This battle, lasting only two days, was the costliest single battle in American history up to that time. One of the deadliest of these clashes occurred along the Tennessee River at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862. At the First Battle of Bull Run, for example, two large armies fought for control of the nations’ capitals while in the West, Union and Confederate forces fought for control of the rivers, since the Mississippi River and its tributaries were a key tenet of the Union’s Anaconda Plan. Fighting in the West greatly differed from that in the East. Grant’s capture of Confederate Forts Henry and Donelson along the Tennessee River marked the opening of the Western Theater. Union military leaders sought to expand the war into the West in hopes of crushing the rebellion. Unlike the First Battle of Bull Run, ensuing campaigns resulted in major casualties. Skirmishes only resulted in a bloody stalemate.
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For nearly a year after the First Battle of Bull Run, the Eastern Theater remained relatively silent. McClellan to commander of the newly formed Army of the Potomac. Irvin McDowell of command and promoted Maj. Furthermore, in response to the embarrassing Union rout, Lincoln removed Brig. While not particularly deadly, the Confederate victory proved that the Civil War would be long and costly. Three months after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, Union and Confederate forces met at the Battle of Bull Run, near Manassas, Virginia, officially opening the war’s Eastern Theater. In spite of terrible guerrilla warfare in Missouri and Kentucky, the four Border States remained loyal to the Union throughout the war.Īlso that spring, Confederate strategists, like their Federal counterparts, prepared for what they believed would be a short war. Consequently, Lincoln hoped to foster loyalty among their citizens, so that Union forces could minimize their occupation in the regions. Lincoln and his military advisors realized that the loss of the Border States could mean a significant decrease in Union resources. With geographic, social, political, and economic connections to both the North and the South, the Border States-Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky-were critical to the outcome of the war. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1861,” 1861. This print, while poorly drawn, does a great job of making clear the Union’s plan. Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan meant to slowly squeeze the South dry of its resources, blocking all coastal ports and inland waterways to prevent the importation of goods or the export of cotton. Like an anaconda snake, they planned to surround and squeeze the Confederacy. This strategy intended to strangle the Confederacy by cutting off access to coastal ports and inland waterways. Shortly after Lincoln’s call for troops, the Union adopted General-in-Chief Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan and established a naval blockade around the Confederate states. Unionists refused to accept this new southern nation and responded with a vigorous military campaign to reduce its armies, property, and economy. In total, eleven states joined the new nation. The assault on Fort Sumter, and subsequent call for troops, provoked the Upper South into alliance with the Confederacy. Simon Cameron, Secretary, announcing his withdrawal from Fort Sumter,” ApRecords of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917 Record Group 94 National Archives. The Union had surrendered Fort Sumter, and the Civil War had officially begun. Sent to then Secretary of War Simon Cameron on April 13, 1861, this telegraph announced that after “thirty hours of defending Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson had accepted the evacuation offered by Confederate General Beauregard. In response to the Confederate attack, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers. Anderson surrendered on April 13 th and the Union troops evacuated.
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Afterdecades of sectional tension, official hostilities erupted on April 12, 1861, when Confederate Brig. It is fatal,” cautioned Georgia senator Robert Toombs to Jefferson Davis prior to an attack on Fort Sumter.
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Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. You will wantonly strike a hornet’s nest which extends from mountains to ocean. “The firing on that fort will inaugurate a civil war greater than any the world has yet seen…you will lose us every friend at the North. The fort was in need of supplies, and Lincoln intended to resupply it. Army Major Robert Anderson, held Charleston, South Carolina’s Ft. In his inaugural address, Lincoln declared secession “legally void.” While he did not intend to invade Southern states, he would use force to maintain possession of federal property within seceded states.