1.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
2.
Petersburg, Virginia
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Petersburg is an independent city in the U. S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,420, the Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes. It is located on the Appomattox River and 21 miles south of the capital of Richmond. The citys unique industrial past and its location as a transportation hub combined to create wealth for Virginia and it connected commerce as far inland as Farmville, Virginia to shipping on the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. For similar reasons, Fort Henry was built at Petersburg to protect the river, as railroads were constructed in the state in the 1830s, Petersburg was developed as a major transfer point for both north-south and east-west competitors. The Petersburg Railroad was one of the earliest predecessors of the modern-day CSX Transportation system, several of the earliest predecessors of the areas other major Class 1 railroad, Norfolk Southern, also met at Petersburg. Access to railroads stimulated industry in the city, which was established because of the water power available at the fall line. During the American Civil War, because of the railroad network, nine months of trench warfare were conducted by Union forces during the 1864–65 Siege of Petersburg. Battlefield sites are located throughout the city and surrounding areas, partly preserved as Petersburg National Battlefield, the city is also significant for its role in African-American history. Petersburg had one of the oldest free black settlements in the state at Pocahontas Island, two Baptist churches in the city, whose congregations were founded in the late 18th century, are among the oldest black congregations and churches in the United States. In the 20th century, these and other churches were leaders in the national Civil Rights Movement. In the post-bellum period, a black college which later developed as Virginia State University was established nearby in Ettrick in Chesterfield County. Richard Bland College, now a college, was originally established here as a branch of Williamsburgs College of William. Petersburg remains a hub, with the network of area highways including Interstate Highways 85,95, and 295, and U. S. highways 1,301. Both CSX and NS rail systems maintain transportation centers at Petersburg, amtrak serves the city with daily Northeast Corridor trains to Norfolk, Virginia, and long-distance routes from states to the south. In the early 21st century, Petersburg leaders were highlighting the historical attractions for heritage tourism. Archaeological excavations at Pocahontas Island have found evidence of a prehistoric Native American settlement dated to 6500 BCE and this is in the early third of the Archaic Period. Varying cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years, when the English arrived in Virginia in 1607, the region was occupied by the Appamatuck, a significant tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Confederate States of America
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The Confederate States, officially the Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a breakaway country of 11 secessionist slave states existing from 1861 to 1865. It was never recognized as an Independent country, although it achieved belligerent status by Britain. A new Confederate government was established in February 1861 before Lincoln took office in March, after the Civil War began in April, four slave states of the Upper South – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The government of the United States rejected the claims of secession, the Civil War began with the April 12,1861, Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In spring 1865, after four years of fighting which led to an estimated 620,000 military deaths, all the Confederate forces surrendered. Jefferson Davis later lamented that the Confederacy had disappeared in 1865, Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions from those states, while the legitimate governments of those two states retained formal adherence to the Union. Also fighting for the Confederacy were two of the Five Civilized Tribes located in Indian Territory and a new, but uncontrolled, Confederate Territory of Arizona. Efforts by certain factions in Maryland to secede were halted by federal imposition of law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty. A Unionist government in parts of Virginia organized the new state of West Virginia. With the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,1863, the Union made abolition of slavery a war goal, as Union forces moved southward, large numbers of plantation slaves were freed. Many joined the Union lines, enrolling in service as soldiers, teamsters and laborers, the most notable advance was Shermans March to the Sea in late 1864. Much of the Confederacys infrastructure was destroyed, including telegraphs, railroads, plantations in the path of Shermans forces were severely damaged. Internal movement became increasingly difficult for Southerners, weakening the economy and these losses created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, materiel, and finance. Public support for Confederate President Jefferson Daviss administration eroded over time due to repeated military reverses, economic hardships, after four years of campaigning, Richmond was captured by Union forces in April 1865. Shortly afterward, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, President Davis was captured on May 10,1865, and jailed in preparation for a treason trial that was ultimately never held. The U. S. government began a process known as Reconstruction which attempted to resolve the political and constitutional issues of the Civil War. By 1877, the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction in the former Confederate states, Confederate veterans had been temporarily disenfranchised by Reconstruction policy. The prewar South had many areas, the war left the entire region economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure
5.
