You've been given the article by Mr. Castel. I'd like you to answer the following questions:
1. Summarize some of the earliest reasons that historians stated why the North won and the Confederacy lost;
2. Summarize the three points that James McPherson says where the CSA came very close to winning despite the North's superiority;
3. List with a summary of each of the five Union generals who made the biggest contributions to the war effort. Do you agree with the rankings? Why or why not?
Please complete this as a comment for this blog. If you can't finish it in class, finish it before class on Wed. If you get done early, work on making comments on past blogs that you have missed. Thanks.
Mr. W.
11 comments:
Brittany Fisher
1. Summarize some of the earliest reasons that historians stated why the North won and the Confederacy lost.
Some of the earliest reasons that historians stated why the North won and the Confederacy lost are because of the wrong headed policies of Jefferson Davis, the mistakes of certain Confederate commanders, and bad luck like Albert Sidney Johnson being wounded at Shiloh or Robert E. Lee’s “lost dispatch” during the Antietam Campaign.
2. Summarize the three points that James McPherson says where the CSA came very close to winning despite the Norths superiority.
A. The Confederacy came close to winning when Lee invaded Maryland at the same time General Braxton Bragg swept through Tennessee into Kentucky. This caused the British government to actually think about recognizing the Confederacy. If they did, this would have caused a British intervention on the South side.
B. The Confederacy came close to winning when the Union was negative due to their defeat at Fredericksburg. If Lee hadnt won at Gettysburg and Grant hadnt captured Vicksburg, the Confederacy would have had a chance to win.
C. The Confederacy came close to winning when Northerners didn’t think they would have won because of Grant’s failure to take Richmond and Major General Willian T. Sherman wasn’t able to capture Atlanta.
3. List a summary of each of the five Union generals who made the biggest contributions to the war effort. Do you agree with the rankings? Why or why not?
A. Ulysses S. Grant – Ulysses S. Grant broke open the Confederacy’s western front at Fort Henry and Donelson, held what had been gained at Shiloh, captured Vicksburg (which was a major turning point of the war), and opened the way into Georgia with his victory at Chattanooga. Grant always tried to not only defeat, but destroy the enemy.
B. George H. Thomas – George H. Thomas contributed more to the Union victory than any other Northern born general except for Grant. He would have done a ton more if Grant had given him the opportunity and Sherman took his advice during the Atlanta Campaign. Thomas gained the first significant Federal success at Mill Springs, Kentucky, anchored the Union stand in the Battle of Stone’s River, prevented the Union defeat at Chickamauga from becoming a disaster, directed the most successful assault of the war at Missionary Ridge, and became the sole commander of the war to completely destroy an opposing army on the battlefield in Nashville.
C. William S. Rosecrans – William S. Rosecrans plan gained the Union its first strategic victory of the war at Rich Mountain, Virginia securing the west and gained the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for the North. He also carried out an amazing campaign of maneuver that led to the Federal occupation of Chattanooga. Rosecrans opened the way for ultimate Federal victory in the heartland of the South.
D. William T. Sherman – William T. Sherman didn’t achieve success until the Atlanta Campaign in 1864 that made a huge impact on the course of the war. He never won an offensive battle during his career because he preferred to conduct raids directed against the enemy’s communications and civilian population.
E. Phillip Sheridan – Phillip Sheridan made major contributions to Union victory during Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley when he demolished Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s army and at Five Forks, Virginia he seized an important road junction which caused Lee to evacuate Richmond and begin the fight that ended with his surrender at Appomattox.
I agree with most of these rankings except for the last two generals. I think that William T. Sherman should come after Phillip Sheridan because it said that Sherman never won an offensive battle and it seems like Sheridan made more contributions to the Union war effort.
1.The north had more population; they were able to put 1.25 million men more than the south. Also the North had more manufacturing than the south. They also had more funds a better leader (Lincoln vs. Jeff Davis).
2.The three points are as follow: First in 1862 the south won some major battles that almost gain the support of the British. Second, in 1863 the North grew wary of the cause and were on the ropes, had it not been for Gettysburg and Vicksburg the South would continue to be winning and further there chances of being recognized by the British government. Third, Lincoln would most likely lost the election in the fall of 1864 had it not been for Sherman’s capture of Atlanta and Sheridan’s victories. This would have crippled the North.
3. Generals: 1. Grant: Had major victories in Shiloh and Vicksburg, led a masterful campaigned, was made the leader of all armies.
