1. The Civil War in GA
SS8H6b: State the importance of key events of the
Civil War; include Antietam, Emancipation
Proclamation, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, the Union
blockade of Georgia’s coast, Sherman’s Atlanta
Campaign, Sherman’s March to the sea, and
Andersonville.

2. Early stages of the Civil War
• GA, FL, MS, AL, LA, SC, and TX seceded from the
Union.
• The United States refused to turn over possession
of the forts that they had in the Confederacy.
• On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces began to fire
on Fort Sumter, two days later Union forced to
surrender.
• This was the first official fighting between Union
and Confederate troops.

3. Fort Sumter
Notice how
It blocks the
Channel leading
Into Charleston.

4. Fort Sumter

5. View of Charleston at the beginning of the
Civil War. Notice Fort Sumter in the harbor.

8. Early stages of the Civil War
• After the attack at Fort Sumter; VA, TN, NC, and AR
decide to join the confederacy.
• Even though Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and
Delaware were slave states they remained with the
Union, because they did not believe it was right to
secede.
– They were known as the border states.
– Some of VA’s western counties decided to stay with the
Union, creating West Virginia.

9. Map of The United States and Confederate
States of America
• Dark Red:
– Original states to
secede.
• Light Red:
– States that seceded
after Fort Sumter
• Yellow:
– Border States
• Blue:
– Union

10. The Civil War
• After Fort Sumter was bombed, Lincoln called for
75,000 volunteers to enlist for three months to “put
down the rebellion”
• Many thought that the war would be quick and
relatively bloodless.
• It became the bloodiest war in US history, with the
highest number of American casualties because
both sides were considered to be Americans.
– 600,000 killed
– 400,000 wounded

11. Leaders
• General Robert E. Lee – Commander of the
Confederate Army
• General Ulysses S. Grant – Commander of the Union
Army.
• Both men were graduates of West Point.
• Lee was considered to be one of the finest military men in the nation at
this point. He was asked to command the Union Army by President
Abraham Lincoln. Lee refused Lincoln stating that he must decline
because he felt an allegiance to his home and state of Virginia.
• Reflect – What if Lee had led the Union troops? How might have the war
been different?

12. General
Robert E. Lee
Commander
of the
Confederate
Army

13. Robert E. Lee

14. Commander Ulysses S.
Grant
Leader of the Union
forces

15. Grant

16. Grant

17. General
Grant
at camp

18. Union Blockade of
Southern Ports
• Shortly after the bombing of Fort Sumter
Lincoln declared a naval Blockade on southern
ports.
– Any ship coming or going would be stopped
and searched for contraband.
• Some supplies did come through the blockade
on ships designed to elude the Union ships,
called Blockade runners.
– Very, fast ships

19. Union Blockade of
Southern Ports
• This blockade not only limited the amount of goods
coming into the Confederacy but it also limited the
amount of cotton that was sent to other countries
for sale. This limited the amount of money
available.
• The blockades hurt the Confederacy because they
needed these supplies to continue fighting the war.
• The Union called this strategy the “Anaconda Plan.”
– It would eventually squeeze the Confederacy to
death.

20. Anaconda Plan

21. Map of the Union Blockade

22. • The Nashville – a Civil War Blockade running
ship

23. Wartime resources
• The North was more prepared to fight the civil war
than the south.
– North – larger population, more factories, more railroads
(suitable to carry heavy loads)
– South – agriculture based economy, 1/3 of total
population was slaves, railroad built to carry farm
products ( light loads)
• King Cotton Diplomacy – The south felt that they could force
France and Britain into the war due to their need of cotton.
This didn’t work because the north convinced them to use cotton from
another source.

24. The Civil War
• Antietam
– September 17, 1862
– General Lee attempts to invade the north.
– Single “bloodiest” day of the Civil War
– No clear winner
– Lincoln used the aftermath of this battle to issue
the Emancipation Proclamation.

