Hockey del rodillo

The American Civil War or American Civil war was a civil war between the the United States of America (“Union”) and the gathering of certain slave States of the south, the States confederated of America, directed by Jefferson Davis, between 1861 and 1865. The Union included/understood all the free trade states and five States " frontaliers" slave, and was directed by Abraham Lincoln and the Republican party. This last was opposed to the expansion of slavery in the territories held by the United States, and its victory with the presidential election of 1860 involved in the secession seven States of the South, before even as Lincoln took its functions.

The hostilities began the April 12th 1861, when the confederated forces attacked an American military installation with Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

Origins of the American Civil War

See also: Origins of the American Civil War

The American Civil War , in English American Civil War (the American Civil war ) deeply draws its roots in the history of the the United States. It is born from an opposition between North and the South which goes up at the time of the birth of this young country. After the war of independence, the United States constitutes a weak State because of the Articles of the Confederation, an outline of constitution which in spite of its avant-gardism for the time, is found very quickly insufficient. It is unable in particular to impose taxes or to control the trade between the States of the Union. It is only one “alliance” between the 13 States founders, written quickly to avoid urgently, in fact to link against the British metropolis . But in 1787, the question of the inefficiency of the government is posed again at the time of a quarrel of border between the Virginia and the Maryland. A convention is then called to amend the Constitution. This convention will make much more than the simple task which of him was required, since she will write a new constitution, that which will become the Constitution of the United States of America. It remains that it is necessary that this constitution is ratified, and that by 9 of the 13 States then members. A clause had been designed to abolish the Esclavage and to guarantee to any American citizen the same rights, but in front of the increasingly strong reserve of the States of the South, already strongly interested in the question, it was abandoned. In front of the need to make ratify the new constitution, which upset the relations between the States and the federal government, reversing the power struggles, and passer by of a union of States in a State of union, convention gives up some of its amendments reformists in order to support the signature of an unpopular constitution in the States, and that specifically in the States of the South by tradition more independence and more inclined to refuse the supervision of a federal government. And thus the abolition of slavery, to preserve the Union, is given up, creating a vacuum which will catch up with the United States very quickly.

Data of the confrontation

Slavery had been abolished in the States of North and those had a labor mobile, available and at a cheap rate.

North was Protectionniste, turned towards a Interior market and animated by the egalitarianism. The South was as for him free-trader, directed towards the Europe for its raw material exports (Coton, Textile), driven by a spirit of tradition. Confrontation threatened. Alexis de Tocqueville expresses its fears besides on this subject in its work Of the democracy in America (1835).

The opposition of two economic philosophies concretized as of 1832. This year, the federal Congrès (dominated by North after having been it as of its creation by the South) orders new a Customs duty, which threatened, according to the South Carolina, all fundamental balances of its economy.

Election of Lincoln

In November 1860, the republican candidate Abraham Lincoln is elected with only 39,8% of the voices. States of South, which had announced their secession if Lincoln were elected, transfers it like a true declaration of war and started at once a process of secession of the Union to form the States confederated of America. A plot to assassinate the new president before his nomination, preceded by many threatening letters, is thwarted the February 23rd 1861 with Baltimore.

The confederated States of America gather the South Carolina, the the Mississippi, the Florida, the Alabama, the Georgia, the Louisiana, the Texas, the Virginia, the Arkansas, the Tennessee and the North Carolina.

North required customs duties to protect its emergent industry. The existence of slavery in the South did not make of it a good outlet for the sale of the machines of North.

The choice of the new States and territories of the West became determining. The South hoped to find in the West a support for the maintenance of slavery. North wanted at least to stop any propagation of slavery in other States. The American Civil War was ready then to burst.

Determining events

  • Compromised of Missouri in 1820

  • Compromised of 1850
  • Act Kansas-Nebraska of 1854
  • Creation of the Republican party in 1854 opposed to the extension of slavery in the new territories, and taking again the ideals of old the left Whig.
  • Election of the republican Abraham Lincoln with the presidency of the Union in 1860.

Chronology

Unfolding of the war

The American Civil War was started by an attack of the Armée with the confederated States on Fort Sumter held by units remained faithful to the federal government.

The US Army, which in 1860 had only 16.367 men, had started to mobilize and multiply by ten its manpower, the Conscription not existing at the beginning of these events and part of its officers taking the party of the Confederation.