Henry Heth
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Henry Heth was a career United States Army officer who became a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He is generally blamed for starting the Battle of Gettysburg by sending half his division into the town before the rest of the army was fully prepared. Later in the day, Confederate troops succeeded in routing a Union corps, Heth continued to command his division during the remainder of the war and briefly took command of the Third Corps in April 1865 after the death of General Hill. Heth surrendered with the rest of Lees army on April 9, Henry Heth was born at Black Heath in Chesterfield County, Virginia, son of United States Navy Captain John Heth, and Margaret L. Pickett. He was a cousin of George Pickett, Heth graduated from the United States Military Academy at the bottom of his class in 1847, he was wounded at West Point in 1846 with a bayonet stab to his leg. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment. His antebellum career was served primarily in western posts, some as a quartermaster and he was serving as a first lieutenant in the 6th Infantry when John C. Symmes III refused a captaincy in the new 10th Infantry on March 3,1855 and he played a prominent role in the 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow, leading a company of mounted infantry against the Lakota. In 1858, he created the first marksmanship manual for the Army, after the war began at Fort Sumter, Heth resigned from the U. S. Army and joined the Confederate States Army. He spent the remainder of 1861 in the Kanawha Valley in western Virginia in the 5th and 45th Virginia Infantry regiments and he was promoted to brigadier general on January 6,1862. In the Spring of 1862 Heth was in command of the Army of the New River, Heths diminutive force held off the forces of General Jacob D. Cox in the Action at Giles Courthouse and pursued the enemy to Lewisburg, where Heth was forced to withdraw. The actions were critical to keeping federal forces tied up and out of the Valley of Virginia while Stonewall Jackson was conducting his own campaign 120 miles to the North and he was then sent west to the Department of East Tennessee, to serve under Edmund Kirby Smith. In March 1863, Lee brought Heth back into his command and he assumed temporary command of the division when Hill was wounded. Following the death of Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson, Lee reorganized his army into three corps, promoting Hill to the Third Corps, Heth retained his division command and was promoted to major general on May 24,1863. Heths division made history by starting the Battle of Gettysburg. Marching east from Cashtown on July 1,1863, Heth sent two brigades ahead in a reconnaissance in force and his memoirs referred to sending them in a search of shoes in Gettysburg, but some historians consider this an apocryphal story, they say Heth knew that Jubal A. Early had been in Gettysburg a few days earlier and any available shoes would have taken at that time. They also consider sending two brigades on such a mission would have been wasteful, the brigades made contact with Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Buford and spread out into battle formation
6.
Siege of Petersburg
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The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9,1864, to March 25,1865, during the American Civil War. Numerous raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut off the Richmond, many of these battles caused the lengthening of the trench lines, overloading dwindling Confederate resources. Lee finally gave in to the pressure and abandoned cities in April 1865, leading to his retreat and surrender at Appomattox Court House. The Siege of Petersburg foreshadowed the trench warfare that was common in World War I and it also featured the wars largest concentration of African American troops, who suffered heavy casualties at such engagements as the Battle of the Crater and Chaffins Farm. In March 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and was given command of the Union Army. He devised a strategy to apply pressure on the Confederacy from many points. Grant put Maj. Gen. William T, George Crook and William W. Averell to operate against railroad supply lines in West Virginia, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Most of these failed, often because of the assignment of generals to Grant for political rather than military reasons. Butlers Army of the James bogged down against inferior forces under Gen. P. G. T, Beauregard before Richmond in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Sigel was soundly defeated at the Battle of New Market in May, banks was distracted by the Red River Campaign and failed to move on Mobile. However, Crook and Averell were able to cut the last railway linking Virginia and Tennessee, on May 4, Grant and Meades Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan River and entered the area known as the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, beginning the six-week Overland Campaign. Grant spent the remainder of May maneuvering and fighting battles with the Confederate army as he attempted to turn Lees flank. Grant knew that his army and base of manpower in the North could sustain a war of attrition better than Lee. This theory was tested at the Battle of Cold Harbor when Grants army once again came into contact with Lees near Mechanicsville and he chose to engage Lees army directly, by ordering a frontal assault on the Confederate fortified positions on June 3. This attack was repulsed with heavy losses, Cold Harbor was a battle that Grant regretted more than any other and Northern newspapers thereafter frequently referred to him as a butcher. On the night of June 12, Grant again advanced by his left flank and he planned to cross to the south bank of the river, bypassing Richmond, and isolate Richmond by seizing the railroad junction of Petersburg to the south. While Lee remained unaware of Grants intentions, the Union army constructed a pontoon bridge 2,100 feet long, what Lee had feared most of all—that Grant would force him into a siege of Richmond—was poised to occur. This represented a change of strategy from that of the preceding Overland Campaign, Lee at first believed that Grants main target was Richmond and devoted only minimal troops under Gen. P. G. T
7.
