Middle

In June 1861, the Union army marched south from Washington, D.C., into Virginia. Its goal was to seize Manassas Junction, an important railroad center.

The following passage is the memory of Walt Whitman, who was living in Washington, D.C., at the time:

The defeated troops [started] pouring into Washington over the Long Bridge at daylight on Monday, 22nd July . . . all the men with this coating of sweat and rain, now recoiling back, pouring over the Long Bridge — a horrible march of twenty miles, returning to Washington baffled, humiliated, panic-struck.

Who brings a picnic basket to a battle?

The battle to seize Manassas Junction took place near Washington, D.C. Many people traveled out to see it. They brought picnic baskets so they could eat while watching the armies fight. They thought that it would be a fun show.

The battle would later be known as the First Battle of Bull Run. It was the first large battle of the war, so people didn't realize just how violent a battle was. When the Union troops tried to retreat, the roads were blocked with panicked tourists.

The Civil War was mostly fought in the Southern states. This was an advantage for the Confederacy because the Confederate army didn't have to bring in men and supplies from far away places.

Attacking Union supply trains

This is a picture of the Confederate officer John S. Mosby. As Union armies moved south, Mosby and his men would raid Union supply trains.

Mosby knew the South better than Union soldiers. After taking or destroying Union supplies, Mosby and his men would hide and wait for the next chance to raid.

In one raid, Mosby captured a general and a large group of horses. President Lincoln was more upset to lose the horses. He said that he could always make more generals, but horses cost money.

In 1862, the Confederate general Robert E. Lee decided to go on the offensive.

To go on the offensive means to go on the attack.

General Robert E. Lee decided that his army needed to attack the Union armies in the North.

Lee's Army of Northern Virginia invaded Maryland. General McClellan's Army of the Potomac tried to stop them.

Below is a letter written by Alexander Hunter, a Confederate soldier in General Lee's army. He describes life as a soldier during Lee's invasion of Maryland.

[We] camped in an apple orchard. We went hungry, for six days not a morsel of bread or meat had gone in our stomachs—and our menu consisted of apple; and corn. [T]here was not a man whose form had not caved in, and who had not a bad attack of diarrhea. Our under-clothes were foul and hanging in strips, our socks worn out, and half of the men were bare-footed. . . . Many became ill from exposure and starvation, and were left on the road.

morsel: small bite

form: body

What were some of the hardships his army faced?

• hunger

• sickness

• worn out clothes

What happened during General Lee's invasion of Maryland?

When General Lee's army invaded Maryland, the Union army tried to stop it in order to protect Northern cities.

The Union army got a lucky break. A Confederate officer accidently dropped a copy of General Lee's secret plans. Two Union soldiers found the piece of paper and gave it to their officers. This information gave the Union army a better chance to prepare for the Confederate attack.

On September 17, 1862, the Union and Confederate armies fought at the Battle of Antietam. Throughout the day, the armies attacked and counterattacked each other.

Many historians consider the battle to be a tie. The Confederate army had to return to the South in order to get supplies and reinforcements. The Union commander declared victory because the Confederates had marched away.

Almost 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded in this battle. Antietam remains the deadliest single day in American history.

After the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation:

• It freed the enslaved people in Confederate-held areas.

The Emancipation Proclamation only legally freed the enslaved people in areas still controlled by the Confederates. But the Union government couldn't enforce the Emancipation Proclamation in areas they didn't control. Most enslaved people were not immediately freed.

However, any enslaved people from the Confederacy who escaped to the Union would now be free. They didn't have to worry about being sent back to the South. Also, any enslaved people in new areas the Union army captured would be free.

• It allowed African American men to join the Union army.

African American men had been banned from the army at the beginning of the war. After the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union army worked to get African American men to join.

What forms of prejudice, or unfair treatment, did African American soldiers face in the Union army?

• They were often insulted by white soldiers.

• They were paid less than white soldiers.

• They were not allowed to become officers.

How did the Confederates react to African American soldiers?

Many white Southerners had always been afraid of enslaved people rebelling. The idea of African American Union soldiers horrified them.

The Confederates refused to treat African American men like other Union soldiers. Usually, captured white soldiers were held prisoner or exchanged for captured Confederates. The Confederate government ordered that captured African American soldiers should be re-enslaved.

Confederate president Jefferson Davis also ordered that captured white officers leading African American troops should be killed.

Despite the prejudice and risks they faced, over 180,000 African American men signed up for the Union Army during the war.

Soldiers' letters home to friends and family is a source that would be most useful to understanding Northern soldiers' views on slavery.

Union soldiers would write letters home to friends and family. Unlike newspapers, medical records, or political speeches, these letters showed soldiers' personal thoughts and feelings. Many soldiers wrote home about what they saw in the South. Many described plantations and slavery with disgust.

In 1863, Union general Ulysses S. Grant launched an attack to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg was the last major Confederate fort on the Mississippi River. Why might it have been important take the last fort on the Mississippi River?

• to let the Union army use the whole river to carry men and supplies

• to stop the South from sending men and supplies across the Mississippi

This is a painting of Union ships trying to get past Vicksburg when it was still held by the Confederates. The fort could shoot cannons at any ships passing by.

Vicksburg was built on a curve on the Mississippi River. The fort's position made it hard to attack. It took almost eight months for the Union army to wear the fort down.

The Confederate soldiers at Vicksburg finally surrendered on July 4, 1863.

In 1863, General Lee decided to try a second invasion of the North. This time he led the Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania at the battle of Gettysburg.

General Lee had won a series of battles against the Union in Virginia. He felt if he could win one more big battle, the Union would give up. The two armies fought each other near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

What was the town of Gettysburg like?

At the time of the battle, Gettysburg was a small college town. The people who lived there had no idea that a massive battle was going to happen.

Below is a letter written by Elbert Corbin, a Union soldier who fought at Gettysburg.

I shall have to help tomorrow I can do up wounds from shot or shell or bullets quite like [a doctor]. . . . It is strange how I have disciplined my feelings to see dying and suffering men and have no feelings only a passing thought . . .

disciplined: trained

Corbin was telling his family in this letter that he had grown used to seeing people wounded and killed.

What was medicine like in the Civil War?

The Civil War has been called "a modern war fought in the medical dark ages." Soldiers had modern weapons such as the rifle and cannon. However, doctors didn't know much about how to fix the wounds those weapons caused.

People in the Civil War did not know about germs. Doctors didn't know how to stop a wound from getting infected. Infection was considered more dangerous than a bullet.

The Battle of Gettysburg was a Union victory. Below is a message sent by President Lincoln to the Union general George Meade after the battle. Use it to answer the question below.

Again, my dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged indefinitely. Your golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed immeasurably because of it.

magnitude: size

prolonged: dragged on

According to Lincoln, what the problem with the Union victory at Gettysburg is that Lee was able to retreat or escape back South.

Was Lincoln right that General Meade wasted his chance?

No one really knows. Some historians think Abraham Lincoln was right. They argue that Meade could have ended the war. Other historians think that the Union army was too tired after Gettysburg to fight more.

Despite President Lincoln's criticisms about the Battle of Gettysburg, he traveled to the battle site to give a speech. The speech was meant to honor the soldiers who had fought in the battle. Use the passage from the speech to answer the question below.

[W]e here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

resolve: to decide firmly

in vain: for nothing

President Lincoln resolved that the Union soldiers that died would not have died in vain.