.

In Butternut regions of the Midwest, due to economic issues, many southerners believed the same thing and
began to support Peace Democrats. For a while, they were commanding the support of a large minority of
the party.

Vallandigham was arrested for disloyalty; his supporters attacked Republicans, but a military commission
convicted him for expressing sympathy for the enemy and weakening the power of the government. Lincoln
banished him, but in exile, he was nominated by the Ohio Democrats.

The Enrollment Act of 1863 was implemented to stimulate volunteering by the threat of a draft. Democrats
began using this in their platform as well as a Republican sin. Still, it was a corrupt system since the rich
could get out of the draft. People started believing, however, that the bounty given for "volunteering" was
worse than just being drafted. The draft also forced men from ages 35 to 45 into the war and poor families
starved. The exemption of one white man on every plantation with twenty or more slaves also angered
Northerners.

Chapter 21: Long Remember: The Summer of '63

On July 4, 1863, the Confederacy went away from Gettysburg, and in Mississippi, Union troops captured
Vicksburg. This was the most important northern strategic victory; Grant believed the Confederacy fell
because of this victory. But, the Union, McPherson claims, won the war because of its many victories in the
West, since the Confederacy came close to winning in the East.

Joe Hooker didn't use his troops as efficiently during the battle, but the Chancellorsville battle, which the
Confederates won, cost them. About a third of their forces were killed and Stonewall Jackson died.

Longstreet then ordered the attack on the Union line at Gettysburg since it seemed the Confederates thought
they had disabled the Union's weaponry. Pickett's charge represented the Confederate war effort, they
seemed to have a deep sense of identity and pride; they were brave and it would like they were winning, but
eventually they only lost.

The Union weapons had not been destroyed; the Union forces were merely hiding and when they
counterattacked, the Confederates collapsed. Although they breached the first Union line, many were killed.
Of the 14,000 Confederates that began at the beginning of the battle, less than half returned.

Southern morale was completely crushed; still, the Union suffered many casualties at Gettysburg and even
more Confederates were killed. Lee was depressed by the outcome of his campaign and offered his
resignation.

Though the war continued for two more years, Gettysburg and Vicksburg proved to have been the final
turning point.

Chapter 22: Johnny Reb's Chattanooga Blues

For Lincoln, all the victories in the west led to success at home. Republicans were in good shape, but the
Ohio and Pennsylvania gubernatorial elections were about to take place. Vallandingham conducted his
campaign for Ohio governor position from Canada in exile.
Because Republicans now had many war successes, the Democrats could only use the issue of emancipation
as their platform, but anti-abolitionism and racism no longer seemed to be that important. The attack by the
54th Massachusetts Infantry against a Confederate army was significant since they were a black army. They
took a lot of casualties and soon newspapers were talking about their valour and bravery. This set the main
idea for this time: opposing emancipation was equal to opposing northern victory. The Republicans won by
a large margin.

Chapter 23: When This Cruel War Is Over

The Confederate Congress elections occurred in 1863, when southern morale was very low. The Davis
administration was hated even more because of the political structure; there were no formal political parties
and Southerners believed they needed to present a united front against any issue.

The Republicans mobilized war resources, raised tariffs and taxes, created a new financial system, started
the process of emancipation, and enacted conscription. The Democrats opposed most of these measures and
this opposition allowed the voters could identify who they most agreed with and vote for them. But in the
Confederacy, the Davis administration had no way to figure out who supported them..

"Proto-parties" began forming in the Confederacy by 1863. Former Whigs became the major opposition. In
both the Confederacy and the Union, there were two factions: those for war and those against.

Eventually Lincoln was re-elected for his second consecutive term, even when Chase ran against him and
used Treasury Department patronage. Even with anger at Lincoln's reconstruction policy, he was no match.
Most Republicans joined with Lincoln.

Chapter 24: If It Takes All Summer

In 1864, the Union seemed to be doing very well and it looked like the Confederacy was about to come to an
end. They didn't have much food, had few people left for their armies, and had less than half of the numbers
the Union had. Still, the Union had its flaws. Because of all its success, it had to use many armies to watch
over conquered territory, thus dropping defences.

The Army of the Northern Virginia still seemed to want to continue fighting; in the Union, many veterans
were supposed to go home, but Congress forced those veterans to re-enlist. Still, there was a lot of disunity
between veteran soldiers and the new recruits and the apparent superiority the North had in numbers
disappeared in 1864.

The Confederacy hoped to use these problems to their advantage. If they could wait until the 1864 election,
the North may become tired of the war and vote in a Peace Democrat who could negotiate Confederate
independence. They had many casualties, but the Union had even more.

Grant attempted to bring Lee into open-field combat, but failed; despite his large numbers and huge quantity
in gunpowder, Lee was able to defend against Grant. This could have scared northern voters into not
allowing Lincoln a second term, McPherson claims. Thus, Grant took all summer to finish it off. After seven
weeks, at the Wilderness, it fought and many were killed. Still, they killed a similar percentage on Lee's
army and cut off his communication with the rest of the Confederacy. Thus, the Army of Northern Virginia
slowly declined in fame and Lee was defeated.
Sherman decided to fight for Atlanta. When he began his campaign in Atlanta, he ordered a garrison
commander to find Forrest and fight him so that he wouldn't cut the railroad. Still, they lost and it was one of
the worst Union defeats in the west, but it diverted Forrest from the Tennessee railroad. He didn't inflict as
many casualties hoped and the Unions believed the south was now in good spirits.

Chapter 25: After Four Years of Failure

After Grant and Sherman's campaign, Atlanta became a symbol of resistance and nationality. Still, in
Richmond, the cabinet worried, believing Atlanta was lost to them. Grant's siege of Petersburg was not very
successful and northerners began to feel the weight of the war at last. Still, it led to a stalemate between Lee
and Grant; finally, Grant forced the Confederate army to abandon Petersburg and Richmond, and then
pursued them after isolating them from the South. Finaly, Lee surrendered.

From July and August of 1861, the northern morale plummeted again. Many of the homefront war songs
that had become popular during the time shifted from a patriotic tone to a longing for peace, just like the
Confederates had hoped would happen. "When This Cruel War Is Over" became a best-seller in 1864.

Nothing, it seemed, could remove the Northern depression. Even after David Farragut made sure to take the
last blockade-running port in the Gulf (east of Texas) out of business, people were still depressed. Later,
they realized how amazing it had been as the war still continued in Virginia and Georgia.

Some Southerners tried to get Peace Democrats into a war against their own government. This never
happened, since the leaders of the Peace Democrats could never mobilize their people. Most of them didn't
want to create a counterrevolution since they believed their chances of overthrowing Lincoln were getting
better.

Many accused Lincoln of fighting only for the abolition of slavery and not for the Union, which he
vehemently denied. He almost gave in to demands that they should ignore abolition in sake of peace. But,
his peace terms remained as the Union and emancipation and believed that he would be defeated because of
his platform. He expected McClellan to win since he was the most popular Democrat and was a symbol of
opposition against Lincoln's policies. Still, McClellan was a War Democrat and many no longer wanted to
support him, even though he said that he would still call for a peace treaty.
When Atlanta was finally taken, Lincoln said that the war was a victory.

Chapter 27: South Carolina Must Be Destroyed

The Atlanta Campaign seemed to be over after Sherman invaded Georgia from Chattanooga, Tennessee in
May 1864. After winning against Confederate Johnston, Johnston's Army of Tennessee withdrew towards
Atlanta, becoming isolated from the rest of the South as Sherman cornered them. In July, President Davis
replaced Johnston with the aggressive John Bell Hood.

Hood challenged the Union army through many assaults; finally, he laid a siege on Atlanta and the city fell.
This would lead to Sherman's March to the Sea after the city falls. It signals the beginning of the end of the
war.

During this time, the northern economy turned out butter and guns. It also had enough manpower and energy
to continue westward expansion. Gold production had remained steady, new mines with copper and silver
were found, and Lincoln said they had to finish the transcontinental railroad.
 New industries formed in the southern economy during the war, like gunpowder mills ordnane plants, and
machine shops. The Tredegar Works in Richmond produced iron for weapons for the Confederacy. Still, the
Union forces raided much of their new industries and anything of value, especially due to Sherman's March
to the Sea. By the end of the war, the South was completely destroyed. Farms were burned and in need of
repair, two-fifths of livestock were killed, and two-thirds of assessed southern wealth was gone during the
war. After Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan, the South continued to deteriorate.

The southern economy which was completely destroyed caused the 1860s to become the decade with the
least amount of economic growth; the average income of southerners was two-thirds that of the North. After
the war, the southern income continued to fall and didn't rise again for the rest of the 1800s.

Chapter 28: We Are All Americans

Abraham Lincoln followed the Union soldiers to Richmond to see it.

Meanwhile, at Appomattox Courthouse, Lee was cornered; finally, he surrendered to Grant. As the news of
the surrender spread, many started cheering and shooting; Grant put a stop to it, saying that the Union was
now one. He also sent rations for Lee's army.

Three days later, a formal ceremony took place in which Confederate troops gave up their weapons and
surrender their flags. Confederate officers and soldiers were allowed to go back home and take their horses
with them. All of these actions led to reuniting the North with the South. Lincoln promised to have a new
policy for reconstructing the Union.

Epilogue: The Shoals of Victory

How blacks would receive their freedom and what their boundaries would be continued to be an issue, but
mostly everyone agreed that blacks should have rights, even southerners. Many southerners began to believe
that slavery was ruining their lifestyle. Secession and slavery were forever gone.

People started referring to the United States as a singular country. The nation became more centralized,
taxed the people directly, and created an internal revenue bureau to collect the taxes. A shift in power from
the South to the North occurred, as it took more than a century before a resident in an ex-Confederate state
became president.

Union victory made sure that the South was completely destroyed and the Republican and the northern way
of life would dominate the country.