Second Battle of Petersburg
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The Second Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Assault on Petersburg, was fought June 15–18,1864, at the beginning of the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign. Union forces under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant attempted to capture Petersburg, Virginia, the four days included repeated Union assaults against substantially smaller forces commanded by Gen. P. G. T. Beauregards strong defensive positions and poorly coordinated actions by the Union generals made up for the disparity in the sizes of the armies, by June 18, the arrival of significant reinforcements from Lees army made further assaults impractical. The failure of the Union to defeat the Confederates in these actions resulted in the start of the ten-month Siege of Petersburg, the Confederates, under the overall command of Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, numbered only 2,500, many of whom were teenage boys and elderly men. Timid leadership on the part of Union Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore and Brig. Gen. August Kautz led to the failure of the assault, Butlers men returned to their positions in Bermuda Hundred. After the Battle of Cold Harbor in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grants 1864 Overland Campaign, Grant knew that Lee could not protect Richmond if Petersburg fell and he would be forced to battle Grant in the open. He also knew from the unsuccessful first assaults on June 9 how weak the Petersburg defenses actually were, speed was essential to Grants plan, requiring success before Lee realized Grants objective and could reinforce Petersburg. Lee was not in fact fully cognizant of Grants moves until June 18, Beauregard, however, had been loudly warning of the danger to Petersburg since June 9. Inexplicably, Grant selected Butlers Army of the James, which had performed poorly in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, would follow Smith. Grant wrote in his memoirs, I believed then, and still believe. Even with his concentration, infantrymen were spaced an unacceptable 10 feet apart and his remaining 3,200 men were facing Butlers army at Bermuda Hundred. Baldy Smith and his men crossed the Appomattox shortly after dawn on June 15 and his force consisted of the infantry divisions of Brig. William T. H. Brooks, John H. Martindale, and Edward W. Hinks, the transport vessels delivered these divisions almost at random to landing sites on the opposite shore, confusing Smiths plans and wasting time reorganizing. Kautzs cavalry division was ordered to clear the line of advance for the infantry, Brooks and Martindale would march down the City Point Railroad, colored Troops would approach on the Jordan Point Road. Delays in the advance continued after the landing, the cavalry encountered an unexpected stronghold at Baylors farm northeast of Petersburg. Hinkss men launched two attacks on the Confederates and captured a cannon, but the advance was delayed until early afternoon. Smith performed a reconnaissance and, despite his sense of nervousness about the strength of the enemy position and he was delayed again when his artillery commander allowed all of the horses to be watered simultaneously, making it impossible to bring up his guns until about 7 p. m
8.