28. The New York Gazette
September 23, 1862
Battle of Antietam: Over
22,000 Casualties in Single
Day

29. Just six days ago on September 17, 1862, the bloodiest single
day so far in the Civil War was fought in Antietam, Maryland,
where Confederate troops under the command of General Robert
E. Lee clashed with Union soldiers led by General McClellan. The
violent battle raged on for only one day as the Union men pushed
the Rebels out of United States territory back into Virginia.
The photo shown was taken about two days after the Battle of
Antietam, and shows the disgruntled body of a Confederate
soldier lying limp in a ditch used as a rifle pit. The gruesome body
shown was a result of lethal artillery shells firing down upon the
infantrymen. The men in the background are Union soldiers
probably burying the bodies of dead Confederates, and even a
few of their own.
In the early morning of the battle, Confederate and Union soldiers
met in D. R. Miller's cornfield where hidden Rebels overwhelmed
many surprised Union troops. Only after a couple of hours was the
Union able to push back the Confederates.

30. The second major part of the battle took place at Sunken
Road. Here, Confederate soldiers held their ground at a
crucial point with a fence to cover them. After a while though,
they could not handle the heavy fire from the Union. After the
battle, this area was nicknamed "Bloody Lane."
In the final major dash, the Union attacked a Confederate
stronghold right near a bridge. The first few waves of Union
men were completely unsuccessful, but then they swarmed
the bridge and drove the Rebels back into Confederate
territory. The military skills of the Southerners were no match
for the sheer number of Union men.
Although there was no real victor of the Battle of Antietam, the
Union claimed a win because even though they lost more men
than the Confederates, they did fulfill their purpose which was
to drive the Army of Northern Virginia back into their own land.

31. Fallen soldiers after Antietam

33. The Emancipation Proclamation
“And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose
aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons
held as slaves within said designated States, and
parts of States, are, and forever shall be free; and
that the Executive government of the United States,
including the military and naval authorities thereof,
will recognize and maintain the freedom of said
persons.”

34. The Emancipation Proclamation
• Through the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln
expressed his desire for all people to be free.
• It did not create freedom for everyone, this did not
happen until the 13th Amendment, which was
adopted after the end of the Civil War.
• Not everyone received their freedom, because the
Emancipation Proclamation did not make slavery
illegal in the slave states still loyal to the Union.
• There was still a long fight ahead ensure this
freedom.

35. The Emancipation Proclamation
“And I further declare and make known, that
such persons of suitable condition, will be
received into the armed service of the United
States to garrison forts, positions, stations,
and other places, and to man vessels of all
sorts in said service.”

36. The Emancipation Proclamation
• This statement welcomed former slaves into
the armed services.
– 186,000 African American enlisted.
• 133,000 came from slave states.
– Over 38,000 died during the Civil War.
– Have you ever seen the movie “Glory.”

37. Gettysburg
The turning point in the war.

38. 51,000 died in 3 days
• From July 1, 1863 – July 3, 1863.
• General Lee attempts to invade the North for a second
time.
• The two armies fought a battle in Pennsylvania that would
change the course of the war.
– North - 97,000 troops
• 23,000 -- killed, wounded, or captured.
– South – 75,000 troops.
• 28,000 -- killed, wounded, or captured.
• This battle was known as Gettysburg.
• The Union army won this battle. South forced to take a
defensive role for the rest of the war.

44. The War comes to Georgia
• For the first two years of the war very few
battles were fought in GA.
• This changed during September 1863, Union
forces had captured Chattanooga, and started
to advance into GA.
• The Union forces met stiff resistance at the
site of Chickamauga Creek.

45. The War comes to Georgia
Chickamauga is located in
Northwestern GA just south
of Chattanooga, TN.

46. The War comes to Georgia
• This was the first major advance of Union forces
into GA.
• Two days of fierce fighting and the Confederate
Army was able to defeat the Union Army at a
terrible cost.
• 33,900 either wounded or killed.
• This was to be last major victory of the Confederacy.
• The following spring, William T. Sherman would
begin his Invasion of GA.

