While husking corn on his family’s Indiana farm in April 1861, 16-year-old Theodore Upson heard a neighbor tell his father Jonathan that “the Rebels have fired upon and taken Fort Sumter.”

“Father said little,” Upson remembered. However, when the family sat down for dinner later, the boy saw that his father “looked ten years older.”

Upson later recalled, “We sat down to the table.  Grandma wanted to know what was the trouble.  Father told her and she began to cry.  ‘Oh, my poor children in the South.  Now they will suffer!’”

Upson’s father offered to let their Southern relatives come and stay at the farm.  “No, they will not do that,” the grandmother replied.  “There is their home.  There they will stay. Oh, to think that I should have lived to see the day when Brother should rise against Brother.”

On the same day that he learned his home state of Virginia had voted to secede from the Union, Robert E. Lee—one of the best senior officers in the United States Army—received an offer from General Winfield Scott to command the Union’s troops.  Although Lee had spoken against secession and considered slavery “a moral and political evil,” he wrote, “I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children.”  Instead, he resigned from the army and offered his services to the Confederacy.

Lee was only one of hundreds of military officers who had to choose whether to support the Union or the Confederacy.  Eventually 313 officers or about one-third of the total, resigned to join the Confederacy.  These officers enabled the South to organize an effective fighting force quickly, as did the strong military tradition in the South.  In 1860 the United States had eight military colleges, but seven of them were in the South.  These colleges provided the South with a large number of trained officers to lead its armies.

Just as the South had a strong military tradition, the North had a strong naval tradition.  More than three-quarters of the United States Navy’s officers came from the North.  At the same time, the crews of American merchant ships were almost entirely from the North.  They provided a large pool of trained sailors for the Union navy as it expanded.  Perhaps even more important, most of the navy’s warships and all but one of the country’s shipyards remained under Union control as well.

Explaining
What advantage did the Southern army have as the war began?
 

Brother Against Brother

The Civil War divided the nation, but it also divided families.  Even the First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, a Kentuckian, had half-brothers who fought for the Confederacy.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Although the South had many experienced officers to lead its troops in battle, the North had several economic advantages.  In 1860 the population of the North was about 22 million, while the South had about 9 million people.  The North’s larger population gave it a great advantage in raising an army and in supporting the war effort.  Because of the smaller population in the South, about one-third of whom were enslaved, a larger percentage of its men had to fight if Southern armies were to match the Union armies in size.  As a result, the South had fewer people working to support the war effort.

ECONOMICS
Industry and Agriculture

The North’s industries gave the region an important economic advantage over the South.  In 1860 roughly 80 percent of the nation’s factories were in the North.  These Northern factories produced more than 90 percent of the country’s clothing, boots, and shoes, and 93 percent of its pig iron (unrefined iron), essential for manufacturing weapons and equipment.  Almost all of the country’s firearms were manufactured in the North, and the Du Pont factories in Delaware made most of the nation’s gunpowder.  In contrast, the South had only one factory capable of producing cannons, the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, and no major facilities for making gunpowder.

To remedy these deficiencies, the Confederacy’s Ordnance Bureau set up armories and foundries in several Southern states, and it created a huge gunpowder mill in Augusta, Georgia.  By the summer of 1862, the South was producing enough weapons, gunpowder, and ammunition to meet its needs.

The South also was capable of producing its own food.  Although much of the South’s fertile land was used for the production of cash crops such as cotton and tobacco, Southern farmers also grew rice and great quantities of corn.  The problem facing the South was not its ability to produce food, but its ability to distribute it once the war began and Union troops invaded Southern soil.

The South had only half as many miles of railroad track as the North and had only one line—from Memphis to Chattanooga—connecting the western states of the Confederacy to the east.  This made it much easier for Northern troops to disrupt the Southern rail system and prevent the movement of food and troops.

Financing the War

Both the North and the South had to act quickly to raise money for the war.  The North enjoyed several financial advantages.  In addition to controlling the national treasury, the Union could expect continued revenue from tariffs.  Many Northern banks also held large reserves of cash, which they loaned the government by purchasing bonds.

Concern about the North’s ability to win the war caused many people to withdraw gold and silver from the banks.  Without gold and silver, the banks could not buy government bonds, and without the gold and silver from the sale of bonds, the government could not pay its suppliers and troops.  To solve this problem, Congress passed the Legal Tender Act in February 1862.  This act created a national currency and allowed the government to issue paper money.  The paper money came to be known as greenbacks, because of its color.

In contrast to the Union, the Confederacy’s financial situation was not good, and it became worse over time.  Most Southern planters were in debt and unable to buy bonds.  At the same time, Southern banks were small and had few cash reserves.  They too could not buy many bonds.