Battle of Chaffin's Farm
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From the very beginning of the war, Confederate engineers and slave laborers had constructed permanent defenses around Richmond. By 1864, they had created a system anchored south of the capital on the James River at Chaffins Farm and this outer line was supported by an intermediate and inner system of fortifications much closer to the capital. In July and August 1864, these lines were tested by Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in offensives designed to attack north and south of the James. The second battle was also a Confederate victory, but it forced Lee to weaken his Petersburg defenses, in late September, Grant planned another dual offensive. Historians sometimes enumerate Grants offensives during the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign, Richard J. Sommers, John Horn, and Noah Andre Trudeau call these operations Grants Fifth Offensive. Grants primary objective was to cut the supply lines to the south of Petersburg. He planned to use a cavalry division under Brig. Gen. David McM. Once again hoping to distract Robert E. Lee and draw Confederate troops north of the river, Butler devised a plan that historian John Horn called his best performance of the war. Rather than repeat the efforts of July and August to turn the Confederate left, Butler planned surprise attacks on the Confederate right and his XVIII Corps under Maj. Gen. Edward O. C. Ord, would cross the James River to Aikens Landing by a newly constructed pontoon bridge, at the original Deep Bottom pontoon bridge, his X Corps under Maj. Gen. David B. Birney would cross, followed by his cavalry under Brig. Gen. August V. Kautz, in a two-pronged attack, the right wing would assault the Confederate lines at New Market Road and drive on to capture the artillery positions behind it on New Market Heights. This action would protect the flank of the wing, which would attack Fort Harrison from the south-east. Then, the wing would assist the left by attacking Fort Gregg and Fort Gilmer. Kautzs cavalry would exploit Birneys capture of the New Market Road by driving for Richmond, Birney moved the X Corps north from the Deep Bottom bridgehead toward the Confederate works atop New Market Heights manned by Brig. Gen. John Gregg. Colored Troops attacked the heights but was repulsed, in this attack, Christian Fleetwoods actions would later earn him the Medal of Honor. Birney reinforced the assault force and stormed the heights again, alfred H. Terrys division managed to turn the Confederate left flank, thus turning the tide of the battle. Word of Union success against Fort Harrison then reached Gregg, compelling him to pull Confederate troops back to Forts Gregg, Gilmer and Johnson. Confederate defenders at New Market Heights were Lees Grenadier Guards, the First, Fourth and Fifth Texas and they inflicted 850 casualties on the attacking 13,000 Union troops while suffering only 50 casualties
9.
Battle of Trent's Reach
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The Battle of Trents Reach was one of the final major naval battles of the American Civil War. Grant who was besieging Petersburg, Virginia, after two days of fighting the rebels withdrew back up the river without completing their objectives. Confederate forces were under the direction of Commodore John K. Mitchell who commanded the James River Squadron in his flagship, weighing an estimated 2,500 tons, the Fredericksburg was a formidable opponent armed with one 11-inch smoothbore cannon and three smaller rifled guns. The ironclad rams CSS Richmond and CSS Virginia II also participated in the attack, Richmond weighed an estimated 800 tons and carried six guns. The 650 ton Virginia II was armed with four guns and had a crew of about 150 officers and men, the same complement as the other two ironclads. Confederate forces deployed eight other vessels, three of which were lashed to the sides of the ironclads and the torpedo boat CSS Scorpion was towed down river by the gunboat Drewry. The other vessels were the gunboats Nansemond, Hampton, Beaufort and Torpedo, the torpedo boats CSS Wasp and CSS Hornet were the last two ships in the fleet. All three of the boats carried only one spar torpedo and they were not used in the engagement at Trents Reach. However, to get to the base, the rebels had to fight their way past multiple obstacles in and along the river, including warships, a mine field and net, Fort Brady. The Union fortifications were under the command of Colonel Henry H. Pierce of the 1st Connecticut Artillery, at the time Onondaga was the only Union monitor on the river though she was accompanied by the side-wheel gunboats USS Massasoit and USS Hunchback. USS Massasoit was a ship, weighing 974 tons, so she was fitted out for ten guns of different sizes. Hunchback weighed 512 tons and had an armament of four guns, Commodore Mitchell lifted anchor at Chaffins Bluff just after sunset, his first task would be to sneak by the Union battery on Signal Hill and Fort Brady in the darkness. The first shot of the battle was from a gun mounted in the fort. Some twenty-five rounds were discharged by the gunners in this first action. After getting past the fort, Commodore Mitchell continued on for the mine field at Trents Reach. Meanwhile, two Confederate batteries, consisting of at least sixteen cannon, opened up on Pierces position, among the mine field were the hulks of several sunken vessels, in between them there was placed a spar torpedo, preventing any ship from passing through. The crew of the Fredericksburg went to work on removing the spar while the three boats under Lieutenant Charles Savvy Read, made a reconnaissance of the channel. All of this was done under a rain of missiles from three Union shore batteries and sharpshooters who were in control of the area
10.
