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Primary documents from the =
American Civil War that can be implemented into your lesson plans=
Abraham Lincoln
•As a commander in chief Lincoln was soon noted for vigorous measures,=
sometimes at odds with the Constitution and often =
at
odds with the ideas of his military
commanders. After a period of initial support and enthusiasm for George =
B. McClellan, Lincoln's conflicts with that Democr=
atic
general helped to turn the latter
into his presidential rival in 1864. Famed for his clemency for court-martialed soldiers, Lincoln nevertheless took a
realistic view of war as best prosecuted
by killing the enemy. Above all, he always sought a general, no matter what his politics, who would fight. He found such a
general in Ulysses S. Grant, to whom
he gave overall command in 1864. Thereafter, Lincoln took a less direct role in military planning, but his interest never
wavered, and he died with a copy of
General William Sherman's orders for the March to the Sea in his pocket.
Democrats accused Lincoln of being a tyrant because he proscribed civil liberties. For example, he suspended the writ of habeas corpu= s in some areas as early as Apr. 27, 1861, and throughout the nation on Sept. 24, 1862, and the administration made over 13,000 arbitrary arrests.= On the other hand, Lincoln tolerated virulent criticism from the press and politicians, often restrained his commanders from overzealous arrests, and showed no= real tendencies toward becomi= ng a dictator. There was never a hint that Lincoln might postpone the election of 1864, although he feared in August of = that year that he would surely lose to McClellan. Democrats exaggerated Lincoln's suppression of civil liberti= es, in part because wartime prosperity robbed them of economic issues and in part because Lincoln handled the slavery issue so skillfully.
The Constitution protected slavery in peace, but in war, Lincoln came to believe, the commander in chief could abolish slavery as a military necessity. The preliminary Emancipation Proclomation of September 22, 1862, bore this military justification, as did all of Lincoln's racial meas= ures, including especially his decision in the final proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863, to accept blacks in the army. B= y 1864, Democrats and Republicans differed clearly in their platforms on the race issue: Lincoln's endorsed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery, whereas McClellan's pledged to return to = the South the rights it had had in 1860.
Lincoln's victory= in that election thus changed the racial future of the United <= span style=3D'position:absolute;top:80.9%;left:5.86%;width:86.8%;height:2.91%'>= States. It also agitated Southern-sympathizer and Negrophobe John Wilkes Booth, who began to conspire first to abduct Lincoln and later to kill him. On Ap= ril 14, 1865, five days after Robert E. Lee's surrende= r to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Lincoln attended a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington. There Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln. The next morning at 7:22 Lincoln died.
Democrats accused Lincoln of being a tyrant because he proscribed civil liberties. For example, he suspended the writ of habeas corpu= s in some areas as early as Apr. 27, 1861, and throughout the nation on Sept. 24, 1862, and the administration made over 13,000 arbitrary arrests.= On the other hand, Lincoln tolerated virulent criticism from the press and politicians, often restrained his commanders from overzealous arrests, and showed no= real tendencies toward becomi= ng a dictator. There was never a hint that Lincoln might postpone the election of 1864, although he feared in August of = that year that he would surely lose to McClellan. Democrats exaggerated Lincoln's suppression of civil liberti= es, in part because wartime prosperity robbed them of economic issues and in part because Lincoln handled the slavery issue so skillfully.
The Constitution protected slavery in peace, but in war, Lincoln came to believe, the commander in chief could abolish slavery as a military necessity. The preliminary Emancipation Proclomation of September 22, 1862, bore this military justification, as did all of Lincoln's racial meas= ures, including especially his decision in the final proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863, to accept blacks in the army. B= y 1864, Democrats and Republicans differed clearly in their platforms on the race issue: Lincoln's endorsed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery, whereas McClellan's pledged to return to = the South the rights it had had in 1860.
Lincoln's victory= in that election thus changed the racial future of the United <= span style=3D'position:absolute;top:80.9%;left:5.86%;width:86.8%;height:2.91%'>= States. It also agitated Southern-sympathizer and Negrophobe John Wilkes Booth, who began to conspire first to abduct Lincoln and later to kill him. On Ap= ril 14, 1865, five days after Robert E. Lee's surrende= r to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Lincoln attended a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington. There Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln. The next morning at 7:22 Lincoln died.
![](3D"slide0002_image002.jpg")
Ulysses S. Grant
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:28%'>•As the Civil War
reached its peak, Grant sought to win control of the Mississippi Valley. In February 1862, he took Fort
Donelson in Tennessee, which
was the first Union victory of strategic importance. When the Confederate commander asked for terms, Grant repli=
ed,
"No terms except an
unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." The Confederates surrendered, and President Lincoln pr=
omoted
Grant to major genera=
l of
volunteers in 1863.