The best hope for the South to raise money was by taxing trade.  Shortly after the war began, however, the Union Navy blockaded Southern ports, which reduced trade and revenues.  The Confederacy then resorted to direct taxation of its own people.  It imposed new taxes on property and farm products, but many Southerners resented the taxes and refused to pay.

Lacking sufficient money from taxes or bonds, the Confederacy was also forced to print paper money to pay its bills.  This caused rapid inflation in the South.  Confederate paper money became almost worthless.  By the end of the war, the South had experienced 9,000 percent inflation, compared to only 80 percent in the North.

Funding the War:  The Income Tax

On July 1, 1862, a new tax law gave the United States a comprehensive federal income tax.  A temporary way of funding the war debt, the tax was repealed in 1872.  Another income tax passed in 1894 was challenged in court, and the Supreme Court ruled that the idea of an income tax was  unconstitutional.  The Sixteenth Amendment (1913) again made the income tax legal.

Examining
How was having a larger population than the South an advantage for the North?
 

Party Politics in the North

As the Civil War began, President Lincoln had to contend with divisions within his own party.  Many members of the Republican Party were abolitionists.  Lincoln’s goal, however, was to preserve the Union, even if it meant allowing slavery to continue.  The president also had to contend with Democrats who challenged his policies.  Northern Democrats were themselves sharply divided.  One faction, called War Democrats, strongly supported the conflict and hoped to restore the Union to the way it was before the war.  This group also opposed ending slavery.

Another faction of Northern Democrats were known as the Peace Democrats.  This group opposed the war and called for reuniting the states through negotiation rather than force.  Their support of this unlikely possibility angered Republicans, who saw any opposition to the war as treason.  Republicans referred to Peace Democrats as Copperheads, after the venomous snake.

One major disagreement between Republicans and Democrats concerned civil liberties.  In the summer of 1862, Congress introduced a militia law that required states to use conscription—or forcing people into military service—if this was necessary to fill their regiments.  Many Democrats opposed the law, and riots erupted in several strongly Democratic districts in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

To enforce the militia law, Lincoln suspended writs of habeas corpus.  Habeas corpus refers to a person’s right not to be imprisoned unless charged with a crime and given a trial.  A writ of habeas corpus is a court order that requires the government to either charge an imprisoned person with a crime or let the person go free.  When writs of habeas corpus are suspended, a person can be imprisoned indefinitely without trial.  In this case, President Lincoln suspended the writ for anyone who openly supported the rebels or encouraged others to resist the militia draft.

Criticized for his suspension of writs of habeas corpus, Lincoln justified his actions: “Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts,” the president asked, “while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert?”

Summarizing
How were Northern Democrats divided over the Civil War?
 

Political Disagreements

Northern Democrats who favored peace were mockingly called “Copperheads,” after the poisonous snake, by their political opponents.

Weak Southern Government

Although the South had no organized opposition party, President Jefferson Davis still faced many political problems.  The Confederate constitution emphasized states’ rights and limited the central government’s power.  This commitment to states’ rights often interfered with Davis’s ability to conduct the war.

Although many Southern leaders supported the war, some opposed Jefferson Davis when he supported conscription and established martial law in the spring of 1862. 

Leaders from North Carolina and Georgia, including Davis’s vice president, Alexander Stephens, were among those who dissented.  They objected to the Confederacy forcing people to join the army and opposed Davis’s decision to suspend writs of habeas corpus.  The new taxes the Confederacy had imposed were another complaint.

Summarizing
What problems did Jefferson Davis face in governing the Confederacy?
 

The Diplomatic Challenge

The outbreak of the Civil War put the major governments of Europe in a difficult situation.  The United States did not want the Europeans interfering in the war.  In particular, it did not want the Europeans to recognize the Confederate States of America as an independent country.  It also wanted the Europeans to respect the Union navy’s blockade of the South.

Confederate leaders wanted the exact opposite.  They wanted the Europeans, particularly the British, to recognize the South, declare the Union blockade illegal, and then use the British navy to assist the South in its struggle with the North.  Southern leaders knew that European textile factories, particularly in Britain and France, depended on Southern cotton.  To pressure the British and French, many Southern planters voluntarily agreed not to sell their cotton in these markets until the Europeans recognized the Confederacy.

The British and French met informally with Confederate representatives in May 1861.  The French promised to recognize the Confederacy if the British would do so as well.  British leaders, however, did not want to risk war with the United States unless absolutely necessary.  They also were not willing to recognize the Confederacy until decisive victories on the battlefield proved the South could survive and eventually win the war.

At one point, Britain and the United States did come close to war.  In the autumn of 1861, the Confederacy decided to send permanent ministers to Britain and France to represent its interests.  James Mason of Virginia was to go to Britain, and John Slidell of Louisiana was to go to France.  Mason and Slidell slipped past the Union blockade on a Southern ship and traveled to Havana, Cuba, where they boarded the Trent , a British ship.  When the ship left Havana, Charles Wilkes, captain of the Union warship San Jacinto, intercepted the Trent and arrested the two men.

