And the War Came A Costly Struggle At the beginning of the war, politicians, military officers, soldiers, and most people at home expected to win and hoped the victory might be relatively easy. However, it did not take long for the reality of battle to drive home the point that this was going to be a long and costly struggle. In the Eastern theater of the war, General Robert E. Lee and other Confederate generals scored enough victories to prevent any significant Union penetration into the South. Meanwhile, in the western theater, General Ulysses S. Grant demonstrated his capacity to direct Union successes, but the Confederacy still controlled traffic up and down the Mississippi River. Video: Two Generals The two legendary military commanders of the Civil War were General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union and General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy. Though they were very different men, both were brilliant commanders who shared a willingness to take risks. Look for the answer to this question when watching the video: How did generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee compare as military leaders? Video script: Music introduction Narrator: The Civil War would ultimately produce two legendary military commanders, General Ulysses S. Grant for the Union, and General Robert E. Lee for the Confederacy. But when the war began, neither man had reached the height of his powers. James McPherson: At the beginning of the war, Robert E. Lee was one of the most promising officers in the United States army, had just been recently promoted to colonel. He had a sterling record in the Mexican war. He had graduated second in his class at west point and had entirely fulfilled that promise; and indeed so prominent and so promising was Robert E. Lee that before, just before Virginia seceded, he was actually offered command of the largest Union field army.
Grant, although he had a very good record in the Mexican war, had languished in the peacetime army; had resigned from the army as a captain in 1854 under a cloud, and had tried a number of civilian occupations without any great success. And at the beginning of the Civil War he was an obscure salesman in his father s leather store in Galena, Illinois. To compare Grant and Lee - I think Lee was probably the pre-eminent tactical commander of the Civil War. Tactics means the handling of troops on the battlefield in the presence of an enemy. His sense of timing, his ability to detect the weakness in the enemy position, and the psychological weakness of the enemy commander in many cases, was almost uncanny. But Grant, I think, was the top strategic commander in the war. Strategy means the handling of armies over a large territory to bring them into a position favorably to engage the enemy, and grant was superb at that. Narrator: Lee and Grant were very different men, but in each other they met their match. James McPherson: They did share one quality, which made them stand out from most of their contemporaries. They were both willing to take risks. They were not afraid of failure. They recognized that in commanding an army in battle, one has to accept the possibility of failure in order to achieve success. End of video. Bull Run to Fredericksburg The battles at Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam, and Fredericksburg were some of the major battles that took place during the first two years of the Civil War. These battles showed people in both the North and the South that the war would be far costlier and longer than they first expected. Look for answers to these questions when watching the video: What was meant by the "eastern theater" of the war? What was important about this theater of war? How decisive were the battles fought there during 1861 to 1862? Why was Lincoln frustrated with many of his generals? How and why did Robert E. Lee become commander of the Confederate forces?
What was meant by the "western theater" of the war? What was important about this theater? What major battles were fought there during 1861 62? Why was the battle of Shiloh Church significant? What qualities had Ulysses S. Grant demonstrated in this theater of war? Video script: Music introduction Actor, Pennsylvania Private: The first thing in the morning is drill. Then drill, then drill again. Then drill, drill, a little more drill, then drill, lastly drill. Narrator: In the spring of 1861, Lincoln named Irwin McDowell to command the Union forces in the east, known as the army of the Potomac. While McDowell organized and trained the thousands of soldiers encamped around Washington, D.C., the political pressure to attack the Confederates grew stronger. Finally, Lincoln could resist the pressure no longer. Although McDowell still believed his troops were too green for battle, Lincoln ordered him to attack the Confederates at Manassas junction, thirty-seven miles southwest of Washington, on a creek called Bull Run. Gary Gallagher: General McDowell and General Beauregard, the Union and Confederate commanders, respectively, at first Manassas, or Bull Run, had the same plan. Each wanted to turn the other s left flank. McDowell began very successfully. He turned the Confederate left flank in the initial stage of the first battle of Bull Run was a grand Union success. The battle unraveled for the North when Confederates managed to stop the northern attacks, especially the brigade of Thomas Jonathan Jackson who earned his nickname Stonewall on that battlefield; and then by the arrival of reinforcements late in the afternoon which turned the tide and enabled the Confederates to not only blunt the Union assaults but to drive the federals from the field. Green troops, once things begin to go badly, often flee a field and that happened to the northern army on the battlefield at first Bull Run. The soldiers began to first drift away from the battlefield, then move away very rapidly.