2.Thomas: Contributed more than any other besides Grant Helped with the Atlanta campaign.
3. Rosecrans: His plan gave union first strategic victory over the south at Rich Mt., Virgina. Master strategist and led many very well planned campaigns.
4. Sherman: Lead the Atlanta Campaigned in 1864 and prevailed through out the Deep South.
5. Sheridan Contributed in Tennessee and Nashville was the only commander to completely destroy another army.
I agree with the ranking. Grant was obviously the Unions best General. Thomas would be right behind with his major victories. The rest are in the right order, although they all help the North prevail over the south in the war of brothers.
Alex
1. Some of the earliest resons stated by historians as to why the Civil War was won by the Union and not by the Confederacy; were that the Union had far greater resources and man power, also the CSA needed to have another great general along with Lee inorder to win the war.
2. The CSA came very close to winning the war at three points, these are; When Lee, after driving McClellan back from Richmond, invaded Maryland. This caused the British to consider helping the CSA. Another time was when the Union had low moral after the defeat at Fredericksburg and Lee was pushing ahead again. Had Grant not come into play and defeated Lee at Getysburg, the British were yet again looking to help the CSA. The third time is when Grant was unable to capture Richmond and Sherman had not taken Atlanta. Lincoln proclaimed that he would not be reelected to office and his successor would end the war. However Sheridans victories in the Shenendoah valley restored the Union's hope.
3. Grant: Broke open the CSA's western front, captured Vicksburg, forced Lee's surrender.
Thomas: Prevented Union defeat at Chickamauga, directed sucessfull attack at Nashvlle, the sole commanding general to destroy an army on the battlefield.
Rosecrans: Gained the first strategic victory for the Union at Rich Mountain, brilliant maneuver that led to the occupation of Chatanooga, had a lack of good fortune in other cases though.
Sherman: Important because he was a friend of Grant, Atlanta campaign was sucessfull, incapable of bringing his entire force into combat, never won an offencive battle in his carreer, he prefered to conduct raids.
Sheridan: Major contributions in the Shenendoah Valley, compelled Lee to evacuate Richmond, all his success came when he had a huge manpower advantage.
I would say that Grant was the most important general, followed by Thomas, Rosecrans, Sheridan, and Sherman. I placed Sheridan before Sherman because although he won with a much larger force, he still commited his troops to combat while Sherman would not.
~Khris~
Mitesh
1.) Some of the earliest reasons as to why the South lost were: literary sublime-it was God's will, if only Stonewall had been with Lee at Gettysburg, and that Lee's victories induced the South to devote too many of its limited resources to the war in the East rather than the West, where he war's outcome was already decided. The North won because of their immense superiority in manpower, manufacturing, material, and money.
2.) The three points that James McPherson says where the CSA came very close to winning despite the North's superiority are: 1) In 1862, when Lee, after driving McClellan back from Richmond and winning the Second Battle of Bull Run, invaded Maryland at the same time General Braxton Bragg swept through Tennessee and into Kentucky. This caused the British govt. to ponder recognizing the South. 2) In 1863, when the North still had lingering effects from Fredricksburg and the continuous stalement in Tennessee and Mississippi, when Lee advanced into Pennsylvania. 3) In 1864, when Grant's failure to take Richmond, coupled with Sherman's apparent inability to capture Atlanta. This led to many Northerners to despair victory that Lincoln concluded he didn't stand a chance at being elected.
3.) 1)Ulysses S. Grant-- He broke throught the South's front at Forts Henry and Donelson, held what had been gained at Shiloh, captured Vicksburg, and opened the way into Georgia with his win at Chattanooga. He refused defeat, and sought to destroy the opposing army. 2) George Thomas-- Contributed more to Union victory than any other Northern-born general except Grant. At Nashville, he became the sole commander of the war to completely destroy an opposing army on the battlefield. Thomas never committed a serious mistake and sought to destroy the enemy. 3) William Rosecrans-- His plan gained the first stategic victory of the war at Rich Mountain, Virginia in 1861. He had some unfortunate personal traits, but his greatest was a lack of good fortune. 4) William Sherman-- Squandered many opportunities to wreck the Confederate army opposing him and bring the war to a quicker end. He was incapable of committing his full force of combat, he never won an offensive battle during his career. 5) Philip Sheridan-- His major contributions to Union victory occurred in Shenandoah Valley. His generalship was sufficiently competent to contribute to Union victory. I agree with the rankings, except for having Sherman at number 4. I believe he should have been number 5 because he failed on several occassions. The first three were good, and they deserve to be ranked that way.
