Final Essay

I began this project to try and find out more about the Civil War. I wanted to explore the events of the war and try and determine which were the most important battles of the war. I read many articles on different battles that all discussed the significance and repurcussions of the clashes. I also read a full-length book, Turning Points of the Civil War, that enlightened me on several events that were very important to the progress of the war but are frequently overlooked, such as the election of 1864 and the Trent Affair. I also took a look at two multimedia sources and had a live interaction where I traveled to a fort in Mobile. All of these things helped me uncover some great history and come to some conclusions about the War Between the States.

I really learned alot from this project. So many people fought and bled and died for their ideals and for the protection of their families and nation in the 1860's, but what did we gain from it. Well, I've realized that we gained the America that we have today. The Civil War was a clash for the ages, and one that was indeed a long time coming. The country had many problems that needed to be addressed (slavery, sectionalism, etc.) and the war was the bursting point. I have come to see, though, that there really cannot be a singular most important battle or event; every battle depended on another one. The influence of one was often determined by the outcome of another. There are certain events that had potential for greater ramifications than some others, perhaps such battles as Vicksburg and Antietam, but no one event wholly changed the Civil War. The battles mentioned above and perhaps Shiloh and Gettysburg are, I think, probably the main crossroads of the war because they represent the times where we were at either the brink of one side winning or the steps to victory that really altered things. I have come to see the Civil War as a mesh of threads from battles to people to decisions that all relied on each other to happen and to be significant.

I was pleased with the way that my project turned out and the research that I did. I tried to cover several different aspects of the war and really find out why things happened the way they did. There are many different opinions and attitudes out there towards the Civil War and I attempted to get a decent grip on many of them. If I could change something about the way I did my project I would definitely try and go on a few more "interactions". My visit to Mobile was neat and very informative, but I would like to get to some other battlefields and see where everything really happened. There are so many great and diverse sites out there where I think I could learn a lot and I'm sure I would enjoy visiting. Other than this, I cannot think of much else that I would change about this project. I found out a lot and was able to come to some satisfactory conclusions about the Civil War, and that was pretty great.

Live Interaction

For my live interaction I toured historic Fort Conde in Mobile, AL, while I was in L.A. for our state tennis tournament. It was a great place to visit. I got to walk around the fort and learn about its involvement in the Civil War, which wasn't too too much, but it was interesting. I talked to several people that worked at Ft. Conde and asked some questions that gave me some insight into the history of the fort. I also learned a lot about the city of Mobile and also some of the other more involved forts, like Ft. Morgan and Ft. Gaines, in the area. It was a nice and informative little trip.

I really enjoyed getting to tour Ft. Conde and talk to some of the people that worked there (this included the gift shop lady, who surprisingly knew the most). I found out a lot about the Battle of Mobile Bay and how important it was in the course of the naval war. Fort Gaines was the site of Union Admiral David Faragut's charge and famous quote , "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!", at the battle for the bay. I also learned that Mobile was one of the last Confederate strongholds on the Gulf in 1864, so after it fell, so came the inevitable fall of the South. The seas were the last of the South to succumb to Union power, all but the capital city Richmond, and battles in Mobile were a main part of that.

My visit to Mobile was interesting and very informative. It revealed the whole thought of the naval warfare during the Civil War to me and showed how important it was to both the North and the South. I had a great time seeing Ft. Conde and uncovering much of the history of the battles of Mobile.