The Armée with the confederated States carried it at the beginning of the hostilities and some of its commanders, in particular the general Robert E. Lee, were brilliances strategists. The northerner, strong generals of one crushing numerical and material superiority, did not have great scruples to launch bloody offensives (like, later, generals of the First World War). On the other hand, the command Southerner, excellently made and conscious of its numerical inferiority, more spared the blood of its men. During the summer 1863, Lee played its go-all by sending its troops in North as far as Pennsylvania. It ran up against the army of the Union with Gettysburg. The greatest battle which was ever delivered on the American ground then took place. At the end of three days of despaired combat, Confédérés had to be acknowledged overcome. At the same time, on the the Mississippi, the northerner general Ulysses S. Grant took the town of Vicksburg. The Union controlled from now on all the valley of the the Mississippi, cutting into two the Confederation. But the war was not finished.

The conflict was completed two years later, after a long campaign where the armies ordered by Lee and Grant clashed, thanks to the progressive appearance of skilful northerner generals like Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. The Union (North) succeeds in invading the States of the South. Confédérés capitulated on April 9th, 1865. The Battle of Appomattox puts an end to the American Civil War.

The general Ulysses S. Grant, who seized six days earlier Richmond, the capital of Confédérés South, receives the rendering of the general Robert E. Lee, who orders the southern army. This one capitulates with the 26.000 men who remain to him.

The general Joseph Johnston goes to his turn on April 26th, 1865 to the general William T. Sherman. Ultimate rendering takes place on June 23rd, 1865. It is the fact of the brigadier general Stand Watie which with the characteristic to be a chief Cherokee and the only Amerindian general of the American Civil War.

Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederation Southerner, tries to flee towards the Mexico but it is caught up with by a column of cavalry and will be imprisoned without judgment during two years.

Unfolding of the war in the West

To the west of the the Mississippi, North and the South delivered a war radically different from what it was in the east. It was held on very vast wide, implied white, blacks and Indians, often for stakes which went back to old competitions and with tough resentments which were untied on the ground with most brutal brutality - kind of war in the war which survived some time the official suspension of the hostilities.

At the time of the secession, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana left the Union for the Confederation, while the sympathizers Southerners of Missouri endeavoured - in vain - to involve their State in the scission. All the West had been impassioned for the fights which had made " to bleed Kansas" in the years 1850, so that the lines of demarcation were already traced when the American Civil War burst.

In August 1861, Confédérés invaded Missouri, to which they inflicted, in Wilson' S Creek, a defeat which enabled them to seize most of the territory. They were however unable to preserve their advantage; next spring, in Pea Ridge, the northerners even forced them to give up the north of Arkansas. During the two following years, Missouri and Arkansas remained with the hands of the forces of the Union, but had to undergo the bloody raids of bands the irregular ones claiming Confederation, directed by chiefs such as William Quantrill and William " Bloody Bill" Anderson. The exactions of these guerillas Southerners reached a degree such as they became extremely awkward for the confederated authorities. In August 1863, for example, Quantrill at bag the town of Lawrence put, in Kansas, and massacred 150 civilians. This dangerous Psychopathe plundered and killed without hesitating, in the name of the Confederation, which had in addition never entrusted the least command to him.

In 1864, the Confederation attacked again in Arkansas and Missouri, initially by a spring campaign which pushed back the Yankees to Little Rock, then to the autumn, when the general Sterling Price, with the head of a force of cavalry, went up Missouri until Westport, where its defeat put an end to what was the large last offensive Southerner of the war. In spring, the opposing side had undergone, him also, a reverse: the general Nathaniel Banks had gone up Red River towards the interior of Virginia, in the hope to take foot in Texas, to destroy the cotton harvest and to prevent the reinforcements confederated to pass to the east the Mississippi, but its monumental errors failed to lead to its surrounding, and its company showed a quasi-failure.

In last times of the war, the engagements were done rougher in the Plains and the Meadow. Courted by one and the other camp, Cherokees and other Indian tribes often fought under the two uniforms. Cherokee Stand Watie, for example, became brigadier general in the confederated rows; with the head of its troops, it was the last of the rebels to be gone, at the end of June 1865, that is to say several weeks after the capitulation of Lee. The signature of peace left in the West of unsatiated hatreds and a bottom of violence, which fed from the men like Frank and Jesse James, which refused to deposit the weapons and continued on the way of the flight and the murder, organizing the equipped bloody ones against the banks and the trains.

Consequences

The American Civil War was the episode more traumatisant of the history of the United States. But it regulated two problems which tormented the Americans since 1776. It abolishes the Esclavage and confirmed that the country was not composed of semi-indépendants States but formed a nation, one and indivisible.