1. Some of the earliest reasons the North won the civil war and the south lost was because the North had superior man power in terms of amount of soldiers. The north could field 2 million soldiers where the south could barely field 750,000 soldiers. Also the south only had 1 great general in Robert E. Lee where they needed to have two great generals in order to win enough victories and keep the north at bay. The north also had superior manufacturing capabilities and the south was reliant on slave labor for their manufacturing.
2. When General Lee won the second battle of Bull Run and invaded Maryland at the same time as Gen. Brag was invading Kentucky and Tennessee, the British were close to recognizing the South's government and intervening. When the Union had lost Fredericksburg and Lee was about to invade Gettysburg, if Lee had been successful in winning Gettysburg and Vicksburg had not been lost there been a huge anti war movement in the North and the North probably would have stopped fighting. The final reason why the south could have won was when Grant and Lee were caught in a stalemate and Sherman wasn't able to capture Atlanta, it's probable that Lincoln wouldn't have been re-elected and McClellan would have been president and he would have stopped the war.
3. Grant: He won the West for the Union and captured Vicksburg in stunning fashion. He was able to go heads up against Lee and nullify the South's best General. He aimed to destroy Lee's army which was a different way of thinking compared to previous Union Generals.
George H. Thomas: He was the Union's second best general behind Grant. He was able to gain a great win for the Union at Mill Springs. He was also able to limit the catastrophe at Chickamauga. He obliterated Gen. Hood and rendered his army incapable of further action. Finally he never main crucial mistakes unlike Generals such as McClellan.
William S. Rosecrans: He defeated Bragg at Stone's River and stopped the South from taking Tennessee.
William T. Sherman: His biggest victory was Altanta which was instrumental in Lincoln getting re-elected. He had an extemely famous march through the Carolinas and Sea. Many people feel he is overrated.
Philip Sheridan- He destroyed Lieutenant General Juabal Early's army and took a key road junction that forced Lee to evacuate Richmond. He was a punishing foe but won only battle which grossly outnumbered his oponent.
I agree with the rankings to a certain extent though I would have ranked Sherman higher. This is because even though his greatest accomplishment was the taking of Atlanta, it was very important in the sense that if he hadn't Lincoln probably wouldn't have be elected president.
MIKE
1.
Early historians believe the north won and the south lost because Lee didn’t spread out his recourses throughout the south – he concentrated in the east and not in the west. The North had superior manpower, manufacturing and money than the south. Jefferson Davis was completely stubborn and made mistakes in hiring commanders.
2.
James McPherson says where the CSA came very close to winning despite the North's superiority in three sperate events.
a.The first was in the fall of 1862; general Lee had run the North out of Richmond and started for Maryland. At the same time other southern generals had tooken Tennesse and Kentucky. The British government was considering jumping in the war and helping the south.
b.In 1863, the morale of the Union was low because of the loss at Fredricksburg. If the south had won the battle of Gettysburg and mainatined Vicksburg, the British government might have recongized the south and aided them.
c.In the summer of 1864, the southern generals were superior than the northern generals. Eventhough the Union had more man-power the southern generals should have been able to out-manufer the northern generals.
3.
*Grant: He broke the western fronts if the confederacy. He forced Lee to surrender and destroy his opposing army.
*Thomas: He prevented the Union defeat at the battle of Chickamauga. He destroyed the opposing army, so they wouldn’t be able to fight anymore. He never committed a serious mistake.
*Rosecrans: He had captured Western Virginia. He didn’t let the south take western Tennessee.
*Sherman: He captured Atlanta and made it very hard for the south to move forward. He favored taken down railroads and hurting confederacy communications.
*Sheridan: His biggest input to the war was winning the Shenandoah Valley during 1864. He faced armies that were much smaller than his, but he still won them.
- I would agree with the list of generals. All of them seemed competent and didn’t prolong the war. They didn’t make large amounts of mistakes and took care of their soldiers.
elisabeth
1.Some of the earliest reasons that historians stated why the North won and the Confederacy lost were the wrong-headed policies of and stubbornness of Jeff Davis, the mistakes of certain confederacy commanders, or simply bad luck like the death of Albert Johnston at Shiloh or the accidental shooting of Stonewall. More reasons are that Lee’s victories forced the South to put it’s resources moer in the East that the West. The most common reason was that the North had superiority in manpower, resources , manufacturing and money. All these qualities allowed the North to raise many more well-equipped soldiers.