Northerners applauded Wilkes’s action.  The British, however, were furious over the interference with their ship.  They sent an ultimatum to the United States, demanding the release of the two Confederates.  Britain sent troops to Canada to strengthen the Atlantic fleet, and war seemed imminent.  After a few tense weeks, Lincoln freed Mason and Slidell, commenting, “One war at a time.” After being freed, the diplomats continued on their journey to seek Confederate allies.  Although the arrest of Mason and Slidell in the so-called Trent Affair had excited interest worldwide, their diplomatic mission failed to gain the support the South wanted.

Explaining
Why did the Confederate States want Britain and France to recognize them?
 

The First “Modern” War

The economic and political situation in the North and South was very important to the outcome of the war because, in many respects, the Civil War was the first “modern” war.  Unlike most of the wars fought in Europe during the previous two centuries, the Civil War was not fought by small disciplined armies with limited goals.  It involved huge armies made up mostly of civilian volunteers that required vast amounts of supplies and equipment.

Military Technology and Tactics

Many of the top officers who led the Union and Confederate troops had studied the campaigns of Napoleon and had themselves fought in the war with Mexico in the 1840s.  They believed that the best way to win a battle was to organize the troops into tight columns and go on the offensive.  Troops would march toward the enemy, firing in massed volleys.  When they got close enough, they would charge the enemy and attack with bayonets—long knives attached to the front of their guns.  These tactics were necessary earlier in the century because soldiers used smoothbore muskets loaded with round metal balls.  These muskets were very inaccurate except at close range.

By the 1850s, French and American inventors had developed a new inexpensive conoidal—or cone-shaped—bullet for rifles.  Rifles firing conoidal bullets were accurate at much greater ranges.  This meant that troops would be fired upon several more times while charging enemy lines.

At the same time, instead of standing in a line, troops defending positions in the Civil War began to use trenches and barricades to protect themselves.  The combination of rifles and trenches created a deadly situation where the attacking force often suffered very high casualties.

High casualties meant that armies had to keep replacing their soldiers.  Attrition—the wearing down of one side by the other through exhaustion of soldiers and resources—played a critical role as the war dragged on.  The North, with its large population, could draw on new troops for replacements, but the South had fewer men to replace soldiers who died or were wounded in battle.

The South’s Strategy

Early in the war, Jefferson Davis imagined a struggle similar to the American war for independence against Britain.  Like George Washington, his generals would pick their battles carefully, attacking and retreating when necessary and avoiding large battles that might risk heavy losses.  In this manner, the South would wage a defensive war of attrition, Davis believed, forcing the Union to spend its resources until it became tired of the war and agreed to negotiate.  The idea of a defensive war of attrition, however, outraged many Southerners.  Believing themselves superior fighters, they scorned the idea of defensive warfare.  “The idea of waiting for blows, instead of inflicting them, is altogether unsuited to the genius of our people,” declared the Richmond Examiner in 1861.

The Southern disdain for remaining on the defensive meant that when battles occurred, Southern troops often went on the offensive, charging enemy lines and suffering enormous casualties.  In 1862 and 1863, Confederate armies fought nine large battles.  In six of those battles they went on the offensive, and they suffered 20,000 more casualties than the Union.  These were losses the South could not afford.

The Union’s Anaconda Plan

Early in the war, the general in chief of the United States, Winfield Scott, proposed a strategy for defeating the South.  Scott suggested that the Union blockade Confederate ports and send gunboats down the Mississippi to divide the Confederacy.  The South, thus separated, would gradually run out of resources and surrender.  The plan would take time, Scott admitted, but it would defeat the South with the least amount of bloodshed.
 

. The Anaconda Plan Blockade Southern ports on the Atlantic   Isolate the Confederacy from European aid and trade   Cut off flow of supplies, equipment, money, food and cotton   Exhaust Southern resources, forcing surrender   Control the Mississippi with Union gunboats   Divide the eastern part of the Confederacy from the western part   Capture New Orleans, Vicksburg, and Memphis   Cut off shipping to and from interior .

Many Northerners rejected the plan as too slow and indirect for certain victory, favoring instead a strong, quick invasion of the South.  Northern newspapers scorned this strategy, which they called the Anaconda Plan, after the snake that slowly strangles its prey to death.  Although Lincoln eventually agreed to implement Scott’s suggestions and imposed a blockade of Southern ports, he hoped that a quick victory by Northern troops over the Southern forces massing in Virginia might discredit the secessionists and bring about a negotiated end to the crisis.  Ultimately, he and other Union leaders realized that only a long war that focused on destroying the South’s armies had any chance of success.

Describing
What war strategy did Jefferson Davis develop for the South?