During the 4 years of this war, 617.000 men had been killed and largely as much had been wounded. North lost on the whole 359.000 men - either almost a soldier on five - and the South lost 258.000 of them “only, to compare with North” (or almost a soldier on four). More men died of epidemics and diseases that on the battle field, the report/ratio being of four for one.

To the military losses a few tens of thousands of civilian victims are added. Thus, the hardest war that ever the United States delivered will have been its own civil war.

The destruction operated during the war by the victorious Union, followed by policies of economic exploitation, in particular by the carpetbaggers (immigrant economic coming from North, travelling with a bag of voyage in fabric with carpet) associated with the scalawags , natives of the South collaborating with the new capacity (and perceived like black sheep), caused a tough bitterness among the old ones confederated and their descent towards the federal government.

This failure, by alleviating this part of the country, made emerge from the persistent difficulties during several decades in particular to make apply the civic right blacks in the South and saw a massive exodus towards North vis-a-vis terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

Resources

Involved forces and mobilization

Effective of the armies :

The regular army with the United States in 1860 was made up 16  637 soldiers of active; In 1876, its manpower were of 27  442 men.

These figures represent the total of manpower, sometimes the absenteeism reached 35% in the rows of the Union and more than 50% in those of the Confederation.

The American democrats felt reluctant to authorize the Conscription in times of peace. The Guerre of American independence had instituted the tradition of a mixed army: a Militia citizens reinforced by a small regular army.

But during this war, the volunteers were too very few to support the armies of the Confederation like those of the Union, which obliged the first in April 1862 and the second in March 1863 to be resorted to the conscription.

The " Act" conscription; succeeds in providing to the Union only 6% its manpower, but the threat of the conscription to which the prospect for premiums was added caused an engagement solid masses of volunteers: more than one million men enlisted during the two last years of this conflict.

At Confederated, the conscription accounted for 20% their manpower, but there too the fear of recruitment pushed many Southerners to be begun.

Economy

This war was one of the first to implement at large scales the resources and the means of transport of the industrial era. It preceded the wars of the 20th century by a national mobilization which would start the resources of the civil society deeply, just as the requirements of the conflict, as well soldiers as economic, overpowered North and crushed the South.

North had a considerable advantage on its enemy because it had: 35420 of: 49190 km of railways which furrowed the country. Moreover, its network had been worked out, built and maintained than that the South better better better. Moreover, the spacing of the railways was different (Of 1435 mm (4 feet 8 inches and half) for certain States of North and of 5 feet for certain States of the South). This caused obligatory transshipments of a railroad company with another, therefore a waste of time.

It was the first time that they were employed with vast troop movements between the faces.

The superiority of the railway network brought the proof of the frightening industrial resources of the Union, and very often its capacity to replace the lost material immediately was given the responsability to cancel the victories gained by the generals Southerners.

The arsenals of the Union, nationals and deprived, hardly produced: 50000 small firearms in 1860 against: 2500000 throughout war. As for the South, it imported some: 600000 in spite of the Blockade, manufactured a part of it, and a good portion requisitioned some on the battle field.

Misery of the South and prosperity of North

On the economic plan, in addition to the weakness of its industry and its Logistic which prevented a good provisioning of its armed forces and of its population which as well knew heavy situations of shortage in material as Aliment surface, the Confederation made an enormous strategic error by blocking itself the export of the King Coton to try to make pressure on the United Kingdom and France. Indeed the Textile industry made respectively live five million and a million people in these countries at the time.

But Europe turned to other sources of supply and this operation did nothing but deprive the South of its more important source of revenue.

A severe blockade of US Navy, which captured: 1551 buildings of trade and destroyed 355 of them, combined with the loss of the terrestrial connections with the Mexico made that the country lived in quasi autarky.

The price of the least article of luxury or manufactured was prohibitory, in 1864, whereas balances it monthly of a soldier was of 18 $ and a general of 200 $, a brush with teeth was worth 8 $, a pocket knife or a pound coffee 18 $, and a pair of gloves for lady 33 $.

The economy at the end of the conflict was ruined and become again partly a system of Troc.

North saw on the contrary its industry being reinforced to satisfy the effort of war and to continue the work of development of the country started before the war. Moreover, the vast fields of Blé of the States of the Middle West saved the commercial Balance while multiplying by 30 their export towards Europe passing from: 90000 Quarter in 1859 with more than 3 million in 1863.

Strategy

Strategy of the Confederation

The economic disparity between the 2 camps had a decisive influence on the Stratégie. The only wish of the States confederated of America was not to conquer North - what was obviously with the top of its resources - but to fight until the exhaustion of North, or a European intervention puts an end to the war.

