The Civil War was the first war to use railroads and turn them into a weapon of war. During the Civil War railroads became the vital new technology for both the Union and Confederate forces. The great distances separating armies, the need for supplies, and quicker troop movements all increased the need for the railroad. Without this new weapon the Civil War may have lasted until the last man was literally left standing. The ability to implement and use the railroads in the Civil War would play a crucial role in the North’s victory and the South’s defeat. Those who controlled the rail lines controlled the war. From the film, Civil War-America: The Story of Us, Lincoln is the first to realizes the railroads could modernize the speed of troop …show more content…
Union General, David Hunter, reports destroying arms, supplies, factory buildings, and railroad tracks in and around Staunton. In this account from 1864, Hunter reports his summer operation in the Shenandoah Valley. He had the Virginia Central Railroad entirely destroyed for several miles east and west of the town, burning all the depot buildings, shops, and warehouses belonging to the road. The forces under General Crook and Averell then joined Hunter. “This command, returning from a successful raid on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and moving to join Hunter at Staunton, had struck the line of the Virginia Central at Goshen and had totally destroyed this road as they marched to the point of junction, making in all a total destruction of the road for a distance of fifty miles” (Hunter). Hunter’s diary also contained information about General Duffie demolishing the Charlottesville and Lynchburg railroad from Amherst Court-House to Arrington Station. Hunter and his men would move southeastward and cross the James River below Lynchburg, destroying the South Side Railroad for a short distance, and burning two trains at Concordia Station. A major task of the Union soldiers was to pull up every stretch of Confederate track. By destroying railroads the supply lines to the Confederate troops were cut …show more content…
The Confederate Army did there best to protect their railroads and to intercept the Union’s shipments. M.C. MEIGS, Quartermaster General reported on October 12, 1862 that supplies were intercepted and destroyed by the Confederate Cavalry behind the army at Chambersburg. General Lee learned that the operation of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Harper's Ferry west was viewed by the Union to be of great importance. “He planned on breaking up the Harper's Ferry and Winchester Railroad to increase the obstacles to their advance up the Shenandoah Valley” (Lee). General George Pickett received orders from the lieutenant general in 1863. He was to send out a party from that portion to take position south of Chambersburg to destroy the railroad south of the town. He was ordered to burn the cross-ties, the iron injured as much as possible, and complete destruction. In April 1865, Col. Franklin A. Stratton marched to Lynchburg and occupied the town. He found military stores, quartermaster’s property, 25 locomotives and other railroad property. This property was all turned over to Lieut.-Col. Potter; 56 field pieces, 6 heavy guns, 41 mortars, 7 forges, 75 caissons and gun carriages, 15,000 muskets, several hundred sabers, and a large quantity of ammunition. Scenes like this occurred throughout the war. Both side were trying to use, capture or defend the railroads. Many of the dairies
Colonel Slough would continuously use tempo to keep pushing the Confederate forces back without delay. He refused to let the Confederate forces have the time necessary to regroup and reorganize. Colonel Slough would also change from offensive operations to defensive operations and fight the Confederates with a defense in depth. A defense in depth requires an extreme amount of tempo and Colonel Slough would continuously flank the Confederate forces as they would advance through the canyon. Using primary, alternate, supplementary, subsequent positons, the union force were able to attrite the Confederate forces as they gained ground.
Longstreet was doubtful at first, but then Harrison convinces him that he has actually seen the Union troops coming to them. Longstreet quickly wakes up General Lee who is the commander of the Confederate army. Then he remembers to tell Longstreet that the head of the Army of the Potomac has changed: it 's now General Meade, not General Hooker.. Lee is also skeptical, since he has sent General Stuart with his horse to keep an eye on the Union army’s each movements. But Longstreet believes that Stuart is out joyriding.
The union were able to attack Lees center multiple times but McClellan let the rebels retreat and regroup. Which let the battle carry on longer than needed. Then the union decided to attack Jackson(left flank) which was located at dunkers church, and were able to push Jackson out. Then the union had to get across the river to be able to attack and push back the confederates line. The union tried
On July 2, 1863, which was the second day of fighting at Gettysburg, we attacked Wilcox’s Alabama Brigade under General Winfield Hancock’s orders. There were 5 to 1 odds against us. We kept the Confederates off of Cemetery Ridge. About 215 people died, including our commander Colonel William Colvill, and our flag fell 5 times. We were reinforced by Company F the next day.