Book Review: Turning Points of the Civil War

For my book source I read Turning Points of the Civil War by James A. Rawley. Rawley begins his book with a good introduction where he explains his main views on the Civil War and the events that occurred because of it. He also introduces the main points that he will discuss in his chapters, which range from beginning incidents like the battle of Bull Run and the Trent Affair to the later events like the Election of 1864. Rawley goes through his book and explains the high points of several specific events, whether they be important battles of the war or happenings like the issueing of the Emancipation Proclamation, but also goes into some detail about them. He focuses on the reason they happened, the reason they became so important, and what happened because of these events. All of the chapters pinpoint a specific event of the Civil War and how that event changed the course of the war. His Afterword delves into the idea that the Civil War as a whole was a great turning point for America and he explains his reasoning backed with factual details here, as well.
This was an extremely informative book. All of the chapters focused on interesting events and Rawley gave many viewpoints, as well as stories and facts, on these events. Reading some of the stories and personal accounts from soldiers and others that Rawley included in the book was kind of intriguing. The battle chapters ("Bull Run", "Antietam", "The July Days: Gettysburg and Vicksburg") especially had many of these illuminating and stirring accounts. I liked the way that Rawley spent much of the time talking about the issues surrounding the important happenings and not just, "John killed so-and-so here". It was neat to think about all of the different people and matters that were just moving along at the same time as a national war, and not just those brave few who were out on the feilds.
My favorite chapters in this book were "The Borderland and Kentucky", "The Election of 1864", and "Antietam". I liked the first two because I really learned a lot from them. "The Borderland and Kentucky" was mainly about the importance of the allegiance of the the border states (KY, MD, MO, and DE) to the Union and the significant events surrounding that issues, and "The Election of 1864" was obviously about the election. These two chapters made me look into some of the more civilian issues that occurred during the Civil War that I hadn't learned as much about in the past. I enjoyed the chapter "Antietam" because I thought it was very well laid out and extremely insightful. Antietam was a bloody and horrific battle, but it was definitely fought for a reason. Many things came about because of it and several things didn't. I think it is best put by one of the quotes in the chapter, "Its effects will be seen and felt in the destinies of the Nation for centuries to come". My least favorite chapter was "The Trent Affair". This chapter was hard to follow in some places and relied too much on the reader to have an outside knowledge of certain events. Rawley made his points about the significance of the Trent Affair quite well, but he also included many seemingly useless details and facts that weren't necessary. This was a quality of much of the book, but I sort of expected to be peppered war statistics and jargon when I picked Turning Points up. Overall, though, this book was a pretty enjoyable read. I learned so much from Rawley and his insights and have gained a new appreciation and knowledge for the many features of the Civil War.

Source: Rawley, James A. Turning Points of the Civil War. Lincoln: New Bison Books, 1989. Print.

Article #5: Chattanooga

The the final installment of my short sources, I read a brief article called "Wartime Importance of Chattanooga and East Tennessee" by James Sullivan. I decided to focus on a lesser talked-of battle, but an important one nonetheless, in my last short article.

Sullivan starts his article out by describing the time period in which the battle of Chattanooga occurred. He talks of its placement in the middle of 1863, the most important and eventful year of the Civil War, and how that added to its impact. The scoreboard had been pretty even for a while, but Union dominance at Chattanooga pushed it to a new level. The sequence of 1863 was basically Gettysburg, then Vicksburg, then Chickamauga (in TN), then Chatanooga in late 1863, which led to the fall of Atlanta and the entire South. Sullivan proceeds to tells how Chattanooga is located right where the TN River passes through the Cumberland Mountains, so it was obviously a major territorial battle. Sullivan says that Chattanooga, "was called the 'Key to East Tennessee' and 'Gateway to the Deep South'". He also writes how Chattanooga being such a railroad hub led to its value. Sullivan says that in 1863 Lincoln instructed most of his generals, specifically Major General Ulysses Grant (who was at this point in charge of the entire Union army), to put their main focus on the railroads in the South, especially those in Eastern Tennessee. While this was of great importance for the Union win, keeping the allegiance of the people of East Tennessee was also a major goal. Sullivan tells how many attitudes in the eastern portion of the seceeded state of Tennessee had stayed toward the cause of the Union, and if properly planned and performed, any action near Chattanooga could help the Northern army secure their allegiance. Sullivan gives many reasons how and why the battle of Chattanooga was so important to the path of the Civil War.



I thought this was a very enlightening and interesting article. It was rather short, but it gave plenty of information on the battle of Chattanooga and really told why it was significant. Sullivan didn't talk much about the actual battle, he focused more on the ramifications of it and the importance of Chattanooga as a city possesion for the North and the South, and this approach was very helpful to me. He basically says that the significance of the battle of Chattanooga was greatly supplemented by things that were going on around the same time. After thinking about it, I believe this to be a pretty good observation. Chattanooga ended up being one of the last strongholds in the South (after the other events in 1863) and was a great advantage to whoever controlled it (railroads galore, central location, political support for both sides, etc.) so when it got down to it, the battle would be significant. I learned alot from this article; it helped me put many peices together. I think that Chattanooga was a very important battle in its own right, but maybe more important as a sort of final stepping stone from the middle of the war to the fall of the Confederacy and the end of it all.


Article: Sullivan, James R. "Wartime Importance of Chattanooga and East Tennessee." National Park Service Historical Handbook. Old Magazine Articles. Web. 20 April 2010.


http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/article.php?Article_Summary=1247

Article #4: Antietam

This week for my short source, I read an article about one of the most horrible and influential battles of the Civil War, the battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg (Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg, MD). This article, "The Significance of the Battle of Antietam" by Brian Downey, gives many reasons how this battle changed the course of the war, and American history.