There were also many civilians who d come out from Washington to watch the battle; and these civilians got caught up in this retreat as well, so you had a quite amazing jumble of military men, animals, wagons, civilians caught up in this great movement back toward Washington. Took the federal army nearly five days to get to the battlefield at first Manassas and get ready to fight. Took them just a few hours to get back to Washington. Narrator: Bull Run was a severe blow to the morale of the North. Some even suggested that the war was a lost cause and the Union should make peace with the confederacy. But for most, it inspired a deeper commitment. After Bull Run, the war effort was vastly expanded. War production increased and new volunteers were enlisted for three years instead of three months. And Lincoln brought General George McClellan to Washington to assume command of the army of the Potomac. But McClellan was not the General Lincoln hoped he would be. James McPherson: he was afraid of failure. He had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He had gone through West Point, graduating at the age of twenty. He had graduated second in his class. He had had a meteoric rise in the pre-war army as a young officer. He had never failed at anything and, as a consequence, I think he was afraid to risk failure and he thought of all kinds of excuses and reasons why he could not undertake an offensive, why he could not commit himself to a major initiative. Narrator: While McClellan paraded his soldiers in Washington, Union armies in the west took the offensive. In February of 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant captured Forts Henry and Donelson. Grant s victory forced the Confederates to retreat southward, abandoning Tennessee to the Union. Grant s next target was Corinth, an important rail junction in the northeast corner of Mississippi. Grant spread his troops out along the Tennessee River at Pittsburg Landing, confident that the Confederates under General Albert Sidney Johnston would remain on the defensive. On Saturday, April 5th general grant was notified of signs of an impending attack. Disbelieving them, he sent a wire to his superiors.
Actor, General Ulysses S. Grant: I do not apprehend anything like an attack on our position. Narrator: The next morning, as Union soldiers were making their breakfast, the attack came. It began near a small church called Shiloh, whose name meant place of peace. Gary Gallagher: The first day at the Battle of Shiloh was an amazing exercise in contrast. The Confederates managed to surprise the Union army. They drove back the Union defenders on many parts of the field. The federals rallied in a place called The Hornet s Nest, one division of Union soldiers did, and beat off a number of Confederate attacks. Throughout the day many of the Union soldiers fell back from the lines where the battle was being fought and cowered along the banks of the Tennessee River in the rear areas. Narrator: When the fighting ended on the first day, the Yankees had been driven two miles backward. One good push would drive them into the river. Actor, Sam Watkins, Rebel Soldier: Now those Yankees were whipped, fairly whipped, and according to all the rules of war they ought to have retreated. But they didn t. Gary Gallagher: Each side expected reinforcements to come. Confederate reinforcements did not arrive, but Don Carlos Buell and his army, his Union army, did arrive to reinforce Grant s soldiers at Shiloh, and the second day was really the reverse of what had happened on the first day. This time the North was doing the attacking, driving back the Confederates little by little until finally Beauregard, who remained in command, realizing that he was not going to be reinforced, decided to abandon the field, which he did late in the day. Actor, Union Soldier from Chicago: We have at last had our wish for a hard battle gratified and never again do I expect to hear the same wish from the lips of our men. Gary Gallagher: Shiloh was an enormously important battle, really one of the watersheds of the war. In a strategic sense, it opened Northern Mississippi, and Corinth especially, a key rail center to the advancing Union forces. It really sealed the fate of western Tennessee. But beyond that, it served as a wake-up call to people in both the North and the South that the war was going to be far costlier than they had thought it would be. More than 20,000 men fell at Shiloh on April 6th and 7th, 1862. That s more casualties, more Americans killed and wounded, than had been shot in all other wars down to that point in our history.
Actor, General Ulysses S. Grant: Up to the Battle of Shiloh I, as well as thousands of other citizens, believed that the rebellion against the government would collapse suddenly and soon if a decisive victory could be gained over any of its armies. But afterward I gave up all idea of saving the Union except by complete conquest. Narrator: Despite the defeat at Shiloh, the year 1862 was the high-water mark for the Confederacy. In the East, although the Union troops significantly outnumbered the Confederates, General McClellan consistently overestimated the enemy s strength. General Lee brilliantly exploited his hesitation, proving that he was everything McClellan was not bold, aggressive, and not afraid to take risks. With less than half as many men, Lee fought McClellan to a stalemate at Antietam on the bloodiest day of the entire war. And at Fredericksburg in December, General Ambrose Burnside led the Union soldiers into a one-sided slaughter at Marye s Heights. Rebel soldiers protected by a stone wall mowed down wave after wave of Yankees in what Burnside s own generals had warned him would be murder, not warfare. With superior resources on every count, the North was losing the war in the East. Beset by military defeat, political dissent, and grieving over the death of his middle son, Willie, Lincoln was deeply discouraged. Actor, Abraham Lincoln: We are now on the brink of destruction. It appears to me that the almighty is against us. End of video.
Military and the Media Some military experts believe today's distrustful relationship between the military and the media started with the Civil War. Sometimes called the first truly public war, the Civil War was the first to be covered extensively by war correspondents. Journalists linked the battlefronts to the home fronts through their descriptions of camp life and the horrors of battle. They also provided nearly one-third of all maps used to illustrate newspaper articles. Published reports on the war's progress sometimes created conflict between the military and the press. This controversy continues in modern times as government and military officials seek to balance the public's right to know with the public's need to know when matters of national security are involved. What do you think? Should war correspondents be censored for reasons of national security? Activity: Check Your Understanding During the Civil War, both General Robert E. Lee and General Ulysses S. Grant were not afraid of failure. They became the most famous military officers of the Civil War. Each had different strengths and weaknesses, but they shared common traits. Both were willing to take risks. The Battle of Shiloh was important because it indicated the war was going to be costly. It was an important victory for the North, which had not yet gained control of the Mississippi River. With 20,000 casualties, the battle was costly for both sides, but hundreds of thousands more would die before the war ended three years later.