47. Battle of Chickamauga

48. Sherman Invades GA
• In the spring of 1864, Sherman begins his march
from Chattanooga to Atlanta.
– Atlanta was the munitions center of the Confederacy.
• This invasion of GA was designed to not only to take
Atlanta but to also break the will of the
Confederacy.
• Throughout Sherman’s invasion of GA, he was met
with resistance.
• He finally was able to take Atlanta after much
fighting in the surrounding areas.

49. One of many defensive sites set up
around Atlanta.

50. William Tecumsah Sherman

51. Sherman Takes Atlanta
• Sherman did
not want
Atlanta for
military
standpoint, he
wanted to
take Atlanta to
stop the
supplies that
were
supporting the
Confederate
Army.

52. Sherman Takes Atlanta
• Before the Confederates left Atlanta They destroyed
anything that they could not carry with them. (ex.
Locomotives and railroad cars)
• Sherman did not want the supplies, he wanted
everything destroyed.
– Within a week of taking Atlanta, he forced all Southern
citizens to leave.
– He then had anything used in supplying the confederate
army destroyed and its building burned.
• The fires spread quickly and burned down most of the city.

53. Atlanta, GA. View on Marietta Street
before Sherman came to Atlanta.

55. Sherman Troops Burning Atlanta

56. Illustration from Harper's Weekly - Union troops burning
Atlanta's public buildings, depots, and factories in 1864

57. Atlanta Depot before Sherman

58. Atlanta Depot before Sherman

59. Atlanta Depot After Sherman

60. Sherman’s March to the Sea
• After 2 ½ months Sherman burned Atlanta
and set off for Savannah.
• This March was intended to speed up the end
of the war and end civilian support for the war
effort.
• His goal was to bring “the sad realities of war”
to the heart of GA.

62. Sherman’s March to the Sea
• Sherman issued orders that explained how the march
would be conducted.
– 6. To corps commanders alone is entrusted the power to
destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, etc.; and for them this
general principle is laid down:
In districts and neighborhoods where the army is
unmolested, no destruction of each property should be
permitted; but should guerrillas or bushwhackers molest our
march, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct
roads, or otherwise manifest local hostility, then army
commanders should order and enforce a devastation more
or less relentless, according to the measure of such hostility.

63. Sherman’s March to the Sea
• After Sherman reached Savannah he
estimated that his troops had destroyed over
$100 million worth of food and other
resources.
– This does not count houses, personal property, or
government property (railroads, courthouses,
etc..)

64. What do you see in this picture.

65. Area damaged by Sherman’s March.
Notice that it did not stop in GA.

66. Sherman Reaches Savannah
• Sherman entered Savannah on December 21,
1864. 1 ½ months after leaving Atlanta.
– He captured 150 guns, plenty of ammunition, and
25,000 bales of cotton.
• Why was there so much cotton in Savannah?
– He sent a telegraph to Lincoln saying “I beg to present
you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.”
– Neither GA nor the Confederacy was able to recover
from this march in time to change the outcome to the
Civil War.

67. Savannah during the Civil War

68. Andersonville
• One of the most notorious Confederate
prisons during the Civil War.
• Held so many Union prisoners that its
population was greater than most confederate
cities.
• Because of the overcrowding and unsanitary
conditions nearly 13,000 prisoners died of
disease and starvation.

69. Andersonville
• The South constructed a prisoner of war camp
built to hold 15,000 prisoners.
• Instead it had 45,000 prisoners at one time.
• Disease killed 13,000 Union soldiers.
• Camp commander Henry Wirz was hung after
the war for war crimes.

73. Surrender
• April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee
surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at
Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
• Two weeks later, General Joseph Johnston
surrendered to General William Sherman in
North Carolina.