This article is split up into several different sections, all relating to the importance and impact of Antietam. Downey begins explaining the immediate results of the battle and then talks of any opportunities lost because of or during the battle. He also explains any public or political impacts and the impacts on the nation. In the first section, Downey begins by describing the immense loss of life of the battle; no other single day in American history has been so costly. He says that the surfeit of casualties led many people to see how, "the American Civil War was now an all-out, life or death struggle." The delusions of nobility and adventure were gone; this war was real, and so was death. Downey then describes the effect that Antietam had on the opposing armies, and their generals, specifically how Union Gen. McClellan was replaced as head of the troops after this September in 1862. The next section is focused on the opportunities that were squandered in the course of this battle, mostly by McClellan. He and the Northern Army of the Potomac could have destroyed the Confederates (they had found their secret battle plans!), but McClellan was too conservative and the battle ended in virtually a draw. Downey ends the article by describing how this battle affected the whole country. The events at Antietam led to European powers NOT getting involved with the American war (England would have backed the South because of the cotton industry), and President Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which changed everything. This article looks over the many facets of the battle of Antietam and clearly describes why it was so important.

I enjoyed reading this article. I have always found the battle of Antietam to be very interesting, for many reasons, and this article backed that thought. Learning about the shear atrocities of this battle are enough to draw you in; I mean, over 23,000 casualties in a day! It is truly unfathomable. I really like how Downey laid this article out in the different sections of focus. Antietam had such a lasting and widespread effect and it was very easy to see the different features of the battle. I found it really interesting that Downey included a section on the political ramifications of this event, showing how the Union army's "successes" kept many Republicans in office after the fall elections of 1862. I also found the added excerpts from Bruce Catton's books interesting. The quotes at the beginning and end of the article really help augment Downey's points and enhance the overall story. This article was very well organized and written. It gave plenty of information to get the significance of this battle across, but it was not long-winded in any way. The article ends with the simple phrase, "This is the legacy of Sharpsburg." It is short, but it says a lot. All that happened during and because of the battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg did change the Civil War, and in several ways at that, but also altered the course of the country, and that is pretty significant.

Article: Downey, Brian. "The Significance of the Battle of Antietam." Antietam on the Web. AotW. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. http://antietam.aotw.org/exhibit.php?exhibit_id=6.

http://americasbesthistory.com/abh-antietam.html

Article #3: Battle of Shiloh

For my short source this week, I chose to read part of an essay on the battle of Shiloh (to keep with the 1862 theme in my recent multimedia post). This excerpt, "Part Four: The Most Decisive Battle in the War Between the States" by W. Keith Beason, gives many reasons why Shiloh should be considered as one of the most significant battles of the Civil War.

Beason gives reasons for the decisiveness of the battle at the very beginning of this essay. He claims that it was not only a strategic play for the Union army (gave them control of the Tennessee River and a key part of the state of Tennessee, soon including Memphis), but also a good learning experience for the troops, and Ulysses Grant. Beason shows how the understanding and confidence gained by Grant during Shiloh was carried on throughout other battles in the future, and in his decision making. Beason says, "Grant learned much in the school of hard knocks". It was experience he needed in order to get prepared for the position that he was soon awarded, head of command for the Union army. Beason goes on to describe the relationship between Grant and William Sherman forged during the east TN conquest, and also the relationship between Grant and the country. Many people began to question the plans of the Union after Shiloh because Grant had been "reckless" and had let so many people die. Beason continues to expound on the repercussions of the battle at Shiloh and describes the effect it had on several Confederate generals and their future endeavors. He ends this essay looking at the ways that the battle of Shiloh put certain paths out of the question, instead of just focusing on what happened after this battle. He lists a few things that became inconceivable because of the outcome of Shiloh. Beason ends his essay claiming that the repercussions of the battle led to changed attitudes, and in turn, "all the principle victories of the North in 1863 and 1864 were made possible".

I found this essay to be very insightful. Beason made a lot of good points that really made me think. His opening statements about what makes a victory decisive were very interesting, and a good new perspective. I really liked the way that Beason gave many reasons, both tangible (like the strategic gains and such) and conceptual (like experience gains), of why Shiloh meant so much. There was a plethora of facts in this essay, but also many assertions of why the facts came to be, which I found to be easy reading. The way that he reffered to events before Shiloh and after to be relevant to the outcome of the battle was also great. Beason gave many reasons for Shiloh to be seen as a big turning point in the Civil War, and they all made sense and seemed germane. This really made me see this battle as a very significant part of the changes that occurred in 1862. Shiloh might not have been the most magnificent battle, but it certainly had far-reaching outcomes.

