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The American Civil War
As written in 1867.
(Although this information is not new, I felt compelled to include this page because of it’s unique perspective. These are copied verbatim from a textbook written in 1867. Not only is the language used compelling, but the fact that that it is the perspective of the war only two years after its end.)
Condition of the Country - All was now uncertainty. Southern officers in the army and navy of the United States were daily resigning, and linking their fortunes with the Confederate cause. There was still, however, a strong Union sentiment at the South. Many prominent men in both sections hoped that war might be averted.
The Federal authorities feared to act, lest they should precipitate civil strife. In striking contrast to the indecision, was the marked energy of the new Confederate government. It was gathering troops, voting money and supplies, and rapidly preparing for the issue.
Capture of Fort Sumter (April 14) - Finding that supplies were to be sent to Fort Sumter, General Peter G. T. Beauregard (bo’ re gard) who had command of the Confederate troops at Charleston, called upon Major Anderson to surrender. Upon his refusal, fire was opened from all the Confederate forts and batteries.* This “strange contest between seventy men and seven thousand”, lasted for thirty-four hours, no one being hurt on either side. The barracks having been et on fire by the shells, the garrison, worn out, suffocated, and half-blinded, were forced to capitulate.They were allowed to retire with the honors of war, saluting their flag before hauling it down.
The Effect of this event was electrical. It unified the North and also the South. The war spirit swept over the country like wild-fire. Party lines vanished. The Union men at the South were borne into secession, while the republicans and the democrats at the North combined to support the government. Lincoln issued a requisition for 75,000 troops. It was responded to by 300,000 volunteers, the American flag, the symbol of Revolutionary glory and of national unity, being unfurled throughout the North. The military enthusiasm at the South was equally ardent. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee, which had before hesitated, joined the Confederacy. Virginia troops seized the United States armory at Harper’s Ferry, and the Navy-yard near Norfolk. Richmond, Va., was made the Confederate capital. Troops from the extreme South were rapidly pushed into Virginia, and threatened Washington. The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, hurrying to the defense of the national capital, was attacked in the streets of Baltimore, and several men were Killed.* Thus the first bloodshed in the civil war was on April 19, the anniversary of Lexington and Concord.
The War In Virginia
Arlington Heights and Alexandria were seized (May 24) by the national troops. This protected Washington from immediate danger of attack. Fort Monroe was now garrisoned by a heavy force under General B.F. Butler. An expedition made, soon after, against Big “Bethel was singularly mismanaged. On the route, the troops fired into each other by mistake, and when they came to attack the Confederate
defenses, were repulsed with loss.
Western Virginia adhered to the Union, and was ultimately formed into a separate State. The Confederates, however, occupied it in force. The Federals, under General George B. McClellan, afterward commander of the Potomac army, defeated them at Philippi, Rich Mountain, and Carricks Ford, thus wrestling the entire State from their control. Shortly afterward, Governor Wise and General Floyd (President Buchanan’s Secretary of War) led a Confederate force into that region; but Floyd was suddenly attacked by General Rosecrans at Carnifex Ferry, and Wise failing to support him, was compelled to retreat. General Robert E. Lee, McClellan’s future antagonist on the Potomac, having been repulsed at Cheat Mountain, came
to the rescue. But nothing decisive being effected, the Confederate government recalled its troops. The only Union victories of this year were achieved in this region.
Battle of Bull Run (July 21).- The Northern people, seeing so many regiments pushed forward to Washington, were impatient for an advance. The cry “On to Richmond!” became too strong to be resisted. General Irvin McDowell, in command of the Army of the Potomac, moved to attack the main body of the Confederates, who were strongly posted, under Beauregard, Bull run. After a sharp conflict the Confederates were driven from the field. They were rallied, however, by General T.J. Jackson and others, on a plateau in the rear. While the Federal troops were struggling to drive them from this new position, at the crisis of the battle, two brigades, under Kirby Smith and Early, rushing across the fields, from Manas’sas Station, each, successively, struck the Union flank and poured in a cross-fire. The effect was irresistible.
McDowell’s men fled. As the fugitives converged toward the bridge in the rear, a shell burst among te teamsters’ wagons, a caisson was overturned, and the passage choked. The retreat became a a panic-stricken rout. Traces were cut, cannon abandoned, horsemen plunged through the struggling mass, and soldiers threw away their guns and ran streaming over the country, many never stopping till they were safe across the Long Bridge at Washington.
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