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:28%'>•As the fierce ba=
ttles
of the Civil War continued, some began to question General Grant's military leadership. At Shiloh, Gr=
ant
fought one of the blood=
iest
battles in the West. Some called for him to be replaced. President =
Lincoln fended off demands that Grant be removed by
saying, "I can't spare this
man — he fights." (From the Ulysses S. Grant home page.)
=
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:28%'>•With President
Lincoln's support, Grant was determined to move ahead to victory. He captured Vicksburg, the key city on the
Mississippi River, which cut
the Confederacy in two. He then broke the Confederate hold on Chattanooga, Tennessee.
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:28%'>•Lincoln appointed
Grant General-in-Chief of the Union Army in March 1864. Grant directed Sherman to drive through the South =
while
he used the Army of the
Potomac to pin down General Lee's Army. After the Overland <=
span
style=3D'position:absolute;top:30.3%;left:6.82%;width:86.0%;height:12.12%'=
>campaign in the spring of 1864, City Point, (the c=
ity is
named Hopewell today)
Virginia, served as General Grant's Headquarters of the Armies of the United States. From City Point, Grant directed the
movements of the various Union
troops across the country. His primary goal was to destroy General =
Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. As Sher=
man
and Grant moved farth=
er
into the Confederate strongholds, it became clear that the final battles <=
/span>of the Civil War were at hand.
=
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:28%'>•President Lincoln,
anxious for the war to end, traveled to City Point and Grant's headquarters. From March 20 to April 8, 18=
65,
the President met with =
Grant
and his officers to discuss the final push into Petersburg. They also talked about the conditions for reuniting the
nation after the war.
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:28%'>•At the end of Ma=
rch, a
"war council" conference was held between the President, Generals Grant and Sherman, and other k=
ey
military leaders. They
discussed battle plans that they hoped would end the war. Grant then moved his headquarters into Petersburg so he would=
be
near the final battl=
eground.
President Lincoln stayed at City Point, where it is reported that <=
/span>he dreamed of his own death. Interestingly enough,
Lincoln did not tell anyon=
e at
City Point of his strange dream while he was there. Instead, he reportedly first mentioned it to his wife and othe=
rs
during a social gathering, days
later when he returned to Washington, D.C.
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:28%'>•General Grant's
military strategy was on target as he defeated General Lee <=
span
style=3D'position:absolute;top:14.89%;left:6.82%;width:86.68%;height:17.02=
%'>at Petersburg. Finally, on April 9, 1865, Lee
surrendered at Appomattox Court
House. Grant wrote generous terms of surrender that helped to begin the process of uniting the nation again. A main pa=
rt of
Grant's terms included provisions
that prevented future trials for treason. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, was arrested for treason and s=
pent
three years in prison at Fo=
rt
Monroe. But Davis never went to trial on these treason charges.
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:28%'>•After the Civil =
War,
Grant served as the Secretary of War from August 12, 1867 to January 14, 1868.
![](3D"slide0003_image004.gif")
General Robert E. Lee
•In Feb., 1861 (after the secession of the lower South), General Scott,
with whom Lee was a great
favorite, recalled him from Texas. Lee had no sympathy with either secessi=
on
or slavery and, loving the U=
nion
and the army, deprecated the thought of sectional conflict. But in his =
tradition, loyalty to Virginia came first, and upon
Virginia's secession he resigned (April 20, 1861) from the army. His resolve not to fight agai=
nst
the South had already led him to decline (April 18) the field command of the U.S. forces. <=
br>
On April 23 he as= sumed command of the military and naval forces of Virginia, which he organized thoroughly before they were absorbed by = the Confederacy. Lee then became military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis a= nd was made a Confederate general. After the failure of his efforts to coordinate the activity of Confederate forces in= the western part of Virginia (July–Oct., 1861), Lee organized the S Atlantic coast defenses.
In March, 1862, Davis recalled= him to Richmond. Lee's plan to prevent reinforcements from reaching Gen. George B. McClellan, whose army was threatening Richmond, was brilliantly executed by T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson in the Shena= ndoah Valley. When Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at Fair Oaks in the Peninsular campaign, Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia= (June 1, 1862). His leadership of that army through the next three years has placed him among the world's great commanders.
Lee immediately t= ook the offensive, and after ending McClellan's threat to Richmond in the Seven Days battles (June 26–July 2), he thoroughly defeated John Pope at the second battle of Bull Run (Aug. 29–30). McClellan, however, checked= him in his first Northern invasion, the Antietam campaign (Sept.). Advances by Ambrose E. Burnside and Joseph Hooker were <= /span>brutally repulsed in the battles of Fredericksburg= (Dec. 13; see Fredericksburg, battle of) and Chancellorsville (May 2–4, 1863), though in the la= tter victory Lee lost his ablest lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson.