Article: Beason, W. Keith. "Part Four: The Most Decisive Battle in the War Between the States". Understanding Shiloh. Angel Fire, 1999. Web. 7 Apr. 2010.

http://http//www.angelfire.com/ga/wkb/shiloh3.html

Lowery McNeal

Multimedia #1-"Never Call Retreat" lecture

Watch it on Academic Earth

This week, for my first multimedia source, I chose to watch an online lecture. I selected "Never Call Retreat: Military and Political Turning Points in 1863", a full class lecture by Yale professor David Blight. Professor Blight teaches a class on the Civil War and Reconstruction Eras, and this was one of the middle installments in his series of classes. (*Note: The lecture was almost an hour long, so bear with me.)

To begin his lecture, Blight starts off with a short reading from one of Bruce Catton's (Civil War narrative author whom Blight proclaims as one of his favorites) books. He uses the short excerpt to explain the tricky situation that America found herself in in 1862. This helps Blight introduce several themes and concerns that he will discuss in the rest of the lecture, and then he starts right into the war happenings, beginning with the War in the West. He explains why Tennessee became so important in the second year of the war, and why rivers, such as the Tennessee and Cumberland, were significant targets of the Union army. He talks of the battles at Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson (both on the TN River) and why they were important to the movement in TN. Blight gives a brief background on Ulysses Grant, who rode his first rodeo at the forts. He then moves onto the battle of Shiloh. He explains the strategic value of the Union win at Shiloh and also the influence it had on the direction of the whole war. It was a great fight, and Blight sees it as a turning point of sorts in 1862. On to the War in the East... Professor Blight starts off by giving some background information on George McClellen, the Union general of the Army of the Potomac, and the challenges he (and his army) faced. They began the Peninsula Campaign (the attempted conquest of Virginia) in early 1862. The Campaign culminated in the Seven Days battle. Blight gives several reasons why the Peninsula Campaign and ensuing battles were significant; they matured the Union army, introduced new Southern leadership and power to the fight, and were chances for the Confederates to defend their capital (Richmond, VA). He also claims that they showed the incompetence of General McClellen, who was soon fired from his post. Blight ends his lecture with some outlooks for the conflicts to come in 1863 and his final thoughts on the aftermath of the activities of 1862. Blight basically claims 1862 as the period in the Civil War where most of the strategy for the whole game was finalized (for the Union and Confederacy), and also the time which the country needed to decide what this war meant and what it needed to accomplish.

I enjoyed listening to this lecture. I'm sure there are many people whom it would bore extensively, but I found it interesting. I felt like Blight was very knowledgeable (obviously, he teaches at Yale!) and easy to listen to. He got his points across and laid the facts out there, but he also added in some interesting stories. The direction of the lecture kind of threw me off a few times (like how he randomly talked about McClellen at the very beginning and didn't pick back up with him until thirty minutes into the lesson), but it made sense overall. As for the name of this lecture ("Never Call Retreat: Military and Political Turning Points in 1863"), that did not make sense. The "Never Call Retreat" part did; it was a line from the Catton book he read at the beginning and had to do with the new attitude of the war. Unfortunately nothing he spoke of in the lecture happened in 1863. Blight also didn't take as much time explaining how the events listed were "turning points" as I had expected. He did, however, lay out some important ideas that energized the progression of the lecture. I liked how he focused on several main people and then several main periods that were really important in 1862. It was easy to see how a few singular things changed and guided the direction for the country and the war. I learned a lot about the momentum shifts in 1862, and the changes in attitude of the people in charge. When speaking of Confederate leaders Lee and Davis, Blight says, "The theory here was to take the war to the North". This was probably the most significant choice made in late 1862, and definitely showed the change in attitude. In 1862, the reasons for the war were altered, as were the goals of it. Blight's perspective on the events were interesting and definitely showed me a new way to look at the sometimes overlooked details. It was a great explanation of how the early part of the Civil War was vital to the development and planning of the continuation of the war. Great lecture!

Source: Blight, David W. "Never Call Retreat: Military and Political Turning Points in 1863:. Lecture. Academic Earth. Open Yale Courses. Web. 6 Apr. 2010.

http://http//academicearth.org/lectures/military-and-political-turning-points-in-1863

Lowery McNeal