The president of the Confederation Jefferson Davis had the choice between defending the borders of this one or authorizing Robert E. Lee to invade North, as it made it on 3 occasions, in the hope that some victories over the enemy ground would demoralize the Northerners.

Davis was also confronted with contradictory strategic priorities. The theater of the East was of obvious importance insofar as the enemy capitals were in the vicinity, and where to seize the one of them could have enormous repercussions. But the theater of the West, vaster, was quite as vital, because the principal railways tranversales of the Confederation crossed the area of Chattanooga - Atlanta.

Finally, Davis preferred frontier defense with the offensive-defensive of Lee, but adopted a policy of compromise by dividing the Confederation into departments whose commanders would ensure the defense and the transfer of the reserves by rail.

It was a strategy conceived to save time, during which the Union and perhaps even the France and the the United Kingdom would come to the conclusion that to crush the South was impossible.

Strategy of the Union

The leaders of the Union understood that they could carry it only by conquering the South.

At the time of the first operations of the war, the lieutenant-general Winfield Scott presented his Anaconda plan, intended to asphyxiate the South by a naval blockade (it quasi totality of the US Navy having remained in the hands of the federal government to the declaration of war) associated with a push downstream from the river the Mississippi to divide the Confederation. This approach, slow but sure, did not obtain the approval of the politicians nor that of the people, for whom the word of rallying was: “In Richmond! ”.

It did not carry either the adhesion of Lincoln which pressed its generals “to destroy the army rebels” in only one decisive battle. Its energetic attitude pushed the latter to be embarked in projects against which they nourished solids preventions: it was less easy to destroy an army under the geostrategic conditions of North America, than Lincoln did not want to admit it well.

The fact that the strategy was limited to only one objective did not explain only by the initial incompetence of the northerner officers, although it characterized this army a long time. It had promoted regular soldiers with ranks which did not correspond to their real capacities, because the inflation of manpower involved an explosion of the request for framing of these young recruits. One had had to reconcile generals whose political claims largely exceeded military competences. The men of merit reflect time to leave the row, but thanks to the flexibility of the northerner system, Grant could become lieutenant-general in 3 years, and Emory Upton brigadier general at the 24 years age.

It took time for North to make feel all its power, and for its chiefs to recognize that it was with blow of bludgeon and not of rapière that they would overcome the South. North must much in Grant which took the command of the armies of the Union in March 1864 and immediately announced its intention to exert the strongest pressure against the staggering Confederation, by using “all the troops of the army to make them converge towards the same core”.

During the last 12 months of the war, the strategy of the Union showed an astonishing modernity, in particular by becoming aware that the force of a belligerent is due initially to its human and economic resources.

Southern army favors

The South compared with North was very middle-class . Although less industrialized, the South counted many families which were rich in particular because of a completely exploitable labor and particularly good market (slavery).

The United States of the time had already a great military history. And much of veterans of the Revolution texane (1835-1836), of the américano-Mexican War (1846-1848) and of the War of 1812 -1815, lived in the South. The Southerners had more military Tradition that the Northerners. Of this fact much of officers or families of middle-class officers were originating in the South. What explains why during all first half of the conflict, the Southerners had a Net favors. Moreover, the soldiers Southerners were accustomed to draw with rifle, in particular for traditional hunting, and the children were accustomed as of their more young age to handle rifle and the cartridges. Moreover, the Southerners, because of a larger poverty, knew well the roughness of the life of countryside, and supported much best the deprivations, the lack of hygiene, the lack of sleep, which were very hard to support for the young often town northerner recruits.

The Southerners could count mainly on British equipment, which at the time was regarded as the best armed in the world. They also had a good French artillery: the guns of the Napoleon type caused heavy losses with the northerner troops. The British are reflected semi-officially as regards Southerners even if the United Kingdom were anti-slavery. Some say that was by a spirit of revenge on the Guerre of independence and Guerre of 1812.

The Southerners had of a very good special cavalry which were called Ranger (had occurred during the war of independence of Texas) and a very tough infantry.

The Northerners recognized officially the combativeness of the Southerners.

Northern army favors

North, industrialized well, had many industrial resources and informed business men. Many contacts with certain European countries were also tied via commercial exchanges. The engineers of north did an excellent work with regard to the development of an effective armament. The Fusil standard of North was higher than very other by far arms of the same type in the world. Its rifled bore allowed precise shootings. North had the chance to have the first Mitrailleuse S, to equip certain soldiers with semi-automatic weapons, etc

In rough figure, North had a tank of men higher than the South, although trained and qualified that the Southerners. This number enabled him to longer keep troops with the drive (what the South could not allow). And thus to make up for its lost time compared to the South. North is found thus with a professional army made up of volunteers well trained and equipped well.

