Overview on Causes of the Civil War

After taking the oath of office in March of that year, Abraham Lincoln issued an order on April 12 that the Union fleet begin supplying Fort Sumter with supplies. Fort Sumter was taken by Confederate forces on April 13, despite the efforts of the Union forces. Following their success at Fort Sumter, four additional southern states — Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee — declared their allegiance to the Confederacy. There was a significant amount of anti-Union sentiment among the population of border southern states like Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland, despite the fact that these states did not join the Confederacy.

Causes of the Civil War 

Despite the fact that the 23 states had an advantage in population, military production, and technological advancement, the Confederate states were able to level the playing field by maintaining a strong military tradition and fielding the best soldiers and commanders available at the time.

Southern soldiers, on the other hand, were enthusiastic volunteers who believed they were fighting to preserve their traditions and institutions, in contrast to the Union troops, who were merely conscripts forced to fight in the Union army with little pay.

During the First Battle of Bull Run, which took place on July 21, 1861, a Confederate army led by Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson inflicted heavy casualties on Union forces, which led to the Union forces retreating toward Washington, D.C. Now that both sides were aware that they were in for a protracted fight, calls were made for more troops to be brought in so that they could be drafted into their respective armies.

Following the disastrous outcome of the Battle of Bull Run, General Winfield Scott was removed from his position as the supreme commander of the Union Army and replaced by General George B. McClellan. Lincoln rebuked him for his overly cautious approach to the war, despite the fact that his troops admired and respected him.

On August 29, 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee moved his army in preparation for the second battle of Bull Run, which would be fought against the Union Army.

After emerging victorious over the northern army, Lee even went so far as to invade northern territories immediately after the victory.

On the other hand, McClellan was successful in reorganising his army and launched an attack against Lee on September 14 in Maryland. The assault forced the Confederate forces to retreat to a defensive position near Sharpsburg along Antietam Creek.

The Battle of Sharpsburg, which took place on September 17, was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. It resulted in the deaths of 69,000 soldiers fighting for the Union and 52,000 soldiers fighting for the Confederacy. The Union army emerged victorious in the end, despite suffering heavy casualties, and the Confederate forces were forced to retreat to Virginia as a result. Lincoln was left feeling frustrated because the Union Army did not capitalise on their victory after it had been won.

The Union army could benefit from the addition of as many as 186,000 formerly enslaved people into its ranks.

Lee would launch an attack on Union forces on July 1 near Gettysburg, which is located in southern Pennsylvania. The victory at Chancellorsville, which was won at a high cost by the Confederacy in the spring of 1863, paved the way for an advance toward Washington, D.C.

The battle resulted in heavy casualties for the Confederates and forced Lee to retreat back to Virginia. This brought an end to the last of the Confederates’ incursions into the northern states. When Union forces led by Ulysses S. Grant captured the city of Vicksburg in Mississippi in the month of July, it marked a significant turning point in the western theatre of the American Civil War.

Lincoln was prompted to extend Grant’s command after a Confederate victory at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in September. Grant’s augmented army eventually captured Chattanooga in November 1863.

The triumph of the Union and the conclusion of the American Civil War

In March 1864, President Abraham Lincoln promoted Ulysses S. Grant to the position of supreme commander of the Union Armies.

After assuming command, Grant was responsible for leading an invasion of the south. He travelled to Virginia in the direction of Lee’s forces.

Despite suffering heavy losses during the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Spotsylvania in May 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant continued to employ an attrition strategy.

He began his siege of the strategic rail hub at Petersburg in June and continued it for nine months.

In September of that year, one of Grant’s commanders, William Tecumseh Sherman, outflanked Confederate forces in order to take control of Atlanta. By the middle of February in 1865, Sherman had won the battle and taken control of South Carolina. After achieving victory, he went on to seize control of several Confederate towns by the middle of April, including Goldsboro.

The assault on Union-held Fort Stedman that took place on March 25 was the last ditch effort that Robert Lee made to save the Confederate cause in the war. The Union Army launched a counterattack, which resulted in the victory being taken away from them.

On April 14, he was killed by John Wilkes Booth, whose allegiance was with the Confederacy. Booth was the assassin.

Instead, on April 26, 1865, General Sherman would be the one to receive the surrender of the Confederacy at his headquarters in North Carolina. It was the end of the American Civil War.

Conclusion 

The Proclamation of Freedom for Slaves

After the Union army’s victory at Sharpsburg, President Abraham Lincoln published the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in states that had joined the rebellion would be freed on January 1, 1863. The proclamation was a measure that removed the Confederacy of its workforce, which brought the economy of the Confederacy to the verge of collapse.o