2. 1) the British and the French considered, after Lee’s win at Bull Run and his victory over McClellan, to recognize the Confederacy, which would have greatly helped the South.
2) The only things that reawakened the North from its gloomy mood was the defeat of Lee at Gettysburg and Grant’s capture of Vicksburg at the same time.
3) Sherman’s capture of Atlanta reaffirmed the will of the North to fight. The south was at several times on the brink of victory because of their armies’ leadership, their morale, and their willpower (and their luck?). Their most important resource was their outstanding commandership, and mostly Lee because thanks to him, they had the opportunity to win even though the north had much greater numbers. They had many able divisions but only 2 commanders that rose to the top: Jackson and Forest.
3. 1) Ulysses S. Grant: he held what was at Shiloh and cut the confederacy in two by successfully capturing Vicksburg, which opened his way to Chattanooga. He was pup in command of all of the Union armies and he forced Lee’s surrender by constantly attacking him, weakening his forces.
2) George H. Thomas: he gained the first significant Union victory in January 1862 (West at Mills Springs). He also directed the most successful assault of the war at Missionary Ridge. He was also the only commander to destroy an opposing army on the battlefield, which made the end of the confederacy only a question of time.
3) William S. Rosecrans: His plan gained the union its first strategic victory of the war securing West Virginia. He defeated Bragg at Stone’s River and carried out a brilliant maneuver that led to the occupation of Chattanooga. His greatest defect was a lack of good fortune.
4) William T. Sherman: Not until the Atlanta campaign in 1864 did he achieve success that made impact on the outcome of the war. He only accomplished the necessary minimum while screwing up other possibilities for the Union. He never won an offensive battle. His most famous exploit was the March to the Sea but it was strategically irrelevant to the outcome of the war.
5) Philip Sheridan: his major contributions were at the Shenandoah valley where he demolished Early’s army which compelled Lee to evacuate Richmond. Sheridan’s successes were mostly against heavily numbered foes. His generalship did contribute to the Union’s victory.
I do agree with the ranking because I believe that Grant was the best commander because he captured Vicksburg, which cut the confederacy in too and was a major turning point in the victory of the Union. Also, both Grant and Thomas looked to destroy the confederate army, which had some part in their successes.
~tanya
1. Historians say that the north won because of there ability to put 1.25 million more men on the battle field along with that they were better fed. The north also had more plants for manufaturing goods than the south.
2. In the fall of 1862 there were two offensive moves by the CSA armys into the north. This caused England t consider recognizing the south which would of eventuly haveing them interveen in the war.
The British were again thinking about recognizing the south with Lee in Pennslvaina and Grant stuck in Mississippi only when Gettisburg and Vicksburg falling happened did the British deside against it.
In 1664 with both Shermans army and Grants armys stuck outside important city notherners opposed to war started to speak up again
3.I do agree with the rankings because this guy has oviously studied the civil war much longer than I have so he would probably know more about that stuff than me.
1.Grant Achived many important victorys for the union including vicksburg and forceing Lee to surrender at Appamatix court house.
2. Thomas, I have never heard of this guy, but it sounds like he helped the norths armys a lot by stoping the route at Chickamauga and crippiling the army of Tennessee.
3. Rosecrans He was the general that helped open up the south for the union armys. He did loose the battle of Chickamuga
4. SHerman had little succsess before he started his scorched earth palicy on this way to Atlanta. outside of Atlanta he had very few military wins.
5.Sheridan He won battles towards the end of the war when he had larger size armys. He azlso forced Lee out of Richmond.
Dan murdock
Bashar: 1) Historians stated that some of the reasons that the North won were: 1) Wrong headed policies and the stubbornness of Jeff Davis. 2) Mistakes of confederate commanders and bad fortune such as Johnston’s mortal wound at Shiloh, Lee’s “lost dispatch” at Antietam, and Stonewall’s death by friendly fire. “If Stonewall were at Gettysburg…”. 3) The confederate stratagy was bad because they shifted too much attention to the east as opposed to the west. 4) The south was overwhelmed by the Northern superiority of manpower, manufacturing, meterial (recources), and money.
