54th Regiment
The 54th Regiment, or the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, was known to be the first military unit that contained black soldiers that were raised and trained in the North during the war. Before 1863, there was no effort to recruit any blacks in as Union soldiers, but when the Emancipation Proclamation had passed, it gave the opportunity for the Union army to used free blacks as soldiers at the time. The state governors were in charge for raising regiments for federal service, and Massachusetts became the first one to respond to the assigned regiment. This regiment had become quite the controversy, as many whites had asked if blacks had the ability to fight in a "white man's war," which the blacks had strongly felt that they could. As the manpower started running low, black enlistees became easily acceptable, even though there were many protests by Southern whites. The South had taken nearly a month before the war ended to enlist the slaves, but even before that had happen, blacks had accounted for about 10% of the total enlistments in the Union army.
Anaconda Plan
General Winfield Scott had presented a way to defeat the Confederacy to President Lincoln. He planned to make a blockade in the southern and eastern coasts, take control of the Mississippi River with force, and have a line of strong Federal position would separate the Confederate and would be able to defeat it by striking it at all the sides at once. He proposed to have 60,000 troops go down to Mississippi with gunboats to have an effective blockade to block off the South. Then he had believed that the Federal troops would stop and then they would have to wait for Southern Union sympathizers to turn on the Confederate governors to forcibly make them surrender. Scott had believed the sympathy that the South was getting from secession was not as strong as it appeared and that the "fire-eaters" would eventually fall back because of the isolation and pressure they were getting. This plan was greatly criticized by the public because of the lengthy time it took to do all of it, but it was an action to squeeze the life out of the South.
South's strategy
The South's main strategy was to hold onto being defense in the war in order for the Northern army to go into unfamiliar territory and fight them. This was quite the advantage for them as they knew their area quite nicely and they could easily attack their enemy. However, they also held onto foreign intervention and deeply relied on them to come at any time, especially when the war had switched to them losing. They sought to get other countries involved, seeing as they needed their "King Cotton," and get them to defeat the North in order to gain their states' rights and become an independent territory. The geographic factors that influenced the strategy were the fact that the South was mostly a suburban region, so the West who was helping out the North was able to stop goods from entering the area to get to the Southern ports. This had caused the South to struggle economically as the North had blockaded the ports that they had greatly needed to survive.
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was one of the only two significant forts in the South that flew the Union's flag. It was located in the Charleston harbor, and they desperately needed supplies in order for its men to survive. Lincoln had said that the North was sending in provisions to the fort, not supplies for reinforcement. The South had taken it the wrong way as they thought it was an act of aggression, so on April 12, 1861 the Carolinians fired upon Fort Sumter. The garrison had surrendered which caused uproar of "Remember Fort Sumter" and "Save the Union" in the North. It had greatly provoked them to fight and many men volunteered to be part of the militiamen. When Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee all seceded after the attack, Lincoln finally saw a reason respond with armed forces.
Bull Run
The first Bull Run involved in an attack on a smaller Confederate force. If the North was successful, it would show that the Union arms were superior and it might have eventually leaded up to the capturing of Richmond. The Union and Confederate armies met up on July 21, 1861. At first it was thought to be a Union victory especially when spectators showed up, but it all changed when General "Stonewall" Jackson held his line of Confederate soldiers until reinforcements arrived, causing a Confederate win.
The second battle happened in northern Virginia in 1862. John Pope commanded a large Union army to go against George McClellan's army in anticipation of a combined offensive. General Robert E. Lee (who was the commander of the Confederate) was the first to strike as he sent half of his army to hit the federal supply base at Manassas. Stonewall Jackson, also led a group that seized supplies and burned valuables, and then they later hid within the woods. On August 29th, Pope's and Jackson's men clashed together, which had caused many casualties. The following day was a great loss to the Union as Pope was forced to withdraw his army towards Washington as the rest of Lee's army had arrived and had launched a counterattack.
The second battle happened in northern Virginia in 1862. John Pope commanded a large Union army to go against George McClellan's army in anticipation of a combined offensive. General Robert E. Lee (who was the commander of the Confederate) was the first to strike as he sent half of his army to hit the federal supply base at Manassas. Stonewall Jackson, also led a group that seized supplies and burned valuables, and then they later hid within the woods. On August 29th, Pope's and Jackson's men clashed together, which had caused many casualties. The following day was a great loss to the Union as Pope was forced to withdraw his army towards Washington as the rest of Lee's army had arrived and had launched a counterattack.
Antietam
The battle of Antietam became the pivotal point in the war. When Lee had defeated General Pope's Union forces in the second battle of Bull Run, Lee had moved forward. As he had moved into Maryland, he met McClellan's forces again on September 17, 1862 in the Battle of Antietam. McClellan was able to slow down Lee's army after he had discovered Lee's battle plans. Although, they didn't really win, the Union army was able to stop the Confederates from marching northward. Antietam provided Lincoln to issue out the Emancipation Proclamation.
Vicksburg & Gettysburg
Ulysses S. Grant became a colonel in the Union army and had successfully defeated the South. However, before he had defeated the whole area, he became in charge of attacking Vicksburg and gaining control of it. The city ended up surrendering on July 4, 1863 with the garrison ending up reducing to eating mules and rats. Later on came the fall of Port Hudson, which was the last Southern support on the Mississippi. The outcome of the war was beginning to change as the Union forces won in Vicksburg. The Union victory at Vicksburg came after the other victory in Gettysburg. These back to back Union victories cause Confederates to lose hopes for foreign intervention as Britain stopped helping them and France killing a deal for selling naval vessels to their government.
Atlanta
General William Tecumseh Sherman was a Union general in command of western forces. He had led his army into invading Georgia and in September of 1864, he had ended up capturing Atlanta, and burning the whole area completely on November. He had destroyed rail lines and burned buildings and as he marched through Georgia, he had purposely destroyed supplies that were meant to be for the Confederate army in order to weaken the morale men at the front by carrying on the war on their homes. He also had also successfully captured Savannah on December 22, 1864, and had eventually moved through South Carolina where he had captured Columbia, which had ended up being burnt on February 17, 1865.
Chancellorsville
Chancellorsville was considered to be Lee's greatest victory but the South's greatest lost as Stonewall Jackson had died the night after it. Lee ended up defeating more than 70,000 Union troops with only 40,000 Confederate troops in Virginia and had brought back hope to the South.
Appomattox Courthouse
General Grant lead an assault on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia as President Lincoln ordered. He had 100,000 men and had engaged with Lee in several battles in the Wilderness Campaign. Grant had ordered a frontal assault on Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864, which killed thousands of Union soldiers within a matter of minutes, but Grant's planned of losing two men and killing one Confederate had worked in his favor. He ended up capturing Richmond and cornering Lee and on April 9, 1865, where Lee was forced to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse, which resulted in the Civil War's end.