In January 1861, when South Carolina seceded from the Union, it officially started the third year of what would become the American Civil War. The South was outraged by President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and persuaded many to join the South’s new confederate army. In response, the North raised a volunteer army and invaded Southern territory. The war spread quickly, as did the casualties. Many battles were fought for the possession of the Western Theater, including the Battle of Gettysburg, which saw the Battle of Little Round Top.
The history of the Civil war
Where were the first shots of the Civil war fired? The first bullets were fired on April 12, 1861, in the most violent and deadly war ever fought in North America. The slave-owning South was pitted against the industrial North. The Civil War lasted four years (1861-1865) and cost the United States more lives than all other wars combined.
It was the first huge war to leave a large picture archive to the survivors. Thanks to him, we can see how everything happened – in detail, frozen in the frames. Color photography did not exist at the time, therefore the war was filmed in black and white. Irish photographer Matt Loughrey, who was commissioned by National Geographic, did an excellent job of converting black-and-white photographs to color.
Contrary to common assumption, the abolition of slavery was not the main cause of the American Civil War. After the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln as president, there were economic, geographical, and social differences between the industrial northern and agricultural southern states.
US legislation did not prohibit secession – secession from the Union – of individual states. South Carolina was the first state to vote to leave the Union. This happened on December 20, 1860.
Six other southern states followed South Carolina out of the union: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The breakaway states sent delegates to the convention in Montgomery (Alabama), where they declared the formation of a new state entity – the Confederacy – conscious of their common interests and not ruling out open military conflict with the North. The President of the Confederacy was chosen on February 9, 1861. Jefferson Davis made them a planter in Mississippi. Following that, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee declared their allegiance to the Confederacy.
The first salvos of the Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861.
As the states left the Union, military arsenals, forts, and other military installations transferred into southern hands without bloodshed. The exception was Fort Sumter, which is positioned in Charleston’s bay (South Carolina). When his commandant refused the ultimatum, the bombardment began, and the fort responded with its own fire. The garrison expended all the ammunition and surrendered after a 34-hour fight.
The only person killed in this event was Private Daniel Howe. He was murdered by an exploding gun during the salute honoring the hanging of the flag. Despite this, the parties regarded the events at Fort Sumter as the start of the war.
The number of forces
From the start, the parties’ forces were unequally distributed. By 1861, the North had a population of 22 million people, while the South had a population of 9 million, with a third of them being slaves who the southerners did not have to rely on throughout the war. Furthermore, former slaves fled to the north and joined the colored armies of the United States. In total, 180,000 black Americans served in the Union’s ground forces, with another 20,000 serving in the navy.
Almost all of America’s industrial power was centered in the north, with 110,000 industrial enterprises compared to 18,000 in the south. Almost the entire navy, as well as two-thirds of the length of the railways, remained in the north.
By the start of the conflict, the northern states had over 4 million white males of military age, while the southern states had only 1.14 million. At the same time, the strength of the Confederate army was constantly decreasing during the war: if it was 230 thousand people at the start of 1863, it was only 100 thousand by the end of 1864.
The federal army, on the other hand, was steadily expanding, and by the end of 1865, it had gathered almost 1.5 million people under its banners. Recent immigrants made about 25% of the North’s entire armed forces. Germans (200,000), Irish (120,000), British, and Canadians made up the majority (100,000). The Swiss Riflemen, Garibaldi Guards, and Polish fought on the northern side.
The results of the war
On land and at sea, the American Civil War had a significant influence on the development of military equipment, tactics, and plans. The first battleships arose during the naval battles, as did the first successful attack on an enemy warship by a submarine.
Huge concentration camps for prisoners of war and Civilians were another result of the Civil war. They existed on both sides of the war. During the conflict, nearly 617,000 Americans became prisoners.
General Robert E. Lee signed the surrender on April 9, 1865. This signified the North’s final victory.
President Abraham Lincoln was mortally wounded during a theatrical performance in Washington five days later, on Good Friday, April 14. The shooter was a supporter of the southerners, actor John Wilkes Booth.
Conclusion
In general, the American Civil War was the bloodiest in the country’s history. It resulted in the deaths of 650 thousand Americans and the injuries of almost 400 thousand more. This is greater than the combined totals of the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars. More than 400,000 Americans have simply disappeared.
The Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, united the country and shaped it politically, economically, socially, and mentally.