2) 1) McPherson says the CSA came close to winning in Autum 1862 when Lee invaded Maryland and General Braxton Bragg swept through Tennesse and Kentucy. This could have sparked Brittish intervention which would have surly resulted in a confederate victory. 2) During the first half of 1863, the North won Gettysburg and captured Vicksburg, which revived northern resolve and destroyed any chance of British and French intervention. 3) Had Sherman not captured Atlanta and Sheridan not swept through the Shenandoah valley victoriously in 1864, the north would have lost its resolve to fight. A democratic president would have been elected in Lincoln’s stead, therefore ensuring CSA victory.
3) 1) U.S. Grant broke through Forts Henry and Donelson. He won at Shiloh and captured Vicksburg. He won a huge victory at Chattanooga. He challenged Lee and eventually captured his army. He didn’t just defeat, he destroyed his opposing enemies. 2) George Thomas prevented Chicamauga from becoming a disaster. He never made a serious mistake and always sought to annihalate the enemy. He destroyed John Hood’s confederate army. 3) William Roscrans gave the union its first strategic victory at Rich Mountian, Verginia in 1861. He also help lead the union to victory at Chattanooga. 4) William Sherman gave the union important strategic victories at the end of 1864 in Atlanta to secure Lincoln’s reelection. 5) Phillip Sheridan won major strategic victories in late 1864 in the Shanendoah valley to give Lincoln a reelection for a seccond term. He won many victories while being outnumbered.
I do not agree with the rankings; I would have placed Sheriden and Sherman higher. Sherman clearly defined Hard war and made the south surrender by threatening to and making them suffer. Sheridan was the only union general who consistantly won while outnumbered. Both of their victories were crucial to Lincoln’s reelection.
Bashar Dimitry
1.
Some of the earliest reasons historians stated the North won and the Confederacy lost was due to the fact of commanding. Jefferson Davis was known as stubborn, and not very war intelligent. The South also had to deal with the wounding of Johnston, General Lee concentrating for more on the East rather than the West, and the shooting of Stonewall Jackson. Some people believe that if Stonewall was not shot, he and Lee could have taken Gettysburg.
From both sides, the North and the South, they both believe that the North won because of the North’s manpower, manufacturing, material, and money. Due to these advantages, the North was able to have 2,000,000 soldiers compared to the South’s 750,000. The North’s numbers played important roles to them winning the war.
2.
a. The offensives caused the British government concidered recognizing the Confederacy. When all of this was happening Geroge McClellan was back in Richmond and winning the Second Battle of Bull Run, and was invading Maryland. All of this led the intervention of the South.
b. Due to the Union defeat of Frederiskburg, Lee decided to advance to Pennsylvania. Because of the defeat of Gettysburg and the capture of Vicksburg resolved the recognition of the conferderate government by the British.
c. Three times the South had a chance of winning it. All the affects came with conflicts.
Kate
One of the reasons historians said the North won the war was because things like generals being injured or killed were lowering the Confederacy’s moral. Some of these losses of moral came from Johnson at Shiloh, Lee's lost dispatch at Antietam, and especially from Stonewall Jackson being shot by his own troops. The most common reason historians give for the Union winning the war is because they had more troops, manufacturing, material, and money. This meant that the Unions 2,000,000 troops were better fed and equipped than the Confederate 750,000 troops.
Even though the Union army had huge advantages over the Confederates, James McPherson states that the C.S.A. came very close to victory on three occasions. The first came in 1862. Lee defeated McClellan in the Second Battle of Bull Run and advanced into Kentucky while Bragg fought his way through Tennessee. This impressed the British and they considered joining the war with France on the side of the Confederates. The second time the British considered helping the Confederacy was in 1863 after the Union defeat in Fredericksburg and the deadlock in Tennessee and Mississippi. The only thing that stopped the British from joining was Grant’s victory in Vicksburg and Gettysburg. The third time the Confederacy came close to winning the war was in 1864. The Union failed to capture Richmond and Atlanta and Lincoln feared that if he wasn’t reelected, the new president would get rid of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Ulysses S. Grant won many big and strategic battles. He wouldn’t stop until his enemy was destroyed. He may have had more luck than skill but either way he defeated Lee and won the war. He was the Union’s best general and they should have made him general of the Union army sooner. George H. Thomas was likely the Union’s second best general. He won many important battles. The only thing that was holding him back from more victories was Grant. If something had happened to Grant, Thomas likely would have taken over. William S. Rosecrans got the first strategic victory for the North and tipped the scale to allow for more Union victories. William T. Sherman won very few battles. His friendship with Grant may have been the only thing keeping him in the army. Philip Sheridan had some vital victories. His victories may have only been from greatly outnumbering his opponents.
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