The marine of North had been designed in the beginning to hold head with her former enemy, Great Britain. Although of an intermediate size at the beginning of the hostilities, with only 90 vapor and sailing ships, it developed quickly, counted 386 boats carrying 3  027 guns at the end of 1862, and fulfills its missions of blockade and support for the terrestrial forces in a satisfactory way. One saw during this war the first combat of Cuirassé S with the Monitor and the use of Sous-marin S by the South which, while being extremely dangerous for their own crew, ran or damaged 28 federal ships.

Soldiers

Confederated (Southern)

Gray uniform

To trust of its tradition, the South hoped many units of independent Milice (private army). This tradition existed well before the war, and was especially pretext to impress the rabble with beautiful parade. But when the war was declared these units were incorporated in the army but under the command of their respective state. Each regiment carried its own distinctive uniform, often very beautiful and impressive. Their South also had a few units " zouave" in very small number (cf text lower, Northern).

The regular army had like lawful uniform, at the beginning of the conflict, a beautiful uniform of French inspiration, that is to say a gray jacket and blue sky, with a flexible kepi blue sky, and blue pants sky. Their behavior was avoided beautiful badges and ornaments. This for the infantry. Blue sky of the kepi and on the jacket was replaced by yellow for the cavalry, of the red for artillery and the white for the navy. The Southerners were equipped with British standard weapons (Enfield Armory).

But that only lasted very little of time and Confédérés is reflected to suffer from a large logistic crisis. Their uniforms passed very quickly to a completely gray uniform. About the middle of the conflict the soldiers were to manufacture themselves their own uniform. Many soldiers did not have shoes and fought barefeet. The Southerners are reflected to take the shoes and the pants of Nordistes corpses. The situation was less critical for the officers who could treat to suitable uniforms.

At the end of the conflict a standard soldier recognized himself by civil clothing of color gray or maroon (their nickname comes thus from “butternuts”) and generally wore civil hats. He had as armament of the weapons of Northerners recovered, British, and of the not-lawful weapons.

Yankee (Northern)

Blue uniform

The Northerners as for them carried the regulation uniform of the American army before the secession of the South. It derived in right-hand side line from that carried during the war from 1812 then during that against Mexico and will remain similar throughout the conflict.

It consisted in its broad outlines of a flexible kepi dark blue, a jacket dark blue and pants blue sky. From there the nickname came from the soldiers of North: " Tunics bleues". Reasons for color on the uniform indicated the type of unit to which the soldier belonged. Blue sky was the distinctive color of the infantry, the yellow that of the cavalry, and the red that of artillery. The navy had as for it of behaviors sailors.

North being well industrialized, the Northerners did not have difficulties in supply their troops suitably. The uniforms of the officers and the soldiers contained at the beginning of the conflict more fabric and were more elaborate than at the end. To rationalize the production of uniforms and to facilitate the provisioning of the army, the Northerners indeed invented during the war the concept of standard cut of clothing. The army of the Union was equipped with weapons manufactured in the United States ( Springfield Armory ).

Just like the South, North had troops independent of militia. Their manpower however much more important. Much of them was units of Zouave). Those carried a chamarré uniform inspired by that of the French zouaves. The port of the uniform of Zouave was a privilege granted to the most valorous militia. Each regiment carried a particular behavior.

The army of the Union (North) counted a certain number of specialized units which also carried they of the distinctive uniforms. " Sharpshooter" (marksmen) carried for example a green uniform

Principal battles and seats

  • Naval battles

  • June 19th, 1864 - naval action in Cherbourg

Lexicon

  • It is said by certain that the northerner soldiers (Yankee S) called the Southerners Johnny Reb (to pronounce in English) or Johnny the rebel. And the Southerners called the northerner of Billy Yank (to pronounce in English) or Billy the Yankee

  • Terme OK (Okay): It is said by certain that at that time, each evening, the report/ratio mentioned the number of killed in the course of the day; if there were not, one wrote OK (either 0 killed). This etymology is however whimsical (cf the article on the expression OK).

Personalities of the Union

Personalities of the Confederation

  • Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederation
  • the general Lee
  • the general of Beauregard
  • the general Hood
  • the general Jackson (called Stonewall , the stone wall)
  • the general James Longstreet

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