Lee's second invas= ion of the North resulted in the Confederate defeat in the Gettysburg campaign (June–July). He sorely missed the service= s of Jackson, and some historians attribute his defeat at Gettysburg to the failures of his subordinates, particularly James Longstreet. Other authorities argue that Lee underestimated his oppo= sition and failed to impose his will upon his subordinates. Lee assumed full blame for the defea= t, but Davis refused to entertain his offer of resignation. After Gettysburg, Lee did not engage = in any major campaign until May, 1864, when Ulysses S. Grant moved against him. He repulsed Grant's direct assaults in the Wilderness campaign (May–Jun= e), but was not strong enough to turn him back, and in July, 1864, Grant began the long siege of Petersburg.
Lee's appointment= as general in chief of all Confederate armies came (Feb., 1865) when the Confederacy had virtually collapsed. On April 2, t= he Army of the Potomac broke through the Petersburg defenses, and Lee's forces retreated. O= ne week later Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse
After the war Lee became president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University). Although President Andrew Johnson nev= er granted him the official amnesty for which he applied, Lee nevertheless urged the people of the South to work for the restoration of peace a= nd harmony in a united country.
On April 23 he as= sumed command of the military and naval forces of Virginia, which he organized thoroughly before they were absorbed by = the Confederacy. Lee then became military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis a= nd was made a Confederate general. After the failure of his efforts to coordinate the activity of Confederate forces in= the western part of Virginia (July–Oct., 1861), Lee organized the S Atlantic coast defenses.
In March, 1862, Davis recalled= him to Richmond. Lee's plan to prevent reinforcements from reaching Gen. George B. McClellan, whose army was threatening Richmond, was brilliantly executed by T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson in the Shena= ndoah Valley. When Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at Fair Oaks in the Peninsular campaign, Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia= (June 1, 1862). His leadership of that army through the next three years has placed him among the world's great commanders.
Lee immediately t= ook the offensive, and after ending McClellan's threat to Richmond in the Seven Days battles (June 26–July 2), he thoroughly defeated John Pope at the second battle of Bull Run (Aug. 29–30). McClellan, however, checked= him in his first Northern invasion, the Antietam campaign (Sept.). Advances by Ambrose E. Burnside and Joseph Hooker were <= /span>brutally repulsed in the battles of Fredericksburg= (Dec. 13; see Fredericksburg, battle of) and Chancellorsville (May 2–4, 1863), though in the la= tter victory Lee lost his ablest lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson.
Lee's second invas= ion of the North resulted in the Confederate defeat in the Gettysburg campaign (June–July). He sorely missed the service= s of Jackson, and some historians attribute his defeat at Gettysburg to the failures of his subordinates, particularly James Longstreet. Other authorities argue that Lee underestimated his oppo= sition and failed to impose his will upon his subordinates. Lee assumed full blame for the defea= t, but Davis refused to entertain his offer of resignation. After Gettysburg, Lee did not engage = in any major campaign until May, 1864, when Ulysses S. Grant moved against him. He repulsed Grant's direct assaults in the Wilderness campaign (May–Jun= e), but was not strong enough to turn him back, and in July, 1864, Grant began the long siege of Petersburg.
Lee's appointment= as general in chief of all Confederate armies came (Feb., 1865) when the Confederacy had virtually collapsed. On April 2, t= he Army of the Potomac broke through the Petersburg defenses, and Lee's forces retreated. O= ne week later Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse
After the war Lee became president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University). Although President Andrew Johnson nev= er granted him the official amnesty for which he applied, Lee nevertheless urged the people of the South to work for the restoration of peace a= nd harmony in a united country.
![](3D"slide0004_image006.jpg")
Photographs
![](3D"slide0005_image008.jpg")
![](3D"slide0005_image010.jpg")
![](3D"slide0005_image012.jpg")
Photographs<=
/div>
![](3D"slide0006_image014.jpg")
![](3D"slide0006_image016.jpg")
![](3D"slide0006_image018.jpg")
Images of the War
![](3D"slide0007_image020.jpg")
![](3D"slide0007_image022.jpg")
![](3D"slide0007_image024.jpg")
Images of the War
![](3D"slide0008_image026.jpg")
![](3D"slide0008_image028.jpg")
![](3D"slide0008_image030.jpg")
Documents
![](3D"slide0009_image031.jpg")
Documents
![](3D"slide0010_image033.jpg")
![](3D"slide0010_image035.jpg")
Map
![](3D"slide0011_image037.jpg")
' + ENDSHOW_MESG + '
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