Battle of Fort Stedman
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The Battle of Fort Stedman, also known as the Battle of Hares Hill, was fought on March 25,1865, during the final days of the American Civil War. The Union Army fortification in the lines around Petersburg, Virginia, was attacked in a pre-dawn Confederate assault by troops led by Maj. Gen. John B. The attack was the last serious attempt by Confederate troops to break the Siege of Petersburg, after an initial success, Gordons men were driven back by Union troops of the IX Corps commanded by Maj. Gen. John G. Parke. Johnston, jointly defeat Sherman, and then go after Grant, third, on March 6, however, Gordon was summoned back to headquarters and Lee told him that there seemed to be but one thing that we could do—fight. It could only be if we fought and failed. Stedman, a Union colonel from Connecticut who had killed in the vicinity in August 1864. It was one of the closest spots to the Confederate works, there were fewer wooden chevaux de frise obstructions protecting it, Military Railroad was less than a mile behind the fort. Lee had also ordered the division of Maj. Gen. George Pickett of the First Corps to move from its north of the James River in time to join the action. Rooney Lees cavalry division was designated to exploit the expected infantry breakthrough, parkes 3rd Division, under Brig. Gen. John F. Hartranft, was in reserve behind the lines. While Maj. Gen. George G. Meade was away at City Point with Grant, Parke was the commander of the Army of the Potomac. Gordons attack started at 4,15 a. m, lead parties of sharpshooters and engineers masquerading as deserting soldiers headed out to overwhelm Union pickets and to remove obstructions that would delay the infantry advance. They were followed by three groups of 100 men assigned to storm the Union works and stream back into the Union rear area and these men relied on surprise and speed—they carried unloaded muskets so that no one could accidentally fire and alert the enemy. The main thrust was between Batteries XI and X, with one group moving north for Battery XI and the two for X and Stedman. Assuming that he had sealed the breach in the line. He suddenly realized that the men he was ordering were Confederates and they realized he was a Union general and he was taken back across no mans land and surrendered his sword personally to Gordon. Gordon soon arrived at Fort Stedman and found his attack had so far exceeded his most sanguine expectations, within minutes, Batteries X, XI, and XII and Fort Stedman had been seized, opening a gap nearly 1,000 feet long in the Union line. Confederate artillerists under Lt. Col. Robert M. Stribling used the guns in Stedman. The attack began having difficulty at Battery IX to the north, where the Union troops formed a battle line, Gordon turned his attention to the southern flank of his attack and Fort Haskell, against which he launched his division under Clement Evans
11.
Union Army
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The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War,1861 to 1865. It included the permanent regular army of the United States, which was augmented by numbers of temporary units consisting of volunteers as well as conscripts. The Union Army fought and eventually defeated the Confederate Army during the war, at least two and a half million men served in the Union Army, almost all were volunteers. About 360,000 Union soldiers died from all causes,280,000 were wounded and 200,000 deserted. When the American Civil War began in April 1861, there were only 16,000 men in the U. S. Army, and of these many Southern officers resigned and joined the Confederate army. The U. S. Army consisted of ten regiments of infantry, four of artillery, Lincolns call forced the border states to choose sides, and four seceded, making the Confederacy eleven states strong. The war proved to be longer and more extensive than anyone North or South had expected, the call for volunteers initially was easily met by patriotic Northerners, abolitionists, and even immigrants who enlisted for a steady income and meals. Over 10,000 Germans in New York and Pennsylvania immediately responded to Lincolns call, as more men were needed, however, the number of volunteers fell and both money bounties and forced conscription had to be turned to. Nevertheless, between April 1861 and April 1865, at least two and a million men served in the Union Army, of whom the majority were volunteers. It is a misconception that the South held an advantage because of the percentage of professional officers who resigned to join the Confederate army. At the start of the war, there were 824 graduates of the U. S, Military Academy on the active list, of these,296 resigned or were dismissed, and 184 of those became Confederate officers. Of the approximately 900 West Point graduates who were civilians,400 returned to the Union Army and 99 to the Confederate. Therefore, the ratio of Union to Confederate professional officers was 642 to 283, the South did have the advantage of other military colleges, such as The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute, but they produced fewer officers. The Union Army was composed of numerous organizations, which were generally organized geographically, Military Division A collection of Departments reporting to one commander. Military Divisions were similar to the modern term Theater, and were modeled close to, though not synonymous with. Department An organization that covered a region, including responsibilities for the Federal installations therein. Those named for states usually referred to Southern states that had been occupied and it was more common to name departments for rivers or regions. District A subdivision of a Department, there were also Subdistricts for smaller regions
United States (Union)
CSA (Confederacy)