The men were happy destroying the towns and causing havoc, as they justify it as a punishment to the hostile activities. The raid continue from the Mississippi River all the way towards Virginia. All the way, they increase their rage and hostility against the South. During the first two years of war in Virginia, the Union commanders resorted to menacing words and other treats of war and collective punishments before the deed.
Even though the railroad existed before the great division between the north and the south and it mainly contributed in providing goods for both sides, the invention of the railroad greatly contributed to the civil war. The first railroad created in the US was in 1827 and their major role was to transport goods from the North to the South and back. As slaves became more abundant in the South and less present in the North a war began on the idea of slavery. The railroad caused this Civil War by bringing goods to only one side and keeping their advantage. It went from having different point of views to all out battles that started with starvation and isolation, but led to death and separation.
He also had militia encounters,The first encounter came east of macon in Griswoldville on November 22.The Confederates suffered many deaths. The second encounter was in Ogeechee River twelve miles below Savannah. Once Sherman
The first main cause of the Civil War was economic differences between the Northern and Southern states. During the first few decades of the 19th century, the North had an industrial revolution that brought an economy that relied on laborers. While at the same time, the South continued to rely on slaves for their farming and the production of cotton. The Northerners did not need slaves for their economy, but the Southerners could not make any profit without cotton or slaves. In the 1860’s, the North had twice as many railroads as the South, and the South had a bigger cotton production because of their slave population (Document A).
It ends on December 21st, with the capture of the port of Savannah. The objective was to destroy any resource that strengthened the Confederate opposition and to spread terror in the opposite army. Among Sherman’s objectives was the road rail network. The railroads were the principal logistic nodes that transported industrial products, private property, and agricultural products that served as a logistical resource for the army during the march. Sherman's choice
The War Between the States was one of America’s greatest wars—it was the fight for freedom, but it also impacted the economy. Because of this, America’s labor and transportation systems both took a significant turn during the Civil War, impacting America’s economy forever. In the end, the American Civil War greatly benefitted our transportation system, but devastated the South’s labor force. For a war to be fought strategically well, there first must be a form of simple, yet speedy, transportation. That is where the transcontinental railroad came in.
The most important battle during the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg. This was a battle that took place over three days in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. This battle was the turning point of the civil war which successfully stopped the Southern Confederate Armies led by General Robert E. Lee from taking over the north. The Battle of Gettysburg was the most important battle of the Civil War because it was the largest of the civil war battles, successfully pushing back southern armies away from the north, and was the major defeat of the south. The battle of Gettysburg is still considered to historians to not only be the most important battle of the Civil war but the deciding factor towards victory.
The Unions leaders had General George B. McClellan. He commanded the Army of the Potomac. He was very well loved by his men and always wanted the best for them but at the expense of the Union. He disliked abolitionists and the Republican Party and had very little respect for Abraham Lincoln himself but his biggest problem was that he was a perfectionist. Because of this, McClellan was almost always ready to move but not quite.
George Craven once again is leading the militia and is trying to commence an attack on the Cherokee and Catawba. On their way the militia obtained word that more than 500 Apalachee Indians had attacked New London, but because of it being fortified the Indians could not do much damage, in result the Indians resorted to destroying plantations. They eventually withdrew and destroyed the bridged before the militia could cross the river. When the governor showed up, things changed like in this example from Samuel Eveleigh’s description “the Govr. at that instant had marched the Army to Zantee [sic], however, he returned back on the first notice upon his approach the Indians fled over Ponpon Bridge and burnt it having killed 4 or 5 white men.
By this time, the Union has suffered over 13,000 casualties but the confederacy has only about 5,000 killed or wounded. As a Confederate victory, The Battle of Fredericksburg was very much impactful for it showed how miscommunication could change the fate for an army or two. Many people ended up blaming Lincoln for the defeat but Burnside mostly took responsibility. Burnside ended up getting replaced in January of 1863 by Joseph Hooker because of his actions and what he has shown to accomplish. As for the Confederacy, the war led to many spirits boosted and better publicity for Robert E. Lee after the
Railroads served to support the armies by defending soldiers from attacks of enemies. According to John Elwood Clark in the article Railroads in the Civil War states, “Soldiers before the Civil War thought of interior lines in terms of space, or distance, although geography sometimes conferred an additional advantage. The Civil War began to modify the concept, increasingly framing the advantage in terms of time, as railroads and steamboats improved travel speed and freight loads; today’s soldiers call it ‘‘superior lateral communications. ’’(Clark 28) Railroads improved war efforts significantly by conveniencing soldiers