Chapter 10: Amateurs Go to War
Yankees believed they were fighting for freedom - for their flag and their county. Confederates (even nonslaveholders) fought to uphold slavery, their way of life. Yet, slavery "handicapped" Confederate foreign policy. They didn't mention slavery when fighting, though, except in relation to northern violation of southern rights. Instead, they portrayed the South like those in 1776, fighting for self-government and liberty, even as blacks wanted liberty more.
The North was at a disadvantage, since they didn't prepare for the war; their army was tiny and they also fought on Confederate land. Confederate forces were able to stay close to their supplies, but northern armies had to either starve or have long supply lines which could easily be destroyed or lost. They had no strategic plan or program for mobilization. Also, the lack of northern unity kept them under the loyal Confederates.
But, the North had a better navy, whereas the Confederates had none and few resources to build one. The South, however, did have a huge amount of human resources. The authorization of torpedoes by the Confederates did sink many Union ships. They also sent armed raiders to search for northern vessels. They used privateering as a method to do this, and soon northern merchants forced the Union navy to hunt down the pirates instead of staying on blockade duty. Lincoln, refusing to accept the Confederacy as a legitimate government, issued a proclamation to treat captured privateer crews as pirates, and many of them went to northern jails. But the South were proud, and did not realize the North was highly industrialized and that their "arms" (weapons) would win against the man.
But Confederate officers did better jobs because General-in-Chief Scott decided to keep small regular armies together rather than spread everyone across the land. Many of them resigned to join the South and gave necessary leadership to the southern armies. Also, Southern military schools brought many graduates and gave the Confederacy many trained soldiers and officers. In 1860, seven out of eight of the military colleges were in slave states.
Soon, war turned from limited to total, and political issues and civilian morale changed. Military strategy at the arms of gifted leaders changed as needed; McPherson believed the Civil War was mainly a political war - a war of peoples and their beliefs, not armies. This is why after the Fort Sumter incident happens, he focuses mainly on the presidents, public opinion, and military strategy.
Key Terms:
Questions:
Citations
The North was at a disadvantage, since they didn't prepare for the war; their army was tiny and they also fought on Confederate land. Confederate forces were able to stay close to their supplies, but northern armies had to either starve or have long supply lines which could easily be destroyed or lost. They had no strategic plan or program for mobilization. Also, the lack of northern unity kept them under the loyal Confederates.
But, the North had a better navy, whereas the Confederates had none and few resources to build one. The South, however, did have a huge amount of human resources. The authorization of torpedoes by the Confederates did sink many Union ships. They also sent armed raiders to search for northern vessels. They used privateering as a method to do this, and soon northern merchants forced the Union navy to hunt down the pirates instead of staying on blockade duty. Lincoln, refusing to accept the Confederacy as a legitimate government, issued a proclamation to treat captured privateer crews as pirates, and many of them went to northern jails. But the South were proud, and did not realize the North was highly industrialized and that their "arms" (weapons) would win against the man.
But Confederate officers did better jobs because General-in-Chief Scott decided to keep small regular armies together rather than spread everyone across the land. Many of them resigned to join the South and gave necessary leadership to the southern armies. Also, Southern military schools brought many graduates and gave the Confederacy many trained soldiers and officers. In 1860, seven out of eight of the military colleges were in slave states.Soon, war turned from limited to total, and political issues and civilian morale changed. Military strategy at the arms of gifted leaders changed as needed; McPherson believed the Civil War was mainly a political war - a war of peoples and their beliefs, not armies. This is why after the Fort Sumter incident happens, he focuses mainly on the presidents, public opinion, and military strategy.
Key Terms:
- Crittenden Compromise: a compromise formed in hopes of stopping the civil war. It was a proposal to extend the Missouri Compromise Line all the way to California. Slavery would be prohibited north of the line; southerners were willing to accept this, but Northerners felt that accepting this would break down their platform - that slavery shouldn't be allowed to expand; it was rejected.
- privateer: an armed ship with private individuals who used their ships during war to capture enemy merchant shipping (the Confederates did this a lot to northern merchants)
- total war: a war in which its "laws" are ignored and all resources and society are thrown into it.
- General Beauregard: Commander of the Confederate forces; ordered by the Confederate government to take Fort Sumter
Questions:
- In what ways did Lincoln turn the Civil War into a total war?
- In what ways did the Confederates turn the Civil War into a total war?
- What were advantages and disadvantages for the North and South in the war other than the ones mentioned above?
- Why was there a lack of northern unity? (The book doesn't really go in-depth about this.)
Citations
- McPherson, James M. "10: Amateurs Go to War." In Battle Cry of Freedom, 308-338. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- Accessed March 11, 2015. http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist110/BoycottCivilWar.png.
- Accessed March 11, 2015. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/01/12/opinion/disunion_schulten_crittendenmap/disunion_schulten_crittendenmap-blog427